major blues realizations continued

Tenth chorus. Two / Five extravaganza. Using the motif from the turnaround in the ninth chorus, we simply create a series of Two / Five cells which takes us to Four in bar 113 then Two in bar 117. Our melody quotes an old time favorite of mine "skip to the loo" upon arriving on the subdominant. This is about as "unbluesy" as this solo gets but the Two / Five cycling possibilities are always worth exploring. Of course, that depends on one's musical tastes and directions. Some cats dig the primitive thing, sound like they chew on bones for grub and their crib is in a cave, cats like that will often serve up one mean cup a blues.

Chord symbols for the 10th chorus, bars 109 through 120.

Tenth chorus. Bars 109 through 112. Cycling towards Four using the motif from the previous chorus.

Bars 113 through 116. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 113 quoting an old time melody. We then permutate this idea to cycle towards Two, in bar 117.

Bars 117 through 120. Interesting chromatic idea finds the root of the chord in the lead and the center of a chromatic permutation. Using the original melodic idea for the tenth chorus to set up the next chorus.

Perhaps focus on the concept of creating one Two / Five musical idea and running it through the cycle of the tune. Just for fun, try to create one long Two / Five cycling line over the whole 12 bar chorus. Explore the possibilities of running the Two / Five cell through other filters. Whole tone, diminished, minor thirds, major thirds etc. These are advanced ideas and the resulting sounds are musical in a different sort of way. Like what the band played at the gig in the Star Wars movie, very outside of conventional tonality, but based on a bluesy color and form with the players lines melding in a Dixieland cacophony.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 10th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 10th chorus blues changes in C.

As time permits, shed the Two / Five motion through the 12 major keys. Create an idea and modulate it through the 12 major tonal centers.

Eleventh chorus. Dominant pedal. This chorus opens up on the dominant pedal setting up the motion to Four in bar 125 via the passing chord by half step in bar 124. Again the diminished color helps energize the harmonic motion of bars 125 through 128, in the second phrase. New turnaround changes in the third phrase sub out for the Three / Six / Two / Five of the previous chorus.

Chord symbols for the11th chorus, bars 121 through 132.

Eleventh chorus. Bars 121 through 124. Dominant pedal sets up the motion to Four. The half step lead in motion of bar 124 towards the Four chord is common and cool.

Bars 125 through 128. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 125 bringing back a cliche rhythmic idea. Motion from Four to sharp Four diminished. The back to One, followed by sharp One diminished. Both of the melody lines for the diminished colors are based on the whole tone / half tone scale configuration.

Bars 129 through 132. Two / Five sets up the return to the tonic in bar 131. The turnaround for this chorus simply moves from tonic up a minor third, then by perfect fourth twice, which brings us to the flat Two chord on beat three of bar 128. This resolves downward by half step returning us to the tonic at the top of the next chorus. Modulating a simple pentatonic idea in bars 131 and 132 over the harmonic motion is very common. By keeping the line simple, it's direction stays clear. Of course, there would be many other options for the melody at this point. This turnaround motion can work well in lots of other cadential situations.

Perhaps to focus here on feeling the tension created by the dominant pedal. Continue to work with the sharp Four and sharp One diminished colors. Try creating a basic melodic ideas, triads always work, and cycle them through the turnaround.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 11th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 11th chorus blues changes in C.

As time permits, shed the turnaround motion of bars 131 and 132 through the 12 major keys. Create an idea and modulate it through the turnaround, then through each of the 12 major tonal centers.

Twelfth chorus. Whole tone color / harmonic motion by whole step. This chorus opens up by cycling Two / Five cells downward by whole steps, setting up the motion to Four in bar 137. This is a rather advanced harmonic substitution in this blues setting. Actually, it is pretty advanced in any setting, although many non-blues tunes use this type of harmonic motion, whereby the tune modulates down in whole steps using the Two / Five motion. It really moves us away from the basic blues coloring and sense of form. It also generates quite a bit of tension,  which when resolved to the Four chord in bar 137, comes like a cool breeze on a muggy day! Again the diminished color helps energize the harmonic motion of bars 138 through 140, although in bar 140, the diminished color is contained within the upper structure of the dominant seventh flat nine chord built on Six. Same sharp One diminished color just different roots. It is simply another way to set up the motion to the Two chord starting the turnaround of the third phrase. We approach the root of the Two chord from a fourth below. Very, very common in all styles of jazz and blues. The third phrase uses the suspended harmony color from the beginning of the last chorus and then moves to a flat Two dominant seventh whole tone type configuration in bar 143, setting up the return to the tonic at the top of the next chorus.

Chord symbols for the12th chorus, bars 133 through 144.

Twelfth chorus. Bars 133 through 136. Cycling Two / Five cells down in whole steps toward the Four chord. The melody is simply arpeggios of the chords with a combined triplet / eighth note rhythm.

Bars 137 through 140. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 137 bringing back a better sense of the blues. Motion from Four to sharp Four diminished. Then to Three followed by Six, which contains the sharp One diminished color as part of the dominant seventh flat nine. Sharp One diminished and dominant Six / flat nine are very similar yes? Simply a way to utilize the diminished color to approach the Two chord from a different direction.

Bars 141 through 144. Bar 141 uses the suspended fourth color on Two with a bit of a pedal tone like melodic line. The whole tone color of the dominant harmony of bar 143 and 144 supports the whole tone scale used to create the melody for these two bars, setting up the next chorus.

Try focusing on creating a melodic idea over a Two / Five cell and moving it downward in whole steps. Just more grist for the mill? Yep. Maybe try moving an idea in an ascending direction also. Continue to work with the sharp Four and sharp One diminished colors. Try creating a basic melodic idea, triads always work, and cycle them through the whole tone filter. Explore the whole tone scale and run this group of pitches through the cycle of fourths. Remember, that on any set of blues changes, no matter how complex or outside of the tonal center, creating a musical idea from the blues group of pitches related to the key we are performing in will usually work out just fine. As usual, the trick is to sound convincing. Also, the melody of the tune we are improvising on will pretty much always work when we run out of ideas while soloing. Sing the line, play the line, sing the line, play the line, that's how we can almost always sound convincing.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 12th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 12th chorus blues changes in C.

As time permits, shed the whole tone group of pitches from each of the 12 pitches of the chromatic scale.

Thirteenth chorus. Tonic whole tone color / sequential permutations / extended dominant arpeggios. Finally back to the tonic at the top of the chorus, although still a bit unstable as a tonal center due to the carrying over of the whole tone color from the end of the previous chorus. Again using the diminished color in the second phrase. The third phrase starts with suspended chords followed by the tonic / flat Seven motion to complete the turnaround.

Chord symbols for the 13th chorus, bars 145 through 156.

Thirteenth chorus. Bars 145 through 148. Using the whole tone color for the harmony and the tritone in the bass, our dissonant melody is created by simply encapsulating each of the pitches of the C triad with neighboring tones. First the G, then E, then C then G again. All of this is over a flat Five pedal on the second and fourth beats of bars 145 through 148. Pretty advanced all around. We create a sequential permutation of the pitches of the basic C major triad and we are simply not in Kansas anymore. At least until we arrive at the Four chord in bar 149 to start the second phrase.

Bars 149 through 152. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 149 bringing back a better sense of the blues. This sense is partially destroyed by extending the dominant arpeggio up into the upper structure to include the 9th and #11 colortones of the root F. The #11 invokes the whole tone color, which in one sense destabilizes the chord. Motion from Four to sharp Four diminished in bar 150, is this familiar by now? Probably beginning to wonder about that huh? Back to tonic in bar 151 and again abusing the upper part of the dominant color, this time extending the arpeggio up to the 13th. Again, including the #11 implies the whole tone color, detracting from our sense of tonal center. What's up with that? Moving to the sharp One diminished color in bar 152, setting up the motion to Two and the third / four bar phrase to complete our 12 bar blues form.

Bars 153 through 156. The third phrase starts with a giant arpeggio built on Two, maybe better start thinking about extending your range ... sorry just kidding, all in good time eh? Two moves to Five, which contains the suspended fourth, setting up the tonic / flat Seven back and forth motion to conclude the chorus. Simple diatonic triads create the melody in bars 155 and 156. Adjust the registration of the line as needed.

Perhaps examine the whole tone color and how it detracts from the sense of tonal stability or key center. Continue to work with the sharp Four and sharp One diminished colors. Try creating a basic melodic ideas, triads always work, and cycle them through the whole tone filter.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 13th chorus blues changes in C.
Practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 13th chorus blues changes in C.

As time permits, think about extending your arpeggios further into the upper structure of the chords.

Fourteenth chorus. Isolating the tritone / Motown changes. Picking up the whole step motion from the above turnaround, we simply move from tonic downward to Four by whole steps, using a constant structure. Again, the diminished motion in the second phrase, followed by the ascending stepwise harmonic motion in the third phrase in what I'm calling here Motown type changes, dramatically setting up the top of the next chorus. We're building towards the climax of the solo in this chorus.

Chord symbols for the 14th chorus, bars 157 through 168.

Fourteenth chorus. Bars 157 through 160. Using the whole tone step motion downward for the harmony in the first phrase. Our chord color is now a more blues based dominant 13th chord. Our melody here is created by simply moving a major triad figure downward in whole steps, following the harmony. Reasonably common in jazz playing, we're still a bit outside of the traditional blues approach to the first phrase of the 12 bar blues.

Bars 161 through 164. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 161, the melody retaining the triadic nature of the first phrase. Motion to sharp Four diminished in bar 162, our melody clearly isolates the back and forth motion of the pitches of the tritone interval. Motion to the tonic in bar 163, mirroring the ideas of bars 161 and 162.

Bars 165 through 168. The third phrase is simply diatonic C major stepwise motion upward creating a bit of a crescendo as we complete the turnaround. Triplets in the melody doubled in the bass enhance the dramatic effect of the harmony. Motown changes? Well, this type of harmonic motion in this type of blues vehicle is all over the Motown sound. Are ya hip to the Motown sound? 

Perhaps focus on creating ideas from the three note triad. Explore running this important structural component through various filters. Whole steps up and down, whole step / half step, perfect fourths, perfect fifths etc. Continue to work with the sharp Four and sharp One diminished colors. Remember, that on any set of blues changes, no matter how complex or outside of the tonal center, creating a musical idea from the blues group of pitches related to the key we are performing in will usually work out just fine. The reverse of this also true, using complex melodic substitutions over basic harmonies. The trick is to sound convincing. Also, the melody of the tune we are improvising on will pretty much always work when we run out of ideas while soloing. Sing the line, play the line, sing the line, play the line, that's one way to create lines and always sound convincing.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 14th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 14th chorus blues changes in C.

Fifteenth chorus. Heading to the climax of the solo. Returning to a more straight ahead harmonic blues realization for the entire chorus, although the diminished color does appear in the second phrase. Bar 178 subs a minor third for the major third from the preceding chorus. The melody here is a cliche of sorts, used to drive towards the climax of the solo. It's double stop nature is classic for string players of all varieties. Single note instruments, especially reed players, might want to explore multiphonics, get a second voice on the line or simply rapidly articulate each pitch individually. You're choice.

Chord symbols for the 15th chorus, bars 169 through 180.

Fifteenth chorus. Bars 169 through 172. Cliche blues double stop initially combines tonic and major third together. The third then ascends up chromatically keeping the tonic pitch on top.

Bars 173 through 176. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 173, retaining the same melodic idea transposed to subdominant harmony. Motion to sharp Four diminished, tonic then sharp One diminished. The continuous repetition of the melody helps to build the tension towards the climax of the solo.

Bars 177 through 180. The third phrase starts with a Five 7 of Five, a type of secondary dominant, which in essence is a Two chord with a major as opposed to minor third. Very common. The half step up to another dominant chord in bar 178 is not so common, but really starts to the ascension to the climax. Chordal motion to Four then Five in bars 179 and 180 respectively, while retaining the same melodic motif.

Perhaps to think of ways to reach a climax in your improvisations. Must we always climax the ride? Whatever, the other players in your group surely factor into this, as does your support to help them build their solos and climax. It is a mutually musically symbiotic relationship. Wow, that's a mouthful. But really, do help each other achieve their best by listening and responding. I guess the key to it is to try and match intensities with the other players in your group. When this is achieved, the musical magic really happens for all concerned.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 15th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 15th chorus blues changes in C.

Sixteenth chorus. Climaxing the solo. Here we continue to simplify things, although exclusive use of the dominant seventh sharp nine color really drives the darker side of the blues color. Here we climax the solo by repeating a blues lick as old as the hills. The veritable climaxer, my all-time favorite, the original Cotton Club closer, the king of all blues vamps globally, simply known as the tritone jungle vamp in octaves ( at least that it is what I call it ). We simply repeat the 2 bar lick verbatim six times over thunderous drums ( next upgrade ) and dissonant harmonies to achieve the desired effect. The bass player gets cut loose allowing Batman to finally head for the mosh pit!

Chord symbols for the 16th chorus, bars 181 through 192.

Sixteenth chorus. Bars 181 through 184. Big tritone vamp slides from the fifth degree down a half step to the tritone, then uses the minor third to strengthen motion to the tonic. Look at that bass line, holy cow! Talk about a pedal tone! Look at all the black dots! Perhaps you've heard of the "One Note Samba?" Well...

Bars 185 through 188. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 185, retaining the same melodic idea without transposition. The continuous repetition of the melody helps to build the tension towards the climax of the solo. The effect of the tritone in the right setting is simply electrifying.

Bars 189 through 192. The third phrase starts on Five, same riff. Tonic returns where it commonly does in the 12 bar blues form and we shout the vamp one more time. There are lots of possible places to go after playing a line like this, one way to set it up would be with a HUGE crush roll from the drums ( next upgrade ). The melody line in the next chorus tames this jungle atmosphere, continues the climax of the solo and begins to direct things toward the close of the ride.

Try making the lick from the above chorus part of a "call and response." Sing the above line and vocally create your own responses. Then find the whole lick on your chosen instrument. Write out your cool ideas, adapt them to the 12 bar blues form and start calling your own tunes at rehearsals. Got to start somewhere right? This particular tritone vamp line goes way back and there have been many variations over the years. This lick is definitely part of the lore of American music, I wonder how dancers and listeners reacted the first time it was shouted? Anyway, begin to think of ways to reach a climax in your improvisations.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 16th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 16th chorus blues changes in C.

Seventeenth chorus. Still climaxing / strong at the finish / whomping the tonic. The darker blues color from the last chorus is now brightened up by the quartile tonic six / nine color. The second inversion subdominant chord of the second phrase keeps the tonic pedal underneath it all, driving the groove nicely. The severely altered Five chord in the last phrase is a sort of last crash as the original theme returns in the next chorus ( 18 ) to begin closing out the solo. As we get ready to finish the solo, we try to finish in a strong and confident musical manner. One way to do this is to articulate the tonic in a strong and confident manner, i.e., "whomping the tonic."

Chord symbols for the 17th chorus, bars 193 through 204.

Seventeenth chorus. Bars 193 through 196. Whomping the tonic from the get go takes us out of the jungle and into the light of the tonic 6 / 9 coloring. A truly gorgeous color that I obviously dearly love. The melody is really cliche although I can't think of the tune it comes from. I musically paraphrased it from a Dexter Gordon solo years ago.

Bars 197 through 200. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 197, retaining the same melodic idea without transposition. The continuous repetition of the melody helps to sustain the tension of the climax.

Bars 201 through 204. The third phrase starts on Five, new melodic idea for the turnaround. Tonic returns where it commonly does in the 12 bar blues form and completes the phrase. Again, a HUGE crush roll from the drums would be very cool at this juncture. Quite a bit more blues color in this last four bar phrase in comparison to the first 8 bars eh? 

Focus on driving your tonic pitch / quarter notes right on the beat and think the phrase "there's no place like home." Just kidding. Quarter notes on the down beat potentially swing the hardest. Check out Count Basie's version of quarter note swing on the downbeats as time permits. Transpose the melody of this chorus to your favorite blues keys and use it in other places. Create variations on the theme, so essential to the improvising musician. Sing the line, play the line.

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 17th chorus blues changes in C.
practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 17th chorus blues changes in C.

Eighteenth chorus. Restatement of original theme. Back to nearly the original realization and melody of the second chorus. First chorus was a warm up / blues scale primer. This is the standard performance format for lots of players with various styles of American music. The overall form is basically to play the melody, solo on the form of the tune using the emotional statement of the melody as a basis for improvisation. Once the soloing is completed, play the original melody again and end the piece. A simple but effective format that leaves quite a bit of room for individual artistic interpretation, is fun, easy and cool to do. Here is the last chorus followed by the 4 bar tag.

Chord symbols for the 18th chorus, bars 205 through 216.

Eighteenth chorus. Bars 205 through 208. Restatement of the melodic idea from the beginning of my solo. This idea is first presented way back in the second chorus. Here in it's restatement, it becomes a bit more involved than in it's first incarnate in that the second half of each of the four bar phrases has additional pitches which creates a greater sense of the line being more in the call and response format than just a blues lick.

Bars 209 through 212. The second phrase starts on the Four chord in bar 209, so what else is new? The repetition of the melody reinforces the three / four bar phrase construction of the 12 bar blues.

Bars 213 through 216. The third phrase follows the basic 12 bar format. It starts on Five, moves to Four, then tonic then back to Five setting up the return for the next chorus, which in this case, there isn't one. So, off to the tag we go. Again, a HUGE crush roll from the drums would be so very cool at this juncture. 

Well by now you hopefully have a new idea or two to explore plus a larger musical vocabulary to draw from. Always keep in mind that what is hip, new and cool today might become a bit tired for you down the road a bit. It's one's artistic evolution and is in a sense supposed to happen. The goal of this writing is to provide the learner with the tools to expand their art in their own directions on their own terms. To be able to recognize musical and artistic elements in the world in which we each live and have some sort of basis to begin to understand what's happening, both from the emotional and perhaps its corresponding theoretical plane. With even a rudimentary skill in these activities, the potential sources of musical ideas can become very vast. Still I believe the bottom line in improvisation is to speak from the heart. Thus the ever recurring idea to "sing the line, play the line."

practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of 18th chorus blues changes in C.
Practice loop for jamming, ten choruses of uptempo 18th chorus blues changes in C.

Tag. For the melody of the tag we borrow the melodic idea from the first chorus, yer basic blues scale. Look to the cliche blues licks for other possible tags. This is just one of many ways to accomplish this important task. Blues endings are fun, exciting, some of which are designed to "bring the house down." When gigging, ending the song together makes all the difference and doing it is really just a matter of paying attention. If your working as a single, well, sky's the limit in regards to how you take the tune out. If one or more players are involved, it can get increasing complex. Again the idea that when we get near the end of the tune, that simply paying attention, using our ears and our eyes too for aural and visual cues from a conductor, leader of the group whatever, makes it a lot easier for everyone. This is a common musical location for train wreaks, which are fun once a year or so, but can get old very fast when frequently occurring. With this in mind, check out the tag below.

Chord symbols for the tag, bars 217 through 220.

Tag. Bars 217 through 220. This tag is simply the first four bars of the melody from the the 1st chorus. The last bar is altered to end on the off beat, very common. The final hold in bar 220. Everyone often plays the rhythm of the closing lick to lock it in. Again, endless ways to close out the tune, this is part of where a players artistic signature will often emerge.

Perhaps try and give your musical performances the kind of "closure" that is provided by adding a tag, as in the above example. Lots of benefits to this kind of approach. Improves our conducting skills, makes other players really listen and respond to our ideas, audience knows when to applaud, dancers get needed closure to finish their thing, get to play some ultra cool lick over the last hold, thus credenzas!, cues the light and fog machine people to work their magic, on and on. The point here is that there is perhaps a need in the human psyche to expect some sort of closure, without which things just kind of drizzle and fizzle away, which to a certain degree might ruin a bit all the coolness you just testified about in your performance. I guess the key to this closure thing is to have a sense of when it is appropriate and necessary in a professional way, not to let it interfere with having fun but realizing that doing it can be fun, potentially very exciting and collects all of the vibes of everyone involved in the music you are making together for one cool moment in time, and that in and of itself is usually well worth the effort.

Well, pick out any theory ideas to add to your sound? Can we use any of these ideas when soloing in a blues in the minor tonality?

"Learn your horn, then forget it and play jazz."

Attributed to Charlie Parker