Jazz Vocabulary

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol.2

Matt Otto mattotto.org

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Many of the 2-5-1 melodies in this book utilize triads, rhythmic groupings, chromatics, enclosures, harmonic substitutes, common scales, synthetic scales and both common and uncommon tensions. The chords found written above each 2-5-1 melody are in their simplest functional form, i.e. D-7, G7, C. Playing each phrase at a piano using a simple 1-3-7 or "shell voicing" should work well. I have not offered any analysis of the underlying chords, substitutions, rhythmic groupings, tensions etc. in order to help make the book simple and easy to use. If you wish, you can take some time to analyze the material in each 2-5-1 phrase to glean an understanding as to some of the underlying components of the structure. In the end, it's the mind's ear and the "hearing" of the phrase that's most important. Learning the material through singing while visualizing the notes or fingerings on your instrument should help internalize the material so it can become a natural part of your melodic, rhythmic and harmonic vocabulary or "voice" on your instrument. The easiest enharmonic spelling for certain notes are used throughout the book; B for Cb, C for B#, F for E# and E for Fb. There are many methods for practicing these melodic ideas and for learning improvisation in general. Over the last several decades abstracting the 2-5-1 progression from its home inside various standard jazz compositions has become a common practice for learning to hear and build a working vocabulary for improvisation. Although I find working on a specific song or tune to be the best way to work on improvising over form and for learning jazz in general, sometimes working on 2-5-1 melodies separately can be an enjoyable and simple way to improve ones ear and general musicianship. I will briefly outline one method for working with this material which I've found to be both beneficial and fulfilling: First, I recommend working in small units of time when practicing. Although there is no minimum amount, I would recommend 15 minutes as a maximum practice “unit”. Taking a nice break, even just 5 minutes, after 15 minutes of practice will help you stay focused and relaxed, plus help to avoid injury and mental or physical fatigue. Having had carpal tunnel and RSI for years, I would also recommend that you practice standing up with good posture, drink lots of water and stretch during each of your breaks. Using a digital timer can help you develop good break habits, foster more discipline and in general focus on quality over quantity.

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Second, I recommend singing each of these melodies slowly with a metronome and a keyboard until you have a strong “aural image” of the phrase. Ideally, you will want to be able to hear the phrase as easily as “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “Happy Birthday” or any simple melody that you can sing, hear and play with very little effort. The perfecting of the "aural image" may take quite some time depending on the difficulty of the phrase and the general development of your musical ear. “Hearing” the melody or the phrase internally is a difficult and very important part of learning music and improvisation and is commonly skipped or hurried over. At the very least, if you don't have the patience for singing, than then play the material very slowly, so as to give yourself a chance to hear and internalize the sound of each phrase. Another effective option is to record yourself playing the material slowly and listen to it over and over in a more passive state, while walking, driving or doing unrelated work. Humming or singing along to a recording while stepping or dancing in place will also really help you internalize both the vertical and intervalic sound of the melody as well as the underlying horizontal harmonic rhythm or phrase-wise aspect of the melody. After you're able to sing and visualize one phrase well, begin to slowly play the melody on your instrument. I would suggest using a metronome and trying to feel the strong beats of the harmonic rhythm (beat 1 of each bar for instance) while playing the melody completely, without breaks, as one large phrase. This will help bring out the musicality of the melody and move you away from the note by note awareness, which you've already covered by singing and internalizing the aural image. To feel the strong beats of the harmonic rhythm you can again step or dance on beat one of the bar. Stepping, or walking in place on these strong beats will help as will bobbing up and down gently/subtlety to the strong beats. The action of dancing, bobbing, stepping, or pulsing does not have to be blatantly visible but must be at least felt internally to be effective. By focusing on these bigger units of time (the downbeats of each bar), you will begin to hear and feel the melodies as phrases and your line playing will take on a more natural flowing quality. For a detailed description of this method of performance I highly recommend “On Piano Playing” by Abby Whiteside. Another book which helps develop a similar awareness of phrase-wise playing

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

based on a basic body rhythm is “Stage Fright” by Kato Havas. Both of these books apply to a wide range of instrumental and vocal performance and technique. Next, having mastered the melody in one key, you might play the phrase through all 12 keys. If you can hear the melody well (i.e. you have a strong aural image of the material), it should not be terribly difficult to play it through the keys with far less effort than it took to learn it in the first key. Using a metronome, instead of speed, focus on the accuracy of notes and a strong awareness of phrase-wise playing. Lastly, I encourage you to displace each melody in a variety of ways, perhaps playing the phrase displaced by one eighth note (earlier or later) or as all triplets. Displacing all triplets by 1 or 2 triplets will further expand on the basic melody and help to break the line free of one specific relationship to the harmonic rhythm. By doing this with just a few of these ideas you should notice much more melodic and rhythmic flexibility when improvising through complex chord progressions. This book can be played through randomly. Each key has 24 2-5-1 melodies (half are 4 bar phrases and half are 2 bar phrases in 4/4 time). My goal was to write unique melodies in each key without repeating myself although you will hear similarities. If you put each of the 288 melodies in this book through all 12 keys you'll have plenty of material to work with for a long while. ~Enjoy! Matt Otto Visit mattotto.org or mattotto.net for free music and instruction. Copyright 2010 by Matt Otto. Matt Otto retains sole copyright to this material in this book.

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Buyer: Sergey Babaylov ([email protected]) Transaction ID: 2FU95712PF1800412

Born in 1967, Matt Otto began playing piano at 3 and saxophone at 9. He studied Jazz Performance at Indiana University, Berklee School of Music, The New School for Social Research (BFA) and California Institute of the Art (MFA).

Visit mattotto.org or mattotto.net for free music and instruction.