Another practice tonight. I am all fired up about attending Phil Dwyer‘s Academy of Musical and Culinary arts (PDAMCA) this summer in Qualicum Beach BC.

I worked some more on Ceora like I did the last few practices and then felt that I was playing the same sounds over and over again, and wanted to change things up a bit. So I thought I would investigate the melodic minor scale. The melodic minor scale is the same as the major scale except the third degree is “flatted” as in a minor scale. A piano friend Stephen Pong recommended to try playing the scale starting on the 7th degree, and playing the dominant seventh chord starting on this 7th note. I also tried playing fifths in the left hand and going up and around the melodic minor scale in some exploratory ways. This is a totally new sound for me, and I really am glad to finally be exploring this interesting scale.

Here is an excellent article with other chords to play with the melodic minor scale (click here).

I then brought out my vocal mic and tried playing Autumn Leaves in the key of Fminor (for a change!) while singing. I did a bit of scat soloing and stuff which I didn’t record but it was fun anyways. (Click here for Chick Corea and Bobby Mcferrin doing an amazing duo version of Autumn Leaves).

Feel free to click below to listen to my practice in Midi format:
ceora and autumn leaves.mid