Barry Galbraith Chord Melody Arrangements

[Rscudder58]

I have a GB notation question. It’s in the fingerboard workbook… appog.-D Triad
I see the d triad. What does the prefix mean?


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[Mick-7]

I have a GB notation question. It’s in the fingerboard workbook… appog.-D Triad
I see the d triad. What does the prefix mean?

The slash ( - ) is shorthand for minor, e.g., D-7 (Dm7), are the notes: D-F-A?

[Rscudder58]

The slash ( - ) is shorthand for minor, e.g., D-7 (Dm7), are the notes: D-F-A?

D F# A


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[Mick-7]

D F# A

Are you saying it says D- over a major triad? Just D would make sense - Aebersold's Galbraith comping booklet uses ^ (triangle) for a major chord.

[Rscudder58]

Are you saying it says D- over a major triad? Just D would make sense - Aebersold's Galbraith comping booklet uses ^ (triangle) for a major chord.

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[AllanAllen]

Appoggiatura - Wikipedia

[Rscudder58]

Appoggiatura - Wikipedia

Thank you!


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[AllanAllen]

What I don’t understand is how F# A D is an appoggiatura. The notes are all chord tones for D.

[alpop]

What I don’t understand is how F# A D is an appoggiatura. The notes are all chord tones for D.

I think it's about what key the piece is in and where that D chord is going to. The piece is in Eb and going to an Eb chord so the whole D chord is an appoggiatura. (Inserted to create tension/release)
So, for the purpose of analysis it isn't a key change but a device.

[AllanAllen]

So the arpeggio itself is the ‘non-chord note’ of the appoggiatura?

Similar concept to sliding into Bb7 of a blues by hitting A7 first?

[Mick-7]

What I don’t understand is how F# A D is an appoggiatura.

It's not an appoggiatura, they are not chords, it's V7 (D7) of IIIm (Gm7).

[AllanAllen]

Okay, here’s my analysis. Piece by piece.

Reads: ‘Appog.-D Triad’ with a bracket over the notes F# A and D. Which is a D major triad.

Sheet music words are my weakness, so I go to Google and type in ‘appog. Music’ and get one word Appoggitura.

Which is defined as a melody of chord tones and one outside tone that resolves to a chord tone.

So where is the outside tone? Reminder: The tones under the bracket are F#, A and D.

Alpop’s reply made sense and it would be fitting for jazz analysis to bend a musical definition in that way.

It's not an appoggiatura, they are not chords, it's V7 (D7) of IIIm (Gm7)

This doesn’t make sense.

If it’s not chords why are you telling me it’s chords?

If Appog. isn’t an abbreviation for appoggitura, what is it abbreviating? start at the start, what is Appog.?

[alpop]

So the arpeggio itself is the ‘non-chord note’ of the appoggiatura?

Similar concept to sliding into Bb7 of a blues by hitting A7 first?

Yes this is what I was supposing to be the explanation in response to the original question. (post #177)

What you just said, calling it an arpeggio is what I should have said, rather than calling it a chord as I did.

If the tempo is moving along I can see the arpeggio acting with the same effect as a single note.

[Mick-7]

It's not an appoggiatura, they are not chords, it's V7 (D7) of IIIm (Gm7).

This doesn’t make sense. If it’s not chords why are you telling me it’s chords?

If Appog. isn’t an abbreviation for appoggitura, what is it abbreviating? start at the start, what is Appog.?

I'm saying that whoever wrote that book entry does not understand what an appoggitura is, it is a 1 or 2 note embellishment, not a chord (arpeggio). The V of IIIm was my interpretation, I don't know what the musical term for that device would be but it's not "appoggitura."

[Question]

I will post one last video of Barry's arrangement of "Our Love is Here to Stay" as well as re-posting the other four that I have already posted on this thread.

Since many people learn better visually, I thought that posting some videos where you can see the fingering without having to read the chart would be a motivator. Not so.

I am playing all of Barry's arrangements almost verbatim with some very slight changes.

[alpop]

I will post one last video of Barry's arrangement of "Our Love is Here to Stay" as well as re-posting the other four that I have already posted on this thread.

Since many people learn better visually, I thought that posting some videos where you can see the fingering without having to read the chart would be a motivator. Not so.

I am playing all of Barry's arrangements almost verbatim with some very slight changes.

That's a nice collection you've got there!

I think that a lack of of submissions by others on this thread is due to the difficulty in mastering these arrangements. It takes a lot of work/time.

I would say that your skills are well above the average of the players interested in working on this material as evidenced by how quickly you are able to master these pieces.

Personally, I find these pieces difficult but not unlearnable. I am STILL working on In a Sentimental mood. I have finally memorized it and hope to have it fluid enough to record and post soon.

[Mick-7]

Nice to hear something uptempo, Question. What a great arrangement!

Here's the "official" audio track for this tune:

Barry Galbraith - Our Love is Here to Stay

And such a consonant final chord! -- E7/F: | 1-x-0-1-0-0-|

Believe I've heard flamenco guitarists play that one, but with the A string open too, which I suppose would make it... an E11b9/F.

Or maybe it was in Traffic's tune, "The Dealer," on their first album - with an A harmonic minor lick played over it. Actually the song's melody is based on harmonic minor.

[sully75]

I'm working on Last Night When We Were Young. It's getting to be ok but I want it to be excellent. My usual thing is to get things to 85%, record them and then never get them perfect.

There's a lot of great shit in there, it's teaching me a lot. I hope/intend to do more.

[Rscudder58]

Personally, I find these pieces difficult but not unlearnable. I am STILL working on In a Sentimental mood. I have finally memorized it and hope to have it fluid enough to record and post soon.

This is about where I’m at. Just about there…


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[Question]

That's a nice collection you've got there!

I think that a lack of of submissions by others on this thread is due to the difficulty in mastering these arrangements. It takes a lot of work/time.

I would say that your skills are well above the average of the players interested in working on this material as evidenced by how quickly you are able to master these pieces.

Personally, I find these pieces difficult but not unlearnable. I am STILL working on In a Sentimental mood. I have finally memorized it and hope to have it fluid enough to record and post soon.

@Alpop
Yes I understand.

You make it sound as if I just play these pieces with ease. If you are interested, I will explain how much time I need and how I go about learning these arrangements.
I read through the chart and usually need about an hour to fix any notation mistakes (I think these have been corrected in the Mel Bay Books) and decide on the fingerings that work for me. Most of Barry's fingerings are usable (if they are notated) but I normally find a few spots where something just lays better for my hands using another solution.

Then I need a few hours to learn the arrangement and about an hour to record a decent take. I normally decide on a tempo and practice it with a metronome to avoid cheating with what Peter calls "Convenient Rubato"©, where you make timing decisions based on lacking technique as opposed to musical ones.
I don't record with a metronome but practicing with it forces me to decide where and how I want to alter the time and how to phrase the melody.

We had a discussion earlier in this thread about the pros and cons of learning someone else's arrangements. One (of many) thing that these arrangements have helped me with is to improve the weakness and control of my little finger on my right hand. He sometimes has 5 note chords, which requires that one play the top note with the little finger.
Getting the melody to be dynamically louder than the accompaniment is always a challenge, especially when I need to use my little finger to play it.
Also, just playing legato and holding the chords for their full rhythmic value while getting the melody to speak is something that is just inherently difficult when playing solo Chord-Melody on the guitar.

Hope that helps!

[alpop]

@Alpop
Yes I understand.

You make it sound as if I just play these pieces with ease. If you are interested, I will explain how much time I need and how I go about learning these arrangements.
I read through the chart and usually need about an hour to fix any notation mistakes (I think these have been corrected in the Mel Bay Books) and decide on the fingerings that work for me. Most of Barry's fingerings are usable (if they are notated) but I normally find a few spots where something just lays better for my hands using another solution.

Then I need a few hours to learn the arrangement and about an hour to record a decent take. I normally decide on a tempo and practice it with a metronome to avoid cheating with what Peter calls "Convenient Rubato"©, where you make timing decisions based on lacking technique as opposed to musical ones.
I don't record with a metronome but practicing with it forces me to decide where and how I want to alter the time and how to phrase the melody.

We had a discussion earlier in this thread about the pros and cons of learning someone else's arrangements. Barry's arrangements are forcing me to improve the weakness and control of my little finger on my right hand. He sometimes has 5 note chords, which requires that one play the top note with the little finger.
Getting the melody to be dynamically louder than the accompaniment is always a challenge and something that is difficult for me especially when I need to use my little finger to play it. Also, just playing legato and holding the chords for their full rhythmic value while getting the melody to speak is something that is just inherently difficult when playing solo Chord-Melody on the guitar.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the insight into your process!

I basically go through the same steps, only it takes me maybe an hour to learn one section, and be sure that it is correct and sounds good. That's usually all I have the time/energy /focus that I have to complete on any given day. Then I try different fingerings and decide on what works best for me. So, after maybe 4 days I know the arrangement.

Then I practice it section by section. I do three or four reps per section in a row, as slow as necessary to stay in time. I may deconstruct even further if certain changes are consistently tripping me up.
Eventually I find that I have it memorized and decide to record. I don't record unless it is memorized. If a good take doesn't happen in 4 or 5 tries, I try again the next day.

Hopefully this gives some insight to others on what a hobbyist can do to learn and record these pieces.

Regarding the benefits of learning someone else's arrangements, I find that it exposes me to sounds that I wouldn't come up with on my own. Put those sounds in the bank, and use in the future.

[AllanAllen]

I think a benefit of learning these arranges is I can play something that sounds really good. Innovation and originality are overblown.

[lawson-stone]

I think a benefit of learning these arranges is I can play something that sounds really good. Innovation and originality are overblown.

Seriously. When I was playing Jimmy Raney solos, my amp actually thought it had been sold to a real jazz guitar player.

[Mick-7]

I read through the chart and usually need about an hour to fix any notation mistakes (I think these have been corrected in the Mel Bay Books) and decide on the fingerings that work for me. Most of Barry's fingerings are usable (if they are notated) but I normally find a few spots where something just lays better for my hands using another solution.

I don't think we know how Barry fingered everything, he was not the author of these books. The books are based on his written arrangements and there are some dubious fingerings in them.

Barry's arrangements are forcing me to improve the weakness and control of my little finger on my right hand. He sometimes has 5 note chords, which requires that one play the top note with the little finger.

If you think that's tough, try playing them with a pick! I wonder how Johnny Smith would have played these?

[sully75]

Ok here's my go:

Really took me a long time. I think it could be perfecter but I wouldn't mind trying something else.

One thing when I learn something like this is I don't really know the tune or the changes, just the arrangement. I printed out the chords and I should learn the melody and be able to improvise with the arrangement and play a solo and stuff.

I bought the books. It is weird to me on the demo recordings, it is out of time, that's fine, but he's skipping beats. I was trying to play it like I would play it with a trio. I have been using Drum Genius a lot lately, it's pretty great for that kind of practice.