Beatrice-Understanding Modes-Lesson 1

This is an intermediate lesson for those of you who want to start challenging yourselves with slightly harder standards.

In this lesson, we talk about the tune Beatrice by Sam Rivers.  This is a great tune that I love to play that has some unique chord changes.  At first glance, many young improvisers have a hard time improvising on this tune.  It is actually a lot easier than the chords look.  Once you sit down and figure out which modes to play on each chord, the chords have more notes in common than you would at first think.

This lesson is a great lesson on how to think through a solo and build melodic content by not just playing scales but rather thinking about which notes each chord has in common with the ones around it.  The trick is to use these commonalities to play lines that are melodic and that float above the changing chords underneath them.

If you get the concepts in this lesson down, it will take you a long way in understanding how great improvisers think and simplify their lines and ideas to create great solos. (31 Minute Video Lesson)

Click Here for a Sample from the Lesson