Have a Three Hour Solo Guitar Gig Saturday...

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

The thing about mashups, you can take any aspect and superimpose it on another form; so many things define a specific tune. As I remember, I took the original II V I of "Silent Night Holy night..." and used the harmonic turnarounds of Night and Day. "All is Calm..." I started the characteristic #4 -7b5 descending harmony and used it as the harmonic line back to the tonic. That constituted a re-harm at that point.
That was the the way I played the first form through.
On the second chorus, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, I changed the key to the relative minor and used the Eb modulation of the Night and Day.
At that point, the CMaj and C min duality is established and it's just using the ear to decide which tune to take to the next section break.

I like playing tunes this way, and I actually have lots of Christmas tunes that have mash up DNA into standards. Why not? Isn't a sense of play what makes this game fun?
Doing it on the fly is a rush. As long as you land on your feet, know where you want to be and get there by the closing turnaround, you're good. And ain't that more interesting than playing it straight on a 3 hour gig?

Yeah!!! The possibilities are endless - as I threw that Silent Night clip together, I heard the first 4 bars of the head from Late Late Show over those of SN. And all of a sudden while listening to the clip, I heard Secret Love.

To be honest, I've gotten myself lost more than once and ended up playing another tune entirely by the time I got to or through what would have been the release. But it really doesn't matter as long as it sounds good!

[citizenk74]

So... How'd it go?

[Stringswinger]

Yeah!!! The possibilities are endless - as I threw that Silent Night clip together, I heard the first 4 bars of the head from Late Late Show over those of SN. And all of a sudden while listening to the clip, I heard Secret Love.

To be honest, I've gotten myself lost more than once and ended up playing another tune entirely by the time I got to or through what would have been the release. But it really doesn't matter as long as it sounds good!

Yep. I too have taken a chance that did not work out well and saved the day by playing a different tune out than the one I started with. And sometimes I start a tune and realize that I do not remember where the bridge goes. No matter, I know a lot of bridges and I just insert one that works (and I make a mental note to review the tune later at home and get the actual bridge back in my ears). It is all part of being a jazz musician. We make it up as we go along and for me, that is a big part of the fun.

Caution: If you don't have the chops to do this sort of thing, play it safe. Having a complete train wreck on a paid gig can lead to never being invited back.

[Paulie2]

So... How'd it go?

Pretty well I think! People seemed to enjoy it. Had more than enough tunes to get through it relatively unharmed.

I felt uneasy on the first set, but a funny thing seemed to happen as I entered the second hour and something kind of clicked. More people showed up and the patio filled up, and I was able to just play more naturally. Thanks to everyone for chiming in on the post

[citizenk74]

Pretty well I think! People seemed to enjoy it. Had more than enough tunes to get through it relatively unharmed.

I felt uneasy on the first set, but a funny thing seemed to happen as I entered the second hour and something kind of clicked. More people showed up and the patio filled up, and I was able to just play more naturally. Thanks to everyone for chiming in on the post

Well done, Sir! Well done!

[Woody Sound]

That must have been weird. Silent Night is in 3 and Night and Day is in 4. The only way I can imagine that is to play N&D in 6.

Actually night and day works as a waltz. YOu just have to alter the lyric timing in a few spots.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Actually night and day works as a waltz. YOu just have to alter the lyric timing in a few spots.

Almost any tune can be played in multiple time signatures and styles - it’s fun and it breaks up the routine, so you think in new ways. I love doing All Blues in 4 and So What in 3 at the usual tempo or in a slow 12/8. Watch What Happens is cool in 3 or in 5, and Sunshine of My Life makes a cool funk tune. I sometimes do Every Day I Have The Blues in 3. We’re here to enjoy ourselves as well as to entertain

My biggest problem with lyrics isn’t fitting new meters, it’s making them sufficiently gender neutral or appropriate for me to sing songs written for a straight female without sounding a bit off to me. I know it’s a new world and I’ve never cared who loves whom - but I have a hard time trying to sound sincere when singing about how much I love a man. Turning a swing tune into a waltz is child’s play.

[Woody Sound]

Do you do most chord melody type stuff? I would never survive.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Do you do most chord melody type stuff? I would never survive.

I just do what the mood moves me to do. I play a 7, and I can lay down a decent bass line. When playing solo, I usually follow the pattern set by Oscar Peterson, Wes etc: head, build a single note theme through a few verses, chord a verse or two, then maybe a "bass" solo before finishing with some version of the head. But my regular gig these days is with my bass / drum trio weekly at a local club. I've been playing with them so long (bass for about 35 years, drummer for at least a decade) that we hve a pretty solid feel for what each of us is doing - and the crazy ideas aren't even all mine any more

I had set up my little digital recorder the night we did So What in 3 for the first time - here's the entire thing. I usually don't play a clamfest in public, but we're all friends here. So here's the bare truth and the naked experiment. I was playing with sounds and had the reverb turned all the way up on the DVM Jazz 12, for a chorusy / flangy thing that I'm still not sure I like for this tune. [EDIT] That's not correct - I ran the Tele7 through my Art preamp into our Leslie 3300 cabinet - and I'm not sure I like that sound for this tune either.[/EDIT] You can hear us giving verbal cues to each other too. I led the bass player through the full head until he got the hang of it - but he was in the groove by #3.

We're always looking for ways to make it new for both the audience and us, since we have a decent crew of weekly regulars. This is rough - I only posted it 'cause I love ya' !

Forgive us our trespasses.............

[Stringswinger]

Do you do most chord melody type stuff? I would never survive.

I do a lot of solo jazz guitar gigs. I tried 7 string archtops for a bit, but I never fully adapted to them. I tried a Looper, but found it too distracting. So I do my Joe Pass thing on a 6 string guitar ( mostly on an archtop, but sometimes on a solidbody) I state the melody chord melody style and improvise on the changes. I mix single note lines with comping and bass lines. Some tunes I do fingerstyle, others with a plectrum. Sometimes I change the key in the middle of the tune, sometimes I go out with a different tune than the one I started. It is great fun and on my breaks, I chat with different audience members.

I play gigs in other settings, but between the money never being enough and having to deal with some questionable personalities on the bandstand, the solo gig is working pretty well for me.

As always, I thank Joe Pass for the inspiration. When it comes to doing the solo gig, he gave me a lantern and showed me the path.

[basscadet]

Congrats on the successful gig, I can identify with the way things tend to 'click' after a while ...I feel like the atmosphere settles and the flow state is able to kick in...