Mr. B opening remarks were to ask students how they are making an effort to make Jazz Colony the best it can be for their group participants? I made pie which was fun for me but more fun to share.
COMBO SUMMARIES
In today’s session I (Max) did a bit of roaming around since our combo only had 1 person! I sat in with Brandt and Don's combo to help work on establishing a groove and orchestrating the melody on Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock.
We figured out what the dissonant sounding notes were in the beginning, I believe they are being played by bottles. Bergevin edit (Actually this sound is brazilian instrument called the cuica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVOtE1qSymU)
After learning all the orchestration for the melody, we figured out the whole arrangement and started soloing on the tune. Then after we played the melody out we had to figure out an ending, so we took the ending from the head hunters recording. They do a fade out, and it’s the exact same thing as the intro, except the layering is opposite. The whole band starts, then bass and drums drop out, and it’s just the two horns doing the dissonant pattern.
-Max Bartron
- Bopping the "roots" around the circle
- Bopping major triads around the circle
- Bopping minor triads around the circle
- Home - (tonic)
- Somewhere else - (subdominant)
- Going home - (dominant)
- Major, minor triads around the circle of fifths
- Dominant seventh chords around the circle of fifths
- "enclosures" around chord tones
- Improvising over a recorded drone, noticing the tendencies of certain notes to lead to others
8/5
Washington Nationals Combo
We played the head to “Ladybird” and each took a chorus on it. Afterward, we collectively played through the root movement of Ladybird. Then we played the 3s and 7s of each chord in quarter notes, then in eighth notes.
We tried improvising with rhythmic limitations (playing one motif and developing it through the chorus).
We took this further by only playing one note, C, and playing it with one rhythmic motif which we developed over the chorus. C works well on Ladybird because it’s a common tone among all the chordscales in Ladybird.
The members of our combo who missed last week learned the melody to “Blue Monk” by ear. Afterwards, we also discussed a harmony part to the melody and who would play that part.
Everyone also went over the changes to a ‘jazz blues’ and we improvised using these changes for Blue Monk.
At the end, we shared some stories with each other as a group.
- Forrest A
Tunes:
After You’ve Gone
Concepts:
We practiced taking solos and only using notes from the home key of the tune (Concert F) regardless of the underlying chord changes. This exercise helps achieve the following:
It makes gives us a tool by limiting the amount of notes we can use to play the underlying changes
This in turn shifts our focus from “what notes can I play?” to “which of these notes sounds good over this chord?”
We are also forced out of out comfort zones in a way will often develop certain tendancies and “isms” where they reach certain chords and progressions, and this exercise helps restrict us from crutching on those tendancies to make it through certain sections and actually make musical decisions.
It also encourages greater creativity within constraints, similar to how poets work within a specific meter or rhyme scheme.
This approach can strengthen our sense of melody and phrasing, as we’re compelled to find interesting musical ideas with fewer resources.
It reinforces our understanding of the home key and helps internalize its sound, which can improve overall tonal memory.
We also went over how important it is to sing:
Singing is incredibly important as it gives us a greater responsibility for the pitch of each note.
Often, musicians tend to rely on their instruments to get the “close enough” to each note they are trying to play, but with singing you don’t have that luxury which then exposes how good your ears actually are.
Singing internalizes the music in a different way—it creates a direct link between your musical imagination and execution.
It also serves as a diagnostic tool: if you can sing something accurately, you probably understand it musically and harmonically.
Incorporating singing into your practice can enhance both improvisation and intonation on your primary instrument.
We played a game where Michael would choose a random key to play the blues in without telling the soloist and they would have to figure it out on their own until we moved on to the next person who then also got a completely random key.
This exercise spawned from an experience Michael had had where musicians began a tune while they were unsure of what key the tune was in.
The idea of this exercise was for us to see what its like to be truly unprepared and quickly devise a means to get back on track.
It also highlights the importance of ear training and quick adaptability in live performance scenarios.
This kind of challenge builds real-time problem solving, helping players become less reliant on charts or lead sheets.
It mimics real-world situations where you may have to jump in mid-song, transpose on the fly, or deal with unexpected modulations.
Discussions:
We discussed the idea that in order to achieve something in your practice, the first and most important step is that you must want it.
to play in tune, first you need to want to play in tune.
to achieve a certain goal, first you have to want to achieve it.
The depth of your desire directly influences the effort, patience, and consistency you’ll apply in your practice.
This “intentional mindset” is often what separates those who improve steadily from those who plateau.
Michael talked about how the thing that almost always sours the vibe of a gig, is when people are rude to each other, or try to blame others for their own shortcomings.
It goes without saying that this applies to every discipline or profession you engage in.
Creating a supportive and respectful musical environment is essential to building trust and fostering creativity onstage.
Musicians who take ownership of their mistakes tend to earn more respect and contribute to a healthier group dynamic.
A good attitude can make even a rough gig feel like a worthwhile learning experience.
beautiful