Transcribing Charlie Parker 🎷 always makes my head spin...
Published about 1 month ago • 3 min read
|
Reader,
Our transcription today comes from a live performance at Carnegie Hall featuring Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The excerpts below are from two of Bird's solos.
Charlie's lines fly. I've long struggled to figure out the flurry of notes that Charlie plays, even playing it at 50% speed. But, I give it my best, and I think I got this one right.
|
|
|
Join our workshop this Friday
We're wrapping up our mastery series on 4-note, 2-hand comping chords this week. I have a new worksheet for you to work through to continue your work towards mastery. Bring any question, challenges or observations you'd like to share for some "office hours" this week
We're starting a new series to learn to play these same voicings in just our left hand, so we can play melodies and solos in our right.
On Zoom at 1pm Eastern, this Friday, Jan 31.
|
|
|
Today's 2-5-1
Each week I share 2 transcribed phrases, 5 ideas observed from 1 featured jazz recording.
|
|
|
|
|
A Night in Tunisia
Recorded at Carnegie Hall featuring Charlier Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The quintet also included John Lewis (piano), Al McKibbon (bass) and Joe Harris (drums).
|
|
|
|
Here are 5 observations about these solos.
- Charlie really likes the 16th note feel in his lines. Not just on this tune, but in general. So many of the musicians we study here are 8th note and triplet focused.
- Most of the types of lines Charlie plays are similar to what we've seen in other 8th note lines, but just played twice as fast. It's like he just thinks in double time.
- Charlie liberally embellishes his target notes with 16th note triplets.
- In almost all of the examples above, notice how Charlie starts his phrases before the barline and leads your ear into the chord change. Rather than waiting for the chord change and responding to it.
- Look at the range on that last line... 2 octaves!
​
Members Only
I've just finished producing 10 new videos teaching 4-note comping chords for Jazz-Fundamentals. This is an extension of the work we've been doing in our live workshops the past month. I'm excited to get this added, I think you'll get a lot of value from it.
Those videos will be live this week. To get notified when they go live, watch the "course-updates" channel in the community.​
This week on the YouTube channel
 ​The Real Reason you Aren't Getting Better at Jazz
|
|
|
|
|
Josh Walsh
Say hi 👋🏻 on YouTube or BlueSky.
Or, just reply to this email.
|
|
​ |
|
|
|
When you're ready, here are ways we could work together:
Join our online community of jazz players.
Take our free 7-day soloing challenge - Learn step-by-step how to invent simple but authentic solo phrases.
Or join our All-Access Pass, which includes our most comprehensive course, Jazz Fundamentals, and watch replays of each of our past live workshops.
​The Jazz Piano comping course is a great way to learn rhythmic and melodic comping techniques.
|
​ |
|
|