One Blues Strategy

[Ken Valentino]

Just wanted to share.

Students frequently have issues with how to use b3 and 3.

One of the strategies I've discovered that has been helpful is:
If the Key(or any other reference point) is obvious, then b3 will want to resolve to 3 or 2. Especially if the 6 is in play.
If however the the b3 has really become what our ear is measuring against (It has become a reference point, a root or extension) then the 3 takes on the attributes of a b2.

Examples can be found in how easy it is to get 1 1 b3 3 1 or TT 4 b3 1 b3 to work vs. TT 4 b3 3 1.

"TT" by the way is just faster(it just means a Tritone) and more accurate for me. I tend not to say b5 and #4, which are are really different colors because they are measuring from more than one place.

Hope I shared a useful idea.

[engelbach]

Originally Posted by Ken Valentino

Just wanted to share.

Students frequently have issues with how to use b3 and 3.

One of the strategies I've discovered that has been helpful is:
If the Key(or any other reference point) is obvious, then b3 will want to resolve to 3 or 2. Especially if the 6 is in play.
If however the the b3 has really become what our ear is measuring against (It has become a reference point, a root or extension) then the 3 takes on the attributes of a b2.

Examples can be found in how easy it is to get 1 1 b3 3 1 or TT 4 b3 1 b3 to work vs. TT 4 b3 3 1.

"TT" by the way is just faster(it just means a Tritone) and more accurate for me. I tend not to say b5 and #4, which are are really different colors because they are measuring from more than one place.

Hope I shared a useful idea.

Ken,

Can you explain what you're saying a little more clearly?

I don't understand your point about b3 wanting to resolve itself to 2 or 3. A melody based on a blues scale doesn't require either of those resolutions.

How can a 3 take on the attributes of a b2?

I also don't get the examples you're counterposing to each other.

Cheers,
Jer

[Ken Valentino]

Here's a link to a YouTube video I just did. I hope it clears up some things. I know my language/labels can be different. I apologize for that.

http://youtu.be/OYyRm1Ud8Ic

[engelbach]

Originally Posted by Ken Valentino

Here's a link to a YouTube video I just did. I hope it clears up some things. I know my language/labels can be different. I apologize for that.

http://youtu.be/OYyRm1Ud8Ic

It sounds to me as if you're tonicizing either b3 or 3. But I can't really tell if it works in the absence of a chordal background.

[Jay Norem]

All he's doing is trying to play a basic blues lick, as far as I can tell.

[Ken Valentino]

Originally Posted by engelbach

It sounds to me as if you're tonicizing either b3 or 3.

"Tonicizing" can almost mean what I was doing with b3. The 3 sounding resolved however was because of the key becoming more obvious.

Why I don't use the word "Tonicizing" is because of a couple of reasons:

1) It is based on what notes are played. "These notes are this key" kind of thinking. I've come to realize over the years that any tendency has the potential to create a "Tonic".

2)I've also come to realize that the ear can perceive multiple measurements as long as it has the space to do so. Notice that the E I'm playing low still sounds like my key, even though I'm creating an additional 1 on the G. If I go high to create a new measurement, then I'm creating an "Extension".

Even in a simple Maj7 the root can sound different (more tense) up high. The usual argument is that it's a voicing issue, which works if we're playing chords. My point is even with no simultaneous notes, if down low 7 is resolving to 1, but up high 1 wants to go to 7, then I need to know that. If we label these the same and they do opposite things how can we predict what it will sound like.

To me if 1 is resolving to 7, then I've placed my measurement stick in the wrong place. I'm probably extending on 3 if its darker or 5 if its brighter.

Originally Posted by engelbach

But I can't really tell if it works in the absence of a chordal background.

As far as "working", it works because I knew what every note in that example was going to sound like, even though I was improvising.

Where we usually get messed up is when a note doesn't sound like what we thought it would. One of the main reasons this happens is because our ear has changed its 1 or added a 1.

[Ken Valentino]

Originally Posted by Jay Norem

All he's doing is trying to play a basic blues lick, as far as I can tell.

Please watch the video again. I think maybe you misunderstood what I was trying to accomplish. I was in no way trying to show how "well" I can play. Maybe I'll do that in a future video if that's what you're into.