November 2005

Triads and the cycle of 4ths

November 28, 2005 07:00

Its been so cold lately but today some nice warm weather. Im so thankful to be in good health and have such nice weather. Just happy to be here really. Lately Ive been playing music with 2 different people and its alot of fun.

Last week Ron and I played Autumn Leaves and I started playing triad patterns in 4ths. For example Amin to D13 to Gmaj I play triads in 4ths starting with Emin imposed over Amin like this

Gmaj scale
G A B C D E F#

triads in 3rds moving in 4ths
E G B
A C E
D F# A
G B D

etc

Try it out!

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November 9, 2005 17:13

Just found a John Coltane cd/book that has Niama with all the backing tracks so all you have to do is play over it, this is going to be fun. Ill also get the Miles Davis cd/book, I love playing Blue in Green and Nardis especially, probably the jazz tunes I play best. Four is a great one to play over also.

That and Im starting to mess around with Dvorak and Brahms concertos a little.

All of the jazz rehearsals I did in public with my friend ron paid off, Im up to 20 students now and I love it!

Maybe Ill be recording some of my originals soon, my goal is to have 4 hours or more of really good original music. Its a blessing to have someone else how can play really well interpret my music.

Things are good I feel so thankful to have a steady job and be in good health. I seem to appreciate people who make me laugh now more than ever, I think watching Conan O'Brien helps me keep a happy and health attitude about life. Lately Ive been on a health food kick, salad and chicken soup with lentels and broccoli are starting to become a staple of my diet. The older I get the more important it is to eat the right thing and geesh Im almost over the hill but Im having fun and thats what matters. I hope everone else is too.

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Triad superimposing and inversions

November 7, 2005 16:27

A few improv ideas for you...

I have a new friend - my tape recorder. Lately Ive been recording chords onto tape with the guitar and playing over them on violin.

The most basic melodic and fundamental device for me is the triad. Triads are easy to form, just take the root 3rd and 5th and there you go. Here is all the triads for a min

scale
a b c d e f g a

triads
a c e
b d f
c e g
d f a
e g b
f a c
g b d

One thing I like doing is playing chords on top of chords, for example when playing over a minor chord, Ill play a major arpeggio up a minor third and similarly with major chords, ill play a minor chord up a major 3rd. You can do the same thing with other chord tones, just build a arpeggio off the 5th 7th 9th 11th 13th... what ever you want.

Ive also been building polytonal arpeggios as well for example d minor in one octave then B major in the second octave.

Keep in mind when youre playing over a chord, you can always take another note of that cord and stack the other notes on top

...for example a min is
a b c d e f g a

a minor 7 chord is
a c e g

you can invert this chord as
c e g a
e g a c
g a c e

More creative ideas...

you dont have to harmonize the scale in 3rds you can try 4ths or even some other pattern
a b c d e f g a

4ths would be
a d g b

Ok there you go - next time Ill probably discuss chord scales - try them out and let me know how it goes!

cheers
scott (muggle violinist)
visit my webpage

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saxophone violin

November 1, 2005 15:13

I recently had a violin birthday, it has been 3 years since I first started to study violin with a teacher so if I had started violin when I was 5 I would now be 8. I remember thinking if they show me how to play a 2 octave g major scale correctly, I sould be able top play bach, the money ran out so I was not able to take lessons for very long. I remember the bow used to bounce all the time and the intonation was awful. Now I can play 4 movements of solo Bach sonatas, not very well but when I take lessons again i'll already know where the notes are.

So anyways most of you know I have recently become involved with a really knowledgeable jazz musician, his name is Ron and he plays clairinet, tenor sax, flute, piano and bass. Ron studied at the Berklee School of music and last night he told me he used to play in an ensemble with Branfrd Marsalis when he was at Berklee.

Everytime we play togather we play a different piece every time, its really fun and interesting to try to play over different chord changes and there is always something different to play. We are writig music ad soon will start recording, the first 2 chords of the new tune I want to record are A maj7#5 to E maj7(#11). Maybe Ill have some recordings for you soon? Very recetly Ron said we may be able to form a full blown band instead of just a duet like we have been doing. Im really excited about recording with a full band again.

I recently met someone else who plays guitar and has a digital recorder. I plan on showing him the tunes and then play the melodies on violin so everyhing Im learning from Ron I can convert to violin.

Here are links to a few of the pieces we are playing, you should try some of these:

A Lotus on Irish Streams - some people have been asking about a violin guitar duet on the discussion board - this one should fit the bill nicely. This is a gorgeous melody written by guitarist John McLaughlin that appears on tyhe first Mahavishnu recording

Blue In Green - a real jazz classic written by Miles Davis that appears on the famed Kind of Blue cd, this is one of the first jazz tunes I started to learn on my own about 10 years ago

Afro Blue - we could play this for 30 minutes, a great tue to really stretch out on and play exteded improv. This is on the live at birdland cd by John Coltrane

Naima - a wonderful ballad written by john coltrane that would come across great on the violin, you can hear this on his imoratal cd, giant steps

Very Early - a tune by bill evans, my favorite jazz pianist - I absolutely love this man's sound

Waltz For Debby - another tune by bill evans - the harmonic movement on this is extremely unique - you will never find anything else with this progression

My Foolish Heart - an gorgeous standard with intensely rich harmony - bill evans used to love playing this

stay tuned...

cheers
scott (muggle violinist)
visit my webpage

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More entries: December 2005 • October 2005