Trumpet Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.750230

Composed by Eddie Lewis. Instructional. Individual part. 65 pages. Tiger Music #3007651. Published by Tiger Music (A0.750230).

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, it’s 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.