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Originally Posted by ten left thumbs
Thanks Rob!
Interesting to hear you say 'so-called plectrum guitar'. I had never heard the term until recently. However I have found I enjoy everything I find relating to it. Because it doesn't require me to grow long fingernails, it is accessible to me.
Congratulations David on your upgrade. The earlier pieces of the 25 are accessible, but they do progress quite fast. I am also working from MMFG but found I've hit a bit of a wall, so until my fingers catch up with the book, I'm working on things from the Trinity Guildhall plectrum guitar syllabus. So I also got the Real Guitar book (vol 1) - but these are a little 'young' for me. Then today I ordered:
Lester: Essential Guitar Skill: the Barre
Ford: Rhythm Blues
Garcia: 25 Etudes Equisses for guitar
I will see how these go. I am very attached to the Leavitt book, but sometimes a girl just wants some variety.
good luck with the solo (I love that one!)
Edit: David, try #3 of the 25. I liked that one too.
interesting. i knew a girl once who "just wanted some variety". 30 men in one month was her definition of that.
but i digress.
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03-03-2012 12:28 AM
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Yes, you do. Originally Posted by fumblefingers
interesting. i knew a girl once who "just wanted some variety". 30 men in one month was her definition of that.
but i digress. I hope they were 'graded' men... 
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ok i give up, what is a graded man?
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graded by level of difficulty, of course!
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wow.
probably not. that's where alcohol helps.
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That may be because there is an instrument know as a plectrum guitar. It is a four stringed instrument, similar to but longer scale than a tenor guitar, tuned in fifths. Eddie Condon played one, and I think also Tiny Grimes, although he may have tuned it like the top four strings of a regular guitar. Originally Posted by ten left thumbs
Brad
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Agreed, Brad, the tenor guitar is often called a plectrum guitar. It's all a bit confusing!
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Interesting, I had never heard of a tenor guitar.
It is curious that ABRSM (the bastions of music standards in the UK) have a syllabus for jazz piano and horn, but not for guitar. They do have classical guitar, of course. The jazz syllabus only goes to grade 5, and no real jazzer would waste time on it - but it is a good point of entry for beginners and children. Swing is expected from the start, as is improvisation. The piano syllabus is fun to work from. The tunes are clearly presented and have their own backing tracks. The tunes from the piano syllabus would translate directly onto guitar, or at least the same process and spirit that wrote them.
It is a shame they haven't got round to jazz guitar yet. I know not everyone is into taking exams, but that's not the point. The point is, they make good materials, and once you find your level, you can get a lot out of them. As opposed to thinking - in 10 years time I'll be that good and I'll be able to...
Rob, you could get in touch and write it for them!
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I did the jazz piano grade 1 myself, just for fun. I never went as far as doing the exam, but the material is excellent to work with. I have heard that they have a guitar player already at work on a volume, but I don't know who it is or how long it will take.
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That's good to know. I'm sure it's more complex than it appears - not only do they need to write the stuff, produce the CD's, they need to train the examiners, etc. I wait with baited breath.
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Rob's terrific performances from this big Mel Bay book -- esp. the Volpe pieces -- prompted me to buy it, too. It's a great guitar book, imo - advanced, yes, but much fun. Maybe I'll actually work out Eddie Lang's "Picking My Way" after all.
Many years ago (70s - early 80s?) Bill Bay (Mel's son) put together a big and wonderful collection of mostly classical pieces (Carcassi, Sor, et al) arranged for pick-style guitar, and intended strictly as exercises, or "etudes," toward the mastery of right-hand pick-style technique. I've never seen another book quite like it; the smaller Leavitt collection is a bit similar, but the Bill Bay pieces are replete with pick direction symbols, fingerings, etc. - and now and then the conventional "classical" fingerings have been changed to make the pieces more suited to pick-style playing.
This old Mel Bay book is called something very close to "Building Right-Hand Technique for Pick-Style Guitar" ... and there must be some used copies out there somewhere. It's *superb*. Close to 100 pages of music, and with TAB, so getting the fingerings quickly is easier (for me, anyway).
It's worth digging for - good luck!
kj
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Thanks, kj. Glad my performances inspired you to get the book. I think it is an excellent book, and it contains tab too. I don't know Bill Bay's book, but the classical pieces are easily available, and fairly easy to adapt for a pick technique, should anyone want to try themselves.
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I've been working through more of these pieces - there are some truly beautiful compositions and arrangements. The style of many of these compositions shows classical leanings (Harry Volpe in particular) and I'd love to discover more of them. I think learning these has also improved my own ability to construct chord-melody arrangements generally. I am using mostly TAB as I find it quicker.
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Good for you! Feel free to post some of your playing - we'd all love to hear, I'm sure. Originally Posted by superswing
kojo
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For those of you who are interested in this type of playing, I highly recommend two CDs, Guitar Rarities Volumes One & Two on IAJRC Records. Volume One contains 23 cuts from 1934 to 1946 including the George M. Smith tunes and two of the Frank Victor/Harry Volpe duets Sweet Strings and Swinging The Scale that are in the Mel Bay book.
They may be a bit hard to find but they are worth it.
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ty, Monk - will look. : ) Originally Posted by monk
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Extracts HERE
These two volumes are great albums, and can be found by a simple search online. They reveal that wonderful crossover between jazz, blues and classical music, which Harry Volpe continued in his studies and arrangements. Talking of Harry Volpe, I tracked down an early Mel Bay book devoted to just Volpe, but it was a bit disappointing - the best items were extracted to be included in the Masters Of The Plectrum Guitar.
Ivor Mairants is worth a mention - he really was a very fine guitarist and composer.Last edited by Rob MacKillop; 09-29-2012 at 03:20 AM.
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Just bought it! Amazon should have it to ship soon. Originally Posted by monk
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+1 for Guitar Rarities Vol. 1 & 2. A must have.
Here's a few more suggestions of compilations worth digging out:
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75$ for Fun On The Frets!
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Well, I can't remember how much I paid exactly for Fun On The Frets but I am sure that it must have been under $25. There is one on eBay at the moment (I have no connection to the item or seller) for $40. They come up once in a while and I've seen them there for a bit less.
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It amazes me that Yazoo hasn't seen fit to reissue Fun On The Frets on CD as they did Pioneers of Jazz Guitar. I bought it at the time for the four George Van Eps Jump sides which I have since acquired on CD, But I really enjoyed the Kress-Mottola sides with young Tony just burning which I've yet to locate on CD.
Although it's probably common knowledge to most of you, there still seem to be some who are unaware that two cuts on Yazoo's Pioneers of Jazz Guitar, Chasin' A Buck (real title:The Chant) and Dick Bernstein Ramble (possible title:The Ramble) are incorrectly attributed to Dick McDonough on the first cut and McDonough with Artie Bernstein on the second.
Buck/The Chant was actually composed and played by George Van Eps, The Ramble was a collaboration between Van Eps on guitar and Bob Haggart on bass. The tunes were recorded on a home recording machine at Van Eps' home on Long Island and never released.
Howard Alden told me in an e-mail about 15 years ago, that he was touring in Europe with Haggart and Van Eps and started to play The Ramble at a rehearsal. Haggart called to Van Eps and said "Hey George, he's playing our song." When Van Eps and Haggart asked Alden how he had come to learn the songs, they were stunned to find out that Yazoo had released them on record. Van Eps had assumed for years that the masters had been lost or misplaced.Last edited by monk; 09-30-2012 at 01:56 AM.
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Which also reveals that they weren't paid for the recordings by Yazoo. Tut, tut.
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I'm working on a piece by Mairants right now, and I'm about half way through it. If I were a better sight-reader, I'd have it already. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
When I get it down pat, I might record it and post it here.
He wrote a book in the late 70s called "Perfect Pick Technique," which was one of the first guitar books ever to fall into my hands. It's extremely advanced, and I was a beginner, so imagine the fun. I still have that old book, what's left of it. The tune I'm learning is from that volume.
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Ah, memories! I had that book when I was 14. I remember trying to teach myself, in my bedroom, not able to read a note of music, and REALLY struggling with that book (no tab) and Mickey Baker Volume 1. That was nearly 40 years ago! Wish I'd stuck at it, but I found Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter much easier to pick out by ear, jamming along with the records.
Really awful weather outside, this Sunday morning, so I've been learning the three After Thoughts by Carl Kress, and might record them soon. Very nice pieces!
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