Charlie Parker, alto saxophonist, was one of the greatest bebop players of all time. He was highly influenced by Lester Young from the swing era, but Parker created his own unique methods for improvisation where he implied passing chords, maximized syncopation, and explored dissonant notes against chords. Charlie Parker licks are great to study because he really outlines the chord changes in a unique way and his melodic yet complex lines are great vocabulary for any guitarist.
#1 "Au Privave" Transcription
Here is a transcription of the 1st chorus of Charlie Parker's solo on Au Privave (Take 1). The Au Privave changes are very similar to those of Blues for Alice.
Measures 1-3 are in F major, however mixolydian and blues scales may still be used over this section.
The end of measure 4 has a G minor arpeggio, which leads into the Bb7. which leads into the 5th of the Bbmin7 chord in the next measure.
At the end of measure 5, the same G minor arpeggio is played but it becomes a diminished arpeggio in the 6th measure.
Measure 7 contains a killin' F major arpeggio ending with nice chromaticism. Measure 9 uses a Bb major arpeggio.
The lick ends with a blues lick in F major resolving on the 6th scale degree.
For an entire book of transcribed Charlie Parker solos be sure to check out the Charlie Parker Omnibook.
Click here to listen to this lick on YouTube.
#2 "Au Privave" Lick #2
Measures 1-2 chromatically approach the root and 5th of the Fmaj7 chord.
Measures 3-4 use the F major scale with a B natural chromatic note.
Click here to listen to this lick on YouTube (this is the second lick example in the video).
#3 "Au Privave" Lick #3
Here's another lick transcribed from Charlie Parker's solo on Au Privave.
This lick begins on the IV chord (Bb7) of an F blues.
Measure 1 contains an A as a passing note over the Bb7 and otherwise all the notes fit inside Bb mixolydian.
#4 "Night in Tunesia" Lick
Here is a transcription of the first 5 bars of Charlie Parker's solo on A Night in Tunesia.
Note how the chord changes alternate between Eb7 and D minor; analyze the following transcription and see what ideas you can learn in order to improvise over these chord changes.
The Eb7 is a tritone substitution for A7, so essentially this is a V-I-V-I-V progression. D harmonic minor is a logical scale choice here, which Parker usess in measure 1-3. Measure 4 is in D minor, mainly outlining a D minor triad.
Measure 5 starts with a Bbmin9 arpeggio but then switches to the altered scale and ends on the b5.
Check out Charlie Parker's recording of Night in Tunesia to hear this lick.
#5 "Blues for Alice" Lick
This lick is transcribed from Charlie Parker's solo on Blues for Alice.
Measure 1 (after the pickup) over the Fmaj7 chord uses the F major scale with a #4 (Cb) as a passing note.
Measures 2-3 consist of a d minor ii-V-i and the notes outline the changes. Parker outlines the b9 on the A7 chord and lands on the #5 on the G7.
Click here to listen to this lick on YouTube.
