Author: Jan

Je suis cool.

Bass day (2h)

  • Walking bass lines / chord tones
    • Major 7th chords around the cycle of 4ths in all inversions, permutations used:
      • 1-3-5-7
      • 3-1-5-7
      • 5-1-3-7
      • 7-1-3-5
    • Walking with permutations & inversions
      • A Beautiful Friendship in Eb
  • Rhythmic studies
    • Riff from “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”
      • Starting on 1-e-&-a (original version)
      • Starting on 1-e-&-a (moved 1 1/16 forward)

Observations

This exercise with taking the riff and moving it in 16th notes? Dude, it’s genius. It’s mind-boggling, but once you get it right, it makes you groove like crazy! Thanks Mr. Brown, sir!

Piano day (2h)

  • Modal studies
    • Modes of Melodic minor (all modes in C, without click, just getting familiar)
    • Harmonisation
      • Melodic minor (1st mode)
      • Dorian b2 (2nd mode)
    • Mixing / borrowing
      • Mixing Dorian with Dorian b2 (in the parent key of C)
        • i7 — IV7 / i7 — IV7 — bIImaj7+5
  • Imporvisation
    • Minor Bebop scale over Dorian progression with b2 (IVmaj7 — i7)
    • Exotic scale study
      • Lydian pentatonic (in C)
      • Mela Vagadhisvari (Minor Bebop without passing tone, in fact — it’s just the name that makes it sound fancy 😆)

Observations

Next time, I need to equally geek out on bass 🤓

Piano day (1h 50m)

  • Modal studies
    • Harmonising Harmonic minor (as if it was not already harmonic enough — IT’S NOT FUNNY DAD — I know — okay let’s change the topic)
      • Hm1 (key of C), shells 7-5-3, 3-7-9, 7-3-6
      • Hm3 (key of C), shells 7-5-3, 3-7-9, 7-3-6
      • Improv with “blanket scale” over Hm3 (A Harm. minor over 3rd mode of C)
  • Left hand
    • Stride patterns: recap 2-octave jumps with 7-1-3 and 1-3-7 kind of stuff
    • Rolling tenths
  • Jazz voicings
    • Voice leading patterns (A — B, A — A, etc.) while switching between different scale degrees (Dan Haerle, “The Jazz Language”, Chapter 7)

Observations

I must say I’m finally starting to like Harmonic minor. It was really weird at the very beginning, because of the rather unique chord qualities: minor / major 7th, augmented major 7th and fully diminished, not to mention two m7b5’s. It’s a really harsh sound, and while the scale itself is beautiful, the modes that it produces sound at first kinda ugly. But that’s where the power of modal approach comes in. Just because you don’t like minor / major 7th chord as your I (the Roman numeral, lol), doesn’t mean it sucks. It simply means you should try and start on another degree and see if you will like the new progression. I decided to start on III, which makes the 3rd mode of Harmonic minor. I like the sound of augmented major 7 chord, and I like how it falls into the pure minor IV (i. e. II in the 3rd mode). Now we’re talking! Instead of unsure and a bit intoxicated Cm/M7 to Dm7b5, I have beautiful, complex and fragile, unexpected and really otherworldly Cmaj7#5 to Dm7. Wow! So yeah. That’s how you get to love the stuff that makes you feel uncomfortable at first.

Bass day (1h 30m)

  • Walking bass lines
    • Improvisation with emphasis on chromaticisms over “Airegin” and “All The Things You Are”
  • Groove techniques
    • Rich Brown exercise: shifting one pattern in 16th notes (I only managed to do starting on 1, on e and on a)

Observations

I definitely need to do more counting practice. I’m very used to feeling things, but when it comes to rhythmically shifting whole phrases within one bar, that’s when it starts to play tricks on your brain, and what you’re “feeling” is rather what you’re most comfortable with, but often not what’s rhythmically correct. Like, you might switch the beginning of the phrase, but — without being aware of it — still play the rest the same because it feels right. But it’s not! 😄 So, counting using 16th notes is really essential here. It’s tough, but becomes extremely fun when you get it sorted!