Why GMaj13#11 is a Waste of Your Time
So, here's a little story...
I'm 15 years old, standing in a practice room. Seated on the piano bench next to me is my first saxophone teacher, Will Vinson.
We're staring at a transcription of Charlie Parker's "Moose the Mooche." And the first chord is just G. Not GMaj7 or G7. Just G.
Huh?
Then comes A-.
I'm like, "What is this?" and Will, in his British accent that makes everything he says sound smart, goes: "That's an A minor 7 chord."
"But where's the 7?" I ask, trying to sound just as intelligent.
"It's implied."
Are you kidding me?
Implied? IM-PLIED? All through freshman year, jazz band's been throwing all this complicated nonsense at me like C13#11b9 and DbMaj9#11 and now it's all just... implied?
For a minute, I thought whoever transcribed this solo was just being lazy. But man, was I wrong.
Ditching the distractions and focusing on the fundamentals? Genius. Makes me concentrate on the stuff that matters:
Making the changes
Developing my ideas
Not having a panic attack mid-solo
And now? I swear, if you hand me some crazy, over-complicated lead sheet, I'm tossing it out. Nine times out of ten, I’d rather just stick to the five basic chords:
Major
Minor
Dominant 7
Half Diminished
Fully Diminished
When it comes to soloing, less is almost always more.
The less you have to squint at a paper, the more you can actually listen (which is also a great reason to memorize your music).
So, stop reading, and tune in. Because at the end of the day, it’s about what sounds good to the ears, not what looks fancy on paper.
And hey, before we close out this week's Musical Truth Nugget...
I've got a special announcement:
You know how I rambled on about getting stuck in those music theory weeds? Well, if you're anything like 15-year-old me, or hell, even the current me sometimes, you probably feel the same.
If you're tired of getting tangled up in complex scales and chords and just want to improvise solid solos you can be proud of...
Solos that impress your family, friends, and musician buddies...
Solos that makes that one cat go "damn!"
Well, listen up!
The Soloing Bootcamp is BACK and open for enrollment through the end of the week.
And as a fall special, I'm offering a ridiculous 75% discount off the entire package.
No discount code needed. Just click the link below to learn more about everything you get when you sign up for The Soloing Bootcamp before enrollment closes on Sunday, September 24: