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Real Book Fun!!

#81
One of the nice things about working full-time in a music store that does lessons, teachers are forever throwing tidbits at me. "Try Dorian over that", etc. That really forced me to learn the vocabulary, and I'm very glad that I did.

That said, I also tend to play patterns and not think in terms of the names of the patterns... but I think that's why I laid down the bad harmony on this track in the first place. I easily get lost on a 6-string bass, I lose my frame of reference on the G & C strings. So on a 6'er, I rely even more on patterns than I usually do. If I'd been thinking "G Minor" and then forced myself to figure out where G was on that dang C string, I would never have played that major third in the first place...
 
#82
This brings up another fun practice thing I've been doing lately. Knowing that Anthony Wellington is coming here in December to teach (and he's stickler for knowing all the notes all over the fretboard), I'm once again trying to force myself to learn that (this will be my third try).

I've started trying to be more actively aware of what scale I'm playing as I play it, and I do that by saying the name of the scale as I use it. It's hard as heck to do at first... but it gets easier the more you do it! :rollno::rollno: Is everyone sick of hearing that yet? :D:D

The main benefit is you start seeing the notes all over the fretboard and associating them with a note name. If you're like me, you only know the usual suspects in rock-n-roll and country (A, E, G, D, C and maybe B on a good day). Ask me to find an Eb above the 12th fret, and you'll see me scratch my head... :crying: That's gonna change, dag-nab-it!!!
 
#83
Don't let time signatures fool you. Especially 6/8. It's a breeze, and I guarantee you you've played it - comfortably - many times. Pick a slow blues...Red House, for example. Bada boom. You're just running with three eighth notes per beat instead of two. DA-duh-duh Da-duh-duh, etc. With special emphasis on "duh" for me. :D (Of course, we're talking about playing in a "two" feel here....go back to Greg's take on 'Afro Blue' to hear 6/8 in a different flavor, varying between "two" and "three."

Or, putting this in real-world perspective. At least half of the Irish drinking tunes out there are in three. :D
 
#84
RocketMusic said:
This brings up another fun practice thing I've been doing lately. Knowing that Anthony Wellington is coming here in December to teach (and he's stickler for knowing all the notes all over the fretboard), I'm once again trying to force myself to learn that (this will be my third try).

I've started trying to be more actively aware of what scale I'm playing as I play it, and I do that by saying the name of the scale as I use it. It's hard as heck to do at first... but it gets easier the more you do it! :rollno::rollno: Is everyone sick of hearing that yet? :D:D

The main benefit is you start seeing the notes all over the fretboard and associating them with a note name. If you're like me, you only know the usual suspects in rock-n-roll and country (A, E, G, D, C and maybe B on a good day). Ask me to find an Eb above the 12th fret, and you'll see me scratch my head... :crying: That's gonna change, dag-nab-it!!!
Click to expand...

See this I actually do know (where the notes on the 'board are) but I have no Idea how knowing such ties into theory , modes, scales or reading etc.

I've been reading the books Brian posted for me on learning these things, but that's coming about slower than learning the Slap paradiddles that Ant showed you.

I'm sorta embarrased to say I've been playin' nearly 20 years and I know very little of the technical side of things.:rollno: Add that to poor technique and less than stellar timing and I'm pretty much a sad sack (I ain't sayin' what of:spit:).

:D

God Bless, Ray
 
#85
VroomVroom said:
Don't let time signatures fool you. Especially 6/8. It's a breeze, and I guarantee you you've played it - comfortably - many times. Pick a slow blues...Red House, for example. Bada boom. You're just running with three eighth notes per beat instead of two. DA-duh-duh Da-duh-duh, etc. With special emphasis on "duh" for me. :D (Of course, we're talking about playing in a "two" feel here....go back to Greg's take on 'Afro Blue' to hear 6/8 in a different flavor, varying between "two" and "three."

Or, putting this in real-world perspective. At least half of the Irish drinking tunes out there are in three. :D
Click to expand...

It's real subtle, but the high-hat in the clip is doing just what Jerry describes. The first hit is slightly harder than hits 2 and 3. Put two of those 3-beat patterns together, and you've got one measure/bar of 6 beats. That's what you should be counting with (the high hat), they're all down beats.

See? It's easy! It's just all the lingo to describe it that's tricky.
 
#86
VroomVroom said:
Or, putting this in real-world perspective. At least half of the Irish drinking tunes out there are in three. :D
Click to expand...

A'ight, I'm sorted. :D


Honestly though, I should have remembered that most of the old jigs and reels are in odd(to me) time signatures.... :hmm:


I've never really counted the timing out on any of them though, just playing the melodys loose from memory.
 
#87
Darkstrike said:
A'ight, I'm sorted. :D
Click to expand...

So how many seconds until the start of Bar 5 of the first verse? Didn't know there'd be a test, didja? :(:D

The short clips that I posted this morning start at Bar 1 of the first verse, so it'd be easiest to reference those. But extra credit will be awarded if you do it for the full clip...
 
#88
RocketMusic said:
So how many seconds until the start of Bar 5 of the first verse? Didn't know there'd be a test, didja? :(:D

The short clips that I posted this morning start at Bar 1 of the first verse, so it'd be easiest to reference those. But extra credit will be awarded if you do it for the full clip...
Click to expand...

Damn.... I was never very good at tests....


Is it 39 seconds into the full clip?
 
#89
Clang, clang, clang! We have A WINNER! You've won our grand prize: pride and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment! :hyper::D

Well done! Now you can work on figuring out the differences between G7 and Gm6 :) Let us know if you have any Q's, happy to point you in a direction!
 
#90
RocketMusic said:
Clang, clang, clang! We have A WINNER! You've won our grand prize: pride and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment! :hyper::D

Well done! Now you can work on figuring out the differences between G7 and Gm6 :) Let us know if you have any Q's, happy to point you in a direction!
Click to expand...

And what a prize, nothing better than feeling you've learned something! :)

Thanks man, I'm off to learn about this chord dealie. :D
 
#95
RocketMusic said:
I made a harmony mistake in this clip
Click to expand...

No ya didn't ;) lol!!

RocketMusic said:
I figure this thread is a great place to expose and explore a topic like this. Most of us (except the cats like Jerry and Brian) can probably learn something from this.
Click to expand...

Ha, the day I've stopped learning from anyone I hope is the same day they're putting me in a pine box... :)

RocketMusic said:
Here's the original "bad" harmony. The mistake happens in Bar 5 when I start holding the notes instead of using quick, short ones. Now the interesting thing here is that the mistake is in the very first line I share (clip #1). But it won't sound "bad" until I put the melody line in at the end (clip #4).
Click to expand...

Funny thing is, the one you call the "wrong" clip is my fav. outta all of them... :) I like the tension in it... :)

You could do a harmonic analysis of this and "justify" that B a dozen ways - IMHO, the important thing I think you discovered is a.) the mind candy that's gonna make ya sit and think about it and b.) the importance of the phrasing.

You hear this all the time with good jazz soloists - starting in and around variations of the melody which gradually depart and build tension then return again, that's the conversation you're having and the hills, valleys, tension, release, etc. Just like a conversation using words. It's a beautiful thing - and it's beautiful to watch as the light bulbs go off for you, in so many ways, so thanks for sharing... It makes me go back and think about the philosophies and methodologies of this stuff too which is ALWAYS a good thing... :)

-PE
 
#97
PlanetEarth said:
No ya didn't ;) lol!!
Click to expand...

The one place I didn't put quotes! I should have said "mistake" :)

Yeah, I'm a big believer that there are no wrong notes. That said, I want to play the notes I mean to play, and I didn't do that in this instance...

Thanks, as always, for your input. Much appreciated!
 
#98
#99
I need you edumicated guys to talk to me a little bit about one section of "Days Of". Bars 3 and 4 have these chords:

D7 (b5/b9) then D7 (nat 5/nat 9) then D7

What goes on here in terms of the 1, 3, 5, and b7? Are some notes better to omit than others? I ask because I've been pecking out these chords on the piano fully voiced, and there's just too much going on there. I suspect we should hear an ascending sort of movement with the b5/b9 moving to the nat5/nat9, but I'm kind of lost in terms of which notes to leave out of my chord voicings.

So I guess my question is simply this - how would you voice those chords?
 
#100
I've decided to program a simple bed of piano chords that I can use to practice the melody and some solo'ing for "Days Of Wine And Roses". It's really lame rhythmically at the moment, but that's intentional. I just want to have the chords hanging there to try notes against.

The chords are all pretty dense at the moment (most have the root, third, fifth and seventh plus any 9's called for), so I'll probably go back and prune out some of the notes once I get a better handle on the tune. For now, it was handy to include all of those notes to visually see the notes that hold from one measure to the next...

This is by far the most complicated piece of music I've ever put any effort into learning top to bottom. Not that that's saying much, but this is definitely pushing the boundaries of my knowledge and ability. I'm sure that will be a good thing once I get past being frustrated. :D

Anyway, here's my starting point. The good news is that it can't get much lamer than this. :rollno::D

Invalid Link Removed (Chords Only)

If you want to see what I mean by seeing the notes that hang from one measure to the next, here's a screen capture of the piano program. Think of it as a matrix where the notes go up & down and the measures go across. That's actually been pretty handy.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 

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