Jazz Smugglers Master Workshop

Jazz Smugglers Master Workshop
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Thursday 29 November 2012

THIS BILL EVANS VIDEO HAS HAD 180,000 VIEWERS. IT IS THAT GOOD


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This is one of the most important lessons on this blog.
Bill Evans wants us to play simply, take it in small steps, a bit at a time.


He warns us against overplaying, too many notes, getting a shapeless effect.
Better do something simple which is real he says.


Extracted from the movie "The Universal Mind of Bill Evans - Creative Process and Self-Teaching".
In this part, Bill talks about how to deal with obstacles, and how to build one's vocabulary step-by-step.
Take a look at this other youtube page at www.youtube.com/miscvanguard for other videos.



In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.









USING LYDIAN AND +9 .A RIFF



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Visit mattotto.org to download the free sheet music to this exercise. Using unusual modes from scales can help produce some interesting melodies. This major #9 #11 melody comes from the 3rd mode of harmonic minor. This mode is a wonderful substitution for Lydian or Ionian. Lydian gives you a Major 7 with #11 where as the 3rd mode of harmonic minor gives you a Major 7 with #9, #11, and natural 9; it's a very beautiful sound. Here's a simple melody from this harmonic minor mode that starts with an ascending Major triad in 2nd inversion fallowed by a descending triad a half step below and ending with a diatonic enclosure of the 5th. You'll see that although the melody is constructed of triads, all the notes are diatonic to the 3rd mode of harmonic minor.

The melody is played 3 times in triplets. Once starting on the first triplet of beat 1, next starting on the 2nd triplet of beat 1 and lastly starting on the 3rd triplet of beat 1. Remember, you can start the melody on any beat.



In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

Monday 19 November 2012

ANOTHER VERY GOOD VIDEO. PART TWO. PLEASE SHARE IT


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This is using the altered scale and other refinements. Really good stuff. He only published it last month and has had over 2,000 views already.

I'm quoting here the questions and answers in the commentary. It gets to how many angels can you get on the head of a pin in the end.....


I haven't tried this, but it seems like for the major chord problem one solution would be to switch to the relative minor and then go down your half step to pick up your dominant chord.
dbrook2007 5 days ago
   Reply 
Right... I think everybody comes up with mini-solutions to parts of the problem. For a more holistic solution, I'd suggest ignoring the original Dominant7 chord and just noodle a bit in that minor key 1/2 step above. Sometimes, if you only have a cuppla beats to work with, your idea can quickly get to a single chord to briefly work with though.
radiokid2 in reply to dbrook2007 3 days ago
I just came back to this video after seeing the third part in quest of an answer but didn't. So here it is :
After practicing II V I using alt scales (G minor on F# 7, C minor on B7, landing on E-) it seems a lot harder to me to find something good when I is major. I minor seems lot easier.
Is it "normal" harmonically or is it just because i've been practicing on E- for too long ? (because of your fantastic video).
BenBen2351 1 month ago
You are so right...major can sound bland after all the cool stuff going on in the II and V chords...so here's a vid I did on escaping Major seventh hell. (the answer is: play blues licks on the minor chord that is contained IN a major seventh chord. ie: a C maj7 is actually an E minor triad with a diff root under it...spelled: C E G B. (EGB spells E minor!) Voila- problem solved!  Enter the following URL into the You Tube menu strip for the Major Seventh post. Good luck!
watch?v=hNW5KdWjlsQ
radiokid2 in reply to BenBen2351 1 month ago
I just practiced a bit again, and it seems like the problem comes the fact that introducing G minor and C minor gives a strong new note : G (natural) (in the root and dominant), which really sounds well when the root chord is E- , but really goes against E major...
BenBen2351 in reply to radiokid2 1 month ago
Right...the minor-ish notes are working against and coloring (with blues notes) the relatively sunny key E major. It's a "relief" sound against the constant major tonality...and, as such. is an effect. The alternative is never do it...and that's a drag after awhile too...ha! One solution: instead of going right to E major, hit E diminished for a couple of beats first. ..(or an Eb triad)...then quickly resolve to E. (See my posts on dim. scales.)
radiokid2 in reply to BenBen2351 4 weeks ago







FOOTNOTE

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

VERY GOOD INDEED. ADVANCED PLAYERS ONLY



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This is brilliant, but you'll need to play it a couple of times to get what he is doing. He is using substitute chords - front line players just work it out for yourselves, it is not restricted to pianists. We had a go at something like this last night at the Workshop. I'll find part 2 and put it up.
This is what he says about it and he overclaims. It is not easy and it will take more than a couple of minutes.  For all levels, this shows a very easy, genius level method to avoid years of scales and practice. Play over your head in minutes!





In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.



Sunday 18 November 2012

USING DIMINSHED SCALES. MORE ADVANCED JAZZ



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I will accept that in the hands of real pros then the diminished played as a substitute scale can sound really nice. But then I'm a fan of melodic lines, and if it is not used properly it can be a mess (to me, anyway, but to others it can be lovely)


In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.



Saturday 17 November 2012

BEGIINERS JAZZ. PLAYING TRIPLETS




TOP NOTE

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He writes "Playing triplets on the saxophone can be thought of as three sounds per beat. Easily play triplets on the saxophone with tips from a professional jazz musician in this free video on saxophone techniques."


In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

FOR BEGINNER ALTO PLAYERS. OCTAVES



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When playing octaves on an alto saxophone, remember that an octave is an interval of an eighth. Work on playing octaves on an alto saxophone with guidance from a professional jazz musician in this free video on saxophone basics.


In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.


Sunday 11 November 2012

HOW BILL EVANS GAVE HIS SOLOS A STRUCTURE. USING A GOAL NOTE



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He says" Many musicians know how to play a lot of notes, but they struggle with the concept of "Musicality". This video shows you how to be more musical.

A good friend of mine was friends with Bill Evans, and he told me about how Bill talked about this one technique that he used a lot to make his solos musical. He would pick one note, and make that the goal note for his solos. You can hear that if you listen to it."

In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.



Thursday 8 November 2012

PLAYING RUNS ON THE JAZZ SAXOPHONE



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He says,
"to play runs on the saxophone, the first thing to do is listen to your favourite jazz pieces over and over. Begin to play runs on the saxophone"




In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

PLAYING JAZZ SAX. SWING EXERCISES




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This chap says: "Swing exercises for advanced saxophone players will actually help you to play advanced notes such as ghost notes. Practice this swing exercise for advanced saxophone players"





In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

BASIC SAX PLAYING. THE REED.


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This chap says.
When using the saxophone mouthpiece, you have to bite just hard enough to engage the reed into the airstream that you are blowing. Properly use the saxophone mouthpiece with tips from a professional jazz musician in this free video on saxophone parts.


In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

BASIC JAZZ SAXOPHONE. TYPES OF JAZZ





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There are hundreds of improvisation types for the saxophone, with blues being the root. Tips from a professional jazz musician'





In this blog We will produce tips for jazz piano, and jazz guitar together with jazz saxophone. We will cover jazz chords, jazz guitar chords, and we will deal with jazz scales. We will cover jazz songs. This site is all about jazz improvisation.

Sunday 4 November 2012

NEXT JAZZ SMUGGLERS GIG. MARIA SINGS SINATRA SONGS


Lovely people at Burpham. It is that little tiny village off to the North of the main road just by Arundel station.
They are so keen, and they work so hard. 
Phone Heather Birch at 01903 882839. £15 but supper is optional. A reduced price is available.
The band is looking forward to it.
John Winkler