Every once in a while, I like to play over tunes I haven't worked on in a long time, to refresh them, make sure I really know the tune inside and out, and often times these practice sessions give me a completely new take on the tune. The one I randomly picked this time was Misty. The last time I thought of this tune was when I was listening obsessively to John Coltrane's I Want to Talk About You solo from Newport '63. His version of that tune makes me think of Misty, probably because the chords are similar, if not the same. His embellishing of the melody from the get-go, arpeggiating the chords and use of multiphonics, along with harmony I still don't understand, is so unique the first time you hear it, especially on a ballad.
When I think of a ballad, I think of absolute musical freedom. Ballads are my favorite thing to play, and the reason is just that-musical freedom. You have the world at your fingertips, really. You have the opportunity to play it poorly, play it just average, or play it remarkably. With this kind of song, you have the ability to make people feel every emotion: they may sob, they may feel sad, they may feel all mixed emotions, and your job is to convey your passion to the listener and make them overcome with emotion. Coltrane does it on I Want To Talk About You. I think if I had been given the wonderful chance to hear him play it live, two things would have happened: my mouth would've hit the floor in amazement, and I would have been overcome with emotion.
Back to the idea of musical freedom on a ballad, the player can state the melody simply or he can embellish it a little, or go to the other end of the spectrum, and embellish it wildly or more so than just a little. For me, it depends on my mood. I've experimented with tons of ways to approach a ballad, and sometimes I feel like playing very softly and not as much, and other times, I am wild. Nothing is wrong with either--all that matters is you are being honest with what you are playing, and some musicians will say, play the notes you hear in your head. Sometimes, it's blurry and sometimes, it's magical and the wheels are really turning.
On this day, I felt a little more wild, because I had been transcribing Just Friends, the Charlie Parker solo, and my imagination was all over the place and my fingers were moving faster--and therefore, my brain was moving faster and wanting to play faster. The following is my take on Misty, focusing on all but the bridge:
After another personal listen, one thing about the approach that I felt was good included an arpeggiation over polychords, or at least a descending bass line with chords on top. This is something I have been working on as of late, and there are so many ways to maneuver in and out of these chord progressions we all know and love. It's very noticeable in my playing over this that I am trying very hard to play outside the box that I am very much trapped in. I know where I'm at and what I'm doing, and very aware of stretching the chord, but just don't completely understand the chord I'm striving for. Hopefully this will come with time and more stretching of the imagination.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Advanced Transcription continued: The Next Step
The next step was implementing Bird's ideas into my own soloing. A lot of what I have been working on the past 3 years or so is playing solo saxophone and trying to reflect the harmony of the tune I'm working on, and/or be able to "perform" it almost like a pianist does. The saxophone is very capable of this, and the greatest alive right now are capable of being entertaining, astounding and creative playing minus the rhythm section. Practicing cadenzas and plotting them out is probably the most fun I have practicing today. It is also the most challenging practice technique I've ever encountered, and involves tons of creativity, especially if you have no exact target audience, and would be able to entertain any listener, from advanced to someone that may know very little or nothing about music, or just your average listener. The amazing John Coltrane and the living legend Sonny Rollins, Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Seamus Blake, the now unfortunately deceased Michael Brecker, all are amazing examples of saxophonists that use this technique and make the song sound like a rhythm section is there. You can hear the piano, the bass line, the harmony from every angle, the melody is always there...this is another level, but approachable if you try to connect it altogether and plot it out in the most musical way you can. I'm always having fun, experimenting with ways I can get better at this.
Some of my articulation is messy. Of course, it doesn't help that my saxophone neck is messed up, which is why the octaves aren't responding the way it should. But those are just excuses--working around the problems makes you better, right?! Bird could play on any horn, any mouthpiece. Gotta make it work, like Tim Gunn says, hahha. Back to the solo: My first goal is outline as many chords as I can remember and really try to connect the harmonies. The second goal is to make it interesting, and try to use the full range of the instrument, which I think is extremely, extremely important when being creative. The third goal is to split the octaves, using my lowest notes, like Cs, Bs and Bbs, to give it the appeal of the left hand on the piano. The fourth goal is how do I get from a starting free-time feel into an obvious swingin' time feel, where the 8th notes are really happening. On this take, it's developing, but the time feel isn't as clear as I would like it to be. The ideas aren't really bouncing off the way I would like, either. Here's the second take:
The plan is more coming together here. However, I feel I am not completely convincing of the pronounced bass line and should work to maybe even "walk" some bass lines to demonstrate an obvious difference of the bass vs. the harmony vs. the improvising and melody. I also noticed that after playing so many notes from the original Bird solo, that I am playing many, many notes myself. There's so much energy in me after working on that solo and the ideas flow more clearly because of it. It's Bird, the gift that keeps on giving. The third take is here:
Again, I didn't entertain enough to the idea of the walking bass line. I did start in the stratosphere of the saxophone, which gives it a different approach. I can hear the harmony a little better on this take, but I feel my energy dies towards the end too much and the ending isn't as pronounced as I would like.
If you aren't critical of yourself when working towards certain goals (in this case, playing a solo unaccompanied and making it both rhythmically and harmonically interesting), you are limiting yourself to the possibilities you have of getting increasingly better. Also, you should constantly be recording yourself and listening back and just being honest on the things you would like to do better. Articulation and an obvious time feel, and the splitting of the octaves are my most wanting-to-improve points here.
I had a lot of fun working on this, and will expand later. Thank you for reading and letting me share! Any thoughts and/or critique is strongly welcomed!
After working on the Charlie Parker Just Friends solo, I just wanted to play over Just Friends all the live-long day. It was challenging and fun, and this is what I came up with--3 different practice examples of plotting out what I wanted to do if I were performing a "solo saxophone" concert, or just cadenza playing in general. You will probably see that by the third example, I have it mapped out a little better, but I'm not quite where I'd like to be in terms of the whole story. I'll follow this with some explanation.
Some of my articulation is messy. Of course, it doesn't help that my saxophone neck is messed up, which is why the octaves aren't responding the way it should. But those are just excuses--working around the problems makes you better, right?! Bird could play on any horn, any mouthpiece. Gotta make it work, like Tim Gunn says, hahha. Back to the solo: My first goal is outline as many chords as I can remember and really try to connect the harmonies. The second goal is to make it interesting, and try to use the full range of the instrument, which I think is extremely, extremely important when being creative. The third goal is to split the octaves, using my lowest notes, like Cs, Bs and Bbs, to give it the appeal of the left hand on the piano. The fourth goal is how do I get from a starting free-time feel into an obvious swingin' time feel, where the 8th notes are really happening. On this take, it's developing, but the time feel isn't as clear as I would like it to be. The ideas aren't really bouncing off the way I would like, either. Here's the second take:
The plan is more coming together here. However, I feel I am not completely convincing of the pronounced bass line and should work to maybe even "walk" some bass lines to demonstrate an obvious difference of the bass vs. the harmony vs. the improvising and melody. I also noticed that after playing so many notes from the original Bird solo, that I am playing many, many notes myself. There's so much energy in me after working on that solo and the ideas flow more clearly because of it. It's Bird, the gift that keeps on giving. The third take is here:
Again, I didn't entertain enough to the idea of the walking bass line. I did start in the stratosphere of the saxophone, which gives it a different approach. I can hear the harmony a little better on this take, but I feel my energy dies towards the end too much and the ending isn't as pronounced as I would like.
If you aren't critical of yourself when working towards certain goals (in this case, playing a solo unaccompanied and making it both rhythmically and harmonically interesting), you are limiting yourself to the possibilities you have of getting increasingly better. Also, you should constantly be recording yourself and listening back and just being honest on the things you would like to do better. Articulation and an obvious time feel, and the splitting of the octaves are my most wanting-to-improve points here.
I had a lot of fun working on this, and will expand later. Thank you for reading and letting me share! Any thoughts and/or critique is strongly welcomed!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Advanced Transcription: Charlie Parker's "Just Friends" Solo
In January 2004, I transcribed Charlie Parker's Just Friends solo, probably the hardest solo I've ever worked on. It's also my favorite! The way his ideas are so effortless, it has always boggled my mind! Back then, I was a transcribing machine, and nowadays, I transcribe less and less, at least when it comes to doing complete solos from start to finish. This solo has always stayed with me, though, because it enabled me to work on so many things simultaneously, but over the years, parts of the solo have drifted away from my fingers.
...Which leads me to now, September 2011, almost 8 years later, and really missing being able to play this solo. I've also been studying a ton of Charlie Parker over the last 3 years, and I feel it does an incredible job of improving my ears and improvisation. He's my idol, of course, and has been since I first heard him on one of my first jazz CDs back in 1997. His recording of Just Friends is nothing short of magnificent, and I really wanted to relearn it. Piece by piece, it came together over a short couple of days, mostly because I had played it so many times and learned it so thoroughly all those years ago. Still polishing it, though. Here's what I have so far:
Just a thought that I feel is very, very important when it comes to transcription: When you transcribe something that is very fast and difficult to catch everything, such as this Just Friends solo, or any other Bird w/ Strings recording, where he plays line after line of very melodic, but very articulate (which is extremely creative articulation!) ideas...try doing the solo without assistance, which would include something like Transcribe (a program which slows down the recording), or the sheet music, if you can find it. This may seem overwhelming at first to not be able to slow it down, especially with the first line of the solo in Just Friends. This is an advanced concept, obviously, but no beginner or even intermediate player would attempt this solo as one of their first transcriptions, most likely, and should start with something a little easier. In other words, transcribing at the original speed, no matter how difficult the solo, is your best bet to improve your ears and musicianship significantly. I've never used Transcribe, but will if I want to write a book and get the notes 100% accurate on paper--that's a different kind of accuracy. But for style, articulation, and better flow of the idea you are learning, and connecting it all together, the original speed (although tortuous at times) is the way to go for the best results in terms of being a better musician and improviser.
The first line of the solo probably took a week when I tried it the first time to get it flowing the way it should. That was an extreme amount of work. I compare it to memorizing a poem by Shakespeare: If you memorize maybe 4 or 5 lines at a time, and work really hard at it, you will nail those 4 or 5 lines during your memorizing session of let's say, 30 minutes. Then you come back maybe 2 hours later, and try it again, suddenly...you freeze...it's gone. It's kind of there, but you must relearn it. Then it starts to flow. Now you have completed phase one of memorizing the poem. When you recite the poem the very next day, you can do it with much more ease. Phase two is memorizing another set of lines in the same fashion, but then connecting it with the part you had already learned. Connecting both newly learned parts can be very tough, especially when you are aiming for perfection. This is the same process I go about when transcribing a Charlie Parker solo, or any solo for that matter.
When you transcribe, you should be the biggest stickler in the world towards detail: blending with the solo (playing softer underneath it), articulating the notes the same way, shapes and phrasing, etc. It's beyond the notes, really...it's how he plays them. Sometimes you can get crazy and try to relate to his emotion, which Bird w/ Strings really in my opinion is Bird's best, simply because I know that he loved the strings the most.
I remember watching Bird, the fantastic Clint Eastwood film based on Charlie Parker's life, as well as Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, and both films displayed Charlie's love of the strings, especially in Celebrating Bird, which is a documentary rather than a movie. I don't remember the details or exact quote, but it was something similar to, when they took the strings away, he was devastated.
When it comes to picking a transcription, you should pick the solo that is challenging for your current level, whatever that may be. It shouldn't be extremely more challenging, but should be a challenge. It should serve the purpose of making you a better player. I pick Charlie Parker solos most often because they are extremely challenging to emulate, and I feel that even after a lifetime of doing them to completion, I still could learn more. That's incredible!
...In the next blogpost, coming very shortly, I will discuss my next step in the journey, which is taking what I learned and using it for improvisation on a tune, and in this case, Just Friends.
...Which leads me to now, September 2011, almost 8 years later, and really missing being able to play this solo. I've also been studying a ton of Charlie Parker over the last 3 years, and I feel it does an incredible job of improving my ears and improvisation. He's my idol, of course, and has been since I first heard him on one of my first jazz CDs back in 1997. His recording of Just Friends is nothing short of magnificent, and I really wanted to relearn it. Piece by piece, it came together over a short couple of days, mostly because I had played it so many times and learned it so thoroughly all those years ago. Still polishing it, though. Here's what I have so far:
Just a thought that I feel is very, very important when it comes to transcription: When you transcribe something that is very fast and difficult to catch everything, such as this Just Friends solo, or any other Bird w/ Strings recording, where he plays line after line of very melodic, but very articulate (which is extremely creative articulation!) ideas...try doing the solo without assistance, which would include something like Transcribe (a program which slows down the recording), or the sheet music, if you can find it. This may seem overwhelming at first to not be able to slow it down, especially with the first line of the solo in Just Friends. This is an advanced concept, obviously, but no beginner or even intermediate player would attempt this solo as one of their first transcriptions, most likely, and should start with something a little easier. In other words, transcribing at the original speed, no matter how difficult the solo, is your best bet to improve your ears and musicianship significantly. I've never used Transcribe, but will if I want to write a book and get the notes 100% accurate on paper--that's a different kind of accuracy. But for style, articulation, and better flow of the idea you are learning, and connecting it all together, the original speed (although tortuous at times) is the way to go for the best results in terms of being a better musician and improviser.
The first line of the solo probably took a week when I tried it the first time to get it flowing the way it should. That was an extreme amount of work. I compare it to memorizing a poem by Shakespeare: If you memorize maybe 4 or 5 lines at a time, and work really hard at it, you will nail those 4 or 5 lines during your memorizing session of let's say, 30 minutes. Then you come back maybe 2 hours later, and try it again, suddenly...you freeze...it's gone. It's kind of there, but you must relearn it. Then it starts to flow. Now you have completed phase one of memorizing the poem. When you recite the poem the very next day, you can do it with much more ease. Phase two is memorizing another set of lines in the same fashion, but then connecting it with the part you had already learned. Connecting both newly learned parts can be very tough, especially when you are aiming for perfection. This is the same process I go about when transcribing a Charlie Parker solo, or any solo for that matter.
When you transcribe, you should be the biggest stickler in the world towards detail: blending with the solo (playing softer underneath it), articulating the notes the same way, shapes and phrasing, etc. It's beyond the notes, really...it's how he plays them. Sometimes you can get crazy and try to relate to his emotion, which Bird w/ Strings really in my opinion is Bird's best, simply because I know that he loved the strings the most.
I remember watching Bird, the fantastic Clint Eastwood film based on Charlie Parker's life, as well as Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, and both films displayed Charlie's love of the strings, especially in Celebrating Bird, which is a documentary rather than a movie. I don't remember the details or exact quote, but it was something similar to, when they took the strings away, he was devastated.
When it comes to picking a transcription, you should pick the solo that is challenging for your current level, whatever that may be. It shouldn't be extremely more challenging, but should be a challenge. It should serve the purpose of making you a better player. I pick Charlie Parker solos most often because they are extremely challenging to emulate, and I feel that even after a lifetime of doing them to completion, I still could learn more. That's incredible!
...In the next blogpost, coming very shortly, I will discuss my next step in the journey, which is taking what I learned and using it for improvisation on a tune, and in this case, Just Friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)