January 2023 - 'S Wonderful!

[Jimmy Smith]

Sounds good. I like how the melodies progress nicely.

[alpop]

Sounds good. I like how the melodies progress nicely.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Here's my submission finally. Two times through. Hilarious, you can see the panic in my fingers just before the end of the tune. lol. Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.

Nice! Your approach is interesting, musical, and refreshingly elemental - no off the wall substitutions, extensions etc. You use scales artfully in your solos and are not just running them. It’s unmistakably S’wonderful from start to finish

Your picking is laudably consistent, and your timing is excellent. With that level of control, you can place your notes where you want them. So you might try playing around with the “beat space” and hitting some notes a hair early or late for emphasis, swing, etc. And I suspect you can throw oddlets (triplets, quintuplets etc) into your lines with fine timing, given the precision with which you pick.

This is a great example of playing what you play well, rather than playing too much and doing so badly.

[AllanAllen]

alpop, that was worth the wait. How much of that was worked out before? It flowed very well.

[alpop]

Nice! Your approach is interesting, musical, and refreshingly elemental - no off the wall substitutions, extensions etc. You use scales artfully in your solos and are not just running them. It’s unmistakably S’wonderful from start to finish

Your picking is laudably consistent, and your timing is excellent. With that level of control, you can place your notes where you want them. So you might try playing around with the “beat space” and hitting some notes a hair early or late for emphasis, swing, etc. And I suspect you can throw oddlets (triplets, quintuplets etc) into your lines with fine timing, given the precision with which you pick.

This is a great example of playing what you play well, rather than playing too much and doing so badly.

Thank you so much for the encouraging words and advice on timing. For sure I play basically, and am working on trying to gradually add in more colorful note choices to make the tunes I play sound more like jazz.

[alpop]

alpop, that was worth the wait. How much of that was worked out before? It flowed very well.

Thanks Allan.

Quite a lot of the ideas are worked out. I practice licks that I steal, or invent, to get them under my fingers so I that have available material to use in the heat of the battle. Given the way my brain works, I would be paralyzed with options if I didn't have stuff ready to go for various situations.

So, the solo was not written out, but I was choosing from preconceived phrases that I have been developing to fit various harmonic situations.

Maybe not jazz (yet), but it's the best I can do to play these types of tunes and have the result be listenable.

[AllanAllen]

Thanks Allan.

Quite a lot of the ideas are worked out. I practice licks that I steal, or invent, to get them under my fingers so I that have available material to use in the heat of the battle. Given the way my brain works, I would be paralyzed with options if I didn't have stuff ready to go for various situations.

So, the solo was not written out, but I was choosing from preconceived phrases that I have been developing to fit various harmonic situations.

Maybe not jazz (yet), but it's the best I can do to play these types of tunes and have the result be listenable.

I think it sounds great, and I only asked because I want to get more cohesive and work on flow. Don't worry about it "being jazz" If you played gigs by me, I would come see you.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Maybe not jazz (yet), but it's the best I can do to play these types of tunes and have the result be listenable.

Of course it's jazz! More than a few of the greats took the same approach you do. Van Eps and Smith never strayed very far from the melody and/or chord structure of a tune. Grant Green had a very elemental approach that I was too unsophisticated to understand or appreciate when I was a kid learning to play jazz guitar in the early '60s. In the "good old days", you could go to a record shop and listen to albums before buying them. I dutifully listened to every new jazz guitar album they had every time I went there (which was almost every Saturday morning). I heard a few tracks from the newly released Grant's First Stand (his first album, released in 1961), put it back in the sleeve, and bought Nat Adderly's Work Song with Wes. Now I listen to First Stand and Green Street and love them, because I understand what he was saying and the simple fact that he only used enough notes to say it clearly.

Keep the faith, my friend!

[ragman1]

[alpop]

Very nice. Three different versions, three different keys, three different chord progressions. That shows your good ear and general musicianship.

[ragman1]

Thanks. Actually I've done far too many. The first ones were in Eb and that last slow one just now was Eb too. The bossa one was in F and I did two in C because I liked your version. Not much tarting, though :-)

[alpop]

Thanks. Actually I've done far too many. The first ones were in Eb and that last slow one just now was Eb too. The bossa one was in F and I did two in C because I liked your version. Not much tarting, though :-)

Yeah I guess I heard swing in C, bossa in F, and 50's style ballad in Eb, must have missed the others. I do like how you adjusted the chords to fit each style.

Plus you're keeping the thread alive in case someone else wants to add their playing. There is still more than a week to go until the next tune comes around. Probably too slow a pace for most folks.

It used to take me the whole month to get something I could send in, and I'd just get it in before the end of the month!

[AllanAllen]

I’m looking forward to next months tune so I can work on it alpop’s way.

[ragman1]

Apostrophe Protection Society

[alpop]

I’m looking forward to next months tune so I can work on it alpop’s way.

See you next month. Enjoy your practicing!