Barney Kessel's solo on Just Friends

Pere Soto transcribed Barney Kessel's guitar solo on Just Friends from the album of the same name.


Just Friends- Barney Kessel's transcribed solo 

More on the art of added V7s

Earlier I wrote a post called The art of the added subV7 on adding subV7s to chord progressions in order to give them more interesting tension and resolution. There are many other ways to add V7s to chord progressions when you are soloing besides just adding tri-tone subs and I'll cover some of these in this post.

I already showed you how to effectively add a altered Dominant a fifth above (or a Lydian Dominant a half-step above- same difference) the chord you are on (or going to) by playing a melodic minor scale a Major third below the target chord.  I'm reposting an example of this below to refresh your memory:

(click on the above graphic for a larger version)

There are some other harmonic techniques that I often use along the same lines as the above example. One of the first rules of chord substitions is that you can add a related V7 before ANY chord. This means that I can use any type of dominant scale option, not just a mixolydian scale. Actually, the more alterations use use in these added dominants the better. This is because you want to create enough dissonance so that when you do resolve to your target chord there is a strong resolution. For example, if you were adding a passing V7 to a bar of CMaj7 and you chose G7 mixolydian then it wouldn't be clear to the listener that you were adding anything because you'd still be in the same mode.

                

                  (added V7)

/ CMaj7    /G7         /CMaj7      /

Of course this example works fine and is one of the most common types of chord substitution, but if you play a single note instrument there isn't much you can do with this most basic added V7. Instead we want to look for dominant scales with more alterations to use for our added V7s. 

Below are the formulas for quickly finding scales for added V7s. These V7 can be used as passing chords over static chords, as added V7 before moving to a new chord in the progression, or as a way to create a delayed resolution. For these examples I'll use the passing V7 of a static target chord of D-7. So imagine we're playing Impressions and looking for ways to momentarily move outside by playing the related V7 of D-7, which is A7.

1. Pentatonic up a half-step from target: Eb pentatonic= A7alt= (#11, b13, b7, b9, #9)

2. Whole tone up or down a half-step from target chord: Eb w.t. = A+7

3. Diminished down a half step from target chord: C# diminished= A7(b9)

4. Major triad half-step above target and Major triad a minor third above target chord: Eb Maj + F Maj=A7alt

5. Melodic minor a Major third below root of target chord: Bb melodic minor= A7alt

6. Melodic minor a whole-step above target chord: E melodic minor= A7(#11)

7. Harmonic Major up a minor third from target chord: F harmonic Major= A7(b9, #9, b13)

8. Harmonic minor down a Major third down from target chord: Bb harmonic minor=A7(#11, b9, #9, b13)

FindTheBest’s Jazz Clubs Comparison

Jazz, America’s great musical art form, known for its cool, sexy tone makes for a great night of entertainment.  And yet outside of major Jazz hubs like New York or San Francisco it’s often hard to find good Jazz to satisfy your needs.

Luckily, there’s now a tool from FindTheBest.com to help accommodate every Jazz enthusiasts cravings.   FindTheBest’s new Jazz Clubs Comparison is an objective, easy to use, and most importantly helpful directory that allows a user to filter and sort by what criteria is most important to them when searching for the Best Jazz clubs.

For instance, if you were visiting a friend in Los Angeles and you weren’t familiar with the Jazz clubs out there you could simple enter Los Angeles into the location filter and all the Jazz clubs within a 50-mile radius of Los Angeles would be presented to you.   Furthermore, maybe you’re looking for a Jazz club in LA that also served dinner, you could additionally select “full meal” under the “dinner options” filter and you would be directed towards all the Jazz clubs in LA that served dinner.

Or maybe you’re a fan of the old school hidden basement venues, FindTheBest’s Jazz Clubs Comparison allows you to filter by “venue style” so you can easily find those basement Jazz clubs.

FindTheBest’s Jazz Clubs Comparison truly is a great tool for locating Jazz clubs in your desired area that meet your specific needs.  The comparison allows you to sort and filter by venue style, admission type, music type, location, cover charge, dinner options, club features, and much more.  A great tool for all Jazz enthusiasts out there, as well as those just looking to hear some great music.

Jazz Clubs Comparison tool

Tenor Conclave solos & analyses

Saxophonist/educator Jeff Rzepiela has a lot of great material on his scooby-sax.com site. Here are his transcriptions and analyses from the Tenor Conclave recording that featured Coltrane, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Hank Mobley. Talk about Four Brothers!

Tenor Conclave transcriptions & analyses

Joe Locke's Sateilite- solo and analysis

Here is another great post from Ed Saindon's All Thing's Vibraphone blog, it's vibraphonist Joe Locke playing Trane's Satellite in a practice session. The solo was transcribed and analyzed by pianist Gustavo Agatiello. Joe plays the shit out of this tune.

Joe Locke's Sattellite

Ed Saindon's Improv Concepts

Ed Saindon, a Berklee professor and regular Casa Valdez contributor, presented this short clinic at the Berklee Summer Performance Program on July 8th, 2011. 

Topics covered in the clinic: 

• Tension Resolution
• Four Note Groupings
• Major 7th #5 Superimposition

The first and second solos use Ed's "Tension Resolution" concept, and are based on the standards "All The Things You Are" & "Stella By Starlight". 

The third solo uses Ed's "Four Note Groupings" concept, and is based on the standard "I Love You".

The fourth solo uses Ed's "Major 7 #5 Superimposition" concept, and is based on the standard "Stella By Starlight".

Here are the written solos:

Improv Concepts

Ed Saindon's blog

Airturn Bluetooth Foot Pedal Board

Airturn recently sent me their new foot pedal board. Basically what they've done is to mount two foot switches and their Bluetooth transmitter to a plexiglass board so that the switches don't slide around on the floor as you use them. This was my biggest gripe with the Airturn foot pedals before.....you constantly had to adjust their positions, which was a major drag.

 The second generation Airturn pedals seem to be made a little better than the first ones were. I like the positive response of the Airturn pedals and compared to the Cidada pedals, which I recently reviewed here, there is little chance that your foot will accidentally trigger the switches. I voiced my concerns about the mushy feel of the Cicada to the designer and his response was that they were also designing the pedals for the handicapped and they wanted to make the pedals very easy to depress because of this. The Airturn switches do not have much travel (unlike the Cicada pedals) and you really need to consciously push your foot down to trigger them, which I find helpful and I was having problems with unintended page turns when using the Cicada pedals.

Here's what Hugh Sung, Airturn's designer, had to say about his new product:

Dear David,

If you haven't received our new ATFS-2 pedal board, you should be getting it very soon.  We hope you enjoy trying it out!  The ATFS-2 is designed to be absolutely quiet in operation, aiming to be the most silent consumer foot switch on the market.  This is thanks to the fact that aside from the hinge, there are no moving mechanical parts - no squeaky hinges, no clicking switches, thanks to our unique switch design that uses a rare earth neodymium magnet and a rhodium reed switch, both of which are embedded in the body of the plastic.  I'm sure you'll appreciate this when you have to use it in professional recording situations that require the elimination of all external noises. 

By the way, did you know that the BT-105 is capable of toggling on the iPad's virtual keyboard?  Most other external keyboard devices force the iPad's virtual keyboard to hide by default, but with the BT-105, once you are in a compatible app's text entry field, just toggle the power button, and you should see the virtual keyboard appear.  You can then continue to use the virtual keyboard and turn pages with the BT-105.  If you accidentally hide the virtual keyboard, just toggle it back on with the BT-105's power switch again.  Here's a quick video tutorial demonstrating the BT-105's virtual keyboard feature:
http://airturn.com/bt-105-faqs/using-the-ipads-virtual-keyboard-with-the-bt-105-v-122

The BT-105 is also capable of multiple keyboard profiles.  That means that you can change the keyboard output for different programs and applications.  In iPad mode, the BT-105 sends up and down arrow keys.  In PC mode, the BT-105 will send Page Up and Page Down keys.  Two other modes will send specific number keys and another set of keys specifically for applications in the disabilities market.  We've tried to make the BT-105 a universal device with applications far beyond page turning - we've already partnered with developers making apps for Teleprompting and audio track triggering, even one for looping (coming soon!)  If you'd like to try out some of the other profiles, you'll find the instructions in the manual that should be included with your BT-105.  Another subtle feature of the BT-105 is the way that it pairs automatically and displays its unique serial ID.  Most other external Bluetooth page turning devices require the manual entry of a passkey code.  Thanks to the BT-105's use of Bluetooth protocol 2.1 + EDR (the latest version of Bluetooth), it's able to pair automatically with the iPad without the need for passkey entry.  It also allows for the unique serial number to be displayed in the iPad's Bluetooth device settings.  If you ever have to work with multiple musicians all using iPads and their own BT-105s, you'll quickly see why this is so important - you can quickly and easily identify which BT-105 belongs to which iPad, since each device's unique serial number will show its connection status to any given iPad. 

Lastly, we hope you enjoy our new pedal board design.  While the BT-105 was designed to be a modular system, with the ability to use one or both pedals for page turns (I typically only use one pedal in performance, since I design my music to only require forwards page turns - this is to prevent accidentally turning backwards), we've been finding that most customers prefer using both pedals all the time.  The pedal board keeps all your equipment together in a sturdy base, with extra bumpers on the bottom for a non-slip grip on the floor.

 I've taken the new Airturn pedal board out for a spin on a few gigs was quite happy with how it performed. I didn't have any issues with accidental page turns, the pedals felt like they were in optimal positions and my foot was able to stay in a comfortable position. The pedals makes no noise whatsoever when you use them and they look unobtrusive on stage. I actually gave my Cicada foot pedal unit to my buddy because I was sure that I'd never go back to using it as long as I had the Airturn unit. The Airturn pedal board unit retails for $129.

Airturn BT-105 Foot Pedals

MuseScore: free music notation software

 I haven't tried this yet, but at the cost of zero dollars it's worth looking into. I have a difficult enough time trying to learn Finale, so let me know what you think if you do get this program going.

MuseScore is a free cross-platform WYSIWYG music notation program, that offers a cost-effective alternative to professional programs such as Sibelius and Finale.
You can print beautifully engraved sheet music or save it as PDF or MIDI file.

Some highlights:

• WYSIWYG, notes are entered on a "virtual note sheet"
• Unlimited number of staves
• Up to four voices per staff
• Easy and fast note entry with your keyboard, mouse, or MIDI keyboard
• Integrated sequencer and FluidSynth software synthesizer
• Import and export of MusicXML and Standard MIDI Files
• Available for Windows, Mac and Linux
• Translated in 35 languages
• GNU GPL licensed

Muse Score website

Symmetrical Diminished & Pentatonic Scale over Giant Steps- Ed Saindon

Regular contributor Ed Saindon wrote this solo chorus of Giant Steps using only Pentatonic scales over the Major chords and Symmetrical Diminished scales on the Dominant chords.

Giant Steps Solo

Ed Saindon's web site

Dred Scott- Dredsan

dredsan and brianji were meditating on a large rock overlooking a gentle stream.  brianji turned to dredsan and said,
'those who speak against killing and who desire to spare the lives of all conscious beings are right.'
dredsan replied, 'yes, my friend, it is good to protect even animals and insects.'
'but dredsan, i am troubled.'
'speak your mind, enlightened one.'
'what about those persons who kill time - those who destroy individual wealth or destroy the economy or the environment?'
'we should not overlook them.'
'and what of those who play killing jazz solos?'
'that is a different matter altogether, brianji.  one who plays a killing jazz solo is only guilty of self-indulgence.'
'not an admirable quality.'
'true.  but necessary in order to persevere in the pursuit of something that few can understand or appreciate.'
'so the killing jazz solo is actually an honorable style to be respected?'
'yes, brianji.  much respected.'

From Dred Scott's dispatches

Dred Scott's web page

The Joseph Viola Project

 I was thinking the other day about Joe Viola and how it would be valuable to try to assemble some of his teaching methods and create a website similar to the Joe Allard Project website. Joe V and Joe A were there two greatest saxophone teachers of the 20th century, imho, and they both deserve to have their knowledge recorded for the sake of posterity. Of course Joe Viola has left us several great saxophone technique books, but his unique methods of teaching sound production haven't been recorded anywhere (as far as I know).

 Joe V knew the saxophone like no one alive today. He knew exactly what was going on inside your mouth just by hearing you play and knew how to correct the problems, sometimes that even involved putting a latex dental finger glove on and poking around in your mouth to show you what you were doing wrong with your tongue. Joe knew how to work magic, that is the only way to describe what he did because his knowledge was so esoteric that it entered the realm of mysticism. This sounds far fetched, but I don't think that any student of Viola would disagree with me.

 If you can remember any of Joe Viola's methods or concepts and don't mind taking some time to write whatever you remember I think it would be a highly worthwhile endeavor. Then I'll compile everything and put a web page together. Each year that passes means fades our memories of what we learned from this true master of the saxophone.

You can email me directly at: casavaldez@comcast.net



Joe Viloa Era- Berklee tribute article

PageFlip Cicada- Bluetooth pedals

A while ago I reviewed the Airturn Bluetooth pedals. I've been using my iPad as a PDF sheet music reader for months now and the Airturn pedals solved the page turning problem, which allowed me to start playing tunes that were more than one page long. A few weeks after I got the Airturn pedals the company discovered a problem with the mono jacks and had to recall most of the units they had shipped out. I sent my pedals back and waited for the replacements to arrive. The post office lost my package for several weeks and I was getting quite impatient because I was back to only playing one pagers on gigs, which was a big drag. My buddy Joe had picked up a new foot pedal called the PageFlip Cicada that looked pretty cool. I went ahead and ordered one while I waited for the post office to materialize my Airturn pedals.

 There were a few things that initially interested me in the PageFlip. The first is the fact that the PageFlip is a single compact unit, unlike the Airturn, which consists of two separate foot pedals connected by cords to a Bluetooth transmitter box. One of the big issues I had been having with the Airturn was that the pedals would constantly move around as I used them. They had to be constantly repositioned by hand. It was a real drag to have to keep bending down to fiddle with the Airturn pedals on the floor between tunes. The PageFlip Cicada never needed to be repositioned because the pedals were connected.

 The Page Flip has a few features that the Airturn lacks. The PageFlip Cicada can be configured to transmit page turns in several different ways, depending on which application you are using to read music. It can be set to send signals as page up/page down, right arrow/left arrow, right mouse button/left mouse button, or underscore/delete. The Cicada also has a repeat switch in case you want the ability to turn multiple pages quickly.

 The Cicada takes up a lot less floor space than the Airturn units, which unfortunately also makes for a greater likelihood of stepping on the wrong pedal in the heat of battle. This brings me to the biggest problem that arose while using the PageFlip Cicada......accidental page flips. The pedals of the Cicada are fairly high off the floor compared to the Airturn and they don't have much resistance. This makes it quite difficult to tell when my foot was actually touching the pedal. Because of this I felt like I had to keep my foot raised up above the pedals, so as not to trigger them accidentally. If you're wearing hard soled dress shoes there just isn't enough tactile feedback to know when you are actually hitting the pedal. As I was soloing my foot would slowly drift down and trigger the pedals if I didn't pay attention to what I was doing, then....BAM...suddenly the guitarist I was playing with was reading the wrong changes. I eventually got the hang of it and learned to keep my toes higher in the air and just made more of an exaggerated stomping motion when I wanted to change pages. Annoying, but not a huge deal really.

 I figured out an easy mod to make the Cicada pedals more responsive. I just slipped folded pieces of paper into the top part of the pedal hinges, which lowered the pedals down to the point right above where they trigger. This eliminates the mushy first part of the pedals' motion, where I can't even tell if my foot is on the pedal or not. This also allows me to keep my toes lower, where before I felt like I had to fight to keep my toes elevated so that I didn't accidentally trigger the pedals. There is much more resistance with the pedals lowered and now I feel like I can actually tell when my foot is touching the pedals.

I think that probably the most compelling reason to go with the PageFlip Cicada over the Airturn in the end is the price. The three-piece Airturn (two pedals + transmitter) sells for $124.95, and more if you want to buy the board that holds everything place. The PageFlip Cicada sells for $79.95. I think the Cicada is the pedal that I'll be taking to my gigs.

PageFlip Cicada website

The Musical Octave- Thomas Váczy Hightower's writings

Thomas Váczy Hightower

I ran across an interesting web page written by a Dane named Thomas Váczy Hightower. This stuff is right up my alley. Hightower writes about Music & Society, Creation of Musical Scales, Effects of Harmonics on consciousness and health, Music of the Spheres, and other esoteric acoustical ideas.

Thomas Váczy Hightower's 'The Musical Octave' page

The saxophone actually has a parabolic conical shaped bore

(click above graphic for a large version)

My student Randy, who is an engineer for a pipe organ company, put this drawing together after reading a great book about the history of the saxophone called The Devil's Horn. The book explains how the side of the saxophone that has the tone holes is actually has a parabolic conical shape, rather than just being a conical shape. Adolphe was a true genius.

Ed Saindon's article on Harmonic Practices

Berklee professor Ed Saindon sent me his article on Harmonic Practices. In this two page article Ed covers many different types of harmonic slight of hand. This is a very good overview of many of the different harmonic concepts that I'm written about in this blog, definitely something that I'm going to start giving to all of my students.

Harmonic Practices- Ed Saindon's
Ed Saindon's web site