I’m playing my last duo gig @ L’independent for the summer tonight. Yet another gig we lost to the terrace…

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Practicing :

• Warmup in E major Scale
  • Hearing/Listening 4ths and 5ths in key
  • A few scalar patterns for fingers…
• Slonimsky
  • #22 – Interpolation of 4 notes
  • experimenting w/different groupings
  • very odd!!! (5, 7, 3)
  • then #23 and #24 as is
• I Should Care
  • Blowing through the form
  • @144 then 176
• Triad Coupling : F and G
  • A few exercises (routine…)
• Fast Ab blues
  • Metronome as “quarter time”
  • Max 288 today
  • that’s fast and I’m still relaxed and free!

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Gig at night was fun. Clinton is always “on top” of things and inspires me to play better.

Practicing from 8 AM today!

• Warmup in E major :
  • Scalar Patterns
  • Ear Training : 3rds and 4ths in key
  • Blowing on II-V and III-VI-II-V
• Tunes :
  • Recorda Me
  • Up Jumped Spring
  • Valentino (original)
  • Along Came Betty
• Chords : 1st inversion triads
  • Trying many voicings
  • Playing all diatonic chords in C major
  • Hard stuff.
• Triad Pair : F-G
  • Many exercises
  • Trying to apply in modal context
  • total train wreck…
• Slominsky
  • #14 to #21 backwards
• Playing fast blues w/metronome
  • click as “quarter time”
  • attained at good 276 BPM for blowing
  • clean phrases and ideas
  • yeah!

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Played a nice trio session with two musicians I respect dearly. We played a few standards and many originals. The session was also a great learning experience because of some rhythmic ideas we worked on (metric modulations…) My sincere thanks to : Clinton Ryder and Mark Nelson.

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At night : teaching + drinks with friends.

Practice session :

• 4-5 scale patterns
  • in B major
  • entire fretboard
  • good warmup

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• Slonimsky
  • Tritone progression w/3 notes interpolated
  • Needs work!

Now, I’m not only warmed up, I’m cooked! This stuff requires flexibility and endurance, (and probably some coordination too I guess!)

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• Playing fast blues (250 BPM and up) improvising in the “half time” feel
  • As described in Tuesday’s post…

• A few exercises in triplets on triad pair : F and G

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• Working on 3 tunes :
  • Along Came Betty (med),
  • Stablemates (med up),
  • Cherokee (very up)

*new and exciting” :

I noticed that playing in the “half time” zone is easier if the metronome is set this way…

For example : usually, if I wanted to play Cherokee @ 400, I would set the metronome @ 200 and perceive it as 2&4 of each bar. Nowadays, I would set it @ 100 … and hear it as the “3″ of each bar (the backbeat) It makes my life much easier.

In fact, its the “swinging 2&4″ of the half tempo… aka “quarter time”.

The tempo is the same, but I can “swing” the half-time with ease and relax… I like it because I HAVE TO DO the subdividing, NOT the metronome!

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• Working on Polyrhythms :
  • 9 over 2
  • great!

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At night, I went to hear the big band show of the University I graduated from. It was good to see some teachers and old friends (at the party after).

This week, two days were almost “twins” : I practiced the same things, was teaching at night… and even played badminton on both days!

Practice session (for both days):

• Some scale patterns in major scale(s)
  • Over 2-3 octaves
  • Thinking about creating a page on JazzGuitarLessons.net about that…
• Slonimsky interpolations (hard stuff)
  • 2-3-4 notes
• Triad Coupling (F and G)
  • a few exercises in triplets and in sixteenths
  • all over the fretboard
• Polyrhythms : 9 over 2
  • trying to hear from and to quarter notes, eight notes, etc.
  • with metronome
  • VERY hard to hear and feel right now!
• Practicing two Benny Golson tunes :
  • Along Came Betty (new!)
  • Stablemates

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So now for the difference between both days : on Tuesday, I played a session with the great saxophonist Frank Lozano. Beforehand, I was visualizing the session as going “yeah!” all the way through… it, of course, didn’t happen this way. Frank has at least the same amount of experience as the rest of the band combined (guitar/bass/drums)!

After the first tune (Stablemates), it became more of a workshop/masterclass for us. What a humbling experience! I expected to walk in and be “one of them” and I simply ended up having a free lesson… that’s bitter & sweet at the same time. For me, that’s also the time when I learn the most.

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On the very practical level, the aspect that struck me the most (and probably the topic on which Frank Lozano insisted the most) was playing “of the half note” or playing “of the whole note”.

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That is :

If the bass/drums are playing an up-tempo swing kind of feel, improvise by emphasizing the half-note. It makes you play lines as if you are implying the actual half-time (but the form of the song is still passing by as is).

The end result is improvisation rhythmically anchored in beats 1 and 3 of each bar of 4/4. (The half notes!) … and it grooves very hard!

If it’s very fast, it’s even possible to imply the whole note of each bar (it’s like “quarter-time”).

In short : less work, more groove. (By work, I mean struggling on long streams of 8th notes instead of relaxing with quarters, half and whole notes…)

[On a personal note : I guess the opposite is also possible and common. Playing faster value on slower tunes, like ballads for example.]

What a great session/lesson it was!

Still working on very small ideas in my notebook. I like using a couple of triads and see were it goes. So far, this has been my most fertile ground :

It may look like a very basic thing… but how about that :

All the while keeping the first C triad as it is (and keeping the fourth note… the F#)

You can change one note in the second triad to get :

• D augmented triad (aka Bb augmented triad aka F# augmented triad)
• B major triad
• B minor triad
• F# minor triad
• Eb diminished triad
• F# diminished triad
• C diminished triad

You can change TWO notes in the second triad to get :

• Eb minor triad
• F# major triad

There are many ways to look at this. Personally, it’s much more an HEARING thing. I keep the basic “C triad to D triad” sound in my mind and compare when I move things around a little.

For example : the written out line above VERSUS the same line ending on a “B” note instead. Not a big difference… yet it can be heard as “C triad to D6″ type of sound OR “C triad to B minor triad”.

I’m trying to HEAR the upcoming triad in a wacky inversion as it comes my way…

more on that later…

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Also practicing : good old Stablemates, I Should Care and …

Woody n You !

I feel like I’ll be working on this last one quite a lot. Descending minor II-V’s … here we go again!
(it’s been a while since I practiced pure scales, but I think I’ll get back into it for this tune : so many possibilities!)

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Painful day : belly and back unfortunately… had enough energy to cope with my activities anyways…

Teaching (about 5 hours)

…and, yes : practicing!

I only practiced Stablemates and Metheny on Solar (I’m getting a lot out of those two simple things right now). Outside of that, I did some unorganized playing (but NOT unfocused) on standards, blues and around Garzone triads…

…still… ouch!

Monday morning : very productive (teaching, website, shores, etc.) As always, too much stuff to do and so little time… I tried to check the “to do’s” off my list as efficiently as possible.

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Finally sat down to practice around 2 PM :

• “Zoning In”, relaxing ala Kenny Werner stuff
  • really does it for me these days…
• Still Relaxed
  • Practicing the first four choruses of Metheny on Solar
    • with metronome, from 180 to 240 (fast… and deceptively easy now)
    • Great!
• Blowing on Stablemates and Cherokee for a while.

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Buritoville jam around 5 PM. Very few people BUT it was fun playing

There’s a new kind of “freedom” in my playing and I feel delighted to play even the simplest stuff. I play very “detached”, yet, very interested and curious (and hungry!) for “the next note”.

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At night : beers and hot-dogs + sleep early.

Accomplished a lot of paperwork, re-organizing, mailing, e-mail, changing strings, guitar polishing, guitar setup (etc.) in the morning. I only had the opportunity to sit down and practice around 2PM.

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I practiced blowing (A LOT and fast) on Cherokee, what a great tune! Blowing also on Invitation and Giant Steps.

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Later : Looking and playing through some principles/examples found in the Liebman book (Chromatic Approach to Harmony and Melody). As the author suggests, I’m looking for something that “strikes me” and that I’d like to work on from the book. (one tiny idea may be enough to go a long way.)

I like the “Alternate II-V substitution” principle. It basically means improvising on any other II-V (than the actual key!) and resolving back to the real key center, I chord in the end. It gives a feeling of tension-release and it’s my favorite concept in the book so far…

For example on a regular Dm7 – G7 – C

I tried 3 things :

1. Cm7 – F7 – C
2. C#m7 – F#7 – C
3. Fm7 – Bb7 – C  (this sound is familiar to me)

The accompanist(s) should still be playing the “real”, original II-V-I in C. That’s what gives the contrast. More on that later…

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At night : regular trio gig @ the resto.

Great gig (on my part). I felt good about my playing and the music in general (we played some really “up” tunes and I was relaxed most of the time!)

I’ve been in a good “musical mood” for a while now. I’ve played so much in the past 1-2 weeks that it seems like the music “plays itself”. I’m probably in the best musical shape ever!!!

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I’m very grateful for that. It’s too easy to go on “un-satisfied” all of the time.

A pretty usual Thursday (outside of the fact that I was sleepy almost all day!) :

• Practicing very slow stuff :
  • Improvising around the melody to Beatrice
  • Re-learning You Don’t Know What Love Is from yesterday…
• Very fast stuff :
  • Cheryl (Parker tune), head + blow
  • Kept blowing for a long time.
  • Focused, relaxed, yes!

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• Modern Method vol. 3
  • pages 31-33
• Working on Garzone triads
  • major triads slowly
  • some applications to Bb blues
  • trying to resolve my ideas convincingly

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• At Night : trio gig…

This one gig is worth of mention : trio Gilles (that’s me!), Pierre and Phil. We use to play a lot in our second year of university. We called the band Syllogisme (and then later Triologilles). So the little restaurant gig felt like a “reunion tour” to us. The mood and spirit of the music was great. Smiles all around (in the band and coming from customers!)

Today’s practice :

• Modern Method vol.3
  • Pages 10 through 20
  • Thorough approach for cleanness and good, full sound.
• Tunes Review : Blues for Alice and I Mean You
  • with metronome on 2&4 @ 92
  • great!
• Little 15 minutes ear training session
  • Hearing the tones “C” and “D” (upwards, melodically)
  • Trying to pre-hear the different functions
  • It works : I hear “do re”, “re mi”, “fa sol”, “sol la” and “la ti”
  • Woah!
• Some more tunes (for blowing like crazy) :
  • Darn That Dream (as med-up latin) Fun!
  • Lady Bird FAST! (also lots of fun)

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At night I went out for a movie (FRENCH movie in fact!) and then attended a jam session in the western part of Montreal. I was soooo tired…