The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Posts 51 to 74 of 74
  1. #51

    User Info Menu

    Nice work, Lawson and rpjazzguitar!

    Interesting that you're finding some of the passages difficult at a faster tempo, Lawson. Joe Pass has stated that he always went for comfort and ease in his choices. Although his default fingerings were based around the usual five positions, he had no issue with shifting between them, even mid-phrase, when required. IMO, it's more important to retain the flow of a musical line when devising fingerings rather than staying enslaved (CAGED?) to one position.

    For instance, the opening figure sounds stronger and feels more comfortable to me played around the 7th position with a small shift of fingering to the 8th and back again. Most pro jazz guitarists employ these types of quick moves although they are particularly common to 'three-finger' players such as Wes, Benson, Peter Bernstein and Jim Mullen. You might like to check out my transcription, complete with articulations on another thread of a recent Mullen performance to see what I'm talking about:

    Saw Jim Mullen today

    The other issue that both you and rpjazz mentioned is the triplet figure in bar 8. I've transcribed lots of Joe Pass and he always plays that phrase on a single string - partly to simulate the articulation of a horn player but also because it's just easier to pull off! If you're looking for verification, watch his Jazz Lines DVD.

    Anyway, here's a quick video and accompanying notation of the relevant bars:


    Joe Pass Guitar Style Rhythm Changes Solo #2-jp_rhythmchanges-2-jpg


  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #52

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    So i have nudged my tempo up to 160 bpm and noticing several things. For me, 160 is the "treeline" of tempos. Hiking in the high country, the treeline is the point where a lot of people just can't go higher. The air is different, you breathe differently, the approach to the trail begins to change as you transition to high-altitude.

    For me, at 160 lots of things I could do at lower tempos just drop away. My 8th notes get more even, I find I do more straight alternate picking, I slur a bit differently, and some triplet figures just have to be dropped. If I can master something at 160-170, I find the movement up to 200 just requires time and effort, but the shift through 160 involves changes in how I play.ideo]
    My experience is that the issue in increasing speed is that same the fingerings don't necessarily work at higher speeds. But, there's almost always a way.

    I am reminded of trying to get a song called Curumim up to speed and working for quite a long time to try to find a fingering that worked. When I finally saw a master player do it, he was using the most obvious fingering. It was the first one I abandoned as impossible. He had the right-hand chops. I don't.

    But, there always seems to be a way.

    I had to think about a couple of spots in that 8 bars of Joe Pass. Here's what I came up with. Pmb did a nice video on his fingering. Some similarities in the devices used, but not the same. I like the way he phrased it. I had enough trouble playing it that I hadn't worked out the accenting. Which, of course, is something I have to remind myself never to do. That is, never make the line more important than the time it's played with. But, with practice, it will happen.


  4. #53

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Nice work, Lawson and rpjazzguitar!

    Interesting that you're finding some of the passages difficult at a faster tempo, Lawson. Joe Pass has stated that he always went for comfort and ease in his choices. Although his default fingerings were based around the usual five positions, he had no issue with shifting between them, even mid-phrase, when required. IMO, it's more important to retain the flow of a musical line when devising fingerings rather than staying enslaved (CAGED?) to one position.

    For instance, the opening figure sounds stronger and feels more comfortable to me played around the 7th position with a small shift of fingering to the 8th and back again. Most pro jazz guitarists employ these types of quick moves although they are particularly common to 'three-finger' players such as Wes, Benson, Peter Bernstein and Jim Mullen. You might like to check out my transcription, complete with articulations on another thread of a recent Mullen performance to see what I'm talking about:

    Saw Jim Mullen today

    The other issue that both you and rpjazz mentioned is the triplet figure in bar 8. I've transcribed lots of Joe Pass and he always plays that phrase on a single string - partly to simulate the articulation of a horn player but also because it's just easier to pull off! If you're looking for verification, watch his Jazz Lines DVD.

    Anyway, here's a quick video and accompanying notation of the relevant bars:


    Joe Pass Guitar Style Rhythm Changes Solo #2-jp_rhythmchanges-2-jpg

    I think that exemplifies what I’ve been trying to communicate… and the slurring in the chart is what I’ve been talking about. this is what horn players practice, apparently

    Notice that the choice of articulation often encourages you to give the upbeats an accent (if that’s the right word)

  5. #54

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    I think that exemplifies what I’ve been trying to communicate… and the slurring in the chart is what I’ve been talking about. this is what horn players practice, apparently

    Notice that the choice of articulation often encourages you to give the upbeats an accent (if that’s the right word)
    Thanks Christian. I just listened to and followed a transcription (from the Joe Pass Omnibook) of JP's solo over his original, C.E.D. It's an uptempo tune from Joe's early period when his single-line work was at its peak. I thought I'd check to see if my hunch was correct about his phrasing. There are hammers and pull-offs everywhere but only once in the 80-bar break does he stress the downbeat when slurring/sliding! It's all weak>strong. No surprise really as Pass admitted to never transcribing guitarists, not even CC and Django, despite recording a tribute to the latter. Saxophonists, in particular Parker (who also received a tribute album) were his main inspiration.
    Last edited by PMB; 07-30-2021 at 08:13 AM.

  6. #55

    User Info Menu

    Rpjazzguitar, I like your solution to setting up bar 4 in the preceding one with a pivot. That's just the kind of mid-stream shift out of position I was alluding to earlier.

  7. #56

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Nice work, Lawson and rpjazzguitar!

    Interesting that you're finding some of the passages difficult at a faster tempo, Lawson. Joe Pass has stated that he always went for comfort and ease in his choices. Although his default fingerings were based around the usual five positions, he had no issue with shifting between them, even mid-phrase, when required. IMO, it's more important to retain the flow of a musical line when devising fingerings rather than staying enslaved (CAGED?) to one position.

    For instance, the opening figure sounds stronger and feels more comfortable to me played around the 7th position with a small shift of fingering to the 8th and back again. Most pro jazz guitarists employ these types of quick moves although they are particularly common to 'three-finger' players such as Wes, Benson, Peter Bernstein and Jim Mullen. You might like to check out my transcription, complete with articulations on another thread of a recent Mullen performance to see what I'm talking about:

    Saw Jim Mullen today

    The other issue that both you and rpjazz mentioned is the triplet figure in bar 8. I've transcribed lots of Joe Pass and he always plays that phrase on a single string - partly to simulate the articulation of a horn player but also because it's just easier to pull off! If you're looking for verification, watch his Jazz Lines DVD.

    Anyway, here's a quick video and accompanying notation of the relevant bars:


    Joe Pass Guitar Style Rhythm Changes Solo #2-jp_rhythmchanges-2-jpg

    Thanks so much for taking time out to do all this. I find your fingering suggestions pretty persuasive and I'm thinking I might adapt my current approach to include your ideas. I keep stumbling on the first 2 measures, so maybe that's a message to try a different approach.

    I'll be taking some time to digest the ideas here, and so thank you again for this. Very, very helpful.

  8. #57

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    My experience is that the issue in increasing speed is that same the fingerings don't necessarily work at higher speeds. But, there's almost always a way.

    I am reminded of trying to get a song called Curumim up to speed and working for quite a long time to try to find a fingering that worked. When I finally saw a master player do it, he was using the most obvious fingering. It was the first one I abandoned as impossible. He had the right-hand chops. I don't.

    But, there always seems to be a way.

    I had to think about a couple of spots in that 8 bars of Joe Pass. Here's what I came up with. Pmb did a nice video on his fingering. Some similarities in the devices used, but not the same. I like the way he phrased it. I had enough trouble playing it that I hadn't worked out the accenting. Which, of course, is something I have to remind myself never to do. That is, never make the line more important than the time it's played with. But, with practice, it will happen.

    Thanks for thinking through this with me. I appreciate the clip and the observations. Clearly good bebop lines dont always sit exactly where we wish they would on the instrument. I'll try out those pivots you mention here. I am clearly losing some cleanness in my playing with the positions I'm currently using. Working from another position will also just help me cement the lines in my ear and mind, which is good too.

    I'm grateful for the time, thought, and effort you put into this. Thanks!

  9. #58

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    Thanks for thinking through this with me. I appreciate the clip and the observations. Clearly good bebop lines dont always sit exactly where we wish they would on the instrument. I'll try out those pivots you mention here. I am clearly losing some cleanness in my playing with the positions I'm currently using. Working from another position will also just help me cement the lines in my ear and mind, which is good too.

    I'm grateful for the time, thought, and effort you put into this. Thanks!
    For me, the bottlenecks are usually in the right hand and generally don't occur until the tempo gets fast.

    Sweep pickers may not have these problems, so this post isn't for them. If I could properly sweep three strings descending in pitch at high tempo, I probably would be gigging right now.

    With a less than stellar right hand, usually, the left hand fingering has to be adjusted to accommodate the needs of the pick. It's getting consecutive notes on one string to avoid picking issues in changing strings. Or, it's finding ways to play notes by slides or hammers to give an eighth note during which the pick can be repositioned.

    The important point, which I don't see emphasized as often as makes sense to me, is that the fingering/picking that works great at slow tempo may have to be changed in order to play the same passage at high tempo. It's not just bumping up the bpm and practicing the fingering. It's about finding fingering/picking that feel effortless no matter how fast you're playing.

    Warren Nunes called this "speed technique". He'd sometimes find very non-obvious left hand movements, all to accommodate his picking style, which was alternate with pulloffs for the most part.

  10. #59

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Thanks Christian. I just listened to and followed a transcription (from the Joe Pass Omnibook) of JP's solo over his original, C.E.D. It's an uptempo tune from Joe's early period when his single-line work was at its peak. I thought I'd check to see if my hunch was correct about his phrasing. There are hammers and pull-offs everywhere but only once in the 80-bar break does he stress the downbeat when slurring/sliding! It's all weak>strong. No surprise really as Pass admitted to never transcribing guitarists, not even CC and Django, despite recording a tribute to the latter. Saxophonists, in particular Parker (who also received a tribute album) were his main inspiration.
    It’s a funny old business, jazz, where you can quite happily ignore guitar haha.

    TBH I think the horn players at the point Joe was getting it together were the ones exemplifying the new music; adore Charlie C, Herb and Barney but they sounded more grounded in the swing tradition…

  11. #60

    User Info Menu



    At :30 Joe starts his solo. Stresses often fall on 1 and 3 to my ear during first A section. He offsets it in the repeat of A. Mixes it up later, mostly not starting his lines right on 1, but often emphasizing 3. Thoughts?

    I think that this Jimmy Raney track exemplifies what I think of as forward motion. Both in the guitar and piano.


  12. #61

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar


    At :30 Joe starts his solo. Stresses often fall on 1 and 3 to my ear during first A section. He offsets it in the repeat of A. Mixes it up later, mostly not starting his lines right on 1, but often emphasizing 3. Thoughts?

    I think that this Jimmy Raney track exemplifies what I think of as forward motion. Both in the guitar and piano.

    Most often, Joe is accenting the 3rd beat - or the '&' of 2 and slurring into 3 - rather than the 1st (slow the clip down to 1/2 speed and it becomes pretty clear). This reflects the 'Russian Doll' idea that Christian and I have been discussing here and elsewhere. At very fast tempos, regular offbeat accented 8ths transform via the bar's '2' & '4' quarter notes to the back half of the bar (beats 3 & 4). One of the differences with Raney is that his phrase lengths and their points of entry are (like his idol Charlie Parker) generally much less predictable. Perhaps that's what lead JR, in of his less charitable moments, to deem Pass's playing as "flat-footed". For all that, I still love JP's early Pacific-era recordings.

    I recently came across these comments in the "Question & Answer" section of Pat Metheny's website and was surprised to find that he also singled out Bean and Raney for praise in this regard:

    The issue of phrasing on the electric guitar is an important one. For me, it's the issue that has kept the guitar as a second class citizen in jazz. It's the thing that, in my opinion, separates the really exceptional players in jazz from the rest. It is very difficult to make the guitar have the kind of vocal and expressive phrasing that almost any average horn player will easily be able to achieve.

    For me, the model of how to articulate a line will always be Clifford Brown. I used to sing his solos over and over again, and because my first instrument was trumpet, I kept trying to figure out how to get my pick to do what his tongue was doing. The result was finding a way NOT to pick every note the same way a trumpet player would NEVER tongue every note. This is still the main thing on my mind while I'm trying to hear something to play in my head, this phrasing thing.

    In terms of the guitar itself, to me the great guitar phrasing models would be: Wes Montgomery: the absolute, undisputed champion of how the make the guitar speak a line. I don't care what anyone says about the superficial stuff like octaves, playing with his thumb, etc. etc. This, and his melodic depth, were the great contributions Wes made. He was my hero!

    Billy Bean and Jimmy Raney - the two guys in the 50's that really figured out how to get inside a modern rhythm section and make it feel as good as any of a hundred horn players of the day could do. They were also (not coincidentally) the two guys who were really dealing with bebop in a non-pattern, truly improvised kind of way on the guitar.

    Django Reindhardt - absolutely unique, totally successful, and all his own.

    Jim Hall - the father of modern jazz guitar phrasing. Sco, Frisell, Mick Goodrick, John Abercrombie, myself and countless others should probably be sending him regular checks!!!!!!! He made the guitar sing and speak and breathe.

    Pat Martino and George Benson - the two guys who somehow make the "pick every note" thing (which I generally can't stand) not only work, but they make a strong case that that's the way it should be done. When I hear either of them, I go home and practice my picking!!!!!!


  13. #62

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    It’s a funny old business, jazz, where you can quite happily ignore guitar haha.

    TBH I think the horn players at the point Joe was getting it together were the ones exemplifying the new music; adore Charlie C, Herb and Barney but they sounded more grounded in the swing tradition…
    Charlie Christian was the exception. Miles reckoned CC was the guy at Minton's who really showed the way ahead. Of course, there's a lot of Lester Young in his line conception and Pres was perhaps the strongest link between swing and bop. The other factor was probably the novelty of the electric guitar. There's a story that Mary Lou Williams was once outside a gig, wondering who was playing sax and it was CC!

    For a true picture of where the guitar sits in the overall tradition, consider how few horn players and pianists in the past have transcribed guitarists or cited them as an influence. That seems to be changing more recently with guys like Rosenwinkel and Bernstein managing to cross the divide. Maybe we're finally starting to catch up and get around this beast of a thing!
    Last edited by PMB; 07-30-2021 at 11:23 PM.

  14. #63

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Charlie Christian was the exception. Miles reckoned CC was the guy at Minton's who really showed the way ahead. Of course, there's a lot of Lester Young in his line conception and Pres was perhaps the strongest link between swing and bop. The other factor was probably the novelty of the electric guitar. There's a story that Mary Lou Williams was once outside a gig, wondering who was playing sax and it was CC!
    What I would say about Charlie is rhythmically he was going towards bop, but his sense of harmony was really quite different from Parker - listen to the way he handles dominants for instance. When I go into CC mode I find myself using a lot more major 9s on dominants, swing style major blues licks on major I chords and drop 2 arpeggiations, all things you find in Prez’s playing, but not so much things that you find in Birds playing quite so much.

    In contrast the later electric bop players play Parker’s bag much more. All players of any instrument after 1950 are tbf. Jazz goes through a massive evolutionary bottleneck. It’s like the Permian mass extinction, but instead of Lystrasaurus fossils it’s just 7b9 licks.

    So while there’s no question in my mind that Christian was pushing towards bop and would have sounded great with Parker et al it was more of a parallel evolution thing, the way it was with Monk.

    The thing is seems me sometimes that 1940s small band jazz is just wall to wall electric guitar that sounds a bit like Charlie… this would turn into jump music, early R&B… I honestly think this era of players; Oscar Moore, Tiny Grimes, Mary Osborne, Slim Gaillard as well as swing players like Al Casey who went electric get a bit overlooked because they aren’t really much of an influence on the present generation (beyond ‘period specialists’) but it’s part of the history. Early Barney fits into this continuum…

    but the slightly younger jazzy jazz guys (Raney, Farlow etc al) followed the horn players… so we split into jazzers and pop players I guess, the Chuck berry’s and the Wes Montgomery’s who have a common ancestor in Charlie.

    For a true picture of where the guitar sits in the overall tradition, consider how few horn players and pianists in the past have transcribed guitarists or cited them as an influence. That seems to be changing more recently with guys like Rosenwinkel and Bernstein managing to cross the divide. Maybe we're finally starting to catch up and get around this beast of a thing!
    That’s pretty cool! I do know horn players are into rock players lol, like Brecker.
    Last edited by Christian Miller; 07-31-2021 at 09:42 AM.

  15. #64

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    What I would say about Charlie is rhythmically he was going towards bop, but his sense of harmony was really quite different from Parker - listen to the way he handles dominants for instance. When I go into CC mode I find myself using a lot more major 9s on dominants, swing style major blues licks on major I chords and drop 2 arpeggiations, all things you find in Prez’s playing, but not so much things that you find in Birds playing quite so much.

    In contrast the later electric bop players play Parker’s bag much more. All players of any instrument after 1950 are tbf. Jazz goes through a massive evolutionary bottleneck. It’s like the Permian mass extinction, but instead of Lystrasaurus fossils it’s just 7b9 licks.

    So while there’s no question in my mind that Christian was pushing towards bop and would have sounded great with Parker et al it was more of a parallel evolution thing, the way it was with Monk.

    The thing is seems me sometimes that 1940s small band jazz is just wall to wall electric guitar that sounds a bit like Charlie… this would turn into jump music, early R&B… I honestly think this era of players; Oscar Moore, Tiny Grimes, Mary Osborne, Slim Gaillard as well as swing players like Al Casey who went electric get a bit overlooked because they aren’t really much of an influence on the present generation (beyond ‘period specialists’) but it’s part of the history. Early Barney fits into this continuum…

    but the slightly younger jazzy jazz guys (Raney, Farlow etc al) followed the horn players… so we split into jazzers and pop players I guess, the Chuck berry’s and the Wes Montgomery’s who have a common ancestor in Charlie.



    That’s pretty cool! I do know horn players are into rock players lol, like Brecker.
    I have a very advanced young school student who's also the guitarist in a jazz band I direct learning all of Charlie Christian's Solo Flight as a feature. We worked on Seven Come Eleven last year and he loved it - as a rock and blues player transitioning to jazz (he absolutely nails Freddy King's Hideaway), it all made sense. As you say, so many lines come out of triads, sixths and unaltered 9th and 13th shapes.

    As influential as Christian (the other one!) has been on the guitar world, Parker was at another seismic level. Like Stravinsky, no matter what instrument you played, there was no way of avoiding his presence on the scene even if that meant taking another path entirely. All forms of economy picking basically come from the night Chuck Wayne and his pianist at the time, George Wallington went from a gig to check out the new sax player in town. Chuck had been playing in CC's style and as he stood before Bird, he thought, 'I have to either give up or change the way I play completely'.

    Regarding your list of 'intermediary' guitarists, I believe Oscar Moore, in particular, got lost in the shuffle. Barney Kessel loved Oscar's playing and considered him the 'missing link' in the evolution of jazz guitar. OM's small group self-comping style where single lines and small chord fragments are interwoven has been incredibly influential whether recent players are aware of its genesis or not.

  16. #65

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    I have a very advanced young school student who's also the guitarist in a jazz band I direct learning all of Charlie Christian's Solo Flight as a feature. We worked on Seven Come Eleven last year and he loved it - as a rock and blues player transitioning to jazz (he absolutely nails Freddy King's Hideaway), it all made sense. As you say, so many lines come out of triads, sixths and unaltered 9th and 13th shapes.

    As influential as Christian (the other one!) has been on the guitar world, Parker was at another seismic level. Like Stravinsky, no matter what instrument you played, there was no way of avoiding his presence on the scene even if that meant taking another path entirely. All forms of economy picking basically come from the night Chuck Wayne and his pianist at the time, George Wallington went from a gig to check out the new sax player in town. Chuck had been playing in CC's style and as he stood before Bird, he thought, 'I have to either give up or change the way I play completely'.

    Regarding your list of 'intermediary' guitarists, I believe Oscar Moore, in particular, got lost in the shuffle. Barney Kessel loved Oscar's playing and considered him the 'missing link' in the evolution of jazz guitar. OM's small group self-comping style where single lines and small chord fragments are interwoven has been incredibly influential whether recent players are aware of its genesis or not.
    100%… Oscar is such an underrated player.

    And Charlie Christian is such a great entry point into jazz guitar…

  17. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Nice work, Lawson and rpjazzguitar!

    Interesting that you're finding some of the passages difficult at a faster tempo, Lawson. Joe Pass has stated that he always went for comfort and ease in his choices. Although his default fingerings were based around the usual five positions, he had no issue with shifting between them, even mid-phrase, when required. IMO, it's more important to retain the flow of a musical line when devising fingerings rather than staying enslaved (CAGED?) to one position.

    For instance, the opening figure sounds stronger and feels more comfortable to me played around the 7th position with a small shift of fingering to the 8th and back again. Most pro jazz guitarists employ these types of quick moves although they are particularly common to 'three-finger' players such as Wes, Benson, Peter Bernstein and Jim Mullen. You might like to check out my transcription, complete with articulations on another thread of a recent Mullen performance to see what I'm talking about:

    Saw Jim Mullen today

    The other issue that both you and rpjazz mentioned is the triplet figure in bar 8. I've transcribed lots of Joe Pass and he always plays that phrase on a single string - partly to simulate the articulation of a horn player but also because it's just easier to pull off! If you're looking for verification, watch his Jazz Lines DVD.

    Anyway, here's a quick video and accompanying notation of the relevant bars:


    Joe Pass Guitar Style Rhythm Changes Solo #2-jp_rhythmchanges-2-jpg

    Nice. Very “Cellular Approach”-ish. Became my default for a lot of things, especially difficult/fast etc. especially Harris half step rules etc. Thanks for posting.

  18. #67

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
    Nice. Very “Cellular Approach”-ish. Became my default for a lot of things, especially difficult/fast etc. especially Harris half step rules etc. Thanks for posting.
    Thanks Matt. How are you doing? I haven't seen you around here for a while. Yes, working through that book became part of my daily routine for some time. It really helped consolidate a lot of things, both technical and musical.

  19. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Thanks Matt. How are you doing? I haven't seen you around here for a while. Yes, working through that book became part of my daily routine for some time. It really helped consolidate a lot of things, both technical and musical.
    Yeah thanks. I’m doing well. Been busy.

    That book eventually became much more about technique and phrasing for me.

    Anyway, great thread. Lawson’s are always great.

  20. #69

    User Info Menu

    So I took seriously the need to re-think my fingerings on those first 8 measures, and that meant back so SLOW. I have it back up to about 160 bpm now and thought I'd post just to keep the discussion alive. Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I always appreciate solid advice about how to move forward.


  21. #70

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
    Yeah thanks. I’m doing well. Been busy.

    That book eventually became much more about technique and phrasing for me.

    Anyway, great thread. Lawson’s are always great.
    Hey Matt! So great to "see" you again here!

  22. #71

    User Info Menu

    Here's a recording I hadn't heard before today, from you know who. Just for a little inspiration.


  23. #72

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    So I took seriously the need to re-think my fingerings on those first 8 measures, and that meant back so SLOW. I have it back up to about 160 bpm now and thought I'd post just to keep the discussion alive. Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I always appreciate solid advice about how to move forward.

    Excellent, Lawson! More swing and 'bounce' with each take. Those opening eight bars sound much stronger. If you have the time and inclination, you might like to apply the same kind of moves to the bridge section. I feel it will be both easier to play and more flowing if you take everything up around the 7th position. Once again, a video with accompanying notation:


    Joe Pass Guitar Style Rhythm Changes Solo #2-jp_rhythmchangesbridge-2-jpg

  24. #73

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Excellent, Lawson! More swing and 'bounce' with each take. Those opening eight bars sound much stronger. If you have the time and inclination, you might like to apply the same kind of moves to the bridge section. I feel it will be both easier to play and more flowing if you take everything up around the 7th position. Once again, a video with accompanying notation:


    Joe Pass Guitar Style Rhythm Changes Solo #2-jp_rhythmchangesbridge-2-jpg
    This is so helpful. As the tempo has gone up, I've had a hard time making those triplet figures in the bridge really pop clearly and thought about re-fingering. SO... back to the woodshed, but for me, that's the fun part.

    Playing so much of this Joe Pass... my amplifier thinks it has been sold to a real jazz guitarist with all these cool lines coming through it!

  25. #74

    User Info Menu

    After practicing Joe Pass exercises, try to play your own melody lines.
    This is a big challenge because "rythm changes" is mostly fast tempo.
    My 1 cent
    Kris