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

A Curious Case of Temporary Outness in the 4th Dimension - Inspired by "A Study in Fourths" by Walter Bishop, jr

9/11/2014

A Curious Case of Temporary Outness
in the 4th Dimension
Inspired by "A Study in Fourths" by Walter Bishop, jr.

As with these two previous posts (here and here), this particular exercise covers improvisational techniques utilizing the interval of a perfect 4th, inspired by the legendary pianist and composer, the late Walter Bishop, jr., and his currently out of print book, "A Study in Fourths".

If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Bishop and his contributions to the music and its vocabulary, this is a must see video, whatever your instrument happens to be.

While Walter Bishop, jr. certainly wasn't the first to come up with the concept of using fourth cycles as a tool for improvisation, his legacy as a contributor to the concept lives on, through his book, as well as the above linked instructional video.

In this case, we're talking about working some of these modified fourth cycles over a common, six measure iii-VI-ii-V-I chord progression.

Three's a Pair! - Melodic Minor ii-V7-i Triad Pairs

9/4/2014

Three's a Pair! - Melodic Minor ii-V7-i Triad Pairs

The use of Triad Pairs (adjacent diatonic triads which form a hexatonic, or six note, scale), has been a relatively recent addition, historically speaking, to the general vocabulary of improvised music, becoming more prevalent among improvising musicians during the past 30 years or so.

One of the earlier examples of the use of triad pairs can be found in the well known 1959 recorded TV version of John Coltrane's solo on Miles Davis' "So What", when he was still a member of the trumpeter's quintet.

Coltrane can be heard to clearly enunciate both G and F Maj. triads (built from the 5th and 4th scale degrees, respectively, of the C Major scale) in sequence over a basic D-7 for most of the first 10 bars of his second chorus, beginning at 4:51 of the above linked YouTube video.

There are many subsequent examples of the use of these, and other, triad pairs to be found in 'Trane's solos on numerous versions of his own compositional adaptation of the "So What" changes; namely, "Impressions".

Likewise, the same G and F Maj. triad pair is in evidence on Coltrane's 1962 trio recording of his original, "Big Nick" (solo transcription here).

A Perfect Fourth Story; Ch. 2 - Melodic Minor ii-V7-i Application

8/28/2014

A Perfect Fourth Story - Ch. 2:
Melodic Minor 4th Shape ii-V7-i Application

Judging from the title, this post is a follow up to last week's, with some ideas on how one could apply these particular Melodic Minor 4th shapes in a ii-V7-i situation; at least in theory.

What I've done here was to copy one of the single measure shape patterns from a particular MM scale for the ii7b5, and another one from the MM scale a minor 3rd above it for the V7alt, but not from the same identical scale degree, so that while the shape remains the same, the pattern's interval makeup is slightly different.

A common Melodic Minor device is that whatever you play on the ii7b5, you can transpose that same phrase up a minor 3rd as a parallel sequence for the V7alt and it should sound pretty cool, right?

Eg: Line 1, measure #1 of last week's exercise: D-G-C-G Ab-D-G-E = D-7b5 (from the 6th scale degree of F Melodic Minor).

Now drop down to Line 7, measure#1: F-Bb-Eb-Bb B-F-Bb-G = G7alt (7th scale degree of Ab Melodic Minor, up a min. 3rd from F, although the pattern begins on the 6th of Ab MM).

Now that you've gotten this "up a minor 3rd thing" digested, please be informed that we'll be avoiding it like the plague this time!

A Perfect Fourth Story - Melodic Minor 4th Shape

8/20/2014

A Perfect Fourth Story:
Melodic Minor 4th Shape

4 Leaf Clovertone

The interval of a perfect 4th, being an inverted perfect 5th (the 2nd harmonic overtone in the natural overtone series), is predominant, both melodically as well harmonically (where harmony exists), in all types and styles of music on Planet Earth.

Traditionally, western music is based on a series (cycle) of 12 consecutive perfect 4ths (5ths) i.e.: (C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-B-E-A-D-G), which when juxtaposed to create a row of 12 equidistant semi-tones (C-Db-D-Eb-E-F-Gb-G-Ab-A-Bb-B) becomes known, of course, as the Chromatic Scale.

It's from this Chromatic Scale that we commonly draw our 7 note Major Scale matrix based on the interval scheme of:

Whole Step/ Whole Step/ Half Step/ Whole Step/ Whole Step Whole Step/ Half Step. (C-D-E-F-G-A-B = C Major).

But you already knew that, right?

Or, we can take a series of 6 consecutive perfect 4ths (eg. B-E-A-D-G-C-F), and we have the same 7 notes of that same C Maj. scale.

We can even drop the first and last notes (B & F), which create a tritone, and that'll give us a good ol' C Maj Pentatonic Scale (C-D-E-G-A).

Smashing! Wouldn't you agree?!

It's only when we bust up that plan by messing with the note E (the hallowed Maj. 3rd); altering it down a half step, (making it an Eb and a min. 3rd), that we enter the dark netherworld of C Melodic Minor....

And then the real fun begins!

Funkman's D-Lite - Contortion, Distortion & 7#9 (Maj / min)

8/14/2014

Funkman's D-Lite - Contortion, Distortion
& 7#9 (Maj / Min)

Dr. Funkman Whosen-Evernitiz

The dominant 7th chord is probably the most flexible harmonic device in Western music, both in it's functionality as well as its note choices.

Theoretically speaking, all you need is a tritone and 9 of the 10 remaining notes of the the chromatic scale, excluding (again, theoretically speaking) only the Maj. 7th (which works great as a passing tone, etc.), and you're good to go.

Think I'm lyin'?

Using D7 as an example for this post, let's build a chromatic scale and label each note's function (notes in italics are the altered tensions):

D=root; Eb=b9; E=9; F=#9; F#=3; G=sus4(11); Ab(G#)=b5(#11); A=5; Bb(A#)=b13(#5); B=13; C=7; C#=Maj7.

Only the last note C#, the Maj7 in this case, gets uninvited to the party, but it usually "passes" by via the backdoor, anyway.

Count 'em up. That's 11 out of 12 legit (and 12 out of 12 if we sneak that Maj7 in there).

Is that flexible or what?

251 Measure Relay - ii-V7-i Penta b6 Speed & Agility Exercise

8/6/2014

251 Measure Relay - ii-V7-i Penta b6
Speed & Agility Exercise

Coming on the heels of last week's post, this speed & agility exercise starts out with the same Pentatonic b6 configuration, this time over a 4 bar minor ii-V7-i cadence; using a different Penta b6 for each chord; albeit from a common tone.

As with the previous exercise, this one is designed not only for speed & agility; but also to sharpen your ears and your brain; and to facilitate, ultimately, the ability to start an idea from any note

Once again, memorization through the 12 keys is the goal here.

As with previous exercises here dealing with the Melodic Minor ii-V7-i progression, a different Melodic Minor scale is related to each of the three chords.

The derived b6 pentatonics from these three unique Melodic Minor scales have a single common tone between them, and it is from this "X-Centric" vantage point that we will begin our exploration.

NOT Olympics - Pentatonic b6 Speed & Agility Exercise

7/31/2014

NOT Olympics - Pentatonic b6
Speed & Agility Exercise

The playing of music, in it's purest form, isn't often looked upon as a truly competitive human activity.

As with athletics, a musician ultimately measures growth and progress against one's own accomplishments, just as a runner or long jumper might; constantly trying to better the quality of his or her performance.

For the contemporary improvising musician, technical facility on one's instrument makes it possible to express more complex and challenging musical ideas, and is a necessary requirement to do so.

In both disciplines, speed and agility, not only physical, but mental as well, are important acquired skills, obtained through many hours of focused practice` and training, which enhance and augment any innate, natural ability or talent.

Melomina's Delight - Minor Tonic to Dominant (i - V7alt)

7/22/2014

Melomina's Delight - Minor Tonic to Dominant (i - V7alt)

Princess Melomina von Melodicus

This minor Tonic - Dominant (i - V7alt) exercise is the third in a series, and works in tandem, more or less with the posts from 02/25/2014 and 03/10/2014.

Checking them out, particularly the former, might not be a bad idea.

The premise of all three exercises is to familiarize oneself with Melodic Minor, both technically and aurally, over a basic minor i - V7 cadence; which as explained in the first post, happens to be the first eight bars of the well known and oft played standard, "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise".

As in the first post, this exercise utilizes all 7 diatonic scale tones of the D and Bb Melodic Minor scales, alternately; D MM for the tonic (i) D min. chord and Bb MM for the altered dominant (V7alt) A7alt chord, each lasting a measure apiece.

The difference here is that the scales are laid out in directionally alternating diatonic 3rds; ascending / descending, etc., in an ascending direction and descending / ascending on the way back down.

Chops Duster! - Fingerbuster!

7/10/2014

Chops Duster! - Fingerbuster!

"Hey look Ma......! It really works!!"

Contrary to the condition of the gent's digits in the picture below, this is a mild version of a "fingerbuster" (I'm not referring to the Jelly Roll Morton composition of the same name).

A "fingerbuster" could be considered as an instrumentalist's version of a "tongue-twister" which is usually defined as a group of words, or a phrase, that is considered to be difficult to execute.

While the degree of difficulty varies with both the phrase and the ability of the practitioner, constant repetition, in any case, at a slowed down tempo, usually serves to iron undo the knots before gradually bringing it back up to speed.

This particular "finger-twister" appeared out of the blue recently while I was doing my saxophonistic due diligence, and it gave me "the finger".

Korner Karnataka #5 - Take A Ride on the "South Indian Line"

6/27/2014

All Aboard!
Take A Ride on the "South Indian Line"

"People get ready, there's a train a-comin''. Don't need no ticket, just get on board " - Curtis Mayfield

(...and If you actually get to where you're goin' in one piece. you'd better thank the Lord!)

The exercise here is a page from my personal workbook (as is most of the stuff I post, I guess).

In order to kill two birds with one stone, I thought I'd create` these lines for myself as a method to get closer and more personal with this odd meter Carnatic composition "South Indian Line", and post them here, to share with my fellow masochists.

2 B Continued...Continuous Melodic Minor ii-V7-i, 3 Scale Exercise

6/19/2014

2 B Continued...
Continuous Melodic Minor ii-V7-i
3 Scale Exercise

The purpose of this minor ii-V7-i exercise, which utilizes 3 Melodic Minor scales (in directionally alternating diatonic 3rds), is at least three-fold:

1) Because Melodic Minor has no "avoid" notes, one can start and resolve the ii-V7-i cadence on each and any scale degree.

2) To smoothly connect, by whole or half step, from one scale to the next, moving in the same ascending or descending direction.

3) Most importantly, to help train the ear to the sound of Melodic Minor in general and to the sound of this type of polymodal ii-V7-i in particular, as well as to build instrumental technique.

'Trane Fare for Slonimsky - A Diminished Scale Sequence

6/12/2014

'Trane Fare for Slonimsky - A Diminished
Scale Sequence

A Beautiful (Musical) Mind - Times 2

Here's another symmetrical scale exercise.

This time, it's 2 minor 7th chords a tritone apart, a pair of 4 note patterns, which reveal all 8 notes of a diminished scale.

I was sure this pattern, which has its descending version in retrograde of its ascending form (second two measures), was contained somewhere in the depths of Nicolas Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns".

But it wasn't!

Rep. Tile Dept. - Express Your "Scales" as Arpeggios

6/5/2014

Iguana play some scales

Musically speaking, a scale (in German "Tonleiter" or "tone ladder") is an ordered set of pitches, either ascending or descending. Such scales can be expressed stepwise (horizontally) or intervalically as arpeggios (vertically).

The subject of this exercise is the arpeggiated version of the Melodic Minor Scale starting on it's 4th scale degree (Lydian Dominant), over a minor ii-V7-i root movement.

A wealth of information on Melodic Minor harmony can be found in previous posts on this blog, together with ii-V7 exercises.

Like A New Pair of Blues Shoes - More X-Centric Gonzatonic b2s

5/29/2014

Hey everybody, I'm back!

Did ya miss me?!

I know, I know!

I've been doing some shopping, and I picked up this badass pair of kicks which I'll be sportin' whilst I shed these "Slick Licks That Stick!"

(OK, so they're not really my shoes!)

This X-Centric Gonzatonic b2 exercise download, based on Shape #5 from tenor master Jerry Bergonzi's great book, Vol. 2 - Pentatonics (Advance Music), is the inverted form of an exercise contained in an earlier post, and the explanations can be found there.

Keep 'em spit shined & polished and they'll carry you far!

Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" - The Last Eight

5/1/2014

Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" - The Last Eight

Smokin' Joseph

I've been wanting to post something on the subject of Joe Henderson for a while now.

Joe Henderson, as quiet as it's been kept, is not only one of the greatest tenor saxophonists of the musical genre we know and love as "Jazz", but one of it's most prolific composers, as well as one of it's truly unique and creative improvisational voices.

Two's the News - X-Centric Gonzatonic Pentatonic b2s

4/10/2014

Say it fast, but practice it slow.

As described in a previous post, which could be well worth checking out, the Pentatonic b2 scale is basically a Major Pentatonic scale with the second degree flatted (C Maj. Penta = C-D-E-G-A to C Penta b2 = C-Db-E-G-A).

Lowering the 2nd degree a half step creates some important new interval relationships; mainly, the interval of a Maj. 3rd (min 6th) between the 2nd & 5th scale degrees (Db (C#) & A), as well as the tritone created between steps 2 & 4 (Db & G).

So, what's it all mean, Mr. Natch'l?

Unstable, Mates! - An Etude Based on Benny Golson's Quirky Classic "Stablemates"

4/3/2014

"Stablemates", Benny Golson's classic, written in 1954, is the subject of this etude.

I'd been 'shedding this tune as of late, so I thought I'd slow the process down a bit and write out an etude, which similar to a solo transcription, can be helpful in focusing in on individual elements of a tune.

"Stablemates" is not your "standard" jazz standard, in that its form (36 bars, ABA 14 - 8 - 14) as well as its flow of chord changes, is somewhat unorthodox.

I think that for these reasons, mainly, the tune has remained a challenge to improvisers and has stood the test of time since its inception 60 years ago!

Add Some Augmented Scale Patterns to "+" Up Your Day!

3/27/2014

The Augmented Scale is a 6 note, symmetrical scale, the tonalities of which are a result of the octave being divided into three equal parts.

Among it's other "pluses", this three headed beast can be a useful and effective device when improvising over a static or modal harmonic situation, shifting the tonality momentarily a Maj. 3rd above or below the home key.

As has been described previously in these pages, the Augmented Scale can be thought of (using the first 2 lines of the exercise as an example) as:

2 Augmented triads, a minor third apart (F+ & Ab+) or, enharmonically, a half step apart (F+ & E+),
3 Major or 3 minor triads, a Maj 3rd apart (F, C# & A Major or minor triads).

Descending the Spiral Staircase - More Altered Pentatonics

3/20/2014

Surprise! Another ii-V7-i exercise dealing with altered pentatonics.

Can't get enough, huh? Me, too!

I mean, why practice this stuff? Why practice scales, patterns, etc.

In fact, why practice.......period!?

I expect there might be different answers depending on the skill level and intentions of the player.

As for myself, and players like me who have been doing this for a while, it's about making new connections (musically, not necessarily politically or professionally), creating new pathways, growing new synapses, etc.

In other words, trying to get away from playing the S.O.S.

As I mentioned on my home page, the more you learn, the more the universe seems to expand exponentially, whereby, instead of feeling larger within it, you realize how little you really know.

The great part about that is: There will always be something interesting and challenging to learn, and get this:

YOU WILL NEVER RUN OUT OF THINGS TO PRACTICE!

Softly - The First 8, Part 2

3/10/2014

Softly as in a Swarm of Flying Marshmallows

This exercise works together with the post from 02/25/2014, and the basic explanations can be found there.

What we've done here, basically, is omitted 2 of the notes from each of the original Melodic Minor scales (D Melodic Minor, omit G & C#, and Bb Meodic Minor, omit Bb & Eb), thereby creating 2 altered pentatonics.

For the D min tonic chord, we'll use a D pentatonic b3 (D-E-F-A-B), which has a more "obvoius" tonic sound than our other MM choice, the pentatonic b6, which is what we'll use for the A7alt dominant chord (F pentatonic b6 = Bb Melodic Minor = F-G-A-C-Db). The D min pentatonic supplies us with a good old Dmin6 9 sound, while the fore mentioned F pentatonic b6 gives us an A7 #9b13, and includes the tritone C#(Db) & G.

As in the previous exercise, both scales are played alternately in a single direction, each measure beginning on the next available scale tone.

Note: Measure 4 of Line 4 should be labeled as an A7alt chord.

Download PDF
Treble Clef Bass Clef

B. Stern

Three Flavors! - Mixo, MM & Aug ii-V7-I

3/4/2014

This exercise comes in 3 flavors, and I don't mean your standard vanilla-chocolate-strawberry, either.

I'd even venture to claim, from my own biased point of view, that it's even more yummy, and certainly less fattening.

It could even help you sweat off a few pounds in the process, plus it'll most definitely keep your cholesterol in check..

Having gotten those preliminary points out of the way, what I'm really trying to say here is............

Softly - The First Eight

2/25/2014

This is a basic exercise, written out in Tenor Key, which I recently developed for several of my Skype students which I thought I'd share here (hope they don't mind). It utilizes 2 Melodic Minor scales, D & Bb Melodic Minor to be exact, alternating over a tonic minor (i) chord (D-6, D- Maj7), and an altered dominant (V7) chord (A7alt), each chord lasting a measure apiece.

This is also a simplified version of an exercise found in "The Melodic Minor Handbook" by yours truly and published by Jamey Aebersold. The exercise in the book consists a 4 bar minor ii-V7-i using 3 different Melodic Minor scales. Both exercises are "continuous scale' types, where the inherent first note of each new scale picks up where the last note of the previous one left off.

For example: measure #1, (D- = D Mel. Min. = D-E-F-G-A-B-C#-D).
measure #2, (A7alt = Bb Mel. Min = Eb-F-G-A-Bb-C-Db-Eb)
measure #3, (D- = D Mel. Min. = E-F-G-A-B-C#-D-E).

And so on. Get the drift?

Square in the Circle, Part 2 - Diminished Scale 4ths, ii-V Application

2/11/2014

This somewhat Monkish, four bar line, is based on the premise of my previous post, which uses pairs of Perfect Fourths a tritone apart, as part of a Diminished Scale application.

This time, we can work it over a biii - bVI7 - ii - V7 - i progression, which is most commonly found in the last four bars of a typical "Mr. PC" type Minor Blues.

The P4th pair from measure #1 (of line 1) represents one half of the C# (E, G, Bb) half tone / whole tone diminished scale, while the P4th pair in measure #2 is half of the ht / wt diminished scale a half step below that, i.e. C (Eb, F#, A). It resolves neatly into a D tonic minor; D Melodic Minor being the scale of choice.

Square in the Circle - Diminished Scale 4ths

2/1/2014

Dodo, the Dodecagon

On the heels of my last posted exercise, which was inspired by Walter Bishop's "A Study in 4ths", and which ended with an ascending figure of a diminished scale in Perfect 4ths, I thought it could be cool to further investigate some of the possibilities of P4th relationships within a diminished scale.

I had considerably diminished the use of the diminished scale in my own playing for quite a while now, since I've felt that the modes of Melodic Minor (which is 2 notes shy of being a diminished scale), primarily the "altered scale" (seventh mode, diminished / whole tone) is a more interesting and flexible scale choice for most of the mutually applicable harmonic situations.

Plus, the diminished scale being a synthetic, symmetrical scale, can sound so...................diminished, synthetic & symmetrical.

Then there is that handful of cliche licks, probably less than ten of them, that have been "regurgitated ad nauseam" (or is it the other way around?) since their introduction into the jazz vocabulary sometime in the mid 1950's (I think) when they were actually hip.

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.