Jazz Learning

Today  We worked on Spain. Video with transcription here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMg161bfeHg Later I pulled that out to a PDF here: https://www.dropbox.com/home/James%20Willeford%20-%20Guitar%20Lessons?preview=Spain+Joe+Farrel+Solo.pdf Talked about Using transcription to find little phrases and try them out in different fingerings all around the neck and different keys. Found a little phrase at bar 13: #4 5 #4 4 #2 3 5 7 9 8 over a Dmaj7.  Tried a bunch of variations.   Chromatic practice - play every note ascending in one position.  going up, reach back with index to get extra note; going down, reach forward with pinky Fingerbuster chromatic exercise. whole up, half up, whole down, half up; then repeat. After the Lesson From email "we can discuss your analysis [of Joe Ferrell solo on Spain] next time we meet. Try to think about not just chord-scale relationships, but development of ideas/geatures. And steal any bits you like you like, such as that lick...

I've realized that i'm just not very fast at spelling chords in real time.  E.g., what are the notes in an F#m7?  F#, A C#, E.  I have to stop and think.  9s and 13s? Forget about it. When I spell chords, I visualize the fretboard.  Most of my instant recall of what's-the-note-for-this-fret/string-combination is on the E, A, and D strings.  E is all the way up the neck; A is maybe up to 15; D is up to 5 or so. So to spell chords faster, I have to practice just doing that.  But if i learn the neck better I think I'll be able to spell chords faster. Way back in 2019ish i wrote a web page to help:  https://notation-practice.s3.amazonaws.com/note_quiz.html It could use a timer to advance the notes; alternatively I could have it respond to the RIGHT_ARROW key that comes from my page turning pedal. I also built a weird random phrase generator - the abcjs links are broken but it could be useful if fixed. https://notation-practice.s3.amazonaws.com/notatio...

  Since last time Rehearsal  went over Spain many times, building tempo we are where we are, and it's rough at times.  But we are getting better Have done 1235 exercise. Not fluid, but i can do it.   Some shapes are much easier than others.  staying in same position is very difficult. Cycle of fifths - naming notes out loud - hard, i'm unlearning things Two middle string 3/7 exercise.  I grab a random ballad from iReal Pro, then try to play only the 3 and 7 on only the D and G strings.   This limits the inversions to 2. i have to go slow! 50bpm or whatever not yet doing voice leading consistently this works because of roots on the E and A string.  When i move to using other pairs, e.g. 3/7 on GB, it gets harder will keep doing it  have practiced getting the altered scale under my fingers tried jamming pentatonic over Spain chords, as described. I have not yet started on composing a solo. Observations Multiple skill areas at work whe...

Today "Improvisation is composition in real time, and vice versa" Tips on practicing:  pay attention both tone and time for playing over changes, try composing a solo watch out for vibrato on end notes! it's a rock-ism First two chords of solo section of Spain: Gbmaj and F7#9.   1. try play Gb Lydian up, then F altered dom down (over F7#9) 2. try Gbmaj: Fm pentatonic fits F7#9: G#m pentatonic fits do minor pentatonic noodling for a hipper sound For Next Time practice playing 3s and 7s over changes try saying name practice 1235 over changes practice over cycle of fifths, using a different start point each time just the 1.  Say the name while i do it. 1235 1235, then 5321 for the next chord (for each, try playing it in different registers, try not to move the left hand, etc.) first 32 of Spain

  Went over "altered" aka many other names, like Super Locrian.   Ascending melodic minor is essentially a major scale with a flatted 3rd.  / wh  / hf  / wh  / wh  / wh  / wh  / hf  / (wh) /  1 -   9 -   b3 -  11 -  5 -   13 -  7 -   1 -    9 Taking the 7th degree of that as the root, we get the altered/Super Locrian  / hf  / wh  / hf  / wh  / wh  / wh  / wh  / (hf) /  1 -   b9 -  #9 -  3 -   #11 - #5 -  b13 - b7 -   1 Usable on solo section Spain (bar 76) - F7#9 Learning solo approach for Spain: Play through with 7th arpeggios Make lines with arpeggios Make lines with 3 and 7 only Voice lead 3 and 7 across chords Also talked about "bebop" scale 1 7 6 b6 -> 567#7 1