Why? What's the reasoning for this?

One logical reason for beginning a new phrase with the same note that ended the previous phrase, or with a note that is within an interval of a second of that ending note, is that it serves to connect one idea to the next. Although these are only two notes which we are speaking about - the ending note of one phrase and the beginning note of the next phrase - they can work to characterize the relationship of one phrase to the next. When you play the last note of a phrase, you are potentially planting the seed for your next phrase. The note with which you begin the next phrase indicates the direction it will take, and so on, phrase after phrase.

First let’s be clear that although this phenomenon is common (beginning one phrase with the same or a nearby note in relation to the note at the end of the previous phrase), it does not occur every time. Sometimes, the ending note of one musical phrase may be followed, at the beginning of the next phrase, by a note that is an interval of an octave or more, higher or lower. Or, perhaps the beginning note of the new phrase may be an interval of a third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh, higher or lower than the note at the end of the previous phrase. When a larger interval occurs between the last note of one phrase and the first note of the next, it can serve to indicate a change in dynamics, intensity, range, a new motivic idea, or any number of other things. There is no hard and fast rule, of course.

Certainly you may create a rule or guideline for yourself to follow to accommodate some predetermined musical shape or phrasing for your solo. But, that in itself might contradict the spontaneous nature of your improvising. It is the combination of using the same note, nearby notes, or large interval skips, from the end of one phrase to the beginning of the next, that will add to the spontaneity of the music.

Or, you may consider creating some rule or approach to create an exercise designed to develop your technical skills, or your facility to move melodically through chords and their inversions.

The ultimate determining factor will be your ear. What is it that sounds most musical, and natural, as opposed to being mathematically correct, or as opposed to fitting into a formula for uniformity?

I encourage you to transcribe solos on your own and to take a look at transcriptions of improvised solos. Then to listen to the corresponding recordings to see and hear these musical phenomena for yourself.

The accompanying exercise uses the chord changes that are typically played by musicians on the song, “Sophisticated Lady.” Using those chord changes, we have created an eighth note exercise employing permutations of the chord arpeggios.

First, let’s review the notes that characterize 7th chords (minor, Major, Dominant, and so on). Each different inversion is identified by it’s bottom note. Root position chords obviously have the root of the chord as the bottom note. First inversion chords are identified by having the 3rd of the chord as the bottom note. Second inversion chords are identified by having the 5th as the bottom note. Third inversion chords are identified by having the 7th of the chord as the bottom note. For simplicity we are using closed position chords - meaning the range of the outer two notes is within one octave. The spelling of the root position chord, from the bottom up, is root-3rd-5th-7th. The spelling of first inversion chords from the bottom up is 3rd-5th-7th-root. The spelling of second inversion chords, from the bottom up is 5th-7th-root-3rd. The spelling of third inversion chords, from the bottom up, is 7th-root-3rd-5th.

In chord permutations, we maintain as the bottom note, the note that identifies the chord inversion. We change the order of the remaining notes in each chord (whether in root position or inversion) to create shapes that are different from those characterized by simple ascending or descending movement.

Permutation 1:
The bottom note of the chord (regardless of inversion) is followed by an ascending leap to the top note, then a descent to the second note from the top, and then another descent to the third note from the top note. That means that the following sequence of notes applies to the following inversions.

Chord inversion Order of notes
Root position: Root-7th-5th-3rd
1st inversion 3rd-Root-7th-5th
2nd inversion 5th-3rd-Root-7th
3rd inversion 7th-5th-3rd-Root

Permutation 2:
The top note of the chord (regardless of inversion), is followed by a descending leap to the bottom note of the chord, then an ascent to the second note from the bottom note, then an ascent to the third note from the bottom note. That means that the following sequence of notes applies to the following inversions.

Chord inversion Order of notes
Root position: 7th-Root-3rd-5th
1st inversion Root-3rd-5th-7th
2nd inversion 3rd-5th-7th-Root
3rd inversion 5th-7th-Root-3rd

Although these two chord permutation shapes are employed here, there are several places in the exercise where simple ascending or descending chord arpeggios are used.

In measures where there are two chords per measure, the first chord permutation appears on beats one and two, the second chord permutation appears on beats three and four. Where there is one chord per measure, two different chord permutations of the same arpeggio may appear in one measure.

What is important to recognize is that the note that begins each successive four note grouping, or chord permutation, is often the chord tone that is nearest to the last chord tone of the previous four note grouping.

In measure one, a Bb minor 7 chord is employed. On beats one and two, a second inversion Bb minor 7 chord is employed, where F, the 5th of the chord, is the bottom note. There is an ascending leap of a flatted sixth to the note Db (the 3rd), then a descent to the note Bb (the root), and then a descent again to the note Ab, which is the last note of the four note grouping that comprise this permutation of the notes of the chord. The chord tone nearest to Ab (which is on the "an" of beat two) is the note Bb, which is a Major 2nd interval away. The note Bb is then the first note of the next four note grouping, which includes the notes Bb (the root), ascending by an interval of a flatted 7th to the note Ab (the 7th), then descending to the note F (the 5th), and then descending again to the note Db (the 3rd).

The note Bb is the first note of measure two. The note Bb functions as the third of Gb7. The note at the end of the previous measure was Db. Simply to keep movement in the line (in this case descending movement), the note Bb was chosen as the first note in measure two, as opposed to the note Db (which in measure two is the fifth of the chord).

Notice that in measures 2, 4, 10, 12, 26, 28, there are four chords per measure. There are only two notes per beat used in each of these measures, instead of employing all four notes of each seventh chord. The purpose was both to maintain the rhythmic consistency of using eighth notes throughout (as opposed to 16th notes); and to create melodic variety within the sea of chord permutations.

We will explore other chord permutations and similar ideas in future issues of Jazz Improv Magazine.

(Article continued in Jazz Improv Magazine Volume 1, Number 1)