PRACTICE PORTAL

Following up on recent posts about diatonic transpositon of melodies, i decided to take things a little further and apply this process to a denser melody. as of late, i’ve been putting a lot of time into shedding music from Coltrane’s middle period. on songs like “Giant Steps”, “Countdown” and “26-2″, Coltrane took his harmonic, and corresponding melodic, exploration to new heights of complexity. in an earlier post where i compared solos by Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley on “Grand Central”, i mentioned that while Adderley functioned on the molecular level, so to speak, Coltrane operated on the atomic level, applying his groundbreaking harmonic ideas to conventional bebop progressions as well as his original music. “26-2″ is loosely based on Charlie Parker’s “Comfirmation” changes. the 32 bar melody is quite a challenge to play and blowing over the changes is incredibly difficult because the constantly evolving chord progression only slightly lets up (but not much!) during the bridge. one of the rules i outlined for diatonic transposition is that 11ths should be raised on all Major and Dominant 7th chords. well, rules are made to be broken. while i did raise the 11ths on all Major chords, i decided not to do so with  the Dominant chords this time. you can play the transcription as written and then try it with the 11ths raised. listen to what your ear tells you. as you play through the different transpositions you’ll find any number of cool melodic ideas you might want to explore in your own blowing…

“26-2 STUDY” (pdf)

“Nardis” by Bill Evans is one of my favorite compositions. i love the way the chords move, as well as the feeling the melody evokes. i thought it would be interesting to do the same thing i did on a recent post where i took the melody of “Body And Soul” and transposed it diatonically. “Nardis” presents some challenges because there are several notes in the melody that don’t belong to the harmony. for example, in the second measure, there are D#’s that don’t belong to the FMaj chord. in measure seven, there’s an F that doesn’t belong to the EMaj chord. in the third and fourth measures of the original melody, the B is held through the B7 and CMaj chords. the note will sometimes change from chord to chord as the melody is transposed diatonically. i put those notes in parentheses. like i said before, playing through these transpositions reveals other aspects of the original melody…

“NARDIS STUDY” (pdf)

Learning melodies in a number of keys is important for all musicians. it allows for more flexibility and confidence, especially when playing with a vocalist, who might want to perform a song in a different key to accommodate their singing range. chromatic transposition means taking a line and moving everything, the melody and chord progression, up or down by a certain interval. so, for example, by transposing a melody from Bb to D, all of the notes move up a Major 3rd and they retain their exact relative interval shape.  the underlying harmony also moves up a Major 3rd. with diatonic transposition, on the other hand, the underlying harmony remains the same. the shape of the melodic line will generally be the same but there may be some slight note alterations depending on the requirements of the harmony or the scale that it comes out of. here’s an example:

take a simple melodic phrase like: Bb D Eb C F G F. let’s say the underlying chord is Bb Major.

if we transpose it up chromatically by a Major 3rd we get this: D F# G E A B A. the chord becomes D Major and the each note of the melody is moved up by a Major 3rd.

if we transpose it up diatonically by a third we get this: D F G E A Bb A. the chord remains Bb Major. the notes are still derived from Bb Major but each note is shifted upward by a diatonic 3rd.

for reasons of good voice leading, when transposing diatonically, there are a few rules to keep in mind:

• if the harmony is Major or Dominant, all 11ths (4ths) should be raised.

• if a Dominant harmony is resolving to Minor, all 9ths (2nds) and 13ths (6ths) should be lowered. the 13th (6th) of a Minor chord of a ii-V moving to Minor may be lowered.

• if the harmony is Half Diminished, all 9ths (2nds) should be lowered.

• fully Diminished and Augmented chords, because they are not typical 7 note scales, present some challenges that i won’t go into just yet… for now, i suggest using your ear and your intuition when working with them.

other than those exceptions, i make alterations according to the requirements of the chord. several years ago, as a student in NYC, i had the opportunity to study briefly with pianist Gary Dial. he showed me some exercises for chord study. the goal was to hear and play a certain degree of each chord and then add chromatic or diatonic neighboring tones. he devised three-note patterns (for example: chromatic 1/2 step above, chromatic 1/2 step below, chord tone) to be played over every chord of a progression. it’s an interesting exercise that i study to this day. the melodic study that i’m posting here evolved out of those exercises. i think it’s a great ear training tool as well as a cool way to find interesting lines that are hiding in every song you’ve heard or written. in the PDF below, i wrote out “Body And Soul” in the original key. then i transposed it diatonically by a 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th. playing through the different transpositions is a great way to expand your understanding of the melody and the progressions it is based on, to see other paths the melody might have taken…

“BODY AND SOUL STUDY” (pdf)

Due to circumstances beyond my control, my posts have been slow in coming. hopefully, i’ll have the problem solved before too long. here are some patterns to check out. enjoy…

“MISCELLANEOUS PATTERNS” (pdf)

Here are several patterns over 2-5 progressions in minor. these were extracted from pianist Hod O’Brien’s solo that is featured in the previous post. keep in mind that these patterns can be applied to other progressions, they can be adjusted to be practiced in different time signatures or displaced rhythmically (by placing the starting note on a different part of the beat), etc. these patterns are laid out over a cycle of fifths (C, F, Bb, Eb, etc.) but it is also of benefit to lay them over other cycles (chromatically, whole steps, minor 3rds, ect.) enjoy…

PATTERNS FROM “UP IN QUINCY’S ROOM“ (pdf)

Patterns that occur in nature can be quite beautiful, as can patterns that seem to materialize naturally out of an improvisation. Joe Henderson immediately comes to mind as an improvisor who had an incredible ability to weave patterns into his solos in a way that was organic and unforced. actually, there is no trick to it. it comes down to learning a pattern until it moves from your brain into your body, examining the harmonic implications inherent in a given pattern, and understanding instinctively situations where it can be applied. easy, huh? as easy as three words: practice, practice, practice… here are a few patterns based on melodic minor bebop, diminished and major scales.

VARIOUS PATTERNS (pdf)

Here are a few more patterns for practice. i wrote them out at 2 in the morning while watching the  NBA all-star game (Dwight Howard should’ve won the slam dunk contest with that insane banger on a 12 FOOT RIM. that dude is straight-up ridiculous!!) these patterns are built around ascending and descending diatonic fourths. a little something to keep your fingers limber…

MISCELLANEOUS PATTERNS (pdf)

Here are a few more patterns based on the Melodic Minor Bebop Scale…

MELODIC MINOR BEBOP SCALE ARPEGGIOS PART 2 (pdf)

Here are a few exercises that i work on from time to time. they are groups of arpeggios extracted from a melodic minor scale with a passing 6th degree included. the scale, devised by Barry Harris, is commonly known as a (melodic minor) bebop scale. Barry Harris refers to it as a Minor 6 Diminished Scale. instead of the usual 7 note scale, the inclusion of the passing 6th gives the scale 8 notes so that it has a rhythmic symmetry which is ideal for incorporating into melodic lines.

Melodic Minor Bebop Scale (C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, A, B)

when the scale is played stepwise from the downbeat, all the tones of the minor 6 chord fall on strong beats while the tones of the diminished chord  fall on weak beats. the diminished chord can belong to G7b9, Bb7b9, Db7b9, or E7b9. the roots are not a part of the arpeggios.

if alternating notes are played starting from the 1st, 3rd, 5th or 6th degree, you get a minor 6 arpeggio and its inversions.

(C, Eb, G, A) (Eb, G, A, C) (G, A, C, Eb) (A, C, Eb, G)

when starting from the 2nd, 4th, b6th or 7th degree, you get diminished arpeggios.

(D, F, Ab, B) (F, Ab, B, D) (Ab, B, D, F) (B, D, F, Ab)

the patterns that i wrote out are based on sequences that move up diatonically through the scale. i ran it around the cycle of fifths so you can get at all those funny keys that we all know we should practice, but tend to avoid. in future posts i will write out other sequences for practice.

check ‘em out…

MELODIC MINOR BEBOP SCALE ARPEGGIOS (pdf)

The Interval Matrix is a project i started last summer. in a nutshell it’s an exercise book that focuses on intervallic relationships. from time to time i will be posting excerpts from the book. below are links to the book’s introduction and chapter 1 (minor 2nds).

INTERVAL MATRIX-INTRO (pdf)
INTERVAL MATRIX-Excerpt from MINOR 2nds (pdf)