I always ask my students to come up with a list of (at least) 10 different ways to play a melody or solo.
Sparkling creative spirits in music is all about figuring out new and exciting ways to do manageable and pleasurable things sound different. Add character, passion, novelty and surprise to catch the listener’s attention!
What I’ll describe next is my own list of (I) melodic, (II) harmonic and (III) soloing concepts. The list keeps growing and I’d like you to join the challenge. Remember the clip and elastic rubber challenge? Let’s upgrade the concept to music, jazz and performance. Check it out:
I – Melodic Interpretation
1 – Single Lines
2 – Intervals
3 – Melody Chords
4 – Auto Comping
5 – Voice Leading
II – Harmony and Comping
1 – Duration:
- Equal/Regular;
- Longer (Let ring – Left hand doesn’t releases the pressure);
- Shorter (Staccato).
2 – Intensity:
- Light accent;
- Hard accent;
- Heavy emphasis on 1 and 3;
- Staccato on 2 and 4.
3 – Tempo:
- Push on 1 and 3. Steady on 2 and 4, and vice versa;
- Laid back 1 and 3. Steady 2 and 4, and vice versa.
4 – Strings:
- All strings on down and up strokes;
- Bass strings on down, all on up strokes;
- Mute strings on upstrokes;
- Pressure strings on upstrokes.
Combinations and Examples: 1 – “Minor Swing”: Regular & Light accent on all chords. 2 – “All Of Me”: Regular & Heavy emphasis on 1 and 3. 3 – “Si Tu Savais”: Stacatto & Hard accent. 4 – “Nuages”: Long & Light accent. 5 – “Douce Ambience”: No upstroke. 6 – “Hungaria”: Bass string on 1 and 3 & Treble strings on 2 and 4.
III – Improvisation: Soloing Concepts
Right Hand:
- Rest Stroke
- Down Up Down
- Double Down Up
- Alternate Picking
- Economy Picking
- Sweep Picking
Left Hand:
- Two Fingers (Django Style)
- 2 Notes per String
- 3 Notes per String Runs (Metheny Style)
- Enclosures
Expression/Articulation
- Vibrato
- Bend
- Slide
- Hammer On/Pull Off
- Ornaments
- Open String Bounce
- Staccato
- Legato
- Punctuation
- Use of Silence
- Syncopation
- Clusters
- Pace (Miles Davis Style)
Core Playing
- Arpeggios
- Long Lines
- Triplets
- 16th Notes
- Using The Melody
- Chord Anticipation
- Over The Bar
- Ascending/Descending Lines
- Arpeggio Up/Scale Down
- Octave Change Phrasing
- Chord Tone Approach (ex: three notes under 1, 3, 5)
- Chord Tone Extensions (9th, 11th and 13th)
Alternative Playing
- Octaves
- Intervals
- Double Stops
- String Skipping
- Wide Intervals
- Open Triads
- One String Soloing
- Pedal Note
- Clusters
- Low/Middle/High Register
- Double Line Melodies
- Harmonics
Playing Outside
- Sequences
- Triadic Patterns
- Side Stepping
Scales
- Chromatic
- Diminished
- Whole Tone
Time
- Laid Back
- Ahead of Time
- Rythm – Mixing Subdivisions
Harmony
- Chord Soloing
- Re-Harmonization
- Chord Substitutions
- Progressive Diatonic Chords
- Diatonic Chord Extensions Movement
Let’s share more ideas to this list, will ya? Leave your suggestions in the comments section bellow 🙂
