[Richie]

Thanks for sharing! I hear the neighboring tones, some UA and enclosures which is good!

Some advice, if I may….I can hear a lot of traditional blues phrasing which is good for starters. However, to get more into the jazz idiom we need to adopt a different mindset. It’s all in the details…

Try not to start on the root so often on every chord change. As a matter of fact, try to avoid starting on it altogether for now if you can. Try to make your primary guide tones (3 and b7) and occasional 5ths, your beginning notes.

Also, try to play over the bar line connecting the changes more often. In other words try not to play so many phrases that end before a chord change. Connect the changes using voice leading, again preferably to the closest 3 or b7.

[Richie]

Hi Mark,

I think proofreader comes with full Obama Care subsidies because the gig will ensure that you are well below the poverty line 🙂

I checked these and I think you are getting confused as they are all correct.
For example in the mappings for F and G, it shows that when the 1 in C is played against an F chord, it acts as the 5th (of F) and when it is played against G, it acts as the 4th (of the G chord). This is correct as C is the 5th of F and C is the 4th of G. I’m not sure how you are interpreting this to arrive at your conclusion that the mappings have been swapped.

As far as the locrian/ mixolydian relationship, the 3rd of G mixolydian is the root of B Locrian. This is the Mixolydian super-imposed a minor 6th up from the Locrian’s root as shown. I don’t know if it would make it easier in the diagram to put the Locrian at the top and the Mixolydian below it instead? Remember, the diagram is showing the parallel function of the degrees in both modes. So, the 3 in G mixo is the equivalent of the root in B locrian. In your suggestion you are describing it starting from the root in G mixo. What you are saying is in essence correct and not in conflict with what I am saying. The only difference is that it would no longer be a parallel depiction as explicitly stated in the diagram.

[Richie]

Thanks Mark! Ive made the necessary corrections and re-uploaded the corresponding PDFs.
I need to make you my official proofreader…

[Richie]

The reason I advice to start out tapping the foot on every downbeat is simply so you can learn to subdivide in 8th notes. It is a visual aid to be practiced at a slow tempo (as is the visualization of the alternate picking strokes for 8th notes). This allows you to visualize where each downbeat falls as you tap your foot, and where each 8th note upbeat lies as you raise your foot. Once this is mastered it is easier to move on to just tap on 2 and 4. So…it is a means to an end!

The problem I have encountered as a teacher is that most students who first attempt to play swing 8th notes and try to tap on just 2 and 4, have a hard time synchronizing with their playing and quickly loose track of 8th note downbeats and upbeats within each beat. This in turn creates further difficulty when trying to learn how to play syncopated rhythms. For example, a quarter note which starts on the “and” or upbeat of 2 followed by another 8th note on the “and” of 3.

Again, tapping on 2 and 4 is the ultimate goal especially when playing at a medium to high tempo! Keep in mind though that when doing so you are no longer subdividing in 8th notes, at least with your foot. That is, your foot is now accenting the 2 and 4 which are the quarter note upbeats. This means that when doing this you should already be able to simultaneously subdivide in 8th notes mentally. In conclusion, at this stage your mind is directing your foot to play quarter note upbeats while at the same time subdividing in 8th notes to be able to play the swing and syncopated rhythm figures. Trying to do this from the very start is definitely a challenging cognitive effort.

Hope this is helpful. The bottom line is that only you can determine whether or not it will be advantageous to go back to tapping on every beat or sticking it out with 2 and 4.

[Richie]

Just corrected them and uploaded a fresh copy of the Module 3b Workbook….Thanks again Mark!
Also, anything you find in the future, please post it in the “errata” section of the forum so those with outdated copies can check to see if it was updated.

[Richie]

Mark, just wanted to let you and everyone that reads this post know that I just uploaded a corrected version of Calisthenics 10 (Vol 2).

Mainly it was the interval script that had a few errors. I realized I didn’t flat the 6 on the Dm chords (aeolian) in the script. Both the regular notation and tab seem to be correct. Thanks again…

[Richie]

Mark,
My humble apologies and thanks for pointing that out! Wow…never had that many in a row and have no clue how I missed so many. The truth is that this is a fairly new course and you are among the first to cover this section so you will surely encounter some bugs here and there.

I will try to get all of these corrected and have new uploads ( I guess including the video as well), in the next few days. Other than this have you found the previous sections okay?

Thanks for your feedback…

[Richie]

Hi Ervin,

Welcome to the BGIS! I just checked with PayPal as well as our our system, and there is no record that you paid for VOL 1, only VOL 2. This would explain why you can’t access the files for VOL 1. Remember these are 2 separate courses also requiring separate transactions.

If you go back and pay for VOL 1 you don’t need to register again, so when the registration window appears, be sure to click on the link at the top that says: “If you have registered in the past, please click here”. Otherwise you will have 2 registrations which may create confusion when trying to login for both courses.

Let me know if I may be of further assistance and if needed please contact me regarding this issue through bebopguitar@richiezellon.com

Regards,
Richie

[Richie]

Sounds real good Chris! Your ideas are very musical and its not worth getting into minor details as I know they will iron themselves out as you gather more resources.

As far as 16th notes go, I don’t touch on them until VOL2 because it requires a lot more technique and fretboard knowledge than most players have when starting this course. Many have the technique and speed but not enough understanding of what to do with the notes. You see…when using 16th notes you are squeezing a lot more notes into a measure. If you don’t have a good understanding of different approach note concepts, what happens is that you start playing scales up and down without saying anything coherent. Before playing with 16th notes we need to learn how to create meaningful phrases with 8th notes. Playing 16th notes is just the process of speeding up in double time the phrasing we’ve learned to do with eighth notes… only that then we have to also double their duration in order to fill the same space. It’s a process…

[Richie]

For what it’s worth…my mentor, the late Charles Banacos, would have me write similar etudes. I wouldn’t intentionally memorize them but I was told to play them even as a warm up for a few months, even though I had them down. From playing them so much I would kind of memorize them which I was told was a good. Suddenly what happened is that later when I would improvise over the standard the etude I was written for I would naturally play ideas from the related etudes I had practiced in the past. Playing our written etudes (eg. Rhythm Templates), for a few months, even after we have them down, is a way to program our subconscious mind with new vocabulary for a source of ideas when later improvising over that given progression.

[Richie]

Hi Chris, that’s an impressive amount of work you did. Actually, like Jack said, you went well beyond the call of duty. More power to you, as you have mastered all the Mixolydian fingerings and have the interval recognition down! I normally introduce all the fingerings gradually because like you said, it is an arduous and time consuming process and most students are not a level where they can absorb that much at once.

I think it would be beneficial for you to get through more of the material in less detail for now. You just need to follow the prescribed exercises only in the fingerings that are called for. This will get you through Volume 1 faster. In Vol 2, you will be using all 7 fingerings and moving between them. Actually, the last module in Vol 1 begins to cover this.

As far as what Jack says about former teachers claiming that some fingerings requiring stretches are not necessary, that is relative. It all depends on what you want to play, and at what level. However, for the aspiring jazz guitarist I believe it is a cop-out and a limitation of resources. This will become evident if you continue on to Vol 2, and I can assure you that, that myth will be dispelled as you will finally see and understand the big picture!

[Richie]

Jack,

Yes, you are correct and probably the first one to catch this. It is obviously an error on my part…I must have misread the instructions during the video taping and never caught it during editing because it doesn’t have any musical errors.

I am planning on redoing some of these but unfortunately I’ve got too much on my plate for the near future. I will see if I can insert the correct version in there for the meantime. Thanks!

[Richie]

Thanks Jack for the attachments! I’m sure several students will find it handy. I must add that although there are different ways of practicing the Calisthenics, the goal is to routinely practice with the summaries and not the initial pages with regular notation. These are just for starters and hopefully by the time you get to the enclosures you should be familiar enough with the 3 mixolydian fingerings that you can go straight to the summaries. At least that has been the case with the more technically proficient students I’ve worked with.

The Word document you uploaded is very similar to the summaries of the previous edition of the Workbook. After several years of working with students, I found that the current graphic depictions yield much better and faster results. I guess we are visual creatures and like the old adage goes…”A picture tells a thousand stories”. Therefore when I find the time (hopefully in this lifetime), I plan to redo the videos in the new workbook order, displaying the graphics for each exercise.

[Richie]

The difference is that 2 is descending only and 6 is ascending only.

If you look at the arrows on the left of each exercise you’ll notice that for ex2, the arrow is downward while for ex6 it is upward. That’s also why exercise 2 is written descending (b7, 5, 3, 1), while ex6 is written ascending (1, 3, 5, b7). If you need further understanding please read p.113, Appendix 1 in the workbook or watch video #5 in Module 2.

[Richie]

This is used here mainly as a way of introducing the dorian scale in the short 12 bar format we are using throughout Vol 1, and to make the transition to minor blues which is coming easier. It is also preparing you for major tunes that use modal interchange on the IV chord. For example, the first couple of chords in “Just Friends”, the 3rd and 4th measure of “Misty” and I could go on and on. Although it is much used as a re-harmonization concept to spice up the harmony during the solos in blues, I can’t think of any immediate examples that use it over the head of a blues. I will search my library and see if I find anything.

[Author]

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