[Dixielandjazz] Re: Music theory

Sat Mar 11 15:57:22 PST 2006

Ken
Theory is nice and I guess there are those who like to get into the numbers 
but while you are doing all of that you will lose the music.  The simplest 
place to start is to learn the blues scale in several keys then get yourself 
the first couple of the Jamey Ambersold Blues CD's and have at it.  If you 
have Band in a Box there are a bunch of different blues progressions that 
come with it that you can put in any key.

I have a good friend that's really good with all sorts of scales, whole 
tone, mixolidian, (all the Greek scales) and a few that I don't know.  He's 
fast as hell and can wow just about anyone but his solos sound like scales 
and something out of a exercise book.  That's what you'll get if you delve 
too much into the theory.

I have a 4 year degree in music and I can stop to figure out what is going 
on but to tell you the truth I don't even think about the key.  That comes 
from years of playing with all kinds of groups where I couldn't call the key 
or tune and they just started playing.   I had to instantly know the tune 
(even when I didn't have a clue) and do something, hopefully cool after the 
head.  That hasn't changed a bit in 50 years.  I still have to do that. When 
I was in college I played with some guitar guys that tuned their instruments 
where ever every night.  You got what you got.

I had a couple of students a few years back that had incredible ears.  They 
were black and played from the time they were tiny in their church.  The 
thing that they had to do was pick up the tune, style and key when someone 
felt the spirit and got up and started singing.  This was all improv and 
they had to be quick.  Those guys just did it.  They didn't think about 
anything except the other guy and they just did it.

I think that the best advice I could give you is put on an Ambersold CD 
(start with Blues) and go for it.  Lean back, close your eyes and blow. 
Don't try to keep up with everyone else, be smooth and If you are playing a 
blues scale you can't make a mistake.  If you must read the chord sheet just 
make sure that you are playing a chord tone on the beat.  You can play 
pretty much what you want off the beat.

Use classic ornamentation such as turns, glissandos, grace notes and upper 
and lower neighbors with jazz rhythms.  You can do a lot with just rhythms 
(One Note Samba)  Pick a tune and memorize it then gradually improvise on 
the melody not getting too far away from it.  Then experiment and don't be 
afraid of making a mistake.  Keep the melody going in your head or have the 
piano man hint (not play) in the melody so you can play against it.  That's 
a good thing to do too is learn to accompany the melody and play against it. 
Working with singers is good practice for that.  You can practice that with 
a lot of records.

By the way there are rhythm guys that haven't a clue as to how to help you 
improvise and not get you lost.  There are two (maybe more) basic piano comp 
styles.  The first is big chords with far out sounds.  This allows the jazz 
player to play anything and it sounds OK.  Trouble is you can lose the key 
and phrasing real easily.  The other extreme is the guy is playing basic 
chords.  This doesn't give you much room to expand.  A good piano man will 
lead you from chord to chord and there is never a question about where you 
are going.  The worst comping that I know just migrates between the same two 
chords for about 64 measures.  A good piano man will tell you where the 
phrase is and in partnership with the drummer and bass man will keep you on 
the planet.  I hate it when the drummer is just banging away and isn't 
phrasing and the piano player is just chunking chords that seem to go 
nowhere.  Some of these guys take no responsibility for holding the thing 
together.  It's hard to play with a rhythm section that isn't helping you.

I used to play with a guy in the AF that was really good but was a 
vindictive SOB and he would lead you off into la la land somewhere and drop 
you if he was in a snit.  He got a charge out of it.

The hardest thing for most people to do is get away from the paper. 
Musicians are locked to the printed page.  It sounds like you want to go 
deeper into the paper not get farther away from it.  This skill is all about 
imagination and composing on the fly and listening like crazy and having the 
strength to make mistakes in front of those who are better than you.
Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Mopsick" <mophandl at landing.com>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 1:56 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Music theory

> Ken writes:
>
>> Here's my question.  Can any of you that play well enough to perform
> cite
>> an
>> example of some aspect of music theory that has enabled you to raise
> your
>> skill level?  Especially in the area of improvisation.
>>
>> Ken Gates
>
> Ken:
>
> The single most important aspect of music theory that my students
> benefit from is training the ear to recognize scale degrees and
> intervals.
>
> You start with the major scale. Each note is assigned a number (in the
> solfeggio system, each note is assigned a syllable such as do re mi fa
> so la ti do. I prefer numbers because you will use them later in
> identifying and playing chord symbols).
>
> If you are looking at just the white keys of a piano keyboard, C is 1, D
> is 2, and so on.
>
> Then go through all the major scales and assign the numbers
> correspondingly. Be able to sing all the major scales using just
> numbers. Then play and sing the major triads in the same way
> (1-3-5-8-5-3-1).
>
> For jazz, the next step is to assign numbers to the blue notes. These
> are flat-3, flat-5, and flat-7. Try to play your favorite simple riffs
> and blues melodies using these and the regular numbers too. Try singing
> the melodies to jazz songs using just numbers. Sing them in all 12 keys.
> For example, The Saints is 1-3-4-5, 1-3-4-5, 1-3-4-5-3-1-3-2,
> 3-3-2-1-1-3-5-5-4, 3-4-5-3-1-2-1. Tin Roof Blues is
> 5-flat5-4-3-5-flat5-4-3-5-1-3.
>
> The final step is to make up your own simple jazz or blues riff and sing
> it in all twelve keys using just the numbers. Then play it on the horn
> in all 12. You are then well on your way to becoming an improviser.
>
> mopo
>
> Don Mopsick, Riverwalk Webmaster
>
>
>
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