by admin
March 1, 2010 in Articles, Videos
TUAW had a great article last week. An interview with the guy who created the startup sound on Macs, Jim Reekes.
It’s amazing the amount of math, thought and stuff that went into this. Long live the Cmajor startup sound.
by admin
September 10, 2005 in Articles
Wolfram Research, makers of Mathematica have created WolframTones, which takes “simple programs from Wolfram’s computational universe, and using music theory and Mathematica algorithms to render them as music.”It’s free, but, not really music to me. I’d much rather listen to solos and tunes generated with Band in a Box rather than WolframTones.
by admin
March 2, 2004 in Articles
harry63 writes “I know that we can never practice scales, arpeggios, theory, etc. enough. However, how does one practice the musical or “soul” aspect of the music? I feel my playing is more a series of notes that are theoretically correct and not yet “soulfully correct.”"
Hmmm…..listen to recordings and find little phrases or things that you like and put them in your playing?
by admin
March 7, 2003 in Articles
SaxMan0216 writes “I’m a big fan of big bands and instrumental blues sorts of things. I was searching on the net recently for some tunes and I came across a song done by the Stan Kenton band (apparently in 1976). It’s a Bari sax feature in what I’ve found to be the typical Kenton feature style (slow melody/bridge, really fast improv heavy part, slow restatement, candenza, end). The odd thing about it is, the only title that came with it is “Baritone Sax feature”. I would buy the song but I haven’t been able to find it mainly because of the title. So I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find it or a transcription (paper, pdf, or otherwise). I can play (and therefore write out) the solo line, but I don’t have the skill or the patience to get the backgrounds, chords, or key signature(s). Can anyone gimme a hand?”
by admin
October 27, 2002 in Articles
John Greschak composes music based upon the mathematical properties of various mathematical objects (Hexahedrons, Tower of Hanoi, pentominoes). He writes computer programs to realize devised algorithms and uses the results of these processes as source material for musical pieces. Greschak’s newest addition, Platonic Dice: Dodecahedron for 12 woodwinds, was created by using musical material derived from the mathematical properties of one of the Platonic dice (6 sided dice).
Genius or someone with too much time on their hands?
by admin
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.
by admin
June 18, 2002 in Reviews
BIABfsg writes Jerry Bergonzi Solos Setting Standards by Miles Osland, Publisher: Dorn Publications, Inc.
Jerry wrote down his thoughts regarding transcriptions book that “Even to an accomplished musician the transcription is lifeless unless he hears the artist articulate it and listens to his time feel….” I assume that it’s a fine statement that we all agree. But Jerry also wrote the following lines which intereted me that “While playing, I’m not thinking in a conventional way, I’m intuiting what I ply. I’m not conscious of most of the following parameters that are discussed. The concepts or ways of thinking of these tunes are usually done after the fact……”
I like Jerry’s stuff. I recommend his Inside Improvisation Series of books which are very well done.
”
Good approach to ask Jerry to wrote short notes for each song in this book. Jerry also shared thoughts regarding recording & practicing. The transcription itself is very clean and well-done. Melody & solo are trancripted for most of songs. Notation is good, very easy to read. As we all know that Jerry has done a lots of Poly-rhythmic playing, I was amazed that Miles actually got down those notes. Multiphonic playing is also transcripted with fingering suggestion.
Red’s Blues is most becoming a modern blues standard now, it’s really nice to read through miles’ fine transcription.”
Transcriptions:
“
by admin
April 27, 2002 in Articles
While cruising the internet, I came across Musictheory.net. Very Nice site! Covers a lot of stuff from basic “Here is the staff and clef” to building chords. It even has trainers on it, where you can do ear training, chords, just about everything. Great!
And, to top it off, it was done by a PERCUSSIONIST. I think hell has finally frozen over (a joke…..). Seriously though, a very well done site. Awesome job!Which brings up a good question. Anyone found any sites like this one?
by admin
March 15, 2002 in Articles
KCBS had a little story on a San Francisco Symphony Website for Kids. It is a very well done site that uses Flash in a tasteful way. It is fun, and informational. Highly recommended for kids!
by admin
March 9, 2002 in Reviews
A while ago, someone recommended reading Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. I was interested, and it was only like $10 through Amazon.com. I’ve finished reading it. For the second time. It’s 81 pages contain some very philosophical ideas that musicians and teachers can use.
I must admit, I have always been facinated in the East. As a young kid, I was addicted to Karate and Kung Fu movies. David Carradine and the TV series Kung Fu was a regular thing on my TV, as was a time slot on one of the channels around here that they called “Kung Fu Theater”. The code of the samurai, Bushido, etc, etc. All were, and still are passions of mine. I took martial arts classes for 3 years in Junior High/High School. In college, one of the classes I most enjoyed (no, sorry Tim Smith it wasn’t your Wind Ensemble) was a class on Early Japan. In fact, I still have the text books from that class somewhere here. So, when someone suggested Zen in the Art Of Archery I got it.
It is the true story of the author, Eugen Herrigel, a visiting German professor of Philosophy at the University Of Tokoyo between World War I and II, and his taking Archery lessons in the hopes of learning about Zen. Zen at that point in time, and perhaps still today, was a mystical hard to understand and define “thing” that people of Eastern decent seemed to understand, but Westerners could not fathom. I think today, with the proliferation of TV and movies, we have more of a understanding or at least a point of comparison as to what Zen is. I’m not going to describe it. Go read the book to get your own definition of it.
Professor Herrigel spent six years studying archery. The first year was merely learning to pull the bow string and loose the arrow. He questioned everything. He never received answers he liked. But in the end he understood Zen.
For music, imagine learning to pull the bow string and loose the arrow as blowing your horn and playing all your scales without thinking about it. That was what Professor Herrigel’s teacher was trying to get him to achieve. I can relate to this. I don’t know when it happened, but it is a reflex now. I can pick up my horn and play through all my scales and not even think about it. The same as pulling the bow string and loosing the arrow without effort.
There are more comparisons you can make to music, such as when Professor Herrigel learns to hit something, etc.
As a music player, I learned that I shouldn’t worry about HOW to play something. It should be a reflex. If I see a Em7b5 A7b9 Dm7 I should, without thinking, be able to play a D Harmonic Minor scale, or whatever, to fit that. That is why we practice all those scales and patterns. It has to be a reflex. It takes time, and there is PLENTY of time to learn to do it.
As a teacher, I saw a lot of things that I do in this book. I let students explore and set their own pace. Time is relative. Some people might be able to play something faster than others. It doesn’t matter. I am giving them a foundation to being able to identify notes and rhythms without thinking. I have been doing it now long enough that I can actually SEE some of them who can do it. It’s a great feeling.
As a musician, you should get this book. You can spend all that money on that Werner Effortless Mastery book. But for a third the price you can get Zen in the Art of Archery and read it 2 or 3 times in a day (it’s only 81 pages). Ponder it for a few days or weeks, then read it again. It’s inspiring. Get it. Now. Right now.
10 out of 10. A must for anyone’s library.
by admin
February 13, 2002 in Articles
One of my students today somehow got a copy of “Straight No Chaser” that some other teacher produced on Finale. On the bottom of the sheet they had two blues scales. One was the blues as I know it, D-F-G-G#-A-C which they labeled as Minor Blues. The other was something like D-E-F-F#-G-A-C which was labeled Major Blues. Now, that Major Blues did not really sound very bluesy to me. Is this some new thing some book is pushing? What is next, Major and Minor Diminished scales?
by admin
December 11, 2001 in Articles
This is part two to a great Coltrane dissertation that was submitted by The-End.
The Expansion of "Coltrane Change"
For compositional and improvisational purposes, the author of this article has developed a system to expand the possibilities of "Coltrane Change" by altering the quality of tonic chords (Example 9), altering the dominant chords (Example 10), and altering the symmetrical root movements between tonic chords (Example 11). There are endless combinations and possibilities by using this system, thus only main alternations are listed
Example 9. Altering the quality of tonic chords.
Original:
CMaj7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
Variation 1:
Cm Eb7 | Abm B7 | Em G7 | Cm
Variation 2:
Cdim Eb7 | Abdim B7 | Edim G7 | Cdim
Variation 3:
Caug Eb7 | Abaug B7 | Eaug G7 | Caug
Variation 4:
C7 Eb7 | Ab7 B7 | E7 G7 | C7
Example 10. Altering the dominant chords.
Original:
CMaj7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
Variation 1:
CMaj7 A7 | AbMaj7 F7 | EMaj7 Db7 | CMaj7
Variation 2:
CMaj7 G7 | AbMaj7 D#7 | EMaj7 B7 | CMaj7
Example 11. Altering symmetrical root movements between tonic chords.
Original:
CMaj7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
variation 1:
CMaj7 C#7 | F#Maj7 G7 | CMaj7 | CMaj7
Variation 2:
CMaj7 E7 | AMaj7 C#7 | F#Maj7 Bb7 |EbMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
Variation 3:
CMaj7 F7 | BbMaj7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 C#7 | F#Maj7 B7 | EMaj7 A7 | DMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
By using this system to freely alter "Coltrane Change," desired sounds and chord progressions can be created (Example 12). Doubling or even tripling the cycles, expanding the duration of chords, reducing the duration of chords, and freely altering chord quality if necessary (Example 13).
Example 12. Freely altering "Coltrane Change."
a.
Caug F7 | F#aug B7 | Caug | Caug
b.
Cdim Bb7 | Adim G7 | F#dim E7 | Ebdim Db7 | Cdim
c.
C7 F7b9 | Bb7 Eb7b9 | Ab7 C#7b9 | F#7 B7b9 | E7 A7b9 | D7 G7b9 | C7
Example 13. Using this system to create harmonic structure for new composition.
Dbaug | F7b9 | F#Maj7 | B7
Cm7 | F7b9 B7 | BbMaj7
Ebaug | G7b9 | G#Maj7 | C#7
Dm7 | G7b9 C#7 | CMaj7 | AbMaj7 EMaj7
Cm7 Bb7+ | Aaug G7+ | F#aug E7+ | Ebaug Db7+
F#m7 A7+ | Daug F7+ | Bbaug C#7+ | F#Maj7 CMaj7
Dbaug | F7b9 | F#Maj7 | B7
Cm7 | F7b9 B7 | BbMaj7
Conclusion
John Coltrane's influence on jazz music was considered second only to Charlie Parker. He affected his contemporaries with his unique harmony structure, melodic sense, rhythmic complexity, spiritual perfection and modal approach to improvisation. His music "-like that of Jimi Hendrix - ran parallel with a tide of mass political creation of such innovative and intense music. Nevertheless, Coltrane's music reached a wide audience, and was particularly popular with the younger generation of listeners who were also big fans of rock music." The harmonic structure used in Giant Steps has been considered as one of the major components that have made today's modern jazz so exciting. Further studying regarding his music language used in Giant Steps should be studied thoroughly in order to gain deeper understanding in modern jazz music.
by admin
December 4, 2001 in Articles
There has been a lot of interest in John Coltrane recently. Some guys at Guitar.com had a discussion going. The following submission by The-End is part of a disseration for masters in music. There are some mp3s here for it as well. Enjoy!
John William Coltrane (c. 1926-67)
John Coltrane's one of major tenor players in jazz history. His life and work have influenced today's modern jazz scene and his contemporaries have been studied his harmonic structure in his composition Giant Steps in order to master the harmonic complexity while attempting to create their own. The expansion of harmonic structure in Giant Steps has been studied that could point a new direction for jazz musicians who seek alternative ways to create new harmony ideas for their composition and improvisation.
His Life and Work
John William Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, USA. Died on July 17, 1967 at Huntington Hospital, New York, USA. Coltrane grew up in High Point, North Carolina and spent most of his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather, Rev. William Blair, who gave him his middle name. His early studies of Eb alto horn and clarinet were under his father's influence who played several instruments.
At age of 15, his high school band leader suggested his mother to purchase his first alto saxophone for him because of his major musical influence switched to Johnny Hodges. He moved to Philadelphia PA in June 1943 and studied on scholarships for performance and music composition at the Ornstein School of Music and Granoff Studio; military service in a U.S. navy band in Hawaii (1945-46) during World War II interrupted these studies. He played alto saxophone in the bands led by Joe Webb and King Kolax, then changed to the tenor to work with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (1947-48) , and was later quoted as saying, "A wider area of listening opened up to me. There were many things that people like Hawk, and Ben and Tab Smith were doing in the 40's that I didn't understand, but that I felt emotionally." He performed on either instrument as circumstances demanded while in groups led by Jimmy Heath, Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, and Earl Bostic, playing goodtime, rhythm-and-blues, big-band music. His early interest for experimentation had taken place while he played with Jimmy Health.
He switched to tenor saxophone while playing in the big band led by Dizzy Gillespie with whom he made his first recording in 1949. He stayed with Gillespie through the band's breakup in May 1950 and worked with Gillespie's small group until April 1951, when he returned to Philadelphia to go to school. He toured with Earl Bostic with whom he took his lessons of altissmo notes and fingerings on saxophone in early 1952. By the time he joined Johnny Hodges's small band (1953-54), he was firmly committed to tenor saxophone. In the summer of 1955, he performed infrequently in Philadelphia and was then inducted to Miles Davis's first classic quintet featuring Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drum (1955-57) and became New York's most in-demand hard bop tenor player along with Sonny Rollins. Due to addiction drugs and alcohol, he was fired by Davis during mid-April of 1957. In July 1957 he joined Thelonious Monks with whom he took his lessons of Monk's creative harmony approaches and performed at New York's Five Spot which has been considered by Jazz critics as one of the most legendary gigs in Jazz History. He rejoined Davis in January 1958 that led to his own musical evolution. "Miles music gave me plenty of freedom," he once said.
During this period, he was known for the three-on-one chord approach, a method of playing multiple notes at one time on saxophone, which has been called by jazz critic Ira Gitler the "sheets of sounds," and worked in various quintets and sextets with Cannonball Adderly, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Paul Camber, Philly Joe Jones and participated in Davis's landmark album, Kind Of Blue, which has been considered by many Jazz critics as one of the most important Jazz albums. He signed to Atlantic Records and recorded Giant Steps on August 1959 and discovered the potential of the soprano saxophone, purchasing his own instrument in February 1960 and recorded an album, My Favorite Things, featuring the soprano saxophone as solo instrument. After briefly trying Steve Kuhn, Pete La Roca, and Billy Higgins, he formed his first working quartet in 1960 with pianist McCoy Tyner, polyrhythmic drummer Elvin Jones, and bassist Jimmy Garrison who joined in 1961. With these sidemen the quartet soon acquired an international following. At times Art Davis added a second double bass to the group; Eric Dolphy also served as an intermittent fifth member on bass clarinet, alto saxophone, and flute (1961-63), and Roy Haynes was the most regular replacement for Elvin Jones during the latter's incarceration for drug addiction in 1963.
He switched to Impulse! Records and recorded his monumental work A Love Supreme which was inspired by a series of profound spiritual experiences and established him as a revisionist figure in jazz, lifting music to higher reality of spiritual statement and transcendence. In the liner notes from the album he wrote: "During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music." His classic quartet was disbanded after the departures of McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones in January 1966 due to his endless search for new direction and frequent changes of personnel, adding new members such as Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Rashied Ali in his group. Nonetheless, these controversial experiments led by him attracted large audiences and achieved the rare feat of establishing avant-garde jazz, temporarily, as a popular music. He died at the age of 40 caused by liver ailment in 1967.
Brief Historical Data of Giant Steps
On 15 August 1959, John Coltrane recorded Giant Steps with pianist Tommy Flanagan, who was best known as accompanist for Ella Fizgerald and Tony Bennett, drummer Art Taylor and bassist Paul Chamber. He received positive feedback from jazz critic for his huge driving tone, his astonishing technical facility, and his complex harmonic structure. The composition itself, among his other compositions such as Moment's
Notice, Mr. PC, Naima, Blue Train, Countdown and Impressions, has become jazz standard.
Brief Harmony Structural Overview of Giant Steps
Compositionally speaking, Giant Steps (Example 1) consists of two different sections. Harmonic structure of bar one to bar eight suggests the major innovation of this particular composition. Harmonic structure of bar nine to bar eighteen links to an earlier jazz standard Have You Met Miss Jones? (Example 2) which uses similar harmonic structure during its bridge. The harmonic structure of bar one to bar three and bar five to bar seven outlines three tonic chords BMaj7, GMaj7, and Ebmaj7. Dominant chords, F#7, D7, and Bb7, emphasize the major chords by revolving functionally. Notice that all major chords are placed in the harmonically strong positions and roots of three tonic chords outline an augmented triad.
Giant Steps
BMaj7 D7 | GMaj7 Bb7 | EbMaj7 | Am7 G7
GMaj7 Bb7 | EbMaj7 F#7 | BMaj7 | Fm7 Bb7
EbMaj7 | Am7 D7 | GMaj7 | C#m7 F#7
BMaj7 | Fm7 Bb7 | EbMaj7 | C#m7 F#7
Have You Met Miss Jones
BbMaj7 | Abm7 Db7 | GbMaj7 | Em7 A7
DMaj7 | Abm7 Db7 | GbMaj7 | Gm7 C7
By studying Giant Steps' bar one to bar eight, one formula, "Coltrane Change," can be extracted (Example 3). This formula, the cycled major chords emphasized by their own dominant chords has this symmetrical balance related to each other, consists of three functional harmony structures (V-I) and together they create an unstable yet colorful sound that has been studied and used by many modern jazz musicians after Coltrane.
Basic Formula of "Coltrane Change."
CMaj7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
"Coltrane Change" used in superimposition
Modern jazz musicians use "Coltrane Change" as a systematic way to construct tensions in their solos. They superimpose "Coltrane Change" to play against original chord progression.
Superimposing Coltrane changes
CMaj7 | CMaj7 | Cmaj7 | CMaj7
CMaj7 | AbMaj7 | EMaj7 | CMaj7
CMaj7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
The answer of how to superimpose "Coltrane Change" to play against standard ii-V-I chord progression can be found by studying Coltrane's another composition Countdown (Example 5) in which he reharmonized an earlier jazz standard Tune Up. Example 6 shows how jazz musicians use "Coltrane Change" to substitute standard ii-V-I chord progression.
Harmonic Structure of Countdown
Em7 F7 | BbMaj7 Db7 | GbMaj7 A7 | DMaj7
Dm7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
Cm7 Db7 | GbMaj7 A7 | DMaj7 F7 | BbMaj7
Em7 | F7 | BbMaj7 |(Eb7)
Superimposing Coltrane Changes to play against standard ii-V-i chord progression.
Dm7 | G7 | CMaj7 | CMaj7
Dm7 Eb7 | AbMaj7 B7 | EMaj7 G7 | CMaj7
Superimposition of "Coltrane Change" in twelve bars blues.
C7 | C7 | C7 | C7
C7 Eb7 | Ab7 B7 | E7 G7 | C7
F7 | F7 | C7 | C7
Dm7 Eb7 | Ab7 B7 | E7 G7 | C7
Dm7 | G7 | C7 | C7
Possibility of running "Coltrane Change" twice when playing a slower tempo twelve bars blues.
Superimposition of "Coltrane Change" in twelve bars blues by doubling the cycle.
C7 | C7 | C7 | C7
C7 Eb7 Ab7 B7 | E7 G7 C7 Eb7 | Ab7 B7 E7 G7 | C7
F7 | F7 | C7 | C7
F7 | Fm7 | C7 | Bbm7b5 Eb7b9
Dm7 | G7 | C7 | C7
Dm7 Eb7 Ab7 B7 | E7 G7 C7 Eb7 | Ab7 B7 E7 G7 | C7
Part 2 coming soon!
by admin
April 25, 2001 in Reviews
I just picked up a copy of Jack Sneidman’s 1001 Jazz Licks – A Complete Jazz Vocabulary for the Improvising Musician. It is available from Jazzbooks.com right here.
True to form, it does contain 1001 licks/patterns, none of which seem to be repeated.
The books is divided up into 3 major sections: Essential Licks, Stylistic Licks, and Licks Over Standard-Type Progressions.
Essential Licks deals with licks over specific chord types. Major 7th, Minor 7th, Dominant 7th, ii-V-I, ii-V-i, ii-V-I-VI, ii-V-i-VI, I-VI-ii-V, i-VI-ii-V, Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian, Aeolian, and ii-V-I with Coltrane Substitutions. In total, 560 of the 1001 licks are contained here. The licks are presented in one key, and so far the ones I’ve played through are nice, though nothings really new.
Stylistic Licks might be better described as “those timeless motives”. The licks are presented in the context which most likely they occured. For example, a Fusion/Funk lick that is rather Breckerisque is #779, which is demonstrated over a D7 chord.
Licks Over Standard-Type Progressions contains licks over chords from such songs as “Lunar”, “Autumn Leaves”, “Blues in F”, etc.
In all, I like this book. I didn’t expect much of it. It costs $12.95. I thought it would just be a mindless patterns book, but it is not. The author thought out a way to put the stuff in a better context. My one “beef” with this book is the title. 1001 Jazz Licks. That was kind of a turn off for me. And on the back cover, the description of the book doesn’t really accurately convince a reader what is contained inside:
1001 Jazz Licks presents 1001 melodic gems played over dozens of the most important chord progressions heard in jazz. This is the ideal book for beginners seeking a well-organized, easy-to-follow encyclopedia of jazz vocabulary, as well as consummate professionals who want to bring their knowledge of the jazz language to new heights.
To me, calling the book 1001 Jazz Licks and then going on to describe it as an encyclopedia and well-organized, seems to be an oxymoron. I think a title maybe like “1001 Jazz Motives” or “1001 Jazz Phrases” would have been better.
I recommend this book though, regardless of the title. It contains excellent jazz material, and is very well organized to allow the reader to see exactly where/when/why/how the stuff works. 8 1/2 out of 10 is my rating 
by admin
April 15, 2001 in Reviews
I just recently bought David Liebman – Tenor Solos which is a CD cut of David Liebman playing while doing Vol. 19 of the Aebersold Play-along series. It features David Liebman playing tenor on all 8 songs, and transcribed solos for 6 of the 8 songs.For $9.95, it’s a great value. David Liebman is a master improviser, and gleeming a little of how he approaches soloing can be had with this book. It’s a great guide to modern style saxophone playing and soloing.
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