Former first violinist with the groundbreaking Turtle Island String Quartet, Tracy Silverman has created a new pathway to improvisational mastery with Modal Jazz Etudes for Violin and Viola: The Frame Method. Guitarists and pianists use simple shapes and grids to outline chords, and Silverman has adapted this idea to the 4, 5, and 6-string violin and viola.

This visual representation creates a paradigm shift for many string players, who are rarely taught to think of their fingerboard in this way. To make this innovation clear, Silverman uses fingerboard charts with color to help the player visualize chords as hand positions. These frames reveal patterns and shapes that unlock the secrets of jazz harmony for string players.

The first part of the book is devoted to the modes found within the major scale, jazz riffs in all keys, and the idea of mirror-image runs—a shortcut to increasing your speed based on symmetrical finger patterns clearly visible in the fingerboard charts. The second part tackles more challenging harmony, such as 4ths, diminished scales, whole tone scales, and augmented harmony, including the concept of “side slipping”, which is so integral to modern jazz improvisation and uniquely enabled by the frame approach.

Online audio tracks are included for ease of learning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART 1: MODES OF THE MAJOR SCALE

Page Audio

Ionian

Dorian  

Phrygian

Lydian

Mixolydian

Aeolian

Locrian

LIMDAPL

PART 2: QUARTAL AND OTHER HARMONY

Fourths 1 – Riffs

Fourths 2 – Patterns

Fourths 3 – Side Slipping

Diminished 1 – Riffs

Diminished 2 – Patterns

Diminished 3 – Side Slipping  

Whole Tone 1 – Riffs

Whole Tone 2 – Patterns

Whole Tone 3 – Side Slipping

Augmented 1 – Riffs

Augmented 2 – Patterns  

Augmented 3 – Side Slipping  

PART 3: SOLO ANALYSES

Jean Luc Ponty: Improvisation Based on “Eighty-One”  

Zbigniew Seifert: Improvisation Based on “Quo Vadis”  

About the Authors