Electric Love

A personal practice journal

Posts tagged wayne krantz

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Wayne Krantz Lessons

Hour 39 - 42

I recently downloaded 6 lessons from NY based guitar guru Wayne Krantz (available from the link above).  He discusses scales, chords, rhythm, rhythmic imagination, phrasing and a 4 fret approach to practising.  The lessons, which are about 45 minute long audio clips of Krantz playing and talking, are a really great addition to his book, “An Improviser’s OS”.  They are full of insightful gems of information!  It’s amazing how a simple change in perspective can significantly alter one’s playing.  Inspired by Krantz, I’m going to explore a more rhythmic approach to improvising and writing… :) 

Filed under lessons wayne krantz chords scales rhythm rhythmic imagination phrasing 4 fret

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Hour 26 - 30

I love the way the altered scale (R-b9-#9-3-b5-#5-b7) sounds, although it’s always been a challenge for me to incorporate it into my playing in a seamless and interesting way.  I followed Krantz’s orders (see the Improviser’s OS below), shedding the scale along the fingerboard through what he describes as the “twelve zones”.  With the metronome set to 80 bpm, I practised playing the scale in quarters, eighths, triplets and sixteenths to get it under my fingers, before freestyling for a while.  Then I worked through all 12 keys.  The freestying part of this exercise through all of the zones could easily be a lifelong study promoting creativity and personal expression.

Filed under wayne krantz improviser's os altered scale lifelong study

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Hour 22 - 25 Here’s a photo from beautiful Barbados.  I was lucky to spend a few days there recently with Shakura S’Aida.  We performed in the second annual Naniki Jazz Festival.  During my flight back home to Toronto, I crunched numbers for a solid few hours.  What does this have to do with music you may ask?  In continuing my studies inspired by the Wayne Krantz book, “An Improviser’s OS”, experimenting with various note groupings (aka numeric formulas), within a scale, can help to create new musical ideas and sounds.  In addition, it demands a better understanding of your instrument and can greatly improve your ear.  Krantz outlines over 400 note groupings within a 7 note scale!  Amazing.  I was trying to crack the code during the flight by identifying all of them within one particular mode.  From a playing perspective, it was helpful to go through this process, to familiarize myself with all of the number sequences.  When I got home, I jammed over one of my new tunes, “Pow!” using the dorian mode like never before, being mindful of just a fraction of the 400+ approaches Krantz discusses. Applying these formulas in a practical way has totally opened up a whole new approach to improvising for me.  If you’d like to grab a copy of the book, click here!

Hour 22 - 25

Here’s a photo from beautiful Barbados.  I was lucky to spend a few days there recently with Shakura S’Aida.  We performed in the second annual Naniki Jazz Festival.  During my flight back home to Toronto, I crunched numbers for a solid few hours.  What does this have to do with music you may ask?  In continuing my studies inspired by the Wayne Krantz book, “An Improviser’s OS”, experimenting with various note groupings (aka numeric formulas), within a scale, can help to create new musical ideas and sounds.  In addition, it demands a better understanding of your instrument and can greatly improve your ear.  Krantz outlines over 400 note groupings within a 7 note scale!  Amazing.  I was trying to crack the code during the flight by identifying all of them within one particular mode.  From a playing perspective, it was helpful to go through this process, to familiarize myself with all of the number sequences.  When I got home, I jammed over one of my new tunes, “Pow!” using the dorian mode like never before, being mindful of just a fraction of the 400+ approaches Krantz discusses. Applying these formulas in a practical way has totally opened up a whole new approach to improvising for me.  If you’d like to grab a copy of the book, click here!

Filed under wayne krantz improviser's os naniki jazz festival barbados shakura s'aida

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Hour 19 - 21 An Improviser’s OS, written by Wayne Krantz, has changed my perception of how to organize combinations of notes and sounds.  His approach to improvising and understanding the fretboard (or any instrument for that matter) is truly brilliant; it’s simple, yet completely comprehensive and it encourages players to develop their own voice.  You can check it out on Abstract Logix, an awesome website dedicated to promoting predominantly instrumental jazz-rock/fusion music.  During these first few hours, I began applying some of Krantz’s ideas to the guitar.  I was searching for a systematic way to practice some of the concepts discussed in this book, related to my new compositions.

Hour 19 - 21


An Improviser’s OS, written by Wayne Krantz, has changed my perception of how to organize combinations of notes and sounds.  His approach to improvising and understanding the fretboard (or any instrument for that matter) is truly brilliant; it’s simple, yet completely comprehensive and it encourages players to develop their own voice.  You can check it out on Abstract Logix, an awesome website dedicated to promoting predominantly instrumental jazz-rock/fusion music.  During these first few hours, I began applying some of Krantz’s ideas to the guitar.  I was searching for a systematic way to practice some of the concepts discussed in this book, related to my new compositions.

Filed under improviser's os wayne krantz abstract logix

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52 Plays
Donna Grantis
Untitled

Hour 14 - 18

I think the Ted Talk below ignited a creative spark.  And it’s Spring.  :)  I’ve been writing, charting and jamming through several new compositions lately… 

When I wrote my first album, Suites, I consciously incorporated chord progressions, tempos and grooves that I enjoy and feel comfortable playing.  The music I’m writing now is a lot more challenging for me.  I’m writing songs that I need to learn how to solo over!

Here’s one in particular.  It’s an adaptation of the chord progression I put together a few weeks back (see Hour 3), with a melody.  I don’t have a title for it yet.  Imagine it with a hip hop drum groove.

I’ve been using the looper on my TC Electronic FlashBack Delay pedal to record one or two chords at a time.  From there, I’ve been jamming over top, trying to create fluid phrases, with a strong sense of time.  I recently read an article by Wayne Krantz about the effect of caring about time - very insightful.

I’ve been delving into the melodic minor scale since this song incorporates an Eb7#11 chord (aka lydian dominant, or the fourth mode of the melodic minor scale).  New revelations are brewing… 

Filed under writing tc electronic flashback delay wayne krantz lydian dominant