Pearly White - Chords and Harmony
With
Ollie WestonOllie Weston works through 'Pearly White', a 16-bar tune based on 'Mack the Knife', applying major, minor and dominant seventh chords and building a solo over its changes.
What's in the course
51 lessons (2h 9m) · 1 free
01. Introduction + leaving town demonstration
Free lesson3:02
02. The Blues Scale
2:48
03. Swing Quavers
1:42
04. Combing the Blues Scale and Swing Quavers
3:57
05. Playing through the Blues form using root notes
1:18
06. Writes Your Own Blues
0:59
07. Leaving Town Blues - Improvise
4:13
08. Improvisation recap
0:49
01. Introduction to Minor 7th Chords
3:32
02. Dorian Scale Workout
1:40
03. Minor 7th Chord Lick
2:22
04. Minor Pentatonic Patterns
3:51
05. Minor Pentatonic Workout
1:52
06. Pentatonic vs Blues Scale
1:59
07. So Far so Good - Introduction
1:09
08. So Far so Good - Head
1:37
09. Minor Chord Extensions
2:45
10. Rhythmic Ideas
2:13
11. So Far so Good - Performance with Solo
3:50
01. Introduction to Modes
6:09
02. Diatonic Modes Exercise
4:04
03. Modes with a Static Root
1:58
04. Modes with Static Root Exercise
1:06
05. Modes with Static Root Recap
0:34
06. Phrase Exercise for Modes
1:07
07. Phrase Exercise for Modes (Demonstration)
1:29
08. Song Examples
1:56
09. First Impresssions - Chords and Harmony
4:06
10. First Impresssions - Performance
4:06
11. First Impresssions - Introduction and Analysis
3:30
Lesson transcript
Lesson: Jazz Improvisation with Major Seven Chords
In this lesson, we're going to put together the work we've done on major seven chords, seventh chords, and minor seventh chords. We will apply these concepts into two contrasting tunes and explore their practical use.
Tune 1: Pearly White
Overview
- The first tune is called Pearly White.
- It's based on "Mack the Knife" by Kurt Weill, made famous by Frank Sinatra and various crooner-type singers.
- The tune itself is very simple, consisting of two eight-bar sections that I've labeled A and B.
- Overall, it forms a 16-bar structure that repeats.
Chord Progression
-
Section A:
- G Major 7 (use a G major scale)
- A minor (use the A Dorian scale)
- D7
-
Section B:
- E minor (shift tonality slightly down)
- A minor 7
- D7
- Back to G
There are more chords here than we've used previously, but they should be familiar and comfortable for you to play.
Sample Solo
I've written a sample solo for Pearly White as a starting exercise. However, the ultimate goal is to improvise on your own.
- Solo Structure:
- First Chorus:
- Simple, closely follows the melody.
- Second Chorus:
- A bit more scalic and busier with more notes.
- Third Chorus:
- Build up the energy, more emphatic rhythmically. The rhythm section will hopefully pick up the energy here as well.
- Fourth Chorus:
- Incorporates bluesy touches to add grit and tension to the solo.
- First Chorus:
Performance Structure
- The tune will run the heads twice.
- Followed by four choruses of solo.
- Concludes with two heads to finish.
Remember to revise your scale choices and chord tones as we go through this lesson!
51 lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Since graduating from the Leeds College of Music (BA Hons) and the Guildhall School of Music (Post Graduate Diploma in Performance), Ollie has built a busy and varied career in music. As a saxophonist he has performed in live and studio settings with artists as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Tim Minchin, Bonobo, Frank Turner, the London Jazz Orchestra, the Hackney Colliery Band, the Ambient Jazz Ensemble and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He is also the co-leader of the jazz quartet 'Time Is Of The Essence', and composes and arranges material for this and other ensembles.
Ollie is active in music education, currently as course leader for the jazz department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (junior school), where he runs jazz ensembles, big band and theory classes. He has written a series of 'Exploring Jazz' books for Schott Music that are published worldwide and feature on exam syllabuses in the UK. Ollie has also run workshops for Oxford University, Pro Corda Strings and BABSWE, as well as the Guildhall School of Music summer schools.
In his Exploring Jazz Saxophone courses, Ollie takes you from getting started right through to soloing confidently over songs and chord sequences, building the improvising skills that put a real jazz player's vocabulary at your fingertips.
