Single notes melodic playing still "Jazz" guitar?

[Don H]

I fine myself playing tunes with a single note melodic style. I will throw in a few chords throughout the tune, but I am finding out that I do not enjoy chord melody style. It sounds too "cluttered" and I prefer playing the melody that I can hum or sing along with. Would this still be considered acceptable in the Jazz guitar community? An example of the style I am leaning to is below.

[mr. beaumont]

So, to answer your question with a question-- what makes you worry it wouldn't be acceptable?

[pingu]

yes

[Nate Miller]

brother, if that's not jazz, then I don't know what the hell I've been playing all my life

nothing wrong with any of that

[joe2758]

I do not accept this. I CAN'T AND I WON'T!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Solo chord melody playing is just a single approach to playing out of many. No one says you have to follow that path.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I do not accept this. I CAN'T AND I WON'T!

I saw your toe tap!

[NoReply]

Why care! Play what you love and don't worry about others. If you love what you're doing it will come through in what you play and sound good.

[lawson-stone]

I fine myself playing tunes with a single note melodic style. I will throw in a few chords throughout the tune, but I am finding out that I do not enjoy chord melody style. It sounds too "cluttered" and I prefer playing the melody that I can hum or sing along with. Would this still be considered acceptable in the Jazz guitar community? An example of the style I am leaning to is below.

If you can play like that guy, you're doing fine. Jazz guitar, like jazz piano, has a multitude of approaches and if you swing hard and play interesting stuff, nobody will care. Joe Pass would often, in a totally solo guitar context, play 8-12 bars of single-notes, just because he wanted to.

I like to think we should not eliminate from our playing anything that the guitar can do well.

[citizenk74]

Yvan Jacques sounds good to me!

[Don H]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Does anyone watch Eddie Lastra's youtube channel? I like his style too.

[goldenwave77]

I listened to your playing and thought it was very tasty, and appealing.

I do, however, have serious concerns about that piano player of yours. I think I saw him sneaking into your dwelling last week, and making off with a bunch of items from your clothes closet. You might want to keep an eye on him. And please notify your bank so that he can't come in and withdraw large amounts from your account.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Yeah, there are many paths up the mountain ... follow them long enough, we might get near the top ...

[Jabberwocky]

Yeah, there are many paths up the mountain ... follow them long enough, we might get near the top ...

With that saying, I conclude that you must be Chinese...

[Little Jay]

With that saying, I conclude that you must be Chinese...

Even the longest and most complicated chord melody starts with a single note....

[ChrisDowning]

You are perhaps only asking the question because both the guitar and keys can play chords. The clarinet, sax, trumpet, trombone, only play one note at a time - so you can play a chord - but the 1 3 5 7 9 etc. have to follow each other in some order. So you can't ask the question about single note melody lines with those instruments.

[Doctor Jeff]

Speaking of cool, I like the way that Grant will play a lot of single notes in a row, with a lot of repetitive riffs, then throw in an emphatic chord, as if to say, that's what I'm talking about, man!

Really gets the groove on about 2:45...

BTW, I LOVE this screen shot from that video...OMG...who wouldn't have wanted to be there? Grant was the old man, George ("John Hammond's new find"!) and Kenny were young bucks. And Charlie Byrd and Attila Zollar. Jazz guitar heaven...