This is the 31st episode in the Jazz Tactics series of videos taking you through the nuts and bolts of improvising. Please leave a LIKE and a comment so TH-cam (and I) know you enjoy the content. Here's the full playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLdkYbUyqvkhSJJ4IJFoNYBtNaxiMZgNlg.html
I am hearing a lot of Art Farmer in this video. I tried turning a student of mine who plays trumpet onto Art Farmer--I teach English Lit, but have studied jazz for 20 odd years. I recently gave ATTYA a closer look with my private teacher and wow... What's most unfortunate is how this tune is shoveled off as a "beginner tune" because the melody is mostly straight forward. In reality, playing ATTYA convincingly is quite the challenge. I like treating that I chord in the 4th measure as a dominant chord now--helps create more movement to the IV (in concert: the Ab7 going to Dbmaj7). The contrafacts to ATTYA are also great, from "Prince Albert" to "Dixie's Dilemma." To be honest, too many sleep on the wealth that "basic tunes" have to offer. "Bye Bye Blackbird" or "If I Were A Bell" are beautiful tunes--and can be quite the melodic workout for getting your bebop together. And "Blue Bossa" is quite the challenge to sound interesting on--look at what Joe Henderson and KD did on that tune. I always tell people that Coltrane and Cannonball didn't raise their nose to these tunes, so we shouldn't either. Too many peeps want to rush into "Moments Notice" without giving NOTICE to all these beautiful songbook standards.
A comparison to Art Farmer is high praise, thank you! I would not call All The Things a beginner tune, but I've tried to provide an overview that allows one to approach it as five pools of notes related to major key centers. In my university improv class, which was originally the target audience for the Jazz Tactics videos, this tune is where we usually wound up at the end of the year, though sometimes we got a introductory look at Giant Steps as another tune with key center modulations of a major third. Although the modulations are fewer with Giant Steps (3), it's tougher to negotiate because they move so rapidly, as I think I discussed in this video.
@@chasesanborn No, I definitely didn't mean that you called ATTYA a beginner tune at all. I meant that many other folks pass the tune off as easy when its actually quite complex. I was just venting that a lot of people studying jazz suffer from the Dunning Freddie Kruger Effect. They think that certain tunes are "below them" and totally pass up lessons in harmony and melody that all songbook standards stand to offer. Apologies if I was being misleading. I love your videos. Brass players are awesome, as long as you don't sit in front of their bell ;)
Loved the video, but one point: I think by setting that bar aside to breathe you miss the most beautiful bit of the piece - (in trumpet key) we go from F#maj at the end of the bridge to Gmin at the start of the last A, you can use a D augmented chord, which shares the A#/Bb from the F#maj and serves as a V to the Gmin. In the melody you can hold the A#/Bb note over F#maj, Daug, Gmin for a really nice pedal, and you can play some really crunchy stuff and outline say a Daug7#9 when improvising. Cheers, Ben
D augmented is of course the correct chord in that bar. I only suggest the option of laying out to make it simpler for someone who is learning, since it's a lot for the student mind to wrap around an augmented dominant chord taking you from the I chord in the key of E to the VI chord in the key of Ab. (Taking it through 12 keys makes it even more so.) I also give the option of thinking of it as a second bar of E concert which is not precisely correct, but keeps you in the ballpark, and notably with the note you mention, concert G# which carries over for all three bars. In general terms, laying out is always a valid strategic option when you are unsure of the harmony. You can't play a bad note if you play no notes! :)
I can sing it...just need to nail the changes in the bridge on my horn and memorize it. One of my "white whales". Thank-you again Chase. Going to listen to Chet's version and slow it down.
Simply excellent! Really. Precise and clear, nothing to add. If only all videos were this clear and good to watch. Thank you so much for sharing. Greetings from France.
Thank you for guiding hobbyists like myself down the rabbit hole called music! Would love to read the article „all the 3rds“ you mentioned earlier! Could you by any chance share a link to it? Greetings from Düsseldorf, Germany 🙋🏿♂️!
My books are only sold through a few dealers, and none in the UK currently. You can order from the website, of course. That entails a shipping charge, but if I shipped the books to a dealer that cost still gets passed on. www.chasesanborn.com
So much great stuff here. Now, in the bridge, there is often half diminished chords used in the first measure (such as in one of the Aebersold playalongs), and especially in the fifth measure. If you are improvising to standard minor sevenths, is it unlikely to clash with the half diminished sevenths? Same with the B diminished towards the end that you are substituting sometimes with a B minor seventh. Is replacing diminished and half diminished chords with minor sevenths part of a strategy you recommend ?
While some people, including Aebersold, use a minor II V at the start of the bridge, I think the outline of the melody suggests a minor seven chord rather than half diminished. Similarly, the major seven melody note in the fifth bar from the end (relative to the key center) suggests b3 diminished, but some might choose the option of descending II Vs on the blowing. That's what is employed on the Aebersold 12-key track. In this video I am trying to present the easiest way to grasp the harmonic structure. In a real playing situation, there are often alternative harmonic options, for example, during the blowing you could use tritone subs for the dominant chords in the second and sixth bars of the bridge, though that would be inappropriate with the melody. Listening and responding to each other is a part of the art, but it's not critical that we play exactly the same chord change on every bar as long as we wind up in the same place. When you are working with a play along you are stuck with what they played at the time of recording. It's an excellent ear training exercise to try and hear where a play along differs from the chord changes you expect or see on a lead sheet from another source.
This is the 31st episode in the Jazz Tactics series of videos taking you through the nuts and bolts of improvising. Please leave a LIKE and a comment so TH-cam (and I) know you enjoy the content. Here's the full playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLdkYbUyqvkhSJJ4IJFoNYBtNaxiMZgNlg.html
I am hearing a lot of Art Farmer in this video. I tried turning a student of mine who plays trumpet onto Art Farmer--I teach English Lit, but have studied jazz for 20 odd years. I recently gave ATTYA a closer look with my private teacher and wow... What's most unfortunate is how this tune is shoveled off as a "beginner tune" because the melody is mostly straight forward. In reality, playing ATTYA convincingly is quite the challenge. I like treating that I chord in the 4th measure as a dominant chord now--helps create more movement to the IV (in concert: the Ab7 going to Dbmaj7). The contrafacts to ATTYA are also great, from "Prince Albert" to "Dixie's Dilemma."
To be honest, too many sleep on the wealth that "basic tunes" have to offer. "Bye Bye Blackbird" or "If I Were A Bell" are beautiful tunes--and can be quite the melodic workout for getting your bebop together. And "Blue Bossa" is quite the challenge to sound interesting on--look at what Joe Henderson and KD did on that tune. I always tell people that Coltrane and Cannonball didn't raise their nose to these tunes, so we shouldn't either. Too many peeps want to rush into "Moments Notice" without giving NOTICE to all these beautiful songbook standards.
A comparison to Art Farmer is high praise, thank you! I would not call All The Things a beginner tune, but I've tried to provide an overview that allows one to approach it as five pools of notes related to major key centers. In my university improv class, which was originally the target audience for the Jazz Tactics videos, this tune is where we usually wound up at the end of the year, though sometimes we got a introductory look at Giant Steps as another tune with key center modulations of a major third. Although the modulations are fewer with Giant Steps (3), it's tougher to negotiate because they move so rapidly, as I think I discussed in this video.
@@chasesanborn No, I definitely didn't mean that you called ATTYA a beginner tune at all. I meant that many other folks pass the tune off as easy when its actually quite complex. I was just venting that a lot of people studying jazz suffer from the Dunning Freddie Kruger Effect. They think that certain tunes are "below them" and totally pass up lessons in harmony and melody that all songbook standards stand to offer. Apologies if I was being misleading. I love your videos. Brass players are awesome, as long as you don't sit in front of their bell ;)
No worries--I didn't take it that you were referring to me. BTW, I picked the trumpet specifically so I wouldn't have to sit in front of one! :)
Very interesting approach.
I'm glad you find it to be so!
Loved the video, but one point:
I think by setting that bar aside to breathe you miss the most beautiful bit of the piece - (in trumpet key) we go from F#maj at the end of the bridge to Gmin at the start of the last A, you can use a D augmented chord, which shares the A#/Bb from the F#maj and serves as a V to the Gmin. In the melody you can hold the A#/Bb note over F#maj, Daug, Gmin for a really nice pedal, and you can play some really crunchy stuff and outline say a Daug7#9 when improvising.
Cheers,
Ben
D augmented is of course the correct chord in that bar. I only suggest the option of laying out to make it simpler for someone who is learning, since it's a lot for the student mind to wrap around an augmented dominant chord taking you from the I chord in the key of E to the VI chord in the key of Ab. (Taking it through 12 keys makes it even more so.) I also give the option of thinking of it as a second bar of E concert which is not precisely correct, but keeps you in the ballpark, and notably with the note you mention, concert G# which carries over for all three bars. In general terms, laying out is always a valid strategic option when you are unsure of the harmony. You can't play a bad note if you play no notes! :)
I can sing it...just need to nail the changes in the bridge on my horn and memorize it. One of my "white whales". Thank-you again Chase. Going to listen to Chet's version and slow it down.
Chet is great for revealing melodic pathways.
Simply excellent! Really.
Precise and clear, nothing to add. If only all videos were this clear and good to watch. Thank you so much for sharing.
Greetings from France.
Thanks for your glowing review, and greetings from Canada!
Super explanation and interpretation of this popular standard.
Thanks for saying so!
Really excellent!
Thank you! Cheers!
Ah if only you uploaded this last week when I was playing this in my small jazz ensemble class
Timing is everything!
@@chasesanborn this is super helpful nonetheless! I'm considering adding it in to the set list for a small gig im doing
Thank you for guiding hobbyists like myself down the rabbit hole called music! Would love to read the article „all the 3rds“ you mentioned earlier! Could you by any chance share a link to it? Greetings from Düsseldorf, Germany 🙋🏿♂️!
It was published in the International Trumpet Guild Journal, available online only to members.
Can I get your books in the UK Chase?
My books are only sold through a few dealers, and none in the UK currently. You can order from the website, of course. That entails a shipping charge, but if I shipped the books to a dealer that cost still gets passed on. www.chasesanborn.com
So much great stuff here. Now, in the bridge, there is often half diminished chords used in the first measure (such as in one of the Aebersold playalongs), and especially in the fifth measure. If you are improvising to standard minor sevenths, is it unlikely to clash with the half diminished sevenths? Same with the B diminished towards the end that you are substituting sometimes with a B minor seventh. Is replacing diminished and half diminished chords with minor sevenths part of a strategy you recommend ?
While some people, including Aebersold, use a minor II V at the start of the bridge, I think the outline of the melody suggests a minor seven chord rather than half diminished. Similarly, the major seven melody note in the fifth bar from the end (relative to the key center) suggests b3 diminished, but some might choose the option of descending II Vs on the blowing. That's what is employed on the Aebersold 12-key track. In this video I am trying to present the easiest way to grasp the harmonic structure.
In a real playing situation, there are often alternative harmonic options, for example, during the blowing you could use tritone subs for the dominant chords in the second and sixth bars of the bridge, though that would be inappropriate with the melody.
Listening and responding to each other is a part of the art, but it's not critical that we play exactly the same chord change on every bar as long as we wind up in the same place.
When you are working with a play along you are stuck with what they played at the time of recording. It's an excellent ear training exercise to try and hear where a play along differs from the chord changes you expect or see on a lead sheet from another source.
What horn are you playing in this video?
Yamaha 8315G.