Ornithology: An Analysis and Improvisation Lesson

Introduction

All right, so Ornithology, which you've just played, is basically a rewrite of the old standard How High the Moon. This is something that happened quite a lot with the bebop guys, like Charlie Parker and others from the 40s and 50s. They would take an old standard and write their own melody over the same chord changes.

So, this piece has basically the same chords as How High the Moon. There are a whole bunch of other tunes that do the same sort of thing. For instance:

• Scrapple from the Apple by Charlie Parker is based on Honeysuckle Rose by Fats Waller.

Chord Analysis

Let's look at the chords in this tune and get a bit analytical for a moment. First, remind yourself of the chords that belong to the key of G:

• G major
• A minor
• B minor 7
• C major 7
• D7
• E minor 7
• F sharp half diminished

You'll see that quite a lot of these chords appear in the tune, but it also goes to other places.

One thing you should spot is that bars 13 to 16 are pretty much a diatonic turnaround. By that, I mean 3, 6, 2, 5:

• B minor
• E minor
• A minor
• D7

With one difference: it's not E minor 7, it's E7. So, we have another example of a secondary dominant. Although you could call this 3, 6, 2, 5 in G, it's also B minor - E7. This gives us another II - V and A minor 7.

Form of the Tune

Be aware of the form of this tune. We've done AABA tunes before. For instance, in Part One, we did Take the A Train. This piece is 32 bars long, but it follows a B, A, C structure.

• After playing the first 16 bars, you go back and play the first 8 again.
• The last 8 bars have a slightly different ending, so it doesn't have a bridge as such. It's more like alternating sections rather than AABA.

Key Centers

Now, let's look at the key centers in this tune. Spotting key centers and II-V-I progressions is important here.

1. We start out in G major for the first two bars.
2. Notice that the next three chords, G minor 7, C7, F major, are A2-5-1 in the key of F major. So, from bar three, we're already in a new key.
3. Looking at bars 7 and 8, there's another II - V. We have a minor chord followed by a dominant chord, F minor to B flat 7, leading to E flat major.
4. We can still call this a II - V - I.
5. So far, we've had three key centers: G major, F major, and E flat major.

More Key Centers

Next, you see another II - V - I: a half diminished, D7, leading to G minor.

• You've come across those chords before in Autumn Leaves. That's A ii-V-I in G minor.

However, it doesn't stay there for very long! The last five bars, from D7 to the end, are all from the key of G with the turnaround.

Improvisation Tips

Let's talk about how you might improvise around these chords. First of all, the last two bars of the melody are empty.

• This serves as a break where you should start your solo. It's a launching pad for the next chorus.

When you get to the A half diminished - D7 - G minor, you've got half a bar on each of those chords.

• In Autumn Leaves, they were a whole bar each.
• This is called a short II-V rather than the long II-V.

Practicing Chord Shapes

It's worth practicing different inversions, shapes, and arpeggios around those chords. In the left hand, you'll just play a shell like this:

• Root and third
• Root and seventh
• Root and third

If we played these straightforward arpeggios, it could go something like this:

• Just going root, three, three, five, seven

As you progress, it will get higher and higher because you're going up a fourth with each chord.

Exploring Different Phases

This is a very basic way to play, but it serves its purpose. You can try playing different inversions by going down from the seventh or from the root, alternating up and down.

• Experiment with different endings, giving yourself more variety.
• Start on the fifth of the A half diminished chord to transition smoothly to F sharp at the change to the D7 chord.

You should also try introducing triplets. The last example might start on the one, so experiment with those variations.

Developing Fluency

Looping a couple of bars like this is a great way to develop your fluency with not only II-V-I progressions, but any set of chords.

Turnarounds

Now, let's look at the turnarounds in the tune. There are two of these.

• The first is one bar each on B minor, E7, A minor, and D7.
• However, at the end of the tune, those chords are compressed into half a bar each over two bars.

The second chord here is B flat minor, which is not what we had before. Earlier, we had E7. The chords are now going down in semitones, but it's still really a 3, 6, 2, 5 turnaround.

Composing Phrases

Later on, we'll discuss tritone substitution, which will clarify some points. Notice how the melody just uses notes of the chords:

• Up one, down the next.

Using this principle, you can create your own phrases that do the same thing but in a different way.

• For example, you could start in a different place. Putting a rest in the middle can add a unique dimension, your phrases don't always have to be continuous notes.

Remember, you can resolve it to G or any other note. These are your target notes: the notes you decide to resolve to at the end or even in the middle of a phrase.

Ultimately, you have a range of techniques to explore for the turnaround, one of the most challenging parts of improvising over these quickly-changing chords that go down in semitones. You need to be ready to adapt!