The Jimmy Raney Book Study Group

[Mick-7]

Attached are the Jimmy Raney book's iReal files that Rob sent me.

Now that we know they can be attached here if uploaded as a .zip file, Rob may as well upload any future files himself.

[Mick-7]

I found the attached transcription of a Jimmy Raney solo on my old pc hard drive, it appears to illustrate concepts in his book.

[Rob MacKillop]

Yes, especially his playing with the rhythm.

[lawson-stone]

So, members of this august group include:

Rob (Rob MacKillop)
Pick (PickingMyEars)
Mick (Mick-7)
Scott (ScottM)
Peter (Pamosmusic)
Lawson (lawson-stone)
Allan (AllanAllen)

...and maybe some serious lurkers, who are also welcome.

It looks like most contributors would like to start from the beginning. Good, as that's where I am. Currently working on Pages 2&3, slowly playing the A1, A2, A3 examples through iReal. I start at 75bpm for a while, then again but with tempo increments of 2bpm for each repeat. So I only use the second line of my iReal chart. Sometimes I break off and start improvising, going back to the examples here and there.

Anyone else started?

I get the book today if all goes as expected.

[grahambop]

I found the attached transcription of a Jimmy Raney solo on my old pc hard drive, it appears to illustrate concepts in his book.

Ah yes, that’s the transcription I did and posted on the forum a while back, it’s a great solo.

[Mick-7]

Ah yes, that’s the transcription I did and posted on the forum a while back, it’s a great solo.

Oh, o.k., thanks for it.

[pamosmusic]

Attached are the Jimmy Raney book's iReal files that Rob sent me.

Now that we know they can be attached here if uploaded as a .zip file, Rob may as well upload any future files himself.

They still don’t appear. They appear as text files when I open them.

[pamosmusic]

Just copying from your first post?

in case you want to try this one?

Chapter One - Jimmy Raney

Can someone tell me if this opens on their iReal device?

[Mick-7]

They still don’t appear. They appear as text files when I open them.

I don't have iReal installed now so can't say, but it may mean the files got corrupted when Rob uploaded them to his Google Drive. That can happen if you don't zip them up. So perhaps Rob could zip them up and upload them again here (as a .zip file attachment).

Sounds like they could get corrupted during upload if not zipped up: "iReal Pro files use the .html extension for sharing playlists and songs, which contain specially formatted web links (irealb://...) that open directly in the application."

[grahambop]

Can someone tell me if this opens on their iReal device?

Works for me:

[pamosmusic]

I don't have iReal installed now so can't say, but it may mean the files got corrupted when Rob uploaded them to his Google Drive. That can happen if you don't zip them up. So perhaps Rob could zip them up and upload them again here (as a .zip file attachment).

Sounds like they could get corrupted during upload if not zipped up: "iReal Pro files use the .html extension for sharing playlists and songs, which contain specially formatted web links (irealb://...) that open directly in the application."

Looks like I can just share the playlist. I don’t mind just making them myself and sharing it.

[Rob MacKillop]

Great! It's beyond my meagre brain, unfortunately, so I'm happy for others to get involved, as the playalong tracks are certainly useful. Then we can get on with playing, recording, and discussing Jimmy's approach.

Off to bed...see you tomorrow.

[lawson-stone]

Can someone tell me if this opens on their iReal device?

Opens fine on mine

[Rob MacKillop]

Good. Then all is fine with the world.

I was doing well practicing A1, A2 and A3 lines, but the last two days have given me more unwelcome distractions than usual, but I'll get back to it tomorrow, and maby record something.

[pamosmusic]

So how is everyone shedding this stuff?

At the moment I’ve been playing A2 and A3 slow with a metronome on every string set and working up the tempo

[Rob MacKillop]

Well, Peter, that's a good approach, one which I'll take up. In the meantime, I had the feeling the exercise was not so much about learning licks, as about phrasing. I guess both approaches would be the best way forward.

Here's my first attempt. Excuses: I'm struggling to play these days, not just my hands but my brain - it switches off, wanders elsewhere. I'm also trying to get used to a new guitar, a new amp, and new recording equipment and software! But somehow I managed this...and part way through realised its blues potential:

[Rob MacKillop]

I'm just wondering about what we should be focussing on with this book. It's really about how to build lines from bare melodic material - so far at least - so we should be applying the changes to other melodies. It's interesting that he doesn't think twice about changing melodic notes such as an e atop a D9 chord into e# or eb. That's something we might all do when presented with a D7 chord, but when the 'e' is the melody note...

Although he's known as a bebop player, his approach is not so far away from the swing era, where players would often embellish the melody in their solo.

Looking slightly ahead, there's more of the same in this chapter, and in the next chapter he goes onto rhythmic enhancement in our lines. That will be fun, but I want to absorb the first chapter first, try the ideas out on other melodies.

What are you guys thinking?

[pamosmusic]

Looking slightly ahead, there's more of the same in this chapter, and in the next chapter he goes onto rhythmic enhancement in our lines. That will be fun, but I want to absorb the first chapter first, try the ideas out on other melodies.

What are you guys thinking?

I love this idea

[PickingMyEars]

Since I finally got an iPhone, I downloaded iReal. One of us! One of us! One of us!



Anyway, I created a track just for the basic I vii ii V progression on iReal. Sounds good to create intentional tension against the "rhythm section" especially when you shouldn't dictate the harmony for your bandmates to play. The rhythm concepts are best when they create that rub. I've heard drummers and other musicians say that a lot--that they don't want the rhythm section/ soloist to copy them all the time. Makes sense because that makes the alternate harmony and rhythm stand out.

I'll try to post tomorrow. Kiddo is sick and hates being sick--whole house affair. Cool to be part of a book club with Rob, I still use your videos when I want to revisit those George Van Eps GUITAR METHOD exercises

[Mick-7]

I'm just wondering about what we should be focussing on with this book. It's really about how to build lines from bare melodic material - so far at least - so we should be applying the changes to other melodies. It's interesting that he doesn't think twice about changing melodic notes such as an e atop a D9 chord into e# or eb. That's something we might all do when presented with a D7 chord, but when the 'e' is the melody note...

Although he's known as a bebop player, his approach is not so far away from the swing era, where players would often embellish the melody in their solo.

Looking slightly ahead, there's more of the same in this chapter, and in the next chapter he goes onto rhythmic enhancement in our lines. That will be fun, but I want to absorb the first chapter first, try the ideas out on other melodies.

He's taking phrases and altering them in various ways, but I wouldn't call them "melodies," they are too indefinite to deserve that label. But maybe we'll need to "dumb down" the ideas in order to apply them? At first reading, they seem kind of opaque.

[Rob MacKillop]

“I got rhythm” is not the greatest melody ever created, but boy do we go to town over that!

I look forward to what you all come up with. I got the ball rolling. I was just experimenting with subtle time changes. But really, he wants us to find ways to build lines from embellishing melodies, using his methods. He is not just teaching us a bunch of licks.

[Mick-7]

Perhaps we should take a specific melody, a fairly simple one, and apply Raney's concepts to it? That way we'd all be on the same page.

[Rob MacKillop]

How about the A section of Autumn Leaves? First play the melody, then apply Jimmy’s suggested alterations. I think it would be good to do this when we’ve studied all of chapter 1 - though we can start exploring ideas sooner.

[Mick-7]

How about the A section of Autumn Leaves? First play the melody, then apply Jimmy’s suggested alterations. I think it would be good to do this when we’ve studied all of chapter 1 - though we can start exploring ideas sooner.

Good idea, out of season though.

[Rob MacKillop]

Well, Mick, you can do Joy Spring if you want…