Taught 3 lessons today. The 3rd is a student who like many of my students is resistant to the idea of improvising. She's really good and the more I work with her the more I can see what she might like to explore musically. I taught her the harmonic minor scale in the key of A then the little 3 note chords in Django Reinhardts "Minor Swing". I said "now you see where this is going". I could tell she was dreading the idea of cutting loose and playing the un-written. So we played a few choruses and she smiled and said "that wasn't nearly as terrible as I thought it was going to be!" Yes! Minor victory! I love seeing growth and progress in the people I share with. She found those minor 6th chords and the progression to be spooky. Kinda perfect for a teenager to learn improvisation. Spooky dance music.
I've improvised from day 1 myself. Rock you know. I read this discussion about Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" online the other night on a forum that was set up like a poll. The question was do you think this record is over-rated? Not really and interesting question to me. Either you vibe with it or not, and whatever you like or don't like is nobody's business but your own. But it did remind me what an impact it had on my life. My parents had a scratched up copy of this album. I was already deep into their Billie Holiday Smithsonian collection, but when I heard "Kind of Blue" it spoke to me right away. I could hear myself being able to play music like this some day. I knew I had to be willing to be terrible for many years before I got even close to being this good, but the possibility was there so I didn't care. For an album that isn't based on Tin Pan Alley, it sure drew me in with its simple structures and beautiful playing. The energy of it is just so fresh even to this day.
So on this particular day it's raining outside, cold, depressing and I discovered more damage from my car burglar and also discovered that he or she did steal one thing important: my umbrella. It set me in a bad mood and on days like this I don't care to do much but curl up in bed and be dreaming away. But i managed to get out to my space and practice for 3 1/3 hours tonight. It was a really great session. Working on arpeggios and intervals then I spent about 2 hours just improvising on a couple pieces from the band. The music we make is all modal. It's not what a jazz critic would call jazz thank god, but it does carry elements of the genre. I've been struggling with what to do in a modal piece. Running up and down scales and arpeggios only keeps me interested for so long. Rhythm is everything. Some of my main influences are those Ethiopian sax players who play those beautiful 5 note scales. You can't play 5 notes without a mastery of rhythm and make is interesting. So I'm focused on my rhythm. But something else is starting to break through. I'm starting to hear alternate chords against the key. And it's starting to show up so clearly. That is new for me. It helps that I have a concept of sound and I've worked hard to get that consistently. I love my horn and mouthpieces and I've had a good luck with my reeds lately. Getting all that together allows me to just work on ideas.
It's starting to happen. I like it. And the best part for me is it's something more I can offer the audience. I want to give the people my all. And that's all there is to do.
J
I've improvised from day 1 myself. Rock you know. I read this discussion about Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" online the other night on a forum that was set up like a poll. The question was do you think this record is over-rated? Not really and interesting question to me. Either you vibe with it or not, and whatever you like or don't like is nobody's business but your own. But it did remind me what an impact it had on my life. My parents had a scratched up copy of this album. I was already deep into their Billie Holiday Smithsonian collection, but when I heard "Kind of Blue" it spoke to me right away. I could hear myself being able to play music like this some day. I knew I had to be willing to be terrible for many years before I got even close to being this good, but the possibility was there so I didn't care. For an album that isn't based on Tin Pan Alley, it sure drew me in with its simple structures and beautiful playing. The energy of it is just so fresh even to this day.
So on this particular day it's raining outside, cold, depressing and I discovered more damage from my car burglar and also discovered that he or she did steal one thing important: my umbrella. It set me in a bad mood and on days like this I don't care to do much but curl up in bed and be dreaming away. But i managed to get out to my space and practice for 3 1/3 hours tonight. It was a really great session. Working on arpeggios and intervals then I spent about 2 hours just improvising on a couple pieces from the band. The music we make is all modal. It's not what a jazz critic would call jazz thank god, but it does carry elements of the genre. I've been struggling with what to do in a modal piece. Running up and down scales and arpeggios only keeps me interested for so long. Rhythm is everything. Some of my main influences are those Ethiopian sax players who play those beautiful 5 note scales. You can't play 5 notes without a mastery of rhythm and make is interesting. So I'm focused on my rhythm. But something else is starting to break through. I'm starting to hear alternate chords against the key. And it's starting to show up so clearly. That is new for me. It helps that I have a concept of sound and I've worked hard to get that consistently. I love my horn and mouthpieces and I've had a good luck with my reeds lately. Getting all that together allows me to just work on ideas.
It's starting to happen. I like it. And the best part for me is it's something more I can offer the audience. I want to give the people my all. And that's all there is to do.
J
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