Bopology 101:
Introduction to solo lines
in the Bebop idiom
Midi Riffs 1-8 are played at 105. They are set at this slow tempo to
make it easier for the student to hear and understand the lines. To
hear them played more "musically", bring the tempo up to around
145.
The improvisational principles here are applicable to any instrument,
so if you'd like to see the midi files in this lesson displayed in standard
music notation, simply save the file to disk, then open it up in any
decent notation program and voilá!
* * * * * * *
The riffs are only intended to illustrate the principles involved
in constructing solo lines in the Bop idiom. What you should do is practice
the PRINCIPLES in every key. Spend some time constructing as
many interesting musical ideas as you can based on what you learn here.
Soon you'll find that you'll be able to easily "visualize" the notes
corresponding to the different chords and you'll begin to find that
the more you fool around with these ii-V7-I changes the more fluent
you'll become. The deeper you look, the more you'll find.
