FOR ALL INSTRUMENTS.
Comprehensive Technique
for Jazz Musicians
by Bert LigonINTRODUCTION.
Technique vi
Book Format os vil
Improvisation. ~ vil
BASIC EXERCISES.
Routine
Tips for Practice
Practicing by Limiting,
Practice in all Twelve Keys.
Scales for Improvisation
Scale Practice.
Arpeggio & Broken Chord Practice
Other Melodic Scale & Arpeggio Patterns
Patterns with 31d8.nnm
Pattems with Neighbor Tones
Cyclical Quacruplets
Diatonie Chords
Diatonie Seventh Chords.
Chromatic: Embellishment
Diatonic Triads with Lower Neighbor Tone Embellishment
Neighbor Tones Applied to Arpeggios & Broken Chords.
Upper Neighbor Tones
Lower Neighbor Tones
Combining Upper & Lower Neighbor Tones on Arpeggio & Broken
Chord Bxercises, sa .
Encircling Chord Tones with Upper & Lower Neighbor Tones
Scales Preceded with Upper & Lower Neighbor Tone Encircling
Common Chromatic Appreach.
7th & 9th CHORD ARPEGGIOS.
Seventh Chords
Ninth Chords.
Arpeggios preceded with Upper & Lower Neighbor Tone Encircling.
Ill, TRIADS & GENERALIZATION .
Pitch Hierarchy
Basic Elaborations of Triads
FF Major Trad.
F Minor Tr
fe Developed
us ‘Triad MoContent: J
“riadic Elaboration. - 7
Logo Variations... vn . 62
TTriadic Generalization... Sn . 63
Triadic Musical Examples 68
Application of Tadic Generalization 66
Broken Chord Exercises 7
BIUES LN. se : 70
Blues Scale Musical Examples. . seven
Major Bines Scale. |
Minor Blues Scale co svn
‘Combination of Major & Minor Blues Scales... . 72
General Blues Exercises. cn 3
IV. MELODIC MINOR SCALE EXERCISES...+...ccccsssssssseseeseessennes
Melodic Minor Scales & Modes. . 7
Seventh Mode: Superloctan... Sac icra 79
#92987 Pate... sesereinreraacmainoaaTaTD
Minor 123-5 Pattem. os 80
Major 1-2-35 Pater. 81
Combination of 1-2:3-5 Patterns. ao
97 Arpeggios over Altered Dominant 7ths. 82
Lydian Dominant... “ eee 83
lyn Agent 84
= : BS
Combination of Modes. . sa.
Melodic Minor Exercises... 87
‘Arpengio Patterns from Melodic Minor. 87
1-235 & 1-23-45 Pattems from Melodic Minor. 1
41-23-5 Pattem Variations s 95
Thad... israel
Tritone Substitution & Melodic Minor Chords "100
Relationship of Altered Dominants, Lydian Dominants & Melodic Minor Scales
: < 101
Secondary Dominants & Tritone Substitution 101
V. DIMINISHED SCALE EXERCISES......c..cs.cssccsseeceeseees sarmamareeerces 109
Whole-Half Diminished Seales... se ceemaees 0D
Half-Whole Diminished Scales... 7109
Diminished Scale Musical Examples. . coe
Diminished Scales Exercises... 116
Diminished Scale Lines over Traditional Harmony sensu 130
VI. MOTIVIC & PENTATONIC PATTERNS... 135
C Major Pentatonic & its Relative A Minor Pentatonie we mnsvmnrnnnn 133
C Major Pentatonic & its Parallel C Minor Pentatoni. 135
Basic Pentatonie Exercises aa 136
Diatonic Triads ofthe Major Pentatonic Scale 137
Diatonic Triads of the Major Pentatonic Scale in All Inversions.. 138
Superimpostion Formulas vi
Side Sipping & Planing... nnn a2
Quarta Sounds. . can
Exercises for Planing & Sie Sipping... 17
Three Note Melodic Motives. : : . 17
Four Note Melodie Motives. cone 48
Fe Note Melodic Motives. - 157
Pentatonic Applications over Traditional Harmony 158
<< tomiprebensice Tecnigque jor Jaxx MascaraISEN 0
v___ Content
vu.
vill.
xi
xu.
xi,
xiv.
ts
Motivic Development.
‘Motivic & Compositional Development Devices...
1-2-3-5 PATTERNS...
Major 1-2-5 & Minor 1-2-3-5 Patterns. =
EX€LCIS€8 nnn svn
jon t0 individual Chords nowosoersonneonoe
-5 Exercises Applied to Harmonic Progressions,
1-2-35 Pattems in Caclences to Major.
Exploring Mathernatical Possibilities. .
1-2-5 Patterns Applied to Standard Jazz Compositions... an
1-2:3-5 Patterns Against the Harmony. =
TRIADIC SUPERIMPOSITION.
Superimposition of Major Triads over Major 7th Chords
Superimposition of Major Triads over Minor 7th Chords,
Superimposition of Major Triads over Dominant 7th Chords...
Superimposition of Minor Triads over Dominant 7th Chords a.
Superimposition of Major Triads over Half & Fully Diminished 7th Chords
‘Triad Supesimposition Exercises.
‘Triad Superimposition Applied.
More Exercises.
LINEAR IMPLICATIONS OF HARMONY ..
Compound Melodies...
EXTENSIONS & CONNECTIONS ....+.+
Extended Tertian Exercises. ee
AUGMENTED SCALE EXERCISES....-sssssseseessssees
Augmented Scale Exercises 7
QUARTAL EXERCISES.
Extended Quartal Arpeggios from D minor/F major Pentatonic.
Extended Quartal Arpeagios from F Kumoi Pentatonic.
Extended Quartal Arpeggios Applied to Harmonic Progression in Major
Extended Quartal Arpeggios Applied to Harmonic Progression in Minor
DOMINANT CHORD CYCLES......
DEVELOPING JAZZ EXERCISES .........Contents
XV. OUTLINE EXERCISES...
Outlines over ii7 - V7 in Major a 239
Oulines over io? - V7 in Minor 240
Outline Exercises svn - 242
‘Outlines over Key Center Cycle... S 242
‘Ontines in Combinations. 249
‘Common Chromatic Approaches. 5 251
‘Outlines over Longer Progressions : sneered
More if? - V7 - 18 tio? - V7 i Exercises... 266
Developing & Practicing Outline EXe168e8. oss 275
How to Leam Exercise 15.114 in All Major Keys. 2
Exercises with Quicker Harmonic Rhythm. 280
Outlines in Combinations Elaborated, 283
Excerpts from Solo Transcription 284
XVI. APPLICATIONS & ETUDES..
287
Agendas, — 287
Application of Several Concepts over One Progression. 288,
Etudes on Standard Progressions asicnssnnsnnn 298
Etude NOL eevnrnnnansnnnnnnnonnnnnn - sens 299
Brude No, nn 301
Blues Fuudes, . on nn 303
Blues Etude NOV senses coe an 303,
Blues Etude NO.2 evnnnn - ene BOA
Blues Etude N03 mo - sae 307
Blues Etude NO vnc 308
Blues Ftude No.5 nn von 309
Blues Etude No.6 - “ 310
Blues Etude No.7 - - 311
More Eudes on Sanda Progresions “ 312
Etude No3... seven LZ
nude Nod... BAS
Etude NoS. ve YP
Etude NoG.nnnwnnnnnnnnnnn SIT319INTRODUCTION
TECHNIQUE
Part of a musician's development is the building of technique S2=NGee He See aesica! icleas. For
each instrument the list of obstacles is different and the all scale practice.
1.17 With Lower Neighbor Tone (LNT) Embellishment ascending, UNT descending
syererre
Tamibvebensine Tecbrigue Jor Jaze MusicBasic Exercises
CYCLICAL QUADRUPLETS
(One way to embellish a single note is to play the note, move away and back to that same note:
common pattern that follows this concept involves the primary note and two other notes that r
the primary note. This pattern has four varieties and is has been called a Cyclical Quadrupl
Cyclical because it cycles back to the first pitch; quadruplet because it is a four note pattern.
patterns below all have C as the primary pitch. CQ pattern no.2 is the retrograde, no.3 is the i
and no.4 is the retrograde inversion of CQ pattern no.
QNol 6Q.No2 QNo3 6Q Nod
0
ioe
o
Here are some examples of CQ patterns from jazz improvisations by Charlie Patker, Art
Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt, and Herbie Hancock. Charlie Parker used all four CQ pal
these two examples. The first includes CQ pattems no.2 & 3; the second, patterns 1 & 4
Dm? o7 cma? m7 7
to a
SS het Ea a bere te
oo a
CQ pattern no.1
2
CQ patiern 10.4
F Dm?
————=
CQ pattern no.l
Gm7
& =P
oChapter 1 asic: Exercis
Here are some basic CQ exercises to add to scale routines.
1.22 Cyclical Quadruplet Version No.1 (CQ)
1.23 CQ Version No.2
1.24 CQ Version No.3
1.25 CQ Version No.4
14Chapter 1 Basic Exercises
CQ pattems can be applied to arpeggios as they were applied to scales as shown in this
Cannonball Adderley improvisation. Adderley used CQ pattern no.1 in the first meas
pattern no.4 in the last two measures outlining a chord.
CQ patterns no.1 and 10.4
Here are some basic CQ exercises to add to arpeggio routines. These four exerscises are s
toa major 9 chord. Practice these patterns applied to minor 9, dominant 9, and other arpe
1.26 CQ Version No.1 applied to C major 9 arpeggio
1.27 CQ Version No.2 applied to C major 9 arpeggio
1.28 CQ Version No.3 applied to C major 9 arpeggioChapter 1 Basic Exercises 13
DIATONIC CHORDS
In addition to practicing arpeggios individually, practice arpeggios related to each key center. Triads,
seventh and ninth chords can be built on every scale degree of any scale, and often appear in composi-
tions and improvisations. Here are two short examples from Tom Harrell and Dexter Gordon,
Diatonic triads
E D7 Gm? C7 Am
2
5
a F
o
Diatonic triads
Cm #7 abmai7, ebmaj7
o
Add these to your scale practice for all major and minor keys
1.30 Diatonic Triads In Root Position Ascending,
1.31 Diatonic Triads In Root Position Descending,
Parker and Sonny Stitt used this common pattern that outlines a major triad. The first part of the mea-
sure uses passing tones (PT) between the chord tones; the second half uses CQ pattern no.1
Charlie Parker: Sonny Stitt:
6 ab
Comprebonsive Technique Jor Jazz Musicians]Chapter 1 Basic Exercises
DIATONIC CHORDS
In addition to practicing arpeggios individually, practice arpeggios related to each key center. Triads,
seventh and ninth chords can be built on every scale degree of any scale, and often appear in composi
tions and improvisations. Here are two short examples from Tom Harrell and Dexter Gordon,
Diatonic triads
F D7 Gm? Am? D7
e
Diatonic triads
cm?
Add these to your scale practice for all major and minor keys.
1.30 _Diatonic Triads In Root Position Ascending
1.31 Diatonic Triads In Root Position Descending
Parker and Sonny Stitt used this common pattern that outlines a major triad. The first part of the mea
‘sure uses passing tones (PT) between the chord tones; the second half uses CQ pattern no.1.
Charli Parker Sonny Stitt
6 sb
13,Chapter 1 Basic Exercises
This pattern can be applied to all diatonic triads. This exercise incorporates many of the pi
cises: scales, diatonic triads, CQs
1.32 Diatonic Triads With PTs And CQs
DIATONIC SEVENTH CHORDS
‘Triads built in thirds (tertian) occur universally in music. While a tiad may be constructed
a scale, extended tertian chords can be constructed using 1-3-5-7, 1-3-5-7-9, and even 1d
‘These extended tertian chords occur frequently in jazz. A chord spelled out to the 13th
notes of the scale, and in this way illustrates the equality of the chord and the scale
spelling of the seven diatonic notes in steps; the extended tertian chord is a spelling of
tonic notes in thirds. An understanding of basic tertian triads is necessary in order to
enth chords. A seventh chord is created by adding the interval of a third to the top of
and a ninth chord is created by adding another interval of a third to the top of the Sev
seventh chord exercises will provide a background to understanding extended tertian
nections covered later in chapter 10,
Hank Mobley ended his improvisation using diatonic seventh chords.
thm ab car? *
McCoy Tyner used them in conjunction with other elements in the following excerpt
and 1235 pattern)
phy 3 F
e =