The Jazz Sax & Improvisation Blog of Saxophonist Bobby Stern - bobbysternjazz.com

"Stablemates" - The Last 4-Bars of the "B-Section"

5/23/2024

Running Into Ideas
"Stablemates" - The Last 4-Bars of the "B-Section"

Recently, while working through the changes of Benny Golson's classic "Stablemates", I realized the need to zero-in on one particular part of the tune - namely, the last four bars of the B-section.

That part of the form (which is A-B-A) is a succession of descending chromatic ii-Vs, which in order to be navigated through smoothly, needed some specific focus on my part.

As I was trying out different approaches, I stumbled upon a sequence based primarily on the interval of a Perfect 4th, which seemed to work well - actually covering two bars at a time.

Four'll Get You Twenty-Four

4/19/2024

Four'll Get You Twenty-Four
A few half-diminished permutations to get started

According to an online permutation calculator I stumbled upon recently, the number of unique combinations of the 12 pitches of the Western chromatic scale comes to exactly 479,001,600 - and that's just the pitches! Add to that the variations in rhythm, tone and timbre, etc., and that number grows to infinity.

Not to worry! In this post, we'll cover just a few of the permutations of just four notes - which yield the measly number of 24 possible unique combinations - definitely enough to deal with!

The 4-note cell focused on here is commonly known as a min7b5, or half-diminished chord and is similar in concept to a previous post and book, "Permutation Station 1235".

A Friendly Little I-VI-ii-V Sequence

11/23/2023

A Friendly Little I-VI-ii-V Sequence

It's always good to run into a friendly face - or in this case, a friendly chord progression. What, in most cases, makes the experience so "friendly" is the familiarity involved.

The I-vi-ii-V chord progression and its modifications is, in one form or another, arguably the most familiar 4-chord harmonic progression found in all popular styles of music.

Its familiarity includes the A-sections of standards such as "I Got Rhythm" and "Blue Moon", for example, as well as parts of countless tunes, intros and vamps across all genres.

So, what makes this friendly chord progression so popular? Must be the sunglasses.

The SUPER 4 - A 4-Note Swiss Army Knife

7/27/2022

New Shortbook™ : "The SUPER 4"
A 4-Note Swiss Army Knife For Improvisers

The “Super 4” is a collection of four tetratonic (4-note) structures, bound together by a consistent set of intervals and their inversions, resulting in a handy, streamlined tool with which to create colorful melodic lines over multiple chord types, while at the same time avoiding some of the more time-worn cliches.

Originating from a set of well known piano voicings, these structures form a quartet of unique 4-note “scales”. Due in large part to the presence of the intervals of a minor 2nd and tritone, they offer a good deal of “bite”.

This harmonic and melodic tension was first fully appreciated by such innovators as Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, et al in the early 1960s and beyond.

Vamp Like a Champ! - ii-V-iii-VI Arpeggiated Sequence

5/26/2022

Vamp Like a Champ!
ii-V-iii-VI Arpeggiated Sequence

Let's talk about vamps... and no, I don't mean those nocturnal, pointy-tooth bloodsucker types from Transylvania.

In musical terms, a vamp can be defined as a repeating harmonic or rhythmic sequence, of usually two, four or eight bars. It can be based on a single harmony, a bass riff, or on a series of chord changes.

Vamps are everywhere these days, and have been for a good while. Listen to any contemporary charted pop tune and chances are the bulk of the tune is based on a vamp of some sort. Traditionally, a vamp might function as a song's intro. In our case, it functions as an improvisational vehicle often found at the end of a solo, or at the end of a standard tune, as well.

Get an Angle on "The Eternal Triangle" Bridge

2/24/2022

Take it to the Bridge...
Getting an Angle on "The Eternal Triangle"

Ok, folks! Are you ready to take it to the bridge? Brooklyn? GW? Golden Gate? London Bridge?

Nope. I'm talking about the "The Eternal Triangle" bridge - from the classic Dizzy Gillespie album "Sonny Side Up" - featuring both Theodore "Sonny" Rollins and Edward "Sonny" Stitt (the tune's composer). Two Samurai swordsmen battling it out on the bridge (the whole tune actually) with tenor saxophones as their musical swords of choice. And then, of course - there's Dizzy! Not to be forsaken!

Despite the high winds created by the tune's rapid tempo, crossing this bridge might not be as treacherous as it might initially seem.

Joe Henderson's Tenor Solo on "You Know I Care" - A Transcription

11/25/2021

Joe Henderson's Tenor Solo
"You Know I Care" - A Jazz Ballad Transcription

"You Know I Care", is a masterpiece of a composition by the prolific composer / pianist / arranger, Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson, jr and is possibly the most representative original ballad of the 1960s Blue Note period.

As the ballad feature on Joe Henderson's classic "Inner Urge" album, it was recorded on November 30, 1964 - nine days before John Coltrane recorded "A Love Supreme" - with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones (each a member of Coltrane's classic quartet and icons themselves) on both sessions.

Almost six months later, Pearson recorded his own version of "You Know I Care" as a 6-horn arrangement, but Henderson's quartet recording is the definitive version, as his tenor solo as well as the rhythm section, breathes additional life, dimension and drama into an already singular ballad composition.

"Come Rain or Come Shine" - An All-Weather Etude

8/19/2021

"Come Rain or Come Shine" - An All-Weather Etude

As an improviser, one of the most effective ways to learn and study any tune is to compose an Etude over its chord changes.

This can get you up close and personal with the tune's harmonic structure, as well as its harmonic and melodic resolution points.

It will also reveal where you are in terms of your own aural understanding in relation to where you might want to be (this never stops - it's a continuous process!).

One particular tune I personally wanted to delve deeper into was "Come Rain or Come Shine" - music and lyrics by Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer. It debuted as part of the 1946 Broadway musical "St. Louis Woman", and has since been performed and / or recorded by just about everyone and anyone. It's enshrined as part of the "Great American Songbook".

'Ning's the Thing! Monk's "Rhythm-a-Ning: Self-Transcription

3/26/2021

Toot My Own Horn Dept.
'Ning's the Thing! Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-a-Ning" :
Another Self-Transcription

The vehicle featured in is month's forage into musical self-discovery is none other than Thelonious Monk's “Rhythm-a-Ning”.

As with the two most recent posts (“Bemsha Swing” & “Bye-Ya”), the play-along used here is from Hal Leonard Jazz Play-Along Vol. 91, “Thelonious Monk Favorites – 10 Classic Tunes”, which features the heavyweight rhythm section of (the late, great) pianist Ronnie Mathews, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa, as well as Monk's former drummer (the great, late), Ben Riley. You can't get closer to the real deal than this.

As you might know, “Rhythm-a-Ning” is Monk's best known “Rhythm Changes” composition - the chord progression of which is based on George Gershwin's 1930 32-bar, AABA standard “I Got Rhythm”, from which countless tunes have been derived and recorded by countless artists of countless genres.

Monk's Bemsha Swing - A Self-Transcription

1/28/2021

Toot My Own Horn Dept.
Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing": A Self-Transcription

This post features a self-recorded and transcribed tenor saxophone solo on Thelonious Monk's well known classic. “Bemsha Swing”.

As I hadn't recorded myself in quite a while, I was anxious to turn this into a project. Fortunately, the results passed quality control and I can happily share them here.

The backing track used here is from “Thelonious Monk Favorites – 10 Classic Tunes” (Hal Leonard Jazz Play-Along, Vol. 91). It features the great Ronnie Mathews on piano, Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass, and Monk's former drummer - Ben Riley. It was recorded, mixed and mastered by the legendary RVG – Rudy Van Gelder – at his studio, where so many iconic recordings where made. Don Sickler, a name associated with many such projects, produced the session. What more could one ask for in a backing track?

Go Ye 4th: Fourtitude + Lines in 4ths

9/25/2020

Go Ye 4th: Fourtitude + Lines in 4ths

As the title suggests, "Fourtitude + Lines in 4ths: iii-VI-ii-V7" is a happy fusing of the two named, previously individual Shortbooks™ from 2018 and 2017, respectively.

For reasons pertaining to "virtual inventory management", as well as the compatibility of each volume's subject matter - what was two, now is one.

For a full description of what have become individual chapters of the same volume, see the original blog posts for "Fourtitude" and "Lines in 4ths: iii-VI-ii-V7", which are still in tact, and will remain so.

Now as before, the "Fourtitude" section of the book focuses on exploring the uses of Perfect 4th pairs in creating melodic lines.. This concept occasionally overlaps with that of the recent Shortbooks™, "Trichord 027", "The Cycle - 101" and "Pentalogy", which all link the interval of a P4th and the Pentatonic Scale inherently.

Along with P4ths, the section on "Lines in 4ths" allows for Augmented 4ths (tritones), as well as diminished 4ths (sounds a Maj 3rd) in the creation of lines over the familiar iii-VI-ii-V7-I chord progression.

Oh-Two-Six (026) - An Improviser's Guide

2/27/2020

Oh-Two-Six (026)
An Improviser's Guide to Practical Usage of the 026 Trichord

Since the inception of the improvisational art form we know and love as “Jazz”, melodic and harmonic techniques have steadily expanded in all directions – in some cases even disappearing altogether.

Presently growing within the collective consciousness of many contemporary improvisers (guitarist Bruce Arnold and saxophonist John O'Gallagher lead the way), is the awareness and usage of the 12-tone techniques pioneered by the early 20th century European “serialist” composers – Berg, Webern & Schoenberg - being the most prominent among them.

The basic premise of this system is the construction of 12-tone rows – the 12 tones of the chromatic scale as equal entities, non-repeating and organized into different “pitch class sets”, or note groupings of varying lengths.

Bluesitudes - One Dozen 12-Bar Blues Etudes With Attitude

8/28/2019

Bluesitudes! One Dozen 12-Bar Blues
Etudes With Attitude!

The 12-Bar Blues form is probably the most recognizable song form across all styles of popular and world music.

Its organic simplicity and malleability has made it accessible not only to musical artists of all genres, but to the listening public, as well.

While the earlier Shortbook™ “Blues Deep: Fifty” focused primarily on the phraseology of the original, primal Blues, as well as the construction of the so called “Blues Scale” and it's relationship to (and result of) the natural overtone series, “Bluesitudes” attempts to demonstrate, from a harmonic point of view, just a few of the modifications to the standard 12-bar Blues form which, over the years, have come into play.

We Got Rhythm Changes!

7/26/2019

We Got Rhythm Changes!
"Who could ask for anything more?"

Yeah... we got 'em!

"We Got Rhythm Changes!" is this months featured Shortbook™, and if there's any doubt as to its subject matter, the title itself should be clear enough.

The seminal chord changes to George Gershwin's 1930 classic "I Got Rhythm" became popular among swing era musicians of the 1930's and '40's. With creative modifications, they became iconic to the post WWII bebop era and beyond, being referred to simply as "Rhythm Changes".

Next to the 12 bar Blues, the 32 bar AABA standard American song form "Rhythm Changes" became one of the most popular (and flexible) vehicles for improvisation.

Many classic lines or "heads" were composed over "Rhythm Changes". Some of the best known are:

Fourtitude - "Fourtification" for Improvisation

11/22/2018

F o u r t i t u d e
"Fourtification" for Improvisation

This month's Shortbook™, "Fourtitude" (I know, fortitude) explores various methods of utilizing the interval of a Perfect 4th (C & F) in pairs to create captivating and original melodic lines and sequences.

Becoming an important part of the improviser's toolbox in the early 1960's - most notably through innovations by pianist McCoy Tyner and others - mastery of the Perfect 4th (P4th) remains an essential and challenging skill set for the present day improviser.
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In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, harmony based on fourths, known as Quartal Harmony, had been introduced via the symphonic works of several renowned European classical composers; namely Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Bella Bartok, being a few of the most prominent.

As mentioned, the focus of "Fourtitude" is the combining of Perfect 4th pairs to create lines that weave seamlessly in, out and through the underlying harmonic structure; but before we get to the good stuff, let's take a look at what makes a Perfect 4th so "perfect" in the first place.

Shall we?

UPDATE: "Fourtitude" has been combined with "Lines in 4ths: The iii-VI-ii-V-I Progression" as a single 98 page pdf volume "Fourtitude + Lines in 4ths: iii-VI-ii-V7"

Shortbook of the Month: The Cycle -101

10/28/2017

Shortbook™ of the Month: "The Cycle - 101"
A hundred & one thrilling trips around the Cycle of 5ths

Finally completed, this month's Shortbook™ is entitled "The Cycle - 101", both the subject and contents of which is "one hundred and one creative exercises & sequences, designed to transport you around the Cycle of Fifths" (Just like the well-bred gentledudes on the left).

The so called "Cycle (or Circle) of Fifths (or Fourths)" is one of the primary building blocks, melodically and harmonically, of what's become the basis of Western Music.

Derived from the natural harmonic series, the interval of a Fifth is the first overtone, or partial, that occurs after the octave, (i.e. C - C - G......). The Fifth has been "instrumental", with the advent of equally tempered tuning, in forming the Western sense of pitch, and ultimately - harmony.

Lines in 4ths - The iii-VI-ii-V-I Progression

4/23/2017

Shortbook™ of the Month: Lines in 4ths
The iii-VI-ii-V-I Progression

The interval of a perfect 4th has been an important melodic and harmonic component of the improvising musician's language since the early 1960s, being introduced to the idiom and popularized by pianist McCoy Tyner, and featured in the compositions and solos of pianists Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea (among others); B3 organist Larry Young; saxophonists John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and Joe Farrell; as well as trumpeter Woody Shaw and guitarist Karl Ratzer, to name just a few.

A good bit of info on the subject has already been posted on this site, and in order to avoid a trip to the Office of Redundancy Office, the dozen or so posts are all linked under the "Fourths" category. Check 'em out!

The exercises contained in this post are from a new Shortbook™, which is in the form of 12 individual melodic lines in 4ths, over the basic premise of the familiar iii-VI-ii-V-I chord progression and transposed into all twelve keys.

UPDATE: "Lines in 4ths: The iii-VI-ii-V-I Progression" has been combined with "Fourtitude" as a single 98 page pdf volume "Fourtitude + Lines in 4ths: iii-VI-ii-V7"

Monk's "Skippy" - The Etude

8/17/2016

Monk’s “Skippy” - The Etude

Based on a previous post, which included a breakdown of Thelonious Monk's challenging original, "Skippy", I finally got around to putting together a one chorus, 32 bar "solo style" etude, as a means to decipher ways to navigate the changes of this roller coaster ride of a tune.

Monk's only recording of "Skippy" was from the 1952 Blue Note session that was released as part of "The Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2", and which included an alternate take of the tune, as well.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, composing an etude for oneself can be extremely beneficial, in that it slows down the improvisational process and allows one to better see, hear and comprehend certain melodic and harmonic connections and how they tend to resolve - or not.

It's kind of like transcribing your own mind.

Inspired from "A Study in Fourths" by Walter Bishop, Jr. - Part 2

1/24/2014

This is the second post dealing with ideas from Walter Bishop, Jr's "A Study in Fourths". It might not be a bad idea to check out Part 1 for some background, including the all informative YouTube vid of Mr. Bishop demonstrating his concepts at the piano.

The link to Part 1 should open in a separate tab, so you can have them side by side for easy access.

The 4 bar line presented here is based on the first bar of ex. 8 on p. 13 of "A Study in Fourths" (a 2 bar phrase), of which both first measures are identical.