Jeff Brent's Lessons_ Bopology 101

8/19/2019 Jeff Brent's Lessons_ Bopology 101

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Bopology 101:

Introduction to solo lines in the BeBop

idiom(The midi files in this article were input manually in Band-in-the-Box. Except 'Stella'.)

If you don't already have the VanBasco midi player, get it! When playing midi files, it has a

piano that you can watch like a player piano. This is fantastic for understanding what the

pianist is doing . It also has speed control so you can slow it down to cop cool tricks. It's so

much nicer and intuitive to watch what the pianist is playing while listening to it, than just

listening to it by itself. You'll find the (FREE!) VanBasco midi player at: www.vanbasco.com

Midi Riffs 1-8 are played at 105. They are set at this slow tempo to make it easier for thestudent to hear and understand the lines. To hear them played more "musically", bring the

tempo up to around 145.

The improvisational principles here are applicable to any instrument, so if you'd like to see the

midi files in this lesson displayed in standard music notation, simply save the file to disk, then

open it up in any decent notation program and voilá!

* * * * * * *

The riffs here are not really intended to be practiced in every key. They are only intended to

illustrate the principles involved in constructing solo lines in the Bop idiom. What you should

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do is practice the PRINCIPLES in every key. Spend a month in one key constructing as many

interesting musical ideas as you can based on what you learn here. Soon you'll find that you'll

be able to easily "visualize" the notes corresponding to the different chords and you'll begin to

find that the more you fool around with these ii-V7-I changes the more fluent you'll become.

The deeper you look, the more you'll find.

Switch to a different key the next month. Do not even try to duplicate the cool lines that you

found in the previous key. Just use the principles to keep coming up with NEW stuff. You'll beamazed! By the time a year has gone by, you'll have mastered the principles in all keys, you'll

be able to execute incredible Jazz solo lines right off the top of your head and those riffs will

be all yours.

* * * * * * *

I'd like to preface this with a short discussion of western musical scales.

The most compact scale is the twelve tone chromatic scale. It is made up entirely of half-steps.

There are many scales made up of alternating half-steps and whole steps, ie. diminished scale,diatonic (and all its modes), melodic minor ascending (and all its modes).

The harmonic minor has half-steps, whole-steps and even a minor third!

Charlie Parker's revelation was: "What if we played the extensions of a chord as if they

were scales?"

If we can have a minor third in a scale, why can't we have an entire scale just made up of

minor 3rds? "But," you're thinking, "isn't that diminished 7th chord?" Yes, it is. But from here

on out we'll be thinking of these notes as the extensions of a 7b9 chord. And we can play thesenotes using the same melodic tricks we would play with any scale! Think of it as a "mega-


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scale."

And if we can have a scale made up of just minor 3rds, why not a scale that has alternating

minor 3rds and major 3rds? We will be thinking of this "mega-scale" as the one we'll use over

minor quality chords.

And the "mega-scale" that's built with alternating major 3rds and minor 3rds is what we'll use

over a major quality chord.

To summarize:

Over a Dm you can play any of the extended chord tones in any order all the way up to the

11th ( D F A C E G ), and include either diatonic or chromatic passing tones between the chord

notes.

Over G7 (or its tritone substitute Db7) you can play the chord tones of Abdim7 in any order

(this yields 3 5 b7 b9 in EITHER G7 or Db7 - so it doesn't matter WHAT the bass player isdoing, you can't go wrong), and any passing tones you'd like to throw in between those

diminished 7 chord tones can be chromatic, diatonic relative to the tonic or pulled from the

appropriate diminished scale

in most cases

G[1] Ab[b9] Bb[b3] B[3] Db[b5] D[5] E[6] F[b7]

Note that using the exact same scale over the Db7 tritone substitute yields the exact same

relations, ie.

Db[1]

D[b9]

E[b3]

F[3]

G[b5]

Ab[5]

Bb[6]

B[b7]


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Over Cmaj7 you can play any of the chord tones of Cmaj13(#11) in any order. Passing tones

are generally diatonic to the tonic.

* * * * * * *

Here are two super simple (yet musical!) examples to give you the basic concept of using

"mega-scales"

over a ii-V7(or bII7)-I progression in B major.

(piano fingering: T = thumb I = index M = middle R = ring P = pinky ).

Example 1:

first chord C#m ( ii minor )

anal ysi s 11t h 9th b7t h 5th

not es F# D# B G#

pi ano f i ngeri ng R M T I

2nd chord F#7 ( V7 )

anal ysi s 3rd 5th b7t h b9t h

[alt 2nd chord C7 ( bII7 )]

[alt analysis b7th b9th 3rd 5th]

not es A#/Bb C#/Db E G

pi ano f i ngeri ng M R T I


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3rd chord B ( I Major )

anal ysi s M7th 9th 5th M7th 3rd 5th

not es A# C# F# A# D# F#

pi ano f i ngeri ng M R I M T I

Example 2:

first chord C#m ( ii minor )

anal ysi s b3r d 5th b7t h 9th

not es E G# B D#

pi ano f i ngeri ng T I M P

2nd chord F#7 ( V7 )

anal ysi s 5th 3rd b9t h b7t h

[alt 2nd chord C7 ( bII7 )]

[alt analysis b9th b7th 5th 3rd ]

not es C#/Db A#/Bb G E

pi ano f i nger i ng R M I T

3rd chord B ( I Major )


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anal ysi s 5th M7th 9th 3rd 5th M7th

not es F# A# C# D# F# A#

pi ano f i ngeri ng I M P T I M

* * * * * * *

Bopology 101: The RiffsRiff 1 (2 bars)

BAR 1 beats 1&2 (ii)

G# hi nge l eadi ng i nto a compl et e ascendi ng Am9 ar peggi o ( l ower A

beats 3&4 (V7b9 or bII7b9)

t o hi gher B) f ol l owed by a descendi ng di m7 arpeggi o ( hi gher A to

BAR 2 (I)

l ower C) f ol l owed by a boogi e-bl ues 5- b3- 3-5 t ag.

Ri f f _01. mi d

Ri f f 1 Gui t ar Tab

Riff 1 Notes:

The hi nges used i n t hese exerci ses ar e al l one note chr omat i c hi nges st ar t i ng j ust bel ow t he i ni t i al t arget not e of t he ar peggi o. I t i s equal l y possi bl e t obegi n wi t h a one not e chromati c hi nge j ust above the f i r st not e of t hearpeggi o.

Ot her more compl ex hi nges are al so possi bl e and f r equentl y used i n J azz:


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· t ur n hi nge ( ex: t arget - upper nei ghbor - t arget - l ower nei ghbor - - > t arget )

· mul t i pl e not e chr omati c hi nge ( ascendi ng or descendi ng)

· col l apsi ng hi nge ( ex: M2 above t arget - M2 bel ow t arget -

m2 above t arget - m2 bel ow t arget - - > t arget )

The use of t he di mi ni shed ar peggi o over t he V7 or bI I 7 subst i t ut e chor d t ur nst he chord (ei t her one) i nt o a 7b9. The beaut y of t hi s i s t hat i t works overwhi chever chor d the rhythm sect i on chooses t o pl ay, and si nce t he b9 i s anat ural l y occurr i ng hi gher part i al of t he overt one seri es i t i s tr ul yconsonant but adds t ensi on at t he same t i me.

Riff 2 (2 bars)


F# hi nge l eadi ng i nto a compl et e descendi ng Am7 ar peggi o (hi gher

beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)G t o l ower A) f ol l owed by t wo F# quart er notes f ol l owed by a

BAR 2 (I)

Par ker s t yl e di atoni c tag ( D- B- C- D ) .

Ri f f _02. mi d


Riff 2 Notes:

On beat s 3 & 4 of BAR 1 t here ar e F# not es, t hi s note works equal l y wel l over

ei t her any t ype of D7 chord ( i t s M3) or Ab7 chord ( i t s dom7).


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Wynt on Marsal i s has been quot ed as sayi ng "I n or der t o real l y pl ay J azz, youneed to mast er t he Bl ues. " Be t hat as i t may, t her e are t i mes when one mayconsci ousl y choose t o avoi d any Bl ues i nfer ences as i n the di atoni c t ag on BAR2 (compar e t o t he Boogi e- Bl ues i nfl uenced t ag on Ri f f 1 BAR 2) .

Riff 3 (4 bars)


G# hi nge l eadi ng i nto a compl et e ascendi ng Am7 ar peggi o ( l ower A

beats 3&4 ( V7b5 or bI I 7b5)t o hi gher G) f ol l owed by a sni ppet of t he A di mi ni shed scal e (hi gher F# [ wi t han upper nei ghbor G i n t he t r i pl et on beat 3] t o

BAR 2 (I)

l ower D) f ol l owed by an accent ed oct ave D f ol l owed by a semi - chromat i c ( Bbmi ssi ng) r ol l - off whi ch ends on an F# hi nge l eadi ng


i nto a compl ete descendi ng Am7 arpeggi o f ol l owed by t he

beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)BAR 4 (I)

ascendi ng A# di mi ni shed scal e ( l ower A# t o hi gher G).

Ri f f _03. mi d


Riff 3 Notes:

Di mi ni shed scal es ( W- H- W- H- W- H- W- H ) are very usef ul over t he V7/ bI I 7 chords. The di mi ni shed scal es ar e not compl et el y " i n" nor ar e t hey compl et el y "out . "As such they can al most be t hought of as "hal f chr omati c & hal f di atoni c. "

You' l l f i nd every J azz musi ci an uses t hemf r equent l y.

The " i i di mi ni shed scal e" ( t he di mi ni shed scal e t hat has as i t s f i r st f ournotes t he same f i r st f our notes as t he i i mi nor scal e - i n thi s case Am)


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contai ns the f ol l owi ng not es when pl ayed over ei t her a V7 or bI I 7 chor d:

Root - b9 - b3 - M3 - b5 - P5 - M6 - dom7

As such i t can easi l y be thought of as t he Boogi e-Bl ues scal e wi t h a b9 t o"J azz" i t up.

The " i i # di mi ni shed scal e" ( t he di mi ni shed scal e t hat has as i t s f i r st f ournotes the same f i r st f our notes as t he i i # mi nor scal e - i n thi s case A#/ Bb

mi nor ) works great when pl ayed over ei t her a V7#5 or bI I 7#5.

Choosi ng whi ch di mi ni shed scal e t o use i n the above cases was a f unct i on of the f i nal t arget not e.

I n t he case of t he A di mi ni shed sni ppet ( BAR 1 beat s 2 & 3 t hru BAR 2 beat 1),t he t arget note i s a D. The "i i di mi ni shed scal e" i s t he more common of t het wo di mi ni shed scal es used over t he V7/ bI I 7 chords and because of i t s " Boogi e-Bl ues" r el ati onshi p ther e i s more i nherent consonance.

I n the case of t he A# di mi ni shed scal e sni ppet ( BAR 3 beats 2 & 3 t hru BAR 4beat 1), i t was chosen because t he t arget not e i s a G. The notes l eadi ng i ntot he G ( E & F# ) yi el d a str onger ( and vi r t ual l y di atoni c) cadence.

The use of t he ( semi ) chr omat i c scal e ( BAR 2 beats 2 & 3) i s a common vehi cl ei n al l t ypes of J azz sol os. Care however must be t aken not t o over do t he useof chromat i c scal es as t hey can conj ure up i mages of corny Lawr ence Wel kcl i chés or ci rcus Cal l i opes. Theref ore i t ' s a good i dea to br eak up t hechr omati c scal e by omi t t i ng a note or t wo here or t her e. The choi ce to omi tt he Bb i n t hi s case was to avoi d "Bl uesy- ness. "

Riff 4 (2 bars)


A# hi nge l eadi ng i nto an i ncompl ete descendi ng Am9 ( hi gher B t o l ower C )f ol l owed by a G# hi nge l eadi ng i nto an





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ascendi ng di m7 chor d ( l ower A to hi gher F# ) . The f i nal F# of t he ascendi ngdi m7 chord acts as a hi nge l eadi ng i nto a

BAR 2 (I)

f i r st i nversi on descendi ng Gmaj 7 ( hi gher G t o l ower B ) .

Ri f f _04. mi d


Riff 4 Notes:

Typi cal l y t he l ast not e on BAR 1 beat 2 woul d have been an A, but s i nce t henext chor d to be pl ayed st ar t i ng on BAR 1 beat 3 begi ns on an A, t he choi cewas made t o do t he G# hi nge t r i ck.

The f i nal not e of t he ascendi ng di m7 chor d ( F#) i s ( conveni ent l y) t he hi ngei nt o t he i ni t i al note ( G) of t he descendi ng Gmaj 7 chord.

A cursor y l ook at t hi s r i f f r eveal s t hat we have a "descendi ng- ascendi ng-descendi ng" cont our . Many of t he r i f f s present ed her e share t hat aspect, you

wi l l al so note t hat t he opposi t e arpeggi o cont our ( ascendi ng- descendi ng-ascendi ng) al so occur s wi t h regul ari t y.

Par t of t he poi nt of t hi s exer ci se i s t o make you aware t hat t her e ar e manyper mutat i ons possi bl e here usi ng t he "upsy- downsy" arpeggi o f ormul a and t oencour age you t o exper i ment wi t h ot her si mi l ar combi nat i ons usi ng arpeggi os of 4 not es ( f our 8th notes OR an 8th not e rest t hen an 8t h note t hen a tr i pl et) ,5 notes ( t wo 8t h notes t hen a t r i pl et OR a tr i pl et t hen two 8t h not es) , 6notes (t wo tr i pl ets) , and/ or et c. . .

Al ways bear i n mi nd t hough that t hi s i s MUSI C, and that you wi l l pr obabl yst umbl e upon some combi nat i ons t hat sound l i ke not hi ng more t han bor i ngexerci ses. Try t o er ase these f r om your memory banks as soon as you can, and

onl y r etai n those whi ch have a tr ul y MUSI CAL qual i t y.

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Riff 5 (2 bars)

BAR 1 beats 1&2 (ii) and beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)

Ascendi ng A di mi ni shed scal e ( l ower G# hi nge to

BAR 2 (I)

hi gher D) wi t h D oct aves over t he G chor d then up t o an E oct ave ( t he GMaj or' s Maj 6th).

Ri f f _05. mi d


Riff 5 Notes:

Thi s r i f f t akes advantage of t he f act t hat t he i i di m scal e has as i t s f i r st 4notes t he same f i r st 4 notes of t he i i mi nor scal e (A-B-C- D) pl ayed over t hei i mi nor chor d. Theref ore, t he l i ne star t s out as compl etel y consonant .

Af t er t he f i r st t wo beat s of BAR 1, t he chord changes t o a V7 ( or bI I 7)qual i t y and t he di mi ni shed scal e over i t gi ves a "mi st eri oso" f eel t o t heunderl yi ng harmony.

Fi nal l y, i t r esol ves to the f i f th of the G toni c (s t i l l part of the i i di mscal e), wi t h a l i t t l e bump up t o the t oni c' s maj or si xth to pr ovi de a bi t moremot i on at t he end.

Thi s r i f f i s t ot al l y si mpl e, yet compl et el y ef f ect i ve. I t ' s musi cal , cool yetnot pr etent i ous nor cont r i ved.

Riff 6 (4 bars)


Ei ght h rest f ol l owed by an i ncompl et e descendi ng Am9 ar peggi o (hi gher B tol ower E) f ol l owed by a



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descendi ng di m7 chor d (upper C t o l ower D#) f ol l owed by a

BAR 2 (I)

convol uted G maj or pentat oni c scal e whi ch i ncl udes i t s common chromati cpassi ng t ones ( b3 & #5) t hen endi ng on an F# hi nge i nto a

BAR 3 - beats 1&2 (ii) beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)

descendi ng semi - chr omati c rol l - off ( hi gher G t o

BAR 4 (I)l ower G) . [ I t ' s semi - chr omati c onl y at t he ver y end where t he F# repl aces t he"expect ed" Ab. ] The f i nal cadence i s capped by a hi gh GMaj 7 chord on beat 3.

Ri f f _06. mi d


Riff 6 Notes:

For t he f i rst bar and f i rst f ul l beat of t he second bar , cont i nui ty i spr ovi ded by t he ascendi ng l i ne of each "l ead note":

BAR 1 | Beat 1. 5 B l ead not e BAR 1 | Beat 3 C l ead note BAR 2 | Beat 1 D l ead note BAR 2 | Beat 1. 5 E l ead not e

The "convol ut ed" pentat oni c scal e i s an i l l ust r at i on of how t he pentat oni cscal e can be used cr eat i vel y i n J azz wi t hout necessar i l y i nvoki ng i mages of Bl ues cl i chés or ( i n the case of t he maj or pentat oni c scal e) Count r y & West ernhokum.

The descendi ng chr omat i c l i ne i s sal vaged f r om cor ni ness at t he ver y end of t he l i ne by subst i t uti ng t he F# f or t he "expect ed" Ab. Thi s substi t ut i onyi el ds a much st r onger cadence (F# l eadi ng tone i nto G) .

The GMaj 7 chor d on BAR 4 beat 3 compl et es t he r i f f .


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Riff 7 (2 bars)


B hi nge l eadi ng i nto an i ncompl ete ascendi ng Am9 (l ower C t o hi gher B)f ol l owed by a


descendi ng di at oni c scal e sni ppet ( "C" [ wi t h an upper nei ghbor t r i pl et] - "B"- "A") f ol l owed by another

BAR 2 (I)

descendi ng di at oni c scal e sni ppet ( "C" - "B" - "A" - "G" - "F#") endi ng wi t h a"pop-up si xt h" (l ower D t o hi gher B) .

Ri f f _07. mi d


Riff 7 Notes:

Thi s ent i r e r i f f i s t ot al l y di at oni c! Thi s i l l ust r at es t hat pl ayi ng J azz doesnot have t o al ways be "out t here" t o qual i f y as a tr ue "J azz I dea." J azz i s as

much a st ate of mi nd as anyt hi ng, t he phr asi ng and "f eel " of t hi s r i f f makest hi s as "J azzy" as any of t he other r i f f s pr esent ed her e.

Riff 8 (2 bars)

BAR 1 beats 1&2 (ii) | beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)

B hi nge l eadi ng i nto a descendi ng di atoni c scal e ( hi gher C t o

BAR 2 (I)

l ower B)

Ri f f _08. mi d


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Riff 8 Notes:

ANOTHER DI ATONI C RI FF? "Thi s i sn' t J azz, al l you' r e doi ng i s ' r unni ng thescal e' " you mi ght be t hi nki ng. . .

Fi rst of al l , i t ' s al l i n how you pl ay i t and t he f eel i ng you put i nto i t . I f you feel l i ke you' re j ust runni ng the scal e, t hen i t ' l l sound that way.

I f you f eel l i ke you' r e maki ng a r eal st at ement , and t hat you' r e pl ayi ng t hi s

because i t ' s what seems t o you t o be the best t hi ng t o pl ay at t hi s moment i nt i me - bei ng t r ue t o the musi c i t sel f - t hen you' r e pl ayi ng J azz!

There' s nothi ng wr ong wi t h t hrowi ng i n a l i t t l e do- r e- mi f r om t i me t o t i me,especi al l y when you hol d the convi ct i on t hat you' r e act ual l y sayi ng somethi ngby doi ng so.

Riff 9 (4 bars)


B hi nge l eadi ng i nto an i ncompl ete ascendi ng Am9 (l ower C t o hi gher B)f ol l owed by a

beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)di m7 arpeggi o ( hi gher C to l ower A) f ol l owed by an

BAR 2 (I)

i ncompl et e ascendi ng GMaj 9 ( l ower B to hi gher A [no G] ) f ol l owed by adescendi ng chromati c l i ne ( hi gher G# t o l ower D) , t hen a B hi nge l eadi ng i ntoan

BAR 3 beats 1&2 (ii) | beats 3&4 (V7b5 or bII7b5)

ascendi ng whol e t one scal e ( l ower C up t o hi gh G#) , t hen A t o

BAR 4 (I)

G.

Ri f f _09. mi d





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Riff 9 Notes:

BAR 1 consi st s of t he same upsy- downsy moti on i l l ust r ated i n many of t he aboveexerci ses ( ascendi ng Am9 f ol l owed by a descendi ng di m7) , so t her e' s not hi ngnew t o say about t hi s - except t hat t her e are hundreds of combi nat i ons of t hese (dependi ng on whi ch type of Amchord you' r e usi ng: Am or Am7 or Am9 orAm11, and dependi ng on how many or how f ew notes you want t o st uf f i nt o a

measure, and dependi ng on whether you deci de to begi n by ascendi ng ordescendi ng. . . ) AND THEY ALL WORK!

The GMaj 9 ar peggi o ( BAR 2 beats 1 & 2. 1) i s a cool t hi ng t o do whenever you' r ei n the mood, and the poi nt of t he descendi ng chr omati c r ol l - off , l ed by t heGMaj 9' s A note, i s t o get you set up f or t he ascendi ng whol e tone scal e t ocome.

The whol e t one scal e' s i ni t i al note i s preceded by a "sur r oundi ng not e f i gure"( D- B- C) whi ch ser ves t o l aunch you i nto out er s pace.

The whol e t one scal e usual l y sounds pret t y wei r d. The t r i ck i s t o t hi nk of i ti n a si mi l ar way to the di mi ni shed scal e, i e. "a l i tt l e bi t I N and a l i tt l e

bi t OUT. " I n thi s case, t he whol e tone scal e I ' ve chosen i s al most ent i r el yI N. The onl y notes t hat are def i ni t el y OUT ar e t he G# and A# i n BAR 3 beat 2. The r est of t he notes ar e al l di at oni c.

I f t he f i r st ( l ower) G# i n t he ascendi ng whol e tone scal e r i f f ( BAR 3 beat2. 2) were pr operl y resol ved (as i n the case of t he second [ hi gher] G# whi chr esol ves i nto an A {BAR 3 beats 4. 2 & 4. 3}), i t woul dn' t sound so st r ange.I nst ead i t j ust carr i es on i nt o another non-di atoni c note - t he A#/ Bb. I f youdon' t l i ke t hi s note, you coul d al ways change i t t o one of i t s di at oni cnei ghbor s. But once you pl ay thi s t hrough a f ew t i mes i t mi ght begi n to growon you. Whol e tone scal es ar e an acqui r ed t aste, aft er al l .

The A#/ Bb ( t he f l at t ed t hi r d of t he G maj or scal e) can of t en be f el t as

"bl uesy. " Except i n t hi s case i t ' s bei ng pl ayed over an Am chord. I t s savi nggr ace i s t hat i t ' s bei ng pl ayed over t he weakest par t of a weak beat . As ever y





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J azz musi ci an knows, you can pl ay al most any not e you pl ease over t he"weak- end" of a weak beat .

At t he end of BAR 3, I use G# t hen A t o cadence i nto t he G. I coul d' ve chosent o pl ay A# i nstead of t he A to cont i nue i n t he whol e tone mood, but I want ed ast r ong cadence t o gi ve a sense of f i nal i t y and sati sf acti on, and t he A doest hat much bet t er t han an A#. I n t hi s way, t he G#- A choi ce ( BAR 3 beats 4. 2 &4. 3) act s as a ki nd of mi ni - hi nge l eadi ng tone i nt o the A ( 5t h of t he V7)whi ch then r esol ves neat l y t o t he G.

Riff 10 (2 bars)


C# hi nge l eadi ng i nto an i ncompl ete descendi ng Am11 arpeggi o (hi gher D t ol ower C) t o


an ascendi ng di m7 ar peggi o (l ower A to hi gher C) t o

BAR 2 (I)

a descendi ng GMaj 6 arpeggi o ( hi gher B t o l ower D) .

Ri f f _10. mi d


Riff 10 Notes:

The 11th wor ks gr eat over a mi nor harmony, al ways has and al ways wi l l . Thi s i sf ur t her i l l ustr ati on of how ext ended arpeggi os over t he mi nor qual i t y can beused t o gr eat eff ect .

The use of t he di m7 ar peggi o over t he V7 and bI I 7 has al r eady been f ul l ydi scussed above and t hi s i s j ust one more exampl e of i t s use i n t he "upsy-downsy" contour .

The use of t he GMaj 6 ar peggi o over t he maj or t oni c gi ves t hi s r i f f a " f i est a"

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feel .

Riff 11 (2 bars)

Pl ayi ng "spare" i s somethi ng that shoul d al so be i nvest i gated. I t ' s not al waysnecessar y to f i l l up every measure by throwi ng not es ar ound l i ke conf ett i .I t ' s not even necessar y to star t every ri f f at t he begi nni ng of t he bar, asi l l ustr ated here.

Ri f f _11. mi d


We begi n wi t h a rel ati vel y l ong 8t h note r est f ol l owed by a sni ppet of t he Adi mi ni shed scal e ( A - B - C - D - Eb ) t hen a suspended 4th (G) over t he V7resol vi ng t o i t s natural concl usi on ( t he 3r d of t he V7, [ F# of cour se] )f ol l owed by an i ncompl ete ascendi ng GMaj 7 ( D - F# - B - D ) ( t he G i smi ssi ng) . Thi s gi ves a di st i nct Brazi l i an J azz feel to the r i f f , but don' t askme to expl ai n i t , i t j ust came to me out of t he bl ue.

Riff 12 (4 bars)

BAR 1 beats 1&2 (ii)C# hi nge l eadi ng i nto an i ncompl ete descendi ng Am11 arpeggi o (hi gher D t ol ower E) t o


an ascendi ng di m7 ar peggi o ( l ower C to hi gher D#) t o a

BAR 2 (I)

D - D - B ( 5t h - 5t h - 3rd ) t hi ng over t he t oni c, f ol l owed by a bl uesyascendi ng chr omati c f i gure ( Bb - B - C ) l eadi ng i nt o

BARS 3 & 4

a f un l i t t l e Boogi e- Bl ues st yl e tag f i gure whi ch ( i f tr eat ed i n t er ms of t he

toni c) t ransl ates i nto:

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b3 - 3 - b5 - 5 - I - bI - I

Ri f f _12. mi d


* * * * * * *

That completes these exercises for beginning BeBop solo improvisation. The only recurring

element that has not been fully discussed is the preponderance of the "surrounding note figure"

(SNF) which is used throughout these exercises. The SNF is a very useful tool for constructing

melodies in all styles. Go back through the exercises and see how many you can find.

* * * * * * *

Live audio example of Bopology 101 principles:

Piano solo over "Stella by Starlight" changes (midi)

Notation and Explanation of "Stella" solo:

Notation of Solo ideas over Stella changes (pdf)

Analysis of Solo over Stella changes (pdf)

7

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