Tricotism, and using the 5th string to comp

I had this dream the other night where I was back in high school and, for whatever reason, was spending a semester studying drums. In these dreams it's always the end of the semester, and I've totally forgotten to go to English class. But this time, I went to my drum teacher and said you know, I've realized that what I need to do is, instead of front-loading "knowledge" about the drums, I need to just learn some tunes and PLAY the damn drums... And my teacher gives me kind of a bop on the head as if to say "At last you figure it out, huh?" And I wanted the semester back so I could go do it right.

This has always been the conundrum of the "serious jazz student." And, partly because my default setting is to think like a teacher, I'm always having to remind myself to stop making lists of chord voicings and scales and just play the damn banjo.

Chord voicings on the 5th, 4th and 3rd strings

Chords played on the three bottom strings, with your thumb, will naturally give greater emphasis to the melody note on the 5th string. These can be used effectively in the same way a pianist uses their left hand to stab some chords into the spaces in a solo. 

(...and you ARE leaving spaces in your solos, yes?)

First let's look at Tricotism, by Oscar Pettiford, a great bass virtuoso of jazz's earlier days. Now, part of the deal with  Tricotism is that it's in Db. I know, why not just do it in D? It was a big deal back in the day for a bass guy to solo like that in Db, for the same reason it would be today for banjo players. So that gimmick is kind of baked into the tune. I play the Oscar Peterson Trio version, which is a little different than Pettiford's original, but it's my favorite.

https://youtu.be/2jL_Kg-lS_k

Here's the head and chord changes for banjo. I play this in drop-C, which also provides the most possibilities for those 3-string chords. By the way, I take back what I said in an earlier post about TablEdit being clunky and hard to use. It's the ONLY software for banjo tabs that I can see, and actually is quite easy to deal with.

Tricotism

Now a bunch of those three-note chords. You'll notice that for most chords ,rather than give you individual chord positions I've provided multiple versions of each, arranged into little melodic cells. You'll also notice these pretty much center around the tonic note Db, and there's a reason for this.

Now here's the thing about comping for bebop. It's not Not Not just a matter of playing cool sounding chords. You get to do that, but the melody you create should generally stay grounded in the home key. Go back and listen to what Oscar Peterson does behind Ray Brown's bass solo, particularly the top notes in his right hand. More on this later, but for now take some time to enjoy the OP Trio's wonderful version of Tricotism (which I'm told refers to a heartbeat in triplets), to try out this arrangement and fiddle with these chord voicings.

See you in part 2. 

You Are Too Beautiful pt. 5, the head

When you play the head to a song like this, it's important not to take the written rhythms literally! It almost always sounds stilted when you do that. Part of learning a tune like this is becoming familiar enough with it to sing or whistle it, and play that version of it, which will be better. This is not to say go crazy with it; just shifting a note here or there in either direction is enough to make it "sing." And even if you don't sing, know the lyrics. A re-rhythmicization that conflicts with the phrasing of the words will sound off, and get you arrested by the Ballad Police.

This version is in drop-C.

https://soundcloud.com/jocko-macnelly/you-are-2-bfl-72618-832-pm

You Are Too Beautiful

"You Are Too Beautiful" pt. 4 getting your solo together (continued)

An interesting jazz solo will take into account various layers of our perception of the tune, all of which influence each other. So - the song is "in the key of C," and even though every chord can't be found in the actual key of C-major, the ones which aren't are knitting together the ones that are. So that deep layer, "C," influences the way you'll play over the chords. You can play "chord specifically," you can run the scale of any given moment, you can emphasize "key of C-ness;" real interest can come out of your travel through these various layers.

Let's look at a simple one-octave C-major scale as the generator of your solo. Now, while you're playing over the range of "just" an octave, don't worry about all the things you're not doing. In other words, just

Be where you are.

It's a beautiful place and besides, a lot of great soloing has gone on within an octave, and nobody knows anyway. The only thing your audience is picking up is if they like it. The changes to this beautiful tune are written out in the previous post where we discuss accompaniment. So here's the C-scale, two different ways. Let's start using this to work a strategy.

Of course, it starts on Dm7, the II-chord.

All the notes "work," but leaving out a scale note (in this case B) can connect a scale run with a particular chord.

Same thing for the V-chord, G7, but we put B back in and remove C. The second measure shows a cool lick you can play over an "altered" G7 "Alt" means a dominant 7th with any combination of #9 or b9, #5 or b5. This is as opposed to 9th or 13th chords (go back to the "Music Theory for Banjoheads" series if this is confusing). 

It doesn't have to say "alt" or #9, etc, for you to throw that lick in. Don't take chord symbols too literally. It does need to be a G7 leading to a C chord though.

G7 leads to Cmaj7 - C-scale, right? - then A7. Usually another altered 7th, which actually does have kind of a C7-ish feel, so the note C (the #9 of A7, technically B# but who's counting?) generally figures prominently, usually as a starting point. 

What takes this chord out of strict C-major is the presence of C# and Bb. So what you've got there is a "C-scale-but-with-C#-and-Bb." Here's a way to arpeggiate it with an A7#9 voicing at the end.

The next different-from-C-major thing you have to deal with is C7.  C-but-with-Bb (also known as the key of F-major).

When we reach the target of that C7, Fma7, listen to what happens when you leave Bb out. 

Fm in the following measure is still "the IV-chord." I think of it as "C-majer-but-with-Bb-and-Ab." I practice all my major scales with flatted 6ths and 7ths as this is a common device in jazz. It's also F melodic-minor, but I really prefer you to think in terms of C.

The final II - V's of the A-sections use D7 rather than Dm7. This is one of those dominant 7ths I call "non-dominant dominant 7ths." (I'm really sorry my terminology is not very technical!) The altered 7th trick won't sound good with these (that's a "dominant-dominant" thing, ya dig?), as they are generally played as the IV-chord of melodic minor. So this D7 is sort of A melodic minor, and has the following chord tones

D   F# A  C  E  G# B

If you see the chord symbol 7#11, you know you've got one of these guys. So, here are a regular D7 run, then D7#11:

Notice how the D13 chord above (misprinted as "D713") is the same shape as Ab7#9? Just is.

The next thing you have to deal with is the II - V in Em in the bridge, that is, F#m7b5 - B7. Technically we're in E harmonic-minor here, but nobody is ever in harmonic minor. OK maybe sometimes, but a lot of time something in harmonic minor just sounds like you're running harmonic minor. We're going to alter that B7 chord, and the scale that works for B7alt is C melodic minor (don't forget, there's no "descending" version of this, we're only talking about the so-called "ascending" scale). For the II-chord I don't know what this is, but it works pretty good. I call it

expressed in a C-ish way of course. Now B7:

I think that's got it all... Now really, just be here, practice it here. Learning the whole neck has to start somewhere, and it is very easy to try to be everywhere, be nowhere, and sound like it. Make something beautiful where you are. There's nothing to apologize for!

seeya

You Are Too Beautiful pt. 3, playing backup in drop-C

We’re going to consider a particular way of comping on You Are Too Beautiful. First let’s look at one of the chords used, a Gm9 in drop-C tuning:

7

3

3

5

If you’re a thumb-over 5th string player, you’ll need to adjust to a position a little more akin to the one used in the following video by Edinburgh banjoist (and all-around string wizard) Rob McKillop to be able to make this. https://youtu.be/l3rMQAEI6Rw

Here are some illustrations I made for my electric bass method. The point is to allow your fingers access to as wide a span of frets as possible. Don't think of it as "stretching," rather get the feeling of straightening out your fingers along the strings.

Experiment with your own mitts. For one thing, you'll notice that spanning mostly comes from the index and little fingers. The middle two  pretty much stick together. This is anatomical, so don't try to force them apart. The composer Robert Schumann is said to have wrecked his hand that way!

In the next two pics, notice the space that is being created between your hands and the neck/fingerboard.

And here are some habits that will raise hell with your technique.

And here are two habits that are very hard to break. 

If your banjo happy place is more in line with these no-no's, that's fine; you can switch back and forth as needed.  You just need to be able to NOT do them.

OK, to the tune! Here are the changes in a simple form (imho the best way to present changes):

Here's what I did behind the guitar solo, starting at about 3:20 - https://soundcloud.com/jocko-macnelly/you-are-2-bfl-72618-832-pm Even if you choose to stay in standard tuning, do observe how I tried to make the chords form a simple (SIM.PLE!) melody behind the soloist.

Never forget, good comping is Love in action.

You Are Too Beautiful, pt. 2 - getting your solo together

Over the next two posts we’re going to look at some scale patterns you can use to solo over “You Are Too Beautiful.” My original idea was to bash out a solo using these patterns in an unambiguous way where you’d be able to identify each one within the solo; I quickly realized that that would result in a lousy solo. https://soundcloud.com/jocko-macnelly/you-are-2-bfl-72618-832-pm So that’s the first thing to keep in mind: our purpose here isn’t to show off our fingerboard knowledge, and it’s not to “play over the changes.” It’s to bring 

You are too beautiful, my dear, to be true

And I am a fool for beauty

Fooled by a feeling that because I had found you

I could have bound you too.

You are too beautiful for one man alone,

For one lucky fool to be with

When there are other men with eyes of their own

to see with.

Love does not stand sharing

Not if one cares.

Have you been comparing

My every kiss to theirs?

If on the other hand, I’m faithful to you

it’s not through a sense of duty

You are too beautiful and I am a fool

For beauty.   (Richard Rogers)

to life for your listeners.

This tune is in C, and it is one of those tunes that, regardless of what the changes are, they never really leave C. You’ll see what I mean in one of the next posts, but first, here are some scales and patterns in C-major, almost all of which I touched on in my own solo. Get hip to this first pattern as we're going to be playing around with it, i.e., changing some notes to play over different chords.

 This one is nice to run over the II-chord, Dm7.

I love these 6-note patterns. You can play them over any scale degree in major or minor.

Here's another really useful pattern that can be used all over the place.

Now take all this and just play around in C-major. Don't try to commit Great Art, just make your fingers happy and enjoy how your banjo sounds in "the peoples' key" as we jazzers like to call it. I know, we're all hilarious.

You Are Too Beautiful - playing the head, soloing and comping, pt.1

https://soundcloud.com/jocko-macnelly/you-are-2-bfl-72618-832-pm

One of the great joys in jazz music is playing over ballads. Phrasing is of the utmost importance - give yourself plenty of

                                     
                                             
                                                  space


                                                                                    between

                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                         your phrases.


Two things can be helpful to this end. First, it helps to have a rhythm section you trust and enjoy listening to. A good rhythm section makes it easy to relax and use negative space in your solo.  If you find yourself getting all banjo-ey that is, piling up notes and licks to no particular musical purpose (we all do it sometimes), try concentrating on your breath and  playing only on your exhales.  

In future posts we'll look at playing the head, and ideas for comping and soloing.

see ya.

Tickle Toe: Comping pt. 2

Now in your standard bluegrass arrangement, the mando guy will spend a lot of time hitting their chop chords on beats 2 and 4, what we call the backbeat.  The backbeat is just as important in jazz, the big difference being that its execution is more subtle. So nobody will be playing it like a bluegrass mandolinist, but please God, let it be somewhere! Jazz, minus the feeling of a strong 2 and 4, sounds unmoored, disorganized. So, though you might not be playing the actual backbeat, you are respecting it by playing because of, and around it, and it is felt internally in a way that orients everything everybody does. 

Want to hear it done right? Here's my old colleague and sister-from-another-mister, Twin Cities drummer Jendeen Forberg leading the Wolverines big band. https://youtu.be/0NFi-K9sD94

So keep the backbeat in mind as you work these comping patterns. And as you work out your own ideas, let it be the thing that connects one chord to another, and one rhythmic motif to another. Hearing the backbeat as your  “audible life stream” (reaching back for some new-agey vocab there…) can mean the difference between random stabs of chords, and solid coherent accompaniment for your soloist. 

And if you aren’t yet able to consistently pat your foot on 2 and 4, get busy on that!

And here’s the full chorus. Come up with your own ways of doing this, but remember:

• Your chords should make a SIMPLE melody.
• Everything you do is for/because of the soloist.
• The harmony is audible without you. That’s not why you’re comping.
• Texture. What happens when you use a two note chord instead of a four note one.
• Respect the backbeat.
• Love.

Sometimes being totally predictable is a good idea. Remember those chop chords? Also, this stuff about the almighty backbeat will come back around when we get  to clave and Afro-Cuban music. Seeya!