linear jazz improvisation

[ecsmix]

BTW, as to whether it applies to non-jazz music... good question. It's obviously (given the title!) about improvisation within jazz, and the idioms of that genre. Having said that, many (if not all) of the concepts ought to apply in any other western music with similar sources to jazz, which use improvisation to some degree, such as blues and rock. Of course, jazz has developed improvisation a lot further than blues or rock have done. Again, it depends on where you coming from and where you want to go!

 

That's exactly my concern, I'm looking for methods other than the ones taught in traditional counterpoint to change the melody.

I'm afraid that this method adds too many chromatic notes than will clash with the original chord progression.

What you guys think based on the pdf's examples on Ed's site?

 

Thanks.

[girevik]

 

What's more, Is this methodology for jazz only or can you apply it to diatonic melodies/songs? Even to 4x4 songs? If take out several notes from a diatonic melody and put chromatic notes it should clash with a simplier chord progression, or at least gives more undesired tension, right?

 

 

I think you could apply it to diatonic pop melodies if you were really determined, but I doubt LJI is appropriate for what you want to do (remixing pop melodies) - like getting a Ferrari just for driving to work 10 min. each way on suburban streets.

[JonR]

 

What you guys think based on the pdf's examples on Ed's site?

I think they look excellent. But then I have no problem with chromaticism - at least as it is normally employed in jazz, blues and rock music.

 

As he says in his introduction in book 1:

 

"Good lines ... are usually propelled forward by means of chromatic non-harmonic tones (as with Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Parker, Davis, et al)"

 

Of course, there is a value judgement in there, and it's inherent in his whole approach. Who says what "good" means? Maybe some people like the sound of the chord-scale improvisation that Byrne - and many jazz pros - are opposed to? (The stuff that "sounds like the index of a book", in Joe Henderson's phrase). Not everyone likes Mozart or Bach, after all, let alone Parker or Davis. Lots of guitar fans enjoy shred, which many musicians dismiss as garbage, as not real music at all.

 

I think - as I said before - that you can make a good judgement yourself from those PDF samples, as to whether you will enjoy the rest of his books. Play the examples given, and see whether you like the sound of them, and/or understand them and the text. Anyone else's opinion is neither here nor there - unless you want some confirmation of his authority, his jazz credentials. I can't give that, I can only say (as someone who's played jazz on and off for 45 years, alongside blues, R&B and rock) that his ideas sound right on the money to me.

 

My only criticism is they're too expensive. $40 each for 80 pages on average? (book 2 is only 63 pages.) What production costs does he have?

[Funkifized]

Too bad you weren't good enough to get anything out of Garrison's teaching. I took a Standard Tune Workshop with him, and it changed my whole outlook on guitar playing. My reading sucked at that time, and I got tons of great stuff from Garrison; he was humble enough deal with us newbies, but pushed us with the right amount of gusto to get some mileage out of us. I've also dealt with Garrison enough in recent times to realize that he's particularly helpful that he would help anyone out with explanation and detail on how to use his method books. If you're not getting out of his teaching, it's on you, dude. 

This book is absolutely the best; advanced enough to be useful for all levels of guitarist, but straight ahead enough to be understood by the novice. I use this method with my students to great success. Let me know when you've made enough playing jazz guitar to afford a house in Italy (not Paris, you're misremembering that). He was also good enough to study with Pat Martino and with Lenny Breau. Those two would eat you alive. 

[mwtzzz]

Byrne's book might be worthwhile if you already have a solid foundation in jazz, but it's not going to help you if you're just starting to learn. It won't teach you how to improvise.

The proper way to learn it is go through the steps that everyone since the 1920s has done. Start with a tonal foundation because jazz is tonal. Learn how to take music out of the diatonic context.

If you're interested in learning how to reduce the melody, get my book Volume 6. I explain how harmony is linked to "rhythm" and counterpoint which is necessary to understand what melody reduction is all about.

-cheers,

Michael

--

Jazz Educator

http://www.michael--martinez.com