The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 17 of 18 FirstFirst ... 715161718 LastLast
Posts 401 to 425 of 432
  1. #401

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Bahnzo
    Mark, what is the model of your Ibanez? Looks like a nice guitar. I used to have a 70's guild hollowbody that I regret selling, but if I get another hollowbody, it'd probably be one of the Ibanez line.
    It's an AF85. I think it was only made for a couple years, but it's a lot like similar models. I've had it about 15 years and it's still in fine shape.

    I could use a deeper cutaway, as I'm a big guy with large hands, but all in all, this guitar is a better instrument than I am a player, so I have no legit complaints. ;o)

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #402

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
    It's an AF85. I think it was only made for a couple years, but it's a lot like similar models. I've had it about 15 years and it's still in fine shape.

    I could use a deeper cutaway, as I'm a big guy with large hands, but all in all, this guitar is a better instrument than I am a player, so I have no legit complaints. ;o)
    I really like the flamed maple, it has a nice look and I like the tone from your videos, it's nicely balanced.

  4. #403

    User Info Menu

    Alright, I've read all 10 pages and 8 million posts (or so it seems, there's a lot of posts per page here!).

    One thing that I haven't seen, is putting this stuff to use. It's one thing to learn the shapes and Herb's solos, but the real goal here is to be able to come up with our own, right? So I'm going to suggest we do just that.

    Since learning "BluesInC" I sat down tonight and went over the lines and reviewed the shapes again. And I found myself just playing the shapes over the backing track I made while trying to visualize the notes within those shapes. And I slowly started trying some ideas of my own which got me thinking.

    So I know this thread is a little slow now, but maybe we can kick some life into it. I think it's one thing to play Herb's stuff, but let's write our own! I think it's a good idea to "compose" something using these shapes (with the end goal of course to be able to improvise freely at some point).

    Tonight I sat down with "Blues in C" and wrote maybe 3/4th's of a chorus by focusing on the chords and the corresponding shapes and trying to connect them from measure to measure. And it's really helping to drive home what Herb's teaching. I'll try to finish the rest tomorrow and post it if I can figure out some way to show TAB in a forum post.

    Any thoughts?

  5. #404

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Bahnzo
    I really like the flamed maple, it has a nice look and I like the tone from your videos, it's nicely balanced.
    Thank you! It's called Violin Sunburst (VLS). I like it too. Wasn't absolutley crazy about it at first but it's really grown on me over the years.

    Frank Vignola told me he really liked the sound of my guitar and I thought, "Huh? It's a $300 guitar with absolutely no upgrades!" But he likes it. I play it unplugged all the time and it's the sound I'm used to now. I like it best through my old Polytone amp but that amp's in the closet because I don't have room to leave it out.(Which is why I really like the Focusrite iTrack Pocket---I don't need an amp to use it and it gets a good signal.)

  6. #405

    User Info Menu

    Ok, here's my first chorus of a Blues In C that I've written myself, along with the TAB. I've put the shapes I used above like a chord (please don't confuse them as a chord).



    Herb Ellis: Shape System-bluesinctab1-jpgHerb Ellis: Shape System-bluesinctab2-jpg

  7. #406

    User Info Menu

    I started this thread years ago and proved a poor steward of it. I apologize. Yet interest remains in this material. A few of us post here regularly and perhaps more check in to see what is happening.

    In the spirit of the new year, what shall we do?
    A few possibilities:
    1) Whatever anyone likes.
    2) Take the solos 4 bars at a time (-the way some other study groups have done) and go from first to last.
    3) Make up our own solos using the shapes.
    4) Something else entirely.
    5) Start with comping, using examples from the book and experimenting with various approaches to comping jazzy blues.

    I finally have a handy way to make videos while practicing, so I expect my level of video participation to increase dramatically. I would love to see the group grow in members and participation.

    What do you guys think?

  8. #407

    User Info Menu

    I wouldn't say you've been a poor steward, people seem to come and go as interest gains and wanes. Maybe it could be better to focus only on one book per thread instead of all three? Although it also makes sense for all 3 as they seem to be pretty much geared to be done one after another.

    I'd say just let people do what they like. I advanced the idea of writing our own stuff, because I always believe the end result of any of this should be playing your own stuff. But I'd hate for anyone else to think this has to be their end goal. Learning and enjoyment should be.

    I'm not sure where I'm going after Swing Blues, except that I know I want to transcribe Herb's "It Might As Well Be Spring". I learn so much from doing this, and combining that with his shape books really adds to it. But I also like #5: comping, so I think I might head that way as well.

  9. #408

    User Info Menu

    I did get All the Shapes based on rec above (thanks!) I really like it. Are the other two books all the same concepts / lessons / shapes, just with changes switched out -- blues and rhythm changes? Not too many previews of books online that I could find...

  10. #409

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by tomems
    I did get All the Shapes based on rec above (thanks!) I really like it. Are the other two books all the same concepts / lessons / shapes, just with changes switched out -- blues and rhythm changes? Not too many previews of books online that I could find...

    "All the Shapes" uses more shapes than "Swing Blues." Also, it has extended "vamps" on each one, so you get a lot more material than in "Swing Blues."

    "Rhythm Shapes" is all 8-bar phrases for either the A or B section of rhythm changes (plus two full solo choruses at the end.)

    All the books are good. They are all related.

    I think a good way to work through them is: Swing Blues, Rhythm Shapes, and finally All the Shapes You Are.

  11. #410

    User Info Menu

    Opening chorus of "Blues 311" from the "Blues Shapes" book by Herb Ellis and Terry Holmes. This chorus sounds more like something BB King might play than anything else I've learned from Herb. (I love BB too.) Right out of the shapes, as one would expect from Herb.

    Recently switched to a Tele and a Kodiak Crossover pick. (I wear the pick up way up the thumb, which no one else does and probably for a good reason, but it seems to suit me there.) It'll take a few more months to feel perfectly at home this way but I think it's the way I'll be going for some time to come.

    I wanted to record this today so that I'll have something to look back on in a month or so and thereby track progress.


  12. #411

    User Info Menu

    Nice! I actually dug out Swing Blues a month or so ago and played thru Blues in C simply as it's a good exercise. I also have been learning and playing with major and minor 6th arpeggios, and noticed those really mesh with how Herb plays.

  13. #412

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Bahnzo
    Nice! I actually dug out Swing Blues a month or so ago and played thru Blues in C simply as it's a good exercise. I also have been learning and playing with major and minor 6th arpeggios, and noticed those really mesh with how Herb plays.
    Great to hear!
    When I was a kid, I never heard of a minor 6 arpeggio but nowadays it's a favorite. It's a great shape to learn because it can be used for different things.
    Here's a short video by Doug Munro. He plays a minor blues using only minor 6 chord voicings, and plays over it. Nice stuff.


  14. #413

    User Info Menu

    I've noticed the minor 6th's really do have that "old timey" sound that I've recognized from seemingly everyone from Charlie Christian to old acoustic blues players. It was one of those "aha!" moments.

  15. #414

    User Info Menu

    I've got this book gathering dust, somewhere. Might have to join at some point - although the Garrison Fewell stuff is using up most of my little grey cells at the moment!

    Cheers
    Derek

  16. #415

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by digger
    I've got this book gathering dust, somewhere. Might have to join at some point - although the Garrison Fewell stuff is using up most of my little grey cells at the moment!
    I'm working on the Fewell stuff too. It's eye-opening.

  17. #416

    User Info Menu

    First chorus of Herb's "Bay Blues" solo. Good stuff. Probably recorded this with my Artcore some time back. Coming at it all again with a Tele and a thumbpick.

    When I use the neck pickup only, the volume is much reduced. Will have to allow for that in future recordings.



  18. #417

    User Info Menu

    I don't read the entire forum all that often, so excuse my question...
    Just curious Mark, did you ever just consider using your thumb? What's the reason for the switch to that unorthodox pick position?

  19. #418

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Bahnzo
    I don't read the entire forum all that often, so excuse my question...
    Just curious Mark, did you ever just consider using your thumb? What's the reason for the switch to that unorthodox pick position?
    I have played with just my thumb. It works but my thumb gets sore. It might stop after awhile, I guess, but the thumbpick gives more definition and makes a good contrast with the timbre of notes picked by the finger.

    I don't do all that much that requires a thumbpick. I mean, I value much done in that tradition but for me, the main thing was trying anything that would help my picking. The pick you see me wearing here is very comfortable. (Lots of people use it becaues they have trouble with their grip.) I'm not doing fingerpicking in this piece. (Maybe a note here and there, but none of it is necessary.) I can't keep a flatpick in place. It moves, turns, drives me nuts.

    Some people ditch picks altogether. Mark Knopfler is one, and I am amazed at how he could solo the way he did with Dire Straits with his fingers alone. (Johnny Winter used a thumbpick all the time, which is even more bewildering to me, given how fast he could play single-note lines.) Freddie King used a thumbpick and fingerpicks. Metel fingerpicks, IIRC. I tried those once for about 5 minutes and said, "Uh, no thank you."

    I've had more trouble holding a pick than any other aspect of playing guitar. But I need a pick to do a lot of what I want to do!

    As for wearing this one so far back. It's unorthodox but it has the advantage of consistency. Notice how my thumb sort of cocks up at the tip. If I put the thumbpick there, I wind up at an odd angle when striking the strings and can get a scraping sound. Hate that.

    One of these days I might figure out how to use a guitar pick. And then, watch out, world! ;o)

  20. #419

    User Info Menu

    That's a nice sounding blues, Mark. I might have a crack at that one day.

    Cheers
    Derek

  21. #420

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by digger
    That's a nice sounding blues, Mark. I might have a crack at that one day.

    Cheers
    Derek
    Thanks, Derek. It's the hardest one in the book. Slow blues call for a greater mix of rhythms than fast ones. Herb goes to town here, especially in the final chorus.

  22. #421

    User Info Menu

    Hey, guys, anyone here have the DVD called "Swing Jazz Soloing and Comping"?

    I have the DVD but have misplaced the booklet. I'd hate to have to buy the DVD again just to get the booklet.

    Also, the description of the DVD says the disc has "printable PDF reference" material on it, but when I put the disc in my laptop to play and click on that 'feature' there's nothing there. Weird.

    Can anyone help me out here?

    Meanwhile, I'll keep looking for the booklet. It was with the DVD when I bought it. I know that. I've seen it since, but danged if I know where it is now.

  23. #422

    User Info Menu

    Hello there friends. I would like to share a study that I started today with Herb book, if this is not the place just let me know that I'll erase it.

    My playing is almost only chord shapes oriented. I improvise using the chord tones and add a tension here and there.

    I tried a lot of times to learn scale shapes, but always get lost with all those shapes, so I was revisiting a great book from Herb Ellis, All The Shapes You Are (this is the third from the series) and I get some insights to visualize scales inside chords shapes that are common to me.

    I split it on 3 shapes each (major, minor and dominant) to cover almost the entire neck and I'm having a lot of fun studying scales now. hahaha


    There is no shape 8 on Herb Ellis book, I did it because I wanted 3 for each type of chord and do not get attached to the name of the shapes, I think about where the chord is on the neck.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  24. #423

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by clebergf
    Hello there friends. I would like to share a study that I started today with Herb book, if this is not the place just let me know that I'll erase it. .

    Thanks, Cleber! I've been playing some of Herb's material this week. (I play it for awhile, go on to something else, then come back again.) I like that you added that third minor shape---that's a useful shape that is played often.

    On a side note, I've ditched the Crossover Pick (like a thumbpick) for now and am back to a Jazz III. I may record "Bay Blues" again to see how it compares with the recent take with the CP.

  25. #424

    User Info Menu

    I was studying the minor shapes today and playing it with A as root it gets an F#, so he is thinking the Am as the II of G and not as natural minor?

  26. #425

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by clebergf
    I was studying the minor shapes today and playing it with A as root it gets an F#, so he is thinking the Am as the II of G and not as natural minor?
    Hhm. Let me first get clear about which minor shape (6,7, or 8) and where you are placing the root.

    I think of all the shapes in relation to scale fingerings learned from Jimmy Bruno. The same as CAGED but he HATES that term and instead names the patterns by the scale degree they start on. (And by scale degree, he means the lowest note in the position.) For him, the fingerings (let's assume the key of C) are 5 (which starts on the G at the 3rd fret, mixolydian, if you think that way) then 6 (which starts on the A at the fifth fret), then 7 (which starts on the B at the seventh fret---this is the normal Ionian / Major fingering starting on the 7th), then 2 (starting on D at the 10th fret) and finally 3 (starting on E at the 12th fret). So there are five fingerings but they are not named one through five, they are named 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. (They always go in that order, or if you prefer, 7-2-3-5-6, but the first available one--avoiding open strings--changes depending on the key you are in. In G, you would start on fingering 7. In Db, you would start on fingering 3. In F you would start on fingering 2...)

    In your chart, for minor chords, I think of shape 6 as using the Dorian shape---the ii chord in E (F# minor).
    I think of shape 7 as being the Aeolian fingering (or Jimmy's fingering 6). If this chord is Bm, the lowest note in the position is F#. This would be natural minor sound rather than a Dorian sound.
    I think of shape 8 as the Ionian fingering starting on the 7th. This is Jimmy's fingering 7. But that chord is Eb minor. It's also F#6 (or Gb6)

    Is that confusing enough? ;o)