Well, I think I have this site working 100% again... I lost the Hard Drive on the previous web server, and had backups of some but not all of the stuff on said Hard Drive.
Anyway, welcome back. Let's see, where were we. We've met on April 15, 29th and May 13th, since my last post. We've been hitting scale theory, and how to practice scales pretty hard. We've introduced the Bebop scales. We've also looked at using the "Circle of 5ths (4ths)" as one way to practice scales. While we were at it, we did some "Cycle exercises". We played 1-2-1-2, 1-2-3-1, 1-2-3-5, 1-2-3-#4 through the cycle.
We also talked a little bit about form, and how the "Sonata Allegro Form", with it's components (intro., exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda), is still used in many jazz compositions/performances. Check out this essay for an excellent discussion on the subject of form.
Finally, last time, we had the two groups play for each other, with comments in between. It was just like a performance, and everyone was gracious with their comments. At the end, we had a big "blues jam".
Next time, we're looking forward to having jazz bebop drummer Artt Frank, come and share his insights with us. Artt will perform with Dennis on bass, Chuck Lamb (hopefully) on piano, and Tim on trumpet. Should be fun!
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