First of all, I cannot apologize enough for coming up with such a long title for a short post like this. My precious little sense of “less-is-more” has been taking a long vacation (Where? Where? I am guessing she is at the North-pole by now) to avoid the frontal confrontation with that merciless Heat-Index that has been hovering around 110F for days.  Secondly, this post was supposed to be a postlude kind of deal to give a nice concluding ramble to my previous post Incorporating the Sound of Nicolas Slonimsky’s Pattern no. 626 in Jazz Improvisation.  But, that didn't happen.  So busy + the dog ate my notes + "Cognitive Foundations of Musical Pitch" by Carol L. Krumhansl, "Computer Models of Musical Creativity" by David Cope, and "Emotion and Meaning in Music" by Leonard B. Meyer all have been sitting on the top of my desk for days, intellectually flirting with me to earn the very first spot to be reread.  So many books, so little time.  And---oh, did I forget to mention it?---my friends called and dragged me out of my jazzy-rambling-hole to watch a movie.  It was a Friday night. Plus, who can actually say "NO" to the opportunity of retreating in a dark, cozy, say-bye-bye-to-Heat-Index-110F movie theater and be a lazy raccoon for few hours.

.....well, nobody!

. Milestones, the title track in Milestones album, was recorded back in 1958 with trumpeter Miles Davis as the band leader.  An improvisational line by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, then a sideman in Davis' well-regarded quintet, caught my attention this afternoon (Example 1).  I did some chop-chop transcription and decided to use this handsome improvised modal line as our model to showcase the fun "Skydiving" approach in incorporating extnesive sequential patterns in Jazz improvisation.  There are of course countless fun ways to incorporate sequential patterns.  But, hey, since I have been a half-note-scaredy-cat all these years, I am more than happy to first make a valiant attempt at musical skydiving, overcompensating my lack of adventurous spirit in the real life.

Example 1. Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane's improvised line in Milestones.

Coltrane began the line with mainly scalar ascending motion to elevate the musical tension by moving to a relatively high pitch level in his horn (Example 2).  The linear high point was then prolonged to further energizing the linear tension before the introduction of sequential patterns.  Notice that the sequence of diatonic seventh chord was first initiated at a slower speed with some minor linear and rhythmic modifications before reaching the fast and constant sixteenth-note descending realization.

Example 2. A brief analysis of Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane's improvised line.

So, adopting Coltrane's line into our "Skydiving" analogy, our brave jumper first popped into an old Cessna C-182 aircraft named "Lucky Lady".  She nervously chitchatted with the old pilot, Capt. Sully, and learned all about Lucky Lady's glorious good-old-days (only crashed twice and made one quasi-successful emergency landing attempt) ---all while the aircraft slowly and steadily ascending into the sky.  "Why don't we sing a song?" To calm her down, the old Capt. Sully, who, while no Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III by no means, must be quite a looker in his 20s, began to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat with his deep, trusty baritone voice.  "How odd!" She said to herself. "Sing about rowing a boat while on a flight!? What's next? Sing Bravo 369 Flight Song while on a space shuttle?"  But the singing did calm her down a bit.  She began to get excited while the aircraft continuing its ascend.  Finally, they reached that 13,000-feet designated altitude and were surrounded by the spotless sky that was as perfect as Hermione Granger's grade-report card. "Can we stay here for awhile before doing that jumping thingy?" She asked, wanting to get the most out of her 10%-off skydiving coupon (a birthday present from her cheap ex-boyfriend, who cut the coupon off a magazine in a waiting-room when doing his annual dentist visit).  So they hovered around the awesomeness of 13,000-feet altitude for a bit --- she thought about a Prada bag of which she would never be able to afford; while the good-old Capt. Sully thought about nothing in particular.  2 minutes later, she jumped.  At first, the speed of free-falling was kind-of-blue-and-kind-of-slow, and the conversation with Issac Newton's law of universal gravitation was less fabulous than imagined.  But, the descending speed quickly increased to reach the terminal velocity.  "Weeeeee!" She yelled and, at that precise moment, began enjoying her life.

Example 3. "Skydiving" analogy of John Coltrane's improvised line.

Now, back to our happy kingdom of improvised music, this "Skydiving" model consists of four simple steps: 1. Scalar Ascending Motion (toward a high pitch level to generate linear energy);  2. Emphasizing the High Point (by using long tone or repeated accentuation of the high note); 3. Introducing Sequential Patterns (with slower tempo and some linear/rhythmic modifications); 4. Sequential Patterns Reaching the Full/Constant Speed (and continue its descend).  Here is a quick example modeled after the "skydiving" line (Example 4).  The sequential patterns are created by using 1-b3-3-5 cell pattern in the Whole-Tone Progression discussed in my previous post Incorporating the Sound of Nicolas Slonimsky’s Pattern no. 626 in Jazz Improvisation. And, don't forget to Weeeeeeeee!

Example 4. Using the "Skydiving" model and sequential 1-b3-3-5 cell pattern.

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