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Hi Joe,
We can’t really analyze the unresolved “F” in the 2nd measure as part of the C7 chord. If you analyze the entire phrase you’ll notice that Christian wasn’t thinking over the II-V changes. He was thinking over a I6 chord throughout the entire phrase. Try playing it against an F6 chord and you’ll see! This is characteristic of the blues and a lot of swing era solos. After guys like Bird, Dizzy and Monk came on the scene and defined bebop, this changed and the actual changes were emphasized. I believe on guitar, Barney Kessel was among the first to reflect this evolution.
Thanks for posting Matt! Good…I can hear those neighboring and passing tones! Will we get to hear you improvise one soon?
Hi Joe,
I still haven’t started video taping series 2…but hopefully it should be available somewhere around the middle of the year. It will start out with Rhythm Changes and will concentrate on combining all the fingerings…no more “staying in one position” or one fingering model per tune. It will also introduce new improvisational concepts and will also cover several 32 measure standards that use modal interchange (mixing parallel major & minor tonalities). If you like VOL 1, you’ll love VOL 2!
You are absolutely right. This is an error! It should read 3 and not b3. This and several other errors have been fixed and will soon be released in a 2nd edition of the book series. I will upload everything as soon as it is available, hopefully within the next month.
Curiously enough, before releasing this first edition last year, I gave it to 5 students to proofread over a 1 month period. They all missed several of the same typos and errors that I missed. When we know something, or are too close to i,t we tend to subconsciously auto-correct any discrepancies. It’s not an excuse, just a remark…
My apologies and thanks for calling my attention to it. Please do this with anything that isn’t clear and I will be more than happy to clarify it!
Enclosures are a characteristic element of the bebop sound!
PS. How are the unprepared approaches coming along?
Joe,
Sounds like a healthy practice routine for Module 1!
With the exercises involving interval script, don’t consciously try to memorize them although this will obviously happen after a few weeks. Initially you should be aware that you are actually playing the prescribed intervals and not following the arpeggio up or down by ear.
I would probably alternate days between the routine you described and the chords.
I think, if you use the shapes already and visualize the roots on the 5th or 6th string it’s ok. However, I personally find it impractical in the long run. The ultimate goal is to see the root within the voicing in order to see how it relates to it’s associated heptatonic fingering pattern. Since this is not something that we are going to get into at this point, don’t sweat it! 🙂
I think, if you use the shapes already and visualize the roots on the 5th or 6th string it’s ok. However, I personally find it impractical in the long run. The ultimate goal is to see the root within the voicing in order to see how it relates to it’s associated heptatonic fingering pattern. Since this is not something that we are going to get into at this point, don’t sweat it! 🙂
Hi Matt,
Please disregard, that note at the end of the video. I am going to edit it out to avoid future confusion. Just follow the assignment sheet and video order!
Ian, the ring to pinky stretch is not something that will happen naturally in a months time for most, especially between frets 3 to 5. Even I tend to lift my index slightly in that region to make that stretch! That said, it is not a prerequisite to benefit from what this course has to offer. It is just my first choice for those that can do it, simply because it is consistent with the fingering for the arpeggio. That said, if you find that it is not something you want to spend time retraining your fingers to do, that’s understandable. I used my middle finger in place of my ring for almost 15 years before I switched…
Whatever you do, please be sure not to throw out the baby with the bathwater!
Hi Steve,
I’m sorry about the confusion you’re having, but from what you’re describing you’re not looking at the summary page. You’re looking at the notation/tab version. If I’m not wrong, when you say “alternate” you are talking about the small blurb after each exercise that says “Repeat exercise so and so using blah,blah…”. This is not the summary that I am referring to!The summary for the calisthenics is a page containing just text right after all the initial pages that have the notation and tab. The very top of the page should say “Summary of Bebop Calisthenics” in bold letters. For calisthenics #1, the workbook PDF should say p.31 at the very bottom.
The notation/tab versions are for you to go over on your own, when you’re not watching the video if you’re not yet comfortable with just reading the numeric instructions. The goal of the exercise, and the video is to be able to execute each arpeggio and the approach note permutation by just looking at the set of intervallic instructions as in the Summary page.
I truly hope this clears it up. I will take your advise and make the alternate exercises in the notation/tab examples labeled as 1b,2b, etc. for the next revision of the workbook. However, keep in mind that this has nothing to do with the video which directs viewers to the proper Summary page at the beginning. Again, sorry for the confusion, and I will try to append a small note at the beginning of the video to further clarify this.
Please re-read my full initial response carefully:
“In the video I played all the exercises first descending for the 3 current patterns being used, and later on ascending. In the workbook summary it says to play each exercise both descending and ascending. It amounts to the same thing.
After experimenting with doing all of them first descending and then ascending, I found it more productive, quicker and easier to do each exercise descending and immediately ascending. So if I had separate instructions for descending and ascending, I was able to consolidate all of them into one set of instructions. This means that if I had 20 exercises in the video, I now only have 10 in the summary. This was an afterthought after the video was done. I was only able to adopt this approach for calisthenics featured in later modules.
When you practice the calisthenics, the video is supposed to be used only initially to orient you and give you details as to proper fingering use and other issues which you may encounter when trying to do a specific exercise. Once you have watched the video, please practice from the corresponding summary in the workbook.”
As a result, I will add a note at the beginning of the Calisthenics videos to not try to view the summaries together with the videos but instead to consider them a stand alone set of instructions.
Like I said previously, you are looking at the wrong page in the workbook. The exercises on the video correspond to the exercises in the summary on p.31.
Hi Steve,
All the Calisthenics correspond to the “Summaries” after the notated/tabbed versions. The page in the workbook is given right at the beginning of the video. For Calisthenics 1 that would be p.31. You’ll also notice that in the workbook summaries there are always less exercises. Here’s a response I gave to another member recently regarding this confusion with the Calisthenics summaries:
“In the video I played all the exercises first descending for the 3 current patterns being used, and later on ascending. In the workbook summary it says to play each exercise both descending and ascending. It amounts to the same thing.
“After experimenting with doing all of them first descending and then ascending, I found it more productive, quicker and easier to do each exercise descending and immediately ascending. So if I had separate instructions for descending and ascending, I was able to consolidate all of them into one set of instructions. This means that if I had 20 exercises in the video, I now only have 10 in the summary. This was an afterthought after the video was done. I was only able to adopt this approach for calisthenics featured in later modules.
When you practice the calisthenics, the video is supposed to be used only initially to orient you and give you details as to proper fingering use and other issues which you may encounter when trying to do a specific exercise. Once you have watched the video, please practice from the corresponding summary in the workbook.”
As a result, I will add a note at the beginning of the Calisthenics videos to not try to view the summaries together with the videos but instead to consider them a stand alone set of instructions.
