Looking for help with one bit of an arrangement

[Charlie43]

Hi,

I'm working on my third arrangement at the moment, i'm pretty new to jazz and music theory (so apologies if i use the wrong words for anything, i hope it makes sense), but i've been playing guitar something more than ten years now.

anyway, I'm trying to do 'mas que nada' and i'm really stuck on the first two bars (excluding the intro) it's one long F note over two bars of ||Fmin7 Bflat9|Fmin7 Bflat9|| (it's the first "Oooooooo")but the chords are played in two different voicings, it sounds quite authentic to the song to play the first bar using bottom 5 strings around the first fret, then the second bar using the top four strings around the sixth fret, but i'm really perplexed how to get the F melody note to firstly even sustain and be consistently noticeable through four chord changes, and then how to fit it into the voicings, whilst keeping the voicings sounding even vaguely authentic.

(this is in the key of Fmaj if that makes any difference, but the whole rest of the song is working really well, so i'd prefer not to change the key if it can be avoided, and i don't think it will make any difference)

I'm not sure if that makes enough sense, but i think if you play it through you'll see what i mean. any hints and tips would be very welcome! (or even if anyone knows of a version of mas que nada somewhere i could have a look at, i can't find any.

Thanks

[JohnW400]

You'll never get the F to sustain.

I don't know what you mean by top and bottom since everbody looks at it differently but try these two chords


---1--1--------------1--1------------------------
---1--1--------------1--1------------------------
---1--1--------------1--1------------------------
---1--0--------------1--3-----------------------
---3--1--------------3--1------------------------
---1--x--------------1--x-----------------------




either pair
Fmi7 to Bb9

[mr. beaumont]

I'd use smaller chords and the F on the second string, sixth fret...more balls to that note, and if you want to make the note sound like it's sustaining, you don't want as much under it.

[voelker]

i don't know what version you are listening to, there are a lot of versions on youtube, but on the version i listened to, the bass notes are not F and Bb, they are Eb and D. So the chords are: F-7/Eb (b7 in bass) and Bb9/D (3rd in bass). this allows you to use voicings like;

F-7/Eb (xx1111) Bb9/D (xx0111)
F-7/Eb (x6656x) Bb9/D (x5656x)

I don't know what you do for the intro, i noticed some versions had a little intro melody, while others just vamped the chords, but if your just vamping the chords, you might want to use a different inversion that doesn't have the F on top. That way the F will stick out more when you start the melody. Here are a few inversions that don't have F on top;

F-7/Eb (x6x564) Bb9/D (x5x564)
F-7/Eb (11,x,10,10,9,x) Bb9/D (10,x,10,10,9,x)

also, since this is your own arrangment, don't be afraid to change the rhythm of that note, and since F-7 and Bb9 are essentially the same chord, you could try and play one full bar F-7 and one full bar Bb9 instead. This would give the illusion of half time and might help create the sustained feeling you are looking for, and would make the F sound more like two whole notes instead of 4 half notes.

[coolvinny]

Originally Posted by Charlie43

Hi,

......

anyway, I'm trying to do 'mas que nada' and i'm really stuck on the first two bars (excluding the intro) it's one long F note over two bars of ||Fmin7 Bflat9|Fmin7 Bflat9|| (it's the first "Oooooooo")but the chords are played in two different voicings, it sounds quite authentic to the song to play the first bar using bottom 5 strings around the first fret, then the second bar using the top four strings around the sixth fret, but i'm really perplexed how to get the F melody note to firstly even sustain and be consistently noticeable through four chord changes, and then how to fit it into the voicings, whilst keeping the voicings sounding even vaguely authentic.

(this is in the key of Fmaj if that makes any difference, but the whole rest of the song is working really well, so i'd prefer not to change the key if it can be avoided, and i don't think it will make any difference)

I'm not sure if that makes enough sense, but i think if you play it through you'll see what i mean. any hints and tips would be very welcome! (or even if anyone knows of a version of mas que nada somewhere i could have a look at, i can't find any.

Thanks

What are the chords after the initial two bar sequence (and what's the next melody note)? I think people would find it easier to offer suggestions if they knew that information. Maybe everybody knows this tune except me....

[Charlie43]

Thank you for the ideas! I've got a pretty nice sounding few bars now, I keep getting really stuck all over the place on this tune though (especially finding a usable rhythm!) so i think i will put it on the back burner and practice on some easier tunes for a while.

I should probably put this in a more appropriate topic, but this forum is great, i've found loads of information to get me going with jazz, thank you