The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1
    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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  3. #2

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    Just google Wes Montgomery chord solos

  4. #3

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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.

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by joe2758 View Post
    Just google Wes Montgomery chord solos
    Any you'd particularly point out as a good place to start?

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont View Post
    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.
    Thank you so much

  7. #6

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    Unit 7!

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont View Post
    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.
    I just checked this out, the concept seems to be more phrasing of chords instead playing a bop melody with chords. I've totally been doing this backwards and failing.

  9. #8

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    What do you mean, Allan?

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by joe2758 View Post
    What do you mean, Allan?
    They asked for a place to start, an easy solo and you suggested to start with the best player ever. But then I thought I was being negative and unhelpful so I deleted the comment.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by jamiehenderson1993
    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?
    Barney Kessel is the first person who comes to mind, I have some transcriptions of his I will look up.

  12. #11

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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...

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    I got a lot from Mike Eliot's two volumes of chord solos. Gorgeous arrangements that are easy to play, have logically and helpful graphics to show voice movements and great tunes.
    There are lots of people who have fine chord solo and improvisational arrangements out there. The Mike Eliot ones were my favourite and I learned a ton from the harmonies these books gave me.
    Thanks for the reminder! Those are books 1 and 2. There were two other volumes (books 3 and 4) to that series that did chord melody of some of the then current Top 40 tunes in that same style using the same instructions at the beginning. Those were done by Len Braunling. Some may not see value in playing contemporary tunes in that style, but Joe Pass told me that we should be playing the tunes we grew up with and REALLY know, not tunes that were popular in his (and our parents') day. So these Len Braunling books are a good start on that. Here are the tunes:

    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...

    Tony
    Last edited by tbeltrans; 10-07-2024 at 05:05 PM.

  14. #13

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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

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by jamiehenderson1993
    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?

    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.

  16. #15

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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

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    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
    erm

    Quote Originally Posted by jamiehenderson1993
    I'm trying to learn my first 'chord solo' - not a chord melody arrangement of a standard,

  18. #17

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    Oh, right. In that case, god knows :-)

  19. #18

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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.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1 View Post
    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
    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.