Daily Licking 040: All The ii-v Arpeggios

Always handy to have around. Just in case.

Save, print, make wrapping paper out of it, a million and one uses.

Daily Licking 037: Playalong ii-v In All Keys

(fixed the link to the wrong mp3. Doh.)

Spent some time goofing around with GarageBand and the many minutes of hard work (not really), have resulted in a handy play along file that others may find some use for. Ya can't have too many ii-v's to practice. Use it to work up some of the ii-v licks posted previously, or your favorite lick from Pent-up House or just to practice soloing on, there are a million and one uses. Goes great on salads too.

The track is very very simple rhythmically, just whole notes, so you can really hear how any notes you play fit (or don't) against the chords. There is also no bass so you can add your own.

Here is a simple chart that shows the order of the progression. The mp3 is loopable so it will continuously repeat until you get the lick nailed. Click on the chart, save to disk, blah blah all that.

To loop the audio, just load the mp3 in Quicktime Player (free for mac and windows), and just select "Loop". Ta-da. Done. Then bust out your favorite ii-V-I lick and practice moving it through each key.

http://www.divshare.com/download/14480543-5e1

Some other things to do that are fun:

1. Play just the third of each chord as a whole note. Record yourself so you can hear what that sounds like. Then do the 5th, 7th, etc to hear what each note sounds like against each chord.
   
2. Run the arpeggio of each chord up and down.
   
3. Play other arpeggios against the chord, for instance on Dmin, try a F maj, or an Amin arpeggio, on the G7 try a Bmin7b5 and go up to the ninth. HA! Tricked ya, that is just the G7 starting on the third! But check it out, play around with stuff like that.
4. Start a scale on the third of each chord and go up in 8th notes. Try different scales (appropriate ones for each chord type). Where does the end of the scale leave you relative to the next chord? A nice juicy note?
   
5. Play different pentatonics against each chord, on Dmin7 try Amin, Emin, and even, wait for it, Bmin.
6. And of course, practice walking lines over the progressions. This is the most common progression there is in a lot of improvised music, so you can't ever go wrong trying different ways to connect these chords.
   

Enjoy. And if there are any other progressions y'all would like to see let me know, or if you would be interested in how to make your own, I could do a post on that as well. Ciao!

Daily Licking 035: Chorus 2 of Clifford Brown on "Pent-Up House"

The second chorus of the ii-v-I fest from Mr. Brown today. It just keeps getting better.

Some patterns are developing:

1. Starting off sparsely. Just like in the first chorus, the first 4 measures of this chorus are much more sparse rhythmically compared to the rest of the chorus. Leaves him room to take it somewhere.
   
2. Not starting on the root of the chord. Again, he doesn't do this very often, he does in two places he hasn't done it before, but usually he saves it for the G Maj, when the ii-v resolves. Maybe this gives the 1 chord a extra sense of resolution? Interesting. The rest of the time he starts on 3rds, 7ths, 5ths and other juicy chord tones.
3. Outlining chords with arpeggios. All over the place, going up from the third, fifth and other strong chord tones straight up the arpeggio, just not starting on the root. He does chordal type lines, much more than scalar type lines.

The middle of this chorus is one grosso ridiculoso 9 measure long phrase of continuous 8th notes which go through a classic run-down of bebop altered licks. It is a thing to behold. So take a listen below, and behold it. But be warned, with all those half-steps in there, this one is another chorus where there are not going to be a nice, bass-centric, familiar box patterns for your fingers to fall into. This one is going to get your fingers thinking. All of these solos that come from non-bass sources are going to really get your fingers out of any lazy habits that they have developed. It sure has made me have to think. And we all know how exhausting that can be.

Pent-Up House - Clifford Browns Solo Chorus 2

bass lick 4/4 tempo 200 | Gmaj r2 e8 g b8 r8 | Amin7 a2 a2 | D7 a8 r8 r4 d-8 g b4 | GMaj g2 g2 | GMaj g8 r r4 r8 b c ab | Amin7 b a e g gb a c d | D7 [f8 e eb] d c db e d c | GMaj b c d e gb a ab gb | Gmaj g d b c d e f e | Dmin7 d c b a g gb f a | G7 e+ d c a b- d f a | Cmin7 g eb d c b g bb g | F7 a c eb g d c f e | Amin7 eb e g e f g a c | D7 r2 c8 db8 e db | Gmaj d bb b r r gb [bb a gb] | Gmaj g8 d r4 r2 |

Daily Licking 034: 1st Chorus of Clifford Brown on "PentUp House"

Another new one today. And, yes, I realize there are multiple tunes in progress, but hey, I get bored easy. So piano, tenor, trumpet, bass...that should do it for a while. Maybe.

After Mr. Evans and Mr. Coltrane, Clifford Brown is almost easy to transcribe. His tone is so clear, there is no ambiguity in either his notes or his rhythms, his execution is very, very precise. It's like he plays piano, but just with his mouth.

Daily Licking 016: Chromatic-y II-V

Here is another ii-v that has a lot of chromatic notes on the ii chord.

bass lick 4/4 tempo 140| Dm7 c+8 a a# b g g# a g | G7 f e d c b d f a | Cmaj g1 |

And here is what it sounds like against some basic shell voicings:

piano voicings tempo 140 4/4 | Dm7 | G7 | Cmaj7 | { | ( c1 d1 f1) | (b1 d1 g) | (b1 c1 e1) | } { | c8 a a# b g g# a g | f8 e8 d c b d f a | g1 | }

Remember to analyze these so you can build your own lines, it's not that tough once you get a few licks to base yours from. Get it? "Base" yours from, see what I did there.

Q: What note does the lick start on?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: If there are any altered notes (notes not in the chord or scale) what are they?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: If there are any altered notes what beats do they fall on?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: What is the range of the entire lick (interval distance between highest note and lowest note)?

1. A: ______________________

Q: How many chord tones are there in each measure and what are they?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: What beats do the chord tones fall on (if there are any)?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Daily Licking 012: More ii-v's. Now With Analysis Quiz!

Yea, thats right, a quiz.

Here is todays ii-V-I lick, courtesy of Mr. Freddie Hubbard. And as I have repeatedly said, the point here is to understand what makes these lines the way they are and to start figuring out recipes to make your own lines from them, not to just learn where to put your fingers.

bass lick tempo 140 4/4 | Am7 f#+8 g f# e d c# c b | D7 a# f# d# c# d c# c a# | Gmaj b d e a r a g4 |

And here is the quiz, with answers in the comments.

All the questions are in relation to the chord that is mentioned, so if the question is "what are the altered notes" and there is "Gb" on the Gmin (the ii chord) a Db on the C7, (the V chord) the answer to both would be "b9".

So move what is considered the root to each chord.

Q: What note does the lick start on?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: If there are any altered notes (notes not in the chord or scale) what are they?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: If there are any altered notes what beats do they fall on?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: What is the range of the entire lick (interval distance between highest note and lowest note)?

1. A: ______________________

Q: How many chord tones are there in each measure and what are they?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

Q: What beats do the chord tones fall on (if there are any)?

1. ii chord: ______________________
   
2. V chord: ______________________
   
3. I chord: ______________________

And if these licks are all tooooo easy for ya, tough guy, remember you can always turn them into only-two-beats-each-licks at the same tempo by just turning all the 8th notes to 16ths like below.

But you already knew that. Right?

bass lick 4/4 tempo 140 | Am7 f#+16 g f# e d c# c b D7 a# f# d# c# d c# c a# | Gmaj b d e a r a g8~ g4 r |

Daily Licking 004: Altered Dominant ii-v

bass lick tempo 120 4/4 | Em7 r8 e- [ g b d ] [ f# g f# ] e d | A7 c# e# d# c# c bb a g | Dmaj f#1 |

bass lick tempo 200 4/4 | Em7 r8 e [ g b d ] [ f# g f# ] e d | A7 c# e# d# c# c bb a g | Dmaj f#1 |

As before, pick it apart and see what the notes are in relation to the chord.

First one is slower at 120, second one is up an octave and faster.

Daily Licking 003: Miles Davis Lick

bass lick tempo 120 4/4 | Dmin7 f-8 g a c e f e d | G7 c# e d c b a g# f | Cmaj e1 |

bass lick tempo 200 4/4 | Dmin7 f8 g a c e f e d | G7 c# e d c b a g# f | Cmaj e1 |

Another ii-v one lick for ya. This is the same lick two times, the first one is a bit slower, at 120 bpm and the second time it is up an octave and sped up to 200 bpm.

The best thing to do on these licks is pick them apart and figure out the function of the notes being used. For instance, in this one:

On the Dmin7, the ii chord: The lick starts on the 3rd of the chord (F), and goes up a F Maj 7 chord, but throws in a G along the way. Also, it uses chord tones on every downbeat (f, a, c, and e). Its a lot easier to remember licks when you look at them in the way, in relation to the chord. You will quickly start seeing patterns and creating your own licks. That is really what this is about, it's not about just copying someones lick, but about figuring out why it works and then adding your own spin to it.

On the G7 the v chord: The lick starts on the #11. Well, la-de-da. Fancy. The next time though, it uses a C natural instead for an interesting contrast. The lick ends on the b7, which is, what do you know, a chord tone. This lick includes the #11, and the b9 of the chord, which is a G#/Ab (same note).

And if you think that copying other players is not how it is done, well, guess again. EVERYONE has done some of that. Take a listen to what George Benson thinks about learning other peoples licks.

It's part of the process.

Daily Licking 002: Triplets, Triplets, Triplets

Here is another lick that could sound good on a blues, jazz or anything. It is all triplets. Check out many more at http://my.bopland.org. This one I moved into the bass friendly key of E, but you can always change the key by clicking on the lick below.

bass lick 4/4 e+8 | F#m7 [ g# e g# ] [ e c# a ] [ e+ c# e ] [ c# a f# ] | B7 [ c#+ a c# ] [ a f# d# ] [ a+ f# a ] [ f# d# b ] | Emaj [ f#+ d# f# ] [ d# b g# ] [ d#+ b d# ] [ b+ g# e ] |

Enjoy!

New Feature: A Daily Licking

I think I discovered how to use BopLand.org to render any lick you feed it into bass clef. Pretty sure.

Sooooooo, I am going to start posting licks by using that service, it makes it much faster to put up a lick, and it has some other advantages:

1. It auto-generates an mp3. A somewhat mechanical sounding one, yea, but hey, at least you get to hear what the lick sounds like. Way faster than me recording it and uploading an mp3.
   
2. It will transpose the lick into any key you want. There may be range issues however depending on what key you go into, so its not necessarily going to be playable. I will make sure the original licks always fall within the range of a regularly tuned 4 string.
   

Nifty.

So, here is another basic ii-v lick courtesy of David Baker, transmuted into bass clef for you to analyze, consume, and enjoy. This one hangs on the flat 9 on the V chord so make sure there is an Ab in the melody! Or don't, go nuts.

Click on it to get the MP3 and the transposition options from the drop down that appears.

walking bass 4/4 | Dm7 f8 a- d f e d db c | G7 b d f ab~ ab4 g8 f | Cmaj e1 |