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Hey guys, Barb had asked me to record an AL solo and here's a snippet of it (one chorus).

http://www.box.net/shared/x2cq1zdcck


There's just a couple things I'd like to explain about this solo. First, it is hard swinging so it is different from my prior examples which I played with more straight eighths. This would be closer to a Bill Evans style of swing I think.

There's several chromatic lines in it. For example to run through an F#m7b5 chord, I might do [F F# G G# A B] or [F# G G# A B], depending on whether I start on the upbeat or not. The first one starting on F on an offbeat will have F# and G# land on the downbeat. So what this is showing is that the tones on the upbeat need not to be from any scale. This is something I explained in the Chromatic examples provided earlier.

I do use the Half-Whole diminished on the Dominant 7 chords at times (not always).

I mix quarter notes and half notes into the solo.

In general I don't know how cleanly I hit chord tones on the downbeat on the eighth notes. Probably ok for the most part. But the long notes (quarter or half) that cross chords are typically common tones and may be chord extensions since those are the ones typically shared between chords.

I don't remember exactly what I did here as this is a real improvisation. I made some mistakes on the first chorus so I just chopped it off and I didn't have time to redo it. Hopefully it's of some use.

Thank you Jazzwee. That's what I needed to hear. I have yet to get those jazzy scale notes to sound like Bill Evans. You have proven that it is quite doable.

I am motivated to keep plugging away.

Barb, part of the issue of getting a legitimate sounding swing is:

1. Accents - something we've discussed frequently
2. Legato

The legato element is extremely important because I find for myself that if I accidentally break that legato sound, it's awful and sounds amateurish. If the legato sound breaks, the sing-songy aspect appears.

Here's at least my modest example of hard swing but missing the sing-songy effect. It's closer to triplet feel, although I don't consistently do this, some moments are straight too.

When I say I play straight or hard swing, it's more of a tendency rather than a 100% thing.

To me a triplet feeling swing sounds like:
Dow-Da Dow-Da Dow-Da Dow-Da Dow-Da Dow-Da Dow-Da

vs. Straight eighths sounding more like

Da-Da Da-Da Da-Da Da-Da Da-Da Da-Da Da-Da Da-Da


And I don't know if you'll notice this but I purposely don't start at the top of the beat. Wherever I choose to start it, I'd have to maintain that location for a few beats so it sounds intentional.

Once you actually are able to analyze and understand how swing evolves, it becomes doable pretty quickly. What's harder I think, is to maintain a consistent swing throughout and this is more of a technique issue.

Actually, a triplet swing sound is more like:
Do-Be-Do-Be-Do-Be-Doo.

He,he! I didn't know there were official syllables to be used For some reason, in my head I associate a Bill Evans swing as having a more rounded sound so to me he's a Dow-Da (played very fast) ...

It's that old joke: Wittgenstein and Sartre are having an argument: To be is to do, no no, To DO is to be! Frank Sinatra comes along and says: Do-be-do-be-do.

Frank Sinatra. The early albums with Nelson Riddle.
Relaxed swing and marvelous phrasing.
This weekend I've been collecting different recordings of AL. And I must say that there's two version that blows me away: one with the original version sung by Yves Montand and the other by a very young Barbara Streisand with Michel Legrand's orchestra recorded in France.

And yes; legato is best. Keep it smooth.

Maybe we do...

A-wop-bop-a-loo-ma-ba-lop-bam-bom

wait a minute...that's not jazz.

Gang, just dropping in to let you all know I haven't abandoned this thread. I was on vacation for the past coupla days. No 'net. No piano. Getting back in the groove tonight. Back to my chord tone + half dim practice....

Jazzwee, thanks for posting your solo snippet. I've been meaning to ask you to post an example for us incorporating more of the recent solo lessons. That one sounds great! I love the accents you're using throughout. I'd love to be able to achieve that sort of control over my playing.

I'll try to post more deeluk. I'm just trying to find time. As you know it's hard to post a finished product or even semi-finished. Because we're not pros, imperfection is expected. But since you're all following me here I have the extra burden of doing the best I can (at least one that doesn't set bad examples that you can spot).

I'm sure the pros listening to my playing will have much to criticize but we are what we are.

One note on practicing that swing feel. It's probably easier to accomplish phrasing eighth notes at about 120bpm. Earlier in the solo lessons we started at 150bpm to force the use of long notes. But when focusing on eighth notes 150bpm is pretty fast for beginners. But don't do much slower than 110-120bpm because it gets to be harder to have control since the notes are too far apart. Sometimes I have articulation problems at 150bpm that I don't spot when I'm playing but I hear it in recordings so I clean up the phrasing at 120bpm.

This time, it is continuous bass line for Autumn.

http://www.box.net/shared/tcskaes08g

This was really fun to do.

Rosa

Rosa, that sounds so cool. Were you reading the bass line, or do you have it all memorized?

I have not yet tackled a walking bass.

That's pretty amazing Rosa! That's very difficult to do.

Now you have to sound like a real bass player so make sure those bass notes are legato just like a real double bass. For extra swing effect, accent beats 2 and 4. This should be an easy change for you.

Before you only Elssa tried Walking Bass. To develop this skill requires more and more agility to do stuff on the RH while the LH does it's thing and keeps the beat going. Most people can only do simpler solos on the RH when walking.

Congratulations! One more medal

Back to the solo practicing, I think it is important to master the jazz articulation/swing more than picking the right notes.

I know Barb has been focusing on it and now that I've posted an example, I hope that everyone tries short solos, even pre-written, just so we can refine the swing feel.

Jazzwee - I've been working on jazz phrasing with the Miles Davis tune Solar. The piece is short , and has a good mix of eighth notes and quarter notes. A couple of weeks ago you asked that I concentrate on increasing the contrast between the downbeat and upbeat by softening the downbeat. I tried to do that here.

http://www.box.net/shared/3cbogz7cw0

I find that it is easier to work on specific areas of phrasing when I am not soloing. Of course, I am still aware of the phrasing issue when soloing, but the distraction of finding those notes is always present.

Please let me know if I am heading in the right direction with legato, accented eighths, and detached quarters. Eventually, I want to trick my RH by adding the LH on beat 1. I haven't yet added the LH at all while soloing.

This tune I would probably drag the melody more. I have to go to a jazz lesson right now but maybe I'll see about recording a little Solar for you to compare.

I don't have the music in front of me, but I recall playing Solar with opposite accents. Are your accents in the right place? Or are they off by an eighth?

i'm moving along more slowly, but don't fully understand lesson 3.

jazzwee, you say:

Am7 (LH fingers 51 playing 1/7), D7 (LH fingers 32 or 21 playing 1/3)

Edit: (Note that 21 works better in Am7 and 32 works better in F#m7b5.)


but how can i play a 1/7 with the 21 fingering unless it is inverted?

sorry for being so dense.

Jazzwee - Thank you for the prompt feedback. Hope you're having a GREAT lesson right now.

I tried to put a heavy accent on the "and" of the beats. The piece begins on the "and" of 2.

This piece is a lot of fun. I do want to learn it as it should be played. I'm very much looking forward to hearing your version.

Barb, I just got back so just a quick note. There's a Solar by Keith Jarrett on Youtube and the melody on that gives you a good flavor (although he modifies it a little).

Westarm, I'll read on that lesson later and see what you're talking about.

Westarm, don't vary the 51 fingering on the Am7 or the II chord in general. This will affect your motion to the next chord. The most important finger is the 5 (pinky) which should be on the root. As you get more advanced finger 2 may end up on the 7th (because the thumb has to play something higher).

As a general rule, fingering is decided on based on not just what you are doing but where you are going next. Using 51 (Am7) then 21 (D7) preserves the shape of the hand to quickly go to GMaj7 which is only a step away.

Using 51 and 32, the pinky is still free to move back to Gmaj7. So in general you don't want to tie up pinkies and thumbs so they can't go to the next position. This applies to soloing too, which is why in soloing we try to have a very open hand position and use all the digits.

More recordings requested by Barb to demonstrate jazz phrasing/articulation.

Solar Head (150bpm)
http://www.box.net/shared/kyvebwksos

Donna Lee Head (170bpm)
http://www.box.net/shared/q8q5f9l44w