Am I the Last Person to Realize This About Ornithology? ๐ท
Published 7 months agoย โขย 3 min read
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Reader,
Ornithology is the study of birds. And the tune Ornithology was written by Charlie "Bird" Parker.
I'm ashamed I didn't put that together until this morning. Seriously, how did I get through music school without learning this essential piece of jazz trivia?
Every week I get an email from someone who's taking the 7-day soloing challenge complaining that these concepts are "too basic." And I have to sit them down and reassure them lovingly and patiently... yes, they are basic... but are you using them? ๐ค
They are so practically useful. And this solo from Barry Harris on Ornithology is a perfect example of them in action.
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Join our workshop this Friday
This week we'll learn about chord / scale pairings and practice ways to run continuous 8th note scale lines over changes to common progressions and a tune.
On Zoom at 1pm Eastern, this Friday, Feb 28.
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Today's 2-5-1
Each week I share 2 transcribed phrases, 5 ideas observed from 1 featured jazz recording.
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Ornithology
Recorded by the Barry Harris Trio in 1958. Featuring Barry Harris (piano), William Austin (bass), Frank Gant (drums)
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Important - Barry has recorded several versions of this tune. This transcription comes from the album Breakin' It Up, on the first solo right after the head. |
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Download the transcription: Ornithology.pdfโ
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On Day 2 of our 7-day soloing challenge, we talk about approaching the harmony from a half-step below.
Look for the annotations "1*", "2*" etc. in the notation above. Each of those points out an example of approaching an arpeggio by a half-step, or by a series of half-steps.
It happens 6 times in just one time through the changes...
- In bar 4 - approach from Bb into a G major arpeggio.
- Bar 5 - a long chromatic approach into the C7(b9) arpeggio.
- Bar 7 - a lead into an F major arpeggio.
- Bar 9 - a 2 beat lead into Bb7 arpeggio
- Bar 13 - a little disguised, but that's a Gm7 arpeggio with that E natural on the end leading us into D7
- Bar 15 - approach from above into Bm7 arpeggio
Can you spot two more of these in the lead in, in bars 1&2?
This week on the YouTube channel
 โThis 5 Min Exercise Gives You Soloing Confidence
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Josh Walsh
Say hi ๐๐ป on YouTube or Bluesky.
Or, just reply to this email.
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๐น Chord Voicings Course on sale for $149
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