Learning Solar

[jazzfreak]

Anyone know where I can find a high quality tablature for Solar (Miles Davis)?

[TH]

And one with chords in grid boxes too please.
David

[ColinO]

I like this site. Has the chords, a backing track and recordings. I'm sure there are other sites where you can purchase the melody itself or this one is probably an easy one to figure out the head by ear.



Learn Jazz Standards | Solar

[TommyCorsica2]

This song is a great opportunity to set yourself free from tab charts.
Get a fakebook sheet (Valdez Dumars Engraving has free pdf) and figure it out. It's not a complicated melody and it lies easily on the fretboard. The chords are ones you probably already know (or will have to know eventually) and the tempo and spacing of the song makes it pretty easy to mix melody and harmony.
Heck, the composer gives you a rest at the beginning to plunk down that min/maj7 chord - which is exactly what the Miles arrangement does -- to establish that signature sound before you embark on the melody.
The harmonic rhythm is strong enough that soon you'll be embellishing the melody heavily and pulling it all back together again to the astonishment of family/friends, or at least your cat.

How do i know all this? Added to my repetoire a few months ago. And if i can do it...

[jazzfreak]

Thanks for the resource. Much appreciated. Hopefully, one of these days when I have more time and can learn to read a little - at least of rudimentary level in order to learn "heads"

[D.R.22]

I think this should do the trick!

http://www.guitar.ch/tabs/PatMetheny/Solar.pdf

[Liarspoker]

And one with chords in grid boxes too please.
David

No sarcasm there David.

[TOMMO]

Learned that as my second tune when I started to try my hand at jazz guitar. Actually the melody is easy to play and remember and not too hard to find out by listening but anyway, here's a pdf with the tab for the melody in two registers plus some basic chord diagrams.

Hope that helps...

[TH]

No sarcasm there David.

Honestly there was a mixture of funny and nostalgia too. Somehow this thread, in its frankness brought back memories of just how indecipherable that bridge between wanting to know and "possessing that secret knowledge" is, and it made me smile. Sorry if it came across as snide, I never take what I know for granted; there's always so much yet to know and that keeps me humble.

On another note though, I recently saw Kenny Werner and that prompted me to revisit his book Effortless Mastery. In it he advises not to get derailed by thinking about the enormity of the "all" in learning, but to take one task at a time, learning a phrase, maybe in this case learning to hear, or read a phrase, and -I'm paraphrasing here- but keep your focus on really learning and mastering that one step. It will move you forward until you've got many solid steps and you find yourself where you never imagined.

Here, let Kenny say it...
“Some people have played tunes for years, but still haven’t memorized many. This is a perfect example of overload. Your mind tells you that there are _so many tunes_! If you were to study the tunes one at a time with the approach described here [break everything into tiny bits and don’t move on until you can play each bit effortlessly, without thinking], you simply wouldn’t leave a composition until the task was complete. This experience would give you more confidence in your ability to memorize, and you would memorize more easily in the future."

Consider this as a useful supplement when you've got the Tab...it will truly give you much more than one tune memorized as a series of finger movements. Involve your ear, your eye, your growing knowledge of what is happening and you will find yourself armed with much more when you look at your next tune.

David

[jazzfreak]

Thanks to everyone for your support and generosity. I truly love and appreciate this forum. I have such a passion for playing and, unfortunately, such little time to practice. To think I "laid off" for 30 years!

[StanG]

Not be a buzzkiller while you all are doing the happy dance around the tab sheet, but learning to read notation on the level necessary to read a real book type lead sheet is something that 6 year old kids do all the time.

And, if learning all the notes on the fretboard of your guitar is too intellectually daunting, well ......

[ColinO]

Not be a buzzkiller while you all are doing the happy dance around the tab sheet, but learning to read notation on the level necessary to read a real book type lead sheet is something that 6 year old kids do all the time.

And, if learning all the notes on the fretboard of your guitar is too intellectually daunting, well ......

I think you're hallucinating. I don't see a happy dance. I don't see where anyone suggested that reading music is a bad idea or too hard to accomplish. I don't see anyone saying that learning all the notes on the fretboard is too intellectually challenging or anything like that.

Was reading and responding to what was said too intellectually daunting? Perhaps you could have someone read it for you next time.

[GuyBoden]

Anyone know where I can find a high quality tablature for this tune?

Learn the melody by listening to the song?

[mr. beaumont]

Now OP, once you get hooked on this tune, do your next by ear, and pick up a copy of whatever method book you like (volume 1) and start teaching yourself to read.

A jazz player has to have a great ear. A jazz player who can't read has to have a phenomenal ear.

[StanG]

Mr. B just said it nicer than I did. I sort of apologize for feeling old enough to be a curmudgeon.

[jazzfreak]

Thanks guys! No feedback is considered too harsh.

[jazzfreak]

Once I get a chance to record something, perhaps Sunny or Summertime, I'll attempt to post it. Always appreciate feedback (..... well unless we're talking from a hot tube amp ;-)