The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #201

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I would enjoy a thread about the compositional process if there were enough people interested in participating.
    it would be very interesting

    moreover, and without wanting to oppose things, I am surprised that speaking of compositions, we do not post here scores (partitions), but recordings that gives a possible version

    it's a bit boring to appreciate separately a composition and such interpretations/improvisations

    there are some really nice things to ear, and unless they're copyrighted, we'd like to see them written. There are a topic on pencils to write music, if that helps, unless the problem is specific to guitarist composers, it's a hypothesis that some have raised elsewhere
    Last edited by Patlotch; 02-14-2020 at 09:03 AM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #202
    joelf Guest
    A newer one, being premiered tonight at Fat Cat, NY:

    (just a lead sheet---not the full chart w/2 soli---I'll look for that and post it later)



    Ha ha---turns out Perk Up was the only piece we didn't play! Great night, anyway...
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    Last edited by joelf; 02-15-2020 at 10:14 AM.

  4. #203
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Patlotch
    it would be very interesting

    moreover, and without wanting to oppose things, I am surprised that speaking of compositions, we do not post here scores (partitions), but recordings that gives a possible version

    it's a bit boring to appreciate separately a composition and such interpretations/improvisations

    there are some really nice things to ear, and unless they're copyrighted, we'd like to see them written. There are a topic on pencils to write music, if that helps, unless the problem is specific to guitarist composers, it's a hypothesis that some have raised elsewhere
    Not everything we write has been recorded. Composers write a lot, and it can't always all be documented. And some haven't been written down, but taught to bandmates verbally, as in the African tradition of handing down lore. Having said that, I feel it's way better to hear something come alive than check out paper only.

    But I agree we all should have the opportunity to scan and study the score as we listen...

  5. #204

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    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    Not everything we write has been recorded. Composers write a lot, and it can't always all be documented. And some haven't been written down, but taught to bandmates verbally, as in the African tradition of handing down lore. Having said that, I feel it's way better to hear something come alive than check out paper only.

    But I agree we all should have the opportunity to scan and study the score as we listen...
    for my part, I still think that the relationship between composition and improvisation/interpretation deserves to be asked, and I do not see how to do it if the composition is not discerned, by writing such an improvised version

    referring to the "oral transmission", or the "Head Arrangements" of the first Count Basie in Kansas City*, that's very nice, but it doesn't seem to me that it corresponds to what happens between your compositions and your acting on stage, this unless you have great ears, of course, as 'professional musicians', ears almost better than the desk musicians and improvisers of Count Basie. How do you verbally transmit relatively complex harmonic sequences of chords that you write on paper?
    * COUNT BASIE’S “HEAD ARRANGEMENTS”

    as for referring to oral transmission in African music, I know it a little, since the group of djembe in which I participated was confronted with the reality of the reference recordings (Mamady Keïta) and its methods, transcribed inspired by western music (with the help of his german partner), which is a challenge, since there is no rhythmic build (3/4, 4/4, 6/8 ...) but a mixture/overlay of different beats, nor bar nor bar's with beginnings, it's constantly cyclical

    and so the transcription is only a simplification, including what the "african composer" (Keïta is one of them) has in mind, which his musicians will only grasp by playing it. This is also the case with any transcription of the great classical composers, there is a huge loss and no way to find them, hence so many versions yet faithful to the writing





    wouldn't there be a little fanfare to pretend that this is the case? Or I didn't interpret what you were saying correctly?

    on the other hand,, how does a band other than yours to play your compositions, in your absence, what I wish it would happen to you (even to me, unknown little composer, it happened ...). It's not just about "study the score", it's just about being able to play it
    Last edited by Patlotch; 02-16-2020 at 02:59 AM.

  6. #205

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    Written music can only go so far. There's so much that just cannot be communicated by writing it down, being it rhythmic like in african music, or melodic like in eastern ones. The more we look into cultures with a less mathematical approach, and a more verbal tradition of carrying the music to the next generation, folk idioms etc, the more this seems to be the case. The more we look in detail and depth into any kind of music really, the more it applies. I guess the only way for musicians to interpret it the best they can is to learn the language, which involves listening.. living.. being.. It's some serious amount of work!

    There are a lot of composers in jazz, especially modern ones, that are very thorough, complicated and precise in what they write, but i 've always viewed jazz as music that is about collective improvisation, instant composing if you want, action and reaction to what's happening, and all this within a specific (or not so specific many times ) musical style. So i more or less see jazz compositions as a vehicle for musicians to play and create. There is great art in that of course, but i feel the essence of this music is in the playing. I felt so even more strongly after studying classical guitar and acquainting myself somewhat with the way the classical world works.. i 've discovered the jazz thing suits me better!

  7. #206
    joelf Guest
    A lot of my pieces are tributes to musicians I've interacted with, and they had an impact. I have a set in shows where we do maybe 5 tunes with that theme. A big one was Eddie Diehl, ergo: Diehlin'

    (Note, Final, and better changes on the 1st measure, bottom line, blowing part: G Maj 7/C Maj 7---2 beats each. I also like F7 #11 for the 1st chord of the next bar. (In other words, just play the changes over the damn melody!)...
    Attached Images Attached Images Our Own Compositions. Post them here!-diehlin-concert-pdf-sheet-jpg 

  8. #207

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    I don't think real jazz can be accurately notated, and have played for a few jazz orchestra directors that badgered the groups constantly about playing the "music", not the charts, because jazz demands more.

  9. #208
    joelf Guest
    This one was originally in tribute to one Ben---then another passed away: Benson Gee, manager of Fat Cat and so beloved for his hard-working, generous and humble ways it's now his song forever:
    Last edited by joelf; 02-19-2020 at 10:27 PM.

  10. #209

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    Quote Originally Posted by Patlotch
    it would be very interesting

    moreover, and without wanting to oppose things, I am surprised that speaking of compositions, we do not post here scores (partitions), but recordings that gives a possible version

    it's a bit boring to appreciate separately a composition and such interpretations/improvisations

    there are some really nice things to ear, and unless they're copyrighted, we'd like to see them written. There are a topic on pencils to write music, if that helps, unless the problem is specific to guitarist composers, it's a hypothesis that some have raised elsewhere
    For the most part, I don't actually score my compositions. Recording is mainly the way I memorialize them, and the people I play with mainly pick them up by ear, either from the recordings or just by talking through the tune. I have started scoring some of them recently, though. I suspect a lo of others are in the same boat. By the way, copyright applies to a composition (not to the means by which it is memorialized), regardless of whether it's recorded in writing or in audio, or some other means. In terms of whether a _composition_ is protected by copyright law and/or put in danger of being used without permission, it makes no difference whether it's shared as a recording or a score. Performances (a recording is a kind of performance) are also (sometimes) protected by copyright, but the performance and the underlying composition are different things, and a complicated subject.

    John

  11. #210
    joelf Guest
    Gentle Ben, scanned---duh!:
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  12. #211
    joelf Guest
    (The above was originally in tribute to one Ben---then another passed away: Benson Gee, manager of Fat Cat and so beloved for his hard-working, generous and humble ways it's now his song forever)...

  13. #212

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    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    (The above was originally in tribute to one Ben---then another passed away: Benson Gee, manager of Fat Cat and so beloved for his hard-working, generous and humble ways it's now his song forever)...
    Wow Joel,

    I stumbled through it. Haven't played a chord progression like that since my college big band days (around 1980). Really beautiful. Tried to somewhat chord melody it but really stumbled, I don't read much anymore (and not so good at transposing up the octave, not really a tranposition I guess, just the way guitar is usually written up an octave).

    I'd love to hear this played properly.

    Thanks for posting

  14. #213
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    Wow Joel,

    I stumbled through it. Haven't played a chord progression like that since my college big band days (around 1980). Really beautiful. Tried to somewhat chord melody it but really stumbled, I don't read much anymore (and not so good at transposing up the octave, not really a tranposition I guess, just the way guitar is usually written up an octave).

    I'd love to hear this played properly.

    Thanks for posting
    Thanks. I can hardly blow on it myself. Bailed on soloing on the recent gig. It's hard, and was written in '95. I write much simpler now. Glad you dug it...

  15. #214
    joelf Guest
    If you have the time and inclination:

    1) Not a Bad November was my first lyric. It's a ballad and the story will reveal itself. Many, myself included, feel it's my best song.
    You can check the demo (Vicki Doney, vcl.; Steve Ash, pno) against the lead sheet.



    2) Don't Step on my Dreams is a straight up swing shuffle, medium up. I should write this for a big band.
    3) Leavin' is a bittersweet song w/lyric I wrote upon leaving NY---I thought for good---for Holland. Straight 8ths w/backbeat. Kinda slow.
    4) The Man Who Cared Too Much is another straight 8th vibe, close to a bossa, but not really a bossa.

    Hope you enjoy them...
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  16. #215
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    A newer one, being premiered tonight at Fat Cat, NY:

    (just a lead sheet---not the full chart w/2 soli---I'll look for that and post it later)



    Ha ha---turns out Perk Up was the only piece we didn't play! Great night, anyway...
    Arranging this one for a good group, Frank Grittith's (British) nonet. He says there'll be a recording...

  17. #216
    joelf Guest
    Tales of the Rocking Sea:

    I wrote this in '95, a heavy year for me. I wrote a lot that year. This one was definitely influenced by Tom Harrell's writing---some of his tunes like Hope Street come to mind.

    I had around 8 or 9 names for this, and every one bugged me---didn't seem to fit or seemed pretentious maybe. Mythology figures, Samuel Beckett, etc., etc. I settled on the title b/c it comes closest to what I seemed to be trying to depict: the angry sea roiling against some rocks.

    The uneven bar amount is what it is. Maybe it's a challenge at first, but it feels natural after a time or two through:
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  18. #217
    joelf Guest
    OK, I'm cheating. Obviously I didn't write this---but there's no page for arrangements.

    How Do You Keep the Music Playing:
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  19. #218

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    The inspiration for this was a youtube-gotten track of hand drums--moroccan, if memory serves.

    There are four parts atop the drums:

    1. piano
    2. synth, alternating between a string patch and a trumpet/trombone patch
    3. 'terz-tuned' ultra-short-scale electric bass guitar (25.4" scale, open strings from low-to-high tuned G-C-F-Bb
    4. extra drums played with brushes on a Rhythm Tech 'Laptop' snare drum

    Tho there is no guitar on this, IMO there IS a guitar, since I consider the bass guitar to be a guitar--in much the same way that, say, an alto saxophonist who doubles on baritone sax doesn't consider the lower-pitched horn to be an entirely different instrument. When I play upright bass my concept and approach on it sounds like 'bass'--not like guitar.

    Indeed I often use multi-effect pedals for bass guitar and the most-used patches are those which add other intervals to the core sound, such as the fundamental tone with a third or seventh sounding as well....(instant 'fake horn section' harmony )

    One fave patch, on a zoom B1, yields an upper interval--the (major) seventh interval sounding one or two octaves above the fretted note (ala a B above the fretted C) with the actual fretted bass note still clearly heard. It's kind of addictive.


  20. #219
    joelf Guest
    Good stuff. Liking the percussion, especially. Piano 'out', and fun.

    I'd like to get software and experiment. There's a whole world in it...

  21. #220

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    Quote Originally Posted by janepaints

    Yes, I did like that. With strings!

  22. #221

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    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    Good stuff. Liking the percussion, especially. Piano 'out', and fun.

    I'd like to get software and experiment. There's a whole world in it...
    thanks so much....glad you liked it....

    it was recorded on a small tascam 8-track digital multitrack recorder, playing actual instruments, i dont use (or know how to use) software....i prefer the standalone multitackers because they most-resemble the old-school recording gear i grew up with.

  23. #222
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by janepaints
    ...i dont use (or know how to use) software....
    Me neither. But I sure see the possibilities. You can get lost in all the possibilities/permutations.

    One day...

  24. #223

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    a quartet: drums, bass guitar, guitar and keyboard....

    the instruments i used are seen on the video, except for the drums, which are a youtube-gotten drum track


  25. #224

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  26. #225

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    Quote Originally Posted by mmuller
    Liked after the 1st 2 seconds, really want to play along. Thanks for posting