How to Use Sequences Like Paul Desmond in 5 Simple Steps

By Forrest • Jazz Musicians • Jazz Concepts • PRO • Rhythm

Paul Desmond plays the alto saxophone unlike any other…sweet, melodic, and precise, always leading the listener through a clear story from one musical idea to the next – It’s as if every single idea he plays naturally builds on what came before it…

1. Introduction
2. Paul Desmond: All the Things You Are
3. Start With a Simple Idea
4. Think in Chords
5. Develop, Don’t Repeat
6. Make It Rhythmically Alive
7. Go Beyond Melodic Sequences
8. The Real Lesson Behind Desmond’s Sequencing

So how does he do it? How does Desmond so effortlessly move from one idea to another with such logical and lyrical flow? How does he develop his motifs so eloquently from one to the next??

Surprisingly, Paul Desmond accomplishes all this and more by utilizing a time-tested compositional technique from the great classical composers like Bach, Mozart, and Handel – Melodic & Rhythmic Sequences.

Sequences – a very general music theory term which essentially means to repeat a musical idea at a higher or lower pitch, a melodic sequence, or to repeat just the rhythms of a musical idea while freely changing the pitches, a rhythmic sequence.

And in both cases, the repetitions don’t have to be carbon copies, but more or less resemble the original idea.

So for example, you could repeat a motif at a higher pitch…keeping the melodic content the same, but putting it over another chord…in this case, we’re using the pitches 12312 of each chord.

A Melodic Sequence 1

Or, you could repeat just the rhythms from an idea while changing the melody…

A Rhythmic Sequence

Now, music theory has a ton of different names to label a musical sequence depending on its characteristics, but our goal today is not to get lost in music theory terms and definitions…

…It’s to teach you how to use the powerful tool of melodic & rhythmic sequences in your jazz improvisation, and get you up and running with it quickly.

To do this, we’ll dive into one of my favorite Paul Desmond solos of all-time…

Paul Desmond: All The Things You Are

What is it that captures you when you listen to jazz?

Is it speed? Technique & chops? Or perhaps tone or range?? Maybe, it’s the emotional content, the freedom of expression, or the ability to tell a story??

It’s often difficult to determine what it is you love about a particular genre, album, song, or musician, but it usually boils down to how much something affects you, and how much you identify with its musical message

When I first heard the album Two of a Mind, featuring Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan, I was truly affected.

two of a mind

Different from all the other records I was listening to at the time, it turned my attention to a side of jazz that I really hadn’t previously explored…

Now, I’m not one for labels or putting any of the great jazz artists or their music into certain categories, but I knew one thing…Paul Desmond had a unique approach and I needed to know more…

His playing on All The Things You Are exemplifies this unique approach…

I’ve always felt that his recordings with Gerry Mulligan exhibit a vibrance in the music not present anywhere else…the collaboration between the two brought out something special.

Have a listen and you’ll know exactly what I mean…

Who plays All The Things You Are like that?

Nobody…except Paul Desmond.

And today, we’ll unmask just a shred of his musical genius by figuring out how he’s able to use sequences so freely and creatively throughout his improvisation.

Let’s get into it – Here are 5 steps to use sequences like the great Paul Desmond…

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