Sept 5, 2015: Alex Hutton

Many thanks to Alex Hutton for a session in which we covered:

“The Shadow of Your Smile” by Johnny Mandel
“Groovin’ High” by Dizzy Gillespie

As usual, Alex’s session was packed with nuggets of good tips. See the whiteboard at the end of the post!

The use of E harmonic minor was discussed for use in “Shadow” as it could work over most of the tune. Introducing A- and B triads to create a bit of interest.

The use of patterns over the ii-V as a method of internalising the harmony as well as a spring-board for further improvisations: ii (1, 3, 5, 7) V (3, 2, 1, b7).

Starting the pattern on the third instead of the root to introduce 9ths: ii (3, 5, b7, 9) V (1, b7, 6, 5)

For “Groovin'” mention was made minor 6 pentatonics (1, b3, 4, 5, b7) throughout the tune: EbMaj7 (C- pent), A- D7 (A- pent) and G- C7 (G- pent).

Many thanks to Alex for coming to see us.