and if you had knowledge of "how music works"
you would think differently than that.
as of right now you don't know what improvisation actually is and how it works.


A.do you believe forming a sentence with the English language is a "random process"?

OR

B. do you form a sentence based on what words mean, how they fit together in a way that will perfectly match your original idea you wanted to communicate?
improvisation is identical to this.(second choice B)


when it comes down to this sentence

the truth is that ,improvisation is the farthest thing as you can get from "randomness"

just as beginning with a concept in mind, then using the meaning of words and how they fit together you create a sentence based on HOW THE LANGUAGE WORKS, in such a way that perfectly expresses your original concept.

it would be like saying

"true art is putting on blindfold and splattering paint buckets on canvas"

no.

true ART is expressing and communicating an exact , specific feeling you have by EXPRESSING YOURSELF.

this is art it will always be art and randomly doing things that have zero connection to your feelings is opposite of art and will always be that.

 

Last edited: Jul 2, 2018

It depends on what you want from music. If your aim is making one of these:
https://clyp.it/vbizuugi
Then, totally random, from 0 to 100.

But if you want to play music live on stage being able to change everything, therefore knowing some guidelines would give a better shape to your music but still most parts randomly unaware of what's going on exactly under your fingers.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 2, 2018

your comment did not clear up anything from before.
what is your clarification?
I cannot even take 1 of these sentences and "know" what you mean by it.
I can "guess" randomly at what you meant by it and come to 25 different and conflicting meanings, so which is the correct one?
in other words what do you mean by the exact sentence you wrote here?

 

It was so clear. Please read it again.

 

I read it and I have no idea what you mean by it. I can invent 25 possible meanings with no way to tell which one of them it could be because none lead to a clear path.
I take the ignore off and this is what happens , i guess time to put it back on again. oh well.

 

You're looking for some ways to move your fingers automatically on your instruments but sorry I can't give it to you. You have to discover it by yourself. Needs trial and error for the different situations.

Now, you can ignore me but it's not good you're repeating that incessantly.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 3, 2018

Jazz 101 Dealing with dissonance inside of a melody. (how to use TRIPLETS
-----------------------------------------

lets begin with a structure of

iimin7 V7 , Imaj7

in Cmajor KEY giving us


Dmin7 G7 Cmaj7


DFAC,GBDF,CEGB


lets start with the beginning portion and picture a Dmin7 DFAC chord looping.


we already know our mode notes are DEFGABCD

next we know our consonant notes are DFAC

we can include the Dmin9 DFACE

so now these notes DFACE which outline a Dmin9 we want to land on the strong beat

and the 2 notes G B land onthe weak beat.

here is an example

D down to F up to A up to B up to C up to D u to E up to F down to D

here that is.

D F A B C D E F D....... long ring


In this instance our Dmin9 (DFACE) chord tones are always landing on the strong beats


Now the question is

Can we have a dissonant note on a strong beat? (such as B and G )


the answer is yes, if you use that dissonant note as triplet

here is an example.

D F A C B G# A C E D ...long ring out


Here we have a high D going down to F up to A up to C

next we slide down to B as the first note of a triplet down to G# u to A

that triplet portion lasts the same time as 2 normal swing notes

Finally we go up to C up to E and down to D which rings out.


Let's now further explore this concept , where we CAN use a dissonant note on the "on beat" as long as it is a triplet (8th note triplet= 2 swing 8th notes)

lets have a Dmin7 chord underneath what we play

next, descend starting from F down E D C

this is what we have so far

F E D C

we then continue descending with a B A G triplet


F E D C B A G

then we continue down swing again and when we land on B we do another triplet. the entire line descends except the last note we go up to D for long ring out.



F E D C B A G F E D C B A G F E D C D ring outs....

Let's now take a look at a ascending triplet in the same way.

G A B C D E F


now lets continue on with it with a descending triplet on G

G A B C D E F G F E D C

now an ascending triplet on B

G A B C D E F G F E D C B C D E F long D

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2018

Jazz 101 Dealing with dissonance inside of a melody. (how to use TRIPLETS part II
----------------------------------

We can daisy chain our triplets (where dissonant note begins on the "on beat")
in order to make 2 or more connected triplets.

first lets pick up where we left off before KEY of C major we are zooming in on the iimin7 portion of a ii V I and looping it with the chord playing underneath our melody.


D down to F up to A up to C

D F A C

Next a descending triplet which begins on the B note.

D F A C B A G\

next the obvious thing is to continue descending


D F A C B A G -F E D C D E F D long


lets try another one.

here is an interesting one which is descending

D C B A G F E D C B A G F E D C B A G F E


and finally here is one that weaves around and is expressive.

E down to C# up to D down to F up to A upp to C

E C# D F A C

next triplet from B (enclosure of A, AKA button-hook)

B G# A

next we continue on with a second connected triplet

B D C


here is the whole melody

E C# D F A C B G# A B D C


next to really make it musical

E C# D F A C B G# A B D C D F A C A F D long......

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2018

I am describing "how music works"

we live in this place called "reality"
it means we were born ( the way humans work) from a seed and an egg coming together, next we grew and found ourselves in a type of world where there is a such thing as " the way things work"

take "music" there is a such thing as "the way music works"

it works a specific way.
we work a specific way.

it has nothing to do with "looking for ways to blah blah blah"

instead what is true about a human being in reality is that with knowledge ( in this case knowledge of music)
something can be accomplished.
and the only alternative to knowledge is ignorance a lack of knowledge.

with ignorance nothing can be accomplished except for what is done by accident ( not on purpose)

by learning "how music works"

you can take such knowledge and with intent express yourself on purpose where it matches your inside experience and feelings,

only with knowledge can you do this with music.

with ignorance of how music works you can accidentally do things thats it.
you are removing the art with ignorance

If i put a microphone on a barn roof when raining to capture the sound
that is random. there is no mind making a decision and expressing itself on purpose with intent.

to make "music" in a way where you are working from a state of ignorance instead of knowledge, means you have zero ability to express what is inside of you through the music to create art.

you have to know how music works to assemble a song that has meaning .
if you are making random sounds ( this not music)
there is no art happening, this is because you have removed the POINT to music.

expressing yourself in a specific way .

the point of music is identical to the point of spoken language.

to start with a concept inside of you then specifically communicate that exact experience through "the way words work"
you have to know the order words fit it, which words best express what you want them to.

if i randomly select 35 letters and randomly select the order they fit in, you HONESTLY
believe that process , produces the SAME value as a human being knowing what words mean, knowing the order they fit in, then selecting g the exact words and order they fit in to perfectly express the inner experience of that person?

if you say they both have same value you not telling the truth.

music is identical , it is NOT an analogy. it is literal.

there is a way music works every possible note and chord change and order they go in create a specific feeling to the listener.
this is because it is mathematics. a note is a vibration of frequencies per second. next the human ear works in a specific way that you or anyone else cannot change.

I have shown you to be false for the 700th time now.

I invite anyone ( especially yourself) to read every comment on this website (all 700 of them) in which i demonstrably show you to be false.
( you say words that are not compatible with this reality, only compatible with your imagination.)

not one single time out of 700 times, have you been interested in finding out you made a mistake in thought( is what being wrong is) and adapting yourself to grow from it to be a better person. ( one that is not wrong 99.99999 percent of everything they say would be a good place to start)

this observation of that larger situation communicates to me you are not interested in the truth value ( differentiating between fantasy and reality) of what you think and say.

because of this it renders your statements and propositions equivalent to a random number generator.

by the way every human being is in this situation of having no choice but to decide whether or not to differentiate between fiction and reality if they don't care they end up in the same place you are.( this situation has nothing to do with the specific individual you are but instead the very specific methodology you use inside of your thought process, and how you prioritize reality vs. fiction or not prioritize it.)

I am willing to have conversation with human beings that make the decision to prioritize the truth value of each proposition they make.
those which don't care how false they think or speak, are essentially contributing nothing to a conversation. ( just as much as a random number generates in a conversation.)
I hope you can see, this applies to ALL human beings no person is exempt.
it is the "way human beings really work" or in other words the reality regarding human thought and conversation.
nobody can avoid this.

music is the same way . people can pretend that there is no such thing as "the way music actually works"
BUT the listeners of THAT music ( including the one who made it that is pretending)
are going to be EFFECTED the every specific way music works and human beings work.
nothing can ever change this. you are a slave to reality and no way to rebel or hide from how things actually work.
(except for creating mental illness itself, or not concerning with what will kill you or not)
you cannot ignore reality and be healthy happy and fulfilled .
because the definition of BEING happy, healthy and fulfilled is doing things that match the requirements of the way your body and brain actually works in reality.

 

Jazz 101 Triplets continued.....
----------------------

We can use triplets in different places ( beginning on the "on" beat)
so to be able land on certain tones.

back to our DMin7 ex.

lets compare the placement of triplets .

D down to F up to A up to C

D F A C B D F E D F long.....

compared to

D F A C D E C# D F A long.......

compared to

D F A C F A C D E F long....

lets take a different melody and try it.




A down to C up to D up to F

so far we have

A C D F D F A

next we can add

A C D F D F A C E D long


or we take

A C D F A C B G# A C E D long


What about a more descending zig-zag type of line?


F D E C# D B C G# A F D E C# D long

 

Last edited: Jul 3, 2018

Jazz 101 leading tones (aka grace notes)

this means on the off beat a semi tone above or below your landing note .

lets take our DMin7 chord once again boring i know!

but trust me it will be fun when it all comes together!

lets take a DFAC

all quarter notes
DFACD

next insert a grace note which starts below then alternates with above

D E F A# A B C D# D long

next lets take the descending pattern and same thing grace note below alternating with grace note above

F E D C A

F D# E D# D B C A# A

do you see what we can begin to do now?

lets try another

C A F D C A

C G# A F# F C# D C# C G# A long....

how about a scale fragment?

C D E F

C D# D D# E F# F

how about adding arpeggio at the end?

BRB knocking at door haha

 

Jazz 101 Balancing opposites
--------------------------------


In Jazz we want to bring awareness of balance in our playing
We are mindful of opposites so that we can balance them .

here are some examples of them to help you understand what I mean.

Soft to hard
fast to slow
short to long
down to up
question to answer
repetition to variation
step to leap
loud to soft
high to low
consonance to dissonance
happy to sad
specific to ambiguous
light to dark


In whatever stage we are at in making music we keep in mind a balance of these opposites so we can be as expressive as possible.
This does not mean you have to use all of them every single instance, just to be aware of them and you will find a larger musical vocabulary becomes available to you.

 

Jazz 101 ORIGINS The BLUES
-------------------------------

Jazz is a genre which springs out from the Blues.
(in our modern time a similar thing happened with metal genre springing out from rock music.)

It is important for us to understand the blues because Jazz still has a strong connection to it and many aspects of blues get carried over into jazz and live and stay there (except for some later avant garde and experimental jazz)

The blues is the bastardized child of the early gospel church music.
the unique pentatonic and microtonal notes from shouts and call and response of afro american Gosel and church. ( expression of the horrors of slavery)

The blues content was about the suffering and dehumanization of slaves ( instead of holy god like gospel)
It was used as a catharsis to get the feelings out and feel better more positive.

This is important to the structure and way the music works.

The blues starts off with a I IV V pattern

So in the KEY of C major

Cmaj7 Fmaj7 G7

Then alters the chords to be all Dominant ( create more tension and allows more notes)

C7 F7 G7

Next the 12 bar blues form is structured like this. (each being 4 counts.)

{C7 , F7, C7, C7},{F7 ,F7, C7, C7},( G7, F7, C7 C7}

This is our harmonic structure.




(we can see in the chart our ending can use a vi, ii V I turnaround this is when classical structure on the ii V I got integrated into blues structure when jazz began to leave the 12 bar in the 20's

Next we have our harmonic structure,
our melodic structure is different.

we use a unique scale based on C
C
D#
E
F
F#
G
A#
(note to play "original "blues you don't play the flat 3rd or the 3rd but the note in between them both)this is becuase of the issues with 12 tone et (blues is based on vocals originally)
https://www.basicmusictheory.com/c-blues-scale

There is a melodic relationship

C root goes to D# slides to E (flat3rd to 3rd)
C root goes to F (4th)
C root goes to F# slides to G (flat 5th to fifth)
C root goes to A# (flat 7th)

in the areas of the D# to E you have all the micro tones in between ( ex. sliding on guitar or bending with voice or other instruments.
in the areas of F# to G you have all the microtonal notes in between as well

notice you get a whole area from D# all the way to A# with semitones in between ( F outlines the subdominant)

You use this single scale over all three chord changes
(the note relationship change on each chord .


this harmonic structure underneath this melodic structure gives you a very unique sound and feeling lets listen to some of this now.

This blues melodic structure of having
the C go to D# slide to E
and the C going to F# sliding to G

creates grace note structure from D# all the way to G we have all the semitones in between

and when we are on the different chords we set them up to land on a strong chord tone on the "on" beat

We use call and response, and a strong emphasis on phrasing to have the musical sections "speak" to you

The unique phrasing in Blues early beginnings gets carried over into jazz once jazz begins to mix the unique harmonic and melodic structures of blues with traditional classical structure later on.
(ex. later jazz which develops the iimin7 V7 Imaj7

when we look at our blues harmonic structure there are many possible substitutions available
to expand the chord options on the 12 bar blues.



It is not trivial to know and understand these aspects of the blues because JAZZ adopts and later transforms these to be used with iimin7 V7 imaj7 structures later on
(melodic aspects , button hooks, call and response etc...)

 

Last edited: Jul 6, 2018

Jazz 101 Origins the BLUES part II
---------------------

Lets now examine the info of the blues and put it all to use right away.
this video will guide you step by step from the basics onward so that you can begin to understand and use the structures involved.

It is not trivial to know and understand these aspects of the blues because JAZZ adopts and later transforms these to be used with iimin7 V7 imaj7 structures later on
(melodic aspects , button hooks, call and response etc...)

 

Last edited: Jul 6, 2018

Jazz 101 Origins the BLUES part III
------------------------------------------

What are the aspects of the Blues that carry over to Jazz once jazz gets created?

1. Substitution ( using system larger than a single KEY)that still relative to the original KEY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blues swaps out Cmaj7 to C7 Fmaj7 to F7 to create the structure I7 IV7 V7
Jazz keeps this tradition and incorporates it into the language of Jazz
we can see example of V7 of V

We begin with DMin7 G7 Cmaj7 (ii V i in KEY of C major)
Jazz substitutes D7 G7 C7 , then adds in the appropriate ii V's before each 7th chord
Amin7 D7 Gmaj7, Dmin7 G7 Cmaj7, Gmin7 C7, Fmaj7

2. Melodic phrasing
---------------

the Blues sets up a type of scale which any of the notes can be played in any order over the chord
and in doing this certain patterns develop which JAZZ continues to use EVEN after jazz switches to using other scales,
( a sound of weaving around)

3. call and response.
----------------

The Blues has the melody and lines imitate the human voice instead of linear patterns.
the melodies have a question and answer phrasing or call and response and feels like a voice is speaking to you with articulations like bends slides and long held shout sounding notes.

Jazz carries this on as part of its language.

4. Shuffle "swing"
----------------------

The Blues uses a rhythm derived from human voice of emphasizing the importance of notes by a pattern of long note short note, giving a bounce to the melody.

Jazz carries this on and becomes integral part of jazz.

we can see now how Jazz is really an outgrowth of the Blues,
where over time is takes many things of blues and adds in more unique aspects to integrate with western music. Jazz incorporates all keys modes scales into jazz while retaining the human elements of swing phrasing and call and response.

 

Last edited: Jul 6, 2018

Jazz 101 Origins Ragtime
------------------------------

Besides the Blues , Jazz took many attributes and inspiration from one of the most popular genres which existed called ragtime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragtime

characterized by a syncopated feel which was enjoyed by young dancers .
this style was composed on piano rolls of the time a precursor to DAW and digital music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_roll

Ragtime was an exciting high energy music.
Jazz took these aspects and fused with Blues and church music.

Ragtime took aspects of the marching band and broke the ranges of those instruments to each hand on the piano and had them play in the spaces of each other with a alternating feel which when played at full speed could re-create that full feel of the matching band. ( while adding a nice rhythm complexity all on the piano at once)

Jazz took these aspects to create a "swing" feel and also the way that each instrument in Jazz adds a specific layer to the music.

the feel ragtime has of fast and dancing rhythm
jazz re-creates when you add the rhythm section of bass and drums and the comping and the melody layers of the lead instrument horns or vocals.
Jazz also took many aspects of the marching band directly such as the instruments used at the time and rhythms and the first jazz standards.

 

Last edited: Jul 7, 2018