The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #226

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    Another simple ditty. Warts and all...


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #227
    joelf Guest
    I've included the lyric---already performed, but being revised.

    HOLDIN’ BACK TEARSJoel Fass © 2009Exemplar (ASCAP)Blues Ballad 12/8 Bb


    V1: Drinkin’ again
    Walkin' grooves in my floor
    Since you left me
    To sigh and pour
    So I’ve had too many beers
    And I drink to hold back my tears

    V2: Thinkin’ again
    ‘Bout our good times gone by
    After beer dear,
    Scotch and Rye
    So ‘Down the hatch!’, ‘Bombs away!’, and ‘Cheers!’
    Til I’m holdin’ you
    I’m holdin’ back tears

    Bridge: Since you’ve been gone
    I’m in an awful way
    Like I’m thinkin’ day is night,
    Turn around and think that night is day
    I’m a sinkin’ ship, without you
    Goin’ down deep each night
    A man drowin’ in his brew

    V3: Drinkin’ again
    Just us three in my room
    Meet my new friends:
    Grief and Gloom
    So we’ll be
    ‘The Three Musketeers’
    Til we’re holdin’ you
    We’re holdin’ back tears

    (Instr break---vcl. Re-entry at bridge)

    Bridge 2: Since you’ve been gone
    I’m in an endless haze
    Because life without your love
    Is just wand’rin down some endless maze
    One more round, one more ‘I don’t need you!’
    As Old Granddad laughs once more,
    Knows I’m lyin’ through and through

    V4, with tag: Let’s make up, dear
    Please, let’s do it today
    Come back home, dear,
    Home to stay
    Til then I’ll keep drinkin’ beers
    Until then, force a smile and say ‘Cheers’!
    Til I’m holdin’ you
    I’m holdin’ back tears

    Fine'
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by joelf; 03-29-2020 at 03:19 PM.

  4. #228

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    a tribute, kinda....been fussing with this for several years, it just keeps evolving....


  5. #229

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    Quote Originally Posted by janepaints
    Nice work!

  6. #230
    joelf Guest
    Co-written with the late Jimmy Norman (lyricist for Time is on my Side; collaborator with Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix) for the Jazz Foundation of America. I had written the tune and most of the lyric, and reached out to Jimmy to finish the lyric after hearing that he saw also a JFA client on his radio interview one early morning. We finished the song the night of Barack Obama's 1st election victory, with the results coming in over Jimmy's TV as we worked---an amazing night.

    You'll recognize some luminaries in the PSA video (which I had nothing to do with)...


  7. #231
    joelf Guest
    Inspired after listening to, playing, and singing Gordon Jenkins's This is All I ask.

    This will be a ballad. No music yet...


    Wisdom of the Ages Joel Fass (c) 2020 Exemplar (ASCAP)

    (Introductory verse):
    It's said 'Long ago the sages
    Wrote the secrets of the ages
    Then, wisely, concealed them from fools'
    But so long on life's stages
    I have lived and learned their pages
    And, as a service to you, reveal these rules:

    V 1: Live every day like it's your last
    For it just may prove to be so
    Seek every day to learn
    All you've ever wanted to know
    When you're young, why hurry?---be young!
    Savor each moment---while you may
    Before Time sneaks up
    To steal it all away

    V2: Find that special someone
    Love all of her (him)
    With no fear or doubt,
    Discover anew each day in her (him)
    The beauty within and without
    Rise above all life's hurts,
    The anger in us all that rages
    And you, too may come to know
    The wisdom of the ages

    (instr. solo)

    V3: Be only yourself
    All you ever can be, after all
    Stand tall, never give in to those
    Who'd have you join them, thinking small
    And after some time you'll know
    It was the right choice never to bend
    And you'll have that and hold that
    Until at last your days end


    Coda: So for keeping your heart pure,
    Resisting that in which a fool engages
    School's out! Here's your diploma,
    Stamped: The Wisdom of the Ages

  8. #232

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    I composed and recorded a couple of songs the past couple weeks while "stuck" at home. Both are "pandemic" pieces, and neither are jazz per se.

    One is acoustic guitar:


    One is electric guitar (with keys, drums, fake vocal choir):


    Enjoy!

  9. #233

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    Quote Originally Posted by mmuller
    Another simple ditty. Warts and all...

    Bravo! I dig your melodic sensibility a lot. Beautiful piece.

  10. #234

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    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...
    Hello Joel Perk Up -- interesting chord progression, very similar in ways to things i do, i am primarily a composer now days, suspect some of your progressions are a result of just playing, one chord then another. Seeming simple quite complicated, as it has to make sense musically ie sound good, this is a weird voice leading thang perhaps not so much 3&7 ths as neighbour chords. Id be interested in what you make of this. I was trying to explain to a flute player the other day. but unfortunately could not describe the process. ( probably there is not a process) being just a question of having ears, and hearing in your head before you play it, which allows you to then continue.

    I may totally off with this but here goes, Also i am aware any reading this may not really understand, what i mean if they dont or cant do this, as i said i may wrong.
    A little like asking Wayne or Herbie how did you come up with that. etc blah.

  11. #235
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Durban
    Hello Joel Perk Up -- interesting chord progression, very similar in ways to things i do, i am primarily a composer now days, suspect some of your progressions are a result of just playing, one chord then another. Seeming simple quite complicated, as it has to make sense musically ie sound good, this is a weird voice leading thang perhaps not so much 3&7 ths as neighbour chords. Id be interested in what you make of this. I was trying to explain to a flute player the other day. but unfortunately could not describe the process. ( probably there is not a process) being just a question of having ears, and hearing in your head before you play it, which allows you to then continue.

    I may totally off with this but here goes, Also i am aware any reading this may not really understand, what i mean if they dont or cant do this, as i said i may wrong.
    A little like asking Wayne or Herbie how did you come up with that. etc blah.
    Uh huh. Thanks for checking it out. I was feeling ignored----LOL. (Actually, I take composing/songwriting very seriously. TBH, I work way harder on writing than playing).

    I'm not that analytical, but can be if push comes to shove. Voice leading is primary to me, and I work it out with care---especially on ballads, where the details stick out more, and there's time and space to be detailed.

    This is a pretty simple tune, I think. The repeated cluster '2' chord vamp is a thing that's sort of lingua franca these days. I stole my own vamp that I use on The Gentle Rain, and changed keys. Who knows where-all I stole that from? Maybe Tom Harrell. Maybe that's the most interesting part, b/c you can open up the harmony, blowing, combining or eliminating 3rds and 7ths. If you notice, the piano part is very sparse---intentionally. Why give away the punchline at the beginning?

    The rest is just a typical 'Gringo samba' blowing tune. I made it more interesting by writing 2 shout chorus soli (not on this lead sheet). I'm supposed to arrange this for a friend's nonet that performs (performed?) in Liverpool, and has a following. Haven't done it yet, but I'll post the whole chart---if I can attach it now.

    Thanks again...
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by joelf; 04-12-2020 at 08:23 PM.

  12. #236
    joelf Guest
    2nd try:


    Yeah, this is the one...
    Attached Images Attached Images

  13. #237

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    What the heck. It's almost jazz. Wrote this a while back but worked it up again last Thanksgiving. Another little ditty.


  14. #238

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    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    2nd try: Yeah, this is the one...

    Hi Joel, Am7#5 you stole my chord, just messing i wrote a post on min#5 the way way back had most scratching their heads, pianist use a lot.i use min#5 a lot, as to me its a device that i call polytonal (not strict here) its F tonality if you want it to be.

    A section interesting min#5 can be F lydian vibe

    solos D
    B1 & B2 F lydian or Am9
    B3 Dm G13 as is
    B4 AmMaj9 Em7b5
    B5 - B7 Bm7b5 G9
    B8 Esusb9 (E7#5#9 AbM7#11)



    Please dont take offence at my deciphering what is YOUR tune, as you i take my work seriously, anyway the solos D , i played in some chords which can take into again not strict Polytonal. the Am9 is F lydian if you want it to be meaning you can treat it, this for works if i want to minor-ise a melody or take/extend in another direction just really options.

    I am most aware you know all this. Of course B1-8 can be viewed in a slow unwind into CMaj the final E7 iii altered is something i love basically III#5#9 also b6 yummy can go to C but Am is maybe home.

    This is not to tell you what your own song is about but merely some one else's ears variations/possibilities etc and not to imply may may not of thought of that.


    i am always excited when one gets an opportunity to talk with te composer as it were. funny thing is learn a lot by seeing others work, because i draw parallels or even note the differences and can utilise them if i had not gone that route.

    i did a post on A. Holdsworth basically how he writes the chords first then adds melody later. This interested me greatly. I myself find it much easier to put a melody to almost any harmony. I write a lot of melodies, and sometimes find it more difficult to put chords/harmony behind, as ( without sounding immodest know too many chords) so the possibilities are .large. I suppose some struggle to write melodies. this is similar. I am a lot better than i was.

    Hope this does not sound like the Me Me Me show. it just i really have chance to talk about things like this,

    A few years back when i was playing in the jazz world. Several people wanted to play my tunes, and what was of interest to them was, i would tell them about. ( rather like i was messing with your solo D how things can be seen/heard if need be. This is easy if you wrote the tune, i am talking perhaps not the average standard here. but more non & functional.

    When i see people talking about W. Shorter a lot of the time i am Mmmm oh yeah, Wayne has devices he uses consistently, these K.Waters S.Strunk and others have attempted to codify. Often it is very a simple eccentricity. once one has that logic it makes things easier to hear

    blah blah, i have looked at several of your tunes over the years, and always thought thats really interesting.

  15. #239
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Durban
    Hi Joel, Am7#5 you stole my chord, just messing i wrote a post on min#5 the way way back had most scratching their heads, pianist use a lot.i use min#5 a lot, as to me its a device that i call polytonal (not strict here) its F tonality if you want it to be.

    A section interesting min#5 can be F lydian vibe

    solos D
    B1 & B2 F lydian or Am9
    B3 Dm G13 as is
    B4 AmMaj9 Em7b5
    B5 - B7 Bm7b5 G9
    B8 Esusb9 (E7#5#9 AbM7#11)



    Please dont take offence at my deciphering what is YOUR tune, as you i take my work seriously, anyway the solos D , i played in some chords which can take into again not strict Polytonal. the Am9 is F lydian if you want it to be meaning you can treat it, this for works if i want to minor-ise a melody or take/extend in another direction just really options.

    I am most aware you know all this. Of course B1-8 can be viewed in a slow unwind into CMaj the final E7 iii altered is something i love basically III#5#9 also b6 yummy can go to C but Am is maybe home.

    This is not to tell you what your own song is about but merely some one else's ears variations/possibilities etc and not to imply may may not of thought of that.


    i am always excited when one gets an opportunity to talk with te composer as it were. funny thing is learn a lot by seeing others work, because i draw parallels or even note the differences and can utilise them if i had not gone that route.

    i did a post on A. Holdsworth basically how he writes the chords first then adds melody later. This interested me greatly. I myself find it much easier to put a melody to almost any harmony. I write a lot of melodies, and sometimes find it more difficult to put chords/harmony behind, as ( without sounding immodest know too many chords) so the possibilities are .large. I suppose some struggle to write melodies. this is similar. I am a lot better than i was.

    Hope this does not sound like the Me Me Me show. it just i really have chance to talk about things like this,

    A few years back when i was playing in the jazz world. Several people wanted to play my tunes, and what was of interest to them was, i would tell them about. ( rather like i was messing with your solo D how things can be seen/heard if need be. This is easy if you wrote the tune, i am talking perhaps not the average standard here. but more non & functional.

    When i see people talking about W. Shorter a lot of the time i am Mmmm oh yeah, Wayne has devices he uses consistently, these K.Waters S.Strunk and others have attempted to codify. Often it is very a simple eccentricity. once one has that logic it makes things easier to hear

    blah blah, i have looked at several of your tunes over the years, and always thought thats really interesting.
    Thanks!

    The best compliment would be to play or record something---or at least pass the word. (I'm getting bites on the vocal numbers---a gal recorded my song Shelter, and paid me, aside from future royalties. That's what I'm talkin' bout!).

    I'm not as analytic as you, obviously, and do not think in modes, but melodies. The harmony takes care of itself. But I've learned to use the simplest, least confusing nomenclature on chord names. The A Min#5 you refer to is an uncomplicated way to write what I was really hearing---F Maj 7 #11/A. If the bass stays on A, that's the easiest. Slash chords can be cumbersome, and slow down the sight-reading eye---unless it's a simple one, like C/D.

    Anyway, thanks again...

  16. #240

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    interesting, i only think in melodies ever, it is only afterwards i part of my nature find out what it is.

    only one thing counts melody............... thats all.


    i am not too good on internet, where do i hear the Gal song of yours with the singer ???

    .

  17. #241

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    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    Co-written with the late Jimmy Norman (lyricist for Time is on my Side; collaborator with Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix) for the Jazz Foundation of America. I had written the tune and most of the lyric, and reached out to Jimmy to finish the lyric after hearing that he saw also a JFA client on his radio interview one early morning. We finished the song the night of Barack Obama's 1st election victory, with the results coming in over Jimmy's TV as we worked---an amazing night.

    You'll recognize some luminaries in the PSA video (which I had nothing to do with)...

    Really lovely. Bravo

  18. #242
    joelf Guest
    ....and still haven't made a dime from it. (And Jimmy's dead)...
    Last edited by joelf; 04-19-2020 at 02:18 PM.

  19. #243
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Durban
    interesting, i only think in melodies ever, it is only afterwards i part of my nature find out what it is.

    only one thing counts melody............... thats all.


    i am not too good on internet, where do i hear the Gal song of yours with the singer ???

    .


    For demos of Not a Bad November and Shelter (Vicki Doney; Steve Ash, November; Clare Donahue and band, Shelter---which she's since recorded commercially and just entered in a contest); plus a lot of guitar, including my instrumental version of Shelter (with the right melody and rhythm), from my Melody Messenger CD...

  20. #244
    joelf Guest
    I also have 2 hour sets of mostly originals with a fine band and 2 singers, Jan. 27, 2017, early show, in the archive at Smalls Jazz Club - SmallsLIVE

    (There's a pay wall, though)...

  21. #245

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    a composition of mine. Jack In The Box ..... Post Bebop Waltz for small children


    melody begins with my musically modified version, of "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah" since the begginging of time all the world's children, sing this in every country. The Carnatic south Indian styled vocal ending is my approximation, That part its not real....... i tried. it took hours to get right.


    My big Gibson is in there, it does not sound like Tal Wes etc its not supposed on this, starting as a waltz into swing then back to Bavaria, what may throw the ears is the Timbre, if you dont what that means....... oh well different instruments playing the same sound. Form ABCD out


    Q. why does this not sound like a regular jazz tune
    A. well the instrumentation, it moves simply through different time signatures 3/4 to 4/4 to 3/4 to 4/4 etc
    Q. What about the Harmony
    A. Pretty conventional in places a bit of Major7#5 going on in 3/4 always good.
    Q. why this tune and not something else
    A, Good question, choosing is hard especially when as i do have enough orignal material for 9-10 cds excluding improv
    Q. Do you think this song would be popular
    A. Not at all, not a hope in hell
    Q. So why bother
    A. Well it could easily be modified into a REGULAR AABA or ABAC form, not only that it is merely a chunk of music, do you want it to be a song?
    Q. thinking of Mingus do you think this sounds like his excusions away from standard forms in say some of ah um
    A. polite cough
    Q. I dont get it
    A. You probably never did.
    Q. why did you post this on a Jazz site.
    A. if you stripped away the instrumentation that is flavouring or colouring this piece, you would have an very Melodic melody line.
    and if you played the harmony chords even like a campfire cowboy, in time you would hear some nifty progressions
    Q. You seem pretty self assured
    A. Oh......Thank you. as i said you could start with C section straight ahead 4/4, then whatever. you could even leave out the ending or the begginning in fact, i could really go on. but, its time to go





  22. #246
    joelf Guest
    My latest: lyric and (handwritten) lead sheet (Finale sheet to final after final draft):


    Wisdom of the Ages Joel Fass (c) 2020 Exemplar (ASCAP)



    Verse:
    It was long ago the sages
    Wrote the secrets of the ages,
    Then, wisely, concealed them from fools
    But so long on this journey
    I’ve lived all they wrote
    And, as a service to you, reveal these rules:

    V 1: Live every day like it's your last
    For it just may be prove to be so
    Seek every day to learn
    All you've ever wanted to know
    When you're young, why hurry?---be young!
    Savor every moment while you may
    Before Time sneaks up,
    To steal it all away





    V2: Find that special someone
    And love all of her (him)
    Without fear or doubt,
    Discover anew each day in her (him)
    The beauty within, and without
    Rise above life's hurts,
    That bring anger that rages
    And you, too
    May come to know
    The wisdom of the ages

    V3: Dream big---for yourself, be yourself
    All you ever can be, after all
    Don’t suffer fools, don’t give in
    To those who'd have you
    Join them, thinking small
    And as years go by you’ll realize
    It was so right not to bend
    And that’s yours to have and to hold
    Until your days end

    Coda: So for keeping your heart pure,
    You’ve earned the smiles and nods of sages
    School's out! Here's your diploma,
    Stamped: The Wisdom of the Ages
    Attached Images Attached Images

  23. #247
    joelf Guest
    Oops! Jumped the gun (again!) and left out some changes---end of p. 3, before the coda. I'm over-tired.

    I'll fill them in and post it. WTF, it's just a scrawled draft anyway...

  24. #248

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    Cheers,
    John

  25. #249

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    Raw Jazz Rock original tune, all instruments performed by Tony Barbas.
    Thanks for listening.


  26. #250
    joelf Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by joelf
    Oops! Jumped the gun (again!) and left out some changes---end of p. 3, before the coda. I'm over-tired.

    I'll fill them in and post it. WTF, it's just a scrawled draft anyway...
    Here's a corrected lead sheet:

    (Update): Here's my final corrected handwritten sheet until my student can figure putting 8th note triplets inside quarter note triplet brackets, w/o Finale' going nutso (Wisdomfinal):

    wisdomscanned2.pdf
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by joelf; 04-28-2020 at 07:23 PM.