A few questions on LOA5 improvising study, songwriting
David:
I have been listening to some jam tracks to see what I may want to use for the song writing improvising study for LOA5. I had a few questions on backing music choice.
1. Some of the jam tracks I am considering have a quick turn around in bar two and/or go to a one chord in bar nine. Would I follow the band to those chords or move away with the standard chords? Or should I just simply avoid these jam tracks and use something more standard?
2. Most of the jam tracks have the turn around in bar twelve. Should I make sure to follow this chord progression?
3. Instead of using a jam track, would live instruments like a band or guitar player be acceptable?
Thanks Brian
David
Thanks for the tips. Hope you are doing OK after that big quake out there.
Brian
Hey Brian. Answers below...
1. You always follow the band... what they play provides you with your note choices. Hopefully your Hole Changes exercises has shown this to you. With that said, the Quick Change in Bar 2 doesn't tend to change much, so you may find it won't be much of an issue. I am not familiar with jam tracks that use a I Chord in Bar 9, did you mean to say Bar 12, not having a turnaround?
2. Yes, though there are three common options (you will learn more about this in Improvising Study 5). 1) Play the classic turnaround... 2) Play nothing (leave space)... 3) Play something that uses that turnaround area as a buildup to the next chorus, think of it as a big pickup (in this case you are ignoring the V Chord for the purpose of leading to the next chorus... this is generally the preferred way to use this area as the song moves to climax).
3. Absolutely!