Point made.

[polishpaul]

Nice back-up, thanks...no hard feelings....

 

I have re-registered, as I was having a LOT of problems.....I was having to log-in again and again and again to do anything. Log-in to enter forum, log-in again to post new thread, log-in again to upload attachments, log-in again to edit post...........I hope things improve now.

 

 

Please find attached a crappy tune.........I was wondering, mainly, what changes would have to be made to make it jazzy, in terms of note choice. I have already learned that the note range is too narrow...thanks.

 

I thought it could be a useful exercise for all beginners. A different approach....instead of analysing a well-known tune, just take some rubbish with a bit of momentum and see what can be done with it.

 

No swing in GP5..........well. it's possible, but life's short enough as it is!

 

I will now quote myself:

 

 

"He grinned the grin of a man of boundless but cultivated luck, and spared a moment's thought for the kings and queens of nothing and nowhere........and their squirming around the innards of this merciless, pitiless and selfish beast of a planet, like maggots gorging on something putrid."

 

 

 

Log-in problems seem fixed.

[jeremy_green]

Hey Paul,

 

Glad you're back! Thought you took your net and went home : )

 

I very much like your melody .... although it is hard to really give feedback because it is all midi sounds. There is no swing or inflections like slides or guitaristic things like that that help something to sound ... well, more "jazzy"

 

You should play it and let us hear the real intent of how you plan to deliver that melody.

[1001gear]

You have insight and good ideas. Don't be getting all prissy on us. I like the flute better. I think though you wrote a little with your eyes. I'd smooth out the phrasing a little.

[Virgman]

That's a nice melody.

 

You can attach a .pdf of the song too from GuitarPro..

 

 

It actually sounds kind of jazzy in a melodic way to me. Hey, it's a melody.

[polishpaul]

Thanks for the comments............ I think I did "write with my eyes" a bit too much. Having said that, I tend to go more with the rhythm once I get going - hence the syncopation. Maybe I should try drums!

 

I haven't tried to play this yet, but I'll have a go (or at least start having a go) later today.

 

In the meantime I attach a Guitar Pro file of the melody and the chords....the chords were not worked out to be playable on guitar....more likely playable on piano.

 

Harmonisation is a challenge....like, I had to change some notes in the melody which clashed with the chord. One has to listen very carefully, because sometimes a "wrong" note sounds okay....ie when it's just a passing note.

 

The problem with changing a note in the melody is that the melody is then different, and more notes have to be changed. Then the melody is different. Or the chord could be changed to suit the notes.

 

Cannot attach - attachment log-in window just keeps coming around and around. I will keep trying.

 

I will also try to do a jazzier version, with a wider note range....maybe a bit more "over the changes".

 

Did the upload...but am on the log-in merry-go-round again .

 

 

Re "prissy"......my forum "voice" is based on traditional English good manners....I could use my "real" voice, heavily laced with piss-taking and sarcasm, but I think you're all better off with the present voice .

 

I can take a leg-pull as well as the next person, but I'm one of those who feels that members of a quality internet forum should maintain a degree of civility and decency, to avoid its becoming just another of many blah holes.

 

That's why I made a point of it, rather than because I was upset. The posts left me smiling, truth be known.

[Virgman]

Well, I think you should just leave the melody nice and clean.

 

The player can embellish it when they play it.

[1001gear]

Please no gruff. Scared. I must've meant huffy.

 

 

Yeah, that's it.

 

Welcome back then.

[gennation]

Who the hell is this and why is he posting melodies???

[polishpaul]

Who the hell is this and why is he posting melodies???

 

I am the hell me.

 

I thought that by understanding melodies, I might be able to make more sense of playing guitar.....ie play better melodies on it. So I did one, and posted it up.

 

I made a request in an earlier post for advice on how to make the said melody better, more jazzy, less crappy etc.

 

Then I made a little protest because a couple of posters came in with their little witticisms, which I thought was not in line with good manners on a forum.

 

A moderator posted to state that such negative posts would not be tolerated here.

 

So anyway, all that got sorted out......and now you roll into town with your guns blazing and demanding to know who the hell I am.

 

Ask yourself, or someone who'd be prepared to tell you the truth to your face.........

 

Is this nice? Is this fair? Is this how you'd like to be treated?

 

You could just post to say you think the content of my post is inappropriate for this forum, and question its value. Instead you come in with your obnoxious post, treating me like I'm a piece of crap.

 

Up yours, too!

 

Maybe you think I should have just accepted the piss-taking, and shut the f up?

 

But why should I do that? Is it somehow uncool to expect to be treated reasonably?

 

I haven't been stroppy about any of this....I just made a point of my not finding certain things acceptable. You know....free speech, free expression, human rights, and so on. The right to reply.

 

I really don't see a problem with my post............

 

"Paul, just flat the B in bar one, and raise the fifth in bar four, then it will play better. And cut some of the sixteenth notes."

 

That would be a lesson.

 

Maybe people think I'm Polish. I log in as "polishpaul" because I have lived in Poland for fifteen years, and my mates in England now call me Polish Paul. I am in fact from Manchester, in the north of England.

 

All I'm trying to do is improve on guitar, like a lot of folk here.

 

However, I am rapidly losing interest.......in this forum, that is.

[jeremy_green]

Never mind these guys Paul they are completely out of line if you ask me.

 

There is nothing wrong with posting your melodies here. You have added much good content to this forum so it would be a shame for the rest of us to have a contributing member leave because of the comments of one or two people.

 

Just ignore crap like that. Nothing wrong with being Polish man!! They are some of my favourite people.

 

Cheers!

[gennation]

Hey I'm Polish too.

 

I just asked two questions. Relax man, it's the Internet, I won't be holding your response against you.

 

I'll try and check your melody this weekend and see if I can help you. But man, if you're looking for jazzy stuff I have TONS of stuff on the Net at your disposal.

 

Even at HC, just search 'gennation week' and you'll get a bunch of knowledgeable stuff. (If search is working these days)

 

But check my lesson stash for a bunch of jazz stuff. Once you get some of that in perspective you'll be able approach something as "jazzy" if you want. http://mikedodge.freeforums.org/one-off-lessons-and-concepts-f2.html?sid=a10a193dfff566fe155d7b543f7cc327 Sign up so you know when I post new stuff. I DO NOT use it as a forum but only a place for on-net lessons to link to to help people learn.

 

I know a lot people who hang at the LL don't want to teach, but I'm not one of them. I was just asking two questions as I've never seen you here before and had no idea who you were or what you were referring too.

[Virgman]

This is letdown.

 

I thought Paul was posting from behind the Polish Curtain.

 

 

 

Now I find out he's only in England.

 

 

 

 

What a disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously, Paul.

 

If you want to learn jazz listen to jazz. Learn some melodies from jazz tunes, transcribe a few solos or something like that.

 

Start out with some famous jazz standards.

[jeremy_green]

 

I won't be holding your response against you.

 

 

Wow man, are you seriously surprised that he got pissed by a response like:

"Who the hell is this and why is he posting melodies???"

 

Paul should be the one doing the forgiving dude. I'd be burning if I were him. Not really sure how that was intended to sound... those are questions? Really?

 

Sorry Mike, not meaning to be a goof but your response was not well thought out, contrary to most of your posts.

[gennation]

 

Wow man, are you seriously surprised that he got pissed by a response like: "Who the hell is this and why is he posting melodies???" Paul should be the one doing the forgiving dude. I'd be burning if I were him. Not really sure how that was intended to sound... those are questions? Really? Sorry Mike, not meaning to be a goof but your response was not well thought out, contrary to most of your posts.

 

 

You would honestly get pissed about things on these forums??? Come on Jeremy. Grow some skin, other wise that's you're deal to sort out.

 

I asked a two part question, and if something like this came up again...I'd probably ask the same two part question.

 

I guess I could still ask who the hell it is he, or was he, as he never answered. paul or paulpolish aren't ringing a bell.

 

I didn't say anything bad, I only see that it was taken badly.

[polishpaul]

Just editing this in after posting:

 

We are not on this planet to be perfect. The lid's on this now, what ho!

 

I am posting from Poland, although the Iron Curtain has been replaced by a plastic fence around McDonalds .

 

 

 

I say, gosh, what a lot of jolly fun we've had!

 

Okay gennation..........czy pan mowi po polsku? I am going through some of your material at the moment, in particular the WONDERFUL post for jazz beginners - maybe put it up again for those who have't been lucky enough to have seen it yet, or at least a reference to where it is.

 

Re my 'umble protests....I know it's the internet, and I know the score. But it doesn't do any harm to remind folk that there are sensitive people in this world, and I'm sure nobody here would really want to upset a fellow human being. It's easily done, even if unintentionally.

 

The one thing I learnt at school, really.....the head was asking me, when I was about 14, why I'd done something which had upset someone. I'd replied that it was only a joke.

 

"It's only a joke when everybody laughs", he said.

 

That sentence had more effect on me than all the rest of my education. I changed my ways, and have been eternally grateful to that man.

 

Re the melody.......this is not easy! I have tried starting with a bar of straightforward swing eighths - this is possible in Guitar Pro by dotting the first eighth note and changing the second to a sixteenth. Heavy swing, but that's it!

 

I used just the chord tones of Dm7, ending the bar on a C for a smooth transition to the third of the G7.......then I tried an alternative, ending the Dm7 bar on an F, again to lead in to the G7, by a whole tone to the root. Quite nice.

 

Then I cross the bar line........I understand that chord tones should fall on the beat, but if I put an eighth-note rest, or a sixteenth-note rest at the start of bar 2, the G7, for a bit of rhythmic syncopation.........it all falls to pieces!

 

Back to the reason for posting this melody.....earlier I wrote that, for beginners, it might be useful to take such a melody, and demonstrate what needs to be done to take it from mediocre to acceptable. I have studied analysis of standards, but it is still all a bit over my head.

 

I feel I am making progress, but I know there's still a long way to go.

 

Also, I've never, ever made a friend or fallen in love until after a disagreement ! That's when people find out who people really are!

 

PS I am starting to listen more.....it's the only way, apart from guessing all the time!

 

Thanks for the offer of help, Mike.

[Virgman]

I'm confused.

 

Are you really in Poland or are you in England?

 

Okay, you are English but you live in Poland.

 

Got it.

[Jasco]

 

Who the hell is this and why is he posting melodies???

 

 

For being so self-professed of wanting to be on here to help teach Mike, the tone of this really doesn't really sound very inviting.

[jeremy_green]

 

You would honestly get pissed about things on these forums??? Come on Jeremy. Grow some skin, other wise that's you're deal to sort out.

 

 

Look bro, I know "this is the internet" and all that crap but these are real people typing away - these arent machine generated posts. The same courtesy should be shown to another person whether or not they are in the same room as you.

 

I would be "pissed" because aloof comments thrown out like yours cause grief for people. If you threw a comment at me like that I would feel compelled to respond - that response would equate to time lost and/or the disruption of a thread (kind of like this) - which would piss me off.

 

Seriously, you should know as well as anyone here that it is hard for some people to put themselves out there - Paul did. In his first thread he got a whole bunch of snide cracks (which Pop felt were out of line too). Got pissed and left. Then he came back and was hit with your fairly insensitively worded "questions"

 

Given the chronology I dont blame Paul. As an aside, Paul perhaps you do need to thicken your skin a bit. Being a musician IS putting yourself out there. It is a skill we all need.

 

Anyway, It would really suck if this were to become a place where beginners felt that they couldn't post for fear of a bunch of BS. It's a privilege to help out another person. To me it should be treated as such. Lately there has been a fair bit of that going around here and its a drag IMO.

 

Like I said usually you are an awesome contributor here. I have enjoyed and learned from your posts many things. Without the human element typed words CAN EASILY be misinterpreted. Constant awareness of this would avoid unnecessary crap like this IMO.

[polishpaul]

Jeremy.....re "thick skin":

 

You may have missed this...just a couple of posts back:

 

"Re my 'umble protests....I know it's the internet, and I know the score. But it doesn't do any harm to remind folk that there are sensitive people in this world, and I'm sure nobody here would really want to upset a fellow human being. It's easily done, even if unintentionally.

 

The one thing I learnt at school, really.....the head was asking me, when I was about 14, why I'd done something which had upset someone. I'd replied that it was only a joke.

 

"It's only a joke when everybody laughs", he said.

 

That sentence had more effect on me than all the rest of my education. I changed my ways, and have been eternally grateful to that man."

 

 

And so I continue to preach his philosophy. Even though my skin has thickened with age.

 

 

Now, let's get on with the business at hand............geetah!

[meganutt7]

Allow me to weigh in... (hopefully without being a cock...)

 

The other day, when that whatever his name is guy... uh.. Neff... When he started in on me, calling me a troll or whatnot and being a little out of line, I did indeed respond and rather harshly, because of two things. One, the degree of disrespet with which he addressed me and the others in this and other forums, and two, the blatant disregard this person has for misspeaking or misleading younger and/or inexperienced players trying to find their way, while making himself sound like a pompous know-it-all.

 

Sure, Jasco, Jeremy and many other guys on here (including myself, OF COURSE) joke around alot and make pointed comments about one another and TO ONE ANOTHER in the name of fun, but that is because we already know one another and have a respect for one another that is mutually understood....

 

I think it's a bit over the top to be harsh or aloof to a newbie on the forum (ESPECIALLY if you suspect you have NEVER seen them before..)

 

I am not really in the business of alienting anyone, unless they are total douchebags.

 

Paul was certainly not acting like a douchebag.

 

That is all I have to say.

 

Work it out with a pencil, kids.

[polishpaul]

I am posting up my second melodic attempt, which I have entitled "Fresh Air".

 

I have been aiming at something joyously upbeat, and I feel this has been achieved, to some degree.

 

I've been trying harder, but have tried to keep things simple......just eighth notes, with no syncopation. I spent a bit of time on the chords, and they seem to fit quite nicely.

 

Once again, I would appreciate any praise-lavished, ego-swelling comments of awe and admiration. I reckon this is jazzier than the first melodic attempt......I think I will be able to play this soon.

 

The real challenge for me would be to develop this further - it's only a few bars, so it's hardly even an intro at the moment.

 

Log-in problems persist, so mp3 should follow soon......aha...done it!

[gennation]

Life ain't a popularity contest.

 

So, who is Paul already??? Did he/you have a different screen name before?

[polishpaul]

Yes, I was "paulinpoland".......I re-registered because I was having to re-login at every step with posting, and it was doing my already-done-in-head even more.

 

The problem however still persists....I will have to log in at least twice to post this.

 

I wanted to re-register as "The Flying Flipparelli". but thought I should keep my identity pretty much the same to avoid confusion. The name came to me when I was watching a troupe of trapeze artists on TV......how do these people do this? I mean, how do you start off, and then transfer the skills to dozens of feet above the ground, and never miss a trick?

 

The last paragraph might be considered to be off-topic, but I was noodling on guitar at the time, so I should get away with it!

 

PS....I'm the guy who did the tasty fretboard diagram, with the free chord dots and barres.

[mosiddiqi]

I come in peace.

 

Paul, I know dick about Jazz...as has been proven ...and your melody sounds fine to me..but I think the midi type sounds aren't really helping with getting a "feel" for the tune.

 

I suspect I could use the same notes and make it sound death metal.

[jeremy_green]

I agree with Mo, the setting needs to bee appropriate to catch the vibe. The midi piano part hammering out half notes has no swing - hence no vibe. I like your chords, I like your melody. I think I can hear it in a jazz setting but it is all pretty abstract in its current state.

 

As Mo said I could easily hear that as a blues or almost any other genre