Product Description
Trumpet Pro Pentatonic Tonalization
Introduction
Pro Pentatonics is a new book from the constantly growing Total
Tonalization Series. It is book number five in the pentatonic series.
Technique in the form of pentatonic scales is most enthusiastically
sought after by jazz musicians. Although the scale and its compositional
uses are not limited to jazz, the practice of those scales is almost
exclusively a "jazz thing." Not only is the pentatonic scale the root of
the blues scale, but it is also used to varied degrees by most modern
jazz musicians.
That said, there are certain benefits to practicing pentatonic scales
that apply to all musicianship. For example, I believe that the best
way to begin to learn and understand quartal harmony is via practicing
the pentatonic scales. Pentatonic scales are constructed in perfect
fourths. Let's look at the C pentatonic as an example:
E - A - D - G - C
Five notes a fourth apart from each other, beginning on E, produces all of the notes of the C pentatonic scale:
C - D - E - G - A
For this reason, the traditional scale patterns come alive with the
sound of perfect fourths when applied to the pentatonic scale.
Quartal harmony is not limited to jazz compositions or improvisation.
Many musicians since the early twentieth century have written
compositions utilizing quartal harmony, and I believe that the first
step to understanding those compositions and performing them is in
practicing the pentatonic scales.
Aside from the theoretical applications of the pentatonic scale,
there are also technical reasons to practice them. The removal of the
fourth and seventh scale degrees (the tritone) creates a scale and
inherent patterns which become far clumsier to perform than the
traditional major scales. The agility and flexibility required offer the
diligent practicer an edge over those who do not practice such things.
Prerequisites
Before you practice the materials from this book, there are two
prerequisites you should complete. The first is to learn all twelve keys
of the major tonalization studies. The pentatonic scales are not for
beginners. They are not necessarily advanced scales either. But it is
unwise to begin practice them before you have a firm command of all the
major scales.
The second prerequisite is that you need a working range up to the
famous "high C". This is the C two ledger lines above the staff. If you
cannot play confidently to high C twenty times in one practice session,
then this book is too advanced for you.
Eventually we will have pentatonic tonalization studies for all of
the levels. If you have a limited range, then it is better to begin with
the lower books.
Afterwards Keeping a Rotation
Once you have learned all of the pentatonic tonalization studies, in
every key, its time to add them to a rotation. Each day that you
practice, you should rotate through one of the scales you have already
learned.
This rotation system is what makes it possible to learn and maintain
hundreds of scales without increasing the amount of time required to
practice them.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.