Digital Pill - working musicians talk about their lives » jazz impovisation

Percussion: soloing (Ray Pereira)

Leo — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:17:37 +0000

Ray discusses using a combination of tone and slap sounds on the djembe to produce rolls of various lengths and their use in contemporary percussion soloing.

More information about Ray’s classes, projects and recording can be found at raypereira.com

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Anthony Schulz accordion improvisation

Leo — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:11:12 +0000

Anthony Schulz plays an improvisation on the stradella and free bass accordion

Visit Anthony on myspace here

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Guitar: rhythmic variation (Doug DeVries) pt 2

Leo — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:51:57 +0000

In part 2 of a series Doug DeVries shares some ideas on how to add rhythmic variation to a piece of music. In this lesson he demonstrates how to increase interest by varying the rhythm.

Visit Doug on these links

His website dougdevries.com

Doug’s albums on iTunes

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Guitar: voice leading (Doug DeVries) pt 1

Leo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:54:12 +0000

Doug DeVries shares some ideas on how to add harmonic and rhythmic variation to a piece of music. In this lesson he uses one of his own compositions – Astoria – as an example of voice leading in harmony as well as examples of how to increase interest by varying the rhythm.

Visit Doug on these links

His website dougdevries.com

Doug’s albums on iTunes

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Guitar: walking bass (Tim Nikolsky)

Leo — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:28:40 +0000

Tim Nikolsky demonstrates how to do Walking Basslines on Guitar. Tim has been performing with the vocalist Margot Leighton for the past 13 years and has developed a unique style of playing in this musical duo incorporating the whole rhythm section on guitar. The technique of walking bass on guitar is also a great way to accompany other instrumentalists and soloists. Here he demonstrates the secrets of good accompanying on guitar; and breaks down his approach to walking basslines on guitar – step by step.

Click HERE to download a pdf of the lesson

Visit Tim online here
whitewithtwo.com
australianjazzrealbook.com
youtube.com/timnikolsky

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Rae Howell plays Decipher the Crooked Ways

Leo — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:24:02 +0000

Rae Howell is a freelance composer and performer on piano & vibraphone. She is a founding member of Sunwrae Ensemble, showcasing some of Australia’s finest versatile musicians. Here she plays her piece “Decipher the Crooked Ways” on the vibraphone using a combination of bowing and four mallet technique. Decipher the Crooked Ways…. an ambient & (brief) solo version of a Sunwrae Ensemble work (usually ~30 minutes, for vibes, harp, clarinets/flutes, double bass, lap-steel, percussion), from the Never Stops to Wait album. It’s a journey about time, letting things go, deciphering the crooked ways of life, unraveling naturally.

Have a listen to Rae’s other truly incredible recordings from
Sunwrae Ensemble’s official website
Also
Sunwrae Ensemble on myspace
Sunwrae Ensemble on youtube

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Accordion: bellows shake (Dave Evans)

Leo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:01:32 +0000

Dave Evans explains the uses of the accordion bellows shake. In this video, Dave describes the uses of the double and triple bellows shake in jazz, zydeco and cabaret music. He includes detailed instructions about how to perform the shake as well as techniques for adding accents to play with the rhythmic aspects of accordion.

Listen to Dave’s music here

Dave playing with the Band Who Knew Too Much on myspace

The Band Who Knew Too Much CDs available here

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Trumpet: extended techniques (Peter Knight)

Leo — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:07:35 +0000

Peter Knight demonstrates improvised laptop processing of trumpet. Peter is currently researching this area of improvisation as part of a DMA at Queensland Conservatorium. Features live sampling and processing of micro sound worlds created using the trumpet – stretched and squashed with Ableton Live.

Listen to Peter’s music here

Peter’s solo trumpet project on myspace
Peter’s jazz quartet
Way out West

All the Gravitation of Silence – available on iTunes

And CDbaby

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Sax: bebop scales (Paul Williamson)

Leo — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:09:49 +0000

Paul Williamson explains the uses of bebop scales in jazz improvisation. In this video, Paul’s first post for Digital Pill, he describes the construction of bebop scales, jazz articulation, the use of a metronome and how bebop scales place the chord tones firmly ON the beat to create an “inside” sound in improvisation. The video together with the pdf download explain the uses of bebop scales over major, dominant and minor scales.

Click > HERE < to download a pdf of the lesson

Listen to Paul’s music here

Paul playing with Way out West on myspace

Way Out West – Old Grooves for New Streets available from iTunes

and from CDbaby

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