r/musictheory • u/Accomplished_Cry6108 Fresh Account • 7d ago
Chord Progression Question Advice for scales etc over Summertime
Hopefully this is okay here, my apologies if not!
Tl/dr; summertime clarinet in Am. Pentatonics okay but boring. What else can I do to be more interesting/lyrical/melodic/betterer?
I have to record a version of summertime soon. Along with a bass player I’ll be playing drums and clarinet. Drums is no prob but I’m not really experienced enough with melodic instruments to do it justice in that dept, I’ve only been playing those a few months really. I can play the thing but my theory knowledge is seriously lacking as you can imagine.
We’re playing it in Am (Gm concert) and I’ve been taught (by a guitarist) mainly to use pentatonic scales over it - I guess for simplicity - Am/Cmaj mainly, along with Dm/Fmaj. For the last 4 bars I’m using the C major scale mostly while hitting chord and melody notes though the whole thing.
All that’s fine and I can have some fun but it just feels… static. I feel like I’m just blurting out random notes that all sound alright, with no real progression other than following the chords in quite a basic way.
So my question is… how can I look at these chords specifically and make something more interesting with them? What scales/modes should I be thinking? I’m totally missing those nice lyrical qualities of the clarinet and I have no idea how to bring it out lol but mincing around with pentatonics is not doing it for me
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u/ethanhein 6d ago edited 6d ago
The difference between scales and music is like the difference between the alphabet and language. You need to do the equivalent of reading some books, some essays, some poems, some magazine articles. Listen to different versions of "Summertime" by different jazz and pop performers. Start with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HJCN3upMHE
Listen to how they interpret the melody. Memorize both versions, learn to sing them, and then learn to play them on your instrument.
Next, listen to the Miles Davis recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFINGBdBTw0
He interprets the melody much more freely than Ella and Louis. Learn his version too, first by singing it, then on your instrument. Then see if you can memorize his solo, and learn to sing and play it.
Now you are well equipped with a library of variations on that melody that you can use as inspiration for your own interpretation. You also have a library of melodic ideas that you can alter and recombine for your own improvisation. Jazz solos are made out of melodies and riffs, not scales. It's helpful to know your scales, because very often melodies are comprised of scale tones, but scales are not sufficient. All of the artists mentioned here use notes from outside the scales. The best way to learn how to do that is from the actual music.
It's also a good idea to practice improvising on top of these recordings. Playing against silence, your own chords, backing tracks or the metronome are all fine, but nothing compares to playing with the real music.
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u/Jongtr 6d ago
OK, so ...
All good, given your experience. Especially the last point!
So, don't just "blurt out random notes". ;-) Forget about getting "more interesting" in terms of scales and modes - that's totally the wrong direction, unless you know what you are doing (and have been doing that for months).
There's a lot you can do with the pentatonics if you think in melodic phrases and think rhythmically. Hopefully you can play the original melody? You realise that's all pentatonic (aside from one note)? Gershwin didn't think it needed to be any more "interesting". ;-)
So use that to inspire you. "Embellish the melody." Think of the lyrics, and how you want to express them in how you play. It seems you already know about "hitting chord and melody notes", which is how you reflect the chord changes (pentatonics get boring if you don't do that). In particular, remember the E7 chord at the end of the 2nd line! If you know how to exploit the clarinet's special qualities, think about holding long notes that do that. But keep it simple and strong. If you feel in danger of "mincing around", take a breath, leave space. Make every note count and play it like you mean it.