Tag Archives: Jazz Improvisation

New Jazz Etude: Implied 5/4 Over Minor to Major Turnbacks in 4/4

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Here’s a line that is inspired by Stan Getz’ classic solo on Stella By Starlight (from the album, Stan Getz Plays, where he so masterfully uses polymeter to create an interesting rhythmic tension in the final cadences of the song form on the first chorus). The harmonic structure I’ve used here is a minor to major turnback (i.e., minor key ii-V7s that “turn back” and finally resolve to major), which also happens to be a somewhat condensed version of the last eight measures of Stella By Starlight. Take a look at the example above. If you analyze the note choices I’ve made on each chord, there is nothing harmonically complex or “exotic”. In fact, most of the melodic content is more or less outlining the chords themselves.

But what gives this line its particular surprise is how I’ve used rhythm and meter in constructing it. The first motif is a 5/4 pattern, subdivided into 3/4 and 2/4 (the 3/4 being the first six eighth notes; the 2/4 being the quarter note and the two eighth notes that follow it). The final two eighth notes of this motif (A and Ab) act as “approach notes”, or passing tones, that lead to the “G” in the second beat of the second measure, thus starting a similar melodic pattern (with some variation) of the original motif, but modulated down a whole step with respect to the new chord (E half dim7). The original rhythmic pattern (six eighth notes followed by a quarter note and two eighth notes) is then stated again, but this time displaced by one beat (hence, the 5/4 over 4/4).

You’ll notice that the quarter note has been rhythmically displaced, moving from beat four in the first measure to beat one of the third measure. On the third beat of the third measure the rhythmic pattern varies again, but still implies a 5/4 organization, with the B natural acting as the fifth beat of the 5/4 pattern. So the entire pattern fits into 15 beats, giving the impression of the time turning around significantly against the 16 beats of the four-bar harmonic form. Spelling out the C maj7 gives the entire melodic line a strong sense of release against the previous harmonic and rhythmic tension. If you practice this over a backing track you’ll most clearly hear the harmonic/rhythmic tension, but even practicing it with a metronome clicking on beats two and four, you’ll still get the feeling of the cadences being displaced against the 4/4 form.

If you would like to explore these concepts further, please consider my e-books, Essential Polymeter Studies in 4/4 for the Improvising Musician, and ii-V7-I: 40 Creative Concepts for the Modern Improviser. For a free, downloadable pdf of this etude, click the link below:

5/4 Implied Over Minor to Major Turnbacks in 4/4-pdf

Time and Rhythm: Discovering the Magic Between the Beats

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“Many people think that how they commit to the metronomic beat is the only game in town. But in bebop, the game in between this beat and the next one is really the main game.”

-Charles McPherson

“The metronome is not my sense of time. My sense of time lies between the metronome clicks.”

-Bill Plake

Well, I have at least one thing in common with alto saxophone great Charles McPherson. We both agree about our relationship to time (and how we perceive it).

Many musicians who seek my help in improving their sense of time and rhythm tend to have this more “passive” approach to the beat, as described above. This is, in part, because they view playing with “good” time as some kind of burden, as something they are obligated  to do in a rather precise and inflexible manner.

But playing with “good” time is not a burden. It is a liberator,  making your music more vivid, along with optimizing your skill and coordination.

And for you to play with “good” time, you need to be flexible and dynamic in two specific ways:

First, you need to be flexible and responsive to the time/rhythm/feel nuances of the other musicians with whom you’re playing.

Second, you need to have a dynamic rhythmic imagination.

It is this “dynamic rhythmic imagination” that I wish to address here.

No matter what kind of music you’re playing, “between the beats” is where all the possibilities lie. If you’re playing “interpretive” music, lets’ say, Bach, for example, it is your imagination of the “unevenness” (the emphasis and de-emphasis) of each of the eighth notes in a particular phrase that give it a unique expressive quality.

In other words, it is how you “imagine” the eighth notes relative to the beat  that puts your personal stamp on the music.

If you’re an improvising musician, on the other hand, it’s not just how  you imagine the eighth notes relative to the beat, but also what  you imagine rhythmically.

By “what”, I’m talking about the complexity and richness of your rhythmic expression. I’m talking about more than just continuous eighth (or sixteenth) notes.

Syncopation, polyrhythm, metric modulation, polymeter…even silence…all of this can be part of your rhythmic imagination. The “game in between this beat and the next one”, as Charles McPherson says.

And for sure, as an improvising musician, the “how” of how you play your eighth notes, sixteenths, etc., relative to the beat, is a vital component of your expression. (I think of this as a part of your “time feel”.)

But the bottom line is that none of this happens without consciously strategic and constructive work. In the simplest sense, that means working on two specific skills:

  1. Your sense of pulse (your ability to imagine and accurately predict) the beat (or “clicks” on the metronome).
  2. Your ability to imagine and move with an ever-expanding vocabulary of rhythmic expression relative to that beat.

The key word here is imagination.  When you’re practicing, that might mean using a minimal amount of metronome clicks relative to the rhythm being explored.

So for example, if you’re working on feeling eighth-note septuplets (seven notes played within two beats), it would make little sense to set the metronome clicking on each eighth note of the septuplet. Doing so might make your eighth notes sound “more even and precise”, but will do nothing for your rhythmic imagination. Ultimately, it is your carefully cultivated “rhythmic imagination” that will make your rhythms most precise, whether your playing by yourself or with others.

It would be more beneficial to set the metronome click in three ways. From easier to more challenging, these are:

  1. One click per each septuplet.
  2. Two clicks per each septuplet. (Believe it or not, you’ll most likely find this to be a bit more tricky.)
  3. One click per measure. (So, in 4/4 that would be one click for every 14 notes)

Once you’re able to do all this fairly readily, next would be to displace the click of the metronome relative to the septuplets, perhaps having it click beat two of each measure (or if you’re really up for a challenge, having it click on the “and” of beats one and three!)

Working on rhythms with this kind of intention and precision yields remarkable results, whether you’re an interpretive or improvising musician. The music “between the beats” comes alive inside of you with sometimes startling energy!

I’ve composed an e-book filled with exercises to help you enrich your rhythmic imagination, as well as to improve your ability to predict  the beats. Working daily in this way will help you build measureable skills that apply to whichever kind of music you play.

In any case, I encourage you embrace Maestro McPherson’s assertion, and discover the magic between the beats. Here’s a link to Ethan Iverson’s excellent interview with Charles McPherson. Enjoy!

New Jazz Etude: Sus Chord Combined with Altered Melodic Shape

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Here’s another easy way to combine the more “modern” sounding qualities of 4ths and 5ths with a hint of classic bebop language over ii-V7-I. Take a look at the example above.

I essentially use only two different tonal elements for the entire line. In the first measure, I start with a suspended chord shape: E, G, D, A (which could be labeled either/both D Sus9, or A Sus7). I continue with an altered-note melodic shape (G, Bb, Ab, F) in anticipation of the G7 chord. In the next measure, I return to the original suspended chord shape in a different inversion from the first measure. I then use the exact same four-note altered note shape from measure one, but place it an octave higher. The notes of this shape, relative to G7, are: 1 (G), +9 (Bb, functioning enharmonically as A#), -9 (Ab), 7 (F). It seems to imply a diminished scale quality, but could be interpreted many ways relative to other diatonic scales that fit as altered substitutions over G7 (e.g., Ab melodic minor, F melodic minor, etc.)

The line then returns (3rd measure) to a variation/inversion of the original four-note suspended shape, and continues with these four notes until the end. As you can see, both four-note pitch sets (the Sus chords and the altered notes) share a common note, the “G”. The two colors combined (Sus and altered) make for an interesting contrast that works well over the chords. Dissonances that fall well within the bebop realm, but the suspended shape adds an interesting contrasting element. If you’d like to explore more creative options over ii-V7-I cycles, please consider my e-book, ii-V7-I: 40 Creative Concepts for the Modern Improviser. For a free, downloadable pdf of this etude, click the link below:

Sus Chord Combined with Altered Melodic Shape-pdf

Why “Feeling Relaxed” Isn’t Always a Good Thing To Aim For When Playing Music

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The word ‘relax’ can be a very dangerous word for some musicians.

–Karl Snider, singer, voice teacher, Alexander Technique teacher

One of the fundamental benefits of studying  the Alexander Technique and applying it to musical performance is in reducing or eliminating misdirected effort.

It is this misdirected effort (manifested through muscular tension) that leads to unnecessary fatigue, compromised coordination and skill (including problems with time/rhythm), and even injury.

My Alexander Technique students learn to play their instruments with far greater ease, efficiency, confidence, consistency and satisfaction than they did before studying the work.

Yet if you asked virtually any of these students (musicians from a large variety of genres) if they are more “relaxed” when they play now, compared to before they started taking Alexander Technique lessons, you might be surprised by their answers:

“I wouldn’t say I’m more ‘relaxed’ when I play now, just that I’m freer to move and respond in a way that is more conducive to playing my instrument the way I want to play it.”

The above is a quote from one of my students, an excellent guitarist here in Los Angeles, who’s been studying and applying the Alexander Technique for a number of years now.

(His response pretty much sums up and concurs with typical responses to this question from just about any of my students.)

If you asked this guitarist if he aims to be “relaxed” when he plays, he’ll answer with a resounding “no.”

Why is that? (you might wonder)

“Because (going again to what my student said) saying I want to be ‘relaxed’ is misleading.”

“First of all, it takes a certain amount of energy and tension to play guitar. Muscles are constantly working when I play. They have to. So it’s impossible to be completely ‘relaxed’ in the way most people think of being relaxed, and certainly in the way that I used to define that state of being.”

“Second, aiming for relaxation can often lead to other problems, like under-energized practice and performance. And before, when I didn’t ‘feel relaxed’ in the way I thought I should, I immediately became anxious, thinking I was doing everything wrong. That would lead me to playing with even less freedom and with more strain.”

As my student discovered, it’s this “feeling wrong” if you don’t think you aren’t as “relaxed as you should be” that often leads to even more misdirected effort.

If we go back to what my student does  want in his playing (what he has gained from studying and applying the Alexander Technique), it is more freedom.

Freedom to move lightly but powerfully. Freedom to respond in a constructive way to musical impulse. Freedom to use time more effectively.

Ultimately, freedom to choose.

If you were to ask this student what qualities he now seeks and enjoys when playing guitar, some of the words would be: balance, mobility, ease (not the same as relaxation), flexibility, efficiency, precision, satisfaction.

Freedom  instead of relaxation.

And this doesn’t even take into account the psycho-physical state of readiness necessary for actual live performance. So many musicians confuse the heightened state of arousal before and during a performance as “fear”, as something to be avoided at all costs.

While there are certainly some musicians who feel “fearful” about performance, the feeling of “excitation” necessary for optimal performance is too often confused with “fear” by many performers.

That’s unfortunate.

Because great performance is  exhilarating. It is  magical. It is  dynamic. It is  alive with energy (and even tension!) It is indeed  special.

But it is a far cry from anything anybody would call “relaxed”. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it is impossible to be relaxed during an authentically expressive musical performance.

So instead of aiming for “feeling relaxed” during a performance, perhaps you can wish for this instead:

To be free, mobile, supported by the ground, appropriately energized, connected (to the music, to the other performers, to the audience), inspired, curious, generous and loving.

And, perhaps…

You can wish for a light, easy upward and outward dynamic expansion throughout your entire body as you play.

You can wish for freely moving breath.

You can wish for an integrated attention, balancing what you think/feel internally, with what you experience externally.

You can wish for allowing yourself to use time to your advantage, never rushing ahead, instead letting the music unfold into its natural, easy rhythm.

You can wish for buoyant, freely flowing energy throughout your entire self.

You can wish to be graciously receptive of the creative impulses moving through you.

You can wish to be graciously receptive of the presence and energy of the audience and the other performers.

You can wish for economy of effort  instead of relaxation.

You can wish for clarity and freedom in thought and expression…

What else would you  wish for in practice and performance, if you could have anything you want?

New Jazz Etude: Suspended Shapes Over The Coltrane Matrix

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There are so many harmonic, rhythmic and melodic possibilities to be found by exploring the iconic jazz harmonic progression commonly known as the “Coltrane Matrix”. In this particular etude, I aim for a rather angular sounding line by using the shapes of suspended chords (“Sus” chords) that fit readily within the diatonic harmony of the matrix.

If you look at the first four notes in the example above, you’ll recognize an A7 Sus chord (A, D, E, G) in retroversion (G, E, D, A, in the example). These notes fit well over the CMaj7 chord, then connect, via half-step movement to the next shape, which is an inverted F7 Sus chord (which would be F, Bb, C, Eb in root position). You might note here that there are no tensions in this shape over the Eb7 chord that are “leaning” for resolution to the AbMaj7 chord. Instead, the energy of the movement comes from the tonal contrasts between the two shapes over these two chords.

The second measure begins with an inverted Bb7 Sus chord (over the AbMaj7) that moves to an F# Sus2 chord (F#, G#, B, C# in root position) over the B7 chord. (Again, no strong harmonic tensions over the dominant chord here.)

There is a considerable leap (a minor 7th) between the last note of the second measure and the first note of the third measure, which adds to the angularity of the line. I use an inverted G#7 Sus chord over the Emaj7, which is close to the color and shape of the F#Sus2 chord over the B7. (I did this to add rhythmic interest/tension into the line.) Over the G7 chord I use an inverted version of the same chord the line starts with (A7 Sus).

This continues into the last measure over the CMaj7, where the first four notes is identical to the first four notes at the beginning of the line (the A7Sus). By moving up to the B natural to end the melody (in contrast to moving to the Bb, as in the first measure), the line ends with a sort of “open-ended question” quality to its sound (not quite “resolving”, in a certain sense).

This is most definitely a “modern” sounding concept here. It’s less concerned with voice leading in resolution (which might be more common to the bebop language) than it is  with expressing the energetic quality of these shapes. If you play this over a backing track, you’ll notice that there are no strong dissonances, that if “fits” well over the changes. Yet it has a highly unusual, almost “outside” quality to it. A bit of a paradox. In essence, it is replacing the natural angularity of the harmonic movement with the angularity of suspended shapes.

If you’d like to explore some of the possibilities of this important harmonic progression (The Coltrane Matrix) in greater detail, please consider my e-book, The Coltrane Matrix: 40 Unique Melodic Ideas in All 12 Keys. Click the link below to download a free pdf copy of this etude.

Suspended Shapes Over The Coltrane Matrix-pdf