fun jam
Sometimes, I like to just jam out. Here’s a little clip of just jamming, nothing too cerebral. The two choruses starting at 6:48 need to be transcribed and made into a throwaway blues head. This was done with just a metronome set for 108 for 216 bpm. The ten minutes (that’s the Youtube limit, sorry) gets you 45 choruses in this clip. I actually taped about 39 minutes or 175 choruses. No stunt pianist was used.
I am trying out a new camera angle. This involves a lot of hassle, but I think it’s pretty awesome to get the first person perspective. I have a tripod (you can see it in the shot) sitting on top of the piano, with the music rack pulled off, and the back leg of the tripod duct taped to my harp for extra insurance in case that thing tips forward. Setting up like that gives me an inverted shot though, so I flip it horizontally and vertically in software. Because I have to use a totally separate video editor for that, I have to capture to AVI, resulting in an enormous file. From that point it’s my normal workflow (which I need to do a post about some day).
Check out the super clam at 9:31! Please refer to this post. As heinous as that moment is, I’m sure you’re gonna forgive me since there’s some tasty stuff cooking in there otherwise.
Hey Rob, could you write a little about your own music background? ie: How and when you got started with music, early approaches to learning the idiom etc. The world wants to know! Happy Halloween!
Comment by whitecraneboxing — October 28, 2006 @ 9:19 pm
Okay, I updated the about your host page. I don’t know how useful any of that info is, but hey, you asked for it.
Comment by Rob — October 28, 2006 @ 11:31 pm
And I want to observe that the lick at 8:16 was transmitted into my brain from some sort of alien craft. Even the voices in my head never saw that one coming.
Comment by Rob — October 28, 2006 @ 11:46 pm
nice!
Comment by whitecraneboxing — October 29, 2006 @ 1:50 pm
Hey Rob, I’ve a question regarding bebop scales over ii-chords, mainly that when I’m trying to play them in a straight, unembellished ascending or descending fashion, I am not able to keep the chord tones on the downbeats; I understand that the dorian bebop scale contains the same notes as the mixolydian bebop scale, so does that mean that I should be treating ii-V progressions as just one big V section and therefore only worry about keeping the V tones on the downbeats?
I’ve been looking at some bebop transcriptions over ii-V progressions and they don’t seem worry about keeping the ii-tones on the downbeats. So is that the way to go? It sounds kind of weird. Thanks!
Comment by whitecraneboxing — October 31, 2006 @ 10:14 pm
Yeah, that’s right. I associate the G7 bebop scale to Dmi7-G7. If you get the V chord tones on down beats, you’ve essentially accomplished the goal, which is a strong sounding line.
A possible exception would be if the ii is prolonged. I can’t think of an example off the top of my head, but I’d probably reach for dorian over a ii that didn’t immediately resolve to a V.
It’s funny, I don’t actually think about it, I just do it, so I have to stop and really consider what I play when you ask a specific, focused question like that. I wouldn’t recommend getting too obsessed with “rules,” if your ear tells you it’s okay then go with it. Like the lick at 8:16, I have no good way to explain why it works, it seems like I’m walking down chromatically outlining triads kind of erratically as I go. I guess you can get away with just about anything if you resolve it sensibly to the next chord.
Comment by Rob — October 31, 2006 @ 11:19 pm
Cool, thanks!
Comment by whitecraneboxing — October 31, 2006 @ 11:55 pm