>> Hey Knotty
I just played Art Tatum's Tenderly on you-tube as I didn't know it. It sounds very very difficult. What are you working on ?

Well, I was working on an arrangement of Tenderly. And then I heard Tatum play it. It's difficult in every possible level. Maybe I can steal of reharm or two...

Actually, there is one upstairs. It belongs to my son. But the piano is in the living room. It's not impossible to lug the drums downstairs, but it's a hassle, and would take a lot of arranging. I would still need a drummer. Maybe I'll look for one when I have something decent by way of improvising to contribute. I can't ask a drummer to get excited about a mere 12 bars.

My husband already has to accept that he shares the living room with a piano, 4 guitars 2 amps and a music stand. I think a drumset would about send him over the edge.

Completing 5 lessons out of 26 feels like a bit of a milestone. I thought rather than plough on with lesson 6 I'd take a week to revisit the previous ones. Maybe write something for Autumn leaves. Not to mention the guitar practice.

Custard, that looks like an interesting documentary. I might put it on my DVD rental list.

Hey Ten,

Unless you can provide a solid bass lines, drummers struggle without a bass player.
My drum set is downstairs and I move it in the living room twice a week. It takes a few minutes.
Also depending on the set, the cymbals, the player and the piano, it may totally overpower the piano, perhaps you're already using towels and such.

So I'd say wait until you're comfortable soloing on a few easy tunes, then get both bass and drums at the same time. Maybe a guitarist, they can provide a lot of support if they play well enough.

About the joi lessons, I would move on to lesson 6. However, when you have time, you should play or sing the earlier tunes.
Wait until lesson 13 or so before you start the composition on autumn leaves. It will pay off better that way. At the pace you're moving at, it's about a couple of months.

Hey Ten
That's great that you're thinking about having a band.
How's your birthday list ? "Jazz. A Film by Ken Burns" would be nice to add to your list. I doubt you can rent the 10 part series. I watched it last year and I plan to watch it again this year.
It's narrated by Wynton Marsalis which is great but obviously has Wynton's biases. Too much time on Dave Brubeck, as talented and lovely as Dave Brubeck is. And no time on Bill Evans except for a passing comment.

Why? What is it about lesson 13? Just curious.

I believe that's when Dave thinks people are ready to move on to that step. I think that's more or less when I started.
After a dozen or so tunes, you start compositions, after a dozen compositions, you start improv. After that, you start arranging. That's more or less the road ahead.

arranging you can start after you finish the chord lists..

DF

Got it. I imagine there's still a few chords to learn after lesson 13.

Hi Custard,

I just added it to the rental list. They will come one at a time, we've done this before. The reviews say it focusses just on the bebop era - and Dave Brubeck. Fine, I'll finish knowing more than I did before.

For my birthday I'm getting guitar lessons and I'm asking for connecting linear harmony by Bert Ligon - this has been on my list for ages. Any more and I'll need to remortgage the house.

That's interesting. I'm certainly not ready for the trio. But for the future, if there's to be a bassist we could probably squeeze him in the kitchen and communicate by webcam. And if the drums are louder than the piano, then I'll need to rent a hotel room for my husband for a few hours. Still, it'll be worth it. There are quite a few embassies in Edinburgh...

You got any more gigs booked?

>> That's interesting. I'm certainly not ready for the trio. But for the future, if there's to be a bassist we could probably squeeze him in the kitchen and communicate by webcam. And if the drums are louder than the piano, then I'll need to rent a hotel room for my husband for a few hours. Still, it'll be worth it. There are quite a few embassies in Edinburgh...

Haha

>> You got any more gigs booked?
one in a couple of weeks. Won't be quite as exciting, but we'll see. I want more embassies !

Hello !
This is an improv in F maj_D min for 8 measures at 84 bpm.
Do you like it or not ?!

http://www.box.net/shared/5gke58h0y0

Cheers
custard

Custard, that would be an affirmative. From my very innocent perspective I think all you need is confidence.

Knotty - I suppose they can't all be embassies! Bring your own ferrero roche...

Thanks Ten !
I am getting through these progressions quicker.
I spent nearly 3 weeks on the C maj_A min one, and less than 2 weeks on this F maj_D min one.

Cus,

That's really good!
How many keys have you done of the minor progressions? It's a good idea to do all 12, but you don't have to spend 3 weeks on each. Whatever you like, I guess. These little 2-5 are going to come in many many tunes, but some keys much less than others.

Also, record a few more measures, maybe go through the progression 3 times or so ...

The improv is perfect.

>>Knotty - I suppose they can't all be embassies! Bring your own ferrero roche...
You know that commercial? Feels like a long time ago!
Well, there are many around here, I just need to get them, and then we could be very busy ...

great improv. I liked the feel,the LH chords, and the chromatics in the RH line. Ye be swingin sister.

IMHO, you can do 6 keys of this before moving to the next one, and spend one week most on each key. You can tackle 2 keys/week easy if you like:) Cool to move along!

DF

PS -you can also go just as fast as you want to y'know
remember - don't B flat, B sharp, and always B natural

mmm. I'm getting the urge to get through the lessons quicker.

Hi Knotty and Dave
Thank you so much for your help and continuing encouragement.
I've only learnt 2 minor keys: A min and D min, and I can't wait to get onto the Bb maj_G min progression. I'm feeling I should go slow and deep on the Bb maj_G min one (like one and a half weeks) given it is so common in tunes. But yes I know I do spend a long time on things, and I should hurry up so that I can get onto tunes.

Cheers
cus

Hi Dave

Yeah, it felt good doing the chromatic. Like you said in your Charlie Parker masterclass, chromatics provide a further level of granularity.
And studying your JOI tunes at your 120 bpm and then slowing down in Transcribe to approximate my 84 bpm speed, have really helped my feel.

I put in the Bb as I used the D harm min. Do you prefer that I use another scale ?

Thanks !
cus

Knotty or Dave
If you have time, would you be so kind as to check my Bb maj_G min progression ?

http://www.box.net/shared/4v63l1le3l

I've also put together some possible arps and scales.

http://www.box.net/shared/ohrd8l5the

Thank you.

Custard

Cus,

Looks good. The G-M7 would have a perfect 5 in it, D, versus the Eb you got there.
You can also play G Bb D E. Both work fine.

Hi Knots
I'm back ! Thanks a lot for correcting my attempt.
Would you mind checking to see if I've understood you correctly ?

http://www.box.net/shared/9v7ett6ryp

http://www.box.net/shared/92o6bt5y8q

Cheers
cus

the doc doesn't show for some reason, but I didn't mean to change the b5 of the a-. That should stay an Eb.
So go back to the original voicing you had on A-b5. Eb G A C. That was good.

I meant just for the G-. In the original word doc, you had printed Eb. At least, that's how I read the doc.

There's no Eb in G-6.

Knots

1. So you're OK with the sound of the progression on my original mp 3 ?

2. For A min 7b5, it's OK to use Eb and F# in the arps ?

2. For D7 b9, it's OK to use Eb and F# in the arps ?

4. For G min, OK to use F# in the arps ?

5. For each of the chords of the G min progression, OK to use G melodic minor scale, that is, G A Bb C D E F# G ?

on a minor 2-5-1, use the Harmonic minor as your bread and butter.

For your a-7b5, use a minor 7, which is G. A C Eb G

++

Sorry Knotty, it must seem like my questions never end.

So are you OK with the arp not matching the scale ? For example, for the G min 6 chord where the arp might be E min7 b5 (E G Bb D), the arp uses an E nat. However the G harm min has an Eb.

yeah, I'm totally ok with it

Endless as the questions may seem, it is useful for me to take this stuff in, even though I'm not actually doing it yet. So, do ask away.

Hi Ten
Thanks for the encouragement I actually have a whole lot more questions but thought that I had already subjected Knotty to enough.

Looking forward to listening to the Lesson 5 files you posted. As you can tell, I've been a bit distracted with my own questions.

Hi Knotty !

Can I also use E F# Bb D as a G min 6 chord, that is,
6, maj7, b3, 5 ?

Does this chord with the maj 7 sound stable enough to use as an ending chord; or would you use it like a passing chord between other G min 6 chords ?