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Hi,
I'm trying to learn my first 'chord solo' - not a chord melody arrangement of a standard, but a chord (or mostly chord-based) solo improvised by a Guitar Great (!!).
I'm just not sure where to start?
Can someone suggest some good 'beginner-ish' chord solos that someone could perhaps learn?
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10-07-2024 01:25 PM
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Just google Wes Montgomery chord solos
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The last chorus of "Unit 7" is a good one. The tune is fast, but you can obviously slow it down, and the movements aren't too hard.
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Unit 7!
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What do you mean, Allan?
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Originally Posted by jamiehenderson1993
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Maybe I'm confused, I thought the OP was looking for a solo done with chords, not a tune...
That's why I suggested Unit 7. Yeah, Wes is an absolute beast...but this one, minus the tempo, is actually pretty accessible. Part of it is because the tempo is cooking, Wes needs to play around a little more rhythmically rather than harmonizing bop lines in chords. But he could certainly do that too--check out Missile Blues, much slower but a whole lot more difficult!
It might be helpful to narrow down what the OP is going for-- I mean, Alan Reuss? Ed Bickert? Wes? All played chord solos and sound NOTHING alike really...even though some of the rudiments are certainly common...
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Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
Book 3:
Michelle (Beatles)
Endless Love (Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross)
You Needed Me (Anne Murray)
Songbird (Fleetwood Mac)
Deja Vu (Isaac Hayes)
I Made It Through the Rain (Barry Manilow)
Feelings
Book 4:
The Love Inside (Bee Gees)
It's My Turn Diana Ross)
Here, There, and Everywhere (Beatles)
My Heart Belongs To Me (Barbara Streisand)
Don't Cry Out Loud (Melissa Manchester)
Coming In and Out of Your Life (Barbara Streisand)
Through the Years (Kenny Rogers)
The first two books (Mike Elliot):
Book 1:
Yesterday
Like Someone In Love
Yesterdays
Come Rain or Come Shine
Moonlight In Vermont
My Funny Valentine
Things We Did Last Summer
Book 2:
Lover Man
Prelude to a Kiss
Here's That Rainy Day
I'll Remember April
Angel Eyes
But Beautiful
You Don't Know What Love Is
With all 4 books, you get the same treatment of both standards AND more current pop tunes. So there is a consistent method across all 4 books. When the Mike Elliot books come up for discussion, which happens here periodically, I never see reference to the Len Braunling books.
Then, if those aren't enough, (but wait!) there's more:
3 volumes by Pat McKee "Jazz Harmonies: The System" (a complete chord system that then provides the harmony foundation for the 4 books of chord melody). So, really, there are 7 books in this series plus another called "The Nashville Numbering System: An Aid to Playing Guitar By Ear", which is styled like the other 7, but is not necessarily a part of their workflow.
I got all these years ago, so I don't know what the market looks like for these now. Aside from Robert Conti and Steve Crowell's materials, these are among the few I know of that provide a complete step by step foundation to get going with chord melody. There are some books that try to cram it all into one relatively small volume, but they assume too much (or are too simplistic to hold any interest) for somebody getting started. If folks can't find these books listed here, I would suggest Robert Conti. Steve Crowell is good too and comes from a different perspective, but Conti has a real knack for getting you going quickly while really teaching you how his system works (i.e. not some play chord melody overnight thing, but also not 5 years from now you will be playing chord melody).
Hope that helps...
TonyLast edited by tbeltrans; 10-07-2024 at 05:05 PM.
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Not sure you would consider them “starter“ chord solos, but the Jimmy Bruno and Jonathan Stout courses on DC Music School are chock full of chord solos. You get to see and hear them play it and it’s all tabbed out in real time.
In The Style Of Jimmy Bruno, Vol. 3 | DC Music School
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The best chord (what pianists call 'locked hands' or 'block chords' 'drop 2' etc.) soloist is Wes Montgomery who blows me away when I hear him play block chord solos, they seem so fluid, effortless and right. But, in my view, there is nothing 'beginner-ish' about playing block chord solos on the guitar, let alone the piano. This is really advanced stuff. Actually, I play block chord riffs here and there, but they are all memorized lines, chord inversions and passing chords, chromaticisms here and there, and I even wonder if improvising block chords is even possible on the guitar, that when I hear someone like Wes do it, I'm wondering if he had them all worked out before. Sure, I'm probably wrong, and I'll never be that good, so I'm envious of those who can do it. . Even on piano, I have them all worked out.
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Aren't there a lot of books like 'Easy Chord Melody Solos' or 'Chord Melody Solos for Beginners' or something? On Amazon, probably.
Here you go, I'll do it for you.
Easy Chord Melody for Jazz Guitar : Brizzola, Carlos: Amazon.co.uk: Books
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Oh, right. In that case, god knows :-)
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How about trying “If I Had You”?
Frank Vignola, IIRC, had a basic chord solo of that. I can’t find the original one I learned it from; now there’s several.
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Fred Sokolove has I think a series of 4 or 5 books. I got into chord melody pretty much just by learning his arrangements (this was about 30 years ago), which I modified to put my own stamp on them, he taught me a lot, just comparing his arrangements with the original lead sheets, all sorts of light bulbs lit up after studying his book. He has an anthology that comes with a CD, I believe. After a dozen or so of his arrangements, I got easily to where I didn't need him anymore, and creating my own.
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