Author: Jan

Je suis cool.

Practice session: continuing with melodic minor studies + diving into Locrian

Sounds like I’m getting a taste for dissonances, huh? 🥴

Scale studies

  • All Melodic minor scales with proper descent over natural minor (told you it’s a classical week 😄)
  • G# Locrian scale dissection over moving degrees in groups of 3 — sheet music soon 🤖
  • G# Aeolian dissection over moving root arpeggio in groups of 3
  • C Aeolian dissection over moving root arpeggio in groups of 3, then 2

Session timing: 1h 40m

Practice session: search for the melodic minor DNA

Scale studies

  • All Melodic minor scales
  • Imrpov in Mm / finding DNA
  • D Dorian b2 (Mm mode #2): dissection in groups of 3 over harmonised scale — sheet music soon 🤖
  • A Dorian b2 (A normal Dorian in descending motion) over harmonised scale

Left hand

Observations

Yes, ascending melodic minor is an extremely dissonant scale. I mean, it’s in the nature of it: it’s literally major and minor sewn together, how can it not be dissonant! But, as always, somewhere in the middle of all this harshness, there’s an undulating beauty, its DNA, so magnificent and fragile that it compensates all the clashing around it. I just have to find it 🤓

Session timing: 2h

Practice session: lost in dissonances, rescued by Lydian sweetness

Scale studies

  • All Hm1 scales
  • All Hm1 scales, focus on descending motion

  • Accidentals jam (Dorian scales in all keys) — must confess that this exercise does not really apply well to anything other than harmonic minor 😕

  • Scale dissection: C, F, Bb Lydian over moving major 7th arpeggio in groups of 3
  • Scale dissection: C, F, Bb & Eb Lydian over arpeggiated scale degrees in groups of 3

Here’s what I mean:

Screenshot 2019-04-07 at 10.09.03 AM.png

Surprisingly, it’s slightly easier to play than over the moving root arpeggio (because you don’t have to think about inversions all the time and simply go up the scale degrees) — and it sounds much better. Especially in sweet Lydian mode 🍭 Might get tricky in keys with a lot of accidentals though.

Jazz voicings + left hand

  • iim9 — V13 — I∆9 — IV∆ | iiø — V7b9 — m9 in C thru A, descending broken 10ths with the left hand

Session timing: 2h

Practice session: modes of harmonic minor & not forgetting 10ths

Scale studies

  • All Hm1 scales
    • Focus on sharp keys
    • Accidentals jam Bb — F — Eb (Hm1)
    • Accidentals jam C — F — Bb (Dor)

Left hand

Session timing: 2h