The Jazz Sax & Improvisation Blog of Saxophonist Bobby Stern

Oh 2 Slick Blues - For the Socially Distanced

4/28/2020

"Oh 2 Slick Blues" - A 12 Bar Blues for the Socially Distanced

Greetings from the distance, fellow distancers!

As a matter of survival, and depending on location, the requirements for self-isolation in this current crisis continue. For better or worse, it gives one the opportunity, on many different levels, to get to know one's self a little better.

While far from being the most urgent of concerns for many of us right now, from a strictly musical place (and this blog is all about music), that could mean honing-in on material that we may not have yet mastered, or that is less than familiar.

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

2/27/2020

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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.

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0 1 3 Calling...Super Augmented!

11/29/2019

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0 1 3 Calling...Super Augmented!
An Introduction to the 013 Trichord & Super Augmented Scale

The scale in the title of this latest Shortbook™ was originally referred to as "Super Augmented" in a previous blog post from several years ago.

Among other names, it's been identified primarily as the inverse of Messaen's 3rd mode of limited transposition, as well as "Tcherepnin Nonatonic Mode 1", "Genus Chromaticum", and "Augmented Nine".

I'll still go with "Super Augmented", however, since among other aspects of its scalar construction, it contains two overlapping 6-note Augmented Scales, linked by a common Augmented triad.

"Pretty super!", I'd say. It also contains a trio of 013 Trichords, a Major 3rd apart - forming a 9-note (nonetonic) scale.

"But..what", you ask "is an 013 Trichord?" Or - better yet - what is a trichord, period?

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Your Daily Bread - 100% Whole Tone

5/29/2019

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Your Daily Bread - "100% Whole Tone"

OK, let's put a bit o' butter on the subject, shall we?

This month's Shortbook™ "100% Whole Tone" explores some of the improvisational possibilities and applications of the somewhat ignored and under appreciated Whole Tone Scale.

The Whole Tone Scale, as you may know, is a symmetrical, hexatonic (6 note) scale in which the intervallic distance between each of its inherent tones is that of a Major 2nd, or whole tone. Its layout is palindromic, meaning that its interval makeup is the same ascending as it is descending, regardless of its starting note, or "root".

Because of it's lack of certain basic intervals derived from the natural overtone series, such as the perfect 4th & 5th, the Whole Tone Scale has a somewhat ethereal quality, but could be seen as being melodically and harmonically limited or even boring to some degree.

However, it might also be compared to the two Knights on a chessboard - unique, quirky and extremely effective when used properly - especially in tandem with each other.

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Shortbook of the Month: The Cycle -101

10/28/2017

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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.

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Monk's "Skippy" - The Etude

8/17/2016

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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.

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Oh 2 Slick Blues - For the Socially Distanced

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

0 1 3 Calling...Super Augmented!

Your Daily Bread - 100% Whole Tone

Shortbook of the Month: The Cycle -101

Monk's "Skippy" - The Etude

Monk’s “Skippy” - The Etude

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