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I can't say exactly whether its helped my improvising but I'm really brushing up my sight reading and left hand chording. Its awesome for that. Only problem I have is locating the armstrong recordings. Where can you get them? Singing with the pro's is the only part of the method which I still need to get into. The other day I tried to sing some of joe sample's solos but I have trouble memorizing the lines in my head

Hi Saiman, I'm getting the Louis Armstrong ones from you-tube.
You wouldn't believe it but I don't own any Armstrong albums. But I am soon going to invest. I didn't know how awesome trad jazz was until I started JOI.
I sing for 15 minutes a day before I touch the piano. Don't miss out this step. As Dave said in the intro, it is the method for connecting the ear to your hands.

Can someone give me a link to this method please?

Thanks, I have it on order.

hi guys. i got myself a Louis Armstrong CD. Its called Ken Burns Jazz Series: Louis Armstrong. I know its not the same recordings as recommended in Joy but I guess its better than nothing. The first song is called Chimes Blues. It has a nice solo in it which does not seem too complicated. However, Im still finding it hard to keep memorizing and singing the exact lines. Whats the best method of getting a solo into your ear?

Saiman,

the way I do it:

I learn one phrase at a time. Louis doesn't have 16 bar lines, it's mostly 2-3 bars before you get a rest. So it's easy for me to split that way.
I play each phrase on the keyboard at the same time, it helps me narrow down on the exact pitch being played, and I can sing it slow and make sure I got it.
Each phrase would typically take me 5 to 10 minutes, repeating it as needed, maybe 30 times.
After I've done each phrase by itself, I go back to the beginning and do 2 phrases at a time.
Then 4.
Then usually the whole chorus.
I do this over a period of 2 weeks, when I have time.

thanks knotty. you always a great help

Does anyone know of any software available that can transcribe a piece of piano music from an Mp3 file and create the sheet music for it? Thanks!

look at Melodyne. It's supposed to do it.
from their website:

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The New Power of Melodyne

Melodyne editor is the first Celemony product to offer the revolutionary Direct Note Access technology. This makes possible what had previously been considered impossible: access to individual notes in polyphonic audio material. Correct wrong notes in a piano recording; change the chords in a guitar accompaniment after the recording is over; refashion a sample lick. Melodyne editor lets you do things of which, until now, you could only dream. -

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Anybody know if my analysis of Leaf Line is correct? See below:

Bars 1-3 = II,V,I in B flat Major

Bars 4-8 = I, II of III, V of III, III in E flat Major

Bars 9-11 = II, V, I in B flat Major

Bars 12-20 = I, II of III, V of III, III, III, II of III, V of III, III, III in E flat Major

Bars 21-23 = II, II, V, I in B flat Major

Bars 24-27 = I, II of III, V of III, III in E flat Major

Bars 28-32 = II, V, I, V of III, V of III, III,III in E flat Major

I wasn't sure how to classify the suspended fourth chord so I labeled it as a V of III.

Thoughts??

Follow on...Before I get into playing the various peices in the book, I want to analyze the tunes and then take a look at the Solo Pattern to figure out what scales are being utilized within it. I guess I like to know the "why" of what I am doing so it cements itself in my noggin!! I don't know if anyone is using this approach along with the lesson plan in the book, but it helps me tremendously.

Hey Ron
Thanks for your interesting post. I don't think of the JOI tunes in terms of chord progressions/ scales. But I think I need to do so, in addition to my big picture approach.
I think of the jazz tune Leaf Line as
Bars 1 to 8: Theme A
Bars 9 to 16: Theme A repeated
Bars 17 to 24: Theme B, bars 21 & 22 build to climax
Bars 25 to 32: Theme A varied

I think improv is made up of both understanding the melodic idea (my approach) and understanding the harmonic structure (your approach).

For the sus chord I think of it as a beautiful chilled passing note which requires resolution. In Leaf Line, it's extra nice because the D7sus moves to a kind of tension note, the dominant 7, before moving to the home note G min/Bb maj.

Knotty et al: How do you approach the Jazz tune and the Blues tune ?

hi ronmon. To be hundred percent correct the tune plays around in 2 keys, Bbmaj and Gmin. The chord changes are the same as Autumn leaves. For example

Theme A:

Cmin7, F7, Bmaj7, Ebmaj7 (2,5,1,4 in Bb)

Amin7b5, D7b9, Gmin6 (2,5,1 in Gminor)

The Gmin6 is stretches over 2 bars but what most people to is that they turn it into a dominant chord in the second bar so that it leads back to the Cmin7 for Theme A repeated.

Hope this helps.

In terms of the improv, I am a total beginner at Jazz but I think the point is not to overanalyse the tunes but to focus on phrasing and develop you inner ear by singing and playing. In my opinion Joy of Improv is an approach that focuses on immersing yourself into the music rather than analyzing and deconstructing it.

Maybe Dave can also shed some light here

i don't know what you man by the suspended chord but I think the part you talking about is some form of

Gmin7C7b9|Fmin7 B7b9| progression as you find it in the Autumn leaves (Bb) bridge (on the word "darling". After that it goes back to Eb, then a diminished chord and then back to the chorus.

in terms of the tune analyzation, Saiman wins the prize! (A year's worth of canned ham:)Each of the JOI jazz tunes is based directly on a standard. Leaf Line is Autumn Leaves, the key centers moving mostly between Bb Maj and G min, with a few bars of Eb towards the end.

In Book 2 there is a section called Basic Chord Progressions which explains this subject of tune analysis in detail. Ultimately it is really important to understand how the standards are basically made up of sequences of basic progressions.

It's never a problem if you want to analyze the chord structure when you tackle one of the JOI tunes, but Saiman is right that at the beginning immersion in the music is the basic focus; the theory knowledge can come sooner or later based on your interest in the subject. Definately by Book 2 you want to get into the subject, earlier if you can't sleep nights because you're trying to figure out why the C7 in bar 12 has a #11...

Watch out, my fellow tune detectives, some of the titles are double-puns instead of single puns (Froggy Day is Someday my prince will come:)

Blessings and keep swingin

Dave Frank

thanks so much adding meat to this threat Dave. Let all keep sharing our experiences with this method and maybe even start posting some recordings. As soon as I have all the technical aspects sorted out Ill upload some stuff

Wow...I was way off on this one...lol. Thanks for setting me straight guys. I was so stoked to get after this material I guess I didn't really listen to the song and the changes before setting out on my "little adventure" in chord theory!!!

Great to have people out there that can help and are working through some of the same things. Probably just need to get out of my own way and just play!!

Thanks again everyone...gotta go to work for now!

Have a great day!

if you guys would like, if there's some way to hook up in a conference video call sometime (I haven't done that one yet but I'm sure there's a way to do it), we can all meet in cyberspace for a free group Joy of Improv party. That would be fun.


DF

Thank you Saiman and Dave. After your posts, I'm going to look at Autumn Leaves tomorrow.
I NEVER would have guessed the double pun for A Froggy Day. I'm going to bed now but when I get up, I'm going to go through the titles and see which ones I can work out.