Some debate on Chord Scale Theory for Improvising

Berkelee College Of Music has a reputation of being one of the best places in the world to study jazz improvisation.  This is what one Berklee instructor had to say, in response to this article in which the author criticizes Chord Scale Theory:

Being a teacher at Berklee, I hear these discussions all the time. The chord scale concept is meant to give you a series of notes to pick from over a chord while improvising. The problem is that if the chords are moving too fast, you can't really play all the notes in the scale and have it come out musical-sounding. 

The chord scale concept was never meant to be used that way. Just the same, beginner improvisers often try their best to be able to get every note of every scale over every chord. Teachers let them do it because it's a good way to learn. There's a point where it becomes obvious to the student that it doesn't work. It's not about know "all the notes" as much as knowing "the right notes" and putting them in the "right places"

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You can't learn that from any scale. 

Yup. Practice more.

Fitness update

On August 17, 2011, I started following the Rings One program. I was interested because it was a CST (Circular Strength Training) influenced strength training program for gymnastic rings. At the end of Level A, Phase 1, I was not strong enough to progress to the next phase, so I repeated Level A, Phase 1. On November 17, I completed the repeat of this phase. I was back to doing the same number of pullups I did before my latest shoulder injury, and was able to do 5 dips, sometimes 6 on a really good day, on the rings, which was an improvement from not being able to do any. I think the Rings One program is a great program, but the results will vary depending on the trainee's physical condition. For someone like me coming off of a shoulder injury and never really possessing a great amount of strength, I think it would take at least 3 repetitions of Level A, Phase 1 before the trainee could progress to the next phase. Level A, Phase 2 includes exercises that I was not able to execute even after going through Phase 1 twice, such as Tuck-Up To Shoulder Stand and Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up. The exercises I could not do in Phase 1 until the middle of Phase 1 included Jump Tuck to Inverted Hang (could not do even one rep) and Mountain Climbers (8 reps minimum - I could manage 6). I have no doubt if I kept following Level A, Phase 1 over and over, I'd eventually build up the strength to take on the next phase.

 But I started to get bored and am switching to the Clubbell Mass Evolution program. This program includes the use of a 2-handed clubbell. I have a 45 lb. "Bruiser" clubbell, but it's too heavy for me, so I ordered a 25 pounder. Until it arrives, I will follow this exercise routine: Intu-Flow Intermediate 5 Pullups on door pullup bar (breaks allowed if I can't do 5 consecutive) 5 Pike Pushups on Power Wheel (partial range movement ok) 7-10 "steps" per hand Hand Walks in Plank Position on Power Wheel 5 Hip-Ups to Shoulder Bridge on Power Wheel Rest 5 min. then repeat above Cooldown: Pigeon Pose, Hip Flexor Stretch, Hamstring Stretch Cooldown routine from Rings One I'll be doing the Power Wheel exercises to address core strength (abs and back) defiencies. The pullups address pulling strength deficiencies that prevent me from doing Inverted Tuck Roll Chip. The Pike Pushups start to address the upper body strength deficiencies - particularly the shoulders - when I attempt to support my bodyweight while facing downward, such as in the Tuck Shoulder Stand.

What I hope to gain from Clubbell Mass Evolution is muscle mass to help burn fat, and particularly muscle mass around the shoulders to make them a little more injury-proof. The program also has a lower body training component that was a bit lacking in Rings One.

Some links for Emu Command Station and possibly other Proteus synths

Emu Command Station FAQ

The E-mu Command Station XL-7/MP-7/PK-7 and Proteus 2500 tutorials

prodatum - A cross-platform editor for the Proteus family of synths

Jazz and piano advice retrieved from old forum posts

After quite a layoff from practicing the Bach Two-Part Inventions (actually, I only practiced No.1 and was noodling with No.2 a bit), I searched old forum posts for the advice that I dimly remembered getting as to which of the Inventions to learn first and came across this old thread:

http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2001420/1

Some highlights:

If you want to improve your jazz playing, there are much better ways than that too.
check out Clare Fischer's Harmonic Exercise book from Advanced Publishing for starters.

... I haven't ordered the Clare Fischer book yet. Doh!

(in answer to which Bach Inventions to learn first) No. 1 in C major is a good one to start with. No. 4 in D minor and No. 8 in F major might be good as well.

It turns out the person who I thought steered me to the Bach Inventions was someone else, but this first person called my attention to Bill Dobbin's books. He has a bunch out - I'll have to ask which ones to check out...

Ekdahl Moisturizer - Unique spring reverb with unusual features

From the Knas website:

Ekdahl Moisturizer is a spring reverb where the springs are exposed so they can be played/hit/fiddled with. As well as being capable of creating sound in itself, you can of course also play sound through the springs like a regular spring reverb - this makes for happy-fun-time finger-modulation of the reverb on whatever audio that's going through it. On top of this there's an analog multimode filter that can be used to attenuate or exaggerate certain frequencies in the sound, this is real handy while playing the springs as you can - for instance - cut all the highs and just make thunderous doomy sounds or do the opposite; cut all the lows and make that ear piercing high frequency special love. Also, it incorporates an LFO that's internally routable to the filter and that also has some external routing-stuff. The Ekdahl Moisturizer has tons of CV / Expression pedal options on the back for even more hillarious moments. The Moisturizer is a mono unit.

This unique reverb unit is definitely on the list of gear that I'd like to acquire in the near future.

Dave Douglas on Ear Training

This article was posted in 2008, but still looks like a worthy read:

Dave Douglas on Ear Training

Wednesday Working

Morning only:

Beginner 4-Corner Balance Drill
Frog Stand Practice (60 sec. total work)
Tried some chest expander exercises from Noe book
Neck And Shoulder Focus Practice from the Kraftsow DVD

Pretty much taking it easy today. Left shoulder pain is receding - probably a combination of healing and the yoga practice. Once again, Viniyoga comes through!

Messiaen modes for jazz

Nelson Veras is a unique jazz guitarist who has chosen an unusual path for the development of his voice. Click here to go to a page that describes how Veras applies Messiaen modes. The page includes video and audio links.

According to jazz guitarist Gene Ess, there is a book by Masaya Yamaguchi called Symmetrical Scales for Jazz Improvisation that updates Messaien's concepts for the 21st century. I took a peek at some sample pages of this and his other books and they are deep.

Some C Melodic Minor exercises

I recently started practicing the Graham Clark Scale Method on viola and guitar. I am convinced that this method will help me nail down the intervals that I want to play, with less time wasted searching for the interval in the fingerboard. The examples in his article are written for C Major. C Melodic Minor is new to me, so I decided to write down some exercises from his method for C Melodic Minor.

This is the first set of exercises for the modes of the scale:

Note sequence	Mode
CDEbFGABC' C'BAGFEbDC	C Melodic Minor
DEbFGABC'D DC'BAGFEbD	Dorian b2 or Phrygian #6
EbFGABC'DEb EbDC'BAGFEb	Lydian Augmented
FGABC'DEbF FEbDC'BAGF	Lydian Dominant
GABC'DEbFG GFEbDC'BAG	Mixolydian ♭6
ABC'DEbFGA AGFEbDC'BA	Aeolian b5
BC'DEbFGAB BAGFEbDC'B	Altered Dominant

With the above note sequences written down, it's much easier to extrapolate the degree-to-root note pairs to practice for that section of the GC Method.

Here are the broken interval exercises for C Melodic Minor:

Note sequence	Interval
CEb DF EbG FA GB AC' BD' C' Eb'C' D'B C'A BG AF GEb FD C	3rds
CF DG EbA FB GC' AD' BEb' C' F'C' Eb'B D'A C'G BF AEb GD FC	4ths
CG DA EbB FC' GD' AEb' BF' C' G'C' F'B Eb'A D'G C'F BEb AD GC	5ths
CA DB EbC' FD' GEb' AF' BG' C' A'C' G'B F'A Eb'G D'F C'Eb BD AC	6ths
CB DC' EbD' FEb' GF' AG' BA' C' B'C' A'B G'A F'G Eb'F D'Eb CD BC	7ths

Here are the triad exercises for C Melodic Minor:

Triad	Chord
C Eb G	i minor
D F A	ii minor
Eb G B	iii
F A C'	iv
G B D'	v
A C' Eb'	vi
B D' F'	vii

Monday Workout

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Left shoulder still hurts despite no workout over the weekend, other than yard cleanup

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

I actually only did 2 sets today. I'll hold off on pullups for now and let the left shoulder heal some more. Frog stand does not seem to bother it as much. I still can't hold the Frog Stand for 60 sec. straight (not even close!) but I managed to sustain a hold for more than 5 seconds a couple of times, up to the 60 sec. total work.

Tried to get into Tuck Lever but lack the ab strength to simply curl myself up into it. I'll take tomorrow off from pullups, but when I resume I'll go for static hold practice of the hanging leg lift, emphasis on the Hanging Straight Leg L, as described in Coach Sommer's article, Developing the Hanging Leg Lift. I can do a Hanging Tuck L for 10 sec hold, no problem, so I'll start with the Hanging Straight Leg L with bent knees.

Friday Workout

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Bhujangasana and Vimanasana from Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

Suffered mild left shoulder strain while swinging across monkey bars. I probably need to build more shoulder strength as the left shoulder may still be extra weak from the previous shoulder injury.

Tuesday Workout

Despite refraining from further swinging on the monkey bars, my already-sore left shoulder seems to have been aggravated even by merely hanging from the bar to do leg raises. I found via Google a post by Coach Summer on this discussion thread:

Postby Coach Sommer on Mon May 26, 2008 10:49 pm
Your hanging strength is currently insufficient for the demands of hanging leg lifts. For the time being move to another core strength element and consider using the information in the following essay to increase your shoulder stability:
http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewto ... ight=#2664

I clicked on the link he provided and he mentioned several exercises. Of those exercise, I thought an overhead support walk was a realistic option. I tried my 16kg kettlebell and realized I'd lost a lot more upper body strength than I'd previously thought, after all this time of not exercising the upper body. I couldn't military-press the KB even once, where I had been able to press it for at least 5 reps.

I thus did the following this morning:

Intu-Flow Beginner Mobility Drills
Beginner 4-Corner Balance Drill
Frog Stand Practice (60 sec. total work)
Neck And Shoulder Focus Practice from the Kraftsow DVD Viniyoga Therapy for the Upper Back, Neck & Shoulders

Tonight I'll dig out my Lifeline Chest Expanders. These were instrumental in my shoulder rehab in the past.

New workout routine

I found the monkey bar set near our office building. I had no idea it was there, despite months of working in that building.

My low back/hip has recovered nicely, but is still not ready for weight training. The Low Back/Sacrum Practice from Gary Kraftsow's DVD has helped, after about 4 months of practice 3-5 times a week. My shoulders are still a bit touchy but better off than my back.

As the experts say, one's workouts would be more effective if one has a goal in mind. So I have decided to resume pursuit of the skills described in Christopher Sommer's article Building an Olympic Body through Bodyweight Conditioning. None of the exercises in this new routine bother my shoulders nor my back.

Morning Workout

Joint Mobility (Intu-Flow program from Rmax)
Four Corner Balance Drill (introduced in the Intu-Flow DVDs).
Frog Stand Practice (as described in Sommer's article)
Low Back/Sacrum Viniyoga Practice

Day Workout (during breaks at work)
Pullups w/supinated (palms facing me) grip
1-leg squat (not directly related to the gymnastic goals, but done to build leg strength)

So far, I can do 3 pullups comfortably. Not great, but that's why I'm doing them. My 1-legged squats are weak, so I just do 1 rep per leg. I do 4-5 sets of the Day Workout during a typical work day.

I'll tweak this routine over time. The first thing would be to find the yoga compensatory flows for pullups that are in Scott Sonnon's 4x7 DVD.

Given my current weak state, reaching my goals will take quite a while. But I really enjoy going outside to do the pullups, especially when the weather is nice.

MIDI Footcontroller Roundup on The Gear Page

If you are a musician who needs to coordinate multiple MIDI devices (synths, effects processors, etc.) with footswitches, because both hands are busy playing your instrument, you probably need a MIDI footcontroller. The Gear Page's Digital And Modeling Gear forum has a nice roundup here.

CNNMoney.com - The 20 best money Web sites

The 20 best money Web sites

I don't recall seeing Smartmoney.com on the list, but it was suggested in the Digg.com comments.

Danny Barnes: How To Make a Living Playing Music

I'm as guilty as a lot of people (apparently) of fantasizing about a different lifestyle - in which one makes music for a living instead of working at a "real" job. Check out Danny Barnes' "how-to" article. Doesn't sound like an easy lifestyle...

Master 5 OS X Utilities in 5 Minutes

We’re sure many Mac users have seen the Utilities folder inside of the Applications folder and wondered what the applications contained inside can do. Maybe they can control the weather? Or maybe they give you super powers? The reality is bit less exciting, but still incredibly useful to even the newest Mac user.

Check out the article

WebUrbanist: Ten Magnificently Modern Musical Instruments

WebUrbanist has a nice little roundup of modern musical instruments.

My random commentary:

Electric violin is mentioned by not electric cello.

No Haken Continuum

I keep thinking about downloading Ocarina into my iPhone and forgetting about it.

The Hapi Drum's inspiration, the Hang Drum, was worth a mention. But the Hang Drum is harder to obtain and it costs a lot more, but much of the extra cost is due to the more complex design. This is a nice video showcasing both instruments plus a couple of others:

Foods that slow aging

Foods that slow aging

Links of interest from Washington DC Green Festival

This was the first time I attended the DC Green Festival, now into its sixth year. There were plenty of lectures and panel discussions to choose from, as well as a large exhibit area, with booths divided into sections for home remodeling, food products, clothing, activist groups, etc. Here is a selection of interesting links about stuff I found at the festival:

Community Forklift is a home improvement store that carries used building materials. The site has links to other green businesses in the DC metro area.

Green Building Institute offers courses for green living, with topics ranging from vegetable gardening to green building materials.

DC Green Connection is a meetup for DC area green living enthusiasts.

Planting Empowerment is an organization that offers investments in trees in Panama, ranging from a $50 investment for 2.25 trees to a $1000 investment for 70 trees, up to a $10,000 investment for over 700 trees. From what I understand, these investment should be thought of as 25 year bonds, except the rates are pretty high (just over 7% for the $50 investment, 9.3% for the $1000). Because of the time required to cultivate healthy trees, it takes a pretty long time from the time a tree is planted to realize a sustainable profit from it, and this is reflected in the investment schedules - you'll have to wait the full 25 years to get maximum return. Distributions are typically scheduled for payout beginning in year 8 of the investment.

The nonprofit Center for Community Self-Help and its financing affiliates Self-Help Credit Union, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Self-Help Ventures Fund provide financing, technical support and advocacy for those left out of the economic mainstream.

The OmGym Suspension Yoga Set is a useful tool for enjoying the benefits of inversion without the advanced yoga skills required to do an unassisted inversion pose such as a headstand. One could probably use it for many of the same strength training exercises done on Power Rings and the Lifeline Jungle Gym. The inventor demonstrates some other fun applications (besides yoga inversion and strength training) in various videos on the site. What makes the OmGym green is the use of recycled materials.

ReDirect Guide is a sustainable business/lifestyle guide for 3 metro regions that also offers a credit card that funds carbon offsets with every purchase, obtains discounts from green businesses, and funds community banking.

Demilec manufactures green spray foam insulation products, including Sealection 500 insulation which has a 50 STC rating for sound proofing - looks like a great combination with two layers of sheetrock on each side (see the book Home Recording Studio Build it Like the Pros by Rod Gervais).

YouRenew.com takes unwanted electronic products such as old cell phones and will pay for some of them, unlike municipal electronic recycling programs which offer no chance at all for monetary reimbursement.

Crude is a documentary about the exploitation of the Amazon jungle region of Ecuador by Texaco-Chevron. I suppose I have a lurid fascination for this sort of film. It opens in DC at the E Street Cinema next week, for a one-week run. No, Michael Moore is not involved.

Tapped is a documentary about the bottled water industry. It explained why my previous employer abandoned the distribution of bottled water in favor of reusable canteens and filtered water dispensers. No, Michael Moore is not involved.