Jazz Has No Borders

[RJVB]

I've heard enough subtle bending, what I really miss is imitating train whistles and bottlenecks

(and funny texts, of course )

[AllanAllen]

There isn’t a no bending rule. Charlie Parker and Coltrane bend. Illinois Jacquet is known in history BECAUSE he bent notes. All the big bands are bending when they comp.

Listen to the music and you’ll see the rule isn’t true.

[ruger9]

There isn’t a no bending rule. Charlie Parker and Coltrane bend. Illinois Jacquet is known in history BECAUSE he bent notes. All the big bands are bending when they comp.

Listen to the music and you’ll see the rule isn’t true.

I knew someone here would take that literally and all-encompassingly. Of course there's no rule, and bending exists. But by and large, bending is not much of a "thing" in most jazz guitar. I listen to all kinds of jazz, cutting my teeth on the swing era, and those guys were bending all over the place on their horns... it's likely part of the reason I love it so much.

[pamosmusic]

There isn’t a no bending rule. Charlie Parker and Coltrane bend. Illinois Jacquet is known in history BECAUSE he bent notes. All the big bands are bending when they comp.

Listen to the music and you’ll see the rule isn’t true.

Yeah. And guitars players bend. Not tons but plenty.

I wonder if it’s a byproduct of the traditional jazz tone. Longish stretch where folks played feedback prone archtops with very heavy strings. Maybe that’s it?

But maybe not even … Charlie Christian loves a good bend. Herb Ellis with some bends in there. Wes maybe not so many. George Benson plenty.

Who knows where this stuff comes from.

[RJVB]

All the big eands are banding when they ???

Talking about funny and appropriate lyrics ... this thread does little to contradict these:

[Cunamara]

Jazz may have no borders, but human thinking certainly does.

[Litterick]

Let's remember too that jazz was and is the music of and gift from black Americans.

Let's not forget the Creoles.

[pauln]

I've heard enough subtle bending, what I really miss is imitating train whistles and bottlenecks

(and funny texts, of course )

Train Whistles
Finger a string-skip double stop while bending both strings. Lower the guitar volume, pick the strings as you swell the volume and stop abruptly a little out of tune. To make it sound authentic, know that trains signal at crossings using the Morse Code letter Q, so that's one long honk, another long honk, then a short honk, and lastly one more long honk, all drawn out spaced slow and mournful.

Train Crossing Bells
Use your fingers to push sideways and bend the high E string over and past the B string, then hold both down about 12th fret, so the E and B are crossed. Pick either string repeatedly for clanging sound. (mimic Doppler effect by bending both or diving the whammy bar and slowing picking).

Church Bells
Same as above with middle strings middle of the neck

Gong
Same as above using the big strings near the nut, lots of reverb and whammy for underwater sounds.