Navigating the Be-Boppers Harmonic Galaxy - Brian Lillos

Table of Contents 0 1 1

T h e Im Im p o r t a n ce ce o f T e a ch ch i n g t h e Or Or a l T r a d i t i o n – Brian Lillos ........ ........... ... 1

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Lear Lear ner St St yl es – Brian Lillos........ Lillos ................ ................. ................. ................. ................. ............ .... 5

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Ment Ment or ship/ Job-Shadowi Job-Shadowi ng/Pr ng/Pr act ica – Brian Brian Lillos............... Lillos........................ ........... .. 8

0 4 4

M y t h s a b o u t J a z z Ed Ed u ca ca t i o n – Brian Lillos................. Lillos.......................... ................. .......... .. 10

0 5 5

T he Jazz Jazz Curr Curr iculum - Brian Lillos.............................................. 16

- Kevin Dean ................ ......................... ................. ................. ............. .... 26

0 6 6

Cour se Out Out li nes – Brian Lillos ................. .......................... ................. ................ ................. ........... 30

0 7 7

Lesson Lesson Pl Pl an s – Brian Lillos ................. .......................... ................. ................ ................. .............. ..... 38

0 8 8

I ns nst r u ct ct i o n a l Ob Ob j e ct ct i v e s – Brian Lillos ................ ......................... ................. ................ ........ 41

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Superv ision of Ins Instt r ucti on – Brian Lillos ................. ......................... ................. .............. ..... 51

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Asse Asses ssment and Evalua t ion – Brian Lillos ................. ......................... ................ ............ .... 54

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T o w a r d s T e a ch ch i n g Ja Ja z z I mp mp r o v i s a t i o n – Brian Lillos ................. ....................... ...... 56 T he Teenage Improvi zor – Colleen Allen..................... Allen.............................. ........... 59 T eaching eaching Beg Beginning inning Impr ovisat ion Using Using a Rhyt Rhyt hmic Approa ch

- Alex Dean ................. ......................... ................ ................. ................. ................ ................ .......... 66 M el el o d i c I m p l i c a t i o n s i n a H a r m o n i c W or or l d – Paul Tynan Tynan ........ ........... ... 71 t h Develop ing an 8 Not e T im e Based Based Concept Concept – Paul Tynan......... 74 Ge t t i n g t h e Mo Mo st st o ut u t o f T r a n sc sc r i p t i o n s – Shirantha Beddage...... 81 Using Using Linear Mat eri al t o Conne Connect ct Melodic Ideas Ideas – Ted Quinlan Quinlan... ... 92 Get t ing Hip –Acces Access sing Alt er ed T ensions ensions – Brian Brian Lillos Lillos ........ ............ .... 97 Navigat ing t he Be-B Be-Bopper opper s Harmoni c Gala Gala xy – Brian Brian Lillos .......100 .......100 Cu-Bop and Beyo Beyo nd – David Virelles Gonzalez ................. .........................109 ........109 Advanced Advanced T echniques echniques – Sundar Viswanathan ................. ..........................120 .........120 Uses Uses of Di mi nished – Pat LaBarbera ................. ......................... ................. ............145 ...145

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T h e Co n t e m p o r a r y A p p r o a c h t o J a z z Co m p o si t i o n

- Christine Jensen....................................................................149

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T o w a r d s T e a ch i n g Ja z z H i st o r y – Alan Matheson............................159

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Jazz i n Canada – Mark Miller .....................................................169

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Women in Jazz – Alexis Marsh ....................................................176

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Pr of il e: Canadi an Women in Jazz – Greg Buium .............................190

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Rehear sal T echniques f or t he Jazz Or chest r a -Gordon Foote F u n d a m e n t a l s ..............................................................193 W a r m - u p ......................................................................196 T i m e ...........................................................................198 A r t i c u l a t i o n ..................................................................201 Swi ng Har der ................................................................205 Psychology ...................................................................209 Rehearsal Ti me .............................................................214 P e r f o r m a n c e .................................................................218 Vid eo and Audio Recor di ng ...............................................221 Clinicians .....................................................................222 Sect ional s ....................................................................224 Conduct ing ...................................................................228 Co n d uc t o r Ev a l u a t i o n .....................................................236 F est i v a l Pa r t i c i p a t i o n .....................................................237 F i n a l T h o u gh t s ..............................................................239

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Choosing Repert oir e for t he Jazz Or chest r a – Brian Lillos ................243

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T he Jazz Choir – Russ Baird.......................................................248

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Rhyt hm Sect ion Pedagogy: T he Junior High School Jazz Rhyt hm Sect io n – Bob Rebagliati....254 Basic Funct ions .....................................................256 Phy sical Set Up .....................................................258 Underst anding the Ar r anger ....................................260 T r o u b l e Sh o ot i n g ...................................................284 An Int r oduct ion t o Walki ng Bass Lines in t he Jazz Rhyt hm Sect ion – Bryan Stovell .....................................................290 An Int r oducti on t o Dr ums in t he Jazz Rhyt hm Sect ion –

Bryan Stovell .................................................................301 Bass in t he Jazz Rhyt hm Sect io n – Mike Downes .....................312 Big Band Drummi ng Ti ps – Ted Warren .................................321 Play ing Jazz Dr ums Melodi cally – Ted Warren........................322 More Jazz Drums – Terry Clarke .........................................323 Get t ing Beyond Your Dr ums Set – Barry Elmes........................327 Musical Leader ship and t he Jazz Rhyt hm Sect ion – Don Thompson................................................................331

2 1 J a z z Pr o g r a m

I nf r a st r u c t u r e – Brian Lillos .....................................334 Fund Rai sing .................................................................334 Budget .........................................................................334 St u d e nt Re cr u i t m e nt a n d Pr o g r a m Pr o f i l e ...........................338 Eq u i p m e n t , F a c i l i t y , a n d T i m e T a b l e Ne ed s ........................339 F . T . E . ’ s ......................................................................340 Ad m i n i s t r a t i v e Su p p o r t a n d Ca r e er Pl a n n i n g ........................341 Pr o p o s a l W r i t i n g –Carmella Luvisotto..................................343 Ne t w o r k i n g t h e J a z z Ed u ca t i o n I nd u st r y Pr o gr a m .................351 Re cr u i t i n g F a c ul t y ..........................................................351 Di r e ct i o n , Co - o r d i n a t i o n , Ad m i n i s t r a t i o n .............................352

2 2 Gr adua t e Degrees in Jazz St udi es in Canada McGil l Univer sit y – Kevin Dean ...........................................354 Y o r k Un i v e r s i t y – Michael Coghlan...................................... 356 Un i v er s i t y o f T o r o nt o – Paul Read ......................................358

2 3 T h e Ba n f f

In t e r n a t i o n a l W o r k sh o p i n J a z z a n d Cr e a t i v e M u si c ...........360

2 4 Cr eat ive Schola r ship i n Jazz Educat ion – Andrew Scott .....................370 2 5 Ad j u d i c a t i n g a J a z z Pe r f o r m a n c e – Brian Lillos ...............................383 2 6 Pr esent ing a Jazz

Cli nic – Brian Lillos ...........................................397

2 7 Music

Fest Canad a – Jim Howard .................................................399

2 8 I.A.J.E. – Alexis Marsh ...............................................................408 2 9 I.A.S.J.

– Alexis Marsh ...............................................................414

3 0 Jamey Aebersold – Brian Lillos ....................................................417 3 1 W e b s i t e s ...............................................................................419 3 2

Co n t e m p o r a r y J a z z Co m p o si t i o n : An In t r o d u c t i o n t o Co n t e m p o r a r y J a z z Co m p o si t i o n – Christine

Jensen .........................................................................420 Personal St r at egies – Esteban Figueroa ................................430 Finding Your Own Voice – Bill Prouten .................................435 Hands on Appr oach – Brenda Earle ......................................448 Cr eat iv e Pr ocess in Jazz Composit ion – Paul Tynan .................458 Em p o w e r i n g Or i g i n a l i t y – Andrew Jones ...............................466 Cr eat ing Fif t een Seconds One Compo ser ’ s Appr oach – Christian Overton........................................................................474 Co n t e m p o r a r y J a z z Co m p o si t i o n – Shirantha Bedagge..............481 Composit ion A Personal Perspect ive – Neil Yorke-Slader...........486 Composing b y Ear – Lina Allemano ......................................491 St o r y v i l l e – Darcy Argue...................................................498 Jazz Composit ion – Alan Matheson ......................................512 Intr oducing Jazz Composit ion – Christian Overton...................515 T o w a r d s T e a c hi n g Co m p o si t i o n – Jim McGrath ......................522 T o w a r d s T e a c hi n g Co m p o si t i o n – Hugh Fraser .......................526 T o w a r d s T e a c hi n g Co m p o si t i o n – Don Thompson ....................529 Composit ional Concept s –Christine Jensen .............................534

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More Rhyt hm Sect ion: T he Rhyt hm Sect ion i n Jazz – David Restivo ..........................542 Lat in Jazz Concept s f or t he Bass – Will Jarvis .......................553 M ul t i M et e r Ex c e r p t s f o r Dr u m m er s – Paul De Long .................566 Develop ing Ideas f or Dr um Solos – Neil MacIntosh ...................568 Dan Weiss and t he Tab la – Carlos Aguilera ............................578 Pr of ound Rhyt hm Sect ions – Adam Caringi ............................591 Afr o-Cuban Bat a Rhyt hms Adapt ed t o Dr um-Set

– Steve Mancuso..............................................................600 T he Adapt at ion on Sout h India n Concept – Steve Mancuso ........604

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M or e I m p r o v i s a t i o n : Lear ning t he Language – Brian O’Kane .................................609 T h e I m p or t a n ce o f L i s t e n i n g – Steve Haines...........................612 Repert oir e Development in t he Classr oom – Dave Neill ............619 Re p er t o i r e De v e l o p m en t f o r t h e I nd i v i d u a l – Dave Neill ...........627 Navigat ing t he Be-Bopper s Harmoni c Gala xy – Brian Lillos .......635

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Jazz Advocacy and Some Phil osophical Per spect iv es: M usi c a l I mp r o v i s a t i o n a n d De t e r m i n a c y – Jodi Proznick ...........656 T owar d Cr eat iv e Musical Achievement – Jodi Proznick.............666 T h e m a r g i na l i z a t i o n o f A r t Ed u ca t i o n – Jodi Proznick ..............679

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Communit y Music – Cathy Mitro ................................................687

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M or e In st r u ct i o n a l M e t h o d o l o gy : Rehearsal Techniques – Neil Yorke-Slader .............................692 Jazz Pedagogy Final Exa m – Brian Lillos...............................698 Jazz Pedagogy Cour se Out li ne – Brian Lillos ..........................701 Superv ision of Inst r uct ion – Brian Lillos................................721

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M or e In f r a st r u ct u r e : Running a St udent Jazz Fest iv al – Sarah Falls ........................723

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M ee t t h e Au t h o r s ..................................................................729

The be-boppers harmonic galaxy is based on the Diminished 7 th arpeggio. It is the axis upon which all is built. For this reason, the first thing I do when I look at a new set of changes is to look for diminished relations. These relations quickly define key centers, dominant relationships, and significant harmonic movement. In 30 seconds I am able to gain the necessary insight for improvisation. However, from an educational standpoint, my 30 second perusal took half a life time to learn. Let me try and retrace my some of my steps. Remember, you are going to have to “connect some of the dots.” Also remember, if you move to a new step without understanding the previous one, proceed with caution because leapfrogging doesn’t work for long. The beginning of my be-bop study started with be-bop scales. These 8 note, rhythmically symmetrical scales, served many purposes. The first purpose was to my get chord tones on the beat, which proved to be an essential part of be-bop playing.

The 8 note, rhythmic symmetrical scale, also facilitated back phrasing which is a very important element of swing and be-bop phrasing.

Navigating the Be-boppers Harmonic Galaxy by Brian Lillos

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The be-bop scale also made harmonic anticipation easy to execute. For example,

But, most importantly, the be-bop scale delivered something harmonic. It sounded the “I” chord and the V7 chord at the same time. For me this was particularly significant.

(I had to think of an inverted, rootless D7b9 to make this work.)

The result of discovering that I and V were in the same scale allowed me to, in the initial stages of improvisation, harmonically generalize large sections of tunes. It allowed me to create a “harmonic reduction analysis”, if you will. For example, I made the following harmonic generalizations in the “A” section of “Loudly, as in an evening Sunset. The original


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When reduced, became

While this can’t be considered making the changes, it does allow, through generalization, a scale to be used which covers the tonality. By using the bop scale built on A-6 the E7b9b13 and the B-7b5 is implied. The A-6 bop scale is as follows:

Another example would be “All Dr. Harris’ Children Got Rhythm”. The original progression, for the “A” section, was as follows.

My harmonic reduction analysis gave me this:


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As my improvisation became more about melodic inventiveness with one scale, it gave me the time to concentrate on rhythmic groupings and pronunciation (articulation). The unreduced harmonic progression paralysed me. I felt I had to micro-manage it. With the be-boppers reduction analysis I found I was looking ahead for a target that required a new scale and looking for significant chords that were specific to this tune. This is what is supposed to happen. And beboppers have a hierarchy of chords. In a major tonality they believe I, V7, IV, and IV- are important chords. In their world they would assign these chords bigger size fonts on a lead sheet. Everything else is subordinate to I, V7, IV, and IV-. Look again at the reduction of “All Dr. Harris’ Children Got Rhythm”.

My generalization would put important chords on the beat. Hence, I would be left with the example mentioned earlier.

When I initially improvised on this tune I would improvise on G major 6 and D7 for four bars watching carefully for G7 to appear and immediately C major C minor in bar 6. To the bebopper, G7 is important because it sets up C major. C major is particularly important because it sets up C minor and C minor is very, very important because it resolves (takes us back) to G major. Following this type of logic, bars 5 and 6 of “All Dr. Harris Children Got Rhythm” are significant. The other 6 bars are G major. To prove my point, I ask that you please consult the Charlie Parker Omnibook and look at several of his solos on Rhythm Changes. Pay particular attention to his playing on bar 6 of each “A” section.


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With the concept of harmonic reduction in mind I started to analyze a great many bop tunes and jazz standards. I was looking for an abbreviated or more simplified harmonic progression to which I could apply my bop scales and also any “snags” or “hooks” or significant harmonic movement I needed to negotiate. One of my first bop tunes after Rhythm Changes was the bop anthem “Constipation”. The original chord progression is as follows:


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My harmonic reductions looks like this:

What first startled me when I was improvising on my simplified version of “Constipation” was bar 2 and bars 21 through 24. What commonality was I going to find to handle these two spots in the tune. Bars 1 and 2 share the same diminished 7th. Bars 17 through 20 and bars 21 through 24 share the same diminished 7 th. This is significant because it means the dominant 7th chords are related. This is where a deeper level understanding “the diminished” theory began. If chords share the same diminished arpeggio then they are related. If they are related then navigation becomes easier.


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For example:

In my initial journeys through the galaxy I was looking for I, V7, IV, and IV- and any modulations. Later, I started looking for significant harmonic movement that was specific to certain tunes or what I learned later were “tune types”. I became interested in connecting my be-bop scales. (Be-bop is a lot more than just playing the right bop scale over a chord.) I became interested in moving from one chord to another in a logical and melodic fashion. I became interested in chord inversions because my instrument has a limited range. I became interested in voice leading (ways in which to introduce tension and resolve it logically). I became interested in the way chords moved from one place to another and why. My first journey of this nature was to look at bars 3 and 4 as well as bars 7 and 8 of “Lovers No More”. I learned that the tune actually started on the IV chord, moved to the flat VII7, then to I, then to flat VI7 and then to V7. Melodically, the tune enjoyed the sound of the tritone. In my improvisation I had the option of playing bop scales over the aforementioned bars:


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Or using these scales as harmonic anticipation or approaches to targets in my improvisation:

Or doing the bop thing and looking for the tritone voice lead wherever musically feasible and doing something like this:


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Later, I became interested in the diatonic and non-diatonic microcosm, the thing I initially had rejected. I was becoming fascinated with it because I understood chord function and the hierarchy inherent in be-bop harmony. I had learned these concepts through understanding diminished relations. Here is what I think and play now: Bella by Barlight.

The further one delves into the be-boppers galaxy, the more one realizes that the diminished 7th is the axis upon which all is built. The diminished arpeggio gives us 2 tritones, 4 related dominants, and I and V7 in the same scale. Further, secondary dominants are a semi-tone away, altered can be explained as the tritones minor, and augmented is diatonic to harmonic minor. For the be-bopper, diminished is the axis upon which all is built. All the best in your travels through the galaxy. Here are some solos of mine which I believe are an expansion of Charlie Parker’s language: Try them along with original recordings of Charlie Parker. As well try them against Jamey Aebersold’s Play Along Series. Volume 6, “All Bird”. You will have to slow down the rhythm track for Confirmation, and Yardbird Suite however, the Rhythm Changes solo works best at a fast tempo so track 10 on Volume 6 will suffice. Volume 43, track 4 is acceptible for the solo on Night in Tunisia but is even better if you can speed up the rhythm track. Volume 94, “Hot House”, track 7 is fine for the solo on What is this thing Called Love however, it may also have to be slowed down.


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Solo on Confirmation:


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Solo on Yardbird Suite:


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Solo on Rhythm Changes


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Solo on Night in Tunisia


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Solo on What Is This Thing Called Love


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Brian Lillos can be reached at www.BrianLillos.com Navigating the Be-boppers Harmonic Galaxy by Brian Lillos

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Forward (2nd edition) by Tommy Banks Pedagogy: A Canadian Perspective is one of the most important Jazz Works ever to come from Canada. In it, Brian Lillos has captured the essence of "The Community for Learning" that is so precious to jazz musicians in Canada. The scope of the text, both in content and authorship, is typical of Brian's exhaustive work, and illustrative of his collaborative and synergistic approach to everything he does. He is an unique musician; a first-rate player, world-class teacher, scholar, administrator, jazz advocate, and respected visionary in his community. I don't think there’s anybody else in Canada who could have pulled this off. The contributions to this book are from some of the best minds in music education. The collective experience and wisdom of these authors will, if taken and applied, benefit every conscientious music educator, as they have over many years benefited me.

Navigating the Be-Boppers Harmonic Galaxy - Brian Lillos

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