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Jazz Improvisation With Andrea Fascetti: Ear Training
IT’S REALLY COOL TO BE HERE AGAIN. I’M AMAZED TO BE AMONG THIS AWESOME STAFF; BASS MUSICIAN MAGAZINE IS REALLY GROWING FAST!
I HOPE YOU’VE PRACTICED YOUR HOMEWORK FROM THE LAST ISSUE. I KNOW THAT THIS WORK IS MAINLY USED BY HORN PLAYERS AND JAZZ MUSICIANS IN GENERAL, HOWEVER,WE ARE LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE AND IT’S NECESSARY TO KNOW THE INVENTORS OF THIS LANGUAGE.
IN THE LAST LESSON, I STARTED TO TALK ABOUT BEBOP. IF YOU WANT, I PUT THIS LINK WHERE YOU CAN FIND A DESCRIPTION OF THIS STYLE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebop
AS A BASS PLAYER, I STILL REMEMBER WHEN I LISTENED FOR THE FIRST TIME TO JACO’S DONNA LEE. THIS TUNE WAS FANTASTIC, AND LATER JACO’S VERSION BECOME A ‘MUST’ FOR ALL BASS PLAYERS…
IN MY EARLY DAYS AS A MUSICIAN I DID NOT UNDERSTAND HIS PHRASING, BUT LATER I OPENED MY EARS AND IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT JACO HAD STUDIED OLD JAZZ MASTERS.
THERE ARE COUNTLESS MUSICIANS ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO PLAY USING THIS STYLE AND THERE ARE COUNTLESS MUSICIANS WHO DON’T PLAY BEBOP… BUT THEY PRACTICED IT! FOR EXAMPLE I SUPPOSE THAT STEVE VAI STUDIED BEBOP….BUT I’M SURE THAT STEVE ACTUALLY PLAYED OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC AS WELL.
ANYWAY, BEFORE GOING FURTHER I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO FOCUS ON EAR TRAINING. IN FACT I RECEIVE MANY EMAILS ABOUT THIS VERY ISSUE, AND I NOTICED THAT MANY STUDENTS DO NOT HAVE A METHOD FOR LEARNING IT, SO I HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE YOU SOME EASY EAR TRAINING EXERCISES… AFTER WORKING OVER THIS STUFF YOU’LL BE READY TO GO!
OK, AS USUAL IT’S TIME FOR HOMEWORK:
MUSIC IS INSIDE US, SO TRY TO THINK OF A COUPLE OF NOTES INSIDE YOUR HEAD,THEN TRY TO PLAY IT. START WITH TWO OR THREE NOTES THEN TRY WITH SOME SIMPLE MELODIES. YOU DON’ T HAVE TO PLAY A MASTERPIECE, JUST TRY TO USE YOUR INNER EAR.
HAVE A GOOD PRACTICE!
CIAO
ANDREA