Author: Jan

Je suis cool.

Piano day (1h)

  • Improvisation
    • Quick recap of the blues scale in all keys (2-octave runs over minor shell chords in LH)
  • Modes
    • Chords of the Dorian mode: cycling progressions around 12 keys w/ voice leading (using shells)
      • i — IV7
      • i — v
    • Cycling Phrygian progressions
      • i — bVI▵7

Piano day (2h)

  • Jazz voicings
    • Dominant to major (2 versions)
    • Dominant to minor (2 versions)
    • II — V — I — IV’s in all major and parallel minor keys
  • Comping
    • All By Myself (Irving Berlin)
      • Voice leading / minimum movement
      • Some improv in passing chord scales (when I was able to find it quick enough)
  • Improvisation
    • Cool stuff: nine tone scales in C & F (WOW that was huge)
    • Minor blues scale in C through Ab (comping with minor and dominant shell voicings in LH)
    • Combining nine tone and C + F minor blues over I — IV progression. Crazy

Observations

Synthetic scales are absolutely awesome. They may sound harsh at first (especially if you play them over a wrong chord type, e. g. nine tone over minor, whereas it apparently works better over augmented), but they are such a great material that helps you enrich your vocabulary and break out of the stuff you’ve been using for ages! Just like Todd Johnson says in his masterclasses, scales and patterns are the “templates of digesting the new harmonies”. Exactly that.  The more ways to alter your scales you’re comfortable with, the less time you spend lost in the dark when improvising.

Bass day (1h 45m)

  • Chord tones + walking bass lines
    • Harmonising A, E and D major scales with all inversions of 7th chords (trying to go without stops)
    • Harmonising A, E and D with 5-X permutations of the root inversion
  • Chords
    • Triads in all inversions (recap)
    • Play along to “All of Me” in G mixing all inversions

Piano day (2h)

  • Jazz voicings
    • Dominant to major in 2 versions
    • Dominant to minor in 2 versions (recap)
    • Minor to dominant in 2 versions (recap)
    • Cycling all 7ths chords in 7-3-5 to 3-7-9 and backwards at 120bpm
  • Improvisation
    • Blues scale in all keys + minor chords in shell voicing (without voice leading) in LH
    • Mixolydian scale in all keys + dominant chords in shell voicing in LH
    • Dorian scale in all keys + minor chords
    • Mixing Dorian and blues over minor chords

Next time focus: II — V — I — VIs, try nine tone scales in a couple of keys, back to Hm modes, add voice leading to LH pattern while improvising. Optional: pick a lick from “Tons of Runs” and run in a couple of keys