BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
12956 / 18210 · Workshop 102 — Reduction and Recomposition: Strip a Finished Arrangement to Its Musical Skeleton, Then Build a Completely Different Arrangement from the Same DNA← prev⊞ allnext →

102.158Apply it to “Happy Birthday”

This is ideal because the tune is public domain.

Start from melody degrees:

Phrase 1: 5 5 6 5 1 7.

Phrase 2: 5 5 6 5 2 1.

Phrase 3: 5 5 5 3 1 7 6.

Phrase 4: 4 4 3 1 2 1.

Now reduce even further.