Category Archives: BeBop Scales

The A to Z of Bebop – 27 Essential Bebop Heads to Learn

Learning Bebop heads is a really great way to learn jazz vocabulary over ‘standards’ from the Great American Songbook.

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At least 85%, possibly as high as 95% of Bebop tunes are ‘heads’ written over songs from musicals and shows of the 1930’s and 40’s.  Musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie did this to avoid paying royalties in the recording studio for the songs they were using in the clubs.  Popular songs such as ‘How High The Moon’ (which turned into Parker’s Ornithology) and ‘I got Rhythm’ (Anthropology) were transformed into instrumental songs, often pushing the technical demands of the player.

This playlist is meant to give you a starting off point.  There’s no doubt that if you want to get better at improvising, then learning these songs, (and I mean learning, that’s NO PRINTED MUSIC,) will give you a greater vocabulary to work with.

Chris Potter Masterclass

I’m a big fan of Chris Potter, like many contemporary saxophonists I can be inspired and intimidated by his incredible musicianship, technique and command of the saxophone.

I really enjoyed watching this masterclass from a Jamey Aebersold Summer School, (that’s Jamey of the 1, 2, 3, 4 on piano at the start.)

I’ve been to a number of classes that Chris has given and I’ve been VERY fortunate to share a few beers with Chris at Ronnie Scott’s and backstage at various different gigs over the years, (check out my review of this gig with Chris, Joshua Redman, Mark Turner and Chris Cheek.)

Some things I wanted to draw your attention to from this Masterclass,

  • Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve
  • A good tone and good time will see you through most situations.
  • Music, especially jazz is self-expression.
  • Be able to melody VERY WELL!
  • Whatever you can find that makes it fun, do it and keep on doing it

IT IS SAID TO BE ‘PLAYING MUSIC’ SO LET’S PLAY!

The big ‘take home’ for me out of this was recording myself when I practice.  I’ve advocated this for a while with students, but I’ve been a little reluctant to do it myself.  However, last night I setup a folder and tried to put into practice some of the ideas that Chris talks about.

What do you think about Chris Potter’s playing and what he says in this class?