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Alene, what sort of setup are you using? If you have a keyboard with a built-in sequencer, you can put your LH comping on one track, then play it back and solo over it. I loop a 32-bar track for AL and just practice over and over. And over and over. And over...

Or, just take the combo MIDI file jazzwee posted a while back and load that into your sequencer. Mute the piano track and play your stuff over that. Let us know and we'll help you figure something out.

jazzwee - This has been a challenge. It has taken hours and hours this weekend to finally land on those correct tones on the offbeats. In fact, I have one error in this one - and I'll let you catch it

http://www.box.net/shared/ohnv5y1skg

It was hard trying to get some swing into it as I was so worried about those upbeat tones. I tried to accent the eighths, detach the quarters and release those eighth notes a few times for that staccato phrase ending. Lots to think about at 140 bpm.

Even though I made that one offbeat error, it is an improvement for me --- I had been making 5 - 8 errors in my other tries.

This has been tough. What do you suggest for improvements?

Well....look what happened. I was just away for one day....and a few pages down already and 3 great solos handed in.

Good job Deeluk, Alene and Barb!
You are all sounding GREAT.

OK...Here is my first attempt of a solo:


http://www.box.net/shared/ik9tp0fk88

Unfortunately I don't have all these fancy rhythm background music you have, so mine is very clean -- straight RH solo .


Rosa

Barb, that sounded pretty good to me! I missed the error. I liked how you played through the quick 2 chords/measure change. I always fumble around with that one.

I was struggling with this last night too. I was asking myself constantly, "Were those eighths or quarters? Which ones were on the up and which ones were down? Did I even hit chord tones?". If I just played simple 2 or 3 note phrases, I could get it right sometimes. But man, it was tough. More practice....

Barb -- you only have ONE error?

Mine is full of errors.

Oh well...that's part of the FUN -- hide all my errors.

Rosa :p

Rosa, great job! You're ahead of the game playing the LH and RH together in your solo. When I try that, everything falls apart. So, don't discount your achievement here!

Hi: Deeluk, I have a Roland KR-5 digital piano and I know you can do different tracks and stuff but I haven't a clue (guess maybe I should read the book?) as to how to do it. I have a floppy drive but can only record into it and don't know how I could record the left hand and rhythm and then record over the top of that.

The same with using Jazzwee's combo, how would I download it and still be able to record? It's probably simple but something I've never done so sounds complicated.LOL! Sort of like playing Jazz style and improvising....Whew, this is hard!

I'll read the book and try to figure it out but all help is appreciated. Thanks Deeluk.

Rosa and Barb....Those were terrific recordings! You both sounded great. Everyone seems to be learning so much.
Alene

Deeluk, Rosa, Alene, Ted --- It helps to print out your solo. That is the only way to see where things are going wrong.

When I said that I hit a wrong note, I saw it in the printout. I was on an Em7 chord and hit a d# on the downbeat.

I highly recommend the software program called Band in a Box. (the cheap version for $129 is all you need). I hit the print button for each solo and I can see what I played. I feel that the rhythm part of things is made easier with the bass and drum set going.

Rosa - Great first solo! I haven't even tried both hands with improv stuff.

Barb, I did notice that you stiffened up on that last solo, which is to be expected due to the new intellectual challenge. Yes I do know where you missed the chord tones. It's great that you stepped up to the plate on this. Later today I will give you some tips on how to think this through. But it is a very important exercise because eventually you STOP thinking about chord tones and your ear will just select them naturally.

Even Jarrett's complex solo was clearly anchored to chord tones on downbeats. Not all jazz solos are based on this approach but this is the "ear training" I speak of.

Anyway, I'll write up a lesson about this later today.

In the meantime (if you're practicing, do solos using ONLY chord tones), same instruction I gave to Deeluk.

P.S. to ALL:

RE - Band in a Box. My techie husband just told me:

To record into Band in a Box with your digital, you will need a midi cable and a midi interface to your computer.

Excellent work Rosa! I see you're being imaginative by coming up with some actual melodies/patterns. Good coordination with LH/RH.

I'll give you some tips later on moving to the next level but this is a very good

Lesson 11 Solos - Chord Tones on Downbeats

Chord Tones are very important on solos because these tones outline the chord changes. In a book by Hal Galper, he describes a good bebop solo as one where you can tell what the changes are even when there's no rhythm section. When I say chord tones here, I'm referring to the main chord tones and not the extensions (1, 3, 5, 7 of the chord not including 9, 11, 13 and their alterations).

In order to emphasize the changes, the chord tones are placed on the downbeats (beats 1, 2, 3, 4). Other tones are played on the '&' of each beat. I think the most important one is a chord tone on beat 1.

But here's the rub. Not all jazz is played using using these major chord tones on downbeats and in part it is a stylistic choice often based on the melody of the tune or style of Jazz. Certainly, this style is characteristic of bebop but is less used on tunes with slow solos using very long notes (ala Miles Davis), or tunes based on a melody that's based on extensions (the Tune Invititation comes to mind). So this is a building block and a starting point but is not the end-all.

In order to deviate stylistically, I was taught to first start with the rules. Once you have mastered the rules, then you can feel free to break them. So to make my initial forays into improvisation less random, I was taught to start playing Chord Tones on downbeats.

This is developmentally very important because it trains the ear to create lines that are in synch with the changes. It also makes naturally melodic lines.


Where to Start - Use Only Chord Tones/Arpeggios

The easiest way to implement chord tones on downbeats is to first solo using ONLY chord tones. Again I mean the 1, 3, 5, 7 of the chords. You arpeggiate the chords as eighth notes. You can create patterns using chord tones.

Bill Evans used a lot of chord arpeggios and chord patterns, even on his version of Autumn Leaves.

Here are some example patterns (all are eighth notes and in a single octave, and the numbers below are the position of the chord tone - 1,3,5,7).

3 1 3 5 7 5 3
5 1 3 5 7 5 3
3 3 1 5 7 7 5
and so on.

The point is that it doesn't always have to sound like an arpeggio and repeated notes are cool.

Stepwise Moves

Now let's expand this a bit. We will now approach movements by a WHOLE STEP.

Did you realize so far that any ODD numbered move of steps within an octave always keeps you in a chord tone if you start on a chord tone?

Simple case: Go from A, to B back to A. 3 notes but you don't lose your place when synching with chord tones. Or go from A, to B, to C, to B, to A. I went up and down and I'm back to the same chord tone. This only works when moving a step in the scale (no skips).

A more complex example, let's say you're playing Am7, the first chord. Am7 is A C E G (1, 3, 5, 7). Think of starting on any of these notes, but only move within the range of these notes for now A to G.

Now let's start at A and create an 8 note line for the whole measure. This goes from A to E then goes back down.
A B C D E D C B

I bolded the chord tones. I ended up with B on the upbeat and I'm still in synch. Since the next chord is D7, I will have to start a new chord tone again. D7 is D F# A C (1,3,5,7).

D E D E F# E D C

The next chord is G7 which is G B D F. So a sample line could be

B C D C B A G A

The point of this exercise is to show that that you can move stepwise up or down and you will be in synch with downbeats. (However, later you will discover that this doesn't work when you cross an octave, for which there's a solution).


Half Step Moves

Same concept as above. You can plan out your moves to neighboring tones to always land on a chord tone.

For example:
A G# A A# A
D C# D D# D

In 5 moves, I'm back to a chord tone and in synch with the beat.

Don't these ornaments look familiar? Used a lot in classical music. Did one in Chopin recently.

Or
D C# E F F#

Here E is an extension and not a major chord tone but it doesn't matter when you're moving chromatically and landing on a chord tone. In other words, I don't necessarily implement this to some strict rule rather than more of a guideline. (And neither do the masters).


Bebop Scale

The above examples showed lines relating only to a single chord at a time. In real playing, the phrases cross chords and in Bebop playing, the lines go up and down. Since playing multiple chords often require crossing octaves, someone discovered that you do not always stay in synch with stepwise moves because a typical scale is not symmetrical.

So someone invented a BEBOP SCALE. In order to with a chord tone on the downbeat, you need a scale with 8 notes (an even number). In Autumn Leaves, the scale is G which has 7 notes (G, A , B , C, D , E, F#). A smart guy decided to an extra note to the scale to create an even eight note scale. The Bebop scale will add the extra note as a b6 (in this case D#). So a Bebop scale version of G Major scale would be (Extra passing note is bolded).

G A B C D D#E F#

Now if you go up and down using an ODD number of steps, you will land on a chord tone on a downbeat, assuming you start on a chord tone.


Putting it All Together


So here's a simplified soloing approach to creating eighth note based lines.

1. Use the Bebop Scale. When using the Bebop scale, move stepwise.

2. Use Arpeggios and chord patterns. This gives you skips in 3rds.

3. Then apply some half step (neighbor tone) moves using examples laid out above for ornamentation. This gives you the half step moves.

4. Move in Perfect Fifths or Octaves. Something we discussed in an earlier lesson.

Combine all these for variety.

You'll be surprised how 'bebopy' you'll sound with all of these together.


Don't Start Your line on the Downbeat


To avoid having boxy sounding lines, target your preferred starting chord tone but start playing your line on a 'pickup' (i.e. an eighth note ahead), by using a non-chord tone or approach tone a half step away on the UPBEAT.

Start your lines on any '&' of a beat using a non-chord tone so that the next note IS a chord tone. This is not a hard and fast rule but if you listen to the masters, they will seldom start lines always on beat 1 as all beginners in Jazz will play.


Caution! Take a Breath!

The problem with teaching this approach is that you could theoretically make continuous lines with no stopping of eighth note solos, like what you expect from Bebop.

But realize that actual Jazz lines are SHORT. You need to take a breath as Chris and I have been emphasizing since the beginning.

Slow down. Repeat notes. Repeat ideas. Give space. More notes doesn't equal to a good solo.

Maybe start your solo with some rests. Resist the urge to put a note in on the very first beat.


Don't Forget to Swing

Remember that the core of jazz is the swing in Eighth notes so this is the time to put that accent on the '&'s of the beat to bring that syncopation in. No need to exaggerate the swing, just focus on very legato sound with accents.

Barb, Rosa, Deeluk and Alene,

Using the above lesson as a guide, start first with applying Chord Arpeggios, and chord tone patterns to your solos. Get comfortable with that first. Meaning, I'm not expecting everyone to apply the entire lesson in a single attempt.

jazzwee - I had to laugh when I read your:

Caution! Take a Breath!

By the time I got to that point, I needed a breath. Lots of great stuff you have there. WOW! I'll be busy for a while - but starting on chord tones as you say.

One question comes to mind. At this point, do we play solely eighth notes for our lines? No quarter notes, dotted quarters, half notes. In other words, no syncopation? The way I understand it, we play only eighth notes and accent each &

You are one fantastic mentor!!!!

Barb, in the early exercise, we started out with long tones. This is to get the confidence that one can create nice simple solos with long tones.

This is now about the heart and soul of jazz which is eighth notes. A typical jazz line is probably 75% eighth notes (sometimes it's even 90% - depends on who's playing).

This is where the swing feel is felt the most. And this is where that fast feel of jazz bebop comes from. Sixteenth notes are seldom used in jazz. Smaller notes are very rare in Straight Ahead.

Jazz is played fast by increasing the tempo. You're still playing 8th notes but at 300bpm they sound like ultra fast 16th notes (if you can even play that fast).

To get you to relax a bit and not get too stressed about eighth notes, feel free to mix it in with quarter notes.

When practicing 8th note lines, you can slow down the tempo of AL. Somewhere around 110-120bpm is good for slow eighth lines where the changes aren't coming at you so fast.

The ability to react quickly to chord changes is something that takes time to develop and you build it tune by tune. Many fast Bebop tunes will change chords every two measures. Or a tune like Donna Lee that's played upwards of 180bpm.

I'm just saying this to make you aware of where all of this is leading. You need not worry about high speed playing for awhile. It's not necessary right now. But you can see why some of these thought processes need to be automated.

No one ever said Jazz was simple right

The concept of Chord Tones on downbeats is discussed fully in this PDF book by Hal Galper called "FORWARD MOTION". You can buy it Online for $16.97 apparently (I remember buying this for $25 before ). It's good reading and you'll hear it frequently recommended on Jazz sites.

http://www.forwardmotionpdf.com/

This same concept is discussed by a lot of Jazz educators like David Baker, Barry Harris, Shelly Berg and is referenced in many other jazz books.

BTW - you might also get a number of jazz musicians who do not believe in this approach. Suffice it to say that this is the codification of the Bebop approach. If one wishes not to sound like Bebop then I supposes one has no reason to follow this.

For me personally, I've learned to apply it and also learned when to take an alternate approach but I think it was important for me to understand this first.

Wow, these instructions are just so helpful and makes trying to learn this so much more fun. Jazzwee, we do thank you for all your time and effort you are putting into this.

You do have a knack for explaining and making it clear what to do (even if I have a hard time doing it, LOL)....you make a great ...want to say teacher...but I'll go with MENTOR like Barb did.

Thanks again!
Alene

Yeah, Jazzwee, we all owe you one huge....something. I had a big response written up to this, but realized, I'm a little drunk. The Super Bowl, you know. What you're doing for us here, I cannot thank you enough. I'm going to dive into your suggestions in earnest tomorrow when I can play again.

Sometimes I wonder if I can be understood guys. I'm explaining completely differently from how I learned this.

I'm parcelling it out in slow motion so we don't discuss too many issues that may not be relevant in one's early development (like scales and modes).

So in a way this is an experiment. Please let me know if something is unclear as it is difficult to get this right the first try.

In a discussion on the internet on a old jazz site called JustJazz.com, it was argued there that theories of scales/modes can be explained via the simple explanation of chord tones and neighbors. I don't necessarily agree with this but I have to admit that with this explanation, one can come up with some good jazz lines, so why complicate it for now?

Maybe later, we'll meet up with traditional explanation (in modern times at least). But we'll see how this goes first.

One other thing. I would bet strongly that the idea of chord tones on downbeats would be found in Classical music to a very strong degree. This must be a standard music theory concept (just never articulated before).

Any classical experts there to provide input? It is often said that the only real difference between Jazz and Classical is really the rhythm and articulation (swing/syncopation).