The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hello,

    It may have been years since I have been here and I apologize for my absence. Life sometimes gets in the way...Been picking up the guitar again a lot since being in this pandemic. It has brought me back to my love for jazz music. It is hard for me, because I am no musical prodigy, and I have no theory in my background either. I just have my two ears and my only hope is that they are hearing the music better as the years go on. And my method is like this, I just try my best to play thru the changes on a whim and I don't know what is going to happen. I like it that way because it is always different and always fresh.....some stuff sounds pretty good and other stuff doesn't work but that is life I guess.

    This is one that I have been playing to for a few months and I have my own way about jazz, my own style. I like a bunch of guitarists who play jazz but I think I am always best when I am me. I have tried to emulate, but that keeps me from feeling music my way and it becomes more mechanical.

    So here it is, from tonight....it got interrupted towards the end so it got cut short, but I would like your feedback on my playing/style. I appreciate it and your time!

    Brian

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Love this tune mate, check out my chord tone improv following those changes and let me know what you think, Im playing guitar again after 7 months without even touching it.... so same boat kinda here ;-)


  4. #3

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    Thanks for opening this thread and for sharing your fine contributions. "All the Things You Are" remains one of my fave standards, and I especially enjoy weaving my way through the changes.

    Like many others here, I've only just recently started playing out again, mostly small jam sessions, and I haven't done this tune yet so I dug out an older video clip, circa year 3 BC (Before Corona!).



    A little back story on this version. When I lived in NYC in the 1980s I studied with Remo Palmier, who was taking private students in his Upper West Side flat. He wrote out a number of charts and lessons for me, including several chord melodies. Sorting through a pile of old manuscripts some time before this video was recorded, I found his chart for "All the Things You Are." So I worked that up for a quartet gig, playing Remo's chord melody and taking a chorus. Hope you enjoy!

  5. #4
    I think you have a very nice touch on that guitar and you did a nice job on this. Thanks.

    How about my version? What did you think of my playing?

    Thanks

  6. #5
    Not bad man at all. I bet it is fun to play in a live setting. I am really not in a position to give criticism, because I certainly have many flaws as a jazz player.....much work to be done! I would love to know what you thought of my version, as unorthodox as it may be. My style is my own (I am good with that). How do you hear it? Would love some feedback. Thanks.

  7. #6

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    I really dig your effort, but I am sorry to say the solo just sounds out of place with the song. The tonality shifts continuously and maybe you just don’t hear it yet.
    you sure got some technique and some beautiful phrasing, but on a “complex” tune like this it sounds as if you ignore the song.
    players like Wes Montgomery or Chet Baker didn’t know harmony at all. As in ‘“they could write down the changes and analyse them”, but they had a well developed ear and could play what they heard on record from other musicians like Parker or Miles.
    What Basshead is doing might not be spectacular on a scale from zero to Kurt Rosenwinkel, but he could hold his own on the bandstand or in a jam session if he kept his solos short: it’s got good timing and he moves along with the tune in a very melodic way.
    Just try to enjoy playing and it will come with time. But for the moment it’s not bandstand-or jam session worthy, yet.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by guitarvegas
    Hello,

    It may have been years since I have been here and I apologize for my absence. Life sometimes gets in the way...Been picking up the guitar again a lot since being in this pandemic. It has brought me back to my love for jazz music. It is hard for me, because I am no musical prodigy, and I have no theory in my background either. I just have my two ears and my only hope is that they are hearing the music better as the years go on. And my method is like this, I just try my best to play thru the changes on a whim and I don't know what is going to happen. I like it that way because it is always different and always fresh.....some stuff sounds pretty good and other stuff doesn't work but that is life I guess.

    This is one that I have been playing to for a few months and I have my own way about jazz, my own style. I like a bunch of guitarists who play jazz but I think I am always best when I am me. I have tried to emulate, but that keeps me from feeling music my way and it becomes more mechanical.

    So here it is, from tonight....it got interrupted towards the end so it got cut short, but I would like your feedback on my playing/style. I appreciate it and your time!

    Brian
    Thanks for starting a thread on this tune! Probably one of my favorite standards and one of the first ones I really remember catching my ear when I was first getting into jazz. A few of my thoughts, and I will share a version of mine below as well. You have lots of good ideas in here. I really liked both sequence ideas at 1:27, 1:31-ish, and 2:35-ish I think it was. I like the descending ideas around 4:15 - 4:30.

    My suggestion would be to work on your timing on this tune by playing it without a backing track and only a metronome. I used to practice exclusively with backing tracks and a teacher let me know how they allow you to hide timing from you playing as it is carrying the rhythm for you. With a metronome only on beats 2 & 4 it makes you responsible for all of the rhythm, not too mention all of the harmonic information as well.

    Here's one of the only recordings I have of this tune:

  9. #8

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    Thanks Djang, glad you liked it, what do you mean by keeping my solos short? shorter phrases Miles style? what do you think I should practice in order to get better, improve, etc... Cheers!

  10. #9

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    I posted a version of this song yesterday in the Showcase section. We just recorded it Monday.

  11. #10

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    ATTYA was the theme of Practical Standards thread in November 2016: November 2016 - All the Things You Are


    There I posted this:

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Basshead
    Thanks Djang, glad you liked it, what do you mean by keeping my solos short? shorter phrases Miles style? what do you think I should practice in order to get better, improve, etc... Cheers!
    Hey Basshead, No shorter phrases, just stick to one chorus on the bandstand, until you have more vocabulary. If you keep your soloing compact it will always sound fresh, you got good time and nice harmony.

    I tried all kinds of methods, but to me, having arpeggios, pentatonics, embellishments and enclosures, triad pairs and (bebop) scales ready for every chord you’d encounter, in any key, is the most important thing. See how far the chord tones got you. If you have your pentatonics down, you add a new layer of “intresting”.

    The Bergonzi books one and two are still my favorites. On guitar, I can stand my ground, I have most stuff (except triad pairs) in the fingers. Studied it in all keys with all kinds of chords. Took a long time, but makes me feel comfortable playing.

    on my piano I kind of played around, had some stuff ready in some keys and that feels uncomfortable and on the bandstand I just feel nervous and limited. So, I took to the piano, one hour a day, practicing in all keys, with all kinds of chords pentatonics, 4 note structures (Bergonzi one), bebop scales, enclosures.
    I have been at it for 10 months now. The first 8 months I didn’t notice much improvement, was still looking for the right notes, while the song played on and I got lost.
    But, as I continue practicing, I can now anticipate most chords and know exactly what I’m gonna play. Still sounds a little mechanical, but I just imagine what it would sound like in 6 months time. In the first 8 months I played the right notes but with lousy timing, glad that I got the notes right and forgetting to phrase correctly. With practice this got so much better. I have to think less and can play more.

    I remember an interview with Michael Brecker about his practice routine. He said, in all earnest, he practiced triads in all keys every day, playing along with aebersold stuff. Can you imagine? Michael freaking Brecker practicing triads every day? It will have been some far out triad substitution, but... triads. That’s how he got good and stayed good, I think.

    good luck playing

  13. #12

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    Thanks Djang, I love Michael Brecker, yeah triads and pentatonics are really useful, I come from blues rock so I got a kinda distorted way to look at pentatonics, even if I used to practice other interesting uses Coltrane or Diorio style, but I still need to work more on that.
    With chord tones, Mike Stern has a couple of videos were he goes from what I was doing in that video to beast bebop mode, I still have problems stretching that gum, from basic triads and chord tones to more fluid linear lines.

    Have a nice day!