{"id":610,"date":"2016-08-25T01:10:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T05:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/tgcleary\/?p=610"},"modified":"2018-02-10T23:26:45","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T03:26:45","slug":"root-systems-part-3-give-it-up-for-the-root-position-patterns-melodic-patterns-based-on-root-position-voicings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/tgcleary\/2016\/08\/25\/root-systems-part-3-give-it-up-for-the-root-position-patterns-melodic-patterns-based-on-root-position-voicings\/","title":{"rendered":"Root systems, part 4: Give it up for the root (position pattern)s! – Melodic patterns based on root position voicings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name of this post is a variation on the phrase, \u2018Give it up for The Roots!\u2019, that Jimmy Fallon often uses to introduce his house band on his late night show. (I made an appearance on the show in 2010<\/a> during my time playing keyboards in the Mike Gordon Band.) I was reminded of what an eclectic group The Roots are when, just after the revolutionary saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman\u2019s death last year, they played a number of his tunes on the show. (It turns out they had performed with him<\/a> as well.)<\/p>\n

Once you have learned to play voicings of the major ii-V-I progression in all keys (as shown in Root systems, Part 1<\/a>), and learned to outline ii V Is in all keys with scales (as shown in Root systems, Part 2<\/a>), a possible next step is to learn a tune that includes a melodic pattern based on the root position voicing of the ii V I progression, and then learn that melodic pattern in all twelve keys.<\/p>\n

For players who are newer to jazz, I would suggest learning Thelonious Monk\u2019s \u2018Round Midnight\u2019<\/a> or Bill Evans\u2019 \u2018Peri\u2019s Scope\u2019,<\/a> both of which can be found in The Real Book Sixth Edition from Hal Leonard.\u00a0\u00a0 (There is an interesting video<\/a> by Brazilian bassist Marcos Roberto de Santos that matches a transcribed score of the original version of ‘Peri’s Scope’ with MIDI tracks of the piano and drum parts and a live performance of the bass part.\u00a0 As the piano part is notated in grand staff, it is helpful in understanding Evans’ style.\u00a0 The history of recorded versions of ‘Round Midnight’ is, to me, a fascinating jazz mystery: in the two best-known recorded versions of ‘Round Midnight’, by Monk<\/a> and Miles Davis<\/a>, the chord progressions used match neither the other recording nor the most common published charts of the tune.)\u00a0 Two other tunes that use root position melodic patterns are Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn\u2019s \u2018Dancers In Love\u2019<\/a> and Billy Taylor\u2019s \u2018Radioactivity\u2019<\/a>; scores of these pieces are somewhat harder to find. Finally, John Coltrane\u2019s \u201926-2\u2019<\/a> uses a root position ii-V-I pattern in its bridge.\u00a0 This tune, which involves his ‘Giant Steps’ changes interpolated into the form of Charlie Parker’s ‘Confirmation’,\u00a0 is among the most challenging of Coltrane\u2019s compositions.<\/p>\n

To be ready to transpose a root-position-based pattern through all twelve keys, it is helpful to practice the root position voicing hands together through all twelve keys. The four-note voicing shown here includes a rootless voicing of V7, and is sequenced through two descending whole-step patterns (an alternative to the descending half-step pattern through which I sequenced ii-V-Is in the last post.) Once you have mastered these hands-together voicings, you\u2019ll be ready to convert the voicing in the right hand into one of the patterns shown below (in other words, \u2018give it up\u2019 for the root position pattern.)\"Preview<\/a><\/p>\n

With jazz improvisation, as with any language, it is always a potential hazard to focus too much on learning individual phrases without learning the grammar and vocabulary (or, in music, scales and arpeggios) that allow you to use phrases in context. While practicing hands-together chords as shown above is helpful before learning a root-position-based lick in all twelve keys, mastering the scale outlines of the major ii-V-I in the previous post is an absolutely crucial step.<\/p>\n

One of my improvisation teachers, Yusef Lateef, said: \u2018when you find something you like\u2019 \u2013 meaning a melodic pattern \u2013 \u2018learn it in all twelve keys.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 (‘Find something you like’ is an extremely important directive that, I think, can be challenging to follow in an age where music delivery systems which anticipate what a listener ‘might also like’ are increasingly common.)\u00a0 I have sometimes extended this process by searching for examples in my \u2018listening diet\u2019 of how patterns I like are used and varied by different players. (In addition to live performances and my iTunes library, my listening diet also includes the internet station Calm Radio Jazz Piano, which plays both classic and rare recordings by great jazz pianists.) Finding a lick in multiple contexts can demonstrate how, in the jazz tradition, a lick is not an immutable object but a living thing that changes from one player to another or even from one bar to another (see the Charlie Rouse example below.)<\/p>\n

At the end of this post are five different ii-V-I patterns which, to my mind, are based on root position voicings.\u00a0 These five patterns boil down to three basic melodic shapes: the first two pairs of patterns are variations on the same basic lick, and the last pattern (from Billy Taylor’s tune ‘Radioactivity’) is a variation on a lick from a Charlie Parker solo.<\/p>\n

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