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............
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............
Damn, that Ice Cream looks good!!!
That's why I don't keep any in the house!
On the other hand, while the 3 flavored tasty treat being served up here may not be Howard Johnson's (he plays tuba!), it'll keep you from going into sugar shock.
Enough of that. Now dig this!
As with many of the exercises presented on "B Natural", this one deals with the ii-V7-I cadence. The "Two-Five-One" is the most common chord progression in jazz and pop music, by far.
But, you knew that.
Therefore, it serves as a common denominator, "real world" vehicle in which to frame an exercise.
The three flavors mentioned previously and used in this exercise, are some of my faves. Namely, Mixolydian, Melodic Minor and Augmented scales being the flavors of the week. Since we ran out of cones, we'll serve them up in triad pairs as well as a "triad trio" (for the Augmented sale).
Are you drooling yet? Better see a doctor (if you said yes)!
Flavor #1
Checking out the first measure of line one: Fm7.
Upon close inspection we discover that the first group of sixteenth notes forms an Ab Maj triad in a 1-5b-1-3 pattern, right? The next 4 note group is identical, but up a whole step, forming a Bb Maj triad. The third 4 note grouping in bar one, alternates back to an Ab Maj triad, this time in it's next ascending inversion, forming a 3-1b-3-5 pattern . Once again, the next group of 4 sixteenth notes is a Bb Maj triad in the same 3-1b-3-5 pattern as the previous one.
Why these two triads? Because, the Ab and Bb Major triads, in this case, are derived from Eb Maj which is the key of the initial 4 bar exercise. The 4th and 5th scale steps of of any Major scale always produce Maj triads and Ab and Bb Maj are the 4th & 5th scale steps of Eb Major. These 2 triads combined form a 6 note (hexatonic) scale: Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb-F (from Ab) or Bb-C-D-Eb-F-Ab (from Bb).
It's interesting to note that the only note from the Eb Maj scale that's missing here is G.
The idea is to alternate these two triads, which share no common tones, going through it's inversions in one direction (ascending in this case). Because of the absence of the G here (the 3rd of Eb Maj), the quality created by this type of triad pair is decidedly less "Major" and more "dominant" sounding, agreed? Therefore, it sounds very natural over an Fm7, which is the ii chord of Eb Maj and which proceeds it's V, which is Bb7. As a ii and it's V chord are interchangeable, we can consider measure #1 to be a kind of Bb7/F.
Flavor #2
In measure 2, (Bb7alt) we shift our focus to alternating inversions of the triads E Maj & F#(D or Bb) Augmented, which are built from the 4th & 5th scale steps of B Melodic Minor, which also just happens to be the parent scale of Bb7 altered (it's 7th mode), our dominant scale color of choice in this case. Forming our 6 note scale from these 2 triads we get (from Bb): Bb-B-D-E-F#-G# = Bb+7 b9b13 or just plain Bb7 alt.
Flavor #3
Measures #3 & 4 (Eb) is yet another flavor, and still a rather strange one to many. We're talking about the Augmented Scale, a six note, symmetrical structure, being made up of:
2 Augmented triads, a minor third apart (Eb+ & F#+) or, enharmonically, a half step apart
(Eb+ & D+)
3 Major or 3 minor triads, a Maj 3rd apart (Eb, B & G Maj or min triads).
The six note Augmented Scale in measures #3 & 4 is:
Eb - F# - G - A# - B - D
Both major and minor triads are used in this case, creating a somewhat ambiguous, yet still very Eb, tonic chord resolution.
Practice this exercise at quarter note = 50 bpm (or slower) for starts.
A lot more info on triad pairs and the augmented scale can be found in books by great saxophonists and educators, Walt Weiskopf, Jerry Bergonzi and Gary Campbell.
What's that frying sound? Must be my brain.
I need some ice cream!
On the other hand, while the 3 flavored tasty treat being served up here may not be Howard Johnson's (he plays tuba!), it'll keep you from going into sugar shock.
Enough of that. Now dig this!
As with many of the exercises presented on "B Natural", this one deals with the ii-V7-I cadence. The "Two-Five-One" is the most common chord progression in jazz and pop music, by far.
But, you knew that.
Therefore, it serves as a common denominator, "real world" vehicle in which to frame an exercise.
The three flavors mentioned previously and used in this exercise, are some of my faves. Namely, Mixolydian, Melodic Minor and Augmented scales being the flavors of the week. Since we ran out of cones, we'll serve them up in triad pairs as well as a "triad trio" (for the Augmented sale).
Are you drooling yet? Better see a doctor (if you said yes)!
Flavor #1
Checking out the first measure of line one: Fm7.
Upon close inspection we discover that the first group of sixteenth notes forms an Ab Maj triad in a 1-5b-1-3 pattern, right? The next 4 note group is identical, but up a whole step, forming a Bb Maj triad. The third 4 note grouping in bar one, alternates back to an Ab Maj triad, this time in it's next ascending inversion, forming a 3-1b-3-5 pattern . Once again, the next group of 4 sixteenth notes is a Bb Maj triad in the same 3-1b-3-5 pattern as the previous one.
Why these two triads? Because, the Ab and Bb Major triads, in this case, are derived from Eb Maj which is the key of the initial 4 bar exercise. The 4th and 5th scale steps of of any Major scale always produce Maj triads and Ab and Bb Maj are the 4th & 5th scale steps of Eb Major. These 2 triads combined form a 6 note (hexatonic) scale: Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb-F (from Ab) or Bb-C-D-Eb-F-Ab (from Bb).
It's interesting to note that the only note from the Eb Maj scale that's missing here is G.
The idea is to alternate these two triads, which share no common tones, going through it's inversions in one direction (ascending in this case). Because of the absence of the G here (the 3rd of Eb Maj), the quality created by this type of triad pair is decidedly less "Major" and more "dominant" sounding, agreed? Therefore, it sounds very natural over an Fm7, which is the ii chord of Eb Maj and which proceeds it's V, which is Bb7. As a ii and it's V chord are interchangeable, we can consider measure #1 to be a kind of Bb7/F.
Flavor #2
In measure 2, (Bb7alt) we shift our focus to alternating inversions of the triads E Maj & F#(D or Bb) Augmented, which are built from the 4th & 5th scale steps of B Melodic Minor, which also just happens to be the parent scale of Bb7 altered (it's 7th mode), our dominant scale color of choice in this case. Forming our 6 note scale from these 2 triads we get (from Bb): Bb-B-D-E-F#-G# = Bb+7 b9b13 or just plain Bb7 alt.
Flavor #3
Measures #3 & 4 (Eb) is yet another flavor, and still a rather strange one to many. We're talking about the Augmented Scale, a six note, symmetrical structure, being made up of:
2 Augmented triads, a minor third apart (Eb+ & F#+) or, enharmonically, a half step apart
(Eb+ & D+)
3 Major or 3 minor triads, a Maj 3rd apart (Eb, B & G Maj or min triads).
The six note Augmented Scale in measures #3 & 4 is:
Eb - F# - G - A# - B - D
Both major and minor triads are used in this case, creating a somewhat ambiguous, yet still very Eb, tonic chord resolution.
Practice this exercise at quarter note = 50 bpm (or slower) for starts.
A lot more info on triad pairs and the augmented scale can be found in books by great saxophonists and educators, Walt Weiskopf, Jerry Bergonzi and Gary Campbell.
What's that frying sound? Must be my brain.
I need some ice cream!
B. Stern
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