mattotto.org

This is a nice triadic idea that works through a dimished scale.   By simply playing 2nd inversion major triads down by minor thirds you get a nice melodic line that clearly outlines the 4 major triads found in diminshed harmony. 

This line also works nice over a dominant 7th chord with a #9, b9, #11, 13.  Or over a standard diminished chord.  Since it is so symmetrical, it will work nicely for playing outside the changes as well…

The line is played around the circle of 4ths starting on concert C.  After you feel comfortable with the melody, practice improvising with the underlying structure (major triads descending by minor 3rd).  Using this basic schematic, you can discover endless melodies.

~Enjoy!

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Lesson 58 Triad Diminished PDF

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I’ve started doing Skype Lesson formally.   Having taught many Skype lessons over the last few years, I’ve come to believe that Skype is a good way to both teach and learn from the comfort of your own home.  I charge 40$ for one a one hour lesson, and interested folks who are at an intermediate or advanced level can email me to set up a lesson at: ottojazz@gmail.com.

During a Skype lesson I will listen to you play/improvise for a duration and determine a course of study based on what I hear.

Some of my common teaching methods include:

• Singing and visualising melodies and harmonies over drones.
• Playing ideas through keys.
•  Memorising tunes and chord progressions.
• Displacing melodies rhythmically.
• Working with a metronome.
• Singing and playing scales, ideas, melodies, voicings, arpeggios, and  solos.
• Transcribing, singing, memorising and playing solos through keys.
• Diatonic harmony.
• Analysis of standard progressions and songs.
• Chord-scale theory.
• Synthetic scale analysis and application in improvisation and composition.
• Long tones.
• Overtones.
• Diaphragmatic Breathing.
• Establishing an effective daily routine.
• Writting contra-facts.
• Compositon.
• Interval recognition.
• Harmonic recognition.
• Singing and playing over progressions and songs.
• Learning to play by ear.
• Working on rhythmic feel.
• Developing a vocabulary.
• Working towards performance and recording.

I’m also willing to work on specific personal goals and/or problems that an individual may have.

I’m happy to work with people who play any instrument.

Best,

Matt Otto

Reviews:

“I studied with Matt Otto from 2000 to 2006 and during that time, Matt was a true mentor.  In those years of study, I developed an understanding of elemental aspects of sound, rhythm, and musicality that I felt ownership of.  Matt stressed the importance of developing a personal and instinctive command of the instrument, and I credit his teaching style for enabling me to mature from student to artist.  Beyond teaching, Matt  produced and engineered a recording of mine, which helped me win a competitive artist’s grant from UC Berkeley — the funding from this grant payed for my travels and first year expenses moving from California to New York City where I live today.  Learning from Matt and being influenced by him has been a great gift that continues to be a part of who I am both musically and personally.”

~Kenneth Auyeung – Alto Sax, Brooklyn, NYC.

“Studying with Matt is the best. He really taught me how to sing through my instrument, which completely transformed my approach to music.”

~Ryan Seward – Guitar, Los Angeles, CA.

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“After years of going around in circles in my practice, lessons with Matt finally got me to break through the blocks and rise above the plateaus. His positive, encouraging approach to ear training and teaching jazz improvisation have given me the tools and confidence necessary for any measure of success I’ve reached. In short, Matt has basically taught me everything I know.”

~ Josh Welchez – Trumpet, Los Angeles, CA.

I had the honor of taking lessons with Matt Otto for an extended period of time beginning in 2008. In addition to being one of my favorite musicians on the planet, Matt is among greatest teachers I have ever had. His approach to learning is focused on the student developing his/her own unique individual voice. He made me aware of how to be honest in my playing. Many of the exercises we did involved singing over a drone (Example: Charlie Parker head). Often I would sing over the drone and transcribe what I sang. This opened up my ear immensely and is one of the best ear training concepts I have learned. I began realizing that the instrument is just an extension of my voice and we worked towards bringing out what I really hearing. Matt knows the balance of being positive and encouraging, yet challenging and demanding. I always left our lessons motivated and excited. Matt is a treasure to the jazz community.

~ Dr. Brandon Bernstein – Guitar, Los Angeles, CA.

“Matt Otto has been an incredible mentor and teacher who’s passion for the music and articulate way of teaching has not only changed the way I play, but also the way I listen and experience music as well.”

~Blake Deibal – Tenor Sax, Kansas City, MO.

“I have studied with Matt Otto and utilized the resources of his music blog for several years.  In my case, as with his other students, he carefully analyzed my level of playing and developed an action plan for improving both my technical skill and my understanding of jazz improvisation and underlying harmonic structure. In addition to his vast knowledge of music and technical expertise, Matt has a very generous spirit that inspires his students to put in the work necessary to reach their individual goals. For players of all levels who wish to improve their jazz improvisation skills, I highly recommend studying with Matt.”

~Frank Martinez – Tenor Saxophone, Pico Rivera, CA.

“Matt Otto played a huge role in helping me understand and feel comfortable with jazz harmony and improvisation.  He broke things down in a way that made sense to me as a singer and a musician. I’m grateful to have had him as a teacher!”

~Sara Gazarek – Vocalist, Los Angeles, CA.

“I was drawn to Matt as a teacher because of my love for his music.  I sought him out, hopeful that his teaching would match the depth of his music.  I was not disappointed.   My lessons with Matt have been musically transformational.  In my experience, he is a rare breed.  His ability to get right at the heart of a musician’s strengths and weaknesses is truly amazing.  He was able to quickly match up my goals with a plan to overcome my weaknesses, in some cases using ‘outside the box’ methods to deal with my stubborness.  He is an incredibly patient and generous person which translates into how he deals with his students.  You could not ask for a better mentor on your musical journey.”

~Jeff Stocks – Guitar, Kansas City, MO.

~Miles Freeman – Tenor Saxophone, Los Angeles, CA.

Here’s a quartet album we did on Origin Records.   We recorded it in 1999 and released it in 2005.   You can download this for free by clicking on the album cover below.

~Enjoy!

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For his 5th recording as a leader, Los Angeles-based saxophonist Matt Otto teams up with old friends from his years spent in New York to explore a set of 8 originals. Now a regular in Los Angeles clubs, he can be seen there and touring the west coast with Anthony Wilson & Alan Pasqua, and around the country with his own quartet. In the tradition of Wayne Shorter, Joe Lovano, and Joe Henderson, Otto’s close musical relationship with his bandmates allows for music of depth and clarity.

by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

Saxophonist Matt Otto is Los Angeles-based these days, but for his fifth CD, Red, he got together with some musical running mates from his time in New York: guitarist Greg Toughy, drummer Qasim Naqvi, and bassist Danton Boller. Considering its standard jazz lineup of tenor sax and a rhythm section, the band has crafted quite an original sound.The set of eight Otto orignals sustains a hauntingly restrained mood from start to finish, churning along in a cool fluid simmer that rises at times toward a slow boil, without ever quite doing so. And that dyamic works very well in this case. The sound, the blend of tenor sax and guitar, the gentle insistence of the bass/drums has a forlorn, restrained midtempo beauty that translates to an insideously mesmerizing listening experience. It’s as if Otto and company have seized upon a series of relatively simple musical ideas and driven themselves deeply into them with a smoldering, frictionless group equilibrium.Otto’s tone has a round, ringing quality, and I get the feeling that on this outing the saxophonist may have been influenced by the trio put togther by bassist Jeff Johnson with sax man Hans Teuber and drummer Tad Britton on the excellent Near Earth (Origin Records, ’04). While it manifests a different collective personality than Near Earth, Red has a similar feeling of tranquility and, also similarly, it enchants, compelling the listener into multiple spins.

by David Franklin, JazzTimes April 2006

If Paul Desmond was, as he proclaimed, the “world’s slowest alto player,” then Matt Otto may be the world’s quietest tenor man. On the eight originals that comprise Red, Otto’s dynamics rarely rise above the level of an intimate conversation. His delivery is so relaxed and subtle that even the intake of breath is sometimes audible. But although Otto doesn’t strut, he does quietly demonstrate an admirable control of his instrument and of chord progressions. And he is given to well-constructed melodic lines that develop organically as they outline a formal dramatic curve. Otto does play fast and high at times, but even then the sound level is subdued. His compositions are subtle as well, often based on simple melodic lines that may or may not involve a rubato tempo.Guitarist Greg Touhey is a compatible partner. His lovely, smooth tone compliments Otto’s approach, and he’s a thoughtful improviser who creates long, well-developed lines. Bassist Danton Boller and drummer Qasim Naqvi masterd the tasks of keeping the subtle time together and adding to the overall texture while maintaining the intimate dynamic level.

by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

A fluent tenor saxophonist with a cool tone and a relaxed style, Matt Otto is able to glide over the most complex chord changes gracefully. For this pianoless quartet set with guitarist Greg Touhey, Otto creates cool jazz of the 21st century. The music is mostly quiet with its heat being just below the surface. Even “Class Struggle,” which is essentially “Giant Steps,” features Otto’s playing making it sound simple and laid-back. This subtle set, which features close interplay, is worth several close listens.

by Kevin Cox, Jazz Review

The second volume of Modern Jazz Vocabulary is finally done.  I made some changes in the books format based on a lot of the feedback I got from people about vol. 1.  This book is bigger in size but should still fit in a sax or guitar case, about 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches and is spiral bound so it will stay open on your stand better.  There are 288 II-V-I melodies in the book and all the lines are different in every key so you could put them through all the keys and have a ton of material to work on.

Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol. 2
Is an in depth study of the classic II-V-I progression found commonly in jazz improvisation.

The nearly 300 melodic examples incorporate rhythmic groupings, triad pairs, enclosures, chromatics, synthetic scales, chord substitutions and more.

“In this second volume of Modern Jazz Vocabulary, Matt Otto presents a wide
range of how to play over the
II-V-I progression. …A very direct and clear approach utilizing
vocabulary from several different eras of jazz, as well as accentuating the
importance of presenting examples from seemingly simple to more complex.”

~Steve Cardenas
Guitarist with:
Charlie Haden, Norah Jones, Paul Motian,
Joey Baron, Mark Johnson, John Patitucci, Ben Allison.

” A thoughtful and refreshing revisit to the II-V-I. Matt Otto has an eclectic personal style and he has added his creative sensibilities to an often cliched topic. I can definitely use his book for myself and my students”

~Bob Sheppard
Saxophonist with:
Freddie Hubbard, Steely Dan, Chick Corea, Sting,James Taylor, Nat Adderly, Joni Michell, Horace Silver.
Billy Childs, Lyle Mays, Natalie Cole, Mike Stern, Al Foster.

Here’s a review of the book from Casa Valdez Studios:

Saxophonist/educator Matt Otto has just released Vol. II of his Modern Jazz Vocabulary series. The first volume dealt with modes of the Harmonic Major Scale, which I personally got a lot of new great ideas from working out of. Vol. II consists entirely of ii- V7s. There are several pages of phrases in each and every key. There are are ton of other ii- V7 books out there and I can honestly say that Otto’s new book blows them all away. What makes Otto’s book better, you ask? The lines are actually hip, in stark contrast to the embarrassingly stale and corny patterns that take up a majority of space in most other ii-V7 books.

Otto uses many different modern harmonic and melodic devices in his book and the resulting lines are highly sophisticated and unique sounding. Matt’s personal style is reflected clearly in this book, which is a good thing because Otto sounds somewhat like a cross between Warne Marsh, George Garzone and Stan Getz. His lines are highly melodic and lyrical while still sounding like cutting edge Post-Bop. I think if I only had one adjective to describe the lines in this book it would be snakey, and I like snakey lines a lot. Actually there are a number of straight-ahead Be-Boppy sounding lines in there as well and when you come across one it’s kind of surprising after playing so much super hipness.

Pattern books are good for giving you new ideas to incorporate into your own playing. As long as you make an attempt to make the lines your own rather than learning them by rote I think they are a highly effective way to expand your vocabulary. Your source material matters however and if you start with lame patterns you’ll end up with a lame vocabulary, even if you put your own slant on the lame patterns. What do they say about turd polishing again? Anyway, you’ll find Matt Otto’s Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol. II on my music stand for a while.

Scales have been a popular thing to practice in both the jazz and classical world for years.  Playing through scales as been compared to a painter mixing paints from the primary colors. 

Scale practice can help you hear subtleties in harmony and melody while at the same time, building applicable technique on your instrument.

This is the simple way I like to work on scales:

1. Play a voicing or an arpeggio that outlines the chord or harmony that the scale will be heard with or against.

2. Play the scale trying to the underlying sound of the chord.

3. Play that same type of scale through the 12 keys.

This lesson covers 3 common scales derived from melodic minor harmony:

1. The locrian raised 2 scale (over -7b5 nat 9)

2. The altered scale (over 7#9,b9,#11,#5)

3. The lydian augmented scale (over major 7, #5,#11, 13)

This approach can be applied to and chord/scale combination and should help you hear the underlying harmony and the melodic sound of the scale.

~Enjoy!

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Lesson 57: Scale Routine PDF

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This is a short, 1 chorus etude over John Coltrane’s Giant Steps progression.  It incorporates a few different conceptual ideas which I find useful.

In bars 1-2 and bars 5-6 what is sometimes referred to as a “classical augmented” scale (see PDF below) is used to create a simple descending linear melody. Since one scale works in 3 keys, a major 3rd apart, it is a good fit over Coltrane’s tri-tonic progression.

In bars 3-4 and bars 7-8 I use a simple pentatonic idea modulated and grouped in 5 eight-notes to create a slight rhythmic displacement.

The rest of the line is a series of fairy inside ii – V7 – I melodies.

~ Enjoy!

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Lesson 56: Giant Steps Etude PDF in C

Lesson 56: Giant Steps Etude PDF in Bb

Lesson 56: Giant Steps Etude PDF in Eb

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I’ve always found it effective to work on a specific melody in order to incorporate a general concept into my playing.  For instance, when learning to use the #5 on the dominant 7th or i diminished as a substitute for I major 7, a short melody that does this clearly can come in handy as a learning tool.  Once it is memorized, internalized, and “heard” it becomes much easier to improvise using the underlying structure conceptually (harmonically) and not as a literal “lick” or “pattern”.

This melody outlines the #5 on the dominant 7th and substitutes i diminished ( w a major 7 and a major 9) for the I major 7th chord.

The line is played around the circle of 4ths starting in concert C major (D-7, G7#5, C dim).  Remember – you can “substitute” i diminished for I major when you want to – you will begin to “hear” it and be able to incorporate it into your playing by ear, more naturally, without having to play it so deliberately.

~ Enjoy!

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Lesson 55 ii V7 i dim PDF

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In this lesson we look at embellishing a triad with specific upper and lower neighbor-tones.  The bulk of the exercise will focus on a major triad with surrounding embellishment from the major scale although the concept can be applied to any chord and any scale.

The line is played in 5 different rhythmic displacements; as eighth notes on beat 1, eighth notes on the “and” of beat 1 and lastly as all triplets starting on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd triplet of beat 1.  The melody is played through the 12 keys.

Start by singing the melody to get it in your ear.  It will sound like 5 distinct melodies when heard correctly displaced against the harmonic rhythm.

~Enjoy!

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Lesson 54: Triad w Neighbors PDF

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I’ve put together mattotto.org blog lessons 1 through 22 in a 60 page, 8.5 by 11, spiral bound book for easy reference. 

I did omit the Long Tone and Drone exercises since they don’t include written material, but I’ve expanded the Rhythm Changes etude to include all 12 keys and added a major scale study as well.

Here’ a link to purchace the book:

Book: Lessons 1 to 22

This book includes my blog posts on studies in…

1. Spread Triads
2. Fourths
3. Rhythm Changes
4. 13^th Chord Arpeggios
5. Major 7 #5 Chords over Dominant 7ths
6. ii-V-I using triads
7. Voicing Based Melody
8. Whole Tone Melody
9. Spread Triads Embellished
10. Lydian Melody in 5ths.
11. Diminished Melody
12. Intervalic Melody
13. Major 7 with #9 and #11
14. ii-V-i using Chromatic Scales

…and more. Each study is written in all 12 keys.

I played a gig a few weeks ago with a wonderful alto player from NYC named Logan Richardson.  While playing over Without a Song in Eb using Joe Henderson’s changes, Logan played a nice pentatonic idea over the concert B Major7 in bar 5.  I liked it because it wasn’t the pentatonic sound that I usually use over a major chord.  He played a melody outlining an F# Major pentatonic over the B Major 7th chord (the next chord is F# Major 7, so he may have concevied of it as a harmonic anticipation).  Although this may be common practice, I don’t actually use that specific sound (F# Major pentatonic over B Major 7) as often as I’d like, so I came up with a simple melody to help me become more familiar with the concept and  it’s use. 

The line starts with the first 6 notes that Logan played during his solo and than ends with something I heard as a possible continuation, reminiscent of one of John Coltrane’s pentatonic ideas.

The melody is worked around the circle of 4th starting with C major.  I also play the shell voicing (1, Maj 3, Maj 7) in each key to help give a harmonic context to the melody since there is no root found in this application of the pentatonic scale.

You can also use the midi mp3 below to practice singing the melody for ear training etc…

~Enjoy!

Lesson 53 pentatonic PDF

Lesson 53 pentatonic midi mp3

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~Click Here To Make A Donation. Thank You!~!

~Purchase my book: Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol. 1~

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A great tenor player is in need of a kidney.  Even a small donation helps… check out the video and link below.

http://www.helpdaynastephens.org/

Chromatic and diatonic enclosures are a great way to begin working with melodic embellishment.  In this exercise the 3rd of both a major triad (with an added 9) and the 3rd of a minor triad (with an added 9) are embellished or “enclosed” with 2 chromatic steps below and 2 chromatic steps above the target note (which is, in this case, the aforementioned 3rd). 

There are many ways to enclose a target note or chord tone.  Chromatic and diatonic or whole step enclosures are common, but any group of intervals leading to a a target note could conceptually be thought of as an enclosure.

Getting comfortable with approaching notes by half steps or whole steps is a valuable tool for improvising and also dealing with “mistakes”.  For example, if you hear the 5th of the chord in your head but accidentally play the 4th on your instrument, you can begin a chromatic or diatonic enclosure of the 5th and create a melodic passage out of what might otherwise have broken your flow.  Playing this material in triplets and enclosing different chord tones or target notes can lead to an infinite number for variations.  Chromatic enclosures are difficult to really “hear” and sing.  Start singing them very slowly making sure you’re getting the pitches preceding the target note in tune.  There is a sing along mp3 below for ear training.

~ Enjoy!

Enclosure PDF

Enclosure Double Chromatic Mp3

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~Click Here To Make A Donation. Thank You!~!

~Purchase my book: Modern Jazz Vocabulary Vol. 1~

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