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Tom,
Are you referring to something I played on the video? On the Scale and Arpeggio book and Workbook Calisthenics they are all on the 2nd string for the sake of consistency.
Let me know what video and on what exercise. There might be a reason I played it on the 3rd string unless I unconsciously just played an alternate fingering, which I sometimes do.Yes, what you are suggesting is simply the reverse of #3 and you are correct, it wasn’t included due to lack of space. Nonetheless, now that you are aware of it, you can include it in your practice routine! 🙂
Tom,
Right now playing it at a slow to medium tempo might be easier. However, with that much of a hand movement (a whole step out of position), you’ll probably have problems at a faster tempo. Personally, I would have trouble, although maybe with practice it can be done (Remember, Django used 2 fingers).
Playing 5 fret stretches between 2 strings, seems to be something that most guitarists shy away from when getting into jazz (as I once did myself). I agree it’s not what you’re used to, but with practice it becomes easier and will enable you to play a lot of things that otherwise might not work at faster tempos or simply when you find yourself using certain fingerings. You can do as you please, but if you want my opinion, I recommend getting used to the stretch.
The calisthenics are primarily to train you to use the fingerings for the arpeggios in combination with the different approaches. The ear training and recognition of intervals is simply a natural outcome of the repeated practice required.
Thanks Gerard, it’s always encouraging for me to know that people are watching and also benefiting from the You Tube lessons. Yes, I do offer some complementary insight sometimes to what is in the courses here, without really planning it. Hope more students enrolled here will watch the YouTube videos.
Tom,
In Candy Bars 4 we are using a lot of upper extensions to start the V chord. Upper extensions are secondary guide tones (see Lesson book, p.18 and p.60, especially tip #2).
The other element we are using is approach notes at the point of chord change, which briefly delay the resolution to the new target. This works best at a medium to fast tempo.
3rds and 7ths are the strongest guide tones so I drill that first in the course, but eventually you want to alternate them with the secondary guide tones and hybrids (5’s and roots). NOTE: When not using a 3rd or 7th to start a measure you want to make sure that at least one of them is present in the line to better imply the changes. Otherwise your line may end up sounding a little weak and lack tonal definition.
Let me know if this answers your questions.
The candy bars were uploaded at the request of several students who wanted ready to play examples of lines using the approaches being studied in each module. They are a bonus but not an official part of the course and even though they are good to play over, by no means spend time memorizing them at the expense of not moving on with the course. They are there for the sake of analysis and to spark your imagination as to different ways we can construct lines using the given approach concept.
Memorizing “licks” defeats the purpose of this course which is to learn the language of jazz and eventually be able to improvise by constructing lines in any harmonic context by using the arpeggios in combination with the various approach techniques. However, if from playing them so much you memorize them and they happen to come up in your playing because you hear them in your head, that is fine. For example, I often might spontaneously play fragments of Charlie Parker heads in a solo simply because I hear them in my head after listening and playing them for so many years. So the idea is not to try to force a lick into your solo because there is no time to recall them. Again, it must happen naturally and in the context of what you are playing.
I haven’t gotten any other reports of this happening in the past except for a remote few who had slower connections and maybe only experience it during peak hours. I personally have never had any problems, not even on my mobile and when I have watched on different students computers (at least locally), it has always been very smooth.
The videos are hosted professionally on Vimeo who are reputedly one of the best for video and used by lots of film industry professionals to have private screenings. From all the research I’ve done, most problems are usually with the individual user’s ISP and how it relays the information. This will vary from location to location around the world, depending on many variables.
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help but this one is out of my hands. However, here is some troubleshooting that is often done:
1.Try watching the videos in non HD resolution. If this solves the problem, you’ll know that you don’t really have the speed required for HD and you might consider upgrading to a faster connection with your ISP, if available.
2.The other is to watch at different times of the day to see if there is a change…try middle of the morning, middle of the afternoon and late at night. If you notice the problem is gone or there is less buffering, this means that your ISP is experiencing slower speeds at peak hours when too many people are using the internet …the classic bottleneck.
Thanks Gerard…much appreciated! All I can say is that it’s been a marathon to complete this Volume. Let’s see how long Chord Melody takes…so much to cover.
I have defined ch pt or approach tones in general to upper extension in Lesson 4. See Lesson Book 1 p. 60 , last paragraph (#4).
In the specific example you gave which I understand as 3- ch pt-9-1, I assume the line is being played in a register above middle C. This makes the 2 a 9 in how it blends with the harmony, or if you want to be really specific, the overtone series produced by the chords root being played by the bass. The ch pt is clearly targeting and resolving to the 9. Proof is that we could end the line there and it would sound fine in that range. That is evidence of resolution. This however is not the case if the same line were to be played by the bass player. It would then most likely be analyzed as 3-ch pt- 2-1 because the 2 can no longer function as an upper extension or added chord tone. This would also probably be the case if on guitar we play it on the 6th string.
Furthermore, some will call it a 2 even in a high register simply because it is an 8th note being played at a fast tempo. So tempo can also affect the function of a note! Therefore it is all relative.
Personally I opt to call it a 9th when teaching jazz improvisation, for 2 reasons: 1- I assume the student will be playing it in the register covered by the top 4 strings and 2- I assume no student is yet playing it at a high tempo where it looses its identity as a 9.
The bottom line is that if you want to call it a 2, it won’t affect your playing for the better or worst and you don’t have to worry about the jazz police coming after you 🙂
Mark….what can I say…this is embarrassing..fortunately the great majority of errors are text related and the notes and playing are correct I guess for the most part. I will try to get to it by this weekend as I am traveling right now.
As far as the leading spaces being stripped, there is not much that can be done unless you know html.
Thanks for the corrections, I’ll let you know as soon as I post the corrections. Either way, I owe you big time. I will send you an upcoming book I’m finishing to your e-mail sometime soon. I’m testing all the exercises with my one on one students before I release it and I’m already on the 5th revision. Again, mainly text copy errors.
The reason this works is because it is “prepared” chromaticism. The 5th which is a chord tone is preparing the approach which descends chromatically to the next chord tone or 3. Many just analyze this as a chromatic line. When double chromatic approaches are “unprepared” which is usually the case, and start on a non diatonic note from above, that’s when we have that ambiguous dissonant effect.
As a general rule upper double chromatic approaches that begin on a non-diatonic note are very dissonant and usually avoided. The other issue is that they create modal ambiguity. In the case of the 3, if we start a dch from above we are starting with the #4 which is not diatonic to the mixolydian. As a result, the sound produced is associated with the lydian,lydian dominant or super locrian.
So, if you want to play it safe, the best sounding double chromatic approaches are those that begin on a diatonic note.
Let me know if this answers your question.
