Jazz Trombone F

Jazz Trombone F.A.Q.

4) Do I really need to learn a million scales if I want to play jazz well?

Sam Burtis: Yes.

No.

Maybe.

Listen to the way the people you admire play; try to figure out how

THEY'RE doing it, then do the same. Coltrane played a million

scales...Louis Armstrong didn't. Charlie Parker did...Miles Davis didn't.

WHATEVER you do...be able to do it in ANY key. Listeners don't care if

you're in Bb or B natural...it either works or it doesn't.

Jeff Adams: NO, you don’t have to learn a million scales!

Blues, Pentatonic, Major, Whole tone, Diminished, Harmonic minor and Melodic minor

are the only scales that some pros ever deal with.

Please see my answer to #2 above.

Alex Iles: It depends. A scale is just one way organize a bunch of notes; a lick,

really.You can't rely totally on one lick when you encounter a certain chord. Break the

scales up in every possible way to create many possible shapes to that one scale.

Listen closely to how jazz musicians do this in their solos.

For instance, on a major or minor scale, instead of just playing

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,etc...

try: 1,3,2,4,3,5,4,6 etc...

Remember that chords ARE DERIVED FROM SCALES, so that certain harmonic

progressions are often derived from ONE chord. Practice scales with the

goal to derive original lines and phrases which please your ear. Get

beyond the "math".

You can actually learn to LIMIT the number of scales you use. Analyze

tunes in terms of key centers. Certain chord changes are often linked by

a common key--for instance, [Dmi7-G7-Cmaj7...each chord uses notes from

ONE key/scale--C]. Learn these changes first in terms of what key they

are in. Certain notes of the key WILL sound better over certain chords,

but the key may remain the same throughout the progression.

This is a nice alternative to thinking, "If I just learn the myopic-hetra-tedra-demolished

scale, then I'll REALLY be saying something on that altered-dominant-poly-cluster-sus-chord."

Some famous players have a rich pallet of scales they have digested,

others have not. If you play material based on a certain scale one week in one situation

[your 60's Blakey-ish band] you might sound just plain wrong on that New Orleans

traditional band the next week. You have to LISTEN to make what you play fit the

situation!!!

Chris Smith: Alex really hit the nail on the head. It does depend.

I’d like to add that if you are a person who doesn’t like to play scales, you

are not alone.

THEY CAN BE REALLY BORING !!!!!

But if you want to have a nice “pallet” to paint with, it really pays to know at least

your

Major scales inside and out.

And there is a state of “Zen” which accompanies this kind of practice drudgery

which

I think is very productive in shaping one’s character.

I still practice my major scales all the time, to keep my intonation in line and to be

familiar with “where everything is on the horn”. I also practice the Major scales in

intervals (i.e., 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths,) to keep the sound of these intervals in my

memory. To play a note on a brass instrument, it really helps to have

the sound of that note in your mind’s ear before it is played.