The Jazz Sax & Improvisation Blog of Saxophonist Bobby Stern

Lucky 13 - Major Scale Polymodal 13th Chord Arpeggios

8/19/2013

I came up with this 13th chord, seven note arpeggio exercise for myself a long time ago, as I wanted to practice the complete major scale and it's modes as 7-note arpeggios.

Originally, I probably saw a totally diatonic version of this exercise in "Technique of the Saxophone - Vol. 1 - Scale Studies", by acclaimed Berklee woodwinds guru, the late Joe Viola. But, due primarily to each chord containing the inherent tritone, playing diatonic 13th chord arpeggios on each degree of the Major Scale just didn't sound good, right or "natural" to me somehow.

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Sonny Stitt - "How Many Keys on the Saxophone?"

8/7/2013

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Sonny Stitt - How Many Keys on the Saxophone?

From the mid 1970's until the early '80's I lived in Munich, Germany. Aside from being a beautiful, culturally oriented city lying at the foothills of the Alps, Munich hosted (somewhat unceremoniously, it seems in retrospect) one of Europe's premier jazz venues at the time, known as the "Domicile"

The "Domicile" was on par with Ronnie Scott's in London, the Montmartre in Copenhagen, and several other major European clubs. It was part of "the circuit", so one got to see all the major jazz legends who came over from the States (plus some of the top European musicians), on a consistent basis, with the usual length of engagement being 5 or 6 nights. Eventually, even I had the opportunity to play there with some frequency. I got to see people like Dizzy, Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Johnny Griffin, Woody Shaw, Archie Shepp, etc. I took a lesson from George Coleman and sat in with Freddie Hubbard.

The Domicile was also, in the Summer of 1980, where I got to experience the likes of none other than one Edward "Sonny" Stitt.

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Lucky 13 - Major Scale Polymodal 13th Chord Arpeggios

Sonny Stitt - "How Many Keys on the Saxophone?"

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