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Hi There
Just looking for a little guidance with regard to the quantity of “Template Use”? I have found the rhythms in the first half dozen modules to be very useful in helping me phrase across the bar (using voice leading) and enjoy working with the blank ones utilising the various choices for pt’s nt’s enc’s ue’s etc. However I seem to have written over 40 or more so far and am a little undecided as to how to use them effectively. I don’t want to lose some of the ideas as they sound good to me but can’t always recall them. Should I just focus on a few and keep the remainder for later with the idea of increasing the number over time?Just as an aside I also found when I start learning a new harmonic concept (Module) I found it helpful to use the first 4 or 5 templates (ct’s nt’s & pt’s) to really get the progression into my ears.
Absolutely loving the BGIS by the way. Many thanks
ChrisGlad to hear you are enjoying the course and especially the fact that you have been taking advantage of the Rhythm Templates. You can never write too many of these! Unfortunately this along with the ear training are the 2 most neglected aspects of this course by many…too bad for them…good for you!
To answer your question regarding the practicality of writing “too many etudes”, I want to address 2 factors:
1- You must play them repeatedly to get the full benefit of them. I had a period in my life when I was directed by my mentor to continually write these and play each one almost daily for a period of 3 to 6 months, even to the point of memorization from playing them so much. An interesting thing happens down the road as a result. You start improvising over the same chord progression and of course same fingerings used in the etudes you practiced, and several ideas from them naturally come to mind from the different varieties. Now keep in mind that it may or may not be the specific idea that you liked so much from say, your 5th variation, but the ideas will now have a melodic sense of direction. You will use different approach resources targeting the current arpeggio and above all voice lead smoothly at the point of chord change. At least, much better than 6 months earlier, before you started programming these new ideas.
So what I recommend is that you begin your practice sessions playing as many of them as possible for several months. Play the ones you like and know are correct. After doing this for at least 2 months, always take a few minutes at the end to freely improvise over the same progression. See what comes to mind as a result of what you have written. It usually is rough at first but as you keep doing this over another couple of months, more and more will start surfacing and you will start hearing different ways of creating melodies through the changes.
2- The templates have to be written correctly or you risk the danger of practicing and thus programming into your brain the wrong use of approaches and resolutions. You wouldn’t believe how many players taking the course start taking lessons with me and when I ask them to see what they wrote I find all sorts of errors and misconceptions. Among them, approach notes over values larger than an 8th note, lack of resolution, bad voice leading at the point of chord change, wrong use of upper extensions and more. If you are a more advanced player with a solid understanding of the theory, you don’t have to worry. However, I always try to encourage everyone, even if they aren’t taking “one on one” lessons with me, to post some of their rhythm templates here for review. With hundreds of players taking this course at any given time, I sometimes wonder why no takes more advantage of this resource.
All I can say to everyone is…Don’t be afraid of exposing any mistakes as you are here to learn! It is normal to suck in the process. I did and you most likely will. 🙂Many thanks for the advice that makes perfect sense. I just wanted to use my time as effectively as possible and not go down the wrong path.
I have attached a template copy and mp3 file. This would be fairly typical of the ones I have written out with regards to the resources that I am currently trying to employ in the etudes. I would point out that there are a couple of fairly large leaps in the use of upper extensions. Particularly the one at the end of bar 7!!!! It is fun to play and I hope it added a little surprise to the listener. I did succumb to using the 5th as a guide tone as it seemed to help the flow of the line at the time given the template event choices written out beforehand.
Once again many thanks for any feedback which is invaluable to us all.Best wishes
ChrisThanks for sharing Chris! I would have liked to hear you play it though, but you are using the approaches correctly which is the most important thing.
Hopefully we’ll get to hear you play one (and improvise one) in the future. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the post and the response. I hit something of a “wall” a few months back on the templates myself. Similar questions but a bit earlier in the course. I’m trying to learn more sight reading on the side but I think my lack of experience with that and the increased complexity of the rhythms got away from me. Good to know that it just comes down to more hacking away at it and that the “progress” is in the repeated programming. I agree, the earlier rhythms seemed to be more in my grasp an memorable. I notice that there are some other online lessons that will only cover 2 or 3 jazz rhythms through changes to get people started. What we are doing, I think, is fairly complex by comparison.
An interesting video to watch on this note (pun intended) is on Youtube entitled:
“Improvisation Using Simple Melodic Embellishment,” a jazz clinic by Mike Titlebaum.
It’s at the Ithaca School of Music. I think people might enjoy seeing this though I suppose it’s always possible to muddy the waters by looking at other things. Hope everyone has a good day – keep practicing!
Dan
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