Recommended easy/intermediate Joe Pass or similar tune to learn

**Gabor** · 12-14-2016, 05:32 AM

Hi to All,

I've recently got an 2003 Epiphone Joe Pass. I love its acoustic sound, but I realized unfortunately there is nothing I can play on it :-) (I mean I do not know any chord melody solo) Well, I know it is not only for chord melody solo, but it seems to an opportunity to open that door.

So I started to search on Youtube and other sources for Joe Pass and similar chord melody lessons, and here is the trap: Even which are seems to be managable easy, it quickly turns out I can not play it in enjoyable musical way. I can play some of them or parts from them, but you definitely do not want to hear the result. Me neither.

So I am going to cut is back, and do it step by step gradually, and practice a lot.

Is there any recommendation of tunes/sheets/performances to start with? (which is reasonable easy/intermediate) and still cool music? (Please do not recommend me practice "etudes" or similar, I do my practice room homework, but this question is not about that)

Thanks in advance

**gggomez** · 12-14-2016, 06:16 AM

Been there. Seriously make up your own. Pick a ballad you like. chords for the long tones single notes for the faster bits, try the move one finger up or down a semi tone for some spice, mix the chords up full chords sparingly add 9ths etc 3 4 note chords sound fantastic. I am sure you will surprise yourself.

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**va3ux** · 12-14-2016, 07:37 AM

I can highly recommend the 2 Barry Galbraith chord melody solo books from Mel Bay. I'd rate these as intermediate to advanced. Notation and tab plus a CD with a well done recorded version of each tune. Every tune is performance-worthy.

**Jonah** · 12-14-2016, 07:49 AM

Joe Pass opened that door...

I mean he developed specific style of play that is very close to classical guitar fingerstyle arrangement: moving bass line and chordal comping together with melodic line.

To me the thing is that Joe had very special and personal sound with it...
and most of those who followed him don't... they often sound like deligent classical guitar student playing standard arrangement (well ok.. sometimes with more swinging feel). Since this style of solo playing seems to be the most conventional.

So if you're looking for Chord Melody arrangement it's not necessarily JP style.
There are lots of great examples in a different manner.

For example these arrangements is very cool and simple, easy to pick up (imho) especially having video

You can also check Barry Galbraith's notated arrangements of standards

**lawson-stone** · 12-14-2016, 09:42 AM

There is a PDF floating around of Berklee based arrangements of tunes for jazz guitar. They are pretty nice and would be great to learn.

**Jonah** · 12-14-2016, 10:04 AM

There's also collection Jazz Classics for Solo guitar... I definitely saw a copy uploaded somwhere..

the arrangements mostly are very simple and for different styles (pick, hybrid, fingerstyle)

**andyb** · 12-14-2016, 05:54 PM

You could take a look at the Jef Arnold books , I am working through "Favourite Standards" at the moment.

**Gabor** · 12-14-2016, 07:38 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am looking for the the Berklee material.

**mjo** · 12-14-2016, 07:44 PM

Hi -rabbit,
Are you familiar with drop 2 chord voicings ? If not, I strongly recommend them. Once you get all the inversions down, you can make your own chord melodies from, darn near any tune. If I could scan my own sheets, I'd post it here, as they're kind of hard to find on the web. Maybe someone here has a digi-copy to post ??
I'll try to get my pieces scanned, been wanting to do that anyway.

-best,
Mike

**PaulHintz** · 12-14-2016, 08:08 PM

You might search out archived threads discussing the merits of chord-melody arrangements by Robt Yeltsin, Robt Conti, Gene Bertoncini, Howard Morgan. There's a website devoted to the sale of such (along with a vast area of other jazz-related books and videos). I believe the person behind that site posts to this forum.
Chord-melody is a wonderful, wide, deep stream of music-making, relatively untainted by the musical equivalent of oil spills. Enjoy!

**Cunamara** · 12-15-2016, 12:05 AM

Does anyone other than guitarists use the term "chord-melody?"

**Jonah** · 12-15-2016, 03:00 AM

Does anyone other than guitarists use the term "chord-melody?"

I think not... but the term is conventional already... however misleading sometimes it may be.

To me pure chord-melody would be playing melody completly in stock chords (like Wes' chord solos)... and in this sense in could be applied to any harmonic instrument like piano or vibes

But more often it seems to be used for solo guitar arrangement... probably it comes from the point that in styles that developed from amateur playing like blues, rock, jazz... on guitar it was common to play either chords (comping) or melody (solo lines)... and here you play both.
Even now you see lots of admired reviews on youtube for the guy who plays simple arrangement of some pop songs... and often only because: wow.. he plays chords and melody together..

Sometimes it looks a bit weird for classical guitarists because they do not find anything special about playing melody and comping at a time, it's what they do from the very beginning...

**Stanford J17** · 12-15-2016, 05:58 AM

The Blues Intro from the Jazz Lines video is relatively easy for JP-standards.

There is a youtube-channel showing some of Joe's "arrangements" in bite-size pieces.

takashow1019
- YouTube

**Dirk** · 12-15-2016, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by mjo

Hi -rabbit,
Are you familiar with drop 2 chord voicings ? If not, I strongly recommend them. Once you get all the inversions down, you can make your own chord melodies from, darn near any tune. If I could scan my own sheets, I'd post it here, as they're kind of hard to find on the web. Maybe someone here has a digi-copy to post ??
I'll try to get my pieces scanned, been wanting to do that anyway.

-best,
Mike

Drop 2 Chords | Chord Chart + Examples

**jef** · 12-17-2016, 02:13 AM

Originally Posted by jazzyjackrabbit

Hi to All,
(Please do not recommend me practice "etudes" or similar, I do my practice room homework, but this question is not about that)

joe pass practice 'etudes' are kind of different though ..

(but apparently, not impossible

)

**Jonah** · 12-19-2016, 04:06 AM

Jeff Arnold - Jazz Ballads - Chord Melody Solos (27 ballads)

Very playable and nice harmonically but basic - no intos, outros, 'fake' impros or connecting lines...
just original melody arranged for solo guitar, but very nice voicing and guitaristic setting.

**Tomcat** · 12-21-2016, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by jazzyjackrabbit

Hi to All,

I've recently got an 2003 Epiphone Joe Pass. I love its acoustic sound, but I realized unfortunately there is nothing I can play on it :-) (I mean I do not know any chord melody solo) Well, I know it is not only for chord melody solo, but it seems to an opportunity to open that door.

So I started to search on Youtube and other sources for Joe Pass and similar chord melody lessons, and here is the trap: Even which are seems to be managable easy, it quickly turns out I can not play it in enjoyable musical way. I can play some of them or parts from them, but you definitely do not want to hear the result. Me neither.
So I am going to cut is back, and do it step by step gradually, and practice a lot.

Thanks in advance

Hi Jack,
The best tune IMHO to start with Joe Pass is The Bb Blues:

If you like it I can scan a sheet with it. The good thing is that there are 3 choruses of 12 bar blues and 1st is relatively easy then 2nd more chalenging and 3rd even more. So you can even stay on the first chorus until you're satisfied with the musical efect.

Additionaly the piece is a great encyclopaedia of blues reharmonization ideas which you can use also when soloing - I once did write out all functions by numbers (without any C or Bb just I7 -IV7 and I practiced them in other keys

Hope it will be helpful

**clebergf** · 12-21-2016, 09:38 AM

Tomcat, I would like to have this transcription.

**pkirk** · 12-21-2016, 10:07 AM

Tomek's clip is from the Joe pass Chord solos book, which is a great book for learning chord solos.

Joe Pass Chord Solos: For Guitar, Vibes, and All Keyboard Instruments: Joe Pass: 0884780583874: Amazon.com: Books

this is a great book, a sure cure for the OP's problem. Here's my choppy take on "Misty" from that same book:

SoundClick artist: Paul Kirk - page with MP3 music downloads

This book is somewhat advanced in that it's not really "watered-down" joe pass, but closer to what he might really have played, presumably it's someone's transcription of some tunes Pass recorded. Also, no Tab, which is a great plus to any book in my view, but may be a deal breaker for some. Its a great book to have on the practice stand.

If you are starting off the chord-melody (and presumably jazz) trail, I'd look at some of the "easy" Howard Morgen books.

For more advanced and modern arrangements, my favorites are the Bill McCormick books, which have many levels of harmonic ideas in them, from down-home blues to the weirdest out stuff, all explicitly tailored to the guitar.