The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I'm late to 2022! My apologies, friends. Did anyone fear that I had expired?

    Anyway, our standard for Jan 2022 will be It Don't Mean a Thing (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, 1932).

    Background:
    Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing))

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  3. #2

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    Happy New Year

    January 2022 - It Don't Mean a Thing-images-jpg

  4. #3

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    Ragman, you ought to troll the weekly jam and just post the link to the practical standards one week a month.


  5. #4

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    ^ I 2nd.

    M-ster, why is your only participation on the forum to set the monthly standard?

  6. #5

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    It didn't used to be. He's a very good player. But he'll tell you why himself. Maybe.

    Here he is doing Lush Life, one of the hardest tunes to play instrumentally. I'm sure he won't mind me posting it.

    http://www.noiseinthebasement.com/mp...0life%2001.mp3
    Last edited by ragman1; 01-14-2022 at 07:46 PM.

  7. #6

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  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    Very sweet


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  9. #8

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  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clint 55
    As a pianist with a muscular disease I must sympathise with but also criticise the motor control of your fingers. I recommend Bach for exercise.


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  11. #10

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    My 'motor control?' Can you be specific about what you didn't like about the rhythms? I understand that I'm just a hobbyist who doesn't smoke, but I listened back and thought the rhythms were ok, with some hesitation here and there. This is due to the fact that I'm doing a track at once performance on organ, not piano, where I play the bass with my foot, comp with my left, and play melody with my right. That's kind of a strange thing to say, 'your fingers aren't working right, go practice your Bach?' Seriously?
    Last edited by Clint 55; 01-08-2022 at 02:50 AM.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clint 55
    My 'motor control?' Can you be specific about what you didn't like about the rhythms? I understand that I'm just a hobbyist who doesn't smoke, but I listened back and thought the rhythms were ok, with some hesitation here and there. This is due to the fact that I'm doing a track at once performance on organ, not piano, where I play the bass with my foot, comp with my left, and play melody with my right. That's kind of a strange thing to say, 'your fingers aren't working right, go practice your Bach?' Seriously?
    I mean the unevenness in the notes seems to me where you can gain most. I have it too. I found just exercising a Bach piece slowly with separate hands will increase that precision a lot. I thought it would give a lot of gains to your practice time.


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  13. #12

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    I don't get what you're referring to. Is the precision too off in general? In the right hand or the whole rig? It mostly sounds like it's in the groove to me. Is the general style of the rhythms too raggedy?
    Last edited by Clint 55; 01-08-2022 at 03:43 AM.

  14. #13

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    To me it sounds when you’re playing lines with your right hand, especially when they get faster, you lose ‘total control’ over each individual note.


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  15. #14

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    Ok, well I guess I'll disregard you if you're not going to explain yourself using objective terminology about what you think is wrong with the rhythms and instead vaguely say I can't control my fingers. You don't strive for 'total control' over each note during a run. Either the rhythm of a part is satisfactory or it's not. One or the other.
    Last edited by Clint 55; 01-08-2022 at 03:28 PM.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clint 55
    You don't strive for 'total control' over each note during a run.
    I don’t agree with this statement. Listen to Jimmy Smith playing those amazing sixteenth-note runs of his. Every note is in perfect time because he plays them with total control of each note.

    Same goes for Bird, Joe Pass, Julian Bream, Horovitz, everybody!

    I don’t always achieve it, but I certainly strive for it.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    I don’t agree with this statement. Listen to Jimmy Smith playing those amazing sixteenth-note runs of his. Every note is in perfect time because he plays them with total control of each note.

    Same goes for Bird, Joe Pass, Julian Bream, Horovitz, everybody!

    I don’t always achieve it, but I certainly strive for it.
    It’s about accurate subdivision… i find it helpful to practice with a slow metronome and aim for absolute even articulation for this type of thing. Accenting they ‘ands’ can really help lock them in.

    Over the years I’ve come to the realisation it’s best to practice running lines very very mechanically and straight and even. When you perform you can loosen up a little on the time laying back (‘leaning back in your chair’) and allow the accentuation to create the swing.

    Is hard though. Time/feel is nine tenths of the art form. It’s still a work in progress for me for sure.

    I would tend to avoid giving feedback on playing on the forum unless it’s solicited. Kudos to anyone who posts their playing.

  18. #17

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    I think it sounds pretty good overall, I certainly admire the effort it takes to play all that stuff simultaneously on the organ.

    I guess I would just say that those fast descending runs you do now and then sound a bit awkward, like the notes are being kind of rolled together a bit. Would be worth working on those in isolation, slow them down until you can get every note into a clear rhythmic division.

    Maybe that’s not the effect you were after, I don’t know. But it just feels to me as if it would sound better.

    I’ve had to do the same thing on the guitar (still do!). It takes a lot of work to get good time, I know it!

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    I think it sounds pretty good overall, I certainly admire the effort it takes to play all that stuff simultaneously on the organ.

    I guess I would just say that those fast descending runs you do now and then sound a bit awkward, like the notes are being kind of rolled together a bit. Would be worth working on those in isolation, slow them down until you can get every note into a clear rhythmic division.

    Maybe that’s not the effect you were after, I don’t know. But it just feels to me as if it would sound better.

    I’ve had to do the same thing on the guitar (still do!). It takes a lot of work to get good time, I know it!
    Thanks, I didn't see your post. I'm gonna work on cleaning up the rhythms further. I'm gonna try to work on runs with clear rhythmic subdivisions like you said.
    Last edited by Clint 55; 01-10-2022 at 03:25 AM.

  20. #19

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    Ok people, I've relented and assimilated your criticism. Sorry for yelling at you, Eck. Also thanks for the input grahambop and Christian. I've been trying to be more mindful of my motor control on the unweighted organ keys. I have also been practicing scales with 3,4,5, and 6 notes to a beat.

  21. #20

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    Here's my shot.


  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clint 55
    Ok people, I've relented and assimilated your criticism. Sorry for yelling at you, Eck. Also thanks for the input grahambop and Christian. I've been trying to be more mindful of my motor control on the unweighted organ keys. I have also been practicing scales with 3,4,5, and 6 notes to a beat.
    All good. I meant really to say as a peer it is something we all struggle with. I’ve done many exercises, but I found after 1 1 week of singlehanded ultra slow Bach playing through the piece only one time per day for each hand I get more flexibility in my arms more precision and I play more relaxed. So I meant it as a really good investment in time.
    My writing gets too compact sometimes as it is painful for my forearms.


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  23. #22

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  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by M-ster
    I'm late to 2022! My apologies, friends. Did anyone fear that I had expired?

    Anyway, our standard for Jan 2022 will be It Don't Mean a Thing (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, 1932).

    Background:
    Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing))
    Absolute newbie here. Thanks for that link to the Jazz Standards songs and instrumentals...Hooeee what a resource.

    Secondly, does this post refer to a monthly group exercise? I simply saw this on "new posts" so I am not sure if there is a special category. Thanks and I am loving this forum thus far as I get my toes wet in the Jazz world.

  25. #24

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    I'm following you around!

    M-ster usually only posts the tunes up and then disappears to do his own thing elsewhere. So I'll answer you.

    It's a monthly thing. The tunes are well-known standards and follow the listing on the Jazz Standards site. A lot, if not most of them, come from musical shows and films and are found in the Great American Songbook. Anybody can post their versions up and get feedback, if that's what they want.

    The essential difference between this one and the Virtual Jam threads is that the VJ one mostly centres on more modern tunes (bop and post-bop), particularly ones written by performing jazz players. Many of those tunes aren't on the Jazz Standards list.

  26. #25

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    If I can add a personal note, I think there's a tendency to regard the Songbook tunes as somewhat dated, a bit fuddy-duddy, and all that, and go for 'cooler' and more modern tunes. I think, if one wants to play jazz, that that's a great mistake.

    Many of those older tunes are absolute masterpieces of composition, beautifully written. But many players come from a rock or blues background and are practiced in their blues licks and pentatonic scales which suit the modern stuff. The older tunes, however, demand a far greater knowledge of scales and harmonies, if not music generally. And, to be honest, the melodies themselves tend to be much nicer too, really melodic. It was a much more romantic and lyrical period.

    I know all this is somewhat of a generalisation but there is truth in it. And I'm completely certain that learning how to play and solo over tunes like Stella By Starlight, Autumn In New York, Stardust, Georgia On My Mind, and all the rest of those tunes, is a vast education. Perhaps an invaluable education.

    But, you know, each to their own, it's just a personal view, although it's certainly an informed one.