Here are bookmarks to the main chapter headings of the text.
| art concepts | art techniques | blues | chords | colleges |
| disco / bib | form | glossary | guitar |
| history | improv | legends | scales | start |
| styles | time / rhythm | workbook |
"Artistic food for thought" for the creative artist.
| artistic signature |
| big picture |
| building a solo |
| colors / palette |
| color of keys |
| cool with the numbers? |
| emotional / tonal environment |
| evolution of scales |
| explore / experiment |
| improvising melodic lines |
| inside / outside |
| location of the half steps |
Common manipulations of our musical resources.
| voice leading |
| writing tunes |
Suggestions for instructional books and selected recordings for further study and research.
| resource texts for this work |
| bass |
| drums |
| guitar |
| list of jazz tunes |
| list of tunes |
| piano / vibes |
| saxophones |
| trombone / trumpet |
Examines the musical and artistic elements of the blues art form. Here are the bookmarks to the blues topics below.
| concepts | chords | form | notes | scales | song |
| blues challenge |
| blues history |
| blues magic |
| blues on the gig |
| blues players / composers |
| list of blues tunes |
| pentatonic origins |
| play some blues |
| the tritone |
| theoretical blues conflict |
| alternate progressions to the blues |
| blues bass lines |
| blues form |
| 12 bar 1 / 4 / 5 / major blues |
| 12 bar 1 / 4 / 5 / minor blues |
| new tasks / blues |
| smoothing out bass lines |
| blues lines |
| blues vamp lines |
| blues permutations |
| call and response |
| cliche blues licks |
| one idea per chorus |
| transposing one idea per chorus |
| blue fourth |
| blue seventh |
| blue third |
| blue notes |
| fifth / blues |
| fourth / blues |
| tonic / blues |
| blues scale |
| blues scale / 12 keys |
| major blues scale |
| minor blues scale |
| blues song |
| blues song endings |
| major key blues |
| minor key blues |
| top / dc / head / da capo |
| jamm loops |
Examines theoretical aspects of compositional forms in music.
| form in music |
| musical notation |
| 12 bar blues |
| standard songs |
| sonata allegro |
Lists alphabetically, defines and hyperlinks the musical terms used within the text.
| glossary |
| manuscript |
Fundamental scale and chord shapes for the American styles of music.
| guitar players |
| guitar fingerings / scales and chords |
Examines the harmony / chords of the American styles.
| common chord cadences |
| diatonic triads / major tonality |
| diatonic triads / minor tonality |
| dominant chord type / minor tonality |
| tonic harmony / major tonality |
| tonic harmony / minor tonality |
| triads |
| Two chord / major tonality |
| Two chord / minor tonality |
| Two / Five / One |
| voice leading motions |
| voice leading |
Broad topical sketches concerning the history and development of the various styles of American music.
Improvisation / tonal convergence
Artistic and intellectual considerations in creating improvised American musical dialogue.
| soloing over changes |
| third and seventh / chord type |
| the tritone substitute |
| time / rhythm |
| tonal convergence chart |
| tonal convergence chart realizations |
| tonality without a tritone |
Examines the scales / melodic resources used to create the American melodies.
| Aeolian minor |
| Aeolian mode |
| arpeggios |
| augmented / whole tone scale |
| blues scale |
| chromatic scale |
| church modes |
| cycle of 5th's / 4th's |
| cycle of 5th's / major scale |
| cycle of 5th's / natural minor tonality |
| history of the modes |
| Ionian mode |
| melodic filigree / styles |
| melodic permutation |
| melodic triads |
| melodies of the minor tonality |
| minor arpeggios |
| minor blues scale |
| minor modal scales |
| minor pentatonic scale theory |
| minor tonality |
| minor triads |
| minor tune |
| Mixolydian mode |
| softening the diminished color |
| symmetrical scales |
| the new scale |
| the theory of scales in this text |
| transposition |
| whole tone scale |
Topics to consider for the emerging theorist.
| pentatonic scale |
| triads / chords |
| ear training |
| jam loops |
| music notation |
| sight singing |
| sing the line, play the line |
| start |
| the big picture |
Examining the theoretical elements of the popular American styles of music.
| blues | blue curriculum |
| folk | folk curriculum |
| jazz | jazz curriculum |
| Native American | Native curriculum |
| pop | pop curriculum |
| rock | rock curriculum |
Concepts and topics concerning how we motorize our musical ideas.
| making the bar lines go away |
| the swing thing |
| time / rhythm |
| trading fours |
| turn the beat around |
| 2 and 4 |
Printable written exercises for the emerging theorist.
| harmonic resources |
| major scales |
| manuscript |
| melodic resources |
| minor scales |
| modes |
| musical intervals |
| spheres |
| start |
| styles |
| vocabulary |
We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.