Ghosting Up A Rip, Part 1

Today's post is about a common jazz articulation technique I refer to as "Ghosting Up A Rip".

This is used by players such as Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, and Sonny Stitt. It involves ghosting a group of ascending notes (usually a fast ascending line), leading up to the peak of a line.

Typically, the starting note of this ascending line is attacked and the "rip" (by rip I mean two or more fast ascending notes) is ghosted.

There are two main ways in which this is used. I've been working on Bird's solo over "Blues for Alice" so I'll be using two examples of this technique found there.

Method 1

Ghost every note up to the top note of the line, which is attacked: D-N___ T

and...

Method 2

Ghost every note of the "rip" but take your tongue off the reed for next-to-highest note, and accenting the top note: D-N___-E T

In this post, I'll be covering the first type, and some ideas for practicing this technique.

Practicing This Technique

Example 1 from "Blues for Alice"

Isolating this group of notes from Bird's solo on "Blues for Alice", we can slow down and simplify this pattern for practice.
​

Vocalizing the Articulation

♩= 120
​Speak the articulation in time:

Applying the Articulation to Single Pitches

Practice applying the articulation to a single pitch, moving through a Major scale.
​
​          G Major scale, ascending:

          G Major scale, descending:

Applying the Pattern to Simple Shapes

From here, practice applying it to common ascending shapes, diatonically.

          Approaching ascending triads of the G Major scale, moving up by step:

          Approaching ascending triads of the G Major scale, moving down by step:

​Advancing the Rhythm

Once this is comfortable, try applying the articulation pattern to the rhythm from the original lick.
​Start very slowly.

*IMPORTANT NOTE*
You need to be able to play these shapes all-slurred with an even tone before adding any articulation. If you are unable to play through these lines with a solid tone and an even airstream with no articulation​, that needs to be practiced separately first.

Adding Melodic Shape to the Advanced Rhythm

Next, take the shape of the original lick, and move it through the key diatonically.

          Approaching ascending 7th chord arpeggios of the G Major scale, moving up by step:

          Approaching ascending 7th chord arpeggios of the G Major scale, moving down by step:

Shifting from Steps to Other Intervals

Also beneficial is moving shapes around by intervals, diatonically.

For example, shifting the shape up by 4ths (down by 5ths):

Transposing Cells Synthetically

Contained within this diatonic pattern there are Maj7 (I∆ and IV∆), min7 (ii-7, iii-7, and vi-7), ø7 (viiø), and & 7 (V7) shapes. Each of these can be transposed through keys in various ways with different results and possible uses.

For example, the Dominant 7th shape could be shifted around chromatically (aka synthetically) by minor 3rds.
(The following example could then be applied over D7, F7, Ab7, and B7 chords, resulting in a 13#11#9b9 half-whole diminished vibe which resolves nicely to G, Bb, Db/C#, and E tonal centers.)

I hope these ideas open up some new possibilities in your own technique and vocabulary! In my next post, I'll be discussing a second method for "Ghosting Up A Rip".

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​Stay tuned, and happy shedding!
—Dester