I Exposed Dexter Gordon's Melodic Formula
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- This formula is how Dexter Gordon made sure all of his improvised solos sounded killer! Let's break it down into a few chunks that you can practise, to massively improve your jazz playing and soloing.
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0:16 Hooks
2:01 Cells
7:19 Adapting Cells to Different Harmonic Contexts
9:17 Varying the Rhythm of the Cells
10:06 How to Practise the Formula
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This is basically the key to good melodies in general - it's what most good melodies do. Good improvisation should largely sound like a melody you'd want to hum or sing.
Thoroughly enjoyed your playing...
Wow! This is great material! For years I have been trying to get a Dexter vibe via stealing complete ii-V-I licks and practicing them in all 12 keys, however reducing the approach to melodic cells makes so much more sense. What an epiphany! Thank you sir!
No problem, Marco! I had the exact same issue until I discovered how much he relies on those cells! I hope this approach helps you get closer to a Dexter vibe. Let me know how you get on!
the two approaches are not mutually exclusive. I've transposed all the 9 minor cells to Dm7, the 8 doms to G7 (if you treat the dim cell as a dom7b9 lick that can be played starting on the third, 5th, 7, or b9) , and the 4 majorsto C and viola! 288 possible two bar ii-V-I (some fit together better than others....) that can then be practiced in all twelve keys. Could keep one busy for a year!
I'm really digging all this Dexter material! I am a big fan of Dexter Gordon, these videos are helping me understand WHY I love his music so much. Your analysis are straightforward and easy to understand. Thanks so much.
Thanks Paul, I'm so glad you're liking the videos! I've got another Dexter one I want to make in the next few weeks... just need to find the time to film!
Second chorus starts with “My Heart stood still” quote✌🏻☺️
Oh good spot! I hadn't clocked that
Second chorus "hook" is a quote of the song "My Heart Stood Still", by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. DG is the kind of genius that can call upon these things at will.
Yeah you're right! I hadn't spotted that when I was putting the video together. Good spot!
The "cell" approach has been the only way I've been able to absorb phrases in the jazz language, and here you've done it with one of my favorites!! I'm definitely purchasing!
(Please do the same with Hank Mobley.) ;-)
I'm the exact same - I always struggled with absorbing jazz vocabulary, outside of simple chord tone lines, until I came across the cell approach! A few people have asked me to do a similar book on Hank Mobley, so I'll definitely dig into him some more!
@@joshwakeham I can't even imagine the hours upon hours you've spent on this, so requesting another artist is like asking to write another thesis . . . But, I think it's awesome I'm not along in suggesting whom to turn your attention to! Thanks again Josh, you have a new lifelong follower!
@@joshwakeham I second this! Hank Mobley book please!
@@SaxNinj He's definitely the next musician I'll write about, don't you worry!
Love the lesson, and love your playing!
Thanks Robert, glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing video plus editing effort wow.
Josh, I’m going out on a limb and say that I think your tutorials are some of the best out there. I’ve subscribed to many and there are some that are really great and helpful. I never had the opportunity to attend any of the great jazz institutions, I’ve learned the old school way, a lesson here and there and listening to the greats and trial and error. Learning this way often times you don’t learn in the right succession, maybe learning something advanced before a basic so therefore harder to understand. Takes longer to advance.
Your method covers all the bases. You explain the do’s and don’t’s and the why’s then illustrate. It’s like going from one great classroom to another. It’s impossible not to learn from you.
I thank you x a million. There’s no way I won’t become a better player with your lessons.
Oh wow, thank you so much, that really means a lot! It can be hard to keep up motivation, especially when life gets busy, and it's comments like this that absolutely make my day, and help me to keep working on videos!
I can't believe I've never seen your videos before! I was about to start writing everything down, and then you said there's an ebook. Instant purchase. I have to say, I appreciate being given all the information up front. Thank you 🤙
Thanks Quinn, it's great to hear you enjoyed the video, and thanks for buying the ebook! Let me know if younhave any questions about it ever!
Good to see that Josh, Dexter Gordan and Still Life have come together to make another snappy and informative video.
We're know as the big three in jazz education 😂
thanks for this. Really great stuff. Btw, the "hook" at the second chorus is a paraphrase of the first few bars of "My Heart Stood Still"
Yeah you're right, I hadn't noticed that before!
Excellent, clear and useable info and analysis....thanks
Thanks Marshal, glad you found it helpful!
@@joshwakeham Yeah man I find all of your stuff on point. Thanks for your efforts.
Thanks man, that means alot!
I’m trying to get better at jazz and ur videos are the best I’ve found on yt!
Thanks, Drew, that really means a lot! If there are ever any specific topics you want me to cover, just let me know!
Excellent analysis, Josh. Thank you for all the time that you put on this video. Awesome!
Thanks, Luanne! This was definitely my longest 'project' so far. So great to hear you enjoyed it!
Great video! I've heard lots of bad advice as I tried to figure out how to play jazz like memorizing licks but this is a much better process
Thanks Jon! Learning licks definitely works for some people, but I could never get it to work. Discovering this idea of cells has definitely caused the most improvement for me as a jazz musician!
I just stumbled upon your Dexter series and I'm loving it, as a big Dexter fan myself which can be seen by my avatar. Thank you for your work. Subscribed!
Thank you so much, it's great to hear that you've been enjoying the series!
This is gold👍🏼. Well written! Thank you
Wow ! Great Lesson …more videos on melodic cells please any artist from bebop to modern ..
Good stuff,mate. Doggin' it🌹🌹⭐🌹🌹
I always wondered why I loved Dexter's solo on Blue Bossa (on Biting the Apple) so much. Now I see that it's full of little memorable hooks that I like to sing. It really breaks it up into memorable parts
Oh man that solo is so killer!
Great content here, so happy I found this. Keep up your fabulous work!
Thanks, Ivan, that really means a lot!
Love the face when you're listening to Dexter.
The 'jazz stank' face has become a well-practised art!
amazing work. thank you.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
The 2nd hook (1:03) is a quote of the standard MY HEART STOOD STILL.
So many of Dexter’s “hooks” are quotes of standards.
Yeah you're right about the 2nd hook - I hadn't spotted that when I made the video
This video made it click what it means when they say "you can tell who's playing just by hearing" because, now i realize, someone like Dexter Gordon has these melodic cells, so if you knew this, you could spot them in a solo and tell its him, cus of his vocabulary! I always thought of it as more of a timbre and sound thing..Great vid man love it
Yeah recognising someone's playing is a mixture of everything - tone, time, vocabulary, all of it! The more you dig into certain musicians, the easier it is!
Exactly! In short LTD gets to the point every single time.... we live in an "every note is an enclosure" type of jazz world currently and that gets boring
You actually do sound like Dexter at the end of this video. Kudos!
Thanks so much!!
Great analysis. You make it sound so easy. OK time for the shed.
What I don't show is the weeks of practice to get those cells into my playing! 😅
Great video!
Thanks man!
"Amorphous Blob of Music" had me rolling
Great Lesson. Love me some Long Tall Dex.
Thanks! Dexter is one of my favourites, and severely underrated IMO!
As a pop/rock/folk person, I couldn't really hear Be Bop until I discovered Dexter Gordon.
I don't think you're alone with that - his style is so accessible, while also being absolute genius!
@@joshwakeham I'm stunned by the depth of your understanding of his style, that schematic, It's almost scary lol. We can only wonder if Dexter was consciously aware of snapping together theses little cells, or if it was just the way he played.
But yes, in my early years I tried to listen to hard jazz because I knew a lot of the fusion rock dudes were influenced by it, but it just sounded like a bunch of complex sounds with no musical meaning. Then someone took me to see 'Round Midnight, and it was like my ears opened to jazz for the first time. I've been a lover ever since, thanks to Long Tall.
I don't think Dexter was consciously stapling all those cells together, I think they were just shapes that he liked the sound of so would often reuse over and over, but it was all completely subconscious (at least of the bandstand, I have no clue what/how he practiced)
@@joshwakeham This video blows my mind. I'll be watching it for some time. Thank you so much for thisl
Great video
Thanks!
Eschew abstraction; embrace the visceral.
Andy Quinn: great way of putting it
👏👏👏👏
Some really nice content. I've checked out a few of your videos and have one piece of (hopefully) constructive criticism: your vibrato is a bit fast and immediate - try waiting until later to start the vibrato, and then use a slower one (that can accelerate and widen as the note diminuendos) - I've heard this called "terminal vibrato" LOL and it has less of a "classical strings" vibe.
Thanks for checking out the videos! There are many aspects of my playing that need work - I just try to improve a little bit each day!
@@joshwakeham Yeah, not trying to put you down, that's just a mannerism that sounds out of place to my ears and it would probably be a quick fix.
Does Transcribe actually write the notes down below the wave form like at 8:45 or is it a superimposition?
No, that was me superimposing it
I think Dex already did that
but why that B natural on the first beat of the Fm7 ? (third bar of the cheesecake solo) it implies an Fø7, is it because he's chaining multiple minor II-V-Is ?
I think that's just a chromatic passing note - it resolves up to the C on the next note. I might be missing something, but I can't see any chaining of minor ii-V-Is. To me, it sounds like he's just stretching the rhythm of the Dm7 G7 that come before the Fm7
Yeah it just looked strange to me because it resolves on the upbeat, but as you said the B could be just from the previous G7. The chain I meant is the Fm7-Bb7-Ebm7-Ab7.
Oh I thought you meant he was implying 'extra' ii V Is, my bad! You're right though, it does look a bit odd, and definitely confused me to start with!
How many pages is the book please?
Roughly 120 pages discussing everything I found, including musical examples, and then another 90 or so pages where I list every aspect of the analysis I did (e.g. showing the transcriptions, every instance of the harmonic/rhythmic/melodic devices that I found and so on)
Excellent! Got me to subscribe to your channel... and to try to buy your book, but the link to purchase on your website seems broken. Please check it.
Hi Guto, thanks for the subscribe, and for letting me know about the website issue! I think it's fixed now. If you still have problems with it, let me know and I'll look into it further
@@joshwakeham The page looks good now. I'd like to know what is the format of this digital book before purchasing though, understand what kind of app/platform I'll need to use it? This would be good info to add to your book description. thanks
It's just a pdf file so should work with whatever software you usually use to open pdfs!
I've bought your book! I'm very impressed by the breath of material you have in there. A very interesting approach to analyzing Dexter's solos. Looking forward to dissecting each solo in details following your writing. Thanks!
Thanks Guto!
My question: was Dexter really thinking of all these when he was improvising? In other words, we can analyse these and find a "formula". But did Dexter think of all these when he was playing?
I doubt he was consciously thinking of all of this while performing, instead going for the more subconscious approach of just playing what you hear in your head. Of course, what we hear in our heads is a result of the music we listen to and what we've practiced. And really that's the whole point of analysis, and working out what our heroes were playing - to give us ideas of what/how to practice so we can start to sound more like them
You are a handsome man.
How can I get the e-book
There's a link in the description of the video 😊
@@joshwakeham How many pages is it please?
@@MrRat Roughly 120 pages discussing everything I found, including musical examples, and then another 90 or so pages where I list every aspect of the analysis I did (e.g. showing the transcriptions, every instance of the harmonic/rhythmic/melodic devices that I found and so on)
Fantastic! But why do you have to yell and scream all the time…????
Hi Carlos, great to hear you enjoyed the video. I know that in this one, and some of my other older videos, I was quite shouty - I didn't notice until after I'd put it up! I'm trying to improve that in future videos
Thanks for the content, but listening to you talking is a bit exhausting man
Yeah I didn't realise at the time but I was a bit shouty in this video! Tried to correct that in my more recent ones. Thanks for watching though!