Jazz Improvisation Tune a Week Club - Week 1

6/9/2013

Instructions are now at the Jazz Tune A Week Landing Page

Week One - Rose Room

For the first week I have chosen Rose Room, as it is not too challenging, and public domain. My intention is to alternate between public domain songs and more modern jazz standards from week to week.

If you plan on recording, go ahead and introduce yourself in the comments.

Here are some youtube clips of this song:

Learn the Charlie Christian Solo

Learn More about:
Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Benny Goodman

And the Lead Sheets:

C Instruments
File Size:	38 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Bass Clef Instruments
File Size:	39 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Bb Instruments
File Size:	36 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Eb Instruments
File Size:	37 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Accompaniments Files:

rose_room_140.mp3
File Size:	2402 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Rose Room 140 Bpm - No Piano
File Size:	2817 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Right click the file and choose "save link as" to download

Update: 6/10/2013 - Benny Goodman Transcription

I took some time today to transcribe the way the Benny Goodman plays the melody in the clip above. I have provided sheets and a recording of me playing my transcription. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close. Enjoy.

Stephen Cox Performing BG Melody
File Size:	899 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

BG Transcription Bb Instruments
File Size:	52 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

BG Transcription C Instruments
File Size:	53 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

BG Transcription Eb Instruments
File Size:	51 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

bennymelody_bass.pdf
File Size:	57 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

31 Comments

Walter "Zev" Mamlok

06/09/2013 3:45pm

Don't know if I can contribute weekly, but I will try

Stephen Cox

06/09/2013 3:48pm

There's no due dates, deadlines, or grades so you can do it as frequently or non-frequently as you want.

I'd love it if you could participate and I've enjoyed following you on the course.

Alina

06/09/2013 7:27pm

Hey this is a great idea, some other guys got a group going with a similar idea, 1 standard every 2 weeks, http://improv.grou.ps/

06/09/2013 7:49pm

That's really cool! It's a great way to keep up the practicing.

Dave Hall

06/09/2013 11:26pm

I might give this a go on occasion as well...looking to do a bit better job on my clarinet tone and playing more and listening to others is likely to help!

06/09/2013 11:27pm

Awesome!

Tom Dietzel

06/10/2013 6:05am

Thanks, Stephen, for setting this up!! I very much look forward to participating.

06/10/2013 9:19am

No problem! I'm excited as well.

Pearly

06/10/2013 7:25am

Terrific idea! I will try to drop in on this gig as much as time will allow.

06/10/2013 9:20am

Excellent. It should be fun'

Colleen Galway

06/10/2013 10:12am

Thanks for setting this up. I'm looking forward to continuing playing jazz.

Kris Redus

06/10/2013 10:59am

Cool idea! My best harmonic soloing would be on vibes (which I no longer have access to) ... but it'll be a good chance for me to work on my piano playing. I'll try to keep up with it as often as I can!

Oğul Köker

06/10/2013 12:32pm

I'm gonna practice this song and maybe transcribe Christian's solo, too. It'll be my 1st trancriptipn ever =)

Michael

06/10/2013 1:43pm

Great idea folks... contribute when you can.. enjoy and contribute when you can.

06/11/2013 10:36am

It helps me when I know the lyrics to a song...
Rose Room
I want to take you to a little room
A little room where all the roses bloom
I want to lead you into Nature's hall
Where ev'ry year the roses give a ball
They have an orchestra up in the trees
For their musicians are the birds and bees
And they will sing us a song
As we are strolling along..

There are many more verses.. how do I post a PDF here?
Michael

06/11/2013 10:50am

Hello,

I just added an area to upload transcriptions and accompaniment files. Upload your lyric sheet there.

Thanks!

Hunter

06/11/2013 9:28pm

I really like this idea. I'll be uploading some when i get a recording device.

Ayani

06/12/2013 4:05pm

I had signed up for the course but fractured my hand the day it started, out of the cast today and saw this. Thanks for putting this together!

06/12/2013 4:09pm

Sorry about your hand! Feel free to join us!

Gannon

06/12/2013 10:24pm

I feel like my interpretation of the melody was a little bland, but here's a run of me playing it on bass.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xbup2at3svk9w4j/Rose%20Room.mp3

06/12/2013 10:35pm

Nice!

06/12/2013 10:42pm

Nice job! Thanks for making a recording. I wonder if I should be making a track without bass for bassist?

If I were going to suggest anything constructively I might try to emphasis chord tones on beat 1 and 3 like that clinic we visited, that way you never emphasis an awkward note.

06/12/2013 11:26pm

Yeah, I definitely had a couple of misfires in there. Didn't feel like doing another recording though. Chops were already tired from running Oleo a hundred times.

06/13/2013 9:39am

I shouldn't make excuses though. Your suggestion is excellent and that is something I was not focusing on during that solo.

And I think it's fine to leave the bass track in for bassists. It bugs me that we never get a chance to solo over a solid rhythm section. The reason everyone dropped out in the beginning is because you couldn't hear the bass... But now we have Amplification!!!

Stephen Cox link

06/15/2013 2:42pm

Here is my recording for this week. There is squak in it, and it's quite imperfect, but it's a start.

https://soundcloud.com/stephencox87/roseroom

06/16/2013 11:58am

Loved your Ideas. Was that a flutter tongue at the end of the third time through (2:34)? Cool. Lots of people can't do that I've found. I know Benny did a lot of 'Growling" in his solos, I am working on that.. it's tough when you want to hold your embouchure and tone/pitch centre.
Enjoyed it very much

06/16/2013 12:02pm

Yeah, that was flutter tongue. I just roll my tongue like a rolled "r" behind the reed. So, no contact with the reed.

If I'm not careful, I'll over use it.

Thanks for listening!

06/16/2013 3:02am

Here is my Rose Room... getting late in the week thought I'd do it before another song came up...*Smiles*
http://snd.sc/17dfmYh

06/16/2013 9:09am

Great job! I really like your tone. What's your set up (Mouthpiece/reed/recording equipment)?

Really good space (better than mine) and some nice licks. Something you might consider adding I'd more chromaticism- approaching chord notes by half a step could add more tension. Just an idea.

Thanks for posting. I'll be posting the new tune either later tonight or first thing in the morning.

06/16/2013 12:18pm

Thanks Stephen, will work more chromatics into solos on our next tune. For this and the course I used a home quality Samson Condenser mic, into an Edirol UA25 digital interface. Imported the MP3 you gave us on to my laptop into SONAR 3. Recorded my track and dumped that as a wave into Audacity. I like it's MP3 decoder and there you have it. No post production.
Normally I use a Buffet R13 clarinet, Selmer C85-120 mpce., a Bonade reverse lig with Vandoren V12 #3 reeds. What I used for this and the course was my daughters E11, Vandoren 88-13 mpce, Bonade lig and Vandoren traditional reeds... It's sitting here put together all the time since she's home again.. don't tell her! LOL
Looking forward to your next piece

06/16/2013 12:33pm

P.S. I do pull back the the opening in SONAR so you don't hear the click track openings and I fade the endings so you don't hear the drone of empty track.