Tag Archives: pentatonic scales

Affirmative Action for the Piano

Posted on May 25, 2015 by jazzpanflute

One takeaway from my recent experience in a Montessori school was the evident glee with which the children attacked a pentatonic balafon brought in by one of the teachers, contrasting with their apparent lack of interest in the expensive chromatic … Continue reading →

Posted in Mappings, Music Education, Scale Practice | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Intervallic improvising

Posted on August 14, 2014 by jazzpanflute

When making analyses of great solos, jazz teachers like to look at the scales and arpeggios used and try to relate them to the underlying chord sequence. The operation consists of extracting all the notes in a passage and stringing them out … Continue reading →

Posted in Interval Training, Moves notation, Music Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ethiopian groove

Posted on August 11, 2014 by jazzpanflute

Anyone interested in exotic scales should definitely listen to the Ethiopiques record collection, copiously shared on youTube. They were re-mastered from recordings rediscovered after being buried in the vaults during the 18 years of Ethiopia’s repressive Mengistu regime, which tried to … Continue reading →

Posted in Moves notation, Scale Practice | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment