It seems that blues would be pretty easy to play, and play convincingly. \u00a0After all, there is basically just three chords – the tonic (I), the subdominant (IV) and dominant (V). \u00a0And in many cases and styles, it is stylistically appropriate to play one scale over the entire form. \u00a0However, like the very simple game of “go,” where there are few rules there is great complexity in the choices available – and some of those choices sound better than others! \u00a0Since there are so many choices to make, this essay will focus on one small corner of them – the harmonic choices in measures four, eight and twelve.<\/p>\n
Jazz blues, as a form, is almost always twelve bars long and is divided into three phrases of four measures each. \u00a0The general harmonic texture of these phrases are; a sense of rest, a brief rocking away and back to that sense of rest, and another brief excursion to some tension before resolving back to the tonic chord. \u00a0You see from this description why it is possible to play one scale during the entire form – there’s really not much going on here except stating the key and briefly feinting either up or down a fourth to create a little tension. \u00a0That’s why the transitions between these sections are so important and are the tell-tale indicators of a player who really knows what’s going on in a jazz blues improvisation.<\/p>\n
Suggestions for Practicing<\/strong><\/p>\n I suggest developing or borrowing good jazz phrases that fit the chords in question, and then practicing them in context.<\/p>\n A player should first master a phrase or two so you hear them completely and accurately and you don’t have to think about the technical details of performing them. \u00a0Then put on a play-along of some sort and wait until that moment of the form to apply them. \u00a0Many times we get involved in other ideas if we improvise on all of the form and we forget or misplace the phrase we are trying to apply. \u00a0I know this sounds tedious, and it actually is, but you shouldn’t have to do it very long\u00a0if <\/em>you’ve spent time perfecting the performance of the phrase. \u00a0Remember, this is the second step of practicing application. \u00a0This routine can be applied to the other transitions\/linking measures.<\/p>\n Getting to the IV Chord<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m going to begin, not at the beginning of the form but moving from the fourth measure to the IV chord in measure five. \u00a0This IV chord is one of the formal markers of a blues and it is when the harmonic structure momentarily “rocks away” from the tonic. \u00a0Regardless of what went on the previous three measure, and a lot can go on, what the player does getting from measure four to five is the first indicator that they know how to handle the jazz blues form.<\/p>\n There are two very common chord structures in the fourth bar; a ii7-V7 motion in the key of IV (e.g., for a blues in the key of C, the chords would be Gmin7 – C7) and\/or an V7 chord with some “tensions” or “alterations,” such as sharp and flat nines, sharp elevens, and raised fifths. \u00a0Listen in detail to your favorite jazz improvisers, transcribe what they do at this point and practice the most interesting phrases.<\/p>\n Getting to the ii7 Chord<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most frequently overlooked, and strongest indicator of a player’s grasp of the blues form, is negotiating the transition from the tonic in measure seven to the ii7 in measure nine. \u00a0Measure eight, the link to the third phrase of the blues is another tell-tale chord change.<\/p>\n In jazz blues the ii7 chord is very common to play at the beginning of the third phrase. \u00a0However, in a minor blues the bVI7 is frequently heard and the V7 chord is also common. \u00a0Given the variations available, I’m just going to offer a couple of categorical options from which you can choose.<\/p>\n For a resolution to a ii7, try a ii7 – V7 in the key to which you are resolving<\/em>. \u00a0It is important to indicate in your melodies the key and mode your are moving towards. \u00a0For example, if the resolution in the ninth measure is going to be the ii7 chord, a good choice would be to use a line that reflects are minor-seven-flat-five chord built on the second scale degree of the ii7 chord.<\/p>\n For a resolution to a V7 you can use a dominant-seven chord a half-step above the chord in measure nine. \u00a0If you like the sound, you can even embellish that dominant-seven chord by proceeding it with a ii7 chord in that key.<\/p>\n Regardless of the musical situation or the path you choose, you should practice the application as described above.<\/p>\n Getting Home<\/strong><\/p>\n The last important transition point is the return to the tonic chord at the beginning of the form. \u00a0This is frequently accomplished by a ii7 – V7 but sometimes the motion starts earlier. \u00a0Typically there is a resolution to the tonic in measure eleven of the form. \u00a0But players can increase a sense of motion back to the top by starting a cascading sequence of ii7 – V7 chords, beginning on the third scale degree of the key. \u00a0In any event, it is important to develop good jazz lines for this point in the blues and to practice applying them in context.<\/p>\n After you’ve made yourself aware of these important transition locations, practiced good jazz language, and applied them to the form, you’ll find your improvisations will have a new feeling of freedom and direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some advice for playing a jazz blues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[13,5,3],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jazzimprovisation","tag-blues","tag-improvisation","tag-jazz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnbakerjazz.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}