Friday, September 21, 2012

Week one - Thurs Sept 20 Lession Recap

Hi class,
Good class yesterday, and thanks for coming! I've been really looking forward to getting this course going. It's going to be fun. If you don't "get it" yet, please don't sweat it, that happens at the first class. We're going to be together for almost 3 months, work at it, at your own speed. At some point the lightbulb will go off. I distinctly remember when the lightbulb went off for me, when I was learning jazz. One day I just got it. :) It will happen.
Remember, anything you learn in this course, you can apply to any type of music, and adds tremendously to your general musicianship.

Note: You don't have to have it all together by next week!
Note 2: Video coming later today! I'll let you all know.

See 4 Lesson videos related to this class in the sidebar 1) Chords for jazz, 2) Freddie the Freeloader; 3) How to swing, 4) Mack the Knife

Here is a recap of what you can do practice this week. 


1) Learn the chords I showed you, on the chord sheet.

2) Play the chords using the steady 4/4 rhythm, slowly. Each beat has the same "dynamic", all beats have the same volume. Think about good form and getting a good smooth sound.


3) Swing "feel" - Play a major scale that you know (or any scale you know) using the "swing" feel, as we did in class. Play slowly and smoothly.
Remember you can get the swing feel by "speaking" this (as a "triplet"):
Speak out loud
1 and ah  2 and ah  3 and ah  4 and ah
Now speak it, leaving out the "ands":
1        ah  2       ah  3      ah    4     ah


4) Play the main riff for Freddie... (position shown on chord sheet), regardless of whether you get the tune together or not. Don't sweat the tune, just play the riff.

Freddie the Freeloader

With 15 minutes left in the class, I should have pulled out Mack the Knife instead of Freddie the Freeloader, as I feel many of you left with an a thorough non-understanding :) . However, just learn the "riff" chord position (as shown on the chord sheet) and we'll pick up on it next week. I will also make a video later on today and post it here for those want to pursue it. I'll show you how to play the song.

Things to note about Freddie the Freeloader:

1) It is a 12-bar blues, straight up. Play the chord progression several times through, by itself, so you can hear the 12-bar blues. The Ab7 chord is the only chord that is different from standard 12-bar blues.
2) Remember I said the in blues "all chords are 7 chords". That's why the chords on the chord chart for Freddie... are all indicated as "7" chords. However, in jazz, we can play those chords as anything we want, so, using the chord sheet, play the chords for Freddie like this:

  • Play the Bb7 chord using the G6 position on the chord sheet. (up 3 frets from G)
  • Play the Eb7 and the F7 as the "movable C7 shape", as indicated on the chord sheet (chord says D7)
  • OR play the Eb7 and F7 chords using the "D9" shape on the chord sheet.
  • Play the Ab7 as an Ab7, the old 7 chord you know, or just play it as the a straight up Ab bar chord. No worries. 

3) Listen to the YouTube Miles Davis video BELOW. Listen to the melody, which appears at the beginning and again at the end. 
4) * PLAY ALONG WITH THE VIDEO * - it doesn't matter what it sounds like, just play along, at least play the chords and the try the melody if you can.

Notes about the main riff of Freddie the Freeloader

1. It is one of the most used guitar riffs  in both jazz and blues. It stands on it's own and sounds cool used in almost any bluesy tune.
2. It works perfectly over the melody for Freddie the Freedloader, that's why I chose it, because the guitar riff mimics what the horn players are doing in the Miles Davis tune (listen for this in the video).
3. As indicated on the Chords for Jazz sheet, technically this chord movement is Bb6 -> Bb9, but in jazz we don't have to indicate each movement, the chord change here is "Bb7" (or simile thereof), that's it.

Note: It is beneficial to note the "stack" of these chord positions though...look at why it's Bb6 -> Bb9

Video coming up for Freddie the Freeloader, stay tuned.

That's it. If you want, look at Mack the Knife. The chords are the very same as the ones we learned.

See you all next week! Marg

Freddie Freeloader (listen, then play along)



Lesson Videos

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