Melodic Minor Improvisation
In this lesson we will expand on the 5 note improvisation concept covered earlier in this module. In that lesson we learnt how to create simple but beautiful improvised melodies using just the 5 notes of the minor scale.
We will now introduce the melodic minor flavour into our improvised lines and phrases and pay particular attention to the major 7th as a colour tone.
Focus On The Minor Line Clichés
Again we are gong to focus on the 1st line of the A Section, which is 2 bars of D minor and 2 bars of G minor, and the 251 into D minor which takes us to bar 5.
So now we have added an extra layer of complexity into our melodies and expanded the pool of notes available to us. In the next lesson we will introduce the harmonic minor scale and the additional b6 colour tone.
Related Lessons
In this lesson we create interesting colours and tensions in our improvisations by targeting isolating the individual chord alterations.
We explore how we can simply rearrange and rephrase the notes of the melody to create a structure and framework around which we improvise.
We create a bigger and more powerful sounding arrangement by playing the right hand melody in octaves above a stride left hand style.
Practice Tips
-
Start by playing up and down the melodic minor scale to visualise the notes but remember that improvising is more than just running scales.
-
Experiment with the 2 melodic minor patterns demonstrated in this lesson and incorporate them into your improvisations.
-
Do we have to play the melodic minor flavour? No, but it is an optional colour that we can incorporate into our improvisations.
-
Remember that the triad and 5-note scale is the foundation upon which we can then introduce the other minor flavours.
