How to Bebop Better with Modes — Jazz Improvisation Exercise

Looking to jump-start your creativity with better bebop? Sweetwater‘s Jacob Dupre is here to help with a look at bebop improv’s common movements and modes. The key is breaking down modes into linear, bite-sized chunks as your hands and ears learn to play along on the fly. Mastering these building blocks can vastly improve the quality and speed of your improv and open ways to break the rules down the line for masterful jazz with heart and soul. Check it out!

#Sweetwater #Bebop #JazzImprov

Welcome! 0:00
Out of Nowhere 0:24
Modes through the changes 1:33
Keep it in the octave 4:48
Play the full range of your instrument 6:08
A word on chromaticism 7:05

[UPdan]

Excellent. Just learned more in a few minutes than a few years in college.

[rockhead]

I’ve been having a hard time learning improvisational jazz on keyboard having been a “blues/rock/reggae” pentatonic guitar player for many years. This just opened up my ears to a whole new world of playing. Thank you!

[jimkost]

Great tips and great playing, Jacob!
Love the sound of the PX-S7000❤

[chrislamb]

Thank you!!! These sessions are incredibly informative. Please keep 'em coming!

[ericdravenXX]

Hello, Sweetwater.... I may seem out of place here considering im Not a keys player... I just like the mood of keys, i think they project a Beautiful sound.. The keys player is A+, as well was this video..

[SwiftDreamer]

I would love to see more intermediate/advanced music theory tips, this was great!

[drindy]

Phenominal player. Love the tips for sure as I am addicted to playing keys. Could listen to him play all day long! 👊🧡👍

[snickpickle]

I wish to add my two pfennigs' worth on this, as well: I am a strings and brass player, but for a long time have believed that it is essential to at least be able to find one's way around on a keyboard, as a keyboard doesn't deal with fretboard dots, hand position on your native instrument, and lays out in a repetitive way the same notes, just in different octaves. There is a different kind of unity on a keyboard that is difficult at best to find (maybe at least initially) on even your native instrument (such as the different fingerings used playing on strings tuned to 4ths, then that odd jump to a major 3rd between the G and B strings on a guitar). Since I know I am no keyboard guru, I am now no longer worrying about hand position, tone quality, etc. as much as I am about hearing the proper notes coming out (and yes, I know that hand position is paramount on a keyboard, but I'm talking about us non-keyboard players!).

As has been mentioned earlier, I just learned more about scalar changes in a few minutes than I have in several years of music classes and full performances (which is approaching 50 years now, including elementary school). VERY educational! I will be coming back to this video again and again to hear in a concise manner what works in the little chromatic and other scale changes used in going between a seemingly-disjointed chord progression (such as between GM and AbM), and how to use virtually the same scale, yet make it sound glorious.

Thank you so much, Sweetwater, for helping us all become better musicians, one note at a time! 🙂

[alexbrunel]

Jacob is amazing but this keyboard is horrible 😅😅

[brothercaleb]

I don’t hear bebop. It’s more like modern jazz. But good for beginners