 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: wjk
Date: 2002-07-11 15:05
I'm going to be playing with a guitarist friend who loves fast, be-bop chord changes. Any suggestions for the best keys to play in (I'll be improvising lines on clarinet) and for how I should conceptualize my lines over his chords? Thanks!!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-07-11 18:08
If the guitar's playing be-bop then you need to listen to one of the very best jazz players, king of be-bop, all-around cool clarinet player and a legend, Buddy DeFranco. Take a 10th of what he used to do on clarinet and you'll be a hero.;
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DougR
Date: 2002-07-11 20:44
If your improvising experience and technical facility are limited (and I'm assuming they are, or you wouldn't have asked the question), MY take is, forget you heard the word "bebop" and just concentrate on making interesting melodic phrases over the basic chord tones of a song you really like--including major,major 7th, dominant 7th, minor 7th, diminished would do for a start--and by all means use those Jamey Aebersold play-along recordings too, they're great. If you can do that, and keep yourself interested in the music you're making, let your bebop friend worry about the flat 5s and sharp 9s, and just have as much fun as you can.
Buddy DeFranco is a pioneer and a genius, and I genuflect every morning as I pass by his albums on the way to make coffee, but I was always much more moved by guys like Zoot Sims and Paul Desmond--consummate melodic and lyrical players who stuck pretty much to the basic chords. (I'm kind of a gradualist when it comes to acquiring theory knowledge, and an immediate-ist, if there's such a word, when it comes to keeping music fun and satisfying.)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mike
Date: 2002-07-12 15:55
Check out the paul Desmond thread. Music is not made by stringing as many notes together as you can. Jazz guitar players are often stricken with a rare degenerative brain disease called guitaritis. Almost exclusively found among guitar players the symptoms are playing a million notes without listening to the band simply because they can. This can be contagious! Be aware.
All kidding aside, learn your scales and chords and LISTEN, LISTEN,LISTEN! Check out clarinet players (benny, Artie Shaw, Ken Paplowski, Don Byron etc) but also check out non clarinet players. This is how to get changes together
Mike
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ken
Date: 2002-07-13 05:01
Wjk, if your guitar buddy is a hardcore bopper you'll probably spend the session getting buried or no less than frustrated...no fun at all. Birds of a feather stick together as much as they learn together. If you're really serious about becoming a creative, versatile and "literate" improviser play among folks closer to your own improv level where there's less pressure and more friendly, musically-nurturing environment. Jazz/fusion/rock guitarists live to churn out 128th notes at 1/4=212, as a clarinet picker often sounds to me like a pesky bumblebee buzzing around your head you swat. Consider springing for some “New Real Books,” (Bb and C versions) start learning your tunes and bring them faithfully to all your future sessions. Good for you, good for everyone...it’s the bible and all the pros have already memorized it.
Jazz improvisation (not unlike Mahler) should be approached as a child learning a new language. Any type of musical improvisation is a subjective art form; what sounds right or wrong lies strictly with the player and listener. Miles Davis remarked, "play what you hear and not what you know". This is an abstract truth. But when you abandon the abstract and go to the concrete there are multiple factors that must come together to negotiate GOOD jazz. There is intellectual/theoretical comprehension (scales, chords), tonal relationships, notation, ear training, melody, pitch perception, intonation, rhythm, functional and non-functional harmony (playing over the changes), technical facility, chops and hard, long hours of practice (just as much as our classical brothers and sisters).
Do's and don’ts I learned the hard way. Do keep it simple, always think modal and lyrical. Do force yourself to play simple, diatonic progressions, tight intervals--major/minor 2nds, major 3rds and 4ths. Always return to the melody if you run out of ideas; don’t resort to playing “get out of jail” licks and riffs. Do use the melody as an anchor and never stray far from it. Do invent new melodies around the original. Don't be a copycat unless it's an intentional quote and for a justifying purpose. Don't be intimidated by others or get sucked into playing trash beyond your ability. Relax and remember part of your goal is to get "better than yourself" and make forward progress, not impress anyone (or not impress anyone).
Begin sessions warming up with a slow ballad, play familiar melodies you “know by heart”. Read the chart but spell out the chords in your head measure by measure. It’s an automatic/requisite programming skill but the long-term benefits will lead you farther from the bondage of the written page and promote more instinct. When ready to tackle a barnburner select a standard chart in 4/4 or 2-beat in the key of Bb concert (no sharps/flats for Bb clar, “Washington and Lee Swing” would be perfect). Initially, ignore all chord extensions except a 1-3-5 triad, add a dominant 7 (same root, flat 7th scale degree), add a major 7 (natural 7th scale degree), add a minor 7 (flat 3rd scale degree), add a Major 9 (2nd scale degree).
Play through the head 2 times. On the open solo choruses, look to the chords underlining the harmonic structure. Rather than using all 7 notes in the scale play running 4-note, 8th-note groupings (tetrachord) and build starting on the 2nd/5th/7th scale degree (always in the key). Make the root of the dominant chord the 5th note of the scale and play it starting and ending on the root of the dominant chord. Try combining major/minor modes, play a major triad on the root then repeat lowering the 3rd a 1/2 step (minor 7) then ascend on the next beat playing a major triad starting on the 6th scale degree. Or, on each beat play 8th note ascending and/or descending major/minor triads ending on the root of the chord of the next measure. These rudimental ideas serve to simplify and organize the melody and provide a more useful pathway to melodic and lyrical playing.
Supplement the Abersold with the following proven methods: Jerry Bergonzi, "Melodic Structures" Vol. I & II w/ CD. The Bergonzi is a concise and pragmatic approach to improvising but relies heavily on permutations (connecting the dots/numbering scale tones). Jim Grantham's "Jazzmaster Cookbook" (1993/98 edition) Series (12 CDs/cassettes in all keys). The Grantham is a more universal system applying traditional theory concepts, extensive ear training and emphasis on repetitive pattern exercises.
Food for the ear and soul; begin a healthy and steady aural diet of male/female jazz vocalists to develop a more lyrical ear and feel for the style. Some benchmark vocalists include, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, Janis Siegel and Diana Krall. Louis Armstrong, Johnny Hartman, Earl Coleman, Joe Williams, Nat Cole, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Bobby Mcferrin and Al Jarreau.
The absolute best! v/r KEN
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2002-07-13 10:18
You think jazz guitarists have guitaritis, try rock and rollers. You know when you are up to the saxophone solo when the lead guitar turns up and blasts right over the top of you. At least chord substitutions can be fun to blow over unlike I,vi,ii,V7,I rock songs and effects pedals. Sorry my spleen was full!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-07-13 15:23
Actually, get jazz guitarists Django Reinhardt,Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, or Lee Ritenour going and you'll find that that don't play all that fast all that often - they know how to use their instruments to express themselves. Not everyone needs to shred to be heard ... I have a record of Kessel & Pass doing "Tea for Two" as a duet somewhere ... awesome stuff.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
