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In my days of playing primarily rock and blues, I'd frequently play riffs, my wife would always comment you sound like a band warming up, now play a song. Since my former band members don't live with me, I've focused on chord melody. In all sincerity I wish, I had better song writing skills, I'd love to be able to play songs that I wrote.
Originally Posted by nick1994
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02-06-2015 10:57 AM
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I have couple chord melody arrangements of Beattles tunes worked out that I can pull on the fly - Strawberry Fields, Yesterday, Hey Jude, etc. Also, I'll pull out Time after Time or How Deep is Your Love. Those are great tunes to jazz up and most everyone recognizes them quickly.
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I am with average joe . a party is not a party. if they beg me I just improve some stuff throw in some over under hand for grins then set it down( if I am asked it is usually a friend who wants me to do over under and a few tech tricks for someone anyway}... if money is involved that changes things.
Last edited by EOE; 02-06-2015 at 06:26 PM.
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Lady of Spain ( ' I adore you ' - -)...add every flamenco lick / technique you can fake, sing along......if you're a certain age group - - 60's plus, you probably grew up with a guy who's folks - in the late fifties - made him take accordion lessons, and this was the 'must play for relatives' song.......
....it should get a laugh....
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If they want to hear something, then I play something. My favorite George Harrison tune. You get more tips when you play what they ask for.
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I'll usually play & sing All Of Me, Fly Me To The Moon or My Blue Heaven. Another old favorite is Please Don't About Me When I'm Gone.
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A solo exploratory version of So What usually puts a stop to such nonsense. Unless it's my in-laws and then it's a round of chord melody standards.
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I play the same things I play on solo gigs...
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Nice. Originally Posted by gitrman
I also wonder if there's a piece already titled "Something On The Guitar", that'd be nifty.
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I used to make tapes of my songs for friends. Some actually listened. One day my friend Vicky and I were walking in a Chapel Hill mall, she saw something in a window and sang a line from one of my songs that popped into her head. That's about as good as it gets! Originally Posted by ESCC
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If it's a flat top, then some fingerstyle blues or ragtime like Kenny Sultan's "Cascade Rag."
If it's an archtop, then Pat Martino's "Passata on Guitar" or his arrangement of "Both Sides Now."
I will generally only do one song though, as I don't want to be "that guy." If they demand more then I'll usually do a version of "Nuages" that I learned from Jake Reichbart. Everybody knows this song but generally knows nothing about this song which is a good departure from guitar back into conversation, as Django's life and career is an interesting topic itself.
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After reading this thread I pulled out my acoustic and started working out a couple of things to have at hand.
Here's a good one I'm learning it now. I could play it before but haven't played it in about a year or so(jazz took over) so I need to work on it again but hopefully I'll get it down soon.
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This! Originally Posted by mike_k
I had an incident at work whereby one lunchtime, a colleague returned from doing some guitar shopping with a new (to him) Yamaha cutawayelectro-acoustic, nice guitar. I steered clear while he sort of played Oasis' "Wonderwall" for everyone, and when put upon, struggled through "That's Entertainment" by the Jam. Two strummy acoustic rock songs, clearly exactly why he bought that guitar. Then someone else was prevailed upon to give his approval of the new instrument - he took it, played the Day Tripper into wrongly, strummed a few cowboy chords, misplayed Day Tripper again, and pronounced the guitar to be good. I thought that I had dodged the bullet, but no...."Hey, you're in a band, aren't you? Give us a tune!!".
With a sigh, I took the guitar, tuned it up (yes, that's designed to endear you to the two guys who have played it before you.....) and played a CM version of the abovementioned Time After Time.
The reaction? A pretty much even split between people who were disappointed because I hadn't played and sung like the other guy ('cos if there's no vocal, it's not a proper song, right?
) and those who thought that I was being flash (showing off) by playing better than the other guys. Approval rating of zero per cent.
And THAT's why I don't normally play when people ask......Last edited by mangotango; 02-25-2015 at 06:48 AM.
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Disclaimer: I never said anyone liked what I played.
Just kidding. Sounds like you had rough crowd that put you on the spot. I guess it all comes down to context and expectations. I find that most of the people who like what I play are players themselves. Pop chord-melody is a little different than what a lot of other players do. That is also why some might not be immediately attracted to it.
Nonetheless, I'd rather carry a tune than bang out some chords or a riff that does not provide the overall impression of what a song is about.
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Although I usually play jazz standards like My Foolish Heart or Stardust when at a party or get together when people ask if I could play, there was a time when I used to play more popular country rock songs.
One of my 'crowd pleasers' was Desperado by Don Henley and Glenn Frey. I recall one time in an Italian bar out with some friends when someone pressed me publicly to play essentially in front of a crowd of strangers. So I played my solo version on guitar and sang in the key of G. Takes a certain amount of courage, but I have performed since I was a teen. The really gratifying moment was the burst of applause when the notes died.
Some of my Italian friends didn't really know that I played seriously, and I gained a certain cache from that time on. Beyond that night, I actually met a lovely Italian girl one night playing and singing with an older Italian pianist in a piano bar one night back around 1985.
Worked out pretty well, as she is my wife and mother of my son. The song was Yesterday.
Jay
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How do you guys (intermediates/advanced beginners) deal with the casual "play me something man !" you would be faced with from very casual guys that are not into jazz , they can be even into shred and metal !
It happened to me today and i wanted to avoid it ! but the guy insisted so ..as a result i played realy like shit !
So he probably was like "ohh , okay!" , and he started showing me guys shredding (metal style) ! i think those moments are a bit unfaire ! i'm not supposed to be able to do a show whenever someone thinks it's the right moment ! Anyway guys looking forward to hear from you !
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I was working with comping "Four". Didn't think much about it myself but thats about the most I can do currently:P. Seemed to impress that guy who asked that OP question enough
Oh, and one other asked "play me something beautiful". For those times I always have "un dia en noviembre" -Brouwer. Super simple and pretty. Completely improvisable also
Last edited by emanresu; 12-29-2016 at 06:09 PM.
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Simple. You need a tune that most people can recognize. Disney movies are a pretty decent source. It needs to be a tune with a melody and changes that give themselves to a jazz treatment. And you need to be able to play it solo, no band, no backup track. Last, you will likely have to play it on an acoustic guitar. I can play my "Play Me Something" songs on my archtop, on my flat-top, and on my nylon-stringed classical.
I get this all the time. My go-to songs for "Play Me Something" are:
"When You Wish Upon a Star"
"Moon River"
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
"Unforgettable"
Almost nobody would ever ask me to play more than 4 tunes. I play each one twice, once more or less "straight" and then once with a little flair or swing or some little flourishes.
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Work up a couple chord melodies, it will be good for you anyway.
best,
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Pick one tune you are comfortable with and work up a solo version. Emily Remler speaks about this in one of her videos. She worked out a version of Summertime so she could play something in Guitar Centre (or so she said!)
Summertime is not bad because there is space to play some chords in between the melody notes. And everyone knows it.
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"I would love to, but if I play for free for you, I have to play for free for everybody. My agent would never allow it."
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That's inspiring , and do you play your own arrangements of those tunes ? Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Yes not really arrangements so much as the melody harmonized with some typical voicing and the odd substitution thrown in. Originally Posted by mooncef
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Graham's "Summertime" idea above is good; I also do "ATTYA" when someone asks for something. I don't hang out with metal players, but a nice chord melody would/should make them say, "Cool!" No need to compete with them for chops.
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I play whatever the hell I want to play. I figure it does no one any favors pretending that jazz doesn't exist. I figure pandering to whatever tastes exist, expecting me to pander, or to attempt to impress are equally stupid. No one will learn anything about jazz or art music if we always play chord melody od Tears in Heaven. I'll play Stella, or The Bat, or one of my songs or Body and Soul or make some stuff up.
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