Chapin ~ Saturday Combo

Mr. Chapin’s Saturday Afternoon Combo ~ 2-4 pm

Current Assignments for Concerts:

Below are some steps to follow each day on each of our 3 tunes. Work on the tune that’s hardest for your first.

Listening:

• Listen to the head (melody) and one solo for each of our tunes to get ideas.

• Listen to the tune while you watch the music and follow the chords
• Review the improv notes for each chord
  • For the blues tunes, we discussed using the 1st 4 notes, the blues scale, or “playing the changes”
  • For our other tune: root, 2nd, 3rd and 5th
• Practice improvising with a backing track

Road Map

• Memorize the Road Map for each tune

Listening Links:

Blues Walk

• Clifford Brown
• Dexter Gordon

So Danco Samba

• Antonio Carolos Jobim
• Joan Chamorro

Bourbon Street Parade

• Shannon Powell Quartet
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Watermelon Man

• Herbie Hancock (original recording)
• Herbie Hancock talking about the tune

Backing Tracks:

• Blues Walk
• So Danco Samba
• Bourbon St Parade
• Watermelon Man

Previous Assignments for Week 4:

Listening:

• Listen to the head (melody) and a solo for each of our tunes to get ideas for how to play the head and for how to solo

• Blues Walk
  • Review the 1st 4 notes
  • Try improvising over Blues Walk using the backing track
• Bourbon St. Parade 
  • Review the Root, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th for each chord
  • Try improvising over the tune using a backing track
• So Danco Samba
  • Review the Root, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th for each chord
  • Try improvising over the tune using a backing track

Previous Assignments for Week 3:

Listening:

• Listen to the head (melody) each of the tunes we are playing while watching your music
  • Be able to sing the melody
  • “Sing & Fing” (finger the notes without playing?)
  • Play along with the music for Blues Walk, Watermelon Man, and So Danco Samba
• Listen to the soloing on Blues Walk. Try to learn a phrase to use in your own soloing

• Blues Walk
  • Review the 1st 4 notes
  • Try improvising over Blues Walk using the backing track
• Bourbon St. Parade
  • Review the Root, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th for each chord
  • Try improvising over Bourbon St. Parade using the backing track

Previous Assignments for Week 2:

• Listen to Blues Walk and Watermelon Man multiple times (see listening links below)
  • Be able to sing the melody
• Review the 1st 4 notes for the Blues Walk
• Practice playing the melody of Blues Walk over the backing track (see backing tracks below)
• Practice improvising over Blues Walk using the backing track
• Extra Challenge: Using the backing track for Blues Walk, play the root for each chord on beat 1