help im alil stuck

[pumo420]

i wasnt sure what forum to put this in.

in my creative jazz class were playing a song called recordame by joe henderson some of you know that it has an latin influence. after the pickup note i found myself playing a 1,5 and occosionnally adding the 8th. now im still new to latin and was wondering if somone new other ways or some lessons to play in latin.

thanks in advance

[eli]

Lots of latin bass uses the "dotted quarter-eigth" rhytmic pattern. One bit of spice that almost always works with that pattern (and others, too) is to play 1, 4#, 5, 2b, etc. That is, approach the strong notes (beats 1 and 3) from 1/2 step away. Not only does this REALLY strongly help the others know where you're going (the 1/2 step is the strongest force in music -- USE it!), it also adds a bit of dramatic color to the whole proceeding.

[pumo420]

thank you so much. that 4# and 2b really helped alot. do you know of any latin and or spanish scales?

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think you have to be careful in "Latin" tunes,as the bass player; because it is nearly always about the groove - this is basically a music or feel for dancing and to over-complicate can be the worst thing.

Boss Nova is a very light feel where simplicity is the key concept - subtelety is everything!

There are Spanish scales, but generally they are inapproriate in what is known as Latin music - although this term covers a very broad range of styles of music!

[eli]

I can agree to the extent that when you're playing for dancers, you need to lay it down clean and solid for them.

BUT, for a creative jazz class -- which is primarily about LISTENING music as opposed to DANCING music -- then you can get a little more complex and perhaps stray off the beaten path. Small group -- two or three horns -- you can let it all hang out and try anything. Although in a big band, you probably want to stay closer to the simple and strong side.