Solo guitar tune #1 - Days of Wine and Roses

[PaulD]

Hi Guys,
Here is a overview/breakdown of my version followed by few improvised choruses.
enjoy I hope it is helpful.

Tim, thanks for this great walk through!

Paul

[jayv999]

If you guys are interested, here are Ted Greene's arrangements.
http://www.tedgreene.com/images/less...1982-04-12.pdf

http://www.tedgreene.com/images/less...1984-09-14.pdf

You might notice a few similar moves in spots to what Tim Lerch does.
More food for thought....

[PaulD]

So I listened to this a few times. My initial reaction was, wow! Hangs together really well technically, lots of ideas, kept me on the edge of my seat. Then I listened a couple of times more with your "warts and all" disclaimer in mind and, OK, I can now spot the warts. So, maybe not "perfect" but it's a real performance with a bunch of great ideas, which is what really counts. There's a beginning that had me anticipating what's coming next, a middle with some some twists and turns, and closure. There's an aesthetic. There's clearly an approach to solo guitar. If I'm sitting in a cafe, and there's this guy in the corner with an archtop and a tip jar, I'd be like "yeah, that's pretty hip. I'm gonna go drop some semoleans in the bucket." Not, "man, he kinda stuttered on a couple of notes and I think he added a beat or two in the head; get this guy outta here!" I really only hear that if I'm listening for it. If I'm listening for enjoyment, it doesn't register. Great stuff.

John, thanks for the thoughtful comments! I’ve played this song many times but never as a solo piece, so it’s still a work in progress. I was glad to know that at least it took a few listens for the warts to show themselves. I guess in a live performance they may not be as noticeable. I will try to smooth out the rough edges a bit as I continue to develop my arrangement.

Dang. Warts? I could do with some "warts" like that myself.

Thanks Matt! I really appreciate the encouraging feedback!

Wow. That is just stupendous. The bar is getting set really high here! I loved the improvisational chorus.

If you were to make a post, text or a video, explaining a few of the things you do here, I bet a lot of people would be grateful.

Lawson, thanks for the very kind remarks. I’ll try to put something together and see if I can explain some of my thinking.

That was incredibly enjoyable Paul. Wow. Loved your take on the basic tune. And the improv part was really something. I really like your slides, pulls-offs etc. And great guitar tone! You've really created your own style which is everybody's ultimate goal!

Thanks Paul! This was the first time recording video using my ipad, so I wasn’t sure how the guitar tone would be. Glad you liked it. Also, thanks for starting this thread!!

[pingu]

Thanks Mr Lerch , beautiful and insightful !

I Like that stretching tip for the chords with the
ninth in the bottom ... Etc
I love that sound on guitar too but can't grab em
very easily , so that will help me a lot I think ...

Its so interesting how all the the different personalities
come out in weird wonderful and unexpected ways !
Really great stuff from everyone ...

Loving this thread !

[mr. beaumont]

Well, here's one without the Littles yelling, but unfortunately the wine at dinner was really good. And the glass after dinner.

C and C...unless it's about the extra beat or two, because my sloppy ass knows about those already

[sunnysideup]

I've been enjoying everyone's submissions so far! Here's my attempt, warts and all...

Paul

A really enjoyable performance Paul, with many great original touches. Great change of pace between the 1st chorus and later choruses. And the bop touches nicely interwoven, not easy to do solo.

I put many hours in on this tune last month, and ransacked over a dozen classic performances for ideas.
I hear (what I think of as) Wes's chromatics down to the F (Gmin Dstring 5^th or 6^th bar) and to the 3^rd of Eb7 a couple of bars later (this seems to have been adopted by many guitarists), and around 1.27 that upward thing reminds me of the Johnny Smith version.

Inspiring!

PS nice to see a GB10 being put to such good use :-)

[sunnysideup]

If I'm sitting in a cafe, and there's this guy in the corner with an archtop John

This is exactly the kind of scenario I envisage when I'm working on solo standards. Not that there's a jazz bar or jazz cafe within a million miles of me, and even if there was I'd have to change my work permit to do it - kind of frustrating lol.

More specifically

- a first chorus arrangement that is very close to the melody
- a few more choruses that are looser
- a couple of options for a beginning and an end.

I also try to identify an area within the tune that helps me work specifically towards a study goal - eg a particular type of reharm, a specific type of scale fragment.

I spent a couple of weeks on DOWAR last month before this thread opened, and one of the trickier things about it for me was getting a tempo with a good feel. Paul D's version takes an interesting approach to this by employing a ballad feel for chorus 1, and a boppier feel for the other choruses - great stuff!

[lawson-stone]

Well, here's one without the Littles yelling, but unfortunately the wine at dinner was really good. And the glass after dinner.

C and C...unless it's about the extra beat or two, because my sloppy ass knows about those already

Wow. That's how I want to play that tune when I grow up! I love the explicitly improvisational feeling. At times I was almost a little scared "How's he getting out of that?" Which is what originally hooked me on Joe Pass' playing 30 years ago. he kept playing himself into corners I thought he'd never get out of, and then BOOM he'd do something wonderful.

For me, this is the most helpful clip that has been posted so far. Nothing against any others, but this one captures something of what I wish I could do on this tune.

But I don't drink... will that be a problem? Could it be "Days of Tea and Camellias?"

[mr. beaumont]

Wow. That's how I want to play that tune when I grow up! I love the explicitly improvisational feeling. At times I was almost a little scared "How's he getting out of that?" Which is what originally hooked me on Joe Pass' playing 30 years ago. he kept playing himself into corners I thought he'd never get out of, and then BOOM he'd do something wonderful.

For me, this is the most helpful clip that has been posted so far. Nothing against any others, but this one captures something of what I wish I could do on this tune.

But I don't drink... will that be a problem? Could it be "Days of Tea and Camellias?"

Well, a sincere thank you. It's definitely improvised...and I definitely paint myself into more than a few corners!

Personally, I can hear the wine a little too clearly I can't drink like I did when I was in my 20's, that's for sure, two glasses of wine and I'm rosy cheeked. But if there's anything you'd like to steal, let me know, I should be able to figure out what I was doing.

Somebody had asked for grips, I think I'll post a sheet of all my favorites today...I definitely have "pet" shapes" I go to to nab certain melody notes...anyway...onward!

EDIT: Had a little unexpected time this morning, so here...

Pet Voicings…

So my big thing is having stock voicings that work for a lot of situations and that can be modified easily to grab different melody notes on top. I consider the top note in any chord I play melody, even when comping. The basis of most of what I do is the same basic drop 2’s and threes everybody knows, when playing with others, I’ll often just drop the root if it’s on the bottom, but when playing solo, I’ll play a lot of root position chords, actually. I also tend to keep things pretty small, I hear some chord melody types play a lot of 5 and 6 string chords, that doesn’t work for me, it’s like playing with your volume on 10, and then you go to solo and the bottom falls out. Well, it does for me, anywayJ

I’m gonna analyze what I do for the first few bars of the tune, covers lots of chord types.

Fmaj7 x x 3 5 5 5, 3^rd melody on top, can easily be altered to put 2^nd on
top (x x 3 5 5 3)

I use some sort of E root chord to move down to the Eb7#11. When playing solo, if you voice lead, there’s lots of options and you can get away with some stuff…I think here I go for an Em11 (x 7 x 7 7 5) or an Em7 with the 11 on top (x 7 x 7 8 5)

Almost any kind of E root chord could work there, though, it’s all about passing.

Eb7#11, totally stock voicing, (x 6 x 6 6 5) I’m noticing I’ll often leave low thirds out of these chords if they’re not melody. Just what my ears like.

I harmonize the “of wine” with a Cmaj triad and the augmented partial that sits on top of that Eb7#11 chord… x x x 5 5 3, x x x 6 6 5

And when I get to “Ro” in “roses,” another stock drop 2, Am7—x x 7 9 8 10

I’ve seen charts that go right to altered dominant sounds on that melody line, but plain old Am7 to D7b9 is just more romantic to me there. D7b9 comes after the melody, a space filler, can be x 5 4 5 4 x, but I might play just the top two notes even.

For “laugh and” I go to the guitar players good friend, the diminished chord, to nab the melody, and then it’s into another standard drop 2 for Gm7, 3x333x…

Approaching “like a child at play” I tend to do some sort of single note fill, I noticed I did that in both versions I did so far. I approach that bar with sort of a Bbm6 with a maj7 on top, to Eb7#11 again, but I suppose it’s all just Eb7#11 and I’m changing the bass note to supply a little movement—so 6 x 5 6 6 5 (might not play every note) to really just Eb9 (x 6 5 6 6 x) to the upper part of Eb7 to sort of resolve (x 6 5 6 4 x, but probably only playing the 2^nd and 3^rd string)

Anyway, this is getting long. Hope it helps somebody.

[PaulW10]

Well, here's one without the Littles yelling, but unfortunately the wine at dinner was really good. And the glass after dinner.

C and C...unless it's about the extra beat or two, because my sloppy ass knows about those already

Nice!!! Great improv too! Very enjoyable Jeff!

[PaulW10]

EDIT: Had a little unexpected time this morning, so here...

Pet Voicings…

Thanks for taking the time to do this Jeff. Can't wait to get home with a guitar and try them out for real!

[mr. beaumont]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Jeff. Can't wait to get home with a guitar and try them out for real!

You'll probably spend a lot of time saying, "oh, I know this one...and this one..."

I'm giving away all my "secrets" today...keep the voicings small, drop the roots to make things less obvious, use chromatic 1/2 step approaches and "digressions," voice lead wherever possible, learn to grab as many different "top notes" as you can for every chord shape you know...

[PaulW10]

You'll probably spend a lot of time saying, "oh, I know this one...and this one..."

I'm giving away all my "secrets" today...keep the voicings small, drop the roots to make things less obvious, use chromatic 1/2 step approaches and "digressions," voice lead wherever possible, learn to grab as many different "top notes" as you can for every chord shape you know...

I've listened to your clip a few times and went back and looked for examples of the 1/2 step approaches and voice leading especially. They do make everything sound smooth! Good tips! (With this thread I might have to start keeping a guitar at work to try out what I'm learning right away)!

[lawson-stone]

You'll probably spend a lot of time saying, "oh, I know this one...and this one..."

I'm giving away all my "secrets" today...keep the voicings small, drop the roots to make things less obvious, use chromatic 1/2 step approaches and "digressions," voice lead wherever possible, learn to grab as many different "top notes" as you can for every chord shape you know...

A year of working jazz theory in a couple of posts. You are one hell of a teacher, I'll say that.

[PaulD]

A really enjoyable performance Paul, with many great original touches. Great change of pace between the 1st chorus and later choruses. And the bop touches nicely interwoven, not easy to do solo.

I put many hours in on this tune last month, and ransacked over a dozen classic performances for ideas.
I hear (what I think of as) Wes's chromatics down to the F (Gmin Dstring 5^th or 6^th bar) and to the 3^rd of Eb7 a couple of bars later (this seems to have been adopted by many guitarists), and around 1.27 that upward thing reminds me of the Johnny Smith version.

Inspiring!

PS nice to see a GB10 being put to such good use :-)

Thanks!! Yes, the little chromatic movement on the Gm & Eb7 are courtesy of Wes’ version. To me, his version is a master class in how to play a ballad. The other movement you refer to is one I use over 7b9, moving up minor 3rds. In this case it was over a D7b9, so I played the b7 & b9 of D (Eb & C) and moved it in minor 3rds. I can also look at it as a partial A diminished triad moving in the same fashion. I’m not familiar with Johnny Smith’s version of DOWAR, but if something I did sounded like him, I’m definitely ok with that!!

[mr. beaumont]

I had to chime in on PaulD's great post too...I think the way he did the head rubato, then went to swinging, is the way this song works best for me...Playing that head as a swing almost always sounds too "quick," and if I really slow down, the swinging part drags...

[John A.]

This is exactly the kind of scenario I envisage when I'm working on solo standards. Not that there's a jazz bar or jazz cafe within a million miles of me, and even if there was I'd have to change my work permit to do it - kind of frustrating lol.

More specifically

- a first chorus arrangement that is very close to the melody
- a few more choruses that are looser
- a couple of options for a beginning and an end.

I also try to identify an area within the tune that helps me work specifically towards a study goal - eg a particular type of reharm, a specific type of scale fragment.

I spent a couple of weeks on DOWAR last month before this thread opened, and one of the trickier things about it for me was getting a tempo with a good feel. Paul D's version takes an interesting approach to this by employing a ballad feel for chorus 1, and a boppier feel for the other choruses - great stuff!

I feel like a full head, + 1 or more full choruses of improv + a full reprise can be more of my solo playing than I can reasonably ask of a listener. So I often shoot for something shorter overall and blend improv and head in one or two full chorus of a tune. What I did here is an example of that. I began improvising in the second ending of the head, touching on the melody here and there. Then I improvised for a chorus and half, and reprised the melody just for the last 8 bars of the second ending. I'll also do stuff like, on an AABA ballad, improvise over the first 2 A's, then play the melody bridge and end on the second A, leaving you to guess what I'm playing until it's almost over. I do work on full arrangements and re-harms, but usually with the idea of doing bits of them here and there within that framework. I also do stuff like practice variations/subs/re-harms of i-v-i's and melodic embellishments of them in order to build up an inventory of re-usable stuff. But I'm probably less systematic in my practice and study than most people here, and mostly I just play tunes, ideally with other people.

John

[sunnysideup]

But I'm probably less systematic in my practice and study than most people here, and mostly I just play tunes, ideally with other people.

John

Sorry John, I missed your post of your take. Great stuff - well if that's what you can do while you're filling in time for transport delays, I'd love to hear what you could do as a "serious" take. Sounds like you know the song well, you seem very comfortable with the changes. And lots of good stuff in there. You mention bookends - I think that's a useful way to look at it.

You're lucky to have other people around you to play with! And yes I agree, that's the best way to do it.

Actually my comment about how to approach tunes was a lot more idealised than what I usually do. For some reason I got a bit more serious with DOWAR last month before this thread opened. I've been trying to apply the Barry Harris approach, and also to use the whole tone scale in a natural way. For some reason both seem to have fallen into place a bit for me with DOWAR.

[TLerch]

here is Dan's video

nice job Dan I like it in that key.

Tim

[Doublea A]

Hey Guys,
Here is my rendition. Its such a beautiful melody that I'm trying to get it to sing as much as I can. The harmony is pretty much regular stuff except in a few spots where I move the bass a little to make a connection. The groove is the thing I have a challenge with on this one. I'm trying to play it with a pulse and light swing without over powering the sweetness of the melody.

thanks for listening
all the best
Tim

That was great Tim. I always enjoy listening to your solo playing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mr. beaumont]

Dan, sounding good! Man, I love nylon string guitars...

[jazzdan]

Thanks....I used to play a Martin steel string guitar also but I got tired of lugging around two guitars and made a decision to just play nylon.....Dan

[lawson-stone]

Tim.....thanks for moving the video from YouTube.....Dan

Well done Dan!

[PaulW10]

here is Dan's video

nice job Dan I like it in that key.

Tim

Yes that was quite nice. Some nice voicings and pleasant sounding open strings, and a very nice ending! I really love nylon string guitars for solo playing.

[pkirk]

Great versions by everybody. Here's my quick trip through the tune. (and how did my iphone know my youtube identity......?)

Incidentally, the joe pass Chord solos book has a great version of this tune in it. Those of you who are learning what to do with this tune should check it out, as it is a great example of how absolutely common chord grips can be used to do great solo guitar arrangements.