How to Make Licks Accordion

DOWN BEAT TBCINI<VB Chicago, September, 1937 TEDDY JAMS: STUDIES A Typical Example of Teddy Wilson’» Piano Style HOW TO MAKE LICKS SCARLATTI AND SOUND HOT ON THE DEBUSSY ACCORDION lis By Sharon Pease By Howard Randen tin Teddy Wilson was born in Austin, Wherein does the difference lie m; Texas, twenty-five years ago. Six between improvisation and hot im th iears later his parents moved to provisation? I would say in three thi uskegee, Alabama, and shortly things, first accent, second the rhyth th thereafter, Teddy was started on mic stress employed, third in the as piano lessons. He continued these phrasing and choice of intervals. as lessons for about a year, then the Which brings us to the subject of an monotony of tandard study became this article, intervals. One of the ,4 too dry, interest waned and his par secrets of making the lick or phrase th ents decided fate hadn’t intended sound hot is the employment of odd Be Teddy to be a musician. intervals. There are dozens of these; Teddy thought no more about piano we take up in this article major and th until he was about thirteen years old minor sixths. in —when he became acquainted with Figure I show - an example of the te John Lovett, a neighbor boy, who major sixth chord in the key of C. th played popular music in a style that Analyzing it. we find that it is the dii featured a smooth melodic right hand notes C-E-G-A, thus evolving the Bi and a clever full bass. This style rule, that the major sixth chord is ne in impressed Teddy, and again he went the same as the major triad plus to work on the piano. No lessons— the sixth of the key. Figure II is the just bought s chord book and started same thing in a minor sixth chord. to build a style of his own. A minor sixth chord, therefore, con sists of the minor triad with the fit He decided on a professional career UJ while attending Tuskegee Institute sixth of the key added to it. Ct and left school to work his first job In Figure III I have given you some samples of major sixths in all in Detroit. Later, in 1933, he came four positions; in figure four the ne to Chicago and worked with Jimmy same thing for minor sixths. Learn sp Noone and his Band at the Lido— these in their chromatic order from er since re-named Swingland. C around the scale back to C, in all hi Teddy’s next move was to New positions. yc York, where he worked with Benny Building the Major 6th «P Carter and Willie Bryant. In order to form a major sixth The Benny Goodman Trio was chord simply add the sixth of the lil formed wholly by accident. It hap key to the major chord. Another way hl pened at the home of Mildred Bailey of putting it is to add to the major during a party. Various groups were chord, the relative minor key note. ht jammin’ a bit and finally Benny That is, if it is a G major chord, Goodman, Gene Krupa, and Teddy Wilson got together. Every one thought it a swell combination and lo suggested they do some recordings, de and that’s just what they did. A few days later they cut Victor No. 26116, ‘•Body and Soul” and “After You’ve Gone.” The record was released in August, 1935, and made a terrific hit hi While musicians and public were fa miliar with the fine work of Good man and Krupa, Teddy wasn’t very well known at this time. Every one was very much interested in this P* new piano player who had ideas that th were different and a new slant on tv phrasing, backed up with that im be peccable technique and lightning so speed. The public demanded more records and more were made, includ lo ing the following: Victor No. 25181 si )Someday Sweetheart (Who sh Victor No. 25324 so (Too Good to Be True re IS Victor Ct VG 2b ly Victor the relative minor key of the key (More Than You Know of G is E minor. E would be (Nobody’s Sweetheart the minor key note. The G chord le Chosen All-Time Swing Pianist consists of G-B-D. Adding E we have tl Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, the major sixth, which would, there h< playing an engagement at the Con fore, consist of G-B-D-E. Try build gress Hotel in Chicago, were pre ing major sixth chords on any major ce sented in a Rhythm Concert sponsor chords you may have, in all keys. uj ed by the Chicago Rhythm Club on Do the same to the minor chords. at Easter Sunday, April 12th, 1936. All this applies to the right hand. Teddy flew in from New York to How about the left hand Bass? We Pl take part. The enthusiastic manner simply use the major chord with the E in which the work of tho trio was sixth note as the counter-bass. Fig st received at this concert, plus the ure V shows the C major chords K popularity of their records, influ played with the first finger and the enced Benny Goodman to make the sixth played with the third finger trio a regular part of his organiza in counter-bass. Figure Vb shows tion. Since that time the trio has a C major chord played with the been used in all engagements in little finger in the basses four but cluding commercial broadcast*. tons above C. The minor sixth is At about the time the above men fingered the same way, except, of tioned concert waa presented, the course, that the first finger plays the Down Beat was conducting a poll to minor chords instead of the major. determine the All-Time Swing Band. See Figure VI, page 30. When the final voting was tabulated Where to Use Major and Minor in July 1936, Teddy Wilson was far Sixths ahead in the piano department with And now I can fairly hear the 802 votes—his nearest rival received many shouts—when and where are 370 vote*. we to use these major and minor More recently the trio has been sixth chords? Here is the story on augmented to a quartet by the addi that. I said previously that to make a phrase sound hot, aside from ac tion of Lionel Hampton on vibra centing or marking it, it is necessary phone. Lionel’s fine chorus on to employ an odd intervaL This odd “Moonglow” wa* presented in the interval, such as the sixth we are February issue uf Down Beat. In- speaking of, (and others such as cidently piano player* can get some fourths, ninths and elevenths), adds good idea* for ticks from that chorus. a piquant color or verve to the har To date the quartet has eut six rec mony. It is this harmonic color that ord* for Victor, all standards and is partly at the background of all on the same high plane with the modern jazz. trio record*. Take any simple melody using a major chord harmony such as, let us In addition to working on the trio say “Swanee River.” There is a and quartet records mentioned above, smoothness about both harmony and Teddy haa made some solo records melody; they flow along soothingly for Brunswick and has made quite a on the ear, as the nature of the piece number of records tor the same com- intends. Now, if we use a major sixth chord in the place of a plain major, and accent the rhythm mark edly two or four to a beat in 4/4 Buster Bailey, Israel Croaby, Roy time, an entirely different effect is Eldridge and Allan Reuss. Outstand »ecured The ear is jarred by the ing among tha cola record* ora No. slight dissonance, and instead of a (Modulate to pegs 28) (Modulate to page 31).

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