7/27/2019 Woodshed Grooving Over Jazz

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/woodshed-grooving-over-jazz 1/2

96O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4 G U I T A R P L AY E R

L

E

S

S

O

N

S

WOODSHEDGrooving Over Jazz Changes

B Y P I N O M A R R O N E

For those growing up on a blues-scale diet of

rock and blues, the natural inclination for

improvising is to play modally. However, in

 jazz—or in any music with shifting harmony—

the modal approach alone brings vagueness

to solos.Listen closely to any great improviser

and how their every note refers to the song’s

harmonic structure. But harmony is only half

the battle. Phrases also have to groove, or

they’ll sound dead. In jazz, we don’t just

improvise melodies that suit the changes, we

improvise rhythmic structures that suit the

groove. Our goal is to become both harmoni-cally and rhythmically eloquent.

G U I D E T O N E SLearning to connect guide tones and passing

tones is one way to train our ears and fingers

to navigate the harmonic resolutions we call

cadences. And when we harmonically

describe the changes while employing an

enticing rhythm, the notes suddenly come

alive. Bebop saxophonists from Charlie

Parker to Lee Konitz have created excite-

ment with simple lines such as the

sequenced chromatic phrase in Ex. 1. Work-

ing beautifully over the last eight measures

of the well-known “Stella by Starlight” pro-

gression, these four-note lines take place on

single strings and, with successive pull-offs,

each gracefully describes the chord of the

moment. But the notes wouldn’t grab yourears without their catchy, repeating rhythm.

T A K I N ’ I T O U TEx. 2 gains an “outside” sound by sequenc-

ing a rhythmically displaced, perhaps Nico-

las Slonimsky-inspired motif. In the key of F

T

A

B

  

= 1601

 44     

     

             

   

      3 33

33

34 3 21

Em7 5 Dm7 5A7 9 G7 9Swing feel

12 11 10 89 7 611 10 89

10 89 7 7 6 5 489 7 6

9

T

A

B

  5                      

33

3

        3

Cm7 5 F7 9 B maj7

8 7 6 5 5 4 3 27 6 5 4 3

7 7 8

5

 

Melodically and rhythmically

eloquent to the last—the great

Jim Hall.

A D V A N C E D

T

A

B

  = 150

44

Swing feel

                                       Gm7 5 C7 5 Fm(maj7)

  10 11

117

9 1010

68 9

95

88

9 57 8

84

simile

EX. 2

EX. 1

7/27/2019 Woodshed Grooving Over Jazz

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/woodshed-grooving-over-jazz 2/2

98O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4 G U I T A R P L AY E R

minor, we are targeting strong notes from the

V chord, C7# 5, and the I chord, Fm(maj7). It

may take a moment to recognize, but in each

of this example’s two phrases, the intriguing,

angular sound results from a clever sequenceof half-step intervals and an unpredictable

rhythmic shape.

U P S A N D D O W N SEx. 3 outlines a II-V-I progression in F that

includes some chord extensions and altered

tones. But it’s the rhythmic hook—the repeated

rise and fall of the melody—that propels the

line.Try to be accurate with the the upward and

downward sweeps of the pick while remaining

rhythmically free and loose. Instead of using a

metronome, try practicing this example with a

ride cymbal pattern on your drum machine.

This gives you more subdivisions to listen to

and may help keep the example sounding

lively.

H A L L O F F A M E L I C K

Jim Hall—in many ways the father of modern jazz guitar—plays beautiful solos by elaborat-

ing on simple motifs such as the one in Ex. 4.

Listen to how this phrase efficiently describes

a very famous jazz progression—“Autumn

Leaves,” in G minor—by surrounding the 3 in

each chord with upper and lower neighbor

tones.The side benefit of this example is that it

helps us learn to swing while playing multiple

hammer-ons and pull-offs. But the real lesson

here—as with the previous examples—is in

how these notes have such a strong impact

through their rhythmic theme. Remember, like

many great jazz lines, this lick wouldn’t mean a

thing if it didn’t have that swing.g

T

A

B

  = 180 44                            

3

5 87

6 10 67

9 5 87

6 9 66

68 75

5 58 65

Swing feel

      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gm7 C7 9 F( )

T

A

B

  1

= 160Swing feel

44                                           

5 57 4 57

Cm7 F7 B maj7 E maj7

8 8 88 87 7 76

810 7 7 7 77

8 6

T

A

B

   5                                

G7Gm7D7Am7 5

5 5 55

7 44 45 3 4

5 3 5 3 2 3 4

EX. 3

EX. 4