The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Good evening all! I hope this finds everyone well.

    What (or who) are some good examples of rock/pop guitarists who outline the changes in their solos rather than just playing licks, etc?

    I'll start (and I think a friend helped me with this one), "Comfortably Numb" by David Gilmour.

    How about you?

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Jerry Garcia - just about everything he did

  4. #3

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    Not on everything he did but he can do it: Jimmy Page in the studio



    Another British studio player: Chris Spedding


  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by alltunes
    Jerry Garcia - just about everything he did
    Indeed! My first exposure to really playing changes was copping a Jerry solo on "Deal."

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by alltunes
    Jerry Garcia - just about everything he did
    I was here to say that myself.

    A few weeks ago on Youtube there was a video that was going to teach us how to play EXACTLY like Jerry. They started the video by telling us what scales Jerry used. I had to reply

  7. #6

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    Rock has changes?

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bop Head
    Not on everything he did but he can do it: Jimmy Page in the studio



    Another British studio player: Chris Spedding

    He should've called on Alistair Crowley for help on that one.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    He should've called on Alistair Crowley for help on that one.
    Apart from the fact that his name was Aleister, why?

    EDIT: To clarify, I am not a fan of Aleister Crowley at all and I like the fact that Georges Gurdijeff kicked him out off La Prieuré when he wanted to stay there.
    Last edited by Bop Head; 10-13-2022 at 04:19 AM.

  10. #9

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    Steve Miller did a smooth jazz album in 1988:


  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by princeplanet
    Rock has changes?
    As I am now considered “woke” by some here: This sounds like jazz supremacist thinking LOL .

  12. #11

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    This one for sure


    Many things by Gilmour

  13. #12

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    Obviously Larry Carlton

  14. #13

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    George Harrison’s solos on Something and the End, no doubt loads of others I’ve forgotten

  15. #14

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    Brian May on ‘crazy little thing called love’ also springs to mind. Probably loads of Queen stuff esp the Freddie tunes which were very piano
    harmony/changes-y

    The solos on Hotel California. Hell even Sweet Home Alabama had a lot of playing ‘out of the chords’ which I think is a fixture of country playing transplanted into rock

  16. #15

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  17. #16

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  18. #17

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    Eddie's solo on Running With The Devil is practically bebop: leading not followed by ascending arpeggio and descending scalar line. Then repeated a step up over the next chord.

  19. #18

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    A distinction also has to be made between composed solos and improvised sections during concerts. Improvisation brings out practiced ideas, concepts and patterns. Most rock guitarist probably focus more on their ability to play off of the energy of the room with the intensity of their solos rather than their ability to incorporate harmonic ideas in the woodshed.

  20. #19

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    Pure pop and pure great voice leading over some really tasty changes.
    Hall and Oats

  21. #20

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    It's funny, us rock guys just call that "good phrasing" lol. Jazzers call it "playing the changes". Frankly, even the shredder guys aren't good unless they are doing that... even tho EVH had the biggest lick book on the planet, he still played the changes alot.

    I think it's a misnomer to think non-jazz players (especially rock and blues) just play "scales and licks". The guys who play the changes are the pros. The Steve Lukathers, Neal Schons, Richie Samboras.... now, you want to hear played who play the changes, listen to older country! (anything before the mid-80s)

  22. #21

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    Hot country pickin' is just jazz on the back pickup.

  23. #22

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    I posted this in another thread recently. The way a rock or blues guitarist plays "over the changes" is different than how jazz guitarists play the changes which is a more voice leading concept. Josh Smith said he spent 10 years learning to play the changes in the jazz style after taking lessons from Bruce Foreman. I don't know if the average rocker would go to this length:
    Last edited by Tal_175; 10-13-2022 at 09:39 AM.

  24. #23

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    Meh. Music’s music. Play notes that sound good to you with the right feel and good sound.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian Miller
    Meh. Music’s music. Play notes that sound good to you with the right feel and good sound.
    In the end, that's really all it is. Throw genre out the window, and "learn how to play what you want to hear" (BB King's advice).

  26. #25

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    As simple as the licks are, they change when the chords do, and because of these two solos specifically, I thought you played along to the chords not the key of the song.