 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: pplateau
Date: 2007-08-19 12:49
Is there a best book to learn the Circle of 5ths? I have Baermann 3 for scales but am learning to improv now w/ Dixie group. suggestions??? thnx!!
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Author: Ed Granger
Date: 2007-08-19 14:58
You might want to check out the Jamey Aebersold play-a-long books, which have an accompanying CD. Volume 16, which I have, takes you through turnarounds, cycles and II/V7 progressions. The center section on cycles has 5 different exercises taking you through the cycle using dominant seventh chords. Volume 21 is more comprehensive - it also has cycle excercises and goes into more depth regarding chords scales and which notes fit with which chords. There is also a section on blues progressions that might be useful.
Another suggestion for getting up to speed on improvising is to find some recordings by clarintists you like, i.e. Johnny Dodds or Pete Fountain, and transcribing some of their solos. The more listening you do, the more you'll pick up idiomatic phrases and styles - but you probably know this already. You can't go far wrong listening to Dodds with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five - not Dixieland strictly speaking, but essential jazz in any case.
Ed
Post Edited (2007-08-19 15:00)
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Author: William
Date: 2007-08-19 17:35
Also--and perhaps, most importantly--listen to Benny, Pete, Buddy, Chuck, Lester, etc and learn the solos you like by ear. A theoretical knowledge of chord progressions is good, but the ability to "hear" is also essential. After that, it's just a matter of good old creativity.
Ben Franklin [para phrase] "play proudly"--and [alla Mayor Daley] "Often".
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Author: pplateau
Date: 2007-08-19 20:36
Great ! my ear is good and I'm doing pretty well in a Dixie grous sans a lot of chord theory, but looking to improve. Listening sounds like the ticket for me, more listening I mean
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Author: shmuelyosef
Date: 2007-08-20 02:10
Also, any time that you hear a musical phrase that you like, practice it 5-10 times in all 12 keys. Some of my practice on every instrument (sax, flute, clarinet, piano) consists of making up or recalling hip musical lines that I like and doing this. I also get into a craze every month or two of playing twelve bar blues in every key at every practice session...10-20 choruses. Same with 'rhythm changes'.
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Author: ned
Date: 2007-08-20 06:03
I have an issue with the word 'dixieland'. In my circles it means striped coats and boater hats and Tiger Rag as the encore.
Nonetheless, I'd agree with Ed Granger regarding listening to jazz.....and learning. I'm not sure about transcribing solos and learning by rote as this, in my view, is not really what jazz is all about.
Whilst it is essential to be a schooled musician to be a competent player (apart from some notable geniuses) the genre itself is more or less folk music and as such is learnt by the absorption of traditions and the copying of favourite players.
Our efforts at copying favourite players, as beginners, are generally unsuccessful I would venture say, and this of itself adds to the diversity of styles which we hear today, so it's no bad thing in actuality.
The upsot of course is that our attempts to copy our predecessors styles usually have the effect of bending jazz along other paths, how ever subtle and which is an ultimately desirable outcome.
So.......yes learn to play by ear....after you learn the basics....and possibly become your own stylist in the process.
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