very simple harmonic/rythmic technique for improved 'lines'

[Groyniad]

I've got a lot from this over a long period - and I thought it would be interesting to try to share it here (mostly - I bet - to people already hip to it in one way or another). I'm sceptical about the possibility of communication between jazz musicians (perhaps especially jazz guitarists) about playing - obviously very different from the possibility of communication between jazz musicians in playing - but despite that scepticism, I've decided to give this a go. if nothing else I'll find out more perhaps about just how hard it it is to talk to (rather than past) one another about this stuff.

the thing?

if the tune starts with I, don't start your line with I notes but with ii notes or V notes - so you get to arrive into your I sound from 'somewhere else' - then keep this sort of structure up through the whole A section (if you're playing a ii chord don't play notes from ii to start your ii line - play notes from VI7 (etc.) so you get to 'land' on a ii note from somewhere else. this can happen either before the bar 'containing' the sound you want to play or - groovily enough - within it (or even just after it!)....

I consistently produce more structured and engaging lines by hearing the change this way - the classic form of this is the 'pick-up' note or phrase: most melodies start before the first beat of the first bar....

so the thing can be put like this - don't start at the start. start at the end and go from there to your first sound - then continue in this vein (using what just happened as a way into what is happening now).

take Lady Be Good (which starts at the beginning and not just before!) as a wonderful example: - in G

play a line from the first to the second sound:
D7 ---- G
G ---- C7
C7 ----- G
G----Bbdim
Bbdim ----- Am7
Am7 ---- D7
D7 ----- home G

all you need is one or two notes of the 'target' sound - which you sort of 'enclose' with a few notes from the anticipating sound..

now it's important to stress that you might not want to play all these movements - and (of course) - you may want to join some of them together so you aren't hearing a change per line, but two or three changes per line (this is pretty full on mind). you may want to 'go' D7 into G, then straight from G into C7 - two anticipations joined up... then perhaps leave the move from C7 back to G unplayed - then play a line connecting G with Bbdim, leave the move from Bbdim to Am7 unplayed - the Am7 to D7 unplayed - the D7 to G maj unplayed - then play a line which connects the home sound G with the VI chord which might feature in a turnaround, and out (for a bit).

in fact this sort of compositional sound-grouping is an important part of this thing I want to share - but its a development, not the simplest statement of the thing.

that is: don't play the sound you want by playing that sound (!) - play it by playing into it from a different sound (typically the one coming before it in the tune - but you can mess about with this a great deal).

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the big thing is breaking the habit of thinking - I'm on ii now so I'm going to play iiy things.....you should think (to do this thing) - I'm on ii now so I'm going to slam bang into ii using this flurry of VIy things. (it doesn't have to be a flurry - and you don't have to do any slam banging if you don't want to).

[pingu]

I like it !
thanks man

[PMB]

I like it !
thanks man

To quote forum member Reg regarding harmonic targets, "if you're in the moment, you're already too late". An unfortunate by-product of iReal charts is this tendency to regard harmonic environments as static entities. Melodies will often help determine possible harmonic variations but they're excised for copyright reasons and passing chords provided by both the original sheet music and other conventionally notated versions are often absent to keep things simple.

By the way, delaying harmonic changes can also be effective, particularly where it's suggested by the melody. An example might be in All of Me where (in C) the A7 of bars 5 & 6 and E7 of bars 9 & 10 might be held over until the middle of their respective following bars (Dm in bar 7 and Am in bar 11).

[Bop Head]

To quote forum member Reg regarding harmonic targets, "if you're in the moment, you're already too late". [...]

IMO this shows a misconception of "being in the moment". If you are really in the moment that means that you are in a state of flow where you intuitively know where you are going resp. have to go.

[PMB]

IMO this shows a misconception of "being in the moment". If you are really in the moment that means that you are in a state of flow where you intuitively know where you are going resp. have to go.

I imagine Reg is well aware of the double meaning and was being a little playful with language there.

[Bop Head]

I imagine Reg is well aware of the double meaning and was being a little playful with language there.

For me there is no double meaning. You are either in the moment or not. Through serious discussions with people who have much more experience in such topics than I do I have taken up the habit to use a precise language in serious affairs. If you stay in the moment that has just gone when playing -- then it is too late. And that is what we do most of the time -- living in the past instead of being in the moment.

[Christian Miller]

To quote forum member Reg regarding harmonic targets, "if you're in the moment, you're already too late". An unfortunate by-product of iReal charts is this tendency to regard harmonic environments as static entities. Melodies will often help determine possible harmonic variations but they're excised for copyright reasons and passing chords provided by both the original sheet music and other conventionally notated versions are often absent to keep things simple.

By the way, delaying harmonic changes can also be effective, particularly where it's suggested by the melody. An example might be in All of Me where (in C) the A7 of bars 5 & 6 and E7 of bars 9 & 10 might be held over until the middle of their respective following bars (Dm in bar 7 and Am in bar 11).

Yes, I like that.

That said, it’s a weird combination of knowing exactly where you are headed and also not anticipating the destination.

I feel in terms of time feel, feeling the space between the beats is really important and easier said than done. That requires a more meditative state of mind in my experience. Being over emphatic is a surefire way to rush, as surely as reacting will cause you to drag.

In terms of line construction, it’s the arrival point that contextualises the rest of the line. That’s why it’s a good exercise to build a line backwards of course.


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[Bobby Timmons]

I think it's a very good tip. Good device itself and reminds you that you don't always have to go here's the change now play exactly that.

In one of my Open Studio classes, the sax teacher was talking about focusing on playing horizontally over the changes rather than getting hung up on outlining vertically all the time.

[Groyniad]

yeah - I've heard variations on that line PMB

how many lines have I played when it feels like I've gone sort of wrong before I started? (lots)

if you start on the first sound you need to be aiming (at least) at the second sound - if not the third or fourth.

and I find it helps to be aware of how I'm grouping the changes in the phrases I'm deciding to play - i'f I'm going VI7 - I - ii or I - VI7 - ii etc. etc.

often the best things I do happen when I feel like I've let a whole movement go by - and then I play it all before playing the phrase I was thinking of.

I'm thinking of playing a iiy thing - and just before I play it, I play a I, IV, iii, VI7 thing - (when I thought my chance to play it had gone by).

it feels different heading into a 'big' sound from a 'passing' sound - than it does heading into a 'passing' sound from a 'big' sound. (e.g. playing from V to I, or VI7 to ii, as opposed to from I to VI7 or from iv to sharp iv dim.