Vic Juris All That Jazz Part 1

Vic Juris All That Jazz Part 1 [Demonstration] When you’re looking at improvising on a particular chord, take the chord but look at what are the actual altered notes? Too many people just pay attention to what the scale was. They’ll have a scale written in a chord and they’re no really thinking about what the altered notes are. So, if you’re saying Bb7#11 or b5, well to me that’s the same thing as a Bb7th but the 5th is flat. So, I want to focus on that. [Demonstration] One thing I do is I try to outline a whole position when I'm a chord, so if I'm playing like this Bb7, b5 or #11, I may start here. It helps me to learn, internalize the whole position because let’s face it, you got to have areas that you’re playing in positions that you know, unless you are a total genius like me. [Demonstration] I find that to be a very good position to play and because a lot of us play our major scales like this. [Demonstration] So, why not start with Lydian dominant in that same position. I always try to take something that’s unfamiliar and when something is unfamiliar, put it in a familiar zone. Try to put it in a place where I'm comfortable with is. If you try to do too many unfamiliars, you just end up being unfamiliar. Sometimes I just try to hear it like a mixolydian. You know, just trying to hear a little difference. And just find a little, this is a Bb7th, there’s the b5. You know, finding little one—is nice too. And generating little melodies like that are very good but you can even make little one or two bar compositions. I find that to be very useful because some of the great players don’t play like long extended lines. People like Grant Green or Jim Hall. They’ll play more melodic, little more on two, three bar phrases instead of eight bars somebody like Pat Martino. And the it’s the ear where we had discussion earlier, it’s what you’re hearing. Here is some straight minor 7b5 or—and there is your C-major on top. We take that same minor 7b5 and put the C triad on top, it’s a nice sound too. It will put you in the emergency wherein you try and play the voice. That is part of F Melodic Minor. That’s why F Melodic Minor s sometimes is a good place to start because I'm really thinking about this Bb7th chord and I know that any of these open E’s of the b5 so they can become what I like to call pivot notes. You can pivot off that b5 because really the only reason to use this mode is to clearly describe the sound of that dominant 7 with flat at 5th to #11th, that’s what really brings out the color. Otherwise, it would be a myxolidian scale, so just that one little note. So, I was pivoting of that. The other thing I was doing and I like to do a lot of any kind of b5 chord is to think up a whole step major triad. So, you have the Bb7, #11. Now, if I play a C-major, everybody knows that from the Kentucky Derby. Those notes actually live inside that mode so that’s one thing of the C, the E is the b5 and the G is the 13th, so those are some really nice color tones that go against there. And you’ve seen that in the past few columns where I've taken a mode and I've tried to write one figure on just the scale itself then a triadic approach using some of the triads with scales, triage generated by the scale and then also intervallic approach maybe taking the same interval. I think I did something in there which is force. That’s a nice little path. There’s an F to a Because, C to F again and repeating. See that little shift. That’s a nice little voice. You can have that one for free. And that can shift to rest so if you play that same chord again, sometimes force create a nice little outside effect. So, here is some F and Bb, same configuration. I'm thinking how about against this song. So, you have a new flat in there but it’s still—you can even change it. And that’s the thing, it’s really how you rhythmically phrase something too for expression. [Demonstration] Talk a little bit about modal playing. One of the best modes to start on when you’re first getting involved in this is the Dorian mode. See, all these clusters are D Dorian. Too many people just pay attention to what the scale was. They’ll have a scale written in the chord and they’re not really thinking about what the altered notes are. I may start here. That helps me to learn, internalize the whole position. [Demonstration]