Introduction to Jazz Guitar Soloing Chapters 4, 5 and 6

**fep** · 05-08-2012, 01:38 AM

I'm starting up our next thread for the Study Group. Some of you are definitely ready to move forward.

Note that the other threads are still open and available for you to post to.

Chapter 4 is just a reading chapter describing 'situation playing'.

Chapter 5 presents the 'Connecting Game' for us to practice.

Edit: And I added Chapter 5, more 'Connecting Game' practice.

The author wrote:

The connecting game (really, the connecting exercise) will be one of the most significant things you'll ever practice as a guitarist.

For those that practiced the arpeggios lined up with the bars for a given time signature, you've already put in some work in learning the connecting game.

Play on.

**FatJeff** · 05-08-2012, 11:46 AM

Also from Chapt 5:

The connecting game is hard work. Plan to spend a significant amount of time working on the material in this chapter.

Memorization of the arpeggio shapes is crucial.

I know I'm guilty of using my ear, rather than knowing the shapes cold.

**gersdal** · 05-09-2012, 01:42 PM

Not totally pleased with my arpeggios yet, but I guess it is time to move on and continue to practice these in other circumstances. I'll join you in the move forward ....

**onetruevibe** · 05-10-2012, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by gersdal

Not totally pleased with my arpeggios yet, but I guess it is time to move on and continue to practice these in other circumstances. I'll join you in the move forward ....

Same here. For some reason I'm having trouble transitioning smoothly from the IVMaj7 arpeggio into the V7 arpeggio using Maj Pattern 1. I have to hesitate and think a bit.

But I have to remind myself - these sequential transitions are not going to happen very often in context - especially since I'll be grabbing proximal chord tones in the connecting game.

I'm going to give myself two more evenings with them and then move on forward on Saturday.

**fep** · 05-10-2012, 12:52 PM

I really think the approach is to get the exercises under your fingers and move on. Remember that you should review all this material many times and some of these exercises will become part of your daily practice routine. In addition, you will start using these ideas in your playing. So there will be plenty of time to continue working on these ideas in the future.

Perfection is not the goal especially the first time through the chapter.

**FatJeff** · 05-10-2012, 03:10 PM

The problem I am having is in quizzing myself in a somewhat random way on the various arpeggios. Going through the cycle of fourths, or up and down the harmonized major or natural minor scales is not helping me memorize the shapes any better, because my ear is good and it locks into those harmonic progressions. My ear then tells my fingers what to do. This may be a good thing for playing, but for the purposes of testing me on whether or not I know the voicings cold, it's not helpful.

I guess what I really need is some sort of random sequence of chords that varies key (A-G including accidentals), quality (Maj7, min7, etc.) and pattern (for me right now, I'm working on patterns I and IV). I know a bit of Python, so perhaps that's my project for the night.

This will be helpful when a chart has an unusual or unexpected modulation or sequence of chords ... if I know those shapes cold, I can arpeggiate based strictly on knowledge of those shapes, then wait for my ear to take over after a bar or two.

**Frank67** · 05-10-2012, 04:57 PM

... I started this morning in just one position and clearly have work to do. The two beat changes don't come easy to me at this time. It is also work to not play the same sequences every time. But it really is good practice and after getting my feet a little wet I really do see the objective.

Will post recording once it starts feeling a bit more familiar. Are we posting 11 different recordings or rather do the 11 situations in some form one after the other?

Did you also miss a regular VI-II-V-I sequence among the 11 "standard" situations?

In situations 7 and 8 a #VIm7b5 chord appears that does not belong to the harmonized diatonic scale. Did I interpret correctly that this is a Bm7b5 in the key of F?! Since it consists of the notes B-D-F-A it looks like it just contains a "irregular" B as a flattened fifth. It is a fairly odd (but good!) sounding sequence of changes to my ears. What tunes does that sequence appears in? (excuse my ignorance)

**teleman3726** · 05-10-2012, 08:47 PM

I hate to be obtuse here, but could someone tell me the full name of the text you guys are using. There's a few out there and I was confused about some of the prices being bandied about for the book.
Thanks to all that respond. I've been taking some improv lessons and they really aren't going anywhere. The teacher refuses to use a book so I have no idea if I'm making any real progress.
Maybe I should can his ass?

**FatJeff** · 05-10-2012, 08:49 PM

"An Introduction to Jazz Guitar Soloing" by Joe Elliot.

An Introduction to Jazz Guitar Soloing BK/CD (Introduction to Book & CD): Joe Elliott: 9780634009709: Amazon.com: Books

**GuyB** · 05-11-2012, 10:09 AM

Hi guys,
I have this book since 2 or 3 years, liked it but did not finished it. Now, I think I'll go back to it.

One thing I did to help me practice is that I recorded (in Garage Band) every chord diatonic to F major for 1 bar, each separately. I can now practice every arpeggio one by one or any mix of 2, 3, etc. chords that I want just by placing side by side the chords that I want.

**onetruevibe** · 05-11-2012, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by teleman3726

I hate to be obtuse here, but could someone tell me the full name of the text you guys are using. There's a few out there and I was confused about some of the prices being bandied about for the book.
Thanks to all that respond. I've been taking some improv lessons and they really aren't going anywhere. The teacher refuses to use a book so I have no idea if I'm making any real progress.
Maybe I should can his ass?

Welcome to the group, teleman! So far, this has been a pretty good study and I like where it's heading. You're not far behind, and we're taking things slowly - so jump on board!

I started working on situations 1 and 2 last night. I had a handle on situation 1 pretty quickly and moved on to situation 2...and I immediately ran out of talent.

Guess what Brian will be working on this week end?

Something that I did last night to help with practice - I charted the first four situations in the iReal b app for the iPad. It's been helpful to be able to loop the situations for practice. I wish the CD that came with the book had individual backing tracks for the situations.

I think that would have been more useful than just demos.

Brian

**FatJeff** · 05-14-2012, 12:05 AM

As for the situation playing, I'm getting pretty handy with Situation 1; Situation 2 I can get through passably, but at a slower tempo (makes sense, since the harmonic "velocity" is twice that of Situation 1). I have not yet tried 3 & 4 (since they are minor - still working on that). The problem I'm having is with Situation 5. That's a long iiim7 - VI7 - iim7 - V7 - Imaj7. Since I've only so far learned Elliot's Patterns I and 4, and since VI7 is not diatonic to the key, I either have to shift my pattern up 2 frets (and as long as I'm at it, carry the preceding iiim7 with it); or else use a not-yet-learned pattern that allows me to stay in position, but requires some shifting/stretching to get the notes. I'm thinking for now, I'll stick to my original two patterns (1 and 4), just to lock them into place in my brain, before opening up to other patterns. Otherwise, I'm back to using my ear again, which is something I'm trying not to do with these exercises.

But this does foreshadow things to come: with a limited set of patterns to use, we're going to be doing some shifting around the neck to accommodate modulations, non-diatonic chords, and the like. When we start doing actual tunes, instead of just plain-vanilla ii-V-Is, it becomes more important to know the patterns from inside out.

**fep** · 05-14-2012, 03:02 PM

I made a couple of bobbles. I attached a mp3 of the BIAB backing track I made.

**onetruevibe** · 05-14-2012, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by fep

I made a couple of bobbles. I attached a pdf of the BIAB backing track I made.

Nice fep - very smooth. I didn't notice any bobbles - pretty clean connections. Are you just grabbing the closet note on the 1 beat or are you trying to emphasize a specific color tone? I've been trying to hit the 3 (b3 on the ii7) to try and keep it interesting. It also helps me remember the intervals.

And thanks for the backing track! I'm getting a handle on situation 1 and will maybe try to make a recording this evening.

Brian

**FatJeff** · 05-14-2012, 04:47 PM

Nice playing fep. Maybe I'll post something tonight. Gotta start hitting the minor stuff harder!

**FatJeff** · 05-14-2012, 09:48 PM

LOL fep, I have just the opposite problem - I almost completely use my ear, and wouldn't be able to sketch out the arps on a fretboard diagram without thinking about it. I need to just study the shapes separately as if they were a math problem or something so I can get them ingrained in my head.

In any case, here's my lowly attempt at Situation 1 (using fep's MP3). This was more difficult than I thought ... I kept wanting to throw in b9s and #9s.

**Frank67** · 05-15-2012, 03:38 AM

I am currently traveling in italy. But since you have all been active uploading I also wanted to upload something (finally a video :-)). Based on Jeff's comments I tried situation 5 - I did not find it necessary to shift that much. In position 1 the D7 falls nicely onto the fingering 1 pattern except perhaps for the F# note (that I guess acts as guide tone to the next G).

Apologies for the clipping of the video in the beginning.

**Frank67** · 05-15-2012, 03:41 AM

PS: please excuse my ignorance - could somebody enlighten me how to insert the video into the post. Sometimes I feel technology challenged ...

**gingerjazz** · 05-15-2012, 06:08 AM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

LOL fep, I have just the opposite problem - I almost completely use my ear, and wouldn't be able to sketch out the arps on a fretboard diagram without thinking about it. I need to just study the shapes separately as if they were a math problem or something so I can get them ingrained in my head.

In any case, here's my lowly attempt at Situation 1 (using fep's MP3). This was more difficult than I thought ... I kept wanting to throw in b9s and #9s.

Hey jeff,that was well played,my only concern is that the fluffy toys in the background are yours.Peace.

**onetruevibe** · 05-15-2012, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

Nice work, OTV. The straight-8s will come in time, I'm sure. And I thought your tone was just fine!

Thanks for the comments, Jeff. Yeah - I've always had trouble with exercises like that, so I'm not surprised. 60bmp or 120bmp. Same story. It's like my mind wanders, or I get distracted and lose my place. ADHD?

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

I am currently traveling in italy. But since you have all been active uploading I also wanted to upload something (finally a video :-)). Based on Jeff's comments I tried situation 5 - I did not find it necessary to shift that much. In position 1 the D7 falls nicely onto the fingering 1 pattern except perhaps for the F# note (that I guess acts as guide tone to the next G).

Apologies for the clipping of the video in the beginning.

Nice work Frank! It's great to hear you guys play this situations so well - really helps pull me along. Also, digging the Frameworks guitar!

As for embedding YouTube, I think you only need the final portion of the YouTube link to make it stick. This part: 7N8CBNeouqI

Here you go:

Brian

**Frank67** · 05-15-2012, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

In any case, here's my lowly attempt at Situation 1 (using fep's MP3). This was more difficult than I thought ... I kept wanting to throw in b9s and #9s.

Good job Jeff! And I also enjoyed listening to Brian.

I was challenging myself a bit over lunch break and tried to do Situation 1 on the upper end of the speed that I could go. It is 140 bpm (I guess at the end of the day that is still at best "moderate swing" tempo) and there are obviously some mistakes and missed notes but it is still good fun to practice - long way to go but I admit that it is more fun to do it together with other people even if we are scattered around the world.

And yes - that Frameworks is a wonderful guitar (honestly speaking it is too good for me - I am just having so much fun with guitars). Once you plug it into an amp the tone is so incredibly rich, resonant and nice that I keep wondering why to stick to a big jazz box at all :-) The neck is a bit wider than on a normal electric guitar which takes some getting used to. It is great if you play with your fingers but with a pick I keep missing notes. Since I have to travel a lot this one always comes with me. But it is not just a convenient travel instrument - it is an incredibly high quality guitar that would look and sound good on any stage (well, I don't but that's not the guitar's fault :-)).

**fep** · 05-16-2012, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

LOL fep, I have just the opposite problem - I almost completely use my ear, and wouldn't be able to sketch out the arps on a fretboard diagram without thinking about it. I need to just study the shapes separately as if they were a math problem or something so I can get them ingrained in my head.

In any case, here's my lowly attempt at Situation 1 (using fep's MP3). This was more difficult than I thought ... I kept wanting to throw in b9s and #9s.

Hey Jeff, I see it this way... Even if these are mechanical, it's something I think every jazz musician should be able to do. Elementary my dear Dr. Watson.

Your video sounds good to me, pretty musical considering it's an exercise.

**Frank67** · 05-16-2012, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by fep

Hey Frank, Are you a lefty?

Cool idea to change patterns as you did. I'm going to work on the connecting game like that down the road. Really good job.

Your tone sounds really good too, nice traveling sound.

Hi Fep,

thanks a lot! No, I am not lefty - just sufficiently illiterate with that camera :-) Now that you mentioned it i also realized that it is mirror imaged.

You did a nice job on situation 2! Changing every two beats is admittedly quite a bit harder for me (I guess for everyone?) but it is kind of getting there. That connecting game is really very good practice and I'm sure will keep us all busy for quite a while. I am trying to get it down in all five positions in order to feel more secure on the neck. I guess eventually we will change keys a lot when we play actual tunes and then I figured it is necessary to switch the patterns in different positions fluently.

Thanks also for the comment on the sound! I think that much of it is in the JazzFrame guitar itself which is just wonderful (it has a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup and a high quality piezo bridge pickup system that sounds really good through an accoustic amp). Before i had a shortscale travellers guitar but it just killed the playing fun.

The GarageBand preset I am using does a decent jazz sound for my ear too. I only added a touch of reverb, the rest is all stock. Actually I think that somewhat crappy audio interface that I use compresses the sound a lot and maybe that makes it more "jazzy". Will be interesting to see how it sounds at home with a better interface. I recently got myself a fender mustang floor for small money that can also act as audio interface and i like the twin and deluxe emulations. Will use it for the next video.

I like the sound that you get too (is that a line 6 pod like Jim Soloway is using?) and your guitar is just gorgeous - Is that an Eastman?

**jster** · 05-17-2012, 12:20 PM

If you listen to track 18, the second time through, on the altered scale, Elliott does not just change direction, but rather jumps over a note. Does anybody know when he relaxes his rule that the student just runs the arpeggios and scales up and down with only direction changes allowed?