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I have gotten tons of satisfaction learning the solos in this Jimmy Raney set published years ago by Jamey Aebersold. IN what might have been the longest running study group ever, a bunch of us learned about 6 of these, and I'd like to move on and do another one.
I"ve selected "Groove Blues in F" because, really, who can't use some more ideas for playing blues! Of course being Jimmy Raney, this is bop lines played over blues changes.
This one is at a moderate tempo but has lots of triplets and 16th note runs, so it's challenging.
In past groups, we moved at a rate of 4 measures per week. Some found this too slow, so I think I'd like to try for a chorus, 12 measures, every week. If it is too fast, I'll slow down.
I plan to do this and post on this thread whether or not anyone else joins in, just as a way to make sure I do it. But if you want to join me, by all means, do so! I'd love the company and comraderie as, like the guys on the boat in "Jaws," we share our scars and stories about how Raney's lines destroyed us.
Here's the schedule I hope to follow:
- August 12: Chorus 1, Mm. 1-12
- August 19: Chorus 2, Mm. 13-24
- August 26: Chorus 3, Mm. 25-36
- September 2: Chorus 4, Mm. 37-48
- September 9: Chorus 5, Mm. 49-60
- September 16: Chorus 6, Mm. 61-End
- September 23: Whole Dang thing at a Decent Tempo!
IN keeping with past projects in this book, we don't criticize unless it's asked for. Alternate fingerings, picking suggestions, etc. are the bread and butter of the project, of course. We post video so that we can actually see one another crash and burn playing these solos... no, actually, so we can see how fingerings work out in actual playing.
If you want to join in this project, you can post a reply "I'm in!' or the like, but most importantly, show up the week beginning August 12 with the first chorus under your fingers, at any reasonable tempo.
I do hope some will join in, but if not, I hope you'll at least watch my clips and realize how much better you could do it!Last edited by lawson-stone; 08-04-2019 at 09:22 PM.
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08-03-2019 06:25 PM
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Seems like a great idea, Lawson!
(Quibble: the title of this thread says Volume 2, not Volume 20. Volume 2 in the Aebersold series is "Nothin' But The Blues" and that might confuse some people.)
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In the demo recording I hear the last note in the third bar as Db, not Eb. It's through my laptop speakers, so it might be a trick of the cheapo lo-fi. If consensus is Eb, I'll go with that.
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
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So on these Jimmy Raney solos the real art is fingering and phrasing. We always have different approaches to fingering. So I'm going ahead and posting a very rough take on Mm. 1-15 or so at a much slower tempo, about 2/3 of the recorded tempo. One chorus I try to double right on top of Raney's guitar. The second, I try to play it with just the comping. Yeah. Got some work to do here.
All of us who've worked on these also remember there are slight places where the tuning seems not to match exactly. Not much we can do about that, but it makes it easy to separate the "master" from the "student" in the doubled takes.
Any suggestions on fingering from anyone else attempting this, I'm wide open to hear.
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Nice work Lawson! The first chorus is chock-full of technical challenges and I like your approach.
Hm. I've been practicing around the neighborhood of the 6th fret. Started there and got stuck, I guess. Now that the ice has been broken I'll see about getting my first draft recorded.
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
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NICE STUFF LAWSON..IM JUST READING A THESIS ABOUT JIMMY...https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu...66/PDF/1/play/
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Ok, take one... complete with Db. Which I rationalize as (A) augmented 5th or (B) cheapo speakers. Take your pick!
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
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[QUOTE=Michael Neverisky;970891]Ok, take one... complete with Db. Which I rationalize as (A) augmented 5th or (B) cheapo speakers. Take your pick!
I just sat down with Capo! and isolated that one note and I do think now you're right, it's a Db unless I'm hearing the background guitar. Seems pretty clear though. Gotta make that little change in my fingering! Good ears!
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I have been a strict down-up picker so the sweeping arpeggios technique is new to me and something with which I am not yet comfortable. One thing I think helped improve the behind-the-beat feel for me was playing the arpeggios that start in bar 8 with only downstrokes, but making sure I was back on the beat as possible when 1 came around.
80% of Jimmy's BPM. 16th notes, you know.
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This is a kind of progress report. I've worked out fingerings up through measure 22. That double-stop passage has me scratching my head but the Bb Blues for Wes in this set has a similar passage.
I have a hard time with playing this clean. Measure 16 is hard-I aim at the moment simply to hit beat 3 right--hoping as I get better with this I can play the first half of the measure cleanly.
So this is about 80% tempo, once through doubling Raney's guitar, then once with just the backing track.
This is a bit ahead of the schedule, but I find I take a long time getting things up to the tempo specified so I need a running start. Others can still join us! You know you want to, right?
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If it's helpful, what I hear on the recording differs from what is written. I don't hear that C#, I think it's a dotted quarter on the D#.
Quick scribble:
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Beyond Blues: What Would Jimmy Raney Do? | 2019-08-09 | Premier Guitar
Forum member Scott Mercer wrote this article and plays the examples. It focuses on Jimmy's treatment of the blues, so I thought it would go well here. O, there's a 3-page pdf at the link. Curiously, the pdf contains Scott's name but the article itself does not. I hope the publisher corrects that oversight soon.
This article appears in another thread here: Jimmy Raney gets some love
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Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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There's a lot to learn here... anyone else care to join in the fun?
First two choruses. Left hand doesn't move as fast as it used to and those 16ths in bar 4 continue to vex.
On that bootleg private lesson recording that's floating around, Jimmy talks about not being square... or 4-by-4, as he puts it. The accents on those chromatic lines at the end of the 2nd chorus is a good example and, for me, a challenge to stay in the pocket. Focusing on the sound of the high hat helps.
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
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Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
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So here's my shot at the first two choruses, still at a reduced tempo and even here, struggling to play it clean and still groping for nailing the time/phrasing. This is a challenging little knot of lines! Still, I'd rather play Jimmy Raney poorly than many other things well. Something about his ideas just fires me up.
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Sharing an idea.
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Originally Posted by Michael Neverisky
That lick actually has the most "blues lick" feeling of anything I've played by Raney. He had to crack a grin when he played it.
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So... moving on to chorus 3... for the first time ever in playing one of these Raney solos, I find this chorus somehow doesn't "work" for me. I'm learning it, and I assume it's my lead-footedness and unhipness, but this chorus just seems choppy. Melodic ideas do certainly inter-related and mirror, but the overall effect for me is weak.
But that's how new material always seems at first, right?
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