Instead of Licks, Try Melody Quotes

destinytot · 12-10-2015, 07:21 AM

Originally Posted by docbop

Jon Batiste is so cool and Second Line is so addicting living in NOLA would be great. To steal an old Bob Hite line anyone who doesn't like this has a hole in their soul.

'Cool', yes - as in 'affable and approachable'.

I think this is consistent with judicious use of quotes, and not a 'cool' pose.

**christianm77** · 12-10-2015, 07:33 AM

All hail the quote meister

**christianm77** · 12-10-2015, 07:39 AM

Quotes have to come naturally. There's nothing worse than hearing a player pointedly shoehorn one into their solo.

It's a knack I have yet to acquire. I think if I was a more ear based player it would happen naturally. I'm working towards the ear thing more anyway.

Also guitarists tend not to be so conversant with melody as horn players are. We play melodies much less and horn players do it all the time and get very good at playing melodies by ear - we tend to be much more likely to improvise out of the chords. There's much more emphasis in the horn world on being able to bluff and wing your way through stuff, which I think is a very important skill for any player. (Hal Galper has a good bit on this in his book.)

I'm teaching jazz guitar to a guy who also plays sax, and it's quite humbling how quickly he picks up tunes.

It's something that becomes very apparent if you do lots of trio playing....

destinytot · 12-10-2015, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by christianm77

All hail the quote meister

Absolutely. He seems to radiate infectious enthusiasm. (I remember hearing him several nights in a row opposite Tania Maria - by the last night, she had him sitting in.)

destinytot · 12-10-2015, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by christianm77

All hail the quote meister

00:00 South of the Border (RIP James Gandolfini); 0:03 Mona Lisa; 0:20 Yes, Sir! That's My Baby!; 0:40 Bewitched; 1:25 Sweet Georgia Brown; 1:40 If I Were A Rich Man; 1:54 Shine On, Harvest Moon; 2:00 Let's Fall in Love... It's almost as if he were (playfully) thumbing his nose and sticking three fingers up at naysayers...

**MarkRhodes** · 12-10-2015, 11:20 AM

My favorite use of a quote in a solo---this become something of a set piece, I think. I never get tired of it. Comes in on the trumpet at 1:15

destinytot · 12-10-2015, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

My favorite use of a quote in a solo---this become something of a set piece, I think. I never get tired of it. Comes in on the trumpet at 1:15

Love that one, Mark - and under the right circumstances, I think that ending's ideal for funerals!

**bobby d** · 12-11-2015, 10:33 AM

Rather than quoting I'd rather take melody fragments that are interesting and dissect them during practice. There are melodies that have interesting accidentals and/or chromatic phrases that work really well.

Quoting has it's place once in a while but it's not something I intentionally employ during improv.

destinytot · 12-11-2015, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by bobby d

Rather than quoting I'd rather take melody fragments that are interesting and dissect them during practice. There are melodies that have interesting accidentals and/or chromatic phrases that work really well.

Quoting has it's place once in a while but it's not something I intentionally employ during improv.

I improvise in a similar way to what you describe, but I don't practise doing it.

But the only reason I don't intentionally use quotes is because I can't do it well (yet). I do think quoting can be noble.