Exercises to Little song A, B & C (Jazzstandards) and Walking the blues A, B & C
Little song
Like a 8 bar jazzstandard with II - V - I in major and minor.
Little song A: Chordmelody with the root in the bass, wholenote.
Little song B: Halfnotebass. The root and the fifth. Some syncopated chords.
Little song C: Walkingbass, chordsubstitutes. (See exercises at this page)
Exercises:
Try to improvise ”melodies within the chordpatterns” and with at first straight wholenotebass (A-level),
then halfnotebass (B-level) and then walkingbass (C-level)
Play little song in different keys.
To play hallfnotebass and walkingbass with chordmelody it´s a good thing to learn different chords with other bassnotes.
Ex. Cmaj7/E (the third), Cmaj7/G ( the fifth), Cmaj7/B (The majorseventh).
Dm7/F, Dm7/A, Dm7/C and G7/B, G7/D, G7/F.
The same with Bm7b5, E7 and Am7.
Try then to make walkingbasslines on each chord. Play the notes between the chordnotes in the bassline.
Ex. Cmaj7 - Dbassnote - Cmaj7/E - Fbassnote - Cmaj7/G - Abassnote - Cmaj7/B.
The same with Dm7, G7, Bm7b5, E7 and Am7.
E7b9 = Fdim7, G#dim7, Bdim7 and Ddim7. So it´s easy to make a walkingbassline with diminished chords.
When you have done this for a while you can try to make some melodies at the same time.
Start with a really slow tempo and do it in different keys.
Improvise over the first four bars on the song, then next four bars and so on.
Then you improvise over the entire song.
When you think you manage to improvise chordmelody with bassline you can make a little higher tempo. This is a slow way to learn but when you really make it you don´t just arrange chordmelody you even improvise chordmelody with a bassline.
Another way is to make chordsubstitutes.
For exambple: Cmaj9/E = Em7, Dm9/F = Fmaj7, G9/B = Bm7b5, G7B5 = Db7B5
You can also play chords in the same scale!
Instead of Cmaj7 in two bars: Cmaj7 - Dm7 - Em7 - Dm7 (Very common, JoePass etc.)
"Colour " your chords!
Instead of Cmaj7 you can play Cmaj9, Cmaj13, C6, C6/9, (Cmaj9#11)
Instead of Dm7: Dm9, Dm11, Dm13, Dm6
Instead of G7: G9, G11, G13, G7 b9 (#9, b5, #5)
And remember! Make your own substitutes and chordchanges! If You think it sounds good just play it!
I don´t talk about different scales in this method. There are plenty of books and material on the internet about that!
Walking the blues.
Like a standard jazzblues. In thesame levels A, B and C as in Little song.
Walking the blues A.
The roots to the chords in the bassline in halfnotes. Fournoteschords, no chordsubstitutes.
Walking the blues B:.
The Roots and the fifths in the bassline and flat five substitutes in the last four bars: D7 to Ab9, Gm7 to Db9 and C7 till Gb9.
Walking the blues C.
F7 can be changed to Cm7. The third, fifth or the seventh in the bassline, Fm7 instead of Bb7.
Seventhchords may be changed to diminished chords (7b9) .
Gm7 and Bb6 is the same chord. It often sounds nice with a seventhchord just a half step up before another chord. (Very common in blues.) With a strong bassline you can play chord with more dissonance.
Good luck!
Goran Lindelow
www.goranlindelow.com
Like a 8 bar jazzstandard with II - V - I in major and minor.
Little song A: Chordmelody with the root in the bass, wholenote.
Little song B: Halfnotebass. The root and the fifth. Some syncopated chords.
Little song C: Walkingbass, chordsubstitutes. (See exercises at this page)
Exercises:
Try to improvise ”melodies within the chordpatterns” and with at first straight wholenotebass (A-level),
then halfnotebass (B-level) and then walkingbass (C-level)
Play little song in different keys.
To play hallfnotebass and walkingbass with chordmelody it´s a good thing to learn different chords with other bassnotes.
Ex. Cmaj7/E (the third), Cmaj7/G ( the fifth), Cmaj7/B (The majorseventh).
Dm7/F, Dm7/A, Dm7/C and G7/B, G7/D, G7/F.
The same with Bm7b5, E7 and Am7.
Try then to make walkingbasslines on each chord. Play the notes between the chordnotes in the bassline.
Ex. Cmaj7 - Dbassnote - Cmaj7/E - Fbassnote - Cmaj7/G - Abassnote - Cmaj7/B.
The same with Dm7, G7, Bm7b5, E7 and Am7.
E7b9 = Fdim7, G#dim7, Bdim7 and Ddim7. So it´s easy to make a walkingbassline with diminished chords.
When you have done this for a while you can try to make some melodies at the same time.
Start with a really slow tempo and do it in different keys.
Improvise over the first four bars on the song, then next four bars and so on.
Then you improvise over the entire song.
When you think you manage to improvise chordmelody with bassline you can make a little higher tempo. This is a slow way to learn but when you really make it you don´t just arrange chordmelody you even improvise chordmelody with a bassline.
Another way is to make chordsubstitutes.
For exambple: Cmaj9/E = Em7, Dm9/F = Fmaj7, G9/B = Bm7b5, G7B5 = Db7B5
You can also play chords in the same scale!
Instead of Cmaj7 in two bars: Cmaj7 - Dm7 - Em7 - Dm7 (Very common, JoePass etc.)
"Colour " your chords!
Instead of Cmaj7 you can play Cmaj9, Cmaj13, C6, C6/9, (Cmaj9#11)
Instead of Dm7: Dm9, Dm11, Dm13, Dm6
Instead of G7: G9, G11, G13, G7 b9 (#9, b5, #5)
And remember! Make your own substitutes and chordchanges! If You think it sounds good just play it!
I don´t talk about different scales in this method. There are plenty of books and material on the internet about that!
Walking the blues.
Like a standard jazzblues. In thesame levels A, B and C as in Little song.
Walking the blues A.
The roots to the chords in the bassline in halfnotes. Fournoteschords, no chordsubstitutes.
Walking the blues B:.
The Roots and the fifths in the bassline and flat five substitutes in the last four bars: D7 to Ab9, Gm7 to Db9 and C7 till Gb9.
Walking the blues C.
F7 can be changed to Cm7. The third, fifth or the seventh in the bassline, Fm7 instead of Bb7.
Seventhchords may be changed to diminished chords (7b9) .
Gm7 and Bb6 is the same chord. It often sounds nice with a seventhchord just a half step up before another chord. (Very common in blues.) With a strong bassline you can play chord with more dissonance.
Good luck!
Goran Lindelow
www.goranlindelow.com