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PENTATONIC AND HEXATONIC SCALES IN JAZZ IMPROVISATION 152 pages, A4 perfect-bound Detailed exploration of the six most used pentatonic scales, what to play on every chord type, pentatonics on II-V-Is, variations on II-V-Is and reharmonisations, outside and parallel pentatonics, partial pentatonics, pentatonics with passing notes, keeping modal form, all about groove, traditional hexatonics, hexatonics from triad pairs, the whole-tone family of six, modalisation, fragmentation and outside playing with hexatonics, practice suggestions, example solos, appendices, exercises, pentatonic licks from the jazz repertoire, the "avoid" note, listening, suggested tunes. VIEW SAMPLE PAGES A COMPENDIUM OF JAZZ PIANO VOICINGS 112 pages, A4 perfect-bound A big band under your fingers, rhythmic considerations, playing with guitarists, chord-scale theory, defining chord tones, the quality of voicings, shells, expanded shells, thirds, sixths, stride, four-way close, rootless, melodic minor "grips", "add 2", clusters, fourths, "axis", "drop" chords, drop-2 block chords, four-note structures, Shearing block chords, dominant 13ths, diatonic triads and sevenths, upper structures, slash and polychords, "So What" chords, fifths, RH octave-triads and ambi chords, Red Garland block chords, triad expansions, stacks, combinations and approaches, practice suggestions, DIY ear training, examples, patterns and exercises. VIEW SAMPLE PAGES |
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I found your jazz improvisation materials by accident (actually,
searching the internet for 'the invisible half bar line'). What
a find! Well written and useful. BM I found your jazz articles to be really useful and about the clearest and most practically helpful things I've come across. MG You've written some great jazz articles on your website which I've enjoyed reading. Good stuff, just what I like reading and putting the real take on things instead of the blurb from the jazz courses. DR |
Thanks for your formidable book on Pentatonics. A very useful reference book for anyone interested in understanding the possibilities from scratch to advanced. Your book would be really useful for musicians to dip into it and bring things to whatever they are working on. I like also the friendly clear tone of your commentaries. AG The book on Pentatonics was a most enjoyable read. Speaking as an old pro, it's great to see someone writing so clearly and comprehensively about a lot of the stuff so many of us had to find out by the hard slog. I kept thinking to myself, oh that's why that works... FS |
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THE CONTEMPORARY JAZZ SOUND The use of gapped scales in the contemporary style: Intro, I Pentatonics, II Hexatonics, III Melodic Minor Grips EXERCISE CONNECTING PENTATONIC SCALES A BRIEF GUIDE TO PIANO FOURTH VOICINGS TRANSCRIPTION OF BILL EVANS SOLO ON LOVE FOR SALE Annotated piano solo taken from the CD 58 Miles (aka Jazz Track). HOW TO PRACTISE BACKWARDS Using melodic cells and pickups to bring structure and resolution to your phrasing. DECIPHERING CHORD SYMBOLS A quick guide to standard and non-standard chord symbols. BLUES SCALE BASICS SUSSING OUT THE BLUES Using triad pairs to open up a modal approach to the blues. HOW TO HANDLE A SUS CHORD includes extracts from McCoy Tyner's solo on Passion Dance (from The Real McCoy). BEBOP PERPETUAL MOTION EXERCISES Repeating two-bar turnaround figures containing a host of idiomatic bebop gestures along with analysis. TRANSCRIPTION OF TOMMY FLANAGAN SOLO ON MR PC Texbook bebop minor blues solo. From Coltrane's Giant Steps. TRANSCRIPTION OF TOMMY FLANAGAN SOLO ON ECLYPSO Bebop on a turnaround tune with extended double-time passage. From The Cats. TRANSCRIPTION OF TOMMY FLANAGAN SOLO ON MINOR MISHAP Blues figures and bebop descending minor scale runs, with analysis. From The Cats. |
USING UPPER STRUCTURE TRIADS IN SOLO LINES
GUIDELINES TO WRITING PARTS COLTRANE'S SUBSTITUTION TUNES Explanation of what's going on in Moment's Notice, Lazy Bird, Giant Steps and Countdown. PLAYING GIANT STEPS WITH ONE SCALE Working with the augmented hexatonic scale. TUNE-SCALES A modern approach to improvising on the sense of a tune. COMPOSING SOLOS or how to cheat... YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT THE WRONG CHORD TONES The importance of the 6th on a tonic chord. THE BASICS OF MODERN MERENGUE PIANO HOW TO LISTEN FOR CLAVE IN SALSA BEBOP EXERCISES Practical exercises for internalising bebop chromaticism. THE KNOT PDF score MIDI file An etude for practising extreme bebop chromaticism, dedicated to Lennie Tristano. A SIMPLE TECHNIQUE FOR OUTSIDE PLAYING You'll get it in ten minutes flat, and be playing it within an hour. DIMINISHED RESPONSIBILITY Using harmonic minor scales to open up the diminished sound. |
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