LeslieUpchurch.com

Improv - duo, Charles on guitar and me on my Steinway Grand and Roland JV-30.

Duo Fortuna is one name we came up with. This is for me and Charles, the guitar player. We did three distinct pieces today and recorded 2 of them, one in three versions.

First, we did Chromatics that we had worked on last week. It had a good starting motive so we ended up recording it after a couple of runs. We set a timer - the alarm on my phone - so we know when to stop. We started with 5 minutes and this seemed too long. Then we tried 3 minutes and this seemed too short. Finally, 4 minutes seemed just right. When we recorded we often ended up doing 4 minutes instinctively after using this time frame a few times.

The second piece was based on chords - A D# G# was the "tonic". We were doing it for the first time and did not record it. You need to "cook" on the ideas in your brain. I barely practiced what we had done last week, but since we had done them before and I practiced just a little, they jived.

The third piece was based on a Japanese Pentatonic scale that Charles knew - a Hira Joshi Pentatonic scale. We used it in A - a b c f g. We recorded one version, and then we did another version with me using an electronic keyboard that has a pitch bending wheel. I was generally playing on my Steinway grand.

Recordings - tried to attach recordings but "no go' on this site! We will make a My Space page as soon as we settle on a name for our duo and record a bit more.