Mick Goodrick article in Jazz Times

[Alter]

i 've studied with mick in berklee years back. It was really impressive how methodical organized and in depth his approach was, no matter what the subject could be. I was a big fan of his playing and enjoyed his books a lot also. My best memory was seeing him live in a trio context with a singer and a bass player. Just unbelievable comping, percussion, voice leading... he could really hear everything played, amazing musicianship.. really great guy also, kind of deep mentor type if you could get what he was about..

his "Almanac of guitar voice leading" books are among the best guitar books i 've seen

[TH]

is there any Mike Goodrick recording on hollow-body guitar?

Just stuff we recorded during our 8 year weekly art/music right brain duo together.
David

[Jazzstdnt]

That's very true. Unfortunate that there was never enough thought to the detrimental effects of not restructuring curriculum considerations in this process. It's not the place for this discussion on this thread but taking an already substantial curriculum that had its origins in small classrooms, then adding a full load of "requirement skills" courses and larger classroom sizes (despite studies that have shown this to reduce effectiveness) in order to create a broader admissions base, begs the question: How does poorly planned accreditation "gridding" impact the effectiveness of the process of learning an art like music?

Any way, the school is in transition. Mick is witness to and a part of many changes and we'll see. It is a small aside that at some point a few years ago, he'd considered having a class that would be modeled on a regular Master Class format. Students would meet regularly, and play things that they'd prepared for critique. Then Mick would give a detailed set of observations, suggestions and anecdotal situations that could shed further insight on the performance. All members of the class would be witness to and a part of this weekly process.
But he never got the approval for this idea, so it never flew.
I think I got the most from him from all the things he offered after hours. A regular thing he called "study hall" wherein students could just show up at his office after hours, play with each other through a hub that allowed quiet duos or play with others, drawing and playing and discussion of any creative ideas. This was all after hours and just word of mouth.
I recently asked him if he'd like to start that up again. He seemed tired of the whole business and said no. Maybe there's just so long you can get ideas shot down by administration. Who knows.

David

Well I'd be open to it, and I'm an on-again, off-again Berklee Online student.

Every other single, solitary Berklee Online class is offered in the master class format, is weekly, and you turn in your performance video and take your lumps, etc.

So............what's the rumpus Tom?

[Jazzstdnt]

The only thing I don't get - and that's not saying much - is the obsession with triads.

Is it a plectrum guitar thing? (Johnny Smith, Bill Leavitt, George Van Epps).

Or is it a periodic jazz guitar thing? (because I observe that recording jazz guitar artists post 1965 do NOT play with all those triads.)

[TH]

The only thing I don't get - and that's not saying much - is the obsession with triads.

Is it a plectrum guitar thing? (Johnny Smith, Bill Leavitt, George Van Epps).

Or is it a periodic jazz guitar thing? (because I observe that recording jazz guitar artists post 1965 do NOT play with all those triads.)

Mick's use of triads is certainly not a plectrum thing, he's a fingerstyle player to the core and spread triads, C G E, for example are not widely used by traditional plectrum players. There's a way that old school players used chords and harmony and that was to play chords that clearly and easily defined a chord's identity in one beat. You hit a chord and you could chunka chunka the rhythm section and everyone knew where they were.
As harmony moved to be more encompassing of extended harmonies, and soloists started to explore harmony for the textural possibilities, voicings changed so the root wasn't necessarily in the bass, and the movement of lines from chord to chord became a melodic movement as well as functioning to define the harmony. This gave the soloist with "big ears" more to work with. If you listen to the recordings of Miles at the time he was working with Red Garland and Bill Evans, you can hear the difference: same 12 notes, same changes but very different ways of looking at harmony. Bill Evans brought the formerly known as "classical" harmonic voice leading practices to the realm of jazz.
A triad is a three note structure. But if you use spread voicings, you get a lot of space to hear notes within. It actually opens up possibilities. Two triads next to one another and you can cover all the possibilities of tensions and voice movement possible. Add to that triads based on melodic minor or harmonic minor and you're playing a whole lot of "Huh? What IS that?!" voicings and the triad structures impart a mystery because of their relative sparse minimalism.
It's a whole different way of looking at triads and it relies on the moving dynamic relationship of what chords follow what chords to create that movement.

In this new harmonic world, you see one chord in the chart, and you connect several chords that create beautiful or angular textures that aren't possible with just one chord. AND having a few triads defining one chord allows you to rhythmicize your line. It's a whole different way of thinking of the instrument... and music in the jazz tradition. And Mick is the guy who pioneered that approach.

David

[marcwhy]

Just stuff we recorded during our 8 year weekly art/music right brain duo together.
David

Uh, David, how does one find those recordings?!?!?

[TH]

Uh, David, how does one find those recordings?!?!?

They exist in a hard drive. Every week for years I just archived them, never listened again, but one of these days I should. But first, I've got to share a duo with Mick and John Abercrombie. Those guys could PLAY!
I should, eh?
David

[paulkogut]

Is that the duo recording where I think it's Mick who is using an octave pedal?

PK

[TH]

Is that the duo recording where I think it's Mick who is using an octave pedal?

PK

Distortion, yes. I don't remember the octave... hmmm maybe I do...Also for quite a while he had active duos with Pat, with Randy Roos, and with Wolfgang Muthspiel. He had an Epi Sheradan that he'd tune down a 4th. That gave him a nice range and lower string so he could extend the complimentary roles.

David

[marcwhy]

They exist in a hard drive. Every week for years I just archived them, never listened again, but one of these days I should. But first, I've got to share a duo with Mick and John Abercrombie. Those guys could PLAY!
I should, eh?
David

They're a-ite.



[Can't wait for the Abercrombie documentary to get out!!]

[Cunamara]

And Mick is the guy who pioneered that approach.

Well, pianists have been doing that for decades- triad over triad is second nature on keyboard instruments. George Van Eps brought it into the realm guitar with his first book and the Harmonic Mechanism books (adding the 7th string to extend voicing options). Goodrick modernized it and made it accessible to guitarists playing modern harmonies. Good grief, look at the list of guitarists he mentored and influenced. What a remarkable legacy (even if I still don't "get" his playing).