Month: March 2012

Cannonball Adderley: The Way You Look Tonight

Cannonball Adderley’s solo on “The Way You Look Tonight” is an amazing tourdeforce!  He blazes through an entire chorus in 53 seconds.  But, if you play this solo**  at half speed, it is as melodic as a Johnny Hodges invention.  Played in concert F, it is written for alto sax in D major.  In this key, the bridge modulates to F major.  However, the wonderful phrase shown below actually begins in G minor and ends in F major.  Try playing this lick in all 12 keys.  It works well over a II-V change.  If you cannot figure it out on your own, email me for a free chart of the lick in all 12 keys. 

**   This solo is found in “The Julian Cannonball Adderley Collection” edited by Tim Price, published by Hal Leonard.

Effortless Mastery

Here is an exercise to develop your rhythmic precision, finger dexterity, and improvisatory diversity.

In Kenny Werner’s book “Effortless Mastery,” he states that in order for a phrase to sound relaxed & swinging, it must be played effortlessly.  How do you play a line like the one below and make it sound effortless?  You must sacrifice one of these qualities:

  •   playing it fast
  •   playing the whole phrase
  •   playing it perfectly

Try looping little sections (as few as 2 notes) until they flow effortlessly.  Use your metronome in order to keep the groove going smoothly.  Start slowly and gradually extend the length, speed, and precision of what you are able to play effortlessly.

Think like a Composer

New Ears Resolution is not only designed to teach you to play by ear;  this discipline also encourages you to think more intelligently about the material you are playing.  Rote memorization of a song is not only tedious & laborious, but that process also cheats you out of the joy, wonder, and beauty implicit within the composition, the qualities which make a great performance so special.  When you approach a piece with “new ears,” you are beginning to understand its underlying logic in the same way the composer did while creating it.

Below is a simple illustration of this process.  The example is a Mixolydian phrase.  Try playing it in all 12 keys.  On the first line, the phrase is presented as if it were in C major.  On line 2, the same phrase is shown once again, this time as if it were in F major.  Which line helps you to better understand the phrase?  I welcome your comments.