Thanks very much Matt! I’m so glad that I asked you the question, I was practising putting things through the cycle of fifths, ten years ago, but I had completely forgotten that I did that and also had no idea why. So I’m going to go back to it, especially as now I have to play in more difficult keys , in what I used to Call « the underworld » of my cycle , which gets neglected in gypsy jazz for example. It’s such a good point that we are all at different places in our journey and some need to re visit the basics, as I tackle girl from ipanaema in d flat etc etc . Each of us has to work out the right exercise for where we are « now », what we most need to learn, as well as the general workout of those zoom sessions which are basically fun! Ps it ties into my « learning new tunes » question as bringing back the cycle of fifths makes learning new tunes much easier, as you say , it’s everywhere in all music ( that I play )

Hi Matt, I have a question which reflects maybe the fact that I have not had a formal jazz education. When I first started learning Jazz, I learnt the cycle of fifths… now I recognise the cycle of 5 ths in lots of jazz standard chord progressions. And I talk to other musicians who say knowingly about a tune » it’s just cycle of fifths » and I nod, as if that helps! How do we put the cycle of fifths( or fourths going the other way) to good use in our improvisation over jazz standards? .

Love that !v inspiring …I think the next thing I transcribe might be Tomeka Reid, she has the best groove…

Wow Matt sorry I missed the live ut that’s a fantastic reply! So clear. It has changed my attitude to new tunes straight away! Like I’ve been a bit stressed when people mention new things but I can put it in that « good different exercise » category in my head. I’m very random on new tunes, sometimes I can improvise well on them and sometimes it goes pear shaped, that’s where the fear comes from. But ok I can do that, practice improvising over familiar stuff and secondly learn to be a bit more open to new stuff as well and make a practice of it…

@Matt Holborn Thankyou, I would like to try practicing the diminished scale, the one that is tone- semitone, because this was what felt clumsiest in today’s brief practice session. And because it will be handy working on Jobim.. is it true that we use this scale on any diminished 7 chord? I put it over f sharp dim 7 in that solo which was in A minor . It would be handy to get that on the muscle memory …

Oh you’re thinking of a line rather than a scale…I think I get it but will also look out for further clarification