HI MY BASS FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES!

I’M VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE AGAIN. BASS MUSICIAN MAGAZINE IS REALLY GREAT! COOL WORK HERE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE NOW!

OK, HOW ARE YOU?I HOPE ALL IS WELL WITH YOU, BECAUSE TODAY, AFTER A SHORT STOP, WE RESTART THE  TECHNIQUE CALLED CHROMATIC APPROACHES, THAT I LEARNED FROM MY FRIEND AND TEACHER CHARLIE BANACOS. CHARLIE TAUGHT  ME ALL I KNOW ABOUT MUSIC. HONESTLY I HAVE TO SAY THAT I MISS HIM. FOR ME HE WAS REALLY NUMBER ONE.

IN EACH LESSON I LIKE TO REMIND YOU (AND I KNOW THAT I’M VERY BORING) THAT THIS IS A COURSE ABOUT IMPROVISATION, AND SOMETIMES WE HAVA SOME STOP TO TALK ABOUT OTHER VERY IMPORTANT STUFF, LIKE EAR TRAINING OR TECHNIQUES THAT ARE PRIMARY FOR A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE COURSE.  I ALWAYS TALK ABOUT JAZZ IMPROVISATION BECAUSE IN JAZZ MUSIC YOU FIND ALL OF THE TECHNIQUES THAT ALL GREAT BASS IMPROVISERS ARE USING. OBVIOUSLY, AFTER YOU HAVE LEARNED ALL OF THE TECNIQUES, YOU CAN PLAY THE KIND OF MUSIC YOU PREFER.

DURING THE LAST LESSON WE WORKED OVER EXERCISES IN ACTION, USING LINES OVER LESS USED CHORDS,  LIKE THE DIMINISHED ONE.

TODAY WE WILL GO ON WITH OUR USUAL SCHEDULE AND PLAY A CHROMATIC APPROACHES LINE OVER Cmaj7 #5 CHORDS. DON’T WORRY IF YOU DON’T FIND THIS CHORD SO FREQUENTLY. TRY TO LEARN MORE THINGS THAT YOU CAN. I THINK THAT KNOWLEDGE IS FREEDOM.

OK! I HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR USUAL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT! LET’S GO…

EXERCISES:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD the Chromatic Approaches Technique.Cmaj7#5

1) TAKE THE EXERCISE. WHAT HAPPENS HERE? I USED A C MAJOR 7TH #5 ARPEGGIO AND ADDED CHROMATIC APPROACHES TO CREATE AN 8 BARS PHRASE.

REMEMBER, DO NOT USE A METRONOME! ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE THE EXERCISE “UNDER YOUR FINGERS”, YOU CAN USE A METRONOME. AS USUAL PLAY THE EXERCISE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

2) TRANPOSE THE EXERCISE IN ALL KEYS!

3) ANALYZE HOW I USED THE NOTES AND THEN WRITE AN EXERCISES ON YOUR OWN!

DON’T WORRY IF YOU DON’ T LIKE YOUR LINES. JUST WRITE IT!

I KNOW THAT A REAL HARD WORK…. BUT NO PAIN NO GAIN 🙂

CIAO

SEE YOU SOON

ANDREA