The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Hi all,

    there is this book "Barry Galbraith Solos"... I randomly started on Round Midninght just because I like that tune, but it turns out to be a rather fancy arrangement with a lot of cool but difficult stuff.

    Is there something like a difficulty ranking for the solos in the book (and also the second book)? What are the easier ones to start with?

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  3. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by frankhond
    Hi all,

    there is this book "Barry Galbraith Solos"... I randomly started on Round Midninght just because I like that tune, but it turns out to be a rather fancy arrangement with a lot of cool but difficult stuff.

    Is there something like a difficulty ranking for the solos in the book (and also the second book)? What are the easier ones to start with?
    I remember that Darn that dream in the book was quite okay to follow. There were some challenging part in Imagination but after I spent some time for some parts it was okay.

    Few weeks ago, I played his arrangement of ‘Somebody loves me’. It took some time to practice to be able to move hand position legato.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #3

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    Frank,
    Thanks for reminding me about these books. I forgot I had them. I bought both books a few years ago but only learned 2 tunes. I probably got distracted by another shiny object.

    Listen to the CD that came with the book. You should be able to get a good idea of the complexity just by hearing it. Unfortunately, they're not presented in order of difficulty.

    I made a very big mistake when I got these books. I jumped right into learning an arrangement of a tune I never heard before. (At the time I wasn't familiar with hardly any of the tunes in the book.) I didn't even know the melody or the chords, and there I was I was trying to learn a solo guitar arrangement.

    So, here's some unsolicited advice and forgive me for being presumptive if you're already doing this.
    1. Listen to various renditions of the tune. Especially sung versions.
    2. Learn to play and memorize the melody.
    3. Learn and memorize the chords.
    4. Look how the melody fits in with the chords.

    Now you'll be better prepared to learn a solo arrangement.

    I'm not trying to tell you what to do and act like I know more than I do. I'm just relating what I've learned from my own mistakes.

  5. #4

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    I remember that Darn That Dream was really doable. I learned Imagination too, that was not too hard either.

    Jack E Blue´s advice is really good. I have a tendency to learn solo guitar arrangements but not the underlying song. Trying to improve on that front..

  6. #5

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    In a Sentimental Mood is also doable. Great arrangement.

  7. #6

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    Thanks for reminding me about In a Sentimental Mood! I actually should learn that since it´s a great arrangement and I have been drilling that song lately.

  8. #7

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    I Can’t Get Started is another relatively easy one to get started with.

    If you can read standard notation there is a PDF of other Galbraith arrangements circulating on the interweb.

  9. #8

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    If you are talking about Vol 1 of the Mel Bay book then Round Midnight is probably the most difficult one in the book. Start with Darn that Dream, My Funny Valentine or Born to be Blue.

  10. #9
    Thanks everyone, I guess I stumbled right into the wrong end... just sat down with song #1 - For All We Know - and that feels much more straightforward. And yeah, Jack Blue's advice is good stuff, that's how I would approach either of these. It's those departures from melody notes+chord that I need to work on - in For All We Know there is this ascending 10ths lick that keeps tripping me up, my pinky for some reason doesn't go there on the 12th fret, back to work... Round Midnight turned out to be full of those.