500. CLASSIFICATION OF TYPES OF IMPROVISATION, BASED ON CONCEPTS OF BAND ARRANGEMENTS.

CLASSIFICATION OF TYPES OF IMPROVISATION, BASED ON CONCEPTS OF BAND ARRANGEMENTS. 

We have mentioned elsewhere (see post 399)  that the types of improvisation based on the musicology of band arrangements that we include are

 

1) Single instrument, stand alone, with or without chords. Improvisation is either on the chord progression, or  on the melody or both. For this improvisation among the 3 internal centers (mental, emotional, kinaesthetic) , there is not fixed pattern at the mental center, nor an external sound listened pattern stored in the emotional center. But there may be stored patterns both, in the mental and emotional center 

1.1) When improvising chords, usually a string instrument is required.  E.g. a 4-string instrument (ukulele, bouzouki etc) tuned in an overtone tuning like the troll tuning. And when we improvise chords, the concept of chromatic arpeggios apply, which also gives melodic improvisation. E.g., finger-picking guitar, or Estas Tonne improvisation method.

But when improvising a melody , a wind instrument , or a violin is appropriate. 

1.2) If we are in a solo instrument, like a wind instrument that cannot play chords, the concept of triangulated melodic improvisation, over total, subdominant and dominant is very well applicable. 

2) Predetermined harmony and chord progression by a musicians and improvisation in the melody (counter melody) by another musician. Usually in a band. E.g. what the musician playing the bass is doing, or another solo player as well. The gradual learning of it is 

2.1) Improvisation of melody over a single chord 

2.2)  Improvisation of melody over 2 chords.

 2.3) Improvisation of melody over 3 chords (triangulated case). (e.g. blues. In ancient music with ancient power chords without intervals of 3rds, the 3 chords are 1,4,5, tonal, subdominat, dominant, thus trianglated harmony)

2.4) Improvisation over any known chord progression 

2.5) Improvisation over any unknown chord progression, but known scale. (if we use ancient power chords without intervals of 3rds, then this case reduces to traingulated harmony improvisation as in 2.3)

2.6) Improvisation over any uknown scale and unknown chord progression. 

3) Improvised harmony by a musician and improvised melody by another or more other musicians. Sometimes in jazz. 

E.g. Mile Davis band. It is difficult, as each musician must be in alert coordination with the others. That is why in such cases, the solo musicians play very short melodic phrases, with large time intervals of silence between them. If the band agrees to play only in a single scale (bebop scale) but any chord progression, the situation is much simpler. 

4) Two musicians improvising parallel counterpoint melodies within one or more scales. 

4.1) Often in early New Orleans jazz, where 3 parallel melodic lines are improvised over a known song. 

4.2) But the two musicians may improvise 'a capella" not over a known song! Usually they do so in meditative improvisation E.g. Shastro and friends.  

5) A musician improvising a new adaptation, on melody and even on chords, over a predetermined song. Very common in Gypsy jazz. 

ETC.

The classification would be totally different if we would use teh 3 internal centers:

Mind-Emotions-kinaesthetics.

Then the classification is 

a) with predetermined music either at the mind center (e.g. looking at a score, or looking at chords) or emotional center (listening at a band playing).

b) Without predermined pattern.

499. HOW TO PASS FROM ANY CHORD TO ANY OTHER CHORD AS A SMOOTH TENSION RESOLUTON

 This was already known to Bach and used by him (e.g. in his famous prelude, or Bach-Gounod Ave Maria)

Let us say that we want to pass,  from the chord X=C to the chord Y=Dm, as a smooth tension resolution.

The idea of Bach is the next: We do it in two steps a) b) though a third chord Z.

Step a) is to use a chord Z with the same root (or fifth) as the target chord Y , and even better if Z is relative to Y, that is with 2 common notes , but Z is a tension chord. E.g. Z=Ydim7 or Z=Ysus2 , or Z=Ysus4 OR Z=Yaug etc 

Step b) From Z we resolve to Y smoothly. We resolve because from a tension chord Z we go to a non-tension chord Y, and this is smooth because Z and Y have same root or even 2 common notes (relative chords) 

So in total X-> Ydim7->Y and here in particular C->Ddim7->Dm 

(if it was G->D, we would prefer G->Daug->D) 

Of course an other more classical method is to use the Z=Y(-1), in other words the major chord, which is one step before Y in the circle of 4ths, and use the standard resolution Z7->Y. E.g in out example, Y=Dm  , Y(-1)=A, and Z=A7,  so in total C->A7->Dm. 

But the method of  Bach is more intense in listening to it. 

498. TRIANGULATION IMPROVISATION. THE TONAL, SUBDOMINANT, DOMINANT, TRIAD IN ANY MODE AS A SYSTEM OF MINIMAL COUNTER MELODIES AND BASS IMPROVISATION

TRIANGULATION IMPROVISATION.  THE TONAL, SUBDOMINANT, DOMINANT, TRIAD IN ANY MODE AS A SYSTEM OF MINIMAL BASS NOTES FOR ANY MELODY IN THE MODE AND WITH CHROMATIC BRIDGES BETWEEN THEM.   SIMILARLY FOR SIMPLICIAL COUNTER MELODIES FOR ANY MELODY.

497.INTRODUCING A SECONG PARALLEL SIMPLER AND SLOWER LAYER OF HARMONY BELOW THE CHORD PROGRESSION, FROM ONLY 3 ANCIENT (POWER) CHORDS WITHOUT INTERVALS OF THIRDS SO AS TO IMPTOVE THE STABILITY AND QUALITY OF ARRANGEMENT .

 INTRODUCING A SECONG PARALLEL SIMPLER AND SLOWER LAYER OF HARMONY BELOW THE CHORD PROGRESSION, FROM ONLY 3 ANCIENT (POWER) CHORDS WITHOUT INTERVALS OF THIRDS SO AS TO IMPROVE THE STABILITY AND QUALITY OF ARRANGEMENT .

basic ancient chord still remaing in the tuning of 3-strings instruments

1P=1-5-1' (e.g. D3-A3-D4) Inversion:  1-4-1'  (of 4-1'-4')

Alternative power chords

1-1'-5'

The roots of the ancient chords are the tonal, subdominant, and dominant of the relevant mode.

This also means that a simplicial submelody, based on this triad of ancient power chords (one note from each chord as long as it sounds)  is a also a simplicial counter-melody, of the melody of the song. It is made from the basic 3 notes,  of the relevant mode: Tonal, subdominant, and dominant. It can be enhanced with chromatic bridges linking the basic 3 notes with the appropriate rhythm. 

Relatives substitutions for major mode

1M-> 1P

2m-> 4P

3m-> 5P

4M-> 4P

5M-> 5P

6m-> 1P

7d->5P

Relatives substitution for minor mode

1M->6P

2m-> 2P

3m->3P

4M->2P

5M-> 3P

6m->1P

7d-> 2P or 3P

496. HOW TO IMPROVISE SIMPLISTIC COUNTER MELODIES (INCLUDING BASS LINES) BEING IN THE 12 NOTES CHROMATIC SCALE , OVER ANY SONG, WITHOUT KNOWING THE SCALE OR THE CHORD-PROGRESSION.

The idea is that behind any harmonization of a melody, by a chord progression in a scale and mode of it, there is an alternative harmonization with only 3 (1,4,5), only 2 (1,2 or 4,5 or 1-4 or 1-5 or 7d-1) or only one chord (1) but which must be neither major nor minor but a neutral power chord P (tonal-dominant-tonal or 1-5-8)

This harmonization is out of the usual style of guitar playing, but still it exists in arrangements where bass, or continuous bass, is engaged.

So the way to find this continuous bass isokratic (drone) line of only a few notes (at most 3-4 notes) continuous or drone bass is to use notes only at the 1st octave of the piano, as if whole chords, and fit it to the melody, changing it by intervals to the 2nd (rarely 3rds) to find the other note.

Usually the odd-numbered notes of the mode will give the first note, and all the even-numbered notes of the mode will give the second note. The changes will be when the melody uses more of the odd-numbered notes or more of the even-numbered notes. 

It is obvious that if the player knows the usual chord progression, then he will simply play one note from each chord as the chords changes to produce a countermelody or bass line. This would be a method of giving many more notes and changes compared to the previous. It will also sound better fitting, but what it takes is that the chord progression must be known. 

495. ISOKRATIC (DRONE) PAIRS OF NOTES 4-5 THAT DIFFER BY A TONE , MODES, HARMONIC TRIADS OF CHORDS, ANCIENT POWER CHORDS, SUBSTITUTIONS AND EVEN-ODD NOTES CHORDS-ARPEGGIOS

Rule 2.  Each harmonic triad defines this pair.

E.g, the 3M7-6m-2m harmonic triad defines the 3-2 isokratics  (or ancient power chords 3P-2P, where the 6m is usually substituted by 3P, and rarely by 2P) , or the even-odds chord arpeggios. 3-5#-7-2=3M7 and 2-4-6-1 =2m7 . 

Rule 1 This rule is supplemented with the rule where any triad of any mode of a diatonic scale is substituted wth the triad of a single mode through substitutions by relative chords. E.g. If in a song there are the chords 5M, 1M, 4M, but also 2m, 6m, 3m, and 7d then to absorb all chords only in the triad 5P, 1P, 4P, the 2m is substituted with 4M (relative chords) thus eventually 4P , 6m by 1M (relative chords), thus by 1P, and 3m and 7d by 1M7 (again, relative chords) thus by 5P. 

With these two rules, we can convert an ordinary chord progression of minor and major chords to only 3 or 2 ancient power chords. 

But conversely, it can be used to discover an ordinary chord progression of minor and major chords of a melody by starting at first with an harmonization with only 2 or only 3 ancient power chords. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuCGvw-N_BA

The idea, of course, behind the pair of isokratic notes differing by an interval of a 2nd in a mode of a scale is that any melody on a mode of a scale can be harmonized with 2 chords: the odd notes chord corresponding to the note number 5 and the even notes chord corresponding to the note 4.

When in a song, which is in a scale and mode, of notes, numbered 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, the isocratic notes are 4-5, then, the bass line, is the notes 2-4-6-1 as long as isocratic note 4 lasts and 1-3-5-7 as long as isocratic note 5 lasts. The isokratic notes are also ancient power chords (neither major neithe minor, made from interval of 8th and 5th like C-C'-G')
This bass method, in a 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 mode-scale, is based on the musical theorem, in harmony, that every melody in such a mode can be harmonized with two single 4-chord chords, 1-3-5-7 and 2-4-6-1. So the bass lines are arpeggios on these two four-chord chords. We always talk about diatonic modes or modes in melodic or harmonic minor.

494. HOW TO UNLOCK THE IMPROVISATION OF BASS-LINES WITH THE ISOKRATIC (DRONES)TRINITY OF TONAL, SUBDOMINANT AND DOMINANT NOTES 1-4-5.

 The idea, of course, behind the pair of isokratic notes differing by an interval of a 2nd in a mode of a scale is that any melody on a mode of a scale can be harmonized with 2 chords: the odd notes chord corresponding to the note numbers 5 or 1 and the even notes chord corresponding to the note 4.