Author: Jason
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Diminished Responsibility
Jazz musicians don’t use the harmonic minor scale, right? Wrong. Of course, everyone would admit there are occasions where the harmonic minor is specifically called for, to evoke a sort of “Eastern promise” sound (a lot of people use it on Nardis and Caravan, for instance). But actually this scale is commonly used in all…
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I Quit Flute
Originally posted on I Hate Practicing: An amazing young colleague recently had this as her Facebook status: I quit flute. Her friends responded with comments like, “Oh, no, you are SO GOOD!” or, “Don’t quit!!!” and “Nooooo!” My response? Do it. (But, it’s not what you think. . .) The late, great, Ed Gobrecht –…
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Playing Scales in Chords – the Basics of Drop 2
You might have heard of “Drop 2”. It’s a technique for harmonising a moving line. This was originally used in arranging for orchestras and big bands, but it’s also used by pianists and guitarists when soloing or comping. Often when they have to follow a horn player who has just spent a solo stomping the number into a pink miasma then tosses over the remaining entrails, hoof…
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A Pianist’s A-Z, Alfred Brendel
I’m quite a fan of Alfred Brendel. Certainly as a pianist – his playing has great honesty and clarity, serving always the music, rather than himself. He is sincere about music without being precious about it, and heaven knows, we need more like that. He has made many excellent recordings, but I can single out…
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Turnarounds
Most lead sheets for standards don’t bother including the turnaround at the end of each section – it’s just assumed that you’ll know what to play. In case you don’t know, this article will run through the most common first choices for turnarounds to chords on each scale degree. You can also use the same…
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Composing Solos – or How to Cheat
I have often found it a very useful exercise to sit down and precompose a few choruses of soloing over a tune that’s captured my imagination at the time. It’s pretty obvious to say, really, but improvising is ultimately nothing more or less than instantaneous composition. Since we don’t have the luxury of time when…
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Transcription: Tommy Flanagan on Eclypso
This is a transcription of the two-chorus solo that pianist Tommy Flanagan takes on his own composition Eclypso (solo starts at 0:45). You’ll find it on the 1959 album The Cats. This solo makes a good study for any number of reasons, but here are two. First, the harmony is very simple – as is fitting for…
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Word for the Day: Slatin
Every now and then someone coins a new word and I think it deserves to spread. I’d like to introduce you to the wonderfully descriptive term “slatin”, which comes courtesy of virtuoso percussionist João Bosco de Oliveira. Bosco will sometimes tell a little tale about one particular gig when he’d only recently arrived from Brasil in the ’80s…
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Are Modes all Greek to You?
“Just play the white notes from D to D my dear, that’s the Dorian mode.” “Okay, but isn’t that just Dm7?” “No no no, you’re playing modally.” “Riiiiight. So maestro, what’s the difference?” “Goes back to the Greeks, you silly girl.” “Who are you calling silly in that wig? It’s certainly all ελληνικά to me…”…
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Bebop Part II – All the Exercises You Can Eat
Bebop is ultimately all about being able to play any chromatic tone on any chord. Obviously, if we just play chromatically with free abandon, the harmony goes out the window. Theory dictates that we place strong tones on strong beats to best convey the harmony. The principle is simple – these exercises are designed to…
Jason Lyon Music 