Mary Halvorson and Phish

What is a band?  For three nights in July my two favorite musical artists had overlapping residencies in New York city.  July 21, 22 and 23, 2017, guitarist Mary Halvorson was playing the last half of her six night stint at the Village Vanguard, while on those same dates Phish was starting their 13 night Baker's Dozen run at Madison Square Garden.  I didn't go to either event.  But that's not really the point.

I have seen Phish 60 times over the last 23 years.  They've been my favorite band from 1994 until now.  That has remained constant.  What has varied over the years is how I listen to and view Phish compared to other musical artists.

In my  20's, when I wasn't listening to Phish or the Grateful Dead, I still wanted to listen to some of the tumble-down bands associated with the jamband genre, including moe., Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band and Sector 9.  In my 30's, indie-like bands such as My Morning Jacket, Dr. Dog and Ween got in line behind Phish.  Now, in my 40's, I'm not really looking for the next band to really get into, and Phish has only increased the distance between themselves and the other standbys.

With so many places to hear and consume music, both old and new, I do probably listen to a wider variety of stuff now than ever before.  Definitely heavy on jazz and older, ethnic folk music.  However, it's also easier now than ever before to simply listen to Phish, with access to so much of their live shows online.  Phish plus everything else.  With one exception.

Around 2013 to 2014 I started checking out a little known New York-based avant-garde guitarist named Mary Halvorson.  Her angular, unsettling playing requires some major recalibration of the ears, but I stuck with it and have been slowly delving deeper and deeper into her surprisingly vast and constantly expanding output ever since.  (Her discography includes 40+ albums findable on Spotify plus many more through other sources).

Phish's complex compositions and inclination toward 20+ minute improvisations helped prime my senses for something really out there, and Mary Halvorson stepped in and opened a door I didn't even know was there.

Where Phish has a whole community surrounding it, Mary seemingly has none of that baggage. Phish you can at least peg as being a form of "rock".  It's difficult to tell what Mary Halvorson is.  Experimental jazz is the closest term we have to encapsulating her untethered creativity, but I don't think it can be branded.  She's more about practicing her instrument than marketing her product.

Poster art, performance art, phan art, inside jokes, engaged online forums, a killer light show, setlist analytics, "Shakedown Street", goo balls, parking lot scene, bootleg t-shirts, blissed out jams, audience participation, hippie white person dancing, and more are all part of the Phish experience.  With Mary Halvorson I don't know that you even get a sticker.  She sits there on stage looking at a music stand that has some sort of written notation on it that helps elicit the unmistakable sounds coming out out of her guitar to her amp.  No frills.  No negative bias from critics.  No preconceived guidance.

Phish can go to deep outer space and bring a crowd of 20,000 right along with them, but Mary's music seems bent on shaking off even the most ardent, or not even concerned with that at all.  It's a totally different set of emotions being triggered when I listen to her music.  Both have their faults: Phish and their predictable tension/relief peak jams; Mary Halvorson and the when-in-doubt revert to noise and call it free jazz card.  But hey.

There is no connection between the two, other than both seem like the culminations of pathways that can lead forward or backward.  They aren't stopping points along the way.  They are the journey and the destination.  Still, Amazon is not going to recommend one if you like the other.  You're not going to hear Mary Halvorson on the Jam_On channel.  The connection I'm making is based on the appeal they each have to me.  Basically, I just typed the words "Mary Halvorson and Phish" in the post title and then had a blank screen below that needed some more words, a couple images and a couple videos.

Anthony Braxton's Compositions Are Interconnected

It may be easier to appreciate his ideas than than the actual music it stimulates, but I remembered reading or hearing that the works of composer/creative musician Anthony Braxton are all somehow inter-related, so I just now (couldn't sleep) looked into that for clarification and found this manifesto: http://www.restructures.net/texts/Braxton-IntroCatalogWorks.htm

Anthony Braxton 

After quickly reading this, I understand the core of Braxton's musical philosophy to be:

• His compositions connect together.  Shorter pieces can be merged with larger compositions and segments from one work can be mixed and matched or embedded into other works.  Individual sections can be isolated and multiplied (used repeatedly) by itself or with other structures.
• The music can be played by any instrument or instruments.  Solo parts can be interpreted by orchestras, and vice versa.  Compositions can be disrupted and re-sequenced or re-envisioned to suit any combination of musicians.
• Tempos, pacing and volume dynamics are relative. The way something might have been written or recorded is not intended to be the only option.  It can be fast/slow, loud/quiet...every option is open to each performer's interpretation.
• This music can be played too correctly (AKA "wrongly"), as opposed to incorrectly (which is actually "correctly").  This freedom is meant to enhance creativity, not suppress it.  Mistakes are meant to be made with the materials.
• A loose understanding of the materials or structure may be better than lots of rehearsals or advanced preparation.

This is all very interesting.  I've had similar thoughts and inclinations, which is why I've been shifting farther and farther away from music that feels like it requires strict rules by definition.  You certainly couldn't impose Braxton's approach onto traditional Irish music where tunes are typically played at relatively standardized speeds, with specific rhythms, and a common understanding of how many times through they should be played.  A jig is a jig, a hornpipe is a hornpipe, a reel is a reel, on down the line.  That music serves a different purpose, which is fine.

And you really couldn't do it with, say, the music of Phish or the Grateful Dead and still be doing that type of music justice.  As an amateur musician with unexceptional abilities, I can learn certain basic bits like the vocal melody line to Phish's Guyute, but it'll always feel incomplete if interpreted as a bare bones solo piece minus all the intricate sections that go along with it.  For me, I need music that is open to the freedom that a philosophy like Braxton's allows for; music that - with good conscience - can be removed from stylistic barriers without anybody getting too butt hurt about it.

It kind of reminds me of Leaves of Grass, in a way.  In an attempt to continually express his outlook on life, didn't Walt Whitman view Leaves of Grass as an ongoing, life-long work that united all of his poetry into one constantly evolving whole? Now, I don't know if you can chop up the poems in Leaves of Grass and reassemble them in a William S. Burroughs sort of way, but maybe you can.

Jerry Garcia Guitar Solos

If you want to plunge into Jerry Garcia's guitar playing, spring 1977 is a good place to base this study.  Jerry's playing was about as pristine, inspired and melodic as it ever got during this period.  Many of the Grateful Dead's best songs were already written by '77 and in the active repertoire.  Last Saturday I put together an ear-training playlist consisting of just the Jerry solo breaks from live recordings of over 30 Grateful Dead songs.  The idea is to have something to listen to, learn from, and play along with.

Jerry Garcia 1977 - photo by Rob Bleestein

The melodies to these Grateful Dead songs are very familiar to me and each one is distinctive and instantly recognizable.  Sometimes I slowed down these snippets to 85% of the speed but didn't change the key.  With a little bit of work I feel as though I could figure out the basic melodies to pretty much any of them, and then start to fill in around that based on things I might take away from what I hear Jerry doing.  The way Jerry fills out an otherwise sparse melody is of great interest to me.
I limited my sources to what is on Spotify with my focus on shows from May 1977.

From the 5/19/77 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA I used China Doll, Looks Like Rain, Loser, Peggy-O, Ramble on Rose, Row Jimmy, and Terrapin Station (the instrumental part after "strategy was his strength and not disaster").  From 5/21/77 at Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland, FL comes Bertha, Brown Eyed Women, Comes A Time, Fire on the Mountain, Jackaroe, Scarlet Begonias, and St. Stephen (intro).  The 4/30/77 show at the Palladium yielded Deal, GDTRFB and Stella Blue.  By poking around on Spotify I found a few other stragglers such as Franklin's Tower (5/22/77), Friend of the Devil (5/18/77), It Must Have Been the Roses (11/5/77), and Uncle John's Band (9/29/77).

After all that there were some more songs I was looking for that I couldn't find on the 1977 shows available (some weren't written yet) so I had to expand the search.  These include Been All Around this World (1980), Black Muddy River (1989), Crazy Fingers (1975), Deep Elem Blues (1982), Dire Wolf (1973), High Time (1980), Mission in the Rain (1976), Ship of Fools (1974), Sing Me Back Home (1972), Stagger Lee (1978), Standing on the Moon (1989) and To Lay Me Down (1974).

The uniting thing about each of the solos is that they are loose, melodic breaks based on the structure of the songs.  Some of them are traditional songs that the Grateful Dead added their unique touch to, and the rest are originals that seem directly evolved out of traditional music - like taking the same basic folk music concepts and adding one or two new levels to it.  This gives me another option when playing tenor banjo.

Secret Keeper (Mary Halvorson and Stephan Crump) Friday, November 6, 2015 Richmond, VA

LOCATION UPDATED (and revealed) for the Secret Keeper "House" Concert on Friday, November 6, 2015 at 7PM in Richmond, VA!

This was originally supposed to be a house concert with very limited space but it has been moved to Good Shepherd Episcopal Church at Forest Hill and 43rd Street in Richmond, VA - a still intimate venue but one that will allow more people to attend.  There's a $10 to $20 suggested donation.

You might be thinking "experimental, challenging, freely improvised, modernly avant-garde compositions in a house of worship???"  (Actually, isn't there a history of free-improv within the church organ community?).  However, even as a non-religious person I know one thing:  I'll be worshiping some Mary Halvorson!!!  There is a guitar god.  Seriously though, this'll more than likely be a good room for appreciating this complex yet beautiful music.

Secret Keeper - Stephan Crump and Mary Halvorson

Secret Keeper is Mary Halvorson, guitar and Stephan Crump, bass. Mary Halvorson has been described as "the most future-seeking guitarist working right now" (Lars Gotrich, NPR.org), "the most impressive guitarist of her generation" (Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com) and "my current favorite musician" (me!). Grammy-nominated bassist/composer Stephan Crump is known for his work with mainstream jazz luminaries, downtown explorers, singer/songwriters and more, and is a long-standing member of the esteemed Vijay Iyer Trio.

Together as Secret Keeper, Mary and Stephan create something akin to improvisatory chamber music. Stephan says, “Mary and I each have extremely varied influences within music and beyond…we’re not trying to bar any of these influences from the music we create together, nor are we concerned with genre in any way”.  Anyone who enjoys art, experimentation, and virtuosic musicianship should try to attend. 

A $10-20 suggested donation will help pay for these top level New York-based musicians.

Secret Keeper
Friday, November 6, 2015 at 7pm
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Forest Hill and 43rd Street
Richmond, VA 23225

Know the Chords, Hear the Changes...or Not

In the 9 years that I’ve been playing music I’ve never fully believed in the concept of chords being a predetermined order of stacked notes that you then solo over. I don’t think I hear music this way, which may be why I was initially drawn to the single-note melodies of traditional Irish music despite having no cultural or social connection to that type of music. In Irish traditional music it seems that melody comes first and harmony/chords are a non-essential modern add-on.

Traditional Irish music is great, but I really want to play music that is not tied to any tradition, style or genre. Music that is completely free of those connections. So, then the question becomes how do you extend this concept of melody first into the realm of free improvisation?

For one thing I never know what the chords changes are to a song – I can’t really hear “right” from “wrong” in this way – and the idea of having to be aware of the chord changes and basing my selection of improvised notes on this knowledge seems restrictive. If I play a “B” note why does that have to be a G-major chord to meet someone’s idea of what sounds “good”? Couldn’t you pair that B note with the notes in a B-minor chord, or an E-minor chord, or any combination of notes that somehow complements that B note? And can’t you change it every time? 

Then I read about Ornette Coleman - the great melody writer and improviser - and how he had dispensed with chord sequences in his compositions and instead used melody as the basis for improvisation.  This gave him the freedom to take those melodies in any direction he wanted at whatever length, pitch and speed felt right.  Knowing about this makes me feel a lot better and when I listen to Ornette's music I hear something similar to what I have in mind or hoped could be done.

I won't pretend to even begin to understand what Ornette Coleman was doing or how he heard and interpreted music, but knowing that such an important figure in the history of jazz did not rely on predetermined harmonic structure gives me some confidence that you can effectively improvise melodically without concern for the underlying or implied chords.  Now I just need to find other musicians who want to practice this type of playing.  Hello?  Anyone?  Is there anybody out there?  Maybe an upright bassist or a cello player is reading this?  I'm sending out smoke signals.

  

Mary Halvorson on Reading, Interpreting and Improvising

Mary Halvorson

Jazz and Avant-Rock guitarist Mary Halvorson has quickly become one of my favorite musicians. Getting to see her play live for the first time last month as part of the Tomeka Reid Quartet - while sitting just a few feet away - helped solidify this growing appreciation and gave me a little bit better idea of how she does what she does.

Mary was working from written music on a stand. I happened to see one of the pages and what she was doing was way more abstract and varied than what could have possibly been written on the page, and yet she seemed to maintain her concentration on the notation even during long periods of free improvisation. I asked Mary about this process and this was her response.

“With Tomeka's music, there is quite a variety in how the compositions are structured. Some of the tunes are way more open, in which case I am reading less and interpreting more, and others are more highly structured. If you see me staring at the page, I might be reading or following a solo form to improvise over. However, it's just as likely that I might not be reading at all and my eyes just happen to stay focused on the page after I've finished the notated portion. This happens sometimes too.

But regardless of what I'm reading, I do try to let the composition guide the direction of the improvisation. Even if I'm not playing over a form, the written material that comes before and/or after is still integrated into improvisational sections. For me, this is what ties it together into a coherent piece of music and gives each piece its own identity.” (Mary Halvorson)

Notating Tunes as Numbers from the Major Scale

In David Reed's book Improvise for Real he uses a numeric method to notate melodies based on the major scale.  This method of writing out music doesn't require a key signature or sharps or flats; it sees all scales as relative, as equals. (The only time a sharp or flat is needed is when a note lies outside the major scale and is therefore "sharper" or "flatter" than the 7 notes of the major scale).

When you write out a melody this way it shows where the notes are found within the (universal) major scale, making it easier to play it in any key on your instrument.  It also allows you to notice patterns or commonalities that you might not otherwise notice when you segregate tunes by key.

For example, I noticed the occurrence of a sharpened 5th note in several of the Caribbean melodies I've been learning, especially those with a minorish sound.  This may be an indication of a dominant 3rd chord which creates tension that is ultimately released by the 6 chord (a minor chord), in much the same way that the naturally dominant chord (the 5 chord) creates tension that is then resolved when it goes to the 1 chord.  In other words, 5 is to 1 as 3 is to 6.

To provide an example of this numeric notating I have chosen Old Joe Clark because it is both simple enough and weird enough to be good fodder for analysis.  Old Joe Clark is what old-timers call a "modal" tune, which basically means that its tonal center is based on a note other than note 1 of the major scale.  However, the notes of the major scale are still 100% present in Old Joe Clark...it just places more emphasis on notes 2 and notes 5 of the major scale than note 1, as you can see in the numeric transcription below.

Old Joe Clark numeric transcription

The melody to Old Joe Clark begins with notes 2, 3, 4, 3 and 2, 1, 7 of the major scale.  If you were placing this in the G-major scale (which is where Old Joe Clark typically resides, believe it or not) those notes would be A, B, C, A and A, G, F#.  I interpreted the melody as starting on note 2 of the major scale because that interpretation allows for all the notes to lie within the major scale.  The height of the number shows whether the melody is going up or down.  As Reed says, this helps avoid confusion when the melody crosses the octave line.

The brilliant thing about notating the melody in this way is that it makes all keys relative, so with a little practice you could just as easily play Old Joe Clark in any of the 12 keys simply by knowing where the notes of each of the major scales fall - in any position - on your instrument.  I am thinking of adopting this notation method for many of the tunes I am learning.  It provides significant insight into the construction of melodies.

Review: Tomeka Reid Quartet featuring Mary Halvorson - 8/29/15 at Normals in Baltimore

Tomeka Reid

Sometimes the smallest shows are the best.  Like the one I saw last night in Baltimore.  137 miles each way just to see a free improv jazz group in a side room of a small indie book and record store.  It was a CD release show for the Tomeka Reid Quartet:  Tomeka Reid - cello, Mary Halvorson - guitar, Tomas Fujiwara - drums, and Jason Roebke - bass.  Part of the Red Room experimental music series at Normals Books and Records.  A $6 cover charge granted front row access to some incredible in-the-moment music making.

Admittedly, my main inspiration for going to this performance was because of the opportunity to finally get to see the New York based guitarist Mary Halvorson play live.  I have been obsessed with Mary's music for the last year or more and she's quickly become one of my favorite musicians.  I can't really describe what she does or how she does it or even why I love it so much, but it really resonates with my ears.

Since my friend and I had driven all the way from central Virginia and got there a little early, the concert organizers basically allowed us to sit wherever we wanted and I chose a seat directly across from where Mary would later be playing.  The green Line Six Delay Pedal was a dead giveaway.  I was literally four feet away from her the whole set with a direct view of her fast moving fingers.  I was slightly concerned that the close proximity would be weird or uncomfortable but I don't think it was. Mary is used to this kind of attention.

Mary Halvorson

But, I digress because although my original intention may have been to see Mary, I was incredibly impressed by cellist Tomeka Reid.  This particular project is her quartet, after all.  In this incarnation she's the leader and composer of most of the material, and Tomeka excelled in this role.  I know there are some other jazz cellists out there but this was my first time seeing the instrument played in that style or at that level.  As an amateur hobbyist tenor banjo player, I definitely take an interest in cello technique due to the commonalities of 5ths tuning and longer scale length that both instruments share.

The music of the Tomeka Reid Quartet was equal parts chamber ensemble, classic jazz and freeform improv.  Every tune reached epic heights and touched on different themes and emotions - from light and airy to hard-hitting and heavy.  Having now listened to the CD they were celebrating, it's clear that they were being quite liberal with their interpretations of these compositions last night, treating them as living, breathing things and not some stagnant dots on a page.  It wasn't quite as free as, say Ornette Coleman free - there was always a foundation there - however, it did frequently branch out into some very intriguing experimentation, with a strong melody at the heart of each piece worth returning to.

I was already familiar with drummer Tomas Fujiwara through his work with Mary in the excellent Thumbscrew project with bassist Michael Formanek (who I think was in attendance).  Tomas (pronounced TOH-muh) was extraordinarily impressive.  It was obvious that he has tremendous training and discipline and knows his jazz chops and history, but Tomas has also found a way to be unique and be himself in a virtuosic manner.  I felt like I was seeing one of the world's best drummers in action (which I was), along with definitely one of the world's best guitarists and likely one of the best jazz cellists.

I haven't mentioned bassist Jason Roebke yet because his playing was somewhat beguiling.  Tomeka's cello already fills in a bottom end in a way, so Roebke's bass has to plunge deeper to find its place, which he did successfully for the majority of the set.  The only time Roebke lost me was when he went on one of his particularly out there solos which were quite radical even in this setting.  Not being familiar with his playing at all, I wasn't always sure what to make of it.  There was definitely an edginess there that the more I think about it the more I kind of like.  It kept you guessing, that's for sure.

Altogether, this was definitely the experience I was hoping it would be and more.  Driving up and back to Baltimore isn't exactly a casual night out.  We left about 2:30pm and chose to go the scenic route up 301.  An accident a few cars ahead at the crest of the two lane Nice Bridge over the Potomac from VA to MD caused an hour long setback as traffic came to a complete halt on the bridge high above the river and we waited for emergency crews to clear the way.  Then upon entering Baltimore we encountered massive football stadium traffic.  Fortunately the Waze app provided us with an alternate route for the last few hassle-free miles, although it did take us through neighborhoods straight outta The Wire.  Four and a half hours after leaving we were there!

We still had time to eat a huge, tasty meal at the nondescript Caribbean restaurant across the street and then scour the records for a few minutes in Normals.  I got some Satchmo, Duke Ellington and Tiny Grimes LPs, but the best find was Konono No. 1's "Congotronics" album.  That is some crazy music!!!  Lastly, I should mention that Baltimore organist Liz Durrette warmed up the crowd before Tomeka's set with about 20 minutes of solo improvisations filled with blue notes and creepy cartoon-like motifs.  That was pretty cool too.  And home by 2:30am for a full 12-hour adventure!

City Paper Article on Pedal Steel Improviser Susan Alcorn

From the macro to the micro.  As much as I love a band like Phish, who can fill up 20,000 seat sheds all across the country playing incredibly complex music for masses under the guise and convention of a rock concert, I also love the idea of the relatively unknown (or completely unknown) musical explorer who creates challenging and/or artistic music on a daily basis whether there is an audience there to hear it or not.

One such musician who is revered among lovers of improv and the avant-garde, but who is perhaps not well known outside of that community, is the Baltimore-based pedal steel guitarist and improviser Susan Alcorn.  I've only been aware of her music for a few months, but I've quickly gathered up most of all of her recordings that I can find.  Some of these include burned CDs that Susan made and signed herself.  Talk about DIY!

Alcorn's new album Soledad interprets the music of the Argentine tango composer and accordionist Astor Piazzolla.  Spoiler alert: chances are strong that this album will find its way onto my best of the year list.  It's the perfect music for a lazy Sunday morning.  I might be listening to it here shortly.  But first, I wanted to share a link to a well done feature from Baltimore's City Paper on Susan's music and the new album.  Please continue reading:  http://www.citypaper.com/news/features/bcpnews-one-to-tango-susan-alcorn-brings-her-pedal-steel-guitar-to-argentinian-tango-20150630-story.html

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Phish Type II Jamming

The majority of the music Phish plays is improvised in some way or another. Much of that improvisation follows the standards set by jazz and rock n’ roll where the soloists improvise within the chord changes and/or structure of the song of the moment. However, Phish will sometimes takes things a step farther - into uncharted waters - in what is called Type II jamming.

Essentially, a Type II jam is an improvisation that departs from the structure of the song from which it sprang. In Phish’s case this usually means that a new impromptu structure (keys, modes, rhythm, tempo, timing) is created along the way. This is not to be confused with “free jazz” or what the Grateful Dead called “Space” - music that is seemingly devoid of focus or a destination.

No, unlike free jazz or Space, you can isolate virtually any segment of a Phish Type II jam and, although you may not be able to identify which “song” it is, the music will still resemble a composition, albeit a spontaneously composed one. A Type II jam does not have to come out of a song itself, but Phish usually uses established songs as springboards for this type of exploration, and virtually any song in their repertoire has this potential.

Type II jamming is not exclusive to Phish, but they are certainly the best at it. For many fans it is that sense of the unknown – the risk/reward potential of this type of experimentation – that keeps them coming back for more. Most Phish shows will have at least one instance of Type II jamming where a listener might forget what song it is, but the great shows find a way to return to this undisclosed location again and again.

If Phish can turn this on or off like a faucet – and one tends to think they can – then the question becomes why are they so selective about when to do this? Do they not want it become formulaic or forced? By keeping the element of surprise intact / that feeling of suspense / that “anything can happen” attitude, then I suppose it makes it all the more special when they construct spontaneous masterpieces like the Riverport Gin, the Worcester Jim, the Nassau Roses Are Free or the Tahoe Tweezer.

The time has come for a group of talented improvisers who have studied the way Phish orchestrates their off-the-cuff compositions to focus exclusively on their own type of Type II jamming. Cut to the chase.  start there...get there...finish there.  Or would that be too much of a good thing?

Review: Improvise For Real by David Reed

My biggest takeaway thus far from David Reed's Improvise for Real (IFR) book is an unexpected one - the additional amount of fun that it's brought to playing an instrument!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed playing already, but Reed's method has added a new dimension to this practice.  A freer way.  A more complete understanding.  A doorway toward expression.

IFR is not instrument-specific and it's surprisingly non-technical, but it'll quickly have you performing things that are much more complex than they seem.  Some of the ways he looks at music seem revolutionary, yet at the same time it echoes and confirms an awareness I had already been cultivating on my own, while putting it into more concise, coherent terms.

His book contains simple exercises that have infinite potential.  Exercises that give you permission to experiment, to see what the possibilities are, to take risks, to just have fun.  You will get to know your instrument.  The way I interpret Reed's teachings blurs the line between practice and playing.  It has increased my desire to pick up my banjo every day and try something new.

The other thing I've realized from working with Improvise for Real is that it's not about the rush to get better or be in any kind of hurry at all.  It's about enjoying the moment.  I do feel like it is teaching me how to be a better musician.  More importantly, IFR has given me the power to create music now - right now - instead of waiting for some future time when I'm good enough.

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Cello Hand Shapes and Fingering Techniques for the Tenor Banjo?

The cello is tuned in fifths like a tenor banjo and has an even longer string length, so any reaches or stretches that a tenor banjo player has to deal with must certainly be more extreme on the cello, right?  For this reason I figured it wouldn’t hurt to research how cello players navigate the fingerboard of their instrument.

Based on what I found out, it seems as though cello players view the major scale in three note increments.  Unlike a mandolin, where you can reach 4 scalar notes on the same string without having to move your hand, on a cello you can only reach 3 scale notes in a row.  After playing those 3 notes you then have to decide if you’re going to shift and play the next three notes of the scale on the same string or on an adjacent string.

There are three different hand shapes or 3-note scalar patterns on the cello.  I've put it in my own words below, but this information is best explained in cellist Dave Haughey’s  Never-Ending Scale Exercise. 

Firstly, there’s X (whole + whole).  This is like playing notes 1-2-3, notes 4-5-6 or notes 5-6-7 of the major scale.  To play it you use the index finger, middle finger and pinkie with a fret spaced between each.  It’s a bit of an eXtension but is doable. 

Secondly, there’s 2 (half + whole).  This is like playing notes 3-4-5 and notes 7-1-2 of the major scale.  For this pattern you also use the index finger, middle finger (finger 2) and the pinkie, but there is no open fret between the middle finger and the index finger.

Thirdly and finally, there’s 3 (whole + half).  This is like playing notes 2-3-4 and notes 6-7-1 of the major scale.  For this pattern you use the index finger, ring finger (finger 3) and the pinkie without an open fret between the the pinkie and the ring finger.

Cello's Three Basic Hand Shapes - by Dave Haughey

On a GDAE tuned tenor banjo there’s a D-note on the 7^th fret of the 4^th string (G-string).  Using these cello fingering concepts, you might play a two-octave D-major scale by using Pattern X on the 4th string (frets 7-9-11 / notes D-E-F#), followed by Pattern X on the 3^rd string (frets 5-7-9 / notes G-A-B), followed by Pattern 2 on the 2^nd string (frets 4-5-7 / notes C#-D-E), followed by Pattern 2 on the 1^st string (frets 2-3-5 / notes F#-G-A), then shift up and play Pattern 3 on the 1^st string (frets 7-9-10 / notes B-C#-D).

There's so much more you can do with this and so many ways to think about it.  I encourage you to check out Dave Haughey's Never-Ending Scale Exercise that I linked to above because it does a good job of explaining some of the possibilities.

Two Octave Scales in Each of the Seven Modes:

Ionian = X-X-2-2-3

Dorian = 3-X-X-X-2
Phrygian = 2-3-3-X- X
Lydian = X-2-2-3-3

Mixolydian = X-X-X-2-2
Aeolian = 3-3-X-X-X
Locrian = 2-2-3-3-X

Ornette Coleman's Harmolodics

Sadly, most of what I know right now about Ornette Coleman I've learned only in the days since he died on June 11, 2015 at age 85.  I've been really impressed thus far with what I've heard and read in interviews with the forward-thinking jazz musician.  Always thoughtful and well spoken, he often says cool, cryptic things like "sound has no parents" and "let's play the melody, not the background".

A term that Ornette used to describe his musical philosophy is "Harmolodics".  From what I've been able to gather, it's an elusive concept that seems almost impossible to define in words or word sounds.  The following quote is perhaps Coleman's most clear and succinct attempt at describing it:

"Harmolodics is a base of expanding the melody, the harmonic structure, the rhythm, and above all the free improvised structure of a composition beyond what they would be if they were just played as a regular 2-5-1 structure, or if they were played with the concept of a melody having a certain arrangement to know when to start and stop."  (ORNETTE COLEMAN)

To get a better sense, I turned to Joe Morris' book - Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music. Morris devotes a chapter to Coleman's Harmolodic methodology.  Coincidentally, I had purchased this book just a few weeks prior to Ornette Coleman's passing.

Morris states that Coleman created a platform that was highly rhythmic and allowed for spontaneous melodic invention, but did not rely on notes that related to a specific chord, scale or harmonic line/progression.  His compositions were an open dialog in which the melody, rhythm and harmony were all in play and no one player had the lead.  Coleman's work encouraged an open kind of contribution from his collaborators and therefore he valued musicians with a personal style more than a "schooled" or "correct" one.

Of course, the best way to understand Coleman's music is by simply listening to it.

The Four Types of Chords - Major, Minor, Dominant and Minor-Flat-5

I have heard people say that there are only three – or maybe four – different types of chords (major, minor, dominant...) but I never really understood this until I started reading the book Improvise for Real by David Reed.  What I’ve written below is in my own words from my own perspective, but it’s based on what I am learning in David’s fascinating book. (anything said incorrectly is my doing!).

A Major Chord is like the notes 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 of the major scale.  (notes 4 – 6 – 1 – 3 also follow this same pattern).

A Minor Chord is like notes 2 – 4 – 6 – 1 of the major scale.  (notes 3 – 5 – 7 – 2 and notes 6 – 1 – 3 – 5 also follow this same pattern).

A Dominant Chord is like notes 5 – 7 – 2 – 4 of the major scale.

A Minor-Flat-5 Chord is like notes 7 – 2 – 4 – 6 of the major scale. 

this image has nothing to do with this article!

I like to think of these patterns as miniature scales to be plucked as single-notes, rather than as a stacked grouping of notes to be strummed simultaneously.  Within these chords are the intervals of a half step, a whole step, a minor third (a whole + half step) and a major third (a whole + whole step).

To get a better sense of the differences between these chords, play a G note on your instrument and assume that it is note 1 or note 4 of the major scale.  Now play notes G – B – D – F#.  That is the sound of a major chord.

Now play a G note on your instrument and assume that it is note 2, note 3 or note 6 of the major scale.  Then play notes G – Bb – D – F.  That is the sound of a minor chord.

Now play a G note on your instrument and assume that it is note 5 of the major scale.  Then play notes G – B – D – F.  That is the sound a dominant chord.

Now play a G note on your instrument and assume that it is note 7 of the major scale.  Then play notes G – Bb – Db – F.  That is the sound of a minor-flat-5 chord.

Does that make sense?

For the dominant chord you played G-B-D-F.  You can also play that arpeggio starting on different notes of the chord, such as B-D-F-G or D-F-G-B or F-G-B-D.  You can also in reverse/descending order: F-D-B-G.  Each of these inversions conveys the sound of the dominant chord.

Try applying this same inversion formula to the major, minor and minor-flat-5 chords.

YouTube Video Find: Medeski, Martin and Wood with Nels Cline - 2014 Cully Jazz Festival

This is a good find.  Pro shot, full set video of Medeski Martin and Wood with Nels Cline from 2014.  I don't think these guys play "songs" per say, but rather they just get on stage and jam, or free improv.  A great collaboration.  Click the image below to watch.

Some Thoughts on Musical Improvisation

I had to make a conscious effort to learn Irish music.  I had to initiate the conversation with it - as an art form not as a folk art.  I've only just begun this endeavor, really.  On the one hand it's a very specific medium with a very deep well of collective human consciousness at its core.  On a lighter note, Irish music has served as a gateway toward the act of simply playing notes on an instrument, which is something I might never have done without it.

The music I've always been drawn to as a listener is improvisational music.  There is some improvisation - AKA "self expression" - to be found in Irish music, but traditionally it stays within a fairly confined melodic structure.  The kind of improv I'm talking about is of a more open, unstructured variety.

The on-demand commercialized way we hear and consume music - on our smart phones, on Spotify, in a TV show, or movie or advertisement - is a recent phenomenon.  The music that makes it to the top of these queues is the stuff that's the easiest to digest; dumbed down to a point of easy comprehension for those needing to be impressed and entertained.

It used to be that the only music anyone ever heard was made live on the spot.  I want to get back to that earlier connection, that closeness, that people had with music.  And when you think about it , improvised music had to have been the first type of music.  It wasn't analyzed or codified until long after it was created.

Improvised music is free -- free of the restrictions of style, idiom or prescription.  Anyone can do it without even thinking about it, but I kinda want to study it, which is why I might start taking some lessons on improvisation.

In the meantime, bang on a can / pluck a string.  See what notes and tones want to be heard today.

Mining the Melody Part 2 - Transcription as a means of Composition

Yesterday I shared some information about Melody Mining - using things such as speech, rhythms and bird calls as sources for composing your own melodies.  Now that I'm starting to experiment with ear training, there's a long list of bands, styles and sounds that I'd like to utilize in this way.

For my first five or six years of playing music nothing was "by ear".  Everything I played was a melody straight from mandolin tab and/or sheet music (the "dots").  Ironically, since it was so easy to find the tab/dots to Appalachian fiddle tunes and Irish tunes - music traditionally played by ear - that this was the music I played.

But now I'm ready to try something completely different by attempting to write a new tune or short melodic piece every week for a year, which I plan on starting in late November.  I've been kicking around some ideas on how to do this, with the main idea being to simply transcribe melodies or take ideas from music that I like or find influential.

If I perfectly transcribe something, then great, I'm developing an important skill and I'll then use some formula or technique to purposely veer from that transcription in some way.  What is more likely, at least initially, is that my transcription will be very inaccurate so that I'll then have an "original" piece of music by default.  Either way, this will be great musical practice.

Here are some of the bands, sounds, styles and techniques I anticipate using as inspiration.  In any given week I will probably mix and match two or three of these ideas in an effort to meet the goal of writing a new tune every week for a year.

Phish - the music deep in their jams and in some compositions
Medeski, Martin and Wood - grooves
Laika and the Cosmonauts - surf rock melodies
Bill Frisell - jazzy original compositions
Amiina - dreamy, earthy Icelandic music
Uakti - dreamy, earthy Brazilian music
Chapinlandia - Marimba Music of Guatemala
Camper Van Beethoven - they have some catchy instrumentals
Bela Fleck's Throwdown Your Heart Africa Sessions
Sound Tribe Sector Nine - I love some of their hooks
Tommy Guerrero's Lifeboats and Follies CD - funky
AfroCubism - merger of music from Mali and Cuba
Raymond Scott - early electronic music, cartoon-like
Moondog - avante-garde composer
Newband/Harry Partch - more avante-garde
Arvo Pärt - Tintinnabuli technique
Carlos Chavez: Xochipilli - An Imagined Aztec Music - "native" Aztec music
Elena Moon Park "Rabbit Days and Dumplings" - folk and children's songs from China, Tibet, Taiwan, Japan and Korea
Ratatat - electronic music
The Dr. No soundtrack - 1960's islandy music
Augustus Pablo - melodica reggae
Tin Hat Trio - eclectic chamber jazz
Tortoise - sections of their compositions
West African Highlife music
Biguines from Martinique (Eugene Delouche, Alphonso Et Son Orchestre)
Field Recordings from the Seychelles (Anse Boileau Kamtole Band)
Illy B eats - drummer Billy Martin's series of dance-hall beat CDs
Peruvian psychedelic music - cumbias and chicas like the ones played by Juaneco Y Su Combo
Haitian Voodoo rhythms and melodies
Dutch Immigrant songbook - using melody lines in book
Japanese flute music and scales
Klezmer music scales
Writing a "mixolydian rag"
Ice cream truck music
The solo from song So Much Blood by The Sadies
"How to play like Jerry Garcia" style YouTube videos
High Country Guitar blog
Field Book of Wild Birds and their music - sheet music transcriptions of bird calls
French phrase book - making melodies from the sounds of these phrases
Caribbean drumming styles CD - rhythms
Adding music to song lyrics I wrote many years ago
Melody mining from abstract "poems" also written many years ago

That last reference to poems alludes to an abstract writing exercise I sometimes do where I fill up an entire page with a cryptic flow of words (see linguistic photo examples).  This writing exercise calls upon my language vocabulary and is all about the act of creation with little or no concern for the quality or coherence of the result.  I intend to call upon this writing experience as I extend it to the realm of a musical vocabulary.

Linguistic improv example 1

Linguistic improv example 2

You might have noticed that there's little or no Oldtime, bluegrass or Celtic type music on the above list of potential tune sources.  I want to break free of such form and structure by pursuing melodies that have no ties to a predetermined genre, style or "tradition".  However, the Irish/Oldtime foundation will still be there because I really dig the AA/BB melodic (not chord based) nature of traditional tunes and will probably (loosely) work out of that format as part of this experiment.

I am waiting until around Thanksgiving to kick-off this project because I just started the free online Berklee College of Music MOOC on Jazz Improvisation, taught by Gary Burton.  I expect this class to be difficult and time consuming, so I'm going to wait until it ends five weeks from now.  Hopefully I'll have also learned some things in that class which can help me with this next project.

Melody Mining - Songwriter Tips (Archived Content)

A few weeks back I came across a Songwritertips.com blog post on Melody Mining.  I've been meaning to create my own entry on this topic, where I highlight some of the main points and then link to the actual article.  However, I just checked and it appears that the original post has been taken down.  I was able to find the cached content, so instead of writing a summary and to help preserve the actual info, which i found to be very interesting and helpful, I'll just re-blog it in-full here in the words of the original author, along with his video at the bottom.  See below. 

Melody Mining

I have this technique called Melody Mining, that’s just great for pulling melodies out of the air we breathe.  Basically what we’re going to do is look at the words we use for melodic inspiration. If you listen to the way you speak, there are notes and rhythms hiding inside of them. All you have to do is…Start listening and you’ll be Digging for gold!
If you know what you’re listening for, you’ll always have endless, endless sources for melodies.
So what’s so good about Melody Mining?

It's Natural

First of all, its extremely natural sounding. If you write your melodies based on the way that human beings speak, it's going to sound real; it's going to sound like someone talking.

It's Easier to Sing

It's a lot easier to sing melodies written from Melody Mining because generally you’re not going to be saying sentences in any way that your vocal chords aren’t used to. You’re not going to be throwing crazy Celine Dion notes into the way you speak. If you’re going to write melodies based on the way you talk, it's going to be very simple to sing.

It Resonates

Melody Mined Melodies resonate with people. The idea is that you’re speaking from your heart – you’re saying words that you actually use in your real life. When the listener hears a melody that sounds like something that someone actually says in real life it has a better chance to touch them deeper.

It Communicates

If you’re taking melodies from actual human speech, you’re going to be singing the listeners' language, and they’re going to be able to hear what you’re trying to say.

Melody is 90% Rhythm and 10% Notes

I have a theory (that maybe not everybody subscribes to) that really helps me as I write my melodies. I believe that what comprises a melody is 90% the rhythm and just 10% the notes.  The thought behind that is there are only 12 notes (and if you’re sticking to a chord, its going to be even fewer) so there are only a limited number of original combinations to choose from. You only have a defined number of patterns notes that you can create out of notes.

Rhythm is Infinite

But there are infinite combinations of rests and beats that you can use. Its easier to be original in a place where patterns are infinite. So, if you’re thinking about creating original melodies – the bulk of your effort is going to be spent focussed on creating original rhythms.  And that’s what’s so great about Melody Mining!  You’re pulling melodies from natural rhythms. If you listen to people speaking around you, there are tons and tons of natural rhythms to base your melodies on.

When to use Melody Mining?

Melody Mining is great for when you’re stuck. When you have no idea where to go with your rhythm – go have a conversation with someone, go hit up Youtube (see video for examples) – and just listen to the natural melodies.

This is also very useful if you write your lyrics before your melodies. If you have a giant page of lyrics, this is a great way to write your melodies. If you can say the words out loud and listen to the way you’re saying them – the melodies will just write themselves.

It's also really good for beginners starting to learn to write melodies. When you’re first starting out with songwriting, it's all about just getting something on the paper – throwing something out there. This is a really great way to just get started.

How To Do It

Lets say you don’t have any lyrics written.  You’ve got your chord progression, but you are totally at a loss for melodies….
1. Hit up YouTube for some natural inspiration.
Search for professional speakers, rappers, baby videos, or bird calls. You can hear melodies anywhere if you’re looking for them.  (I particularly love getting inspired by hip hop. All a rapper has to work with is rhythms – they’re not really hitting any notes. All the creativity in rap is in the rhythm.)
2. Pick a small phrase to focus on.
It doesn’t matter what you pick. Just pick the first thing that sticks out.
3. Repeat it over and over.
Try to crank up the emotion in your voice, over enunciate the words.
4. Try to mimic the phrase musically.
Play along with your words with your piano or guitar. Try follow the phrase – if it goes up, pick a higher note. Just do you best color the phrase with notes.

Check out the video to see me doing it live and try it right now for yourself!

I particularly like his suggestion of listening to bird calls for inspiration!

DVD Review - The Guitar Player's Guide to Improvisation by Tim May and Dan Miller

I like checking out instruction books designed for instruments other than the instrument(s) I play to see things from a different perspective and to better grasp the universal nature of music.  It was for those reasons that I ordered some Flatpicking Essentials books from Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.  With those books came a DVD called “TheGuitar Player's Guide to Improvisation – An Approach to Improvisation” which – until a few days ago – had remained unopened.

Recently I’ve been getting a hankering to jam out on Jerry Garcia and Gillian Welch songs, so a tutorial addressing the concept of plucking something other than the straight “vocal-line” melody is something I could use.  Prior to watching this DVD my attempts at improvisation felt like flailing in water over my head, never sure where to land.  After watching this DVD just one time through I suddenly had a firmer understanding of how one might approach improvisation.

On the DVD, the talented flat-picker Tim May and Flatpicking Guitar magazine editor Dan Miller teach what they call “fake it until you make it”.  Tim and Dan's belief is that even beginners should be working on improvisation skills and that anyone can improvise a solo, even with no previous experience with improvisation.  As a mandolin/tenor banjo player, I kept waiting for things to come along that were too guitar-oriented, but for the most part the concepts they covered apply to any melody instrument.

Tim and Dan are noticeably cautious when discussing things that could be construed as music theory, out of deference to folks who may be hostile to that philosophy.  They do use some terms such as “targeting the third” so a little theory understanding is needed and expected, but if you pay attention and follow along you shouldn’t have any trouble comprehending everything they are going over.

Tim May

A lot of instructional DVDs start off overly simple, then jump to overly complicated real quick.  Tim and Dan have a way of keeping things uncomplicated throughout, but never to the point of feeling dumbed down.  The fact that they manage to make an esoteric concept – improvisation – understandable is quite an accomplishment.

Topics discussed include:

The scale notes that best fit over diatonic (of the key) chord progressions.

How to employ those scale tones using techniques such as scale runs, folded scales, harmonized scales, and crosspicking.

How to target chord tones (the root, third and fifth) in your solo as the tune changes from one chord to another.

How to use techniques like phrasing, note articulation, and dynamics to make your improvisation fit the song while sounding interesting, engaging and tasteful.

It’s naïve to think that one DVD will make you a proficient improviser – only hours and hours of focused practice will really achieve this.  But, watching this DVD will certainly help you on your way toward that goal.  At the very least it will allow you to sit in at a jam session and “fake it until you make it”!