Rant and a question about Bebop
July 21, 2002 in Articles
bluesupanddown writes “The whole approach to learning jazz in America seems to be under a shroud of mystery. Every answer I get seems to be a riddle instead of an answer, so, I am going to start posting my questions.
Right now I am stuck on bebop. The only people that I know to listen to in order to try and understand bebop are the usual suspects, (Parker, Gillespie, young Dexter, etc…), and by listening to the greats of that era, I am beginning to understand certain aspects of the style. The problem is, how do you distinguish between patterns that are cliché to the style and those that are cliché to the player. I want to know if by studying the Omnibook, for example, am I learning how to play in a bebop style, or am I learning how to play like Charlie Parker? Also, what are some of the more common tunes to learn?”
Ah, excellent question. You are on the right track with Parker and Gillespie. Those two are the corner stones of Bebop. The Omnibook is a great “bible” for bebop style as well. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie are bebop. I don’t know where the line of cliché to the player or the style can be drawn.
As for songs, most of the Charlie Parker Omnibook song, Anthropology, Ornithology, She Rote, Confirmation, Au Privauve, etc. Those would be well worth learning. The Aebersold on Bebop has a few others as well.
The Omnibook is well worth the time. It is a great technical reference as well as style reference.
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Candlebain said on July 23, 2002
I’m battling a similar problem with bebop…how to absorb the language without becoming a cliche of a great player from the past. What I’ve discovered from my own experience is that if you take a sampling from a lot of players, (Bird, Diz, Dex, Rollins, Stitt…etc) you’ll pick up the “rules” without becoming a rehash.
David Baker calls bebop the common practice period of jazz because you can figure out the “rules” of the jazz language from this period. My advice would be to spend time transcribing these players and other boppers like Clifford Brown and Bud Powell who did innovative things with the style and learn what they played to get the “rules”. Also, check out Jerry Bergonzi’s 3rd book on the “Jazz Line” which centers around the bebop scales and creative uses for them. David Baker also wrote a bunch of books on Bebop that are worthy of your time.
Good Luck
coolmike said on November 4, 2002
Many years ago I took the plunge from playing traditional jazz to playing bebop.
You can pick up a lot about the vocabulary just by studying the tunes – melodic shape, phrasing, use of altered tones/inclusions.
Don’t over-intellectualise it too much – listen to your favourite players and “live there” for a while.
Use your ears and remember, a cliche is only an original idea which has been over-used!!
jahstimpey said on February 27, 2003
Can my private site help you out? I have been struggling with the same problems, but think i’ve cracked the nut somewhat.
http://users.skynet.be/jan.ghijselen
You will find many examples in MP3. Take your time to learn the tricks and trades…
davesax36 said on May 14, 2003
IF you have the omnibook, play along with recordings of the tunes that are in there. It’s easy to find the recordings that the omnibook is transcribed from. If you want to play bebop, you gotta play along. that’s the way to get the style down and in your fingers. You can use play-a-longs, too.
Anonymous Coward said on December 17, 2003
I would recommend completely dispensing with the omnibook and trnscribing the solos yourself. Jazz being an aural tadition I feel that you learn a lot more by learning from ear, maybe use the omnibook as a reference for your own transcription. Try it and see how much more you absorb by learning from the recording!
John@felstead.com
peter090us said on December 19, 2003
For ear training you can’t beat transcribing but
I think that you have to separate transcribing from how you use them in your practice.
Other peoples transcriptions make great sight reading practice and I think you can learn as much stylistically playing along with the original recording (or even after just listening closely to the original) whether the transcription is yours or not.