The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Here it is. Unfortunately, I was trying to find the live version which is even closer, but you can clearly hear this was the basis.

    1:30


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  3. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Dolphy
    Didn't say it was impossible, but there's definitely an opportunity cost involved with how we choose to use our practice time. Weird thing is that I've been playing this head way less than usual focusing elsewhere and I played it with the recording today no problem. Funny how that worked out!

    I do agree that this head helps ingrain bop vocab.

    Good luck to you Peterson, you're soloing is better than mine for sure. Maybe if you don't stress playing this head fast it will just click for you like it did for me today.
    Thanks Eric! But if you mean the solo in the clip it’s Bird’s. My ability is far less impressive:

    Last edited by Peterson; 12-11-2019 at 11:36 AM.

  4. #28

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    Yea... play the tune in Eb . Do you still need to go through the same process of memorizing the tune and fingerings. Is it a new tune.
    The tune may just be to tough for you peterson. But if your enjoying it... who cares.

    The point about what's the right or perfect version, really. if your performing in unison or an arrangement maybe. But whatever version of the head you want just notate it out, most players playing Donna Lee... can probable read whatever you want. And even if its a little to fast, you just get the difference and go.

    Generally it's more interesting to see what changes are going, the feel and where the harmonic rhythm goes... It's just not really a medium swing tune. When you slow it down all the notes become tonal... it gets weird.

    Work on Cherokee, Scrapple and rhythm change tunes and get your technique up to speed.

  5. #29
    Thanks Reg!

    I gave Scrapple a go a couple of months ago. The B part of the take transcribed in the Omnibook is also quite difficult I think.

    I fail at full speed near the end of the clip:


  6. #30

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    hey Peterson... so get away from the Omnibook... great for sight reading. But just get the head and play your own melody during the B section. Also get use to feeling tunes in "2" ... Some guys like counting with 1 and 3 other like 2 and 4... it doesn't matter the point is the "feel", from being in a two at faster tempos. I can feel either way, don't count etc... But counting or feeling pulse with 2 and 4 feels like your hinting at a dominant pedal kick. Most bass players feel with 1 and 3... which becomes the basic harmonic rhythm, the strong feel and then when you start to create that double time feel.... 2 and 4 or the week side of the feel or beat becomes where you add chords or expand the harmony, or a different layer of music. Don't worry about this yet, just start with I and 3 and get the tempos up to speed.

    For improve you can just develop the rhythmic motifs or the rhythmic patterns of parts of the melody and eventually you'll develop your own voice... etc...

    Get the head up to speed, Playing Parker improv is mute until you have the technical skills. (studying them is very useful).

  7. #31

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    Okay so I've learned "Donna Lee" and have it up to about 150 bpm. Very tricky tune.

    BUT... is everyone else who's learned it with me on this being maybe the most ADDICTIVE tune you ever played? Once I had it basically learned, I find I just can't stop playing it. Looping it. Over and Over. Can't stop.

    The fingerings even FEEL good to me. Hard, but somehow feel really good. This tune unleashes all kinds of endorphins or whatever when I play it.

    I'm the only one, right?

  8. #32

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    Thought I'd post my lame attempt-there is one lick in there that I still am not happy with. But maybe some of my fingerings will help.

    Then again...


  9. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peterson
    I’ve been trying to play the Donna Lee head along with Bird’s Savoy recording for months but can’t get it up to speed. Am I using an impractical fingering or am I just not fast enough yet? Head starts at 1:38

    thank you

    Excuse me but to my ear the accents and phrasing are strange... it does not sound Donna Lee at fiart bars...

    Also I would probably play it a bit more even 8ths... (maybe even all even 8ths)... it is easier to play it uptempo this way.
    Last edited by Jonah; 12-17-2019 at 11:02 AM.

  10. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    Thought I'd post my lame attempt-there is one lick in there that I still am not happy with. But maybe some of my fingerings will help.

    Then again...

    Geez, your playing sure has come a long way since you started those Raney etudes. Sounding really good these days. Makes me wish I had stuck with those.

  11. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by morroben
    Geez, your playing sure has come a long way since you started those Raney etudes. Sounding really good these days. Makes me wish I had stuck with those.
    Very kind for you to say that. Yes, I feel like the Raney solos kicked me into another level. Still not a very advanced level, but things that used to be a threat to me musically now seem more within reach. I would recommend those Raney solos to any jazz guitarist who wants to woodshed both on bebop "vocabulary" but also on the "logic" of a good solo.

  12. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    Okay so I've learned "Donna Lee" and have it up to about 150 bpm. Very tricky tune.

    BUT... is everyone else who's learned it with me on this being maybe the most ADDICTIVE tune you ever played? Once I had it basically learned, I find I just can't stop playing it. Looping it. Over and Over. Can't stop.

    The fingerings even FEEL good to me. Hard, but somehow feel really good. This tune unleashes all kinds of endorphins or whatever when I play it.

    I'm the only one, right?
    VERY addicting head lol. I’ve been hooked for months... My girlfriend HATES it!

  13. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Dolphy
    VERY addicting head lol. I’ve been hooked for months... My girlfriend HATES it!
    Playing it has almost become a kind of spasm. So weird. I see now why it ends up played very fast. As you play it over and over, it just gets faster and faster.

  14. #38

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    This thread stirred me to work on Donna Lee, a tune I have literally procrastinated for decades at learning. So now I have it up to 170 bpm and "relatively" clean. Im posting in the hopes that others who are wanting to learn this tune will give it a shot and post your results. Seriously, you can do way better than me on this.

    But the goal is always: HAVE FUN. I am.

    Something about creeping along at 170 on Donna Lee on an L5ces just seems... wrong...


  15. #39

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    LOL yea I miss my old Gibson... I also sold my black 59 tele to a friend for $400, it was perfect. But how many guitars can you have sitting around... don't ask my wife.

  16. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    LOL yea I miss my old Gibson... I also sold my black 59 tele to a friend for $400, it was perfect. But how many guitars can you have sitting around... don't ask my wife.
    I justify it by claiming I have very few "costly vices." I don't have season tickets to a sports event/team, I don't drink alcohol, I don't drive an expensive car, and my mortgage is paid as is my credit card. So my one "costly vice" is my guitars. Some like to be surrounded by beautiful art, others like a Harley, others like fine, rare wines... for me, it's guitars. No slighting or knocking the others, but my one real extravagance is my guitars.

    I love 'em. I don't merit them, I don't play well enough on them, but I give them a good home, walk them, and as Wes said, sometimes I open the case and throw in a piece of raw meat.

  17. #41

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    Yea lawson... you sound like the kind of man most guitars would love to be owned by. My wife reference was just joke...I have instruments etc... all over. Personally, yea I still have way too many habits and I'm still pretty crazy... I'll always be working on that.

    But just loved that pic of you with Guitar... keep havin fun

  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    Yea lawson... you sound like the kind of man most guitars would love to be owned by. My wife reference was just joke...I have instruments etc... all over. Personally, yea I still have way too many habits and I'm still pretty crazy... I'll always be working on that.

    But just loved that pic of you with Guitar... keep havin fun
    Well thank you for all you contribute to this forum. For me, this forum is 90% about playing. I enjoy the other stuff, but I have few people to play for and nobody to play with, so this forum is where I post my playing, interact about playing better, and learning tunes. You are one of the "playing centered" people on here and I appreciate that.

  19. #43

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    That's good try, I really appreciate your skills. Thanks for sharing.

  20. #44

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    Beats, that is... This week I have b been able to get DL up to 180 and still reasonably clean. I still think there are better fingerings that the ones I'm using exp. for measures 5-8 and 13-16. Those are the real sticking points for me in trying to play this clean.


  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    Beats, that is... This week I have b been able to get DL up to 180 and still reasonably clean. I still think there are better fingerings that the ones I'm using exp. for measures 5-8 and 13-16. Those are the real sticking points for me in trying to play this clean.

    Great to check out your progress, Lawson. It is an addictive tune and you're obviously putting in some time as this is the best you've sounded.

    Regarding the fingerings, here are my solutions for Bars 5-8 and 13-16. I find it easier to stretch the 1st finger out of position at the opening of bar 5. Otherwise, it's pretty much what you've come up with here. There's both a B natural and Bb in bar 13 (a '2 above/1 below' enclosure to the Bb) and this is one of those instances where single positional fingerings are problematic. I find it easier and more idiomatic to play that phrase down the fretboard employing a mixture of pull-offs and slides:

    Bars 5-8:
    Donna Lee fingering for speed-dl-bars-5-8-jpeg
    Bars 13-16:
    Donna Lee fingering for speed-dl-bars-13-16-jpeg
    Also, the "A's in bar 21 should be naturals not flats. This is a case where the original Real Book was in error. The recording clearly has naturals and the Omnibook has corrected the mistake.

    On the rhythmic front, some of your entries are a little rushed but overall, this is sitting much more in the pocket. Nice work!

  22. #46

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    Here's another option for bars 5-8 that once again requires a finger stretch (this time it's the 4th rather than the 1st). These might feel unusual if you play primarily from CAGED fingerings but for me they help preserve the flow of the line:

    Bars 5-8:
    Donna Lee fingering for speed-dl-bars-13-16-jpeg
    Last edited by PMB; 12-25-2019 at 12:39 AM.

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peterson
    I just try to do down strokes on down beats whenever possible. I will certainly look into all of your tips and ideas!
    IMHO, accenting and rhythm is very important for bebop tunes like this. By sticking to steady up-down strokes on up-down beats can easily lead to a somewhat square rythmic feeling like older musiscans did it, for example Coleman Hawkins. Donna Lee is frequently played like that. But bebop tunes like this has a more free flowing rhythm with slurs, triplets, "triplet feeling" etc.

    A sidenote: Normally Charlie Parker is credited as the composer of Donna Lee. However, it has been said that it was Miles Davis who brought the tune to the recording session. It has also been said that it was not Miles who wrote it. Benny Bailey and Frank Morgan has been suggested as the real composers. Whatever, it is one of the greatest and most archetypical bebop heads.

    I know politics is not welcome here but I can't resist:



    Sendt fra min SM-T810 med Tapatalk

  24. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by oldane
    A sidenote: Normally Charlie Parker is credited as the composer of Donna Lee. However, it has been said that it was Miles Davis who brought the tune to the recording session. It has also been said that it was not Miles who wrote it.
    If you check out post #29 you can hear the head was stolen straight from a Fats Navarro solo over Ice Freezes Red which has the same changes as Indiana. Fats recorded his track before Bird recorded Donna Lee.

  25. #49

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    Which fingers? How bout all of them.....


  26. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Great to check out your progress, Lawson. It is an addictive tune and you're obviously putting in some time as this is the best you've sounded.

    Regarding the fingerings, here are my solutions for Bars 5-8 and 13-16. I find it easier to stretch the 1st finger out of position at the opening of bar 5. Otherwise, it's pretty much what you've come up with here. There's both a B natural and Bb in bar 13 (a '2 above/1 below' enclosure to the Bb) and this is one of those instances where single positional fingerings are problematic. I find it easier and more idiomatic to play that phrase down the fretboard employing a mixture of pull-offs and slides:

    Bars 5-8:
    Donna Lee fingering for speed-dl-bars-5-8-jpeg
    Bars 13-16:
    Donna Lee fingering for speed-dl-bars-13-16-jpeg
    Also, the "A's in bar 21 should be naturals not flats. This is a case where the original Real Book was in error. The recording clearly has naturals and the Omnibook has corrected the mistake.

    On the rhythmic front, some of your entries are a little rushed but overall, this is sitting much more in the pocket. Nice work!
    I'm really having trouble--ear-trouble--hearing those A naturals! Gotten re-train my ear for that measure.