This lick is from Toronto guitarist and session ace Giordan Postorino. It's a clever use of intervals to spell out the half whole diminshed scale, starting with two major thirds into two perfect fourths. Too good not to share.
This lesson is about adding some chromaticism to your scalar lines using the 8 note bebop scale. It's basically a Mixolydian scale with a major 7th added as a passing tone. By adding this note the chord tones line up nicer rhythmically when played as 8ths. Play the first two examples to get your ears and fingers around the scale. There are two different positions of the scale shown, both in C to facilitate the devices we will be using a little later.
This lick is straight out of David Bakers How to Play Bebop Vol.1, a great book to pick up if you want to incorporate some of the classic jazz vocabulary into your own playing. Descend from the root of the bop scale in whatever key you want (all these examples are on C for clarity) jump up a third, down a fourth and down a second. Ted Quinlan, head of he guitar department at Humber College in Toronto called this the "Thank you David Baker" lick. The next example show the David Baker lick descending in two octaves. See the symmetry in the shape? This is an easy one to splice right in to your improvisations, it starts on the root of the chord and starts on beat one. No need to get a run at it. The next two examples are an ascending bebop scale with the Baker lick thrown in using both the positions of the bebop scale from the beginning of the lesson. David Baker had another device he called "Deflection", where you pick a tone (he used the fifth) and bounce around adding extension to the line. It makes more sense if you play it. Get it? Here is deflection from the root followed by deflection from the fifth. A great way to extend and add some colourful stuff. I saved the best for last. A combination of the "Thank you David Baker" along with deflection from the fifth using the bebop scale. Try to splice this in to your own soloing. How about using deflection on a Pentatonic scale? Or adding passing tones to other modes to hear the effect a single extra pitch can change the rhythmic sound of the scale. How to Play Bebop Volume 1, David Baker Jazz Line from Inside Improvisation, Jerry Bergonzi |