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Improvisation
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Tools
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Preface.......................................................................................... 4
BASIC TOOLS.............................................................................5
Tool 1: Minor 7 over diatonic major...............................5
Tool 2: Start to play arpeggios with the 3rddegree..........6
Tool 3: Play parts of the major scale..............................6
Tool 4: Use the "Jazzy" sounds6, 9, 3.............................6
Tool 5: 3 note chromatic approach to the 3rd and then 1
and 6...........................................................................6
Tool 6: Use the "Jazzy" sounds 3, 4, 6............................7
Tool 7: Use the "Jazzy" sounds of a minor 3, 7, 9, &
higher octave 3,4.........................................................7
Tool 8: Start to play arpeggios with the 5th degree.........7
Tool 9: Use 2 notes intervals of the diatonic chord.........7
Tool 10: 4th degree Dominant 7 arpeggio over a minor
chord...........................................................................8
Tool 11: Diminished arpeggio over a minor chord...........8
Tool 12: 6 to flat 3 and then 3,5, and major 7.................9
Tool 13: Major scale over a minor chord........................9
DOMINANT 7 TOOLS...............................................................10
Tool 1: Minor 6 or 7 over dominant 7 chord..................10
Tool 2: Minor over dominant 7 chord...........................11
Tool 3: Diminished over dominant 7 chord...................11
Tool 4: Mixolydian 9b/13b over dominant 7 chord.........11
Tool 5: Play the 7, b5, 9, 6 degrees..............................12
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Preface
This series of tools will give you the "building blocks" (i.e. Tools),
that you can use to build your improvisations. Simply use the
mind map system described at our forum, blog, and newsletters,
to build your improvisations in a creative way. Building your
improvisation using the mind map system is like creating a
blueprint for a house, you start on the foundations and then go on
to build the walls, the roof, etc.... Note that this tools, lesson
will be updated all the time as new lessons will be
published, so stay tuned and we will notify you on every
update.
After you will create one mind map for one of your improvisations,
the process will become easier as you do it again and again. The
final goal you should strive to achieve, is to be able to create the
mind map IN YOUR MIND and in real time and not on paper when
you have time to plan it before you actually use it. This is what
the master players do, they plan very quickly in their minds and
they change the tools they are using very quickly while choosing
the correct timing to use them in relation to the underlying
harmonic structure of the song / musical piece, that they are
playing. Use the tools in this lesson to create a mind map as
follows:
1.) Grab a piece of A4 paper and write the chords of the
progression, each chord
inside its own circle. Make sure to leave enough space
between the circles so
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that you will be able to add more circles around and between
them.
2.) Start to build the "story" of your improvisation. Start with the
beginning of the
story by using the BASIC TOOLS. You don't have to apply
some tool all the
Time, sometimes just play the same chord's arpeggio as you
see in the
progression of the song / musical piece, just make sure to play the
arpeggio in
an interesting way ,for example, by using some of the "jazzy
sounds" tools.
3.) Use a SPECIALSOUND TOOL from time to time ,to make the
story of your
improvisation more interesting.
4.) Use a TENSION AND RESOLVE TOOL right before a chord
change or when the
progression change from A part to the B (or any other shift from
some part to
the other). Or use this tools over a long progression of the same
chord like for
example in the "Huneysuckle Rose" song, this will create and
interesting
movement inside your improvisation.
5.) Use someDOMINANT 7 TOOL over a dominant chord.
BASIC TOOLS
Tool 1: Minor 7 over diatonic major
Over a major diatonic chord, for example A, E6, D6/9, G, etc...,
you can play the arpeggio, or parts of it, of a minor 7 chord that is
located 2 degrees BEFORE and AFTER the diatonic chord. The
related minor chord BEFORE has the same notes of the major
diatonic chord with the addition of the 6 degree. The related
minor chord AFTER has the same notes of the major diatonic
chord with the addition of the major 7 and 9 degrees. For
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example, over G chord , you can play the arpeggio, or parts of it,
of the E minor 7 chord Or B minor 7 chord. This tool can be
depicted graphically as follows (for example, in the G diatonic
chord):
=Em
E
=Bm
B
You can apply this tool in various ways , for example in the
"Honeysuckle Rose" lesson at 05:32 you can see how Paulus
starts to play over F major chord with F major 7 arpeggio and
then play over the D minor 7 arpeggio with a typical gypsy style
octave jump ending, the finish is on C.
Another example is in the "Django's Tiger" lesson at 02:31 and
24:04 when Paulus play the F# minor 7 arpeggio after playing A
major 7 arpeggio.
You can also apply this tool in a very interesting way when you
start to play an arpeggio (or part of it) of one of the related minor
chords and then end with the arpeggio (or part of it) of the
diatonic chord. For example in the "Honeysuckle Rose" lesson
at 04:36 you can see how Paulus starts to play over the A minor 7
chord's arpeggio and descends until the F and then end the
phrase with the F major 7 arpeggio, and the same at 10:38 with
Gminor 7 over Bb chord.
Note that when you apply this tool you should always end the
phrase you play on one of the degrees of the diatonic chord
because if you stay too long on one of the related chord's minor
arpeggios, the sound will tend to be more minor due to the
"minoric" relation between the notes of these arpeggios, so you
must make sure to keep the "majoric" sound in the ear of the
listener by ending on one of the degrees of the diatonic chord
(like you see in the example above from "Honeysuckle Rose"
lesson at 05:32, when the phrase ends on C which is the 5 th
degree of F chord).
Tool 2: Start to play arpeggios with the 3rddegree
Start to play many of your arpeggios over the 3 rddegree of the
underlying chord. For example, if the underlying chord is G
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diatonic chord, you can start over the note B.You can start on the
first degree in various ways, for example:
*Play an enclosure around the 3rd degree of the chord , for
example in
"Honeysuckle Rose" lesson at 03:42 when Paulus plays an
enclosure
Around the 3rd degree of the G minor chord (B).
*Start to play a half tone below the 3rddegree and then slide to (or
play) the 3
Degree.
*Start to play a trill with the 3rddegree and the 4thdegree and then
slide a half
tone back and play an enclosure.
*Play achromatic ascend or descend to the 3 rd degree. For
example "Honeysuckle
Rose" minute 9:53 when Paulus play a 3 note chromatic descend
to the 3rd
degree of the C minor chord.
Tool 3: Play parts of the major scale
Play parts of the major scale of the diatonic major chord. For
example in"Django's Tiger" lesson at 4:17 and 24:07 when
Paulus play on the A major scale, starting from E. Or in "Shiek of
Araby" lesson at 00:22 and 02:57 when Paulus is playing part of
the Bb major scale over the Bb6/9 chord and ends it with the 5, 3,
1 and 5 of the lower octave.
Tool 4: Use the "Jazzy" sounds M7, 6, 5 or M7, 5, 6
Play the major 7 sound in combinations with the 6, 9, 3 degrees
of the diatonic
major chord. For example in "Djangology" lesson at 00:45 when
Paulus play over a G major 7 arpeggio that ends with a major 7
(F#), 5th degree (D), and the 6th degree (E).
Tool 5: 3 note chromatic approach to the 3rd and then 1
and 6
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Play a 3 note chromatic approach to 3rd degree and then the 1st
degree and the 6th degree on a higher octave. For example, in
"Honeysuckle Rose" lesson at04:19 and 7:06 when Paulus play
over C7/9 chord. You can also apply this tool over dominant 7
chords and diatonic chords.
Tool 6: Use the "Jazzy" sounds 3, 4, 6
Use a combination of the 3, 4, 6 degrees of a chord you play
improvisation over. For example in "Django's Tiger" lesson at
05:00 and 24:08 when Paulus plays over A chord, a half tone
approach to the 3rd degree (C#) and an enclosure around the 4th
degree (D). Then a half tone approach to the 6 th degree (F#) one
octave lower and approach from half tone above the 3 rd degree
(C#).
Tool 7: Use the "Jazzy" sounds of a minor 3, 7, 9, & higher
octave 3,4
This tool sounds very good over a minor chord due to the fact
that the 9 of a minor chord is only a half step below the 3 rd
degree. For example, in "Nuages" lesson at 28:18 when Paulus
starts to play over A sharp minor 7 chord with a half tone
approach to the 3rd degree and then the 5th, 7th, and sliding from
the 9th degree to the 4th degree and then the 3rd degree on a
higher octave.
Tool 8: Start to play arpeggios with the 5th degree
This is the same idea as tool number 2 above, but with the 5 th
degree. For example, in "Honeysuckle Rose" lesson minute 5:56
when Paulus starting to play with a half tone approach to the 5 th
degree of the G minor chord, i.e. D.
4
2
=F7 (or
You can see the F7 or F7/9 contains the notes of the C minor
chord including the minor 3rd degree, 4th degree(F) and the 6th
degree (A). F7/9 = F, A, C, Eb, G. This is how your improvisation
will sound more creative and interesting when you play F7 or F7/9
instead of just the regular C minor arpeggio.
Tool 11: Diminished arpeggio over a minor chord
Due to tool number 10 above, you can also play the diminished 7
arpeggio that starts from the 3rd degree of the dominant chord
located on the 4th degree of the minor chord. But to make it easy
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to remember you can use the following rule: over a minor chord
you can play a diminished arpeggio that starts on its 6 th degree.
For example, on C minor chord you can play A diminished
arpeggio, on A minor chord you can play F# diminished arpeggio,
over G minor you can play E diminished arpeggio, over D minor
you can play B diminished arpeggio, over E minor you can play
C# diminished arpeggio, etc
The diminished arpeggio has the 6, 1(the root), minor 3 rd, and flat
5 degrees of
the minor chord.
A nice example of this rule is found in "Shiek of Araby" lesson at
09:32 when Paulus is playing F# diminished arpeggio over A
minor chord.
minor 3rd degree Eb, the 4th degree F, the 5th degree G, and the 6th
degree A. So you get the following beautiful sounds over the
minor chord:7th, 9th, minor 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
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DOMINANT 7 TOOLS
Tool 1: Minor 6 or 7 over dominant 7 chord
This is a very powerful tool that you can apply a lot when you
play over dominant 7 chords. Over a dominant 7 chord, for
example G7, D7/9, A13, E7/9, etc... , you can play the arpeggio, or
parts of it, of a minor 6 or 7 chord that is located 5 degrees AFTER
the dominant chord. This tool can be depicted graphically as
follows (for example in the G7 dominant chord):
1
=Dm6 or
For example, according to this tools, you can play Bm6 over E7
chord, Em6 over A7 chord, Am6 over D7 chord, Gm6 over C7
chord, etc...
The related minor 6 chord has notes of the dominant 7 chord, but
with the addition of the 9th degree. For example, D minor 6 has
the notes D, F, A, B, so you can see that the 7 th degree F of G7
chord is here, and also the 3rd degree B of G7 chord, is here, and
the 9th degree A, of G7 chord, is here to give the special 9 sound.
And if you play the 7th of the D minor 7 chord, you'll have the 4th
degree that gives the 11th sound (it sounds good, try it).
You can see this tool applied, for example, in "Honeysuckle
Rose" lesson at minute 11:36 when Paulus play D minor 7
arpeggio over the G7 dominant chord.Or in "Honeysuckle Rose"
minute 11:57 when Paulus play G minor 7 arpeggio over the C7
dominant chord.Another beautiful example of this tool is found in
the "Django's Tiger" lesson at 06:05 and 24:11 where Paulus
plays B minor 7 over E7/9 chord and sharp B minor 7 over E#7/9
chord.
Note that the minor 6 chord is the same as the half diminished (or
minor 7 flat 5 chord) located on the 3rd degree of the dominant
chord. In the example above, Bm7b5 located on the 3 rd degree of
G chord(B) is the same as the Dm6 chord.
This tools sound good when the next chord in the progression is a
major or dominant chord.
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Note that when you apply this tool you should always end the
phrase you play on one of the degrees of the dominant 7 chord
because if you stay too long on one of the related dominant 7
chord's minor 6 arpeggio, the sound will tend to be more minor
due to the "minoric" relation between the notes of these
arpeggios, so you must make sure to keep the dominant 7 sound
in the ear of the listener by ending on one of the degrees of the
dominant chord (like you see in the example above from
"Honeysuckle Rose" lesson at 11:36, when the phrase ends on
B which is the 3rd degree of G7 chord).
Tool 2: Minor over dominant 7 chord
Over a dominant 7 chord, for example G7, D7/9, A13, E7/9, etc... ,
you can play the arpeggio, or parts of it, of a minor chord that is
located 1 degree (or one tone) BEFORE the root of the dominant
chord. For example, you can play F minor over G7, Bb minor over
C7, D minor over E7 , etc...
For example in "Nuages" lesson at minute 35:01 when Paulus
play F minor arpeggio over G7chord. The minor arpeggio has the
flat 9thdegree of the dominant chord, its 7th degree and 4th degree.
This tool is usually applied with the minor triad but you can try to
add the minor 6 or experiment with other sounds of the minor
chord. Another beautiful example is in "Nuages" lesson at 51:27
when Paulus plays A minor 6 arpeggio over B7 (or F# half
diminished chord, which is B7/9).
Tool 3: Diminished over dominant 7 chord
Playing a diminished arpeggio over a dominant 7 chord, includes
the Flat 9th degree of the dominant 7 chord. You can start to play
the diminished arpeggio from the 3rd or 5th or 7th , or flat 9th
degrees of the dominant 7 chord. This tools usually sounds good
when the next chord in the progression is a minor chord. For
example in "Hungaria" lesson at 00:21 when Paulus plays a
diminished arpeggio over E7 chord.
Tool 4: Mixolydian 9b/13b over dominant 7 chord
Play the Mixolydian 9b/13b scale or part of it over a dominant
chord. It is easier to find the related harmonic minor scale to know
on what scale you should play. The Mixolydian 9b/13b related
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progression
Play a phrase to create anticipation for the next chord in the
progression.
A beautiful example of this tool is found in the "Hungaria" lesson
at 00:38 and 7:21 when Paulus plays over some of the G major
scale and in the last 4 beats of the G chord he plays a diminished
arpeggio starting with G#. This creates anticipation to E7 chord
that comes next in the progression. It also creates tension that
resolves over the E7 chord.
Another nice example for this tool is in the Sheik of Araby
lesson at 00:33:27 and 07:53 when Paulus plays over some of the
Bb major scale, and in the last 2 beats of the Bb chord he plays a
diminished arpeggio starting with B. This creates anticipation to
G7 chord that relates to the C minor that comes next in the
progression. Check out the Mixolydian b5b13 lesson at our web
site to understand this relation.
Tool 4: Play a diminished 7 arpeggio over the same flat
diminished chord
When the progression of the song or musical piece, is for example
as in Sheik of Araby, Bb over D, Db diminished, Cm7. You can
play in your improvisation over the Bb arpeggio and then a D
diminished arpeggio(instead of Db arpeggio), and finish
over C minor 7 arpeggio.
The reason for this is that the transition from Bb to Cm can be
done in 2 ways:
1.)
Going DOWN from D (in the base of the Bb over D
chord), to Db (in the base of the Db diminished chord) and
then end over C (in the base of the C minor chord).
In this case you can use Db diminished arpeggio to
transition to the C minor chord.
2.)
Going UP from D (in the base of the Bb over D chord),
to D by playing the D diminished (and NOT the Db
diminished), and then end over Eb (in the base of the
inversion of the C minor chord i.e. C minor over Eb =
Cm/Eb).
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=Cm
C
Db
Diminishe
d
Db
D
Diminishe
d
Bb/D
Going
DOWN
Going
UP
=Cm
Eb
b
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