commakozzi

So, I've replaced some of my scale studies with Aebersolds and I'm really enjoying it. Right now I'm doing majors and minors with Volume 24. I do majors one week and then minors the next. I'll do C and D one day and then F and G the next, and so forth (7 days - 12 keys... the seventh day is for fun). So, anyway, my goal right now is double time. I can improvise with eighth notes in all keys very easily, but sixteenths are hard for me in a lot of keys. So, what I've been doing with Volume 24 is I'll do two keys one day. I run through each key twice and just play around with scale patterns in sixteenth notes. Nothing too fancy. But I've been getting depressed at how little progess I thought I was making (my goal being to completely familiarize myself with the keys and hopefully start double timing). So, today, I decided that instead of just experimenting with both "run throughs", I'd do one where I experiment and run sixteenths as long as I can, and then do another where I just trade 8's with myself (play 8 bars; listen 8 bars). Holy crap! It reminded me of a big part of what I was missing. You have to make phrases that makes sense and are enjoyable! So, I found that I actually am learning and the experimentation is paying off. I just haven't found a way to show myself that unless I'm playing the very limited amount of improv I get to play in public and then the trading 8's I just talked about. Wow! So that's the plan for now: One time through just experimenting and then one time through trading 8's.

MJ

Sounds like a plan. Have fun!

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Brekelefuw

Double time and faster runs don't come quickly. It is difficult to make good sounding double time that still retains the style of the 8th notes that you play, and are as meaningful as the rest of your line.
Don't expect long lines like Diz or Freddie to happen at first. Try just doing a short burst of double time, say one beat or two beats to get used to thinking in a more linear bebop fashion.

commakozzi

Yeah, that's what I'm slowly learning. The rediscovery of trading 8's (or 4's or 2's etc.) today was what kind of showed me how far I've actually come. My goal, obviously, is to be able to run as many bars in sixteenths as I possibly can and still be musical.

bigtiny

I'd also recommend the 'Blues in All Keys' from Aebersold....it's, ummmm...humbling....

bigtiny

commakozzi

Oh yeah man, I know what you mean. I know my majors and minors... or at least I thought I did. I'm working on Volume 24 right now during my scale practice. I'll through blues scales in too, but damn. Something as simple as Eb becomes a new animal.