bingefeller
Member
I was wondering how you folks would approach playing over the standard Two Sleepy People? The chords I use are:
Hopefully my chart is readable to you. :)
The reason I ask is because I'm a rock player mostly and I always find it difficult to navigate changes whilst trying to spell them out yet keeping things flowing nicely! Would you use your pentatonic approach to this tune or would you think in terms of arpeggios?
david6strings
Member
the structure in A section and the number of measures in the tune is like a rhythm change ( in the third line i guess the 1. mark must be a 2. i think? yeah this section arpeggios, pentatonic and the eb major scale and the dominant bb scale for the even measures. in b section i recommend the arpeggios if you don't know whats going on, i think that way is easier. good luck. im dealing with oleo right know.
JorgeRubiales
Member
Also try and find the tona centers. Look at the key signature, its E flat. Which chords on the A belong to that key? etc.
That way you'll know when you can use a scale (lots of chords of the same key), or have to survive with arpeggios (lots of modulation)
jorgemg1984
Member
Why do you have to play scales on a tonal center and arpegios on modulations?
bingefeller
Member
When you guys are playing scales do you think of target notes as much as opposed to playing arpeggios?
jorgemg1984
Member
I never understood the scale vs arpeggio theory... I think of scale / chord degrees and they can form consecutive steps, arpeggios or wider leaps, having all degrees at your disposal is essential (and hard)
jazzbum
Member
Personally, I would play the melody a lot, maybe for a few choruses until it is totally in my head then start to embellish it little by little. I think the key is to make those melody lines very strong in your ears so that when you improvise they become natural target notes. The other thing I like to do is play melodies without regard for the changes, pure by ear playing, which can be hard to be satisfied with but can really force you to listen to the chords, as opposed to thinking about their quality and what scale works over what etc.
As far as target notes vs arpeggios, I kind of take the approach of choosing my target notes sort of like Herbie Hancock and John Abercrombie. The idea is that any tone in a chord (even extensions) can be target notes, or resolutions. If I am playing over Cmaj7 I may be just as likely to resolve to D as I would be to E. Both of these guys would say, it doesn't necessarily matter where you are, as long as you know where you are going. This idea also ties into the melody being the key, if it is strong enough in your head you will tend to resolve to notes and lines within it, which in my opinion tends to put your improv in a nice context as oppsoed to just being lines. I try to think of sounds, intervals, and for practice scale degrees when I'm imporvising. I don't think scalar because I always felt like that ended up being mindless noodling for me (like choose a postion, now dick around).
Just my 2 cents.
bingefeller
Member
Jazzbum - great reply. That whole Hancock / Abercrombie target note thing is something that I hadn't heard before and I'm gonna go and try to read up a little more on that. I think that guitarists have the information that the only target notes are R 3rd 5th 7th etc.
harmnobean
Member
If you want more cool ideas for how to resolve your lines to extensions, check out some Charlie Parker as well!
edit: and for a more current guy, Rich Perry is great for this as well
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