Category: a) Soloing Scales & Modes
-
A Shaw Thing – Connecting Pentatonic Scales
Mention pentatonics in jazz and people will probably immediately think of Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. They might also think of trumpeter Woody Shaw, who developed pentatonic playing to an incredible level. Woody’s kaleidoscopic approach involved zipping across multiple tonalities on each chord by using collections of pentatonics. First things first though – for now, we’ll…
-
Four-Note Scales from Melodic Minor
Well, can we call a four-note scale a scale at all? Possibly not, particularly the ones we’ll be looking at, since the even spread of four notes is more reminiscent of an arpeggio than a scale. But conceptualising them as scales can be very useful as a device for soloing. What’s more, there are ways of expanding these…
-
You’ve Been Taught the Wrong Chord Tones
Hold it right there – if you’ve learned jazz within the past twenty years or so, it’s likely you’ve been taught the wrong chord tones on tonic chords. People tend to teach from the perspective of chord-scales. Which is fine. Pretty much the first thing we’re taught is to stack our chord tones in thirds.…
-
Using Upper Structures in Solos
The key to using “upper structures” is to observe that simple major and minor triads exist in the upper reaches of altered dominant chords. These structures are often used by pianists and guitarists in chord voicings, but they are also very effective in solo lines. Had you considered that you can play, for instance, an…
-
Bebop Part I – Perpetual Motion Exercises
Bebop is much more than just one particular style, it is pretty much the “grammar” of modern jazz, and bebop “licks” are not so much cliches as essential elements of speech within the jazz language. Here are some bebop exercises to practise that repeat themselves over and over and make musical sense, so they work…
-
How to Handle a Sus Chord Part II – Sus Blues
Most learning players approach a blues by combining the following two approaches: Using figures from the blues scales over quite straight old-fashioned blues harmony. Using bebop scales and language over elaborated “jazz blues” changes. There’s another way to go about things, though, and it’s characteristic of McCoy Tyner’s approach (as heard on albums such as…
-
To Lick or Not to Lick…
So everyone’s agreed, right? The way to learn jazz is to learn loads of licks taken from recordings of our favourite players and take them round all the keys. Hmm (a big hmm). While I do agree that you can learn a lot from transcribing (licks are nothing more than mini-transcriptions that have become part…
-
The Secret of Jazz? Mathematics
Forget technical studies, listening to the greats, learning licks, advanced harmony, playing out, networking and “living the life”. Well, don’t forget them at all, actually. But those are the obvious bits, and there’s a very simple principle that most learners completely overlook as they strive to progress in jazz. They’re usually too busy with the high-flown…
-
How to Handle a Sus Chord Part I – the Real McCoy
It’s a common problem among people learning how to improvise that they freeze when faced with a sus chord. I’ve often found that the reason people don’t know what to play over this chord type is that they don’t really understand it. Here are a few ways of tackling this mysterious chord type that should…
-
A Simple Technique for Outside Playing
This article will give you a simple, easy to remember, but very effective formula for taking a solo line outside the changes. When I say simple and easy to remember, I mean it. You’ll grasp the principle inside ten minutes, and be able to put it into practice within an hour. If this weren’t one…
Jason Lyon Music 