Workshop #4

For this workshop we each had to compose a solo for the tune Scrapple from the Apple. While I was writing mine, I added a large amount of alterations to the dominant chords and I didn't pay much attention to phrasing at all, so the end result was mostly 8th notes with some very tricky fingerings and outside sounding melodies. In short, I couldn't play it up to speed. However, I learned from it that phrasing is just as important as the notes, and someone can make a solo with half the notes sound better.

Workshop #3

This workshop went a lot faster than the other ones did. We learned about middle ground improvisation, which deals with improvising off of the V (dominant) chord and fits in the key, in the middle of a ii V I progression, which is what jazz mostly consists of. We also dealed with the alterations of the 5 chord, including the flat 9th and 13th. Our assignment for the next workshop was to write a solo for Scrapple from the Apple and practice it at a fast tempo. This wasn't the challenge, the challenge was notating it.

Workshop #2

In this workshop we started playing actual tunes including Scrapple from the Apple and My Little Suede Shoes, both by Charlie Parker. Dave also introduced us to the 12 bar blues form, which most of us knew beforehand. I was proud of myself because Dave told me that my melodic phrasing had actually improved a little since the last workshop, and knowing that I did work on it assures me that practice does indeed help. The next thing I need to work on however are descending arpeggios and triads, and my comping style.

Workshop #1

The first workshop was just an introduction from Dave Lalama and his explanation of Jazz and theory and such. He chose a song for us to work on, "Scrapple from the Apple" by Charlie Parker, and gave us other homework as well such as scale and arpeggio excersizes. The song wont be tough for me because I already know how to play the head and blow over the A section, but I do need to refresh my memory for the B section, which is actually the B section from I Got Rhythm. What a lot of bebop musicians would do in the 40s when they wanted to play a tune without paying royalties is that they would just use the chord progression since that isnt able to be copyrighted, and make up their own melody over it. The A section of "Scrapple from the Apple" uses the chords from the A section of "Honeysuckle Rose."

The arpeggio excersizes however, will be a great workout for me because it will force me to learn new arpeggio shapes to fit in with the specific notes that Dave wants us to play. I really look forward to our next workshop on Tuesday.

Monday's presentation

First of all, I feel that I could've done much better on my book's presentation. I was unprepared for discussion, and my public speaking skills are not up to par with what they should be. However, I do feel that my book has some extremely interesting and useful pieces of information, not only the information that I mentioned in class but also the concepts that are way over my head. It's too bad, but I believe that the entire book might be way over my head as a whole at this point.

Artist's Statement

First and foremost, I'm a guitarist. I didn't think when I joined STAC that I'd be improvising, analyzing films, and even grid drawing. I didn't think I'd be able to do any of these things either. So I want to say that I'm thankful that STAC has pretty much opened me up to everything the world of art has to offer. I was exposed to jazz for the first time two years ago at STAC nite when the Girl From Ipanema was played, and even something as small as hearing that song has changed me. I'm far from the person I was two years ago; people are astonished when I tell them all the crap that I listen to and appreciate.

I do and learn about art for my own pleasure. Learning something new feels good, something I noted after sitting down and learning the building blocks of an entirely different genre of music I had no idea about. I want to continue to get this feeling in whatever I might do.

Core values and issues

I think the most prominent core value to me is the sense of hearing. Music is one of my favorite things, so it becomes obvious that this is important to me. Another value is a sense of obscurity and questioning. I'm into obscure things, such as underground music (again going with sense of hearing) abstract ideas such as science fiction as well as astronomy. If I didn't want to be a musician I would probably want to be an astronomer. I'm having a hard time thinking of a third core value, but I'm thinking it would have to do with having a close set of friends.

An issue that comes up for me fairly frequently, even in my guitar playing, is also one of my core values, obscurity. I'm always looking for obscure chord voicings, scale fingerings, and arpeggios to try out and integrate into my own playing. For example, when I first started learning jazz guitar, I learned about basic substitutions such as playing E-7 instead of Cmaj7, or playing F#7 instead of C7, a common tritone substitution. Before I started getting into this kind of music, I had no idea that these chords were even used widely, and I'm sure most "shredders" who go into guitar center or wherever have no clue about them or how to use them either. I can remember one time I went there to buy strings and I ended up testing a few different guitars. It was pretty typical, a lot of loud rock and blues players. I was playing a simple rhythm changes in Bb and slowly started to add on ornaments such as walking bass, extensions, and altered extensions and most of the store went silent. I wasn't even playing loud. I guess that's the power of obscurity.

Do over.

For me, writing is both the easiest thing and the hardest thing. When I have ideas and I know exactly what to write, it'll come out in maybe 10 minutes tops. If not, that blinking thing at the top of the page will stay there for the same amount of time. The hardest part is actually gathering all my thoughts and letting them out cohesively.

Almost everything I've done since the last do over has been college related. I finished my PiG paper, which allows me to graduate, and I've auditioned for Hofstra and just auditioned for Adelphi today, both on classical guitar. Now that auditions are almost over, I want to start focusing on jazz again. I bought a jazz chord book from Berklee, so I want to learn all the altered dominant voicings and inversions in there, then crack open my Real Book and just go through and play every song in there. This may or may not qualify as doing something "amazing," as most professional jazz musicians know pretty much all the songs in any given Real Book. This is just something for me to think about doing.

Again I'm sitting here with that thing just blinking at me from the screen, trying to think of what to write next. I have very little to do this upcoming semester, so my idea presented before should keep me busy for a while. Also, I know I've been neglecting this blog a lot, and I'm going to try to blog at least once or twice a week.

I'm going to end this post with a video of my jazz inspiration Joe Pass. There was a 6 part post on youtube of one of his instructional DVD's that taught me everything about jazz when I was starting it at the end of last year, and unfortunately the only part of it left is the intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFqiDcvRW2Y

wishful drinking?

To end a really lazy vacation that pretty much consisted of me playing guitar every day for a few hours, eating, and going to sleep, me and my family went to see Carrie Fisher on Broadway. For people reading who don't know, she was Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, and daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. The tickets were ten dollars a seat, which was actually a pretty good deal considering all four of us are Carrie Fisher and Star Wars fans.

The production started with her singing, and the rest of it was pretty much just a stand up routine. She detailed her parent's life and affairs, joking that her daughter and one of her friends might actually be related just "by scandal." Other topics covered included her bipolar disorder, addiction to codeine and alcohol, and that's pretty much it. For ten dollars a ticket, it was worth it, but any higher and I wouldn't see it unless I was a die hard Carrie Fisher fan.