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Today's post is on an articulation pattern I refer to as "D D-N_". This is a common jazz articulation pattern most often applied to a group of four notes. The first and second notes are attacked ("D"), and the third and fourth notes are ghosted ("N_"). This means that the tongue must remain touching the surface of the reed (at one side or corner) while allowing it to still vibrate, and you're changing pitch at the same time. The pair of ghosted notes is usually ascending by a half-step. To begin, speak the articulation in rhythm:  Next, practice applying the articulation to single pitches:  Once this becomes comfortable and you're able to apply this articulation with rhythmic accuracy, I suggest these common patterns to practice this over. Each involves ghosting a pair of notes that ascends by a half step.    Of course, once you are comfortable playing this articulation as straight quarter notes, the next step is to begin working it out as eighth notes:  Then, apply it to the aforementioned shapes. For example:  Contained within the previous pattern are shapes that work well for navigating ii-V's. I recommend working out these ii-7 V7 I's in different keys. For example, moving this pattern around by 4ths:  Lastly, it's highly beneficial to work short cells around your instrument synthetically. By synthetically, I mean that the cell is moved by a repeated interval, whether or not it fits a specific chord progression or harmonic function. Here is a synthetic pattern moving a 2-beat shape around by fourths. (This particular pattern would be useful navigating iiø7 V7b9 sequences like you may find in "Woody'n You", "Stella By Starlight", and "Along Came Betty".)  And another, moving around by minor 3rds. (Useful over V7, especially V7b9 chords. In this case: A7, C7, Eb7, or F#7.)  Experiment practicing and applying this articulation pattern in your own playing. With focus, you will begin hear it in the playing styles of jazz greats and understand how it is used in the broader context of melodic lines.
As always, any feedback is welcome. Please support my work here if you can: https://www.jakedester.com/donate.html In my next post, I'll be talking about a technique I refer to as "Ghosting Up A Rip". Stay tuned! Jake Dester
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Today's post is about an articulation pattern I call D D-E-N. This is one of the most common articulations used in jazz saxophone. While it has many applications, it is almost always applied to descending 7th chord arpeggios. Often, the first note (the top note) will be accented "T". Charlie Parker applies this articulation on the second bridge of his famous 1942 solo on "Cherokee", alternating between descending min7 and min6 shapes. You will find through practice that this is an extremely common and useful pattern to master. I've been digging on George Coleman's solo over "Autumn Leaves" off of the 2000 Ahmad Jamal record Ahmad Jamal à l'Olympia. George Coleman is using this articulation exhaustively in this solo. Despite it being recorded nearly 60 years after the famous Bird record, it still retains its hipness. Now, I'm almost certain that Charlie Parker didn't come up with this idea, but because of how clearly he demonstrated it on "Cherokee", he basically stuck a Charlie Parker flag in the thing. To practice this articulation, implement it over descending 7th chord arpeggios moving down by step like so:  The accent here is optional, but it's best if you practice it both with and without, so T D-E-N and D D-E-N. This pattern can be moved around the scale based off of any degree, but the first thing to do is practice moving it around by step diatonically.  Another very useful thing to practice this pattern over is minor 7th descending arpeggios shifting down by half-step like so:  The above exercise is extremely useful as it can be directly applied to iii- VI7 ii- V7 progressions, creating an interesting set of extensions where the VI7 and V7 chords occur. This happens literally at the end of "Four" by Miles Davis, but you can very easily apply it in any iii- VI7 ii- V7 situation such as the third and 4th measures of Rhythm Changes, the last four measures of a Blues, etc. I hope you find this helpful. I welcome any feedback you may have.
In my next post, I will be discussing ghosting pairs of notes and a shape Charlie Parker frequently applied it to in his playing. Thanks for reading and stay tuned! Jake Dester |
AuthorJake Dester is a Brooklyn-based musician with over 20 years' experience. Archives
June 2023
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