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Doublea A -- LOL! I understand the Ibanez guitars are terrific. I have a Japanese L5 (Yamaha AE1200S) that is great. I may have to pull it out in a future video.
Originally Posted by Doublea A
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05-14-2017 02:37 PM
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Hi Mike -- Thanks. What I mean by basic is: Guitar ==> Amp ==> Mic. No pedals, no post production EQ, no multi-tracking, no fancy software. It's basically plug and play. Originally Posted by MikeS
I've been meaning to record my Yamaha AE1200S into a Yamaha G100-115 and compare it to the Gibson/Brunetti pairing. I'll try to get to it in the next few weeks.
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Hey I have a Japanese made L5ces copy (Aria) maybe we should bust them out for the final lap here. Originally Posted by losaltosjoe
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Autumn Leaves Improvisation
Bars 1-24 2nd Attempt
I think the tone is a little better on this one. Thanks Andy.
Mike
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No problem Mike your welcome. I think changing the backing has made an improvement. Originally Posted by MikeS
How is everyone getting on with the last 8 bars, Conti's chords are a bit different from the real book ones, I don't think the solo fits with the standard chords?
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They're actually all legitimate substitutions with the same harmonic motion. I'm assuming you're thinking mainly of the C#m7b5 where the RB has Dm7-G7. But a Dm7-G7 line can be seen as totally a G7 line, and the tritone sub for G is Db/C#. The C#m7b5 is also functionally an Em6 or rootless A9, and the top 3 notes (EGB) are also a rootless CMaj7 chord, and the Dm7 G7 implies Cmajor. Originally Posted by andyb
There is also an old habit of doing mm. 27-28 in a chromatic movement /Em7 Eb9#5/D13/Dbm7#5/ This line keeps the B natural of the melody on top and has the chromatic bass line moving from E to Db. It's a very nice thing to do in a chord-melody arrangement of the head. It's in some of the older pre-RealBook fake books, like the "Colorado Cookbook" (which does it in F minor) or the "Jazz Ltd" fake book. I think Conti is reflecting that variation of how it's played.
The thing that's happening is simply moving from the Em7 of 27 to land on the F#m7b5 at m. 29. Lots of ways to get there.
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I forgot to comment on your last question. I have been playing this solo entirely using the Hal Leonard Real Book backing tracks, and it fits nicely. Against the RB chords it has an "outside" feel, which is really fine. Originally Posted by andyb
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So here's a run at the whole solo, clams included. I hope to put together the head and the solo this week.
Also, I highly recommend the Hal Leonard Real Book backing tracks. I've used several recently and like them a lot. Import a track into Capo! or Transcribe or whatever, slow it down, loop sections, and you can have a good time learning the solos.
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Great job Lawson, I couldn't hear any mistakes. You obviously know all the solo now and at quite a fast tempo, Originally Posted by lawson-stone
Mrs B has requested to hear you play at a slightly slower tempo consenting on phrasing and dynamics.
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The tempo I'm using is 130 bpm, which really isn't a fast tempo at all. The backing tracks I have all put it at about 130-150. I like a quicker tempo because it forces me to stop reading and to rely on my memory of the solo's melody line and phrases. Originally Posted by andyb
On this solo, I actually like the phrasing as it's notated. I have tried several ways to "make it my own" but the solo makes some interesting use of 8th rests and quarter rests at places I wouldn't normally put them, and as I have learned it I have come to think my attempts to make it my own boiled down to not being able to "nail" the phrasing as it's written.
Maybe I'll move from that, but for now I'm comfortable with the tempo and phrasing as it is. My goal on all these is to take these tunes, which I already know and can play the heads to (and have for years) and learn these solos to use when I play for audiences. So the gig-level tempos are part of my own learning goals.
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Here's a clip done with the Conti supplied backing track, default tempo. On the "phrasing and dynamics" matter, since I'm happy with the solo as Conti composed it, at the end I've tagged a little chord-melody improvisation on the changes to play with those aspects a little. Originally Posted by andyb
Hope that helps ally Mrs B's concerns?
Last edited by lawson-stone; 05-17-2017 at 12:33 PM.
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So the chord solo stuff was your own? Nice!
Man, I really suggest you go back and listen to how much more "in pocket" and swinging your own stuff is compared to the Conti solo. Really.
I gotta be honest, I hear you on the Raney thread and think, "that's what a jazz solo sounds like." I hear the posts here, and think "I hope Conti talks about rhythm and accents and phrasing eventually, because these solos are really square in that department." Cool as far as note choice, though, and I like how they always seem to set up some kind of motif, so please don't think I'm bagging on them completely.
Sorry to butt into a group I'm not part of. I'll shut up now.
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TTI it's purposefully simpler than some of his others. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I wonder if someone can help me with the answer to this one: Am I remembering wrong, or did I hear somewhere that Conti actually records these really fast as a self-limiting thing, and then transcribes and teaches them as normal-tempo solos? It may have been from someone other than him that I remember hearing about this...
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On the DVD where Conti says you can rephrase these lines any way you want to make them your own, he demonstrates playing a couple of measures as 16th notes at a faster tempo. His point being make these lines your own. I believe he takes his various lines and dumbs them down as eighth note solos so newbies like me don't get overwhelmed and can get started playing solos. Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
MikeLast edited by MikeS; 05-17-2017 at 01:56 PM.
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Thanks for your input mr. beaumont, I am in total agreement with you and so is Mrs B my other half, she has been listening to us go through these solos, she has said the phrasing and dynamics need work. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I for one would appreciate any advise you could offer?
Andy
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Mrs B says she liked the solo work at the end, she said we need to work out how to get some of that "swagger" in to the Conti stuff. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Hey thanks for the comments. the chord solo was totally unexpected. I finished the Conti solo and started just noodling with the chords. I think in terms of what a big-band might do, you know? those shots and half-step accents and such. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
These Conti solos are really meant to get some note choices and basic vocabulary out there. The three solos we've done so far really work with a small set of patterns deployed in various contexts. The videos encourage a lot of "making it your own" and illustrate a wide range of phrasing and rhythmic variation. That said, they are certainly self-confessedly elementary. The Raney solos are like doing a PhD exam compared to the Conti solos, but they're operating with different goals.
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Welcome Mr. B/Jeff! As Matt and others have pointed out the Ticket To Improve series is Conti's intro to improvisation. In the DVDs, he constantly tells you to take liberties with the lines and let your ears be your guide. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Here's a 16 bar solo/lesson for Autumn Leaves from Robert Conti available on the web (free). Some of the lines should sound familiar (just a bit quicker).
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Here's the thing, I am finding the Conti lines as written a bit dull. But I am not at the playing level to alter the lines, heck I am finding it hard to play them straight, and meet the weekly deadline.
But I would like to hear how they could sound in the hands of a better player. I am not a fan of Robert Conti's playing, so not encouraged to hear him play it, but I am ingaged with his teaching methods, and hoping that there is light at the end of the tunnel, or am I/we wasting our time here?
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Eighth notes at this tempo are begging for some basic rhythmic phrasing variations. Could do some very simple études based around this. I have graduation, a concert for the wife, and about 4 other things this week. Probably won't be seen with a guitar out the next 4 days. In-laws are coming, but I could post something later next week probably. For now, I would say look at some very basic phrasing "subs".
Any three eighth notes could be phrased as eighth note triplets for example, essentially heard as playing "ahead" on the second two notes. Kind of a "Willow weep for me" motif if you like. At higher tempos these are basically more like "feels", but when things are slow enough (like this) it can actually be worked out pretty well in a concrete way.
Try the above on beats 1& 4 of the first measure. The holes and "problems" these create are possibly the beginnings of some good work on rhythmic variation.Last edited by matt.guitarteacher; 05-18-2017 at 09:18 AM.
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I believe Conti's walk before you can run approach is the essence to these TTI volumes. May I suggest if you don't have his Source Code book, The Jazz Lines to take a look at it. Here is a quote from the introduction: Originally Posted by andyb
Moreover, your assimilation of the information here will allow you to effectively develop lines of your design, phrasing, and stylistic trademarks - in essence, your musical voice.
I've noticed each Project uses some of the lines in the previous Project and introduces new ones. The repetition should begin to stick where I will be able to modify them and ultimately make them my own. I also look forward to where I can apply this information to other jazz standards. I can't speak for you, but I don't think I am wasting my time here. Hopefully this study group will continue, but either way I will work my way through the TTI Volumes.
Mike
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So... with other Forum Worthies weighing in on how we need to "make this solo our own" I decided to try. The problem is that I don't do well with minor stuff, and also every time i try to put my own stamp on a phrase, I end up botching the next one. But hey, this is jazz, we're just making this stuff up anyhow, right?
So here's the least botched attempt I made at doing something about the phrasing and dynamics of what I thought were really pretty good lines to start with.
I actually only use about 3 devices to personalize this, and one of them is the "Screw Up and Speed Up" device.
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Did he actually use the word "moreover?" Wow. I thought academics like me were the last refuge of people using that word ;-) Originally Posted by MikeS
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More down that road please. I think if you did a few more passes of that in practice, and then tried to go back and play it "straight", you'd probably come up with surprisingly different take on your "straight one". Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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