Autumn Leaves & Blue Bossa

[ML94]

Hi guys

So for an upcoming audition I have to play autumn leaves and blue bossa. I have to show that I can walk on the swing track and be rhymically interesting on the Latin feel. This aspect is fine.

What I'm worried about is the solo part. I can pretty much solo over both by just using the key centres Gm & Cm but it dosent highlight the progression or 'make the changes'.
I've been on Scott's bass lessons about the arpeggios and that and have engrained all the arpeggios from the lowest to highest but I end up playing back into the key centre.
The only real times I hear the difference is when the tunes go from minor into relative major.

So I wanted tips, excercises, ideas , anything really that will let me overcome this wall. If you need a recording of my 'soloing' I can do that as well guys

[Hector]

How long do you have to prepare? Would be helpful to know - sometimes it takes a little while to get something you're practising into your playing.

Firstly, a 'a blanket scale' approach like that can be a perfectly valid improvisational tool.

If you want to make the changes, you need to hit focus on chord tones, and (as a rule of thumb) make sure to hit them on strong beats. Perhaps try soloing through each tune using only chord tones? This is a really solid foundation, and a fundamental tool. I can give you a few exercises for this if you're keen? Once you start to get used to that, you can try to focus on adding approaches to these chord tones (whether chromatically or from an appropriate chord-scale). There's a whole lot of rhythmic variation you can use to spice up these relatively simple ideas too. This will get you sounding harmonically accurate, and create a nice sounding solo without much need for any other flash business.

Two very important ideas that you should practise are: 1) Don't be afraid to leave enough space - in fact, this is necessary for a decent sounding solo. 2) Make sure each idea relates to the previous one - except for your first one, that needs to come out of the ether... 3) try to give your solo a logical flow

Another excellent thing you can do is to transcribe how the greats play over those tunes. Learn some of their lines and try to put them over any appropriate places in each tune. Make your own variations based on these lines, and learn them in all 12 keys. This process can take months to filter through into your playing though, so it depends how far away your audition is.

I don't think you necessarily need to playing something vastly complex and burning - so long as you bear in mind harmonic accuracy (harnessed by practising your chord tones) and keep an eye (ear?) on how you space your ideas and how they relate to one another.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM or ask on here if there's anything to ask about.


Edit: Here's a decent example of chord tone soloing over AL

[media]http://youtu.be/tSafDlc7d_g[/media]

Edited October 1, 2013 by Hector

[ML94]

Just to let you guys know, I have the audition early February of next year

[2wheeler]

I hope this won't seem disheartening but it strikes me that you probably just don't know the tunes well enough. Both have important modulations when they are not really in their "home" key centre. On the plus side, all you need to do is get to know them better and there you go!

So for Autumn Leaves, one exercise would be to make sure you play F# over the D7 chords, whatever else you are doing the rest of the time.

Best of all would be a few lessons but I don't know who you should go to in Birmingham.

[TheG]

Cool video link Hector.

[ML94]

Would you guys say its cheating if I do use a 'blanket' scale but on chords such as the F7, D7 and Amin7b5 outline them so there some difference in the solo. For me, once I use the main key scale, I kind of get bored of that sound =/

[ambient]

[quote name='ML94' timestamp='1380737543' post='2229841']
Would you guys say its cheating if I do use a 'blanket' scale but on chords such as the F7, D7 and Amin7b5 outline them so there some difference in the solo. For me, once I use the main key scale, I kind of get bored of that sound =/
[/quote]

What someone does in a solo is very subjective, you may like it but the guy who played might not. Play something that you like, Jaco used to compose his solo's, so just take your time and come up with something that you think covers all aspects ie outlining the harmony but interesting at the same time.

Don't get too complicated with it, remember it is an audition, I get really nervous in that kind of situation, so for me it'd be harmonically interesting but playable too.

[GonzoBass]

I could suggest that after you've learned the changes,
go back and learn the head.

Yes, it's in treble clef
but fortunately neither of these songs are a very difficult read.

People are often surprised to hear the bass playing the melody.

Plus in an audition situation,
it shows that you can read both clefs,
actually took the time to absorb ALL the information on the page
and learn the ENTIRE tune,
not just fake/improv your way through the changes,
leaving the rest up to "the other guy".

You may not want to play the melody as written the whole way through for your solo,
because you're suppose to be expressing your own ideas at the time
but it's nice to quote significant phrases
and it will give you melodic/harmonic ideas to build on.

(Hint: Throw your own licks in where there are whole notes during the melody)

I once read a quote from Ron Carter that said something like,
"If someone walks into the club in the middle of your solo,
they should still be able to identify what song you're playing."

Just my 2 pesos...



Some additional help here to get you started-

http://www.activebass.com/l23859--Autumn-Leaves

http://www.activebass.com/l18646--Blue-Bossa

Edited October 28, 2013 by GonzoBass

[ambient]

[quote name='GonzoBass' timestamp='1382982903' post='2258791']
I could suggest that after you've learned the changes,
go back and learn the head.

Yes, it's in treble clef
but fortunately neither of these songs are a very difficult read.

People are often surprised to hear the bass playing the melody.

Plus in an audition situation,
it shows that you can read both clefs,
actually took the time to absorb ALL the information on the page
and learn the ENTIRE tune,
not just fake/improv your way through the changes,
leaving the rest up to "the other guy".

You may not want to play the melody as written the whole way through for your solo,
because you're suppose to be expressing your own ideas at the time
but it's nice to quote significant phrases
and it will give you melodic/harmonic ideas to build on.

(Hint: Throw your own licks in where there are whole notes during the melody)

I once read a quote from Ron Carter that said something like,
"If someone walks into the club in the middle of your solo,
they should still be able to identify what song you're playing."

Just my 2 pesos...



Some additional help here to get you started-

[url="http://www.activebass.com/l23859--Autumn-Leaves"]http://www.activebas...--Autumn-Leaves[/url]

[url="http://www.activebass.com/l18646--Blue-Bossa"]http://www.activebas...646--Blue-Bossa[/url]
[/quote]

I'd use the head/melody as the basis of the solo, then develop the theme.

[lobematt]

You might want to check out these posts I've made on how Miles played Autumn Leaves =)

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220135-miles-davis-autumn-leaves/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220135-miles-davis-autumn-leaves/[/url]

[ML94]

I can't do it guys ! It's tearing my brain into pieces. Why on earth do I keep levitating to the root !!!

[ML94]

[quote name='lobematt' timestamp='1383063658' post='2259726']
You might want to check out these posts I've made on how Miles played Autumn Leaves =)

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220135-miles-davis-autumn-leaves/"]http://basschat.co.u...-autumn-leaves/[/url]
[/quote]

Love your stuff matt, I've subscribed and getting the autumn leaves stuff your working on, and for me it's a goldmine worth of info !

[Hector]

[quote name='ML94' timestamp='1383064822' post='2259760']
I can't do it guys ! It's tearing my brain into pieces. Why on earth do I keep levitating to the root !!!
[/quote]

Here's a quick one - go through the progression and sing one note out of each chord. It can be any note, [u]except the root[/u]. You can play them on your instrument at first to get it going, but the target is to hear it well enough to sing it without an instrument to hand.

[lobematt]

[quote name='ML94' timestamp='1383064881' post='2259763']
Love your stuff matt, I've subscribed and getting the autumn leaves stuff your working on, and for me it's a goldmine worth of info !
[/quote]

Thanks man glad you like it!