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Good points, David. Actually, I did like the arrangement per se. Clear and musically right on point. I suspect the method books would be valuable. Personally I don't seek out others' arrangements much these days, though I would like to get Roland Dyens' arrangements of standards.
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07-01-2015 08:46 AM
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Mike Elliott 1940-2005
Born May 18, 1940 in Chicago, Mike studied guitar as a teenager in Colorado under the legendary Johnny Smith. His long career included extended periods in the Twin Cities, where he played and recorded with the influential jazz group Natural Life, and Nashville, where he was a studio musician, producer/engineer and songwriter on hit country recordings. During his Nashville years (1982 – 1997) his many accomplishments included serving as music director for the great Nashville producer Jack Clement, contributing a song to John Anderson's triple platinum album “Seminole Wind,” working on staff for Gibson Guitars and writing instructional jazz books for the Hal Leonard publishing company. As a jazz guitarist, renowned critic Leonard Feather considered Mike to be one of the very best. His versatility on guitar led to performances with the Toronto Symphony, road work with Victor Borge, recordings with stars like Johnny Cash and much more. A devoted and brilliant educator, Mike presented guitar clinics with people like Les Paul and taught countless students from beginners to Bela Fleck.
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G'day , Nick1994.
I can recommend the 5 books by Robert B. Yelin , as I have them all. Each book contains 35 classic jazz standards and include the lyrics and original chords with recommended substitutions below in tablature. They're very chord heavy which some find off-putting, but if they appear too difficult, nothing prevents you from using a single note until such time as you feel confident to employ them all. A similar method is recommended by Robert Conti, who also has a number of jazz standard chord melody books available. By the way, Hal Leonard publishes the Robert Yelin books here in the US and priced at $17.95 , they're an absolute bargain in my humble opinion !
The Yelin and Conti books are still in print, too ! Best of luck with your proficiency - they've been a tremendous help in my advancement !
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Contemporary Chord Solos - Book 1: A Simplified Approach to Substitute Harmonies: Mike Elliot: 9780793524143: Amazon.com: Books
Table of Contents
Yesterday
Like Someone in Love
Yesterdays
Come Rain or Come Shine
Moonlight in Vermont
My Funny Valentine
Things We did Last Summer
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Broken Record:
Nick1994 - If you bought the two Robert Conti books (Assembly Line and The Formula) you would be able to open a fake book to any song and make your own chord melodies in endless variations and be free of Tab forever!
In the time it takes to learn two written out chord-melody arrangements by Robert Yellin, you'd be through both Conti books and on your way to building your own repertoire with your own ideas and variations and endings.
How do i know this? I memorized others' chord melodies but it was just so rote and non-improvizational. Sounded OK but when i played for people, they noticed there was zero embellishment. Play a song thru and done. I regret wasting my time doing it that way.
Best luck.
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if anyone has mike elliots book and would like to post scans orpictures id be more than willing to pump them through Sibelius and make clean versions
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Wow i have 2 Mike Elliot books somewhere in my library of literature ive collected over the years.I cant remember what they are but i am gonna go find them and probably to sell o need to up grade my amp.I really think i need a Quilter and cab.oh sorry hope you find what fits you best.I have not been to my basement library in a while but i remember a Tommy Tedesco and A couple of Fred Sokolow books that were good i still play some of his arrangments i think.What ever you do not get old!!Oh and some William or Willard Nunes no Warren that were specifically for backing a singer with chord melody.
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Though I never met Mike, I know that he used to teach through McPhail. I wish I had known about him then. One connection I do have with him though is that I own his Gibson Johnny Smith archtop. He bought it from Johnny Smith, and somebody else bought it from him and later consigned it at Willie's in St. Paul, where I bought it just a couple of years ago. This is the model that has two pickups instead of the more common single pickup model.
Originally Posted by ckrahenbill
Regarding the books, there were 4 in the chord melody series. The first two were standards done by Mike Elliot, and the second two were contemporary "pop" tunes done by Len Braunling. All 4 books described and used the same approach to putting together the solos. This system used the bass line to derive the chords, and described the most common bass line movements. All the arrangements illustrated practical application of this system.Last edited by tbeltrans; 07-03-2015 at 07:56 AM.
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Not so long ago Barry Greene published a nice iBook called Chord Melodies. It has something like 10 songs and includes him playing them.
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Getting back to the basic question of a chord / melody book, hands down, The Real Book, which has (mostly) jazz chords and melodies is, I believe, a good compilation, with a variety of "popular" jazz tunes. I'm using the 6th Edition, so I'm not sure which is the best and if there are newer editions. All the others are, I'm sure, great, but this one is chords and melodies.
On another 'note,' I am looking for a copy of the Volume 1 "1000 Standard Show Tunes." I have two copies of the Bb transposition. It's been around forever and, I believe, my dad and uncles used it in the "post big band era" when they played 'society' gigs. it's what I used playing those same gigs when younger. If anyone knows where I can get a C melody copy, I'd be interested in it, either to buy or trade one of the Bb copies. Those I have, I used playing sax and trumpet. The first song in the Partial Scores - Broadway Musical & Movies list is "Allegro" (page 111, 148), with the last being "Ziegfield Show Girl" (page 212). In the Index To Songs, the first is "Acabaste" (page 282) and the last is "Zip-A-Dee, Doo-Dah" (page 168). Usually, I believe, it was sold in a 3-ring binder and was probably popular in the '50's and '60's.
In the mean time, Hal Leonard's The Best Fake Book Ever, having a ton of basic chord and melody charts is, obviously, more than Jazz but would probably be worth having.
Thanks
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I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Robert Conti's signature arrangements. I have almost all of them and they are great.
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Yes, Steve Crowell Chord Melody books are some of the best that I've studied from. The way he has them written, you really don't have to read music at all. I haven't tried the 84 Jazz Guitar equation books though, or the Candy Bars for Jazz Guitars, at least not yet. His study course or 24 lessons for $99 is the best in my opinion. Steve has been around for a long time and studied with Warren Nunes for years, date on some of my books is 1979. He also has a few free lessons on his website. Everything in the two top links below, I bought and studied. good stuff! ~Cheers!!
Easy Jazz Guitar - Self Development in Music
Easy Jazz Guitar - Jazz Guitar Books
Steven Crowell Jazz Guitar Course
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can't stand ted greene - it seriously encourages a way over-the-top academic outlook (i must learn all these so i know EVERYTHING i must know....) - and that bogs you down in endless work on musically non-functional variations
if you dipped in once in a blue moon and found three ways of moving to the 1 or the 2 etc. that were new to you - and then put the book back in the drawer - then you might get away from them without losing the will to play music
(forgive me ted greene lovers - he gets SO much love in these places it seems to me justified to sound a note of caution)
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try ron eschete's book 'intros and endings' - very practical - great cd - very easy to use.
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I agree with Groyniad. If you take everything that a great "chord melody" guitarist does intuitively, define it, state it, define the conditions it happens in, and make a rule from it, then assemble them all into a massive theoretical model, it would be amazing, but it might not... probably would not... help most to play that way. I like Joe Pass's frequent comment about not looking for hard stuff. When you watch him play, he never seems to have to stretch. The notes, the chords, the voicings, always seem to be right under his fingers.
I started off learning a bunch of Steve Crowell's arrangements rather literally, because he wrote them to illustrate the main chord-melody devices. From that I learned a lot of good ways to get from A to Z chordally, and got launched into a lot of fun playing standards. If someone doesn't know the basic, almost cliche voicing and movements, they can be learned from any of the good books.
Don't make it hard. it's hard enough already. Have fun. Play melodies on top. Put the closest chord voicing available underneath it. Add an interesting moving base line on the bottom.
Done.
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I recently tried out the John Stein book mentioned above, but I haven't warmed to it yet.
The Joe Pass is great & tough IMO, but it feels like there is a missing component -- it's like he goes straight for an arranged solo, but doesn't bother with showing a basic melody approach-- and that's the part I need most! I'm only 2 1/2 tunes into this book, but I sure am learning a lot.
Now I'm also working with a Chord Melody Notebook by Jerry Hahn. Much more straight to the point. So far so good
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You might be a bit too hard on Joe Pass. I watched a video by him early on, dealing with chordal playing, and it was super-helpful. It de-mystified the whole walking bass thing and he also frankly admitted that chord-melody solo playing involves a lot of "smoke and mirrors" in which we create the impression, say, of a walking bass when in fact we only walked maybe 2 notes per measure, used one chord-shot, and played the melody on top, but the combination actually created the overall impression of very much more. Originally Posted by Longways to Go
I recently tried out the John Stein book mentioned above, but I haven't warmed to it yet.
The Joe Pass is great & tough IMO, but it feels like there is a missing component -- it's like he goes straight for an arranged solo, but doesn't bother with showing a basic melody approach-- and that's the part I need most! I'm only 2 1/2 tunes into this book, but I sure am learning a lot.
Now I'm also working with a Chord Melody Notebook by Jerry Hahn. Much more straight to the point. So far so good
I really liked that and it freed me to play.
I'd also emphatically suggest you learn a bunch of Steve Crowell's arrangements. They are what you want, chord-melody arrangements of standards, and they're performance quality. But he also creates them with pedagogy in mind, helping you learn the basic and intermediate "devices" that allow you to harmonize any melody.
Another old and under-rated resource that I learned a ton from is the old Mel Bay book on Melody-Chord Playing. It's been in print for decades. It's Mel Bay's Guitar Melody Chord Playing System : A System for Playing Guitar Solos in Chord Style Using Popular Sheet Music.It assumes all you have is sheet music, or a lead sheet, and teaches how to create a harmonized melody. Parts might be too arcane or demanding, but overall it's a sound book.
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Melody-...+melody+guitar
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Cool. Thanks for the great info. That's what makes this forum so awesome.
Steve Crowell is next on the !!
BTW, I have total respect for the Joe Pass book -- I just need a few extra pages for dummies
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I hear you. The Joe Pass Chord Solos book is merciless, but honestly, just working through "Misty" in that book teaches about a dozen ii-V chordal progressions alone that are worth the price of the book. All the devices in that book are things you hear Joe doing on every recording. None is an abstract, academic "lick" but they're all meat-and-potatoes gig-worthy chordal lines. Originally Posted by Longways to Go
But yeah, I could have used a few chord diagrams in that book!
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Crowell's materials were incredibly helpful to me when I first started studying jazz guitar. The first thing I learned was his chord-melody treatment of "The Girl From Ipanema" and I still find it a compelling way to play that song. I used a series of 4 little books all entitled Guitar Solos: Jazz Standards in Chord Style. I haven't been able to find those book on his site. I wonder if he has them any more? Do you know? Originally Posted by ckrahenbill
His arrangements were at a sufficiently advanced level that they were satisfying--and still are--to play, but were also pedagogically useful because he intentionally explored different concepts along the way, and identified in each various techniques used in the song that could be used elsewhere, so I didn't feel like I was just learning tune arrangements by rote, but rather learning chord-melody method in context.
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So what about on the other side of the spectrum from the Joe Pass books? What could I recommend to someone just starting out in chord-melody playing?
I recently worked through an online course with my nephew by a player named Frank Vignola called "1-2-3 Chord Melody" that was surprisingly easy to absorb and fun. His arrangements were quite straight forward to play. No one is going to win any gigs doing these arrangements, but it was a reasonably way to start.
What would people recommend along those lines that would help a player new to chord-melody playing build some repertoire?
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Yeah, I think they used to cost a bit less but I don't think they were that much less. Even for $20 a pop they're worth it even if you don't read music very well. That's why I bought them, one page listed the chords and the next page listed the notation. Here's a couple of pics so y'all can see what I'm talking about, apologies for the lousy slanted pics. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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I have just completed Frankie Vignola's courses.ie 123 Chord Melody- Essential Chord Melody Etudes and Next Steps Jazz 2-5-1 progressions. Frank is a monster player in any genre jazz ,rock, swing, blues,country even classical They are fairly basic but give a good grounding in how to do your own simple chord melodies, Originally Posted by rlrhett
which he wants you to do. Then do your own jazz arrangements.
I did them over a period of 3 to 4 months.
The idea really is to be able to hear a tune then transfer it to a single string then two ,work out simple harmonies then build chords around the tune. If you don't your are really consigned to reading/playing others arrangements. If that's ok fine, just enjoy the music that this wonderful instrument offers.
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That Frank Etudes course looks interesting. I have loads of books...some I like more then others.
I'm fairly new to chord melody...been hacking away for two maybe three years. What I try do is take Bill Frisell's advice and learn one song really well. So to that end I've been working on "In a Sentimental Mood" for many months even over a year...on and off. I also flatpick and fingerpick blues so I go off on those tangents from time to time.
My method is to take the Real Book page and try and come up with something on my own first then I start scouring YouTube and books for ideas so end up with sort of a composite arrangement. That's why I like to have a library of chord melody books...I take little snippets from each of them here and there. So I keep looking at threads like this for new sources.
For "In a Sentimental Mood" I've used bits and pieces from the Simon, Hart and Crowell books...even a private lesson (highly recommended) Not sure I used anything from the Jeff Arnold book. As of yet his arrangements do not lay under my fingers well...yet.
I have to keep reminding myself that it's okay to just play the melody if a particular chord passage is too difficult at first. Also it's more then okay to edit someone's arrangement to suit your style or skill level.
Just started working up Nuages using this methodology. BTW the classical guitarist Roland Dyens does a very nice version of Nuages..so that's a source outside of the typical jazz world.Last edited by alltunes; 12-01-2015 at 08:56 AM.
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Further to above post, can't resist adding a link to Roland Dyens performance of Nuages in Paris, for the celebration of Django's 100th birthday. A long intro, you can skip to 2:40 to hear the famous melody with chords.
And to make good measure, another pretty good arrangement
Last edited by mhch; 12-01-2015 at 10:51 AM.
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Maybe not for everybody, but Robert Conti's Source Code books show you how to take any lead sheet and create your own chord melodies so that each chorus you play is voiced/harmonized in a different way. You can improvise nearly endless variations of any song you choose with basic subs, diatonic movement, minor third movement, back cycling, etc.
Bonus: You'll throw your Tablature crutches away forever.
I bought Yellin's book and downloaded countless written chord melodies but once i memorized them, that's all i could do. One time through the song and that's it. Sounded jazzy but it wasn't improvised and even my friends could tell it was missing something.
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