Learning Tunes in
Three Dimensions
BY JULIAN LAGE
Julian Lage is one of those rare musicians who
feels equally at home in acoustic and jazz cir-
cles. He has been a member of legendary vibra-
phonist Gary Burton’s group since 2004, and
also regularly collaborates with pianist Taylor
Eigsti. Lage’s latest album, Gladwell, reflects
his wide-ranging musical interests and talents
by incorporating chamber music, American folk
and bluegrass, Latin and world music, tradi-
tional string-band sounds, and modern jazz. For
more information, visit julianlage.com.
CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Intermediate
LESSON OVERVIEW:
• Break down a tune into its
three essential elements
• Construct basic frameworks
using only a melody and
bass line
• Create new and unique
arrangements using a three-dimensional approach
potential, as though it was overflowing
with unique and interesting applications.
I started to wonder if maybe having a
unique and individual sound was really
reserved for the elite few, or perhaps there
was something I could be doing to encourage a more creative and fresh musical
approach like I felt at the very beginning.
This pursuit led me to explore one of
the most profound areas of creative expression—how we practice. Over the past few
years, I’ve become increasingly interested
in how our musical development unfolds
when we’re driven by sincere curiosity,
rather than a regimented routine that’s
always rooted in achievement.
As jazz guitarists, there are certain prerequisites we have to master in order to
begin developing our personal relationship to the music. We need to understand
the physical mechanics of how to play the
guitar, gain an intimate knowledge of the
fretboard, and acquire a firm understanding
of scales, harmony, rhythm, and improvisation. The unifying factor that can encompass all of these elements is the act of playing a song. As in so many genres, songs act
as the platform on which musicians connect. It’s the musical environment in which
we get to realize our relationships with one
another, with our instruments, and with
our underlying creative impulse.
Fig. 1
44 &bb OE oeoeoe
C- 7
w
w
F7
w
˙
B¨maj7
oe™ oej w
w
ÓÓ
E¨maj7
w
oeoe
oeoe
10
8
58
65
8
8
78
˙
8
6
Click here to hear
sound clips of
these examples.
&bb
A- 7¨ 5
w
w
D7alt
8
w
oeoe
oe
oe
G- 6
6
wn
w
G7#5/B
wn
w#
5
6
5
3
5
One of the things I’ve always been really fascinated by is the idea of “finding
your own voice.” What does that mean?
Where do you find it? Most importantly,
when have we reached a level where it’s
appropriate to begin the search?
When I was a teenager, having been
playing for about six years or so, I started
to notice that it seemed like some players
were born with a natural talent for being
unique. They were composing and improvising innovative music all the time, while
the majority of us had to stay focused on
learning the fundamentals before we could
even begin to contemplate something different. On the flip side, though, I’ll never
forget the feeling of picking up the guitar
when I was five and having the sense
that the instrument contained infinite
0
0
2
4
3
Fig. 2
44 &bb OE oeoeoe
C- 7
w
˙
w
F7
ww
˙
B¨maj7
oe™ oej w
w
Ó˙
E¨maj7
ww
oeoe
oeoe
10
8
8
65
8
10
8
78
˙
8
8
7
7
6
5
&bb
A- 7¨ 5
w
w
Ó
˙
D7alt
8
ww
oeoe
oe
oe
G- 6
6
wn
w ˙™
G7#5/B
#
n
www
5
6
5
3
5
5
0
5
4
5
2
3
4
