52nd Street Blues - Adding Chromaticism
With
Ollie WestonDecorate a bebop blues melody on alto sax with chromatic passing notes - the kind Charlie Parker used to disguise and embellish a tune - with Ollie Weston.
What's in the course
47 lessons (1h 48m) · 1 free
01. The V-I 'Perfect' cadence
3:28
02. Dominant 7 - Cycle of 5ths exercise
1:24
03. Dominant 7 - Cycle of 5ths using 3rs and 7ths
2:16
04. Rhythmic variations using 3rds and 7ths
2:02
05. "Rhythm Changes" using Dominant 7ths and Cycle of 5ths
1:08
06. The II-V-I progression
1:20
07. II-V-I licks in the style of Parker, Coltrane, Adderley
Free lesson4:15
08. Dancing With Duke (II-V-I exercise) - Introduction
1:15
09. Dancing With Duke (II-V-I exercise) - Performance
4:38
10. II-V-I progression conclusion
0:42
01. Finding the relative minor
1:41
02. Using the Harmonic Minor over the V chord
1:15
03. V-I in A Minor with a b9
4:38
04. Minor V-I in all 12 keys exercise
1:43
05. Phrase for practising minor cadences
1:17
06. Minor II-V-I in a chord sequence
5:04
07. Adding the II chord
1:20
08. Autumn Sun - Introduction and Harmony
3:03
09. Autumn Sun Performance
4:44
01. Introduction to Standards
0:52
02. Among the Stars Introduction
3:54
03. Among the Stars Performance
4:23
04. Undying Love - Expanding a chord sequence
4:42
05. Undying Love - Performance
1:12
06. Undying love - Checkpoint
0:47
07. Take the Express Train - The Turnaround
3:21
08. Melodic line examples for turnarounds
1:22
09. Take the Express Train - Introduction
1:28
10. Take the Express Train - Performance
1:12
11. Take The Express Train - Summary
0:39
01. Introduction to Bebop
1:04
02. 52nd Street Blues - Introduction and Head
0:29
03. 52nd Street Blues - Head using I-IV-V progression
0:45
04. 52nd Street Blues - Adding Chromaticism
You are here2:53
05. Adding Jazz Harmony to the Blues
2:39
06. 52nd Street Blues - Head with II-V-I changes
1:05
07. 52nd Street Blues - Performance
3:01
Lesson transcript
Understanding Bebop Blues
So hopefully you can hear some relationship between earlier blues tunes that we've played and this 52nd Street bebop blues. We're still centered around chords one, four, and five, although we will look at ways to expand that.
What's Different About Bebop?
Bebop introduces a few key differences:
- Rhythmic Emphasis: A little bit more rhythmic emphasis.
- Detail in the Head: A little bit more detail in the melody.
Chromaticism in the Melody
First, I'm going to look at the chromaticism in the melody. For example, when I play my first phrase:
An earlier musician might have just played three A's at that point, but Charlie Parker wanted to disguise the melody. He aimed to decorate it a little more and embellish it.
- The sharp 5, that G sharp, adds a little more detail to the melody.
The same concept applies to the next phrase. I've talked before about the contrast between the minor and major third within the blues:
- Minor third: A
- Major third: C#
Parker plays them both and then does exactly the same thing on the G7 chord, where I have a B flat resolving up to the third. So suddenly, you have familiar lines based on concepts that you will understand and have experienced before, but with an extra layer of detail.
The Effectiveness of Bebop
Our first phrase, instead of potentially sounding perfectly functional, sounds really effective. It resonates more in a bebop style than it did beforehand.
Rhythmic Ideas in Bebop
Rhythmically, a few ideas in bebop are:
- Keep the Music Short and Bouncy: The word "bebop" is an onomatopoeic expression of the phrasing and the language.
For my last phrase of the opening line, I want to make my last notes really short. If I play them too long, it loses some of its punch, some of its effectiveness.
Key Takeaway: Get your articulation really secure on these tunes:
- Really feel those offbeat notes.
- Aim for really nice, short phrase endings.
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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.
