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Here's my take on Elle.
- No improvising. I just played the head followed by the arpeggios (ascending and descending).
- Backing track: Band In A Box. BPM: 110.
- This rather simple looking exercise took a great deal of practice for me to get through the 16 bars relatively smoothly, cleanly, and consistently.
- Like most things I play, it could use more work but I wanted to get something on record before we move to chapter 3.
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01-17-2020 08:26 PM
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Nicely done, losaltosjoe. Really clean, lovely tone, and a great feel. G F would be delighted!
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Originally Posted by losaltosjoe
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Originally Posted by losaltosjoe
Sounds great, losaltosjoe. Looks like you've got those arpeggios pretty solid... I'd say it's time to let loose and start using them to improvise over the progression if you're not already.
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How is everyone going? I hope you're all working hard, getting these shapes in your head and under your fingers, and taking Elle through the keys.
One thing I find helpful is to practice improvising over Elle in a new key each day, through the cycle, but stay in the same general area of the fretboard (say, frets 4ish to 8ish). That way you get a new set of shapes to work on each day over a familiar set of changes.
At the end of this coming week I'll start the new thread for Chapter 3. Onward and upward!
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Must confess, haven't tried Elle in any key but the original.I turned the page and discovered the four triad shapes - which are straightforward enough, but have still been trying to learn those in all keys. Again, it's easy (easier than the exercise earlier in the chapter) to play the four triads sequentially through the cycle, but to be able to choose the right triad (i.e. the nearest one to where you happen to be on the fretboard at any given moment) from any randomly generated Minor7 chord instantly is proving very tricky (for me). My memory is just not up to it!
I have worked through the final pages of Chapter Two, also - the six ways of playing the given lick. Close to having these memorised.
Looking forward to Chapter Three even if I feel I've only skimmed the surface of Chapter Two.
Derek
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Originally Posted by digger
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I’m starting to change my stance on the four shapes at the end of chapter 2. There’s a lot of thinking there for me—“Crap, what’s the minor third of C#? What’s the fifth? Crap, that’s the fourth.”—and I am finding it pretty challenging to run these through the cycle as efficiently (in terms of my limited practice time) as the earlier stuff. I can breeze through the examples in Gm from bottom to top to bottom, but also find myself flailing with overthink when I try to play them from top to bottom to top. This, I think, really demonstrates how much of a crutch CAGED-type fretboard organization systems can be.
Then I flog myself for decades of dependence on one or two minor pentatonic shapes rather than, say, memorizing intervals and note names in all keys, and start to contemplate a simpler hobby, like checkers.
It’ll come with time, I’m sure...
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Exactly what I'm struggling with, wzpgsr. I'm actually pondering on whether to simply stick with the given examples (i.e. not work each example through all the keys) and get the benefit of the whole methodology (which will still take a year or more) then worry about doing it all in all keys later.
I'm unlikely to ever be on a jazz bandstand so this is all for fun. I could be old and grey and very arthritic in the fingers (and maybe elsewhere) before nailing every exercise in every key.Last edited by digger; 01-26-2020 at 04:06 PM.
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Originally Posted by wzpgsr
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Originally Posted by Jehu
And on a related theme...
Originally Posted by TOMMO
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Originally Posted by michael-m
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Originally Posted by WillMbCdn5
If you don’t go on, at least think try to use that. I believe he chose his modal “Elle” tune precisely so you don’t think functionally. To me, those are the hardest changes to make because the shifting harmony isn’t related functionally. You can’t just think in terms of one or two notes in the scale that shifts.
But thinking only triads makes the mental gymnastics much easier. Just about anyone can find and play the underlying triad to a chord on a chart. Just try doing that the next time you practice a standard. Boredom will lead you to the “helper” triad. It really is about first being able to make any changes, at any tempo, easy by using a triad pair. Then worry about adding in the “jazz”.
The rest of the book seems to be about how to add complexity, tricks to visualizing triads on the fingerboard, more hip triads to use, etc. But if you get nothing else out of it than permission to simplify the changes into triads, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much that can increase your fluency.
I was.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Originally Posted by rlrhett
I will be continuing to explore the book but at a pace as time available allows)
Will
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Chapter 2 Pages 18 - 22
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Originally Posted by fep
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Here's my "End of Chapter Two" submission. Nothing fancy - just the shapes at the end of Chapter Two recorded direct into the camera as time's tight.
I'm not sure if I read it in the book when I skimmed a few chapters or saw it on You Tube but I gather the key thing (or one of the key things) about these shapes is the little three string "rake" will occur on a different set of notes in each shape - which will become important later. Or maybe I dreamt all that?
Derek
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Originally Posted by digger
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Originally Posted by digger
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Excellent series of videos. What a lovely sounding guitar - although I dare say the fingers have a lot to do with that tone!
Last edited by digger; 01-28-2020 at 05:49 PM.
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Originally Posted by fep
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Any takers for a final video showcase of our progress on Elle or other aspects of Chapter 2? I’ll try to put something to myself before midnight tomorrow.
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In the meantime, the February thread is up:
Garrison Fewell's Melodic Approach - Ch 3
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This was the best take of the night, but that does not mean it was a good take! I’m definitely feeling overwhelmed by all the fingering options. Onward to chapter 3.
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Originally Posted by wzpgsr
Part 2 Secrets to McCoy Tyner using 4ths,...
Today, 07:31 PM in Improvisation