Lessons

Lesson 45: Techniques for Composition/ Improvisation

The Necessity of Theory

Sometimes it can be beneficial to get a little technical about composition and improvisation. The results from a theoretical approach may be totally different from those of your normal efforts. Nice as it is to rely on instinct and raw inspiration, there will be times when "the juices don't flow", so to speak. It is also very common to get stuck in a rut as far as composition and improvisation go and a fresh start may be all you need to achieve something you would never have come up with just relying on your ear.

Techniques Worth Exploring

Using a motive and motivic development
The tone row technique
Using an interval as a basis
Using the notes of a chord/ several chords as tone material
Using a scale/ a mode as tone material

The Tone Row Technique

I used this ( quasi-) tone row for my Bb blues Pets ( you can find the entire lead sheet on my sheet music page):

Using a Motive as Tone Material

Mike Stern based his rhythm changes tune Suspone ( you can find the entire lead sheet on my sheet music page) on a polychord: A major triad over Bb major triad. A four-note motive/ pattern was used as the source material, in the bridge it is sequenced: transposed up a major third, a major sixth, a major second, a perfect fourth, a perfect fifth and finally a minor third ( slightly varied):

Using the Notes of a Chord/ Several Chords as Tone Material

This example is an idea used by Miles Davis around the Bitches Brew period. Take two or in this case three chords: C, E and Ab, arrange the notes in a sequence and you may get a very interesting scale:

Now, let's do the same thing with the polychord from Mike Stern's Suspone. What do we get - ( I added one note: a g and) this is actually the sixth mode of the D harmonic minor scale!