JazzStandardStudyGuide–CorcovadoWrittenBy:MatthewWarnockPublishedBy:GuitarforLifeLLCCoverPhotoBy:TwizzlebirdCreativeCopyright2017GuitarforLifeLLC

IntroductiontoThisStudyGuideWelcometotheCorcovadostudyguide,greattohaveyouhere!Whenlearninganyjazzstandard,youneedtohaveanunderstandingoffourmainelements:

Ø MelodyØ FormØ SoloingØ Comping

Becauseofcopyrightissues,thiseBookleavesoutthemelodyandfocusesontheotherthreeelements.Bystudyingtheform,soloingtechniques,andcompingpatterns,yougiveyourselfeverythingyouneedtojamthistuneontheguitar.Fromthere,youcanaddthemelodybylearningitbyearorfromaleadsheetsuchasyoufindintheRealBook.MakesuretoworkeachsectioninthiseBooktogetthemostoutofyourstudies.It’snousebeingabletoripasolooveratuneifyoucan’tthencompthechords,oryoucancompgreatchordsbutgetlostintheform.It’sthemarriageofthesethreedevices,form-soloing-comping,thatprovidetheskillsneededtojamthistunewithconfidence.So,grabyourguitar,turnupyouramp,andlearnhowtoplayoneofthemostpopularBrazilianjazzsongsinthegenre,Corcovado.

GuideToneSoloingWithChromaticismTobeginsoloingoverCorcovado,youlearnhowtoplayguidetonesandchromaticornamentsoverthechanges.Guidetones,asyouseebelow,aremostoftenthe3rdand7thofanychord,andthey’reusedtooutlinethechangeswithoutscalesorarps.Youcanuseguidetonesindifferentwayswhensoloing,ontheirowntooutlinethechangesorastargetnoteswithinscaleorarpeggioshapes.Inthisexercise,youuseguidetonesontheirowntooutlinethechanges,spicingthemupwithchromaticornamentsfromthere.Beforeyoulookattheguidetonesoverthetune,herearethefourchromaticornamentsthatyoucanusetospiceupyoursolos.Whenaddingtheseornamentstoyoursolos,useoneatatimebeforemixingthemtogetherasyoudevelopthemfurtherinyourstudies.

Ø ApproachNotesØ DoubleApproachNotesØ EnclosuresØ 4123Pattern

ApproachNotesThefirstchromaticornamentistheapproachnote,whereyouplayanoteonefretbelowanyguidetonebeforeresolvingintothatguidetone.Youcanalsouseapproachnotesfromabove,asyouseeandhearinthisexample,butthey’retoughertomakeworkwhensoloing.Becauseofthis,beginwithapproachnotesbelowanyguidetone,andthenworkintoplayingthemfromaboveafterthat’scomfortable.

Youcanplaytheapproachnotesonanybeatinabar,upbeatordownbeat,aslongasyouthenresolvethattensionintotheguidetone.AudioExample1

DoubleApproachNotesThenextornamentusestwochromaticnotestoapproachanyguidetone,frombeloworabovethatguidetone.Whendoingso,youstarttwofretsaboveorbelowanyguidetone,thenplaychromaticallyintothatguidetonefromthere.HereareexamplesofthatornamentinactionoverthefirstfourbarstoCorcovado.Afteryouapplythistechniqueusing8thnotes,youcanmixinotherrhythms,suchasthetripletinbar3oftheexample.

AudioExample2

EnclosuresInthenextornament,youusetwochromaticnotesto“enclose”anyguidetone,hencethenameofthismelodicdevice.Whendoingso,youplaytwochromatictensionnotesforeveryonediatonicresolutionnoteinyourplaying.Thereareanumberofenclosuresthatyoucanapplytoguidetones,butyoulearnthemostcommoninthiseBook,double-chromatic.Thisversionoftheenclosureisbuiltbyplayingonefretabove,thenonefretbelow,beforeresolvingtoanyguidetoneinyourlines.Hereareafewexamplesofthatenclosureinaction.Makesuretotakethisornamenttoany/allguidetonesonthetuneinyourstudies.Fromthere,youcanmakemusicaldecisionsaboutwheretoincludethisornamentinyourimprovisedsolos.

AudioExample3

4123PatternThisornamentdoesn’thaveatraditionallabel,soIcallitthe4123pattern,asthat’sthefingercombinationusedinthisornament.Toapplythisornamenttoanyguidetone,youplaceyour4thfingerafrethigherthanthatguidetone,thenplay4123fingersfromthere.Whendoingso,youalwayslandontheguidetonewithyour3rdfinger.Ifyoudon’t,gobackandcheckyourstartingpositiontomakesureyoubeganwithyourpinkyonefrethigherthanyourtargetguidetone.Thoughthispatterniswrittenusingonly8thnotes,afteryoucanapplyittovariousguidetonesfrommemorybegintoaltertherhythms.Youcanexpandtherhythmstoincludequarternotes,orspeeditupbyusingtripletsand16thnotes.Whateverrhythmsyouuseiscool,justmakesurethatyouresolvetotheguidetonewiththispatterntoavoiditsoundingoffinyoursolos.

AudioExample4

GuideTonesNowthatyouknowhowtoaddchromaticismtotheguidetonestudy,herearethoseguidetonesovertheCorcovadoprogression.Thereareanumberofguidetonesthatyoucanchoosefromwhenworkingastudysuchasthis.Tokeepthingssuccinct,here’sonewaytoplayguidetonesonguitaroverCorcovadotoaddtoyourrepertoire.Overeachchordyoufindthe3rdand7th,orinthecaseofthe6chord,the3rdand6th.Onepositionhasbeengivenforeachguidetone,butyoucantakethesenotestootherpositionsandoctavestoexpandthemontheguitar.Learntheguidetonesoverthefirstfourbarsfirst,andimprovisewiththemusingoneormoreofthechromaticornaments.Fromthere,addonechordatatimeuntilyoucanplaytheseguidetoneswithornamentsfrommemoryinyoursolos.Whenyoucandothat,expandthosenotesbymovingthemaroundthefretboardandjammingthemwiththebackingtrackinyoursolos.AudioExample5