1

Song chapter packet for:

All the Things You Are

1

Accessing the sound filesTrombone Improvisation Savvy is a comprehensive guide for trombone players on how to improvise better. Rather than an exhaustive analysis of chords and related scales, this book is dedicated to opening your ears so that you can play melodically over the songs you’ll encounter as an improviser. There are many very good books available on chord scale theory, and I encourage you to invest in them. The topic of ear development for melodic playing is not so widely written on, hence my motivation to write this book.

This excerpt samples one section within part two of the book. Part one is the foundation for improvising jazz and includes sections on ear training, analysis of melody and rhythm, and a bit of chord theory. Without a doubt the focus of the book is on developing one’s ability to play melodic jazz solos and as a result, the critically important section on developing one’s ear is the longest and most detailed.

This booklet is dedicated to All The Things You Are. Like the other sections within the book dedicated to individual songs, you will find a brief analysis of this song’s form and harmony, thoughts on improvisation, the lead sheet, transcriptions of improvised solos recorded by me on trombone, exercises on challenging aspects of the song, and a solo transcription of a great player’s solo - Chet Baker, in this case.

An important aspect of the book is the collection of the sound files. These are audio tracks of examples, exercises, recordings of my transcribed solos and rhythm tracks with which you can play along. The sound files can be found on Soundcloud as a playlist. The playlist dedicated to this excerpt is called All The Things excerpt. Simply go to Soundcloud.com using this link: bit.ly/all-the-things

Each time a sound file is available within this excerpt, you will see the music icon followed by the name of the file.

The very bottom of the Soundcloud Play list page displays some controls for going to the track start, play/pause on current track and next track. There is also a cycle link that will repeat the current track if you want to keep cycling the track. A good application for that would be to cycle the tracks All The Things You Are - rhythm only so that the rhythm section cycles over and over rather than stopping at the end of the three chorus length of the file.

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bit.ly/all-the-things “All The Things You Are - Rhythm Only”

Click to cycle a track

2

All The Things You Are

In a survey of altobone.com subscribers, I asked for suggestions for songs I should include in this book. By a wide margin, All The Things You Are was the most requested song.

When it was written in the late 1930s, many people thought it was unplayable because of the wide intervals of the melody. Even though the musical for which it was originally written bombed, the song went on to be a jazz standard.

The song is a variation of the standard A-A-B-A form with an extra 4 bars tagged on to the end. The second A section is a transposition down a fourth (up a fifth) of the first A section. The bridge is interesting harmonically with its first four bars in G major transitioning to the second four bars in E major resolving back to the song’s key of Ab major in the third A section. In fact, the melody extends almost two full octaves and a chord exists for every one of the 12 tones. Quite novel for its time.

The rhythm track is called All The Things You Are - rhythm only and is within the All The Things excerpt Soundcloud playlist. Use this for playing the melody, transcriptions, and your own improvisations after you progress from the modeling audio files containing my trombone playing.

Modeling Solos

I recorded three one-chorus solos for modeling. The first, on page 4, is the most basic in terms of rhythm and note choice. The second solo contains more rhythmic variety and harmonic interest. The third solo is the most advanced, containing altered notes of the chords, a wider tonal range and more advanced rhythms.

Regardless of their level of difficulty, each of the three solos is a sequence of melodic phrases. As with every solo transcription in the book, I have omitted articulation and dynamics so that you are free to interpret them as you hear.

If you don’t yet know the song’s melody, learn that first. It is a great melody that weaves through the changes and will give your ear a necessary feel for the harmony. Next, play the solos with their recording, starting with the one that challenges you but is playable. Regardless of your playing level, you may find that even the basic solo provides you with some insight that makes playing it worthwhile.

The greatest challenge of this song is probably the bridge. Playing trombone fluently from G major to E major is not necessarily easy. Page 7 contains several phrases as exercises in maneuvering through this section. As you play these exercises, as with the complete solos, listen for how the phrases fit within the key centers of the harmony. Train your muscle memory for playing within these keys.

Three choruses of rhythm accompanies each single chorus solo so that you can play your own solo after hearing and playing the recorded one. I’ve also included three chorus of rhythm without any solo in the audio track All the Things - rhythm only. Feel free to simple use this as a play-along. Keep it going by hitting the cycle button at the bottom of the Soundcloud page as described earlier.

Listening to a master

Last, I transcribed a great solo from Chet Baker’s second chorus on the Chet Baker & Gerry Mulligan album Reunion. I chose this solo due to the moderate tempo of the arrangement (many version of this tune are played very fast) as well as the great melodic phrasing and interesting note choices Chet makes. He is one of the masters of melody.

Chet’s playing F natural over a G major chord and a Eb over an A minor seventh chord help prove my earlier point that you really can play any note over any chord as long as it make sense in the melodic context. If you play those chords on a piano then hold those odd notes on trombone they won’t sound very good. But in the hands of a master like Chet Baker, they become beautiful note choices!

“It seems to me that most people are impressed with just three things: how fast you can play, how high you can play, and how loud you can play.”

- Chet Baker

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bit.ly/all-the-things “All The Things You Are -melody

Below is the lead sheet along with the sound file called All The Things You Are - melody containing my recording of the melody for reference and modeling.

4

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bit.ly/all-the-things “All The Things You Are - basic solo”

Here’s the basic solo that can be played along with the audio track All The Things You Are - basic solo.

5

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bit.ly/all-the-things “All The Things You Are - intermediate solo”

Here’s the intermediate solo that can be played along with the audio track All The Things You Are - intermediate solo.

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bit.ly/all-the-things “All The Things You Are - advanced solo”

Here’s the advanced solo that can be played along with the audio track All The Things You Are - advanced solo.

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bit.ly/improvbone “All The Things - bridge cycles”

Given that a chord root exists within this song for every one of the 12 tones, playing it well requires navigating through a lot of tonal centers. Perhaps the most challenging part of the song is the bridge - going from G major to E major - particularly the E major.

The following exercises contain several phrases that flow nicely through the 8-bar bridge. The first four bars are in Gmaj and the second four are in E major, with the last chord being a C+7 chord (comprised of C-E-G#-Bb) getting us back to the F minor 7 of the last A section. The backing track called Bridge cycles contains a loop of just that eight bar section. Play the following phrases over that loop. Once they become easier and you hear the sound of those eight bars, improvise your own melodic phrases. Some phrases are from the above transcriptions of my solos.

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9

Here’s Chet Baker’s great second chorus from the album Reunion with Gerry Mulligan. Listen to the solo then play it over the recording and eventually over the rhythm track All The Things You Are - rhythm only.

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bit.ly/all-the-things “All The Things You Are - rhythm only”

10

How to learn a tune

You know a tune when:

• You can play the melody in any key.• You hear the changes in your head as you play the

melody.• Your improvised lines flow well without thinking

about the changes because you anticipate them.

You really cannot improvise well over a tune unless you truly know it. Your lines flow, they are harmonically congruent, and you don’t need to look at the changes. How many tunes do you know that well?

Here are some tips for learning a tune. There’s no requirement to do them all. This is a list of the things that have worked for me on the tunes I know well.

• Analyze the form and the changes so that you understand the harmonic flow of the tune.• Be able to comp the changes on a piano or guitar. You don’t need to be Chick Corea. Just

be good enough to play a root in your left hand and a 4-note 9th chord in your right. There are many great books on chord comping that non-piano players can master.

• Comp the changes mentioned above by heart.• Record yourself playing the melody and blowing over the changes. Then listen to it,

hear what needs to improve, then do it again, and again.• Write a book on improvisation and dedicate a chapter to a tune, creating a rhythm

section, recording the melody and transcribing your improvised solo. I’m kidding, considering the work involved, but the truth is that there is no better way to learn something than by teaching it. This book has improved my improvisational skills and has helped me play a bunch of tunes better! Maybe do some of that on your own. No need to publish it.

• Play the tune over and over and over and over and... • Call the tune when you sit in with bands and jam sessions. Force yourself not to use

the written music.• Listen to others play over the tune.• Transcribe the solos of great players, then play those solos over the changes for practice.• Find the tunes on Aebersold records and play with them.• Learn the lyrics, if they have any.• Write out your own lead sheets containing the melody and the changes. Of course

you may already have the lead sheets in fake books or on line, but writing things down ingrains details in your mind.

• Play the tune over and over and over and over and...

“You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.”

- Charlie Parker

11

“Michael Lake’s book is as comprehensive as it is insightful and practical. I can’t wait to delve into it further and look forward to sharing it with my students. I highly recommend this book for all levels of trombonists and improvisers alike.”

– Steve Davis, Trombonist/Composer/Educator

“Mike has created what has to be one of the most comprehensive tools for learning to improvise specifically for trombone! From the basics to more advanced concepts, great tune selections, and an amazing array of interactive play-alongs and demonstrations. This is a thoughtful, thorough, and dynamic approach to learning trombone improvisation.”

– Nick Finzer, New York Trombonist & Educator

“I’ve studied from a wide variety of books on trombone and jazz but Michael Lake’s book provided me something I’ve never before experienced. Within about an hour of working with one of the tunes in Trombone Improvisation Savvy - a tune I was soloing over with some difficulty in my band - I could now understand and hear the tune’s harmonic structure, I could play well over the most difficult sections, and I finally felt comfortable soloing over the entire tune. Even my bandmates noticed a difference in my playing at our performance.

I really think that when this book gets into the hands of trombone players wanting to ‘crack the improvisation code,’ it will be a must have for all jazz trombone aficionados!”

– Barry Kierce, Jazz Trombone Connoisseur

Also read additional articles, watch videos and check out his recent CDs and other books.

Roads Less Traveled Alto Trombone Savvy

Insights and method for mastering alto trombone

The Electrik Project Michael Lake

Visit www.altobone.com to receive a free piece of Michael’s original music free each month.

Praise for Trombone Improvisation Savvy