Bebop heads? - rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz

Message from discussion Bebop heads?

Marc Sabatella

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More options Oct 15 2006, 1:10 pm

Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz

From: "Marc Sabatella" <m...@outsideshore.com>

Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 11:10:51 -0600

Local: Sun, Oct 15 2006 1:10 pm

Subject: Re: Bebop heads?

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> Okay, so what are the best Bebop heads worth learning? Where do we see
> some of these Bebop Scale phrases in heads? I'm looking through the
> Real Book and not finding a lot of this.

For one thing, it's not like these guys were "using" the bebop scale in
the way we might think about it today. They were using the major and
minors scale, and tossing in some passing tones when it felt necessary.
Baker just codified this practice by putting names on particular
combinations of major and minor scales with passing tones. So one
shouldn't expect to see anything that looks quite as pat as Baker makes
it sound. Sure, beboppers used passing tones all the time, but in a way
MUCH more varied than would appear from learning a small set of fixed
"bebop scales".

Second, I think you'll find more use of this particular devices in
*solos* than in heads, simply because the heads don't tend to have quite
the same types of long streams of eighth notes in which these passing
tones are most effective. Heads are still great to learn to get a
general feel for the language in terms of phrasing and so forth, but if
you really need to see a lot of examples of people using passing tones
in the way Baker describes, look at the solos in the Omnibook (or
transcribe a few yourself). Personally, I don't feel the concept of
adding passing tones to one's lines is so hard to grasp that it really
requires examples in order to be able to do so oneself. Sure you might
come up with something slightly *different* from the ways Bird et all
used passing tones. As far as I am concerned, that's a *good* thing.

> What's a good list of Bebop heads to learn some of these Bebop Scale
> patterns? List of must-learn Bebop tunes? I don't see any of these
> patterns and devices in say, Autumn Leaves or Just Friends.

Neither of those are bebop tunes. Both are pop tunes of the era that
happened to be played by jazz musicians. You need to be looking at
tunes actually written by jazz musicians - and in particular, ones in a
bebop style. The starting place for this would be tunes you actually
have recordings of. And if you don't have any recordings of bebop, then
THAT'S the first step - you have no hope of playing in a style you don't
listen to a lot already.

That said, again, actual tunes don't tend to use the passing tones in
the particular way described by Baker as much as solos do.

---------------
Marc Sabatella
m...@outsideshore.com

Music, art, & educational materials
Featuring "A Jazz Improvisation Primer"
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