Short melody and short solo's - Improvisation

Short Melody 1 - This Masquerade

This melody line for the vocals in this masquerade is based around the key of FMin. 

the notes in Fm are: F/G/Ab/Bb/C/Db/Eb/F

THE MELODY - The opening line 'Are we really happy here with this lonely game we play' is kept with in the 1 to the 5th note of the scale, There is a rise from the root note Fm right up till the 5th C. 

It is interesting to see that the opening section is just the Fm scale from root to the fifth. The second bar then peaks at F then starts to descend back to the root. 


The texture of the vocal lines are pretty bouncy due to the amout of use of going up and down the scale which is surprising as it has that minor feel abut it.

THE HARMONY - The chords that are used to support this opening melody are Fm7 and Bb9 then at the end of the first verse it moves to Db7 and Gm7. The chords are not a typical structure associated with popular music as the sequence follows a I - IV -VII pattern. However the mood and texture that is set with these chords provides a strong basis for the melody to follow.

CHORD TONES - The notes that are played the most are based on the root, 3rd and 5th of the Fm chord. The colour of the track is very melodic because of the way the melody uses the notes in the chords. The colour of the chord tones are dark and minor and have a mysterious  vibe about them.

IMPROVISATION SCALES- Looking at improvisation over the chords, F Minor pentatonic would work over the opening chords.

---

Short Melody 1 - Summertime vocal line

First Attempt

Revised

My initial attempt at this was all over the place and i transcribed it in the wrong key. After revising it, it turned out to be a lot easier than i thought. This melody line for the vocals in summertime are based around the C Major scale

The notes in: C/D/E/F/G/A/B/C

THE MELODY - The vocal line does not real stray from the forth note of the scale which is F. The majority of the melody is based around this notes with the lowest note being a G and the highest being a A. The vocal line has a lazy feel to it which really does remind me of a hot summers day. The colour is bright but swaying with attitude.

THE HARMONY - A minor. The tune spends a moment in C major before returning to A minor - Primarily minor  but hangs around a  pentatonic, except for the B natural. The form is a ABAC

CHORD TONES - there is a slow harmonic progression that suggests a blues but there is great use of the pentatonic scale

IMPROVISATION SCALES - Pentatonic scale.

Video of improvisation Blues Scale

Here i use the Bbflat blues scale. The first section i was concentrating on the everything 4th E note of the scale as i dont bring this in till the 2nd time round. I was also concentrating on the rhythm and going off beat on 3 and 4 of the bar. The first section is concentrating on the space and making it sparce before letting go and filling out the 12 bar sequence with scales below the original root and above to make the colour sound more interesting.,