The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    The new tune for our study group is: My Foolish Heart

    This is the book of chord melody arrangements we are studying -- Jazz Ballads; Jazz Guitar Chord Melody Solos - Amazon.com

    There is a free PDF of the book available online which you can work from if you have not ordered the book.

    Our mission is to learn Jeff Arnold's chord melody arrangement and record and share our rendition of it. You may want to modify it or add an introduction to it, but learning Jeff's arrangement is our primary assignment.

    Tony Bennett and Bill Evans (with an introduction sung by Tony)


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I know that this thread concept has run out of steam but I am still working on these cause I like doing it. It's forcing me to stick with something until I get it to performance level and that's valuable for me.



    I added a tag that wasn't in the original arrangement.

  4. #3

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    I haven't really gotten to this, working on too many things at once.

    However, looking at the original lead sheet for the tune, I noticed that the composer (Victor Young) implies certain harmonic movements (counterpoint) that Arnold overlooks in his arrangement. For example, there is a Bb pedal point throughout the first 5-6 measures. And in measures 13 & 14, Young has Gm >Gm#7 >Gm7, etc.

    More on this later.....

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mick-7 View Post
    I haven't really gotten to this, working on too many things at once.

    However, looking at the original lead sheet for the tune, I noticed that the composer (Victor Young) implies certain harmonic movements (counterpoint) that Arnold overlooks in his arrangement. For example, there is a Bb pedal point throughout the first 5-6 measures. And in measures 13 & 14, Young has Gm >Gm#7 >Gm7, etc.

    More on this later.....
    Sounds like some nice stuff, hope you can find time to get to it.

  6. #5

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    Below is the chart to which I referred, written on top are the composer's original chords (supposedly) and below them are the common alternate jazz chord changes.

    The chart is from this book: Jazz Standards Fake Book - Amazon.com

    My Foolish Heart - Jeff Arnold Jazz Ballads Book, Song #6-my-foolish-heart-jazz-standards-fake-book-page_1-jpgMy Foolish Heart - Jeff Arnold Jazz Ballads Book, Song #6-my-foolish-heart-jazz-standards-fake-book-page_2-jpg

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by alpop View Post
    I added a tag that wasn't in the original arrangement.
    Very good! I liked your ending better than Arnold's, which is abrupt and rather bland.

  8. #7

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    Nice work. Thanks for posting.

    Tony

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by pilotony View Post
    Nice work. Thanks for posting.

    Tony
    Thanks Tony! Appreciate you for listening and commenting.

    It does take me quite a bit of work, but I find that each one gets a little bit easier to learn. I figure that I will plow through most of the book as long as I like the songs.

  10. #9

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    Analyzing a few different charts of this tune and listening to Bill Evans and Lenny Breau play it has led me down a winding rabbit hole, so my rendition (coming to a forum near you very soon) will probably have next to nothing in common with Arnold's. What's new about that, right? I keep doing it.

    In this take (below) Lenny plays the intro that Tony Bennett sang with Bill Evans. I haven't seen it on a chart so I think I'll transcribe Lenny's rendition.

    Last edited by Mick-7; 10-20-2024 at 02:57 PM.

  11. #10

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    First take, warts and all....

    My Foolish Heart, Take 1 - Box.com


    I really need to change my recording set-up, direct output from the amp into my Zoom unit records string and pick noises from my acoustic-electric guitar. I think I'll buy a good microphone. This sounded much better in person.

    I transposed the tune from Bb to A Major so I could use open strings as pedal points, etc. Then I noticed that Lenny Breau also plays it in A, for the same reason I suppose.

    P.S. - I wrote down my arrangement and will post it if anyone wants to see it, I managed to get a few more modern chords like Maj7#5's into it.
    Last edited by Mick-7; 10-21-2024 at 08:21 PM.

  12. #11

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  13. #12

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    Another take, slower and smoother. I was going to try it as a samba, after hearing Astrud Gilberto's rendition of it, but I'll have to rethink the chords for that. I used many of the same chords as Arnold did, but they sound different on open strings.

    My Foolish Heart, Take 2 - Box.com

    If you folks want to take on another Arnold arrangement, let me know.