Grant Green - Tracin' Tracey

[mr. beaumont]

No guitar or way to play music near me, but from what I remember, this is the form...

Bbm6 | Ebm | Bbm6 | Bb7
Ebm | Ebm | Bbm6 | Bbm6
F7(#9) | Eb7(#9) | Bbm6 | Cm7b5 F7 |

Could be a bit off on the turnaround, will check tonight when I get some headphones. But it's a pretty standard minor blues form.

[ragman1]

I would generally assume the choruses simply follow the intro, but you think they use something different?

Definitely. Listen to it, count the bars. There are far too many Bbm's in a row!

As for the m6 idea, the fact is that it's played sometimes and sometimes not. Same with the Bb7 in bar 4, only very occasionally.

Like most minor blues I think they're loose with what they play because there are so many variations one can use. It gets boring just repeating the same form over and over.

The trouble with transcribing a Bbm blues is that the key sig is actually Db, that's five b's. That's complicated. I notice you were writing Bb as A# which is enough to confuse anybody!

Anyway, as I keep saying - and I will probably die saying it - it's just music, it doesn't matter. Don't copy others too much. A lot of them are unskilled and just play it. The analysts make it seem more than it is. If Grant Green was here, and you asked him what he did, he'd probably look at you vaguely and say 'Dunno, man, just some kinda minor thing'. I'm not joking.

[Bahnzo]

Bbm6 | Ebm | Bbm6 | Bb7
Ebm | Ebm | Bbm6 | Bbm6
F7(#9) | Eb7(#9) | Bbm6 | Cm7b5 F7 |

Used these to create a backing track, and I think it's right on. Which would explain why my previous version with all dom7's...didn't sound right.

[Bahnzo]

The trouble with transcribing a Bbm blues is that the key sig is actually Db, that's five b's. That's complicated. I notice you were writing Bb as A# which is enough to confuse anybody!

That's probably down to using Guitar Pro. I have it setup with the key signature as Bb, so I'm not sure what it's doing there. My reading actual music is very limited, with piano lessons back when I like 10 being the only reason I know what the staff and notes mean. But I did upload a new version, so maybe that's fixed.

If Grant Green was here, and you asked him what he did, he'd probably look at you vaguely and say 'Dunno, man, just some kinda minor thing'. I'm not joking.

I might disagree a little here. Looking at his lines, he is very specific with switching from one scale to another. I would doubt he didn't know that. Back then modes and scales weren't really taught the same as they are today, but I think he certainly knew what was going on, even he didn't call it a "Phrygian Dominant".

And maybe he would say that, but then my experience is also that a lot of musicians talk vaguely like that because they either don't want to try to explain it to a non musician, or it's what they've heard others say and it sounds "mystical" when they say shit like that. I can understand the first reason, but I don't care for the second.

[christianm77]

That's probably down to using Guitar Pro. I have it setup with the key signature as Bb, so I'm not sure what it's doing there. My reading actual music is very limited, with piano lessons back when I like 10 being the only reason I know what the staff and notes mean. But I did upload a new version, so maybe that's fixed.



I might disagree a little here. Looking at his lines, he is very specific with switching from one scale to another. I would doubt he didn't know that. Back then modes and scales weren't really taught the same as they are today, but I think he certainly knew what was going on, even he didn't call it a "Phrygian Dominant".

And maybe he would say that, but then my experience is also that a lot of musicians talk vaguely like that because they either don't want to try to explain it to a non musician, or it's what they've heard others say and it sounds "mystical" when they say shit like that. I can understand the first reason, but I don't care for the second.

It’s more likely Grant Green thought of improvising in the Bb minor key, perhaps.

The harmonic minor is such a natural part of the minor key and has been for hundreds of years.

[ragman1]

Bahzno -

I wanted to do this so you may as well have it. This is a short demo of various things you can use over a simple Bbm blues. The form's the same as the Grant Green thing.

Don't forget it has no head, it's just a demo. I'm not bouncing off a tune, just picking the notes quite carefully according to what I'm trying to demonstrate. In real life it would be much more fluid. That's the trouble with demos :-)

What I've used is this:

Bars 1-3 - Bbm:

Bbm blues pentatonic
Bb dorian (Ab maj)
Bb melodic minor
Bb harmonic minor

Bar 4 - Bbm/Bb7 (transition to Ebm):

Eb harmonic minor
B,D,F,Ab diminished (to simulate B7b9)
F wholetone
G major triad (to simulate B13b9)

Bars 5-6 - Ebm:

Bbm blues
Eb harmonic minor
Eb lydian harmonic (gives a Spanish feel and probably has other names)

Bars 7-8 - Bbm:

As before

Bar 9 - F7:

Bbm blues
Fm arp
Fm blues

Bar 10 - Eb7:

Bbm blues
Ebm blues
F7

Bar 11 - Bbm:

As before

Bar 12 - F7:

Bbm blues
F7
F7alt (F# melodic minor)

The chord at the end is a Bbm/M9 just because I like it. 6x7668.

The point is this sort of thing breaks away from the usual options. Really it just provides a lot of alternate sounds. In the end, though, I suspect the good old blues sound is best. Bigger and better impact than all this clever stuff :-)

[Little Jay]

Cool song! My quartet is called Tracin’ Tracy after this song ;-) (Tracin' Tracy (Tracing Tracy))

(But the song is not even on our setlist anymore).

I am a big Grant Green fan, but I doubt Grant was really giving it much thought if he was playing harmonic minor, melodic minor or whatever.... I think he’s a very intuitive player that probably worked out his own system. Myself, to me all minor blues is minor pentatonic with borrowed harmonic/melodic/augmented notes added to taste: raise or lower your 3rds, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths and 9s whenever you think it sounds right (raising the b3 of the root chord to a major 3rd when you go to the IV is something Grant does very often - add a b9 to the same lick and you’ve got instant Greenery .

[ragman1]

to me all minor blues is minor pentatonic with borrowed harmonic/melodic/augmented notes added to taste.

That's the way I usually do it too, but that takes experience. Easy to say, harder to do. Scales can sound contrived if you're not careful. Otoh, jazz often needs longer lines, which means notes...

I saw your band. It's right there under Grant Green. Pretty groovy :-)

Unless there's another one with the same name

[Little Jay]

That's the way I usually do it too, but that takes experience. Easy to say, harder to do. Scales can sound contrived if you're not careful. Otoh, jazz often needs longer lines, which means notes...

True, you need to develop a feeling for when to add the right note, but minor blues feels very natural, I bet if you whistle or sing you would do it naturally already! So just play what you would whistle..... ;-)

I saw your band. It's right there under Grant Green. Pretty groovy :-)

Unless there's another one with the same name

Thanks! Should be us, don’t think there’s another group with that name. I see some pretty old stuff coming up though, maybe time to remove some....

[Bahnzo]

Bahzno -

I wanted to do this so you may as well have it. This is a short demo of various things you can use over a simple Bbm blues. The form's the same as the Grant Green thing.

Thanks, that was a good example of some of the different sounds. I made a backing track and played over it last night, experimenting with the pentatonic, minor scale, harm minor, etc to get an idea of how things sound. I'll probably go at again tonight, and I'll give what you posted a go as well.

[ragman1]

Great, I was hoping to see what happened

Doesn't need to be perfect :-)

[mr. beaumont]

Thanks, that was a good example of some of the different sounds. I made a backing track and played over it last night, experimenting with the pentatonic, minor scale, harm minor, etc to get an idea of how things sound. I'll probably go at again tonight, and I'll give what you posted a go as well.

The big thing too--which you've already been noticing--is WHEN in the form those different approaches sound good.

Like with that Harmonic Minor...there's a reason GG used it in that specific spot...

[KirkP]

It’s a cool track I don’t think I’ve heard before. I heard no clams. About 1/4 into the track he plays one lick that seems a bit tentative as it trails off. What he’s playing there seems exploratory but not wrong. Later, he repeats a lick several times as the chord changes under it, but that’s a common blues device. I think it’s intended to create some tension that’s relieved when the chords come back home.

[Reg]

I just sightread through the example... and looked and sounded like simple sub V... E7 approach to Eb7.