Don Stiernberg

The Improvising Mandolinist

Accepting the assignment to write this column took very little time. We're talking about my two favorite topics here -- jazz and the mandolin!

Don't let the "J"-word scare you off. We'll look at things in this column space that can help players in any style. Sure, we'll have transcriptions, phrases, chord substitutions, analysis of the great jazz mandolinists (there are more of them than you might think); but, I'll try to present these things in such a way as to benefit all mandolinists.

The idea here is that improvisation is a process that can be applied to jazz, bluegrass, country and so on. And, please remember, the best column ideas come from you!

I'm still amazed at shows and workshops just how many players ask about improvising. I remind most people that it isn't magic and can be learned. It's well to keep in mind that improvisation is a two-part process: choosing which notes to play and which rhythms to state them in.

The Step-By-Step Plan for Building Improvised Solos which follows is an outline explaining how I think about playing jazz on the mandolin and establishes the terms and concepts which we will use in the future to discuss swing, bebop, Paul Glasse, choros, or whatever.

You'll notice the outline is in eight parts (like a scale) and assumes knowledge of the harmonized scale. Just in case, here's a quick refresher. Start with a C Major scale. Next make a chord at each scale degree, using only tones from C Major. This yields a group of chords and a pattern which is the basis for all analysis of chord-scale relationships:

C  D   E   F  G   A    B      C
C  Dm7 Em7 F  G7  Am7  Bm7b5  C
                       (aka B
                  half-diminished)
I  ii  iii IV V7  vi   vii    I

Notice that upper case Roman numerals indicate major chords, lower case indicate minor chords.

Now you are ready for the Step-By-Step Plan. I hope that you will find it useful and I look forward to our future discussions.

Step-By-Step Plan For Building Improvised Solos

I. Make a chord chart of the tune.

Now you have a visual representation of what you are to respond to -- the tune's harmonic structure. If you have sheet music, make a chart anyway!

II. Analyze the chord progression, isolating common chord progressions (cadences), also called key centers or tonalities. For example: Dm7-G-C = the key of C. Dm7 is a iim7 chord from the C harmonized scale, while G7 is its corresponding V, or dominant chord. All three chords have the same tones (C major scale) and, hence, we know we are in the key of C. Chord charts will display loads of these ii-V7-I progressions. Another example is Fm7-Bb7-Eb.

Begin your search for ii-V7-I tonalities by looking at the dominant chords (V7) in the tune -- they will almost always be adjacent to their corresponding root (I) or iim7 chords.

Remember that in minor keys, the patterns are drawn from a harmonized minor scale, so the ii-V7-I pattern is slightly different. In minor keys, the pattern is iim7b5-V7alt.-Im (altered = alt. = b5, #5, #9, b9). For example: Dm7b5-G7b9-Cm = key of C minor. These ii-V7-Is can be referred to as progressions or cadences. Other common progressions to look for include:

I-IV-V (G-C-D) -- The basis for blues, country, folk, bluegrass and rock tunes.

I-Vi- -- The relative minor sound.

I-Vi-ii-V7-I -- Blue Moon, You Send Me, and millions more.

I--Ima7-I7-I6 -- A moving voice within the root chord -- Something in the Way She Moves, for example.

I-VI7-II7-V7 -- Notice these are all major chords. G-E7-A7-D7-G, for example. E is the fifth of A, A the fifth of D, D the fifth of G. Hence, this progression's name, the Circle of Fifths. Sample tunes include Don't Let the Deal go Down, Sweet Georgia Brown, and I've Got Rhythm.

I-VIIb-IV-I -- For example, G-F-C-G as in Angel from Montgomery.

III. Find the chords to the tune on your instrument.

IV. Breaking the chords into smaller pieces, begin putting a "line" together. Remember that the 3rd and 7th of each chord dictate the quality of each chord -- a flatted third yields a minor chord, a flatted seventh a dominant chord. Plotting a chart of each chord's third and seventh degrees effectively yields a melody line where the chord's functions can be heard.

The next "batch" of tones to consider, naturally, would be arpeggios. A three-note arpeggio of a chord would be 1-3-5, while a four-note arpeggio would be 1-3-5-7. Locate arpeggios for the chords of the tune on your instrument.

Another angle, of course, is to play the scale that corresponds to each chord and, hopefully, play scale "patterns." For example, instead of playing do-re-mi-fa-so, try 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-8 (1) and so on.

As you locate arpeggios, scales and patterns on your instrument, try to maintain a visual image of each one so that when that tonality occurs in another tune, you'll see the shape of a group of usable tunes with your mind's eye and find it quickly with your hand.

V. Having assembled the above harmonic and melodic information, you're ready to experiment with combining pitch choices with rhythms and making an improvised line. Remember that improvising is a multi-level process, with decisions being made simultaneously -- What pitch? What Rhythm?

Start with big old half notes, then quarters, then eighths. Your improvisation begins to be more musical and personal when you're able to mix rhythms of various types (triplets, dotted notes) together in your melodic line. Nonetheless, gliding through a chord progression on all one rhythm (eighth notes, for example) is a great confidence, chops and vocabulary builder.

VI. Don't forget the following mechanical devices:

Tape the progression at a slower-than-jam-session tempo, repeating the progression many times. Improvise with it.

Isolate weak spots -- we're all bothered by certain fingerings, chord sounds, etc. Work on those and let G-C-D, blues (easy stuff), take care of itself.

VII. Use the same thought process in listening to music.

Soon enough you'll hear one of your favorite soloists and realize that you love that solo primarily because of the treatment of the ii-V7-I progression in bar 6, 7 or 8 of tune X. Learn to sing that phrase (however slowly) and apply it to your own soloing. This is not stealing or borrowing but, rather, vocabulary-building. If you are able to write phrases down, it's called transcription.

Collecting a vocabulary of useable phrases, patterns and solos is the beginning of the development of your personal sound -- you wouldn't bother to copy a lick or memorize a phrase that didn't strike you as beautiful. Just remember that "your personal sound" is what improvising is for and what people want to hear. If someone wants to hear Jerry Garcia or Django Reinhardt or Willie Nelson or Charlie Parker, their records are easily found.

A vocabulary of phrases drawn from a wide variety of sources, presented within the context of your own feeling and ability, should yield some very satisfying improvised solos for you and your audience.

VIII or I. We can never exhaust the possibilities of improvisation. Always aspire to expand your vocabulary through transcription, jamming, gigging, making up tunes, trying to play what you can sing and working with unfamiliar tunes and progressions.

Even though there are only four types of chords (major, minor, augmented and diminished), you'll never exhaust or learn all the ways to use them. That's the fun and challenge of improvising -- it's hard to get bored when we know the possibilities are endless.

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