EdByrne
June 10th, 2007, 02:45 PM
Stairway to the Blues
I've posted yet another tune for analysis and scrutiny below:
www.freejazzinstitute.org/showposts.php?dept=analysis&topic=20070610133452_EdByrne
This compositional process began with a haunting near-obsession with the opening 4-note motive, Bb, Db, Eb, F, which gradually developed itself into a blues melody as I was going about my business over a period of months. When it felt complete, I wrote it down, and then sat down at the piano and wrote its non-functional chord progression and the ostinato bass line.
I sometimes create modern out chord successions over which I play my normal bluesy stuff, so it puts what I normally play, my licks, in a different context.
The following is an example of an 8-bar blues in the form of a passacaglia, a piece which has a strong descending bass ostinato. The melody is based on the following hexachord pitch collection on (not in, since this piece is not tonal) the following blues pitch collection:
Bb: Bb, Db, Eb, E, F, Bb—(Minor blues scale with no 7, Ab).
The stepwise descending (and then ascending) non-functional chord succession (also on Bb) is as follows, at 2 beats per chord:
Bbm, Ab7sus4 / GbMA7, E7-5 / Eb7sus4, Dbm9 / C7-5, B+MA7 / Bbm, C7-5+9 / Db+MA7, Eb7sus4 / E+MA7, F7sus4 / G7-5+9, A7-5-9 // (Bbm).
I play blues licks over this without regard to making changes. Indeed, I often build entire improvisations on the Melody Pitch Collection alone.
P.S: Notice that root progression is also a strong line, which becomes more obvious as you sing it twice or 4Xs as fast.
I've posted yet another tune for analysis and scrutiny below:
www.freejazzinstitute.org/showposts.php?dept=analysis&topic=20070610133452_EdByrne
This compositional process began with a haunting near-obsession with the opening 4-note motive, Bb, Db, Eb, F, which gradually developed itself into a blues melody as I was going about my business over a period of months. When it felt complete, I wrote it down, and then sat down at the piano and wrote its non-functional chord progression and the ostinato bass line.
I sometimes create modern out chord successions over which I play my normal bluesy stuff, so it puts what I normally play, my licks, in a different context.
The following is an example of an 8-bar blues in the form of a passacaglia, a piece which has a strong descending bass ostinato. The melody is based on the following hexachord pitch collection on (not in, since this piece is not tonal) the following blues pitch collection:
Bb: Bb, Db, Eb, E, F, Bb—(Minor blues scale with no 7, Ab).
The stepwise descending (and then ascending) non-functional chord succession (also on Bb) is as follows, at 2 beats per chord:
Bbm, Ab7sus4 / GbMA7, E7-5 / Eb7sus4, Dbm9 / C7-5, B+MA7 / Bbm, C7-5+9 / Db+MA7, Eb7sus4 / E+MA7, F7sus4 / G7-5+9, A7-5-9 // (Bbm).
I play blues licks over this without regard to making changes. Indeed, I often build entire improvisations on the Melody Pitch Collection alone.
P.S: Notice that root progression is also a strong line, which becomes more obvious as you sing it twice or 4Xs as fast.