Modern Music Theory and Application

Don Mock: Target Tones Book and C.D Review:

Posted on July 3, 2024July 3, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Don Mock “Target Tones” Bok and C.D Review

Hi Guys,

Some of you have asked me if there is a good resource for mastering target tones or jazz chromatics on the guitar.

The good news is yes there is!…

But, it is out of print…

Although, You might find a Pdf or cheap copy on the internet, Amazon or Ebay.

So, what is this resource I talk of?

Okay, so what resource is this?

Well, this resource is a book with C.D written and performed by brilliant jazz guitarist and teacher supreme Don Mock.

The difference between this book and most other books on jazz and chromaticism is that Don shows the “Theory”. This makes it easy to understand.

EXAMPLES OF HOW THIS THEORY WORKS:

The key is this: The first three notes set up and target the chord tone that is on the beat:

Here, it is on beat 3 in red.

Here, is a second target melody: Again, we see the same set up:

Decorating a simple Dom7 arpeggio:

Below, we can see this applied to a C7 arpeggio.

Despite the chromaticism/target tones you can clearly see the outline of the arpeggio in red.

The arpeggio tones are “On” the beat: That is beats 1 and 3.

Lastly, notice the upbeat/target melody in bar 1 that sets this process in motion:

DOUBLE TIMING 16TH NOTES:

As a final example, [and also where this book is in a league of its own] is in the manipulation of double timed 16th note phrases.

This time the target melody or target tones outline the C Major scale:

Again, the notes of the scale are in red and are played “On” the beat and this time there are 4 scale tones per bar.

Again, notice the set up in bar 1:

FINALLY:

When you have this down then you can start to manipulate the target melodies and try placing them in different parts of the bar.

Also, when you are fluent you can start to break the rhythm up and exploit the rhythmic phrasing.

IN CONCLUSION

This was just a brief look at Don Mocks excellent book/C.D “Target Tones”. I am not promoting this book or in any way involved with it, but, as I am always asked for a great resource to learn jazz chromatics on the guitar I felt that this would be of great help to anyone confused or trying to understand the theory behind it.

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Don Mock Download

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Pat Martino’s Melodic Minor Scale: Jazz Guitar Improvisation: minor conversion

Posted on June 24, 2024July 3, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Pat Martino Melodic Minor Guitar Improvisation | Jazzimproviser.com

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at Pat Martino’s use of the melodic minor scale. We will employ the same jazz tools as the previous video.

The Melodic Minor Scale

As, you can see below the melodic minor scale is the same as the major scale but with a flattened third.

pat-martino-melodic-minor-conversion-jazz-guitar-improvisation

This scale works well, when played over altered Dominant chords.

In this case we have an Ab7 chord that is then altered. To play over this we employ the melodic minor scale by playing it a half step up.

So, for Ab altered we can exploit the A melodic minor scale as it is a half step up.

Below, the Ab altered chord:

Jazz chromatic Tools:

To begin with, let’s use our old friends the “Target tones”.

Once again [as in last lesson] we will start with an upbeat. This sets the rhythmic flow of the chromaticism and the jazz phrasing. From here we will employ some simple chromatic scale tones.

We will now exploit the phrase by bringing in an arpeggio for melodic effect. [Also, notice, the flattened 6th and the major 3rd interval with chromatic descending movement].

Rhythmically, we start on the off beat once again.

In the next bar we will employ some basic melodic minor scale before adding our colourful chromaticism.

Now, we will bring in our chromatic set up which is a mixture of target tones and chromatic scale. [Notice, we end the phrase on the leading note of A melodic minor scale the G#].

VARIATION:

We could also fit in our classic jazz melody/motif from our previous lesson.

On a last note, we can also ascend with our target tones and chromatic set ups:

EXAMPLE:

FULL EXAMPLE:

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Pat Martino’s Minor Conversion Jazz Technique: Chromatic Devices and Examples

Posted on June 17, 2024June 24, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Pat Martino’s Minor Conversion Jazz Technique: Chromatic Devices and Examples

PLEASE Watch Video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Some of you have said “How do we make Pat Martino’s minor conversion technique actually sound jazzy?”

Okay, let’s take a closer look!

CHROMATIC JAZZ TECHNIQUES FOR MINOR CONVERSION

There are 5 essential devices to employ for this:

1] Target tones:

These are employed to target a specific note. In this case E the 5th note of Am.

The use of an anacrusis/upbeat works best with target tones as this also sets up the jazz phrasing.

pat-martino-minor-conversion-jazz-guitar-lesson-target-tones

2] Chromatic scale.

This is usually delivered in fragments:

pat-martino-minor-conversion-chromatic-jazz-guitar-lesson

3] Side stepping:

In this case we are moving the interval of a tone down a semitone:

pat-martino-minor-conversion-side-stepping

4] “Classic” Jazz passing melody/MOTIF:

This is heard a lot in Charlie Paker’s playing as well as Pat’s improvisations.

pat-martino-minor-conversion-jazz-guitar-lesson

5] Minor arpeggio/min7th:

This is really useful and simple melodic tool for improvisational manipulation:

pat-martino-minor-conversion-minor7th-arpeggio

PART 2:

Analysis/Example- Pat Martino’s ii V7 I

In this example we can clearly see Pat’s exploitation of chromatics and how fluid they are in creating a long phrase.

We can see the target tone set up with an upbeat. Next we can see the manipulation of the chromatic scale, also, with a chromatic mix of scale and target tones. The minor arpeggio descends easily whilst the classic jazz motif/melody comes into play to round the phrase off .

This creates a very convincing jazz line in the “Minor conversion” Martino jazz guitar style/approach.

To complete this ii V7 I minor conversion we will exploit the minor7 arpeggio. From this, notice, the use of simple scale movement that finishes with a variation of the “Classic” jazz melody/motif:

pat-martino-minor-conversion-jazz-chromatics-guitar-lesson

Minor conversion: Sequence/Juxtaposition

As an exercise to display the brilliance of Pat Martino’s minor conversion jazz technique we will take the minor 7th arpeggio from the previous bar in the previous example and sequence/juxtapose this to play through both major and minor ii V I’s

1] Example 1: “MAJOR”– the same line moves down a fourth to play a ii V7 I Vi

2] Example 1: “MINOR”– the same line moves down a fourth to play a ii V7 i Vim7b5

pat-martino-minor-conversion-jazz-sequence-guitar-lesson

Shown in Full:

IN CONCLUSION:

This was a look at the essential devices any jazz guitar improviser needs to know and use for creative improvisation with the minor conversion, or minorisation technique.

As, I stated in the previous blog this simple method can save you 20 years of hard slog! Why? Because, Pat Matino’s minor conversion technique can be applied immediately!….

With these 5 musical improvisation tools anyone can create confident musical lines with strong and fluid jazz guitar phrasing.

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