Dexterity

[ragman1]

it’s to be easy to read

It's okay, I know, just teasing :-)

But a wonderfully erudite reply it has to be said.

[ragman1]

if you’ve ever sat down and read a chart and been like “goddam this is weird to read” it’s almost certainly for this reason.

Actually, I have. And several times reached for the Tippex or used Paint and changed it. But not that often, thankfully. Even the Real Book is fairly good on their accidentals. I think.

[Mick-7]

Why a sharp in a flat key?

(I know why, because of the G... but still.... In the bridge there are two F#'s but that's over a D7. But also - in bar 2 there's a Gb. Answer THAT if you can!)

Another pertinent question is: when is a #5th a b13th? (and no, the correct answer is not "on Halloween").

Is there a rule re: writing pick-up notes as sharp? - as in the F# > G in this instance.

[pamosmusic]

Another pertinent question is: when is a #5th a b13th? (and no, the correct answer is not "on Halloween").

Is there a rule re: writing pick-up notes as sharp? - as in the F# > G in this instance.

See my earlier explanation

[PMB]

Another pertinent question is: when is a #5th a b13th? (and no, the correct answer is not "on Halloween").

Is there a rule re: writing pick-up notes as sharp? - as in the F# > G in this instance.

I'll leave the first question for now (or perhaps reserve it for another thread to avoid the risk of derailing this one).

In addition to Peter's explanation of differentiation between note spellings, sharps tend to be employed when ascending to the next note with flats used for descents.

[PMB]

I changed it to F#, it still sounds the same.

Attachment 116440

Nice one, Guy. The only thing I might alter here is notating the 3rd beat turn in bar 6 as an eighth note followed by two sixteenths rather than a triplet. Listen to the slowed down version I uploaded in #34 and there's a notable difference between that figure and the non-tied triplets that appear on beat 2 in the next bar.

[PMB]

Not to jump ahead but bar 7 is a bit of a bear for me rhythmically.

Are you playing the triplets on one string?

[charlieparker]

Are you playing the triplets on one string?

Yes. The third string. It's more the fact that the first note of the first triplet is a tie from 4&.

[PMB]

Speaking of rhythm, has anyone noticed that the first five notes of the melody to Dexterity are identical to Anthropology except that they're displaced by a beat?

[Mick-7]

This was played on my 1991 Washburn D-12 acoustic-electric guitar that I bought from Good Will for $200. I've been playing it a lot lately, even though it's difficult to play high speed pieces on it.

Dexterity, Take 2 (Acoustic) - Box.com

[GuyBoden]

The only thing I might alter here is notating the 3rd beat turn in bar 6 as an eighth note followed by two sixteenths rather than a triplet.

Thanks, yes, bar six rhythm is difficult, I'm hammering on the notes D-Eb-F and then pulling off the notes F-Eb-D.

[PMB]

Thanks, yes, bar six rhythm is difficult, I'm hammering on the notes D-Eb-F and then pulling off the notes F-Eb-D.

Maybe try breaking the slur up. Parker often accented weak to strong beats and tended to highlight the peaks of phrases. If you choose to slur throughout that bar, it would look something like this:

I prefer not to slur the D-Eb. Picking those notes separately seems to define the following descending slur from the F even more clearly.

[charlieparker]

Here, I am playing measures 1-8 with the recording at half speed and I was already struggling to keep up.

I also attempted to play this over my own comping with a Charleston rhythm and it was a struggle without any drums or bass to really lock into.

[Mick-7]

Here, I am playing measures 1-8 with the recording at half speed and I was already struggling to keep up.

You're moving your fretting hand much more than is necessary, which makes this more difficult to play. I can play the entire thing while barely moving my hand position (3rd fret position). And it looks like you're playing the Ab in measure 3 on the G string, first fret. You don't want to shift position for a single note, you can stay in the 3rd position and play the Ab on the D string (6th fret). In fact, you really don't have to leave the 3rd position at all, until you reach the A note in the 7th bar (tied over from bar 6).

[AllanAllen]

Here, I am playing measures 1-8 with the recording at half speed and I was already struggling to keep up.

I also attempted to play this over my own comping with a Charleston rhythm and it was a struggle without any drums or bass to really lock into.

Good job! After six months and learning a dozen more tunes you won't remember this being hard at all. The only way to get better is keep playing it.

[supersoul]

You're moving your fretting hand much more than is necessary, which makes this more difficult to play. I can play the entire thing while barely moving my hand position (3rd fret position). And it looks like you're playing the Ab in measure 3 on the G string, first fret. You don't want to shift position for a single note, you can stay in the 3rd position and play the Ab on the D string (6th fret). In fact, you really don't have to leave the 3rd position at all, until you reach the A note in the 7th bar (tied over from bar 6).

He's playing with his thumb, so he might be moving his left hand around more to make it more playable with slurs. He can't pick every note.

I've also been messing around with the thumb and I've had to change the way I fret things. You can stay in one position if you're alternate picking, but the thumb only has downstrokes, so you have to rely on hammer-on/pull-off/slides into notes.

So I say, move your left hand around more, especially if it makes things easier and it helps to phrase things better.

[Mick-7]

He's playing with his thumb, so he might be moving his left hand around more to make it more playable with slurs. He can't pick every note.

I've also been messing around with the thumb and I've had to change the way I fret things. You can stay in one position if you're alternate picking, but the thumb only has downstrokes, so you have to rely on hammer-on/pull-off/slides into notes.

So I say, move your left hand around more, especially if it makes things easier and it helps to phrase things better.

The right hand is a separate issue, I could play it with all down strokes and it would make very little difference in my phrasing, but I'll record a couple of different approaches and see what happens.

[Mick-7]

So, playing down-strokes only didn't cramp my style much but it was harder because I had to concentrate on how I was picking, which is distracting.

First take is playing with down-strokes only, second take is much faster, with my usual picking style. Pardon the crummy sound quality, the recording was on the edge of distortion and I didn't feel like hassling with it.

Dexterity, Downstrokes only - Box.com

Dexterity, Fast - Box.com

[supersoul]

So, playing down-strokes only didn't cramp my style much but it was harder because I had to concentrate on how I was picking, which is distracting.

First take is playing with down-strokes only, second take is much faster, with my usual picking style. Pardon the crummy sound quality, the recording was on the edge of distortion and I didn't feel like hassling with it.

Dexterity, Downstrokes only - Box.com

Dexterity, Fast - Box.com

This just proves my point, you can only play it half speed with downstrokes!
It's not an either/or answer. Look at Wes, his left hand moves all over the place. There are different ways to do things. But... I would not say that the right hand is a separate issue from the left hand. To the contrary, when you're playing downstokes with the thumb, both hands have to work together, and that takes practice.
It would be much more helpful if you could post a video of what you're talking about. We can't see what you're doing with just audio recordings.

[pamosmusic]

[supersoul]

[charlieparker]

Damn. In the pocket. Nice.

[lawson-stone]

Gladly. It’s basic copyist etiquette. The purpose of the notation isn’t to be harmonically correct, it’s to be easy to read. In general our brains are not logical when they’re doing something reflexive like sight reading. Instead they revert to patterns. For the F# in the bar leading to the G, putting it as F# makes the shape of the line visually clear. If the next note were F, it should be a Gb.

Also in general, we like to see different sounds on different lines. Practically speaking, if you keep going F F# F # then your brain has to interpret every bit of ink on the page rather than just seeing a pattern and going with it. You’re also constantly having to keep track of whether the rest of the Fs should be sharped or natural. And not to mention as an arranger, you’re wasting ink rewriting the “natural” sign, or courtesy accidentals in the following measures etc.

Notice there are no G naturals around the Gb, but lots of Fs. So making it an F# means they’d probably need a courtesy accidental later on.

Yes some of these guidelines conflict, so the goal is always neater and easier to interpret.

It’s not really a big deal in isolation, but if you’ve ever sat down and read a chart and been like “goddam this is weird to read” it’s almost certainly for this reason. In the past maybe beaming errors would’ve been in competition with weird accidentals, but most music notation programs auto correct beaming errors now. The accidentals are much more a judgement call and get sloppier.

Do you honestly expect an explanation this reasonable, this common-sensical, this simple... to be accepted? Seriously? Let me introduce you to the internet...

[GuyBoden]

Well done everyone who can play the A section at a reasonable speed.

I'm still struggling to get bar 6 correct, this could take me all week.

See below, I'm struggling getting this to sound correct. I won't be giving up, until I can play it reasonably accurate.

[Mick-7]

This just proves my point, you can only play it half speed with downstrokes!

I could play it up to speed strictly with down-strokes but I'd have to practice it because it is contrary to what I normally do. To play fast, I've found it's more efficient to pick in the direction of the phrases, i.e., picking down for ascending phrases, picking up (or alternately) for descending phrases. But as you suggested, one could pick it fast strictly with down-strokes by using hammer-ons and pull-offs, etc.

But really, charlieparker is the ultimate expert on what will work best for him, he could try it different ways to discover what may be limiting his progress. Tuck Andress said he once spent an entire day playing a particular phrase. His purpose in doing so was not to play the phrase well, but to dissect his technical approach to playing it, and observe any flaws or weaknesses in it. Sometimes a very minor change in your playing technique can lead to a big improvement.

It's not an either/or answer. Look at Wes, his left hand moves all over the place. There are different ways to do things. But... I would not say that the right hand is a separate issue from the left hand. To the contrary, when you're playing downstrokes with the thumb, both hands have to work together, and that takes practice.

Both hands must be in sync no matter how you pick, but I agree with you, as I just said, you may have to experiment to achieve your desired outcome.

It would be much more helpful if you could post a video of what you're talking about. We can't see what you're doing with just audio recordings.

I play it almost exactly as Peter did at the beginning of his video (3rd fret position) although he played D rather than Ab (to Eb) in the third bar, which is easier.