Falling Grace - Tune Based
Tune Based Lessons
•
36m
Steve Swallow’s Falling Grace is a beautiful and harmonically fascinating composition that offers some wonderful opportunities for exploring both improvisation and chordal playing.
One of the most interesting aspects of this tune is its unusual form, featuring a 14-measure A section and a 10-measure B section. The harmony moves through three distinct tonal centers, creating a sense of constant movement while maintaining a remarkably natural melodic flow.
We’ll also explore an interesting connection between Bach and Pat Metheny through the use of triads with the third in the bass. These simple but powerful harmonic devices create beautiful moments of resolution, such as D/F# resolving to G minor.
Throughout the lesson, I’ll demonstrate a variety of approaches to navigating the changes, developing melodic ideas, and incorporating the tune’s unique harmonic characteristics into your improvisation and chordal playing.
The lesson includes an 18-page PDF featuring chordal and linear examples to help you understand and apply these concepts to your own playing.
Up Next in Tune Based Lessons
-
How Deep is the Ocean - Tune Based
Irving Berlin’s How Deep Is the Ocean is one of the great American standards, combining a beautifully crafted melody with a harmonic structure that off...
-
Almost Like Being in Love - Tune Based
This tune-based lesson takes a look at the standard Almost Like Being in Love. We’ll explore how secondary dominants, passing diminished chords, and ba...
-
Unit 7 - Tune Based
Download the PDF
In this lesson, we dig into Unit 7, Sam Jones’ classic tune that blends the blues with traditional bridge. I break down the essential blues elements tha...
