- "Lydianize" the melody.
I think I read this one in a Jazz Journal I was browsing in the
bookstore. The idea is to end a tune (one which begins and ends on the
tonic) with a coda formed by playing the opening notes of the melody
raised a step into the Lydian mode on the same root. For example, in C, C
D E would become D E F#. What's the terminology I'm looking for here?
It's not transposing, because the major 7th B would only be raised a
half-step.
- Blues for Dorian
For some reason it was quite a revelation to me when I learned from an
Aebersold book that I could play a G blues scale over a Gm7 chord.
- Mental exercises
Since I became a parent, it's been harder to find uninterrupted practice
time, so I practice in my head while watching my daughter in the park or
while trying to get to sleep. Beats counting sheep. Lately I've been
visualizing a melodic minor scale, then finding the inverted triad and
tritone which combine to form a voicing that can be used for Altered,
Lydian Dominant or Half-Dimished chords. For example: Visualize C D Eb F
G A B C. Think tritone Eb A and inverted triad D G B. Think B root for
altered dominant. Think F root for Lydian dominant. Think A root for m7b5
(Locrian #2). I like this sort of thing, because I'm covering a lot of
ground at once. Repeat in all keys, dammit.
- Root movement other than Cycle of 4ths/5ths
Trouble is, I fall asleep before I get all the way around the cycle of
fourths. So I've been making a point of using alternate root movements.
eg. up a tritone, down a half step ( C F# F B Bb etc) . Or following the
three diminished chords. C Eb Gb A, Db E G Bb, D F Ab B. I've considered
deriving a random root from the day of the week or something, but I
haven't hit on a formula yet :)
- Practice "subtraction". Make reverse connections.
In addition to building dense structures eg. by stacking thirds or
fourths, I think it's helpful to practice what I think of as "subtractive
harmony" eg. finding all the triads in a given scale.
Along the same lines, I think it's helpful to reinforce chord-scale
associations from both directions. For example, when I play a tune I see
a chord symbol B7alt. So I might think that I should drill myself in the
chord-scale direction as follows: "B7Alt chord implies altered scale,
i.e. 7th mode of melodic minor, i.e. C melodic minor." But the mental
drill I described earlier may help just as much. i.e C melodic minor
suggests altered chord down a half step (B), and Lydian dominant a
tritone away from that (F).
- Upper structure voicings
I referred to these in an earlier post. I like them not only because the
voicings sound rich, but because I can embellish the chord by
arpeggiating the triad or playing it in different octaves after sounding
the chord. I suppose the same is true of other polychord structures.
That's enough for now.
Richard
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"It's no use prevaricating about the bush"
-- Wallace, in "The Wrong Trousers"
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