The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by PMB
    Not just BG recordings. So many recordings before the digital age aren't at concert pitch (and not just those such as Barry's solo posted above without a fixed reference point from a keyboard). Sometimes tapes ran at the wrong speed. The original Kind of Blue LP and CD releases famously suffered from that problem. Occasionally, as with certain Beatles tunes, it was done consciously for effect. Incidentally, there's an ongoing debate about whether Robert Johnson's recordings were radically sped up. The slower, transposed versions posted on Youtube exhibit none of the usual artefacts that are a byproduct of that process. In fact, both his voice and guitar sound to me much more natural and closer to those of his contemporaries.
    That's why I shy away from those recordings, they are very hard to transcribe for me. There's some great early Clark Terry albums that I want to get, but I shy away from them for that reason as well. I listen to jazz for pleasure and as a means of inspiration. However, my inner ear is getting to the point where I can correct the pitch on my guitar without retunning the damn thing...

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    you fellows need to get up 1970's standards!! haha..had technics pitch adjust direct drive turntables then..and pitch adjust cd players since ..if you're all digital..grab audacity and do some shifting...no way to play along with everything without...i learned that very early on...

    problems can come from poor instrument tuning to begin with, poor recording speed, poor mastering and poor transfers..way too many variables..easy fix with pitch adjust units

    if you like to play along to recordings, shouldn't be without


    cheers

    ps- forget playing to youtube...no standards at all

  4. #28

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    BG solos a bit on this around 3:38


  5. #29
    I love Barry Galbraith, but this thread made me love his playing even more.

    I just ordered the last two books to complete his series of Jazz Guitar Studies. My teachers studied with him, and that must have been a hoot and a holler! His Comping book set the bedrock from which I learned to comp melodically. His Bach book got me into classical music with a plectrum. That Melodic and Harmonic Minor book is a headache of long lines, but each phrase offers a masterclass in linear construction in it of it's self.

    Barry was the teacher's teacher and what a player!

  6. #30

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    funny, his posture doesn't look bad in that vid (his head is kinda cocked at a weird angle tho) - he suffered from the '60's on with numbness in his hands as the result of bad posture and nerves impinging on bone spurs in his spine (i got this from the bio in the Mel Bay book).

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by mrcee
    BG solos a bit on this around 3:38

    Actually, that was Mundell Lowe on the solo at about 3:38.

    BG only played on the George Russell compositions, and the tune at the end when both ML and BG played together.

    BG held his guitar on his left leg, CG style, while ML held it on his right leg.

    I heard BG's physical problems stemmed from a fall he took while he was working on his roof.

  8. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgcim
    Actually, that was Mundell Lowe on the solo at about 3:38.

    BG only played on the George Russell compositions, and the tune at the end when both ML and BG played together.

    BG held his guitar on his left leg, CG style, while ML held it on his right leg.

    I heard BG's physical problems stemmed from a fall he took while he was working on his roof.
    Thanks for the correction. I remember him and Mundell Lowe playing together from that same session but I couldn't find it on YT.

  9. #33

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    Here's a rare interview with Barry Galbraith that was published as a part of a series on rhythm guitar in Metronome magazine, 1958. Turk Van Lake is the interviewer (the rest of the series can be found at the freddiegreen.org site):

    Q. Who were your main influences?
    A. Freddie Green and George Van Eps.
    Q. How did you achieve your style?
    A. Playing with Basie records helped a great deal.
    Q. Does rhythm guitar help in other fields of guitar playing?
    A. All aspects of an instrument must be studied. Gaps [in technique] are being bridged by newcomers. It is the evolution of playing that the new generation absorbs [the techniques] of the previous [generation], so that newcomers should not have any trouble playing both rhythm guitar and electric guitar. You should be a complete player of an instrument that has so many facets.
    Q. What gauge strings do you use?
    A. Heavy gauge.
    Q. What is the string action height?
    A. The height of the action depends on each instance, on each type of performance.
    Q. What type of pick do you use?
    A. A hard pick about one inch long and 3/4 inch wide.
    Q. Do you recommend any special set of chords for rhythm playing?
    A. For jump tunes, use chords on the inside strings and use no more than three strings. For ballads, use chords on the inside strings and use no more than four strings.
    Q. What is your approach to blending in the rhythm section?
    A. I think of the guitar as the top part of the bass.
    Q. What is your advice to young guitarists on playing rhythm?
    A. Rhythm guitar is one of the fundamentals of guitar playing and performs an important function in the band. It should not be considered unimportant. Pupils of mine who played good electric guitar, but never played rhythm, have found tremendous satisfaction in playing rhythm and have a new respect for it.

  10. #34

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    have to reiterate how great this recording truly is


    a must!!



    cheers

  11. #35

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    old thread - doesn't matter - he's still as important as ever - the great BG mystery remains unsolved - WHAT DO THE CIRCLED NUMBERS MEAN ABOVE THE STAVE IN HIS COMPING BOOK????

  12. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Groyniad
    old thread - doesn't matter - he's still as important as ever - the great BG mystery remains unsolved - WHAT DO THE CIRCLED NUMBERS MEAN ABOVE THE STAVE IN HIS COMPING BOOK????
    Haven’t looked at that book for a while, but from memory I believe it means the string number for the top note of the chord. So it’s like classical guitar notation effectively.

  13. #37

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    great - i was thinking it was position numbers (fret numbers) - i'll check this out and get backthanks

  14. #38

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    Quote Originally Posted by Groyniad
    old thread - doesn't matter - he's still as important as ever - the great BG mystery remains unsolved - WHAT DO THE CIRCLED NUMBERS MEAN ABOVE THE STAVE IN HIS COMPING BOOK????
    String numbers, but they're not always notated correctly in the book. They're sometimes confused with fret positions - as I found to my cost. But the book is taken (I believe) from his handwritten work. Whether that was precise is another thing too.

    In places, it's all a bit unreliable really. Best for the player to use his judgement and play what sounds and feels right.