Question from Joel:

I have many jazz tunes id like to learn and play by ear on piano by transcribing. I have musical challenges transcribing complex harmonies, melodies and bass lines essentially songs in general. My question is,  how specifically should I listen to new material in order to transcribe it? 2, what should I be listening for? 3 how can I enhance the clarity of what am hearing (bass lines, complex harmonies & melodies) in order to hear exactly what to copy and play (transcribe) I can not hear and copy/transcribe in order to learn am frustrated how do I solve these musical challenges?

Answer from Martan:

Music theory must be “real”.  You can’t just learn it intellectually.  It is strongly suggested that you sing intervals.  Learn specific chord progressions in all keys and all inversions.  Learn to feel and identify all modes of every scale.  This will prepare you to transcribe difficult music.

Start transcription by identifying the bass line.  Then, transcribe the melody.  Those are usually easier to hear.  Finally, listen for the specific mode of each harmony.  I think it is better, and easier, to identify the mode than the chord.  Once you know the mode . . . then, label the chord.

This all comes down to your ability to hear pitches and recognize harmony.

Finally . . . be very specific transcribing rhythmic figures.

Start with easier transcriptions.

The “So What” Chord 3-4-4-4 (from top down) is the chameleon of voicings.  It can be a major, minor or sis chord depending on the root.  I think it is too limiting to think of only using the fifth in the melody.  My main way of using it is to think of the voicing from the top-down.

You create the Tritone Substitution by playing the 3 and b7 of a Dominant Seventh.  If you move the root a tritone away, the 3 & 7 have reversed.  For example:  G7  has a 3 (B) and b7 (F).  Db7 has a 3 (F) and b7 (Cb).  They are reversed.  This creates a similar, but different harmony.

Once you understand that, begin practicing the Tritone Sub Exercise (using the Turnaround).  To do this, we change all the chords to dominants.  For instance:  C7, A7, D7, G7 (I VI II V).  Do this in all keys.

Now . . . you can change any of the dominant sevenths to it’s Tritone Sub by moving the root a tritone away.  For instance:  instead of moving from C to A7 . . . . change the A7 to an Eb7 (by moving the root).  Therefore you now have two alternatives . . . the regular II and the tritone bIII.  You can also change the II chord and the V chord in the same manner. Continue reading →

Time is not a click.

by Martan Mann

Music is not about perfection.  It is about feeling.  Jazz, in particular is about groove.  It is groove which gives jazz it’s identity, it’s purpose, it’s joy.  You know groove when you hear it.  You know what it feels like.  The main issue is . . . how to develop a great groove in your playing?

I’m pretty sure that ALL great players practice to a metronome.  Practicing to a metronome develops an internal “click” in the player’s subconscious.  However the click is only a reference point.  If you have recorded your music, you, and all the players on the recording, have probably listened to a “click track” while recording.  All the players have the same reference point of time.

But this does not create a groove.  The groove is a point of “off-ness”.  Being “off” of the click of the metronome creates emotion.  If the player simply attempts to duplicate the metronome click, the music is “groove-less”.  It won’t swing.  It won’t have the required emotion.

I think of “time” as a pressure, not a click.  It feels like water coming out of a hose.  It is continuous.  It never “let’s up”.  Once you have identified this pressure (I often feel it in the small of my back), then identify with it.  The pressure is not dependent upon what you are playing.  It is just “there”.  It is automatic.  It is constant.

How do you develop a particular groove?  (In fact, there are many different grooves in jazz.)

First, you have to specifically identify the groove you want to develop.  Is it a deep blues groove?  Or, maybe an intense “Chick Corea Groove”?  Perhaps it is a “Stan Getz Bossa Groove”?  You might be trying to duplicate an “Oscar Peterson Groove”?
Second, listen to a recording which exemplifies the particular groove you are trying to develop.  This is important:  sing the groove.  To sing the groove, don’t think about the chords or melodies.  Make up a scat language which sounds like the groove.  You don’t have to sing on pitch.  Just approximate the feeling and timing of the groove.

Third, you need to develop an accompaniment pattern to play with a simple chord change.  I often suggest using a diatonic turnaround, i.e.:  I, VIm, IIm, V7.  Play a looped pattern over and over as an accompaniment pattern.  For instance: you can use a simple “chunk, chunk” in the left hand, playing quarter notes.  Or, if you are more advanced, play a simple bass line.  Play this chord pattern over and over while singing the groove.  Perhaps, for example you can play a Boogie Woogie groove using a 12-bar blues.  Make sure the accompaniment pattern you choose is easy for you to play.

Once this is automatic, then start singing improvised simple melodies over your accompaniment pattern.  The sung melodies do not duplicate the groove.  You have to imagine that you are a singer or instrumentalist singing off of the accompaniment pattern.
Finally, apply this groove to an actual song.  Start by just learning the accompaniment and chord changes of the song.  Then, very slowly add in melody.  Adding in melody is a significant level of difficulty.  Remember not to play the melody as a groove.  The melody is separate from the groove.

Always return to the recording of the original groove that you are attempting to learn.  Keep reinforcing it in your subconscious.  Do it every day until the groove is permanently part of your subconscious language!

We have often been told that “music is the universal language”.  Another way to look at this is to consider music as a direct language of emotion.  It is an instant access into the subconscious of the listener.  It is powerful!

I’m not an expert on brain functions, but I’m fairly sure that the same center of the brain that allows to speak, converse, create and conceive is the same “language center” which allows us to improvise and compose music.  If that is true, we can directly improve our ability to improvise by learning music the same as we learn other languages.

I have some exercises which will develop your music-language skills. Continue reading →