Aaron continues “putting it all together” using tools you’ve already explored with this solo for the jazz standard “Avalon,” a song first made famous by Al Jolson in the 1920s. Songwriting credit for the piece is murky and involved a lawsuit, but Jolson, Vincent Rose, and B.G. DeSylva are usually listed as composers. The melody’s many whole- and half-note phrases are particularly well suited to the violin and the sustained tones the bow affords, and Aaron suggests listening to classic solos by jazz violinists Joe Venuti, Stéphane Grappelli, and Svend Asmussen. Aaron teaches the song in the key of F, although the progression starts on a Gm7 and only occasionally resolves back to the tonic. In the course of the solo, you’ll use arpeggio-based phrases, blues, chord tones, and common tones with displaced rhythmic emphases. In this video, you’ll learn a basic solo for “Avalon.”
