The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Nice vid on important stuff; it's the articulation and phrasing that makes sounds into music.

    Consider this...

    Hammer-on:
    Guitar-> increase in pitch
    Sax -> decrease in pitch

    Pull-off:
    Guitar-> decrease in pitch
    Sax -> increase in pitch

    Chasing a sax solo on the guitar can present challenges for sure. With regard to hammer-on and pull-off, the sax is "backwards" with respect to the guitar. Generally, flopping a finger "on" or "down" to close a key/hole on the horn results in a lower pitch, while pulling a finger "off" or "up" increases pitch, opposite the guitar... extending somewhat to lines, arpeggios, scales, etc.

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by pauln
    Nice vid on important stuff; it's the articulation and phrasing that makes sounds into music.

    Consider this...

    Hammer-on:
    Guitar-> increase in pitch
    Sax -> decrease in pitch

    Pull-off:
    Guitar-> decrease in pitch
    Sax -> increase in pitch

    Chasing a sax solo on the guitar can present challenges for sure. With regard to hammer-on and pull-off, the sax is "backwards" with respect to the guitar. Generally, flopping a finger "on" or "down" to close a key/hole on the horn results in a lower pitch, while pulling a finger "off" or "up" increases pitch, opposite the guitar... extending somewhat to lines, arpeggios, scales, etc.
    Mind blown...

    Very interesting observations!

  5. #4

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    The difference in a sax is the reed is the fixed reference point for the vibrating column of air that makes the tone.

    With the guitar it is the bridge that is the fixed reference point of the vibrating string.

    The physics of shorter = higher, longer = lower are the same, it's that the guitar (and other string instruments) are flipped 180 degrees from the woodwinds.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by guido5
    The difference in a sax is the reed is the fixed reference point for the vibrating column of air that makes the tone.

    With the guitar it is the bridge that is the fixed reference point of the vibrating string.

    The physics of shorter = higher, longer = lower are the same, it's that the guitar (and other string instruments) are flipped 180 degrees from the woodwinds.
    You're right; now my mind is blown!

  7. #6

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    Cor!

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Cor!
    Cor Anglais blown!

  9. #8

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    Nice vid. Incidentally, you alluded to Benson's recording of Billie's Bounce where he sticks to an Ab in bar 5 but how's the E natural in the following bar? Wild! That tune seems particularly prone to free interpretation. It was only a few years ago when revisiting the original recording that I noticed the penultimate note of bar 1 is an Eb not D.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Nice vid. Incidentally, you alluded to Benson's recording of Billie's Bounce where he sticks to an Ab in bar 5 but how's the E natural in the following bar? Wild! That tune seems particularly prone to free interpretation. It was only a few years ago when revisiting the original recording that I noticed the penultimate note of bar 1 is an Eb not D.
    I'm gonna have to listen to it again lol

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I'm gonna have to listen to it again lol
    Easily missed. Mark Voelpel, whose Charlie Parker for Guitar is an exceptionally reliable source, nails it and even includes a section at the end of his transcription outlining the harmony between sax and trumpet:

    Hints on playing bop heads-bb-jpeg

  12. #11

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    That sounds right even without checking it. Mental.

    Checked it, yeah.

  13. #12

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    I like the chords he's given, but obviously the harmonic implication in the line is F F7| Bb Bo7 | F6 | F7

    It's interesting how many variations of the blues Parker played....

  14. #13

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    True enough and a lot of those variations appear in the first 4 bars: Confirmation-style changes in Blues for Alice and Laird Baird, rhythm changes in Driftin' on a Reed (Big Foot) and Passport and most unusual of all, a major version of the ascending CESH move in Back Home Blues...

  15. #14

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    I think it's essential to learn bop heads by ear. Check against written music eventually but learn by ear because otherwise, in my experience, it will be too hard to play them with other people. The rhythm needs to get into your bones and that can only happen by ear.

  16. #15

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    After faking my way through Joy Spring my whole life, I finally decided to learn it note for note.
    However that presented a challenge, because the bridges are different in the two Real Books I have.
    Also, this is a head that that IMHO, sounds very ineffective in the lower octave it's written, which Joe Pass proved in his recording of it.
    I took it up an octave to give it that joyous sound Brownie got when he played it.
    The backing track I was playing it with was at about 200bpm, which made it difficult, because Brownie played it at 161bpm, so that was one reason why I was having trouble playing it when I started.
    I can now play it at 200bpm, but that took a little while.
    You could make a case for Clifford Brown's compositions being on a higher level musically than Bird's or Diz' in the sense that he came up with his OWN chord structure and form for his tunes, rather than using preexisting tunes' changes and form.
    In any case, every note is perfection, putting it on the level of any single line composers-jazz or 'legit', IMHO.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    After faking my way through Joy Spring my whole life, I finally decided to learn it note for note.
    However that presented a challenge, because the bridges are different in the two Real Books I have.
    Also, this is a head that that IMHO, sounds very ineffective in the lower octave it's written, which Joe Pass proved in his recording of it.
    I took it up an octave to give it that joyous sound Brownie got when he played it.
    The backing track I was playing it with was at about 200bpm, which made it difficult, because Brownie played it at 161bpm, so that was one reason why I was having trouble playing it when I started.
    I can now play it at 200bpm, but that took a little while.
    You could make a case for Clifford Brown's compositions being on a higher level musically than Bird's or Diz' in the sense that he came up with his OWN chord structure and form for his tunes, rather than using preexisting tunes' changes and form.
    In any case, every note is perfection, putting it on the level of any single line composers-jazz or 'legit', IMHO.
    whenever I run into the issue of different charts on the same tune I study the original recording.
    though sometimes that can be a problem if you take it off the record and you're playing a unison line and the other guy is playing a real book version

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    You could make a case for Clifford Brown's compositions being on a higher level musically than Bird's or Diz' in the sense that he came up with his OWN chord structure and form for his tunes, rather than using preexisting tunes' changes and form.
    Erm.

    Anyway.

    Joy Spring is a really nice tune, as are all of Brown's compositions.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    whenever I run into the issue of different charts on the same tune I study the original recording.
    though sometimes that can be a problem if you take it off the record and you're playing a unison line and the other guy is playing a real book version
    Yeah that can be a pain.

    TBH, one would rather play with people who share your attitude to the music, but failing that, you can always do your own chart.

  20. #19
    The first guitar organ trio version I ever heard was Jerry Hahns album Moses in the late sixties I think. What do others think about that version? Of course Cliffords would be the definitive I suppose since he wrote it. It looks like Donna Lee is a popular "look what a versatile accomplished player I am" song these days. But some swing and some dont. IMO For a stringed instrument I rather like Jacos version of Donna Lee. Gunthrie Govans ? Well you be the judge or Marcus Kings ?

  21. #20
    Its not bop but its good. Just for fun I like trying to play the two part melody to Some Skunk Funk by the Brecker Bros. I stumble but its fun to try sometimes .

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    whenever I run into the issue of different charts on the same tune I study the original recording.
    though sometimes that can be a problem if you take it off the record and you're playing a unison line and the other guy is playing a real book version
    Hi, W,
    I assume the "Real Book" is what my generation called the "Fake Book." Whenever I've sketched a tune as a guitarist/saxer, I've ,also, gone back to the original recording for the key. However, this can get tricky when copying music for Bb/Eb horns where the melody must be adjusted from the fake/real book a step/step and a half above the original key. Reading "on the fly" is a very valuable skill and still will get you many jobs in music. However, it's been a long time since I've leafed through my old tattered "Fake Book."
    Play live . . . Marinero

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Cor Anglais blown!
    A good ‘Cor!’ is always Anglais

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    ... Joy Spring, I ... decided to learn it ... at about 200bpm ...

    JOY SPRING - my version

    My Band camp

  25. #24
    Well Vladan thats certainly a very original take on Joy Spring.

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Erm.

    Anyway.

    Joy Spring is a really nice tune, as are all of Brown's compositions.
    I'm quoting Bill Evans' opinion of contrafacts.