chord interpreting???

[soontobedead]

Hello there, folks... i have a question about reading standard notation. Dunno if this belongs in tablature or something, but feel free to move it if you need to.

I am musically illiterate, so i decided to learn by myself, so i bought a theory/practice book called Improvising Jazz Bass by Richard Laird. I've been practicing scales and such ut i'm stuck in the chapter about Chord progressions using Lydian major 7th and Lydian Dominant 7th chords.

The part before it shows the mentioned scales but when treating the chord progressions i find this symbology:

(this is supposed to be bass clef)

Ionian bIII M Lydian
---------------------l-------------------
--------/----/---/---l----------/---/---/--
-CM7---/----/---/----l--EbM7---/---/---/---
---------------------l-------------------
---------------------l-------------------

(where "b" stands for Flat and "M" stands for Major)

And so on..

The thing i don't get is the slashes... i think they stand for the chords themselves, but i don't know how to construct them and i can't find a part in the book where it indicates how to do so.

The book doesn't come with a symbol interpretation or any kind of guide either, so i don't know how to read such notation.

Help me if you can

Thanks in advance

STBD

[Herman]

I think the slashes just mean you're supposed to improvise your own lines based on the specified chords.

[AspiringBassMan]

the slashes mean "ditto" for the rest of the measure. in other words, play CM7 for 4 beats, then play EbM7 for 4 beats. if it has a slash, it means 'play the last given chord/note'.

[SuperDuck]

Originally Posted by Herman

I think the slashes just mean you're supposed to improvise your own lines based on the specified chords.

^This is correct!

[AspiringBassMan]

Originally Posted by SuperDuck

^This is correct!

is it? oops.

[SuperDuck]

Well, they kind of mean both things at the same time. First, improvise over this chord, and keep doing so until another chord is given. It's a horse a piece.

[soontobedead]

so what i do is I improvise over the given scale (indicated by the note and mode) as long as i want and THEN change to the next scale? should i do this w/ a metronome and with a given time signature (i guess 4/4)? or i can go for as long as i want?

i guess that if it is the latter this kind of excercise is used to see RELATIONS between scales and not study the scales themselves... am i correct or is the former?

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by soontobedead

I am musically illiterate, so i decided to learn by myself, so i bought a theory/practice book called Improvising Jazz Bass by Richard Laird.

This probably doesn't help - but I bought that book many years ago and it's almost certainly the worst method book I have ever bought - it did nothing but confuse me!

Since then I've bought many more books that are better in every way - clearer and easier to get into on the beginner level and more structured for developing further.

Ed Friedland's books, for example, are much more user-friendly for somebody beginning to play Jazz bass!

I've loaned my copy of "Jazz Bass" out several times...to people who have found it very easy to use.

[soontobedead]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

This probably doesn't help - but I bought that book many years ago and it's almost certainly the worst method book I have ever bought - it did nothing but confuse me!

Since then I've bought many more books that are better in every way - clearer and easier to get into on the beginner level and more structured for developing further.

Ed Friedland's books, for example, are much more user-friendly for somebody beginning to play Jazz bass!

I've loaned my copy of "Jazz Bass" out several times...to people who have found it very easy to use.

Well, it most certainly does... i think theory was complicated (i KNOW it is), so i need something more user friendly... if it wasn't for your post i would be stuck with something even an advanced musician finds complicated.
Thanks

STBD