Mike Stern Master Class: Improvising on Autumn Leaves

In a few previous posts (here and here) I've claimed that jazz musicians actually use the kinds of arpeggio exercises that I have never had much use for. In this post, I will start providing the proof.

In the video above from a master class, jazz guitarist Mike Stern starts out by first arpeggiating the chords for Autumn Leaves and then takes off with a great example of jazz improvisation. Mike calls the arpeggios "chord turns" and explains how classical composers would outline chord changes in a "particularly beautiful way," for example in the Bach Corales. Jazz musicians can use chord turns for parts of solos as long as they make sure it doesn't sound like an exercise! Mike then goes on to demonstrate with the changes for Autumn Leaves.

In the pdf file (here) and the MuseScore msc file (here) I have written out an arpeggio exercise using the changes Mike was outlining. I've given the fingering for the the first note of each arpeggio in the first eight measures. In the second eight measures, Mike switches to a higher register. I've written these arpeggios out as octaves so you can either player the higher note or play the octave. In the sixth and seventh measures on the second page, Mike plays block chords (Em7, Eb7, Dm7, Db7). These are pretty standard root-position chords that many readers will be able to play. In a future post, I'll describe a very straight-forward way to play root-position chords on guitar, especially now that you are familiar with octaves and arpeggios.

Also, in a future post I'll go on to analyze Mike's solo in more detail. If you're interested, you can find a transcription of a Mike Stern Autumn Leaves solo from the Bob Berg In The Shadows CD here. Comparing the two solos is an interesting exercise in understanding the process of improvisation. One point I want to make here is that Mike knows and can arpeggiate the chord changes to Autumn Leaves by heart. So our first step is memorization! Then we go on to play arpeggios (and maybe throw in some block chords) until we are bored, at which point we move on to try different things that might interest us. In the Bob Berg transcription, Mike uses be-bop scales, side-slipping (outside playing) and guide tones (targeting)--all topics to be explored in future posts on jazz improvising.

In the next post, I will look at John Coltrane's use of arpeggios in his well known solo on Giant Steps. Hopefully, studying the Coltrane solo will provide enough proof that the greatest jazz musicians have made extensive use of arpeggios.

Improvising with Eighth-note Arpeggios

In Lesson 35 (page 57) of John Mehgan's Jazz Improvisation and Rhythmic Principles it is suggested that "as a starting point for improvisation, abandon the melody and play the arpeggios of the chords in eighth notes." In prior lessons in Section V (p. 53) Mehegan describes arpeggios and introduces the concept of arpeggios in rhythm. In a prior post, here, I worked out similar material for jazz guitar. In this post, I'll apply the ideas to the song Sunny by Bobby Hebb.

The pdf file (here, the first few measures are displayed above) provides an example using the changes from Sunny and using Mehegan's approach starting on page 58 of  Jazz Improvisation. I have just indicated the starting string and finger to use for each arpeggio. The fingering patterns are similar to what has already been presented here with some small differences:

• In the first measure, second line, the descending Abmaj7 arpeggio starts with the +4 fingering notation at 9B. This means that the fourth finger is raised one half step to play the root of the arpeggio, Ab. The same notation is used for the descending Abmaj7 arpeggio in the second measure, third line. The way to think about this is that all the notes of an arpeggio (to include higher order 9ths, 11ths and 13ths) are found in or around the octave. This is the reason I introduced octaves before arpeggios and block chords. It's not the only way to play a descending Abmaj7 arpeggio in two octaves (one could also start with the second finger on Ab on the high E string, that is 2 at 4e) but it retains the octave structure.
• In the third measure of the third line, note that even though there is a jump between C of the Dm7 chord and G of the G7 chord, the two chordal arpeggios are played in the same position on the guitar. Finally, in the third measure of the first line and the first measure of the third line, the Eb13 chord, the 13th is played as a 6th (C); it could also be played as a seventh (Db) with the 13th (C) played an octave higher than the 6th.

Once you can play all the chordal arpeggios of a song in root position, Mehegan encourages you to be more exploratory: "Do not 'set' the improvised figures. Use the arpeggios both ascending and descending as well as from various inversion points (third, fifth and seventh)" (page 57). The exploration of inversions and higher order tones (9ths, 11ths and 13ths) are exercises you can develop on your own. I would suggest first learning to arpeggiate the chords in root position from memory and then going on to explore inversions and higher order tones, converting the exercise into a real improvisation. Also, explore different rhythmic combinations: half-notes, quarter notes, eight notes, sixteenth notes and 32nd notes (Matt Warnock suggests using triplets involving 3-5-7 in different orders--think in terms of the octave for the root position chord and play the 3-5-7 inversions on the appropriate string). Write out your best ideas in a notebook and use the notebook to developing your own style (John Coltrane kept such a notebook). As before, play everything in different keys.

Now that you have "heard" Mehegan's approach to developing improvisational ideas, you should remain skeptical.  The arpeggios have a particular "sound" and use within an improvisation but must be supplemented with scales, modes, block chords that can be played on guitar and non-chordal tones. All of these topics will be taken up in future posts.

In case you are still resistant to doing exercises (as I was), in the next post I will show that arpeggios are routinely used by jazz musicians. The first example I will use is the song Autumn Leaves from jazz guitarist Mike Stern's master class where Mike explains how he uses "chord turns". In a following post, I will look at the John Coltrane solo in Giant Steps where the arpeggios and rhythmic variations are particularly easy to recognize and for which we have his basic solo written out for study (please contact me if you would like a MuseScore msc file for personal study).

NOTE: If you find any errors in the pdf file, let me know.