Solo guitar tune #1 - Days of Wine and Roses

[lawson-stone]

Thanks for your kind words Paul. I’ll contribute as much as I can given my current commitments with work and (new) family life, but it’s fantastic to see so many players posting their playing.

I find just the act of making a video has a tremendous amount to teach me about my playing.

So true. I started recording about 10 minutes of my practice every day. When I drive to/from work, or drive on errands, I listen to the recording and think about what I can do better. I like the video because i can see things about my technique, position, posture, etc. that help me do better. Then I just delete the clips from my phone.

It's fun sharing clips on this forum. I"m no professional player, I really struggle just to put something together. But the advice, encouragement, and insight I get in response makes it totally worth it.

While I'm at it, C77 I always appreciate your clips, your thoughts, and your typically gracious responses when somewhat ungracious things are said to you. You make this forum a great place to learn.

[MGranada]

Better late then never.
Reviving this one with a version of days of wine and roses.
Hope you guys enjoy it.

Thanks for checking it out!

[cesarguit]

This is my version. I hope you enjoy it.

[Liarspoker]

Hi all,

I was looking for the Jeff Arnold study group but it seems to have disappeared, at least on my mobile.
Therefore I'll revive this series.

My goal is simple and that's to learn some tunes for busking.

I don't know this tune to well so the first step is to listen to it...a lot.

Who'll join me?

[javierfiji]

Hello found this, wondering if it is active.

Anyway, I have working in some reharmonization videos, and this week I worked in Days Of Wine and Roses. I did just the first 16 measures, exploring 4 different options or reharm:

[Jim Soloway]

Somehow I seem to miss all of these sorts of threads. I think it's probably because I generally work through songs too slowly to keep up with the general purpose of the exercise. But I was working on this song right around the time of this thread and since it's made a come back, I thought I may as well post the version that I recorded last year.

I've always considered the song to be very dark and melancholy and I've tried to maintain that vibe through out. Melodically and harmonically I've generally stayed within the original and stressed a Rhodes or Vibes sort of feel with the melody playing over the chords and bass movement. I've made all the turnarounds move in different directions and added a repetitive theme as a connector in the intro, in between choruses and in the ending. It's a device that Dave Grusin uses a lot that always impresses me.

[GastonD]

I was thinking about getting somewhat involved with teh chord-melody thing, and interestingly enough, I was inspired by this rendition:
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Fortunately, he offers instruction of how to do it, too

[ChazFromCali]

Hi,

1st post.

I joined just to comment on this song and ask this question: How would I write out the changes to Days of Wine and Roses with Roman Numeral Analysis?

Right at the start....the Fmaj.7 to Eb7 ? (or Fmaj.7 to Ebmaj.7#11 if you like the Wes version E/x, a/6, d5, g/7, b/8, e/5)

Call it a I to bVII ?

The rest of it seems fairly comprehensible. I guess that particular change seems odd to me.

Anyway, I'm liking the forum

[KirkP]

Hi,

1st post.

I joined just to comment on this song and ask this question: How would I write out the changes to Days of Wine and Roses with Roman Numeral Analysis?

Right at the start....the Fmaj.7 to Eb7 ? (or Fmaj.7 to Ebmaj.7#11 if you like the Wes version E/x, a/6, d5, g/7, b/8, e/5)

Call it a I to bVII ?

The rest of it seems fairly comprehensible. I guess that particular change seems odd to me.

Anyway, I'm liking the forum

Welcome, and keep posting!

Since the chord after Eb7 is D7, you could think of Eb7 as a tritone sub for the A7 or Amin7 that you’d often find before D7. Or you could think of Eb7 as a revoicing of A7b5, putting the the b5 in the bass (which is just another way of describing a tritone sub).

Just for fun, try playing the tune with A7b5 in place of Eb7. You’ll hear that it works. But the C in the melody is dissonant with the chord, and seems less jarring against an Eb7 chord. And the chromatic change from Eb7 to D7 just sounds a lot cooler.

After writing the above, I realized that Am7b5 works great in place of the Eb7. Think of Am7b5 D7 as a ii-V preparing for the Gm in bar 5. The tritone sub Eb7 is just a revoicing to provide a chromatic approach to D7.

Also, Am7b5 and Cm6 share the same notes, and F9 does as well if you remove the root. So you could probably play any of those chords in bar 2 instead of Eb7 and not get dirty looks from your bandmates. I’m always interchanging those chords to try to make the voicing a little more interesting.

[ChazFromCali]

Welcome, and keep posting!

Since the chord after Eb7 is D7, you could think of Eb7 as a tritone sub for the A7 or Amin7 that you’d often find before D7. Or you could think of Eb7 as a revoicing of A7b5, putting the the b5 in the bass (which is just another way of describing a tritone sub).

Just for fun, try playing the tune with A7b5 in place of Eb7. You’ll hear that it works. But the C in the melody is dissonant with the chord, and seems less jarring against an Eb7 chord. And the chromatic change from Eb7 to D7 just sounds a lot cooler.

After writing the above, I realized that Am7b5 works great in place of the Eb7. Think of Am7b5 D7 as a ii-V preparing for the Gm in bar 5. The tritone sub Eb7 is just a revoicing to provide a chromatic approach to D7.

Also, Am7b5 and Cm6 share the same notes, and F9 does as well if you remove the root. So you could probably play any of those chords in bar 2 instead of Eb7 and not get dirty looks from your bandmates. I’m always interchanging those chords to try to make the voicing a little more interesting.

Thanks!

I suspected a tritone sub but I didn't know how to "decode" it. I think you've given me the clue (chord after) with the D7, on how to figure those out.

Wes does that Am7b5 to D7.
I first saw the chord chart of his version to this song. I realized the guy on YT that transcribed it included everything, and that a lot of the chords were ornamental rather than functional harmony. Which led me to the chart that was posted earlier in this thread - that is more the basic functional harmony type of chart. Which is what I was looking for, so I could break it down with roman numerals.

cheers!

[vsaumarez]

This is my take on Days of Wine and Roses. It is played finger-style as I try to keep the pulse going and keep it swinging. I play the melody as I would for single line playing, which either stands alone, with the underlying harmony and/or bass, or all three played together. It helps that melodies are often stated with a two feel, which makes it easier to overcome some of the challenges of the guitar. Given these shortcomings, I think it is important to try and make a a tune rhythmically interesting. I won't pretend the interpretation of the melody was fresh and off-the-cuff. It has been with me a long time so is ingrained. Little tweaks may slip in here and there, but there is so much going on in solo guitar I personally find it easier to stick with what I know, than straying too far. This relaxes me so I can concentrate on feel. I hope this offers something useful to the Group

[Clint 55]

Cookin. I agree about making the playing rhythmically interesting and having the playing tap into the swing of the time. You did a good job of it.

[losaltosjoe]

I've been working on this tune off and on for over a year, cobbling together (stealing) parts from other arrangements as they cross my path.

Inspired by this thread, I decided to jump in and post my first chord melody video. I play it very rubato as I still have trouble remembering and connecting all of the chord voicings in a nice flowing manner.

This is also my first video playing my new Roger Borys B120 plugged into a Boss GT-001 with sound and video captured using Windows Movie Maker.

Thanks for watching.