Jazz Guitar Technique, Picking, and Scales

[Roscoe T. Claude]

I'm going to listen soon and though went to sleep last night and woke up listening to jazz my ears also absorb pop, rock, metal and blues...the first riff I learned by ear was Feed My Frankenstein by Alice Cooper!

[jazzbow]

STC, 10/10 for enthusiasm! Don't lose that. In comparison to you we are all old gits and grumpy.

Get lessons from a proper jazzer, it will help.

In reference to your OP, learning a scale best practice is to hum, whistle or sing the notes as you play them in time.

By doing this you subconsciously learn the area of the neck/string group for a particular note by ear.

When you get the scale then you can hum, whistle or sing a bit of improv with accents and emulate it on guitar.

Oh, and another thing about learning; I presume you are of a younger age. This bodes well for your ability to learn.
The younger brain absorbs information easier due to its plasticity, the older you are the longer it takes coz yer brain has seized up which eventually makes us all old gits and grumpy.

When we are enthused to learn something new remember this....

before

Tah daaaah!!

I think the term you young turks use is Lool?!?

Interestingly tho' the first tune improv sounds to me like 'Going through licks and scales' whereas the second tune sounds like a conversation on amphetamines!

One sounds contrived.

[Roscoe T. Claude]

I know the zen 'pointing at the moon' quote but thank you for it, I needed a reminder. You may be mistaken though: I am no young buck: 33 years old to be exact, plus, as some members of this forum will tell you I'm quite hard headed, and that has caused more harm than good...I got it from my Dad, and a hard head has put him in the negative numbers before. When I finish on the forum I'm going to the estore to get Vol. 1 of the Jazz Guitar Gazette then next week Vol.2 and that should put some basics under me. However, I have deep respect for Jeff (a veteran on the forum) and he recommended The Real Book and said it was like that friend you have who knows a lot about everything but always messes up the details: remember that and you'll be fine. That said, I plan on getting The Real Book soon hoping that I can learn the harmony of the songs and add my own improvisation. Been working on Autumn Leaves and I'm starting to f-e-e-l it and that should help when I start playing over the changes. Good day jazzbow--

[jazzbow]

I know the zen 'pointing at the moon' quote but thank you for it, I needed a reminder. You may be mistaken though: I am no young buck: 33 years old to be exact, plus, as some members of this forum will tell you I'm quite hard headed, and that has caused more harm than good...I got it from my Dad, and a hard head has put him in the negative numbers before. When I finish on the forum I'm going to the estore to get Vol. 1 of the Jazz Guitar Gazette then next week Vol.2 and that should put some basics under me. However, I have deep respect for Jeff (a veteran on the forum) and he recommended The Real Book and said it was like that friend you have who knows a lot about everything but always messes up the details: remember that and you'll be fine. That said, I plan on getting The Real Book soon hoping that I can learn the harmony of the songs and add my own improvisation. Been working on Autumn Leaves and I'm starting to f-e-e-l it and that should help when I start playing over the changes. Good day jazzbow--

33 eh! I,m still older than you. My boss is older than you and I'm older than him too! But I have aged well he hasn't.

Real book, Have you checked the PM I sent you?

P.S. The quote at the bottom of my replies is a play on a Confucian saying, Doctored to have two meanings. It's not just for you y'ken.

[Roscoe T. Claude]

I should have known that was Confucian but did you hear about the Chinese poet Li Po, I believe, who was in his boat on the lake one night and didn't live to see the break of dawn because he bent over the side of the boat, stuck his head in the water and tried to Drink The Moon! That's what happens when metaphor and reality collide!

[m_d]

Wes's style has a reputation for being hard to learn. There is a joint interview of two guys who are no technical slouches, Mark Whitfield and Russell Malone, in the liner notes from a Wes CD where they comment the tracks and Wes's playing and admit neither of them has ever succeeded in emulating the thumb thing to perfection. Norwegian player and Internet instructor Marten Faerestrand has some clips about his own learning to play with the thumb which he managed with some success I believe.

[John A.]

Wes's style has a reputation for being hard to learn. There is a joint interview of two guys who are no technical slouches, Mark Whitfield and Russell Malone, in the liner notes from a Wes CD where they comment the tracks and Wes's playing and admit neither of them has ever succeeded in emulating the thumb thing to perfection. Norwegian player and Internet instructor Marten Faerestrand has some clips about his own learning to play with the thumb which he managed with some success I believe.

Jimmy Ponder is probably the best known player to have fully adopted the Wes thumb technique. Benson does it a lot (and incredibly well), but it's not his main thing.

John

[Roscoe T. Claude]

It amazes me that Wes can get such tone using his thumb. I actually started out using my thumb when I began playing the guitar, not too uncommon I wouldn't think, but I was trying to learn Southern Rock like Charlie Daniels and Lynyrd Skynyrd who are both immensely popular where I come from and my teacher said "These guys...are pickers, you need to use a pick." He was a schooled jazz player so I imagine it would have floored him if I had asked to learn Wes Montgomery!