CLAP HANDS. MORE POLYRHYTHMS

This chap is very good indeed. A real tutor. 3/4 and 7/4 and 5/4 timings

Visit his Website Matt Otto to view a lesson description. Using odd rhythmic groupings when improvising can be challenging. How many times have you tried to play a seemingly innocent group of 3, 5 or 7 while improvising over a song in 4/4 only to find that you've gotten turned around and are subsequently lost for a short duration. This exercise which I learned from drummer Jason Harnell and which was also part Warne Marsh's practice, has really helped me learn to keep the form better while improving with an odd grouping across the bar line.

The exercise is simple, but challenging, here it is in a nutshell:

1. With a metronome count out loud in whatever meter you choose. i.e. 4/4 = "one, two, three, four".

2. Clap an odd grouping in your hands at the same time. i.e. dotted quarter notes (3 over 4).

That's all there is to it. Although simple conceptually, it really helps and is somewhat difficult at first.

A variation which Jason recommends is to sing a simple song in whatever meter you choose instead of counting out loud, which is more difficult but also more musical and beneficial
JOHN




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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.
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