What is Your Current Playing Project/Challenge?

[KirkP]

... most of my practice has centered around developing repertoire for that and finding ways to keep it interesting. ...

These days my approach is similar. My projects are tunes, either learning a new one or revisiting familiar ones to see if I can find something new, more interesting, or more expressive in my interpretation. My theory & technique work is usually driven by what I need to improve the handful of tunes I’m currently focused on. Once or twice week I’ll get together with friends and see how those ideas work, usually in a duo or trio. We do have a repertoire list, but about half the time we play stuff not on that list. The gigs are an afterthought, not the main objective.

[Alter]

Another current project of mine is an electric trio we used to have a few years back with a couple of friends, but kind of fell behind other things we all were doing at the time, although we got to gig it quite a bit. Recently got together again with the keyboard player, found a new drummer, and starting to rehearse again, so.. bunch of new tunes that need some kind of guitar arrangement, parts etc.. But always a fun thing to do, and it feels nice to spend some time with the tele again..!

We taped some of our first rehearsal jamming for the drummer to check out.. bass solo at 10:25 played with the feet the keyboard player mostly plays church organ!

[wzpgsr]

Started lessons this week with a local guy—call him Teach. I told him I wanted to be able to sit down and play tunes without feeling that persistent distinction between lead and rhythm guitar: “What do I play when there’s no melody?” I comped a bit for him using mainly drop 2 and 3 voicings and a few Barry Harris borrowed-diminished voicings, then we talked about voice-leading and improvising harmony instead of relying shapes. I think this may end up being a Mister Miyagi situation where the lessons are not always clear on the surface and eventually reveal themselves in unexpected ways.

Teach demonstrated a bunch of improvised, modern-sounding voice-leading movements around the changes to Body and Soul. He suggested I work through the first bit, up to the initial resolution to Db, seeing what kind of interesting voice leading I can find with just three strings. I said “Is this my assignment for next week?” He responded, “Just have fun with it.” I think that was the hidden lesson, Miyagi-style, right there.

[wengr]

Working on some walking bass lines under progressions, mostly with Sean McGowen material from truefire.

[Bflat233]

I've been working on tightening up a "songbook" of a about dozen tunes well-suited for suited for guitar-bass duo. My main source of inspiration is Bill Hall with Red Mitchell, as well as with Ron Carter; also John Stein and Dave Zinno's Wood and Strings is great stuff. Though he has a drummer on the album, Herb Ellis' Sweet and Lovely is also wonderful with respect to tune selection, and his approach of interspersing chords with the melody and solos is something to aspire to.

[joelf]

1) I want to, as a solo player, get deeper into rubato ballad playing---a la my chief inspiration on that front, pianist Chris Anderson. I'm not him, and wouldn't try to be---that's certain artistic death. However...

What I've done to date is present the ballads---with some ornamentation and expansion, and, I hope, sensitivity---but still basically presenting them, sort of in miniature. What Chris has spurred me to have the nerve and trust to do is this: To be way more expansive: trust that I have the ears, knowledge, and spontaneity in chance-taking sufficient to make some left turns away from the basic material for more extended periods, bring it back---and not bore people. Sort of start with the tune, create a fantasia, return to the tune. Solo players like Chris (or Bill Evans) can go 10 minutes + on a ballad and have the listener enraptured for the entire ride. I want to tackle and master this.

2) My favorite part of improvising is not the solo, but the 'conversation'. A duo setting with an empathetic, listening partner is for me the perfect setting for this. It's great to converse in this way on tunes. I want to further develop that, but also ratchet it up by agreeing to start with either the thinnest wisp of a sketch, or nothing but our ears. I tried this once, with fellow guitarist Ray Macchiarolla, and the recorded evidence was encouraging. I listened yesterday to a series of these type conversations between Paul Bley and Gary Peacock. It was freeing even to listen. You don't even have to start together: on the first track (of Mindset) Peacock plays alone for several minutes.

So, I've spent much of my creative life with prepared composing. Now I want to get deeper into the spontaneous and listening kind...

[wengr]

Since I'm a jazz guitar noob (though not new to guitar) I have a TON of work to do. I have a teacher and we meet weekly. This feels like a luxury - I have played for over 40 years but am almost entirely self-taught. My teacher is giving me a new song almost every week. I'm currently working on West Coast Blues and Manha Da Carnaval. Every new tune brings up a new topic or another angle on a topic we've already discussed. I'm working on getting the right feel when comping, getting more accustomed to the chord forms that are unfamiliar to me, nailing the melodies on all the tunes I've learned, playing through all the arpeggios of the harmonized major scale, getting the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales more deeply into my fingers, UN-learning alternate picking and trying to use economy picking (a big challenge since I've been playing bluegrass for the last decade) and overall better understanding of the fretboard. My biggest challenge is engaging a part of my brain when playing that is usually off line - *thinking* about what is happening in the chord progression instead of just noodling pentatonic licks in the song's key center. I made myself a loop of Manha Da Carnaval that I've been soloing over and it's been somewhat of a breakthrough exercise for me. After a few months into this adventure I am finally seeing a glimmer of progress. I am still a rank beginner in jazz guitar, but I'm learning a LOT and having as much fun with the instrument as I've ever had in all the years I've played.

I can identify with many issues here. Moving from alternate to economy without thinking about it seems impossible sometimes at this stage of the game. Also West Coast Blues was always a struggle to play over for me, and I didn't get anywhere with it. I'd be interested to hear your strategies for playing over that tune?

[lawson-stone]

HEre's where I am on my current project, which is Charlie Parker's recording of "Donna Lee" This is the head and the first chorus.

[wengr]

Sounds great, playing, tone, everything.

[ccroft]

My current challenge? Trying to keep up with Lawson on Donna Lee! :-)

[lawson-stone]

My current challenge? Trying to keep up with Lawson on Donna Lee! :-)

That shouldn't be too difficult! At about 180 my fingers get all tangled up.

[MarkRhodes]

I've been working on tightening up a "songbook" of a about dozen tunes well-suited for suited for guitar-bass duo. My main source of inspiration is Bill Hall with Red Mitchell, as well as with Ron Carter; also John Stein and Dave Zinno's Wood and Strings is great stuff. Though he has a drummer on the album, Herb Ellis' Sweet and Lovely is also wonderful with respect to tune selection, and his approach of interspersing chords with the melody and solos is something to aspire to.

That's a laudable goal. I was unfamiliar with Herb's "Sweet and Lovely" record, so naturally I went to YouTube for a sample. I'll eventually get this. I have a LOT of Herb's records---he's a favorite.

[JazzPadd]

Many thanks for this thread, I've enjoyed reading all the posts and find the diversity encouraging.

At the moment, I'm working on learning tunes. There's a club about a 40 minute drive from where I live that has a weekly pay-to-play jazz jam session and an acoustic night 2-3 times a month, the latter often but not exclusively attended by those interested in jazz. The playing skills range from beginner to advanced, with me being somewhere in the middle. Most have day jobs. Every so often a local pro, or a pro who is passing through from a larger city (such as club alumni back in town), will show up. I'm more or less a regular. Depending on who is there on any given night, a variety of tunes can get called. Most beginner and intermediate players use a two volume "jazz standard bible," while the better players, some of which are semi-pro and who have an expanded repertoire, tend to use iReal Pro when necessary. I use both. If a tune is new to me, or in a new key (such as when singers show up) I plod my way through and make it a point to learn it better for the next session. I have about a dozen tunes that I call to work on, for which I provide lead sheets for the horn players if they are not in the Bb and Eb versions of the book we all use.

When I reflect on all this, which I've been doing for the better part of two years, I think it's been more about getting involved in a local jazz scene rather than woodshedding for particular skills. I need the latter, but with time limits I focus on the former and try to at least not develop bad habits.

[ccroft]

That shouldn't be too difficult! At about 180 my fingers get all tangled up.

Ha! Not so much that, but you got me started on learning the head, and now I have to learn his solo too??!!

I admire your bone-headed determination. Gotta have it if you're gonna learn how to really play this contraption we all love so much.

[lawson-stone]

Ha! Not so much that, but you got me started on learning the head, and now I have to learn his solo too??!!

I admire your bone-headed determination. Gotta have it if you're gonna learn how to really play this contraption we all love so much.

I'll be honest... I've been struggling with jazz guitar improvisation for 35 years and feel like I play like crap. So I started learning the Jimmy Raney solos on the Aebersold set. Just hearing decent music coming out of my own amp was a breath of fresh air. So I've put "learning to improvise" on a back burner and now I'm just "learning to play stuff I enjoy hearing myself play." I went maybe a year without once trying to improvise over a standard.

Then a week or so ago, I just started slamming out lines over "Satin Doll." And really, it wasn't that bad! It wasn't learned licks harvested from these projects, but I could tell the rhythm and feel were definitely under the influence of the work I'd done. So I'm feeling a very tiny, almost invisible, flicker of hope about improvising.

This also brings home to me that to improvise, I have to know the changes of the tune dead on, in my sleep, solid as a rock. Only a few tunes do I really feel totally inside the changes that way: Satin Doll, Misty, Here's That Rainy Day, a few others. So I'm resorting to them now to see if my playing these really good solos is having an impact.

I like to say that when I was playing the Jimmy Raney stuff, my amp thought it had been sold to a real guitar player.

[corpse]

I'll be honest... I've been struggling with jazz guitar improvisation for 35 years and feel like I play like crap. So I started learning the Jimmy Raney solos on the Aebersold set. Just hearing decent music coming out of my own amp was a breath of fresh air. So I've put "learning to improvise" on a back burner and now I'm just "learning to play stuff I enjoy hearing myself play." I went maybe a year without once trying to improvise over a standard.

Then a week or so ago, I just started slamming out lines over "Satin Doll." And really, it wasn't that bad! It wasn't learned licks harvested from these projects, but I could tell the rhythm and feel were definitely under the influence of the work I'd done. So I'm feeling a very tiny, almost invisible, flicker of hope about improvising.

This also brings home to me that to improvise, I have to know the changes of the tune dead on, in my sleep, solid as a rock. Only a few tunes do I really feel totally inside the changes that way: Satin Doll, Misty, Here's That Rainy Day, a few others. So I'm resorting to them now to see if my playing these really good solos is having an impact.

I like to say that when I was playing the Jimmy Raney stuff, my amp thought it had been sold to a real guitar player.

Have you tried the middle ground where you chop up the solos into 2 and 1 bar phrases and play through other tunes? Like lego bricks. You just need to be able to see their multiple applications.

For instance (I’ve played these solos also), the first 2 bars in the book is a major lick. You can play that on a 1, 3, or vi chord. play half the phrase for a 1 bar phrase. It can be a turnaround to 1, or a turnaround to 2 (if you make the last note a b2 of the tonic).

The second two bars in the book is a dominant lick. That will take care of V. You can use it as a tritone sub. You can use it as a minor ii V (G dominant over Bm7b5 then make the last note an Ab)

If you pick out a tonic minor lick you can play through hundreds of standards. This isn’t going to sound like a good solo obviously, but you can learn the phrases in the context of multiple tunes which is more enjoyable, plus at the end you really own them.

When I learn a lick I learn it in 2 positions so that my licks follow the path of the chords.

[pauln]

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT PLAYING PROJECT/CHALLENGE?

Responses are confusing me... isn't it always the drummer?

[Petimar]

I'm working on soloing over tonic minor chords. I feel comfortable using Barry Harris ideas for minor II and V, but not completely on I.

I've noticed the Barry Harris books and videos of Barry and various people who show Barry's stuff (Chris, Bill, etc) talk very little about soloing on tonic minor, but talk a BUNCH about soloing on major and dominant chords. Also talk about what to play over minor II V, but not the I in minor II V I.

Just thinking aloud here. I wonder if this is because tunes in minor keys became way more common in the 50's than in the 40's. Looking at Birds tunes, you see very few minor tunes. Segment comes right to mind, but I can't think off the top of my head of others.

[Bflat233]

That's a laudable goal. I was unfamiliar with Herb's "Sweet and Lovely" record, so naturally I went to YouTube for a sample. I'll eventually get this. I have a LOT of Herb's records---he's a favorite.

That's funny ... all this time I thought it was you who pointed me to this album! (I know you are a big fan of Herb...)

Sweet and Lovely was recorded Hollywood for a Japanese label called Skip Records. YouTube has the majority of the cuts and is probably the most reliable source of the recordings. The song list is just fantastic and Herb's guitar work is outstanding.

[corpse]

I'm working on soloing over tonic minor chords. I feel comfortable using Barry Harris ideas for minor II and V, but not completely on I.

I've noticed the Barry Harris books and videos of Barry and various people who show Barry's stuff (Chris, Bill, etc) talk very little about soloing on tonic minor, but talk a BUNCH about soloing on major and dominant chords. Also talk about what to play over minor II V, but not the I in minor II V I.

Just thinking aloud here. I wonder if this is because tunes in minor keys became way more common in the 50's than in the 40's. Looking at Birds tunes, you see very few minor tunes. Segment comes right to mind, but I can't think off the top of my head of others.

Howard Reese went over a fair amount of it when I studied with him. It's all the same stuff as major and dominant: added note rules, chords, triads, 5432 etc..

Good to learn it for tonics, but you can use the same language on the tritone's minor for altered.

[corpse]

Could somebody just confirm that my posts are showing up real quick?

[lawson-stone]

Could somebody just confirm that my posts are showing up real quick?

Yes I'm seeing them fine.

[Ray175]

2 current projects - first is setting up my home studio (but not within the scope of this post) and the second is to explore the possibilities offered by hybrid picking. As a Christmas present I received a copy of "Hybrid Picking for Guitar" by Gustavo Assis-Brazil, which is full of lots of challenging and interesting exercises - far too early to say whether I'm going to make a lot more use of the technique, but as an exercise in concentration, discipline and sight reading it's also adding value in other ways....

[Michael Neverisky]

Ted Greene 101

[corpse]

Ted Greene 101

Very nice. Did you learn this from one of those sheets? I've been interested in checking some of the free arrangements that are available, but the notation is unnatural. Is it less complicated than it looks? I transcribed some stuff from his album, but it looks like there is a ton of free arrangements that were never recorded.