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Let's talk about Solo Jazz Guitar


JeffN

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Posted

I want to get started on playing solo jazz guitar. Where should I start from?

I've been studying chord inversions, and I can play the maj7 and the four inversions in two different places on the neck(8 voicings total for each chord, then?).

What should I do if I want to start playing some tunes then? I took a look at my Real Book today, and went through a couple of songs, but it was so intimidating that I completely gave up.

I had no idea of which beat I should've been playing chords on, which note to count as the melody note, and so on.

How much of a solo jazz arrangement is improvised? It seems like in order to move from one chord voicing with a certain note on top to another, you're not left with a lot of space to noodle.

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Posted

right on!

i think learning to be a stand-alone musician is the best practice- being able to play a complete piece of music by yourself will not only give you alot of satisfaction but also help you play with other musicians.

learning all 7th chords in all inversions everywhere on the neck is probably the best starting point. make up some exercises of your own where maybe you connect inversions with passing tones.

instead of diving right into the real book, you might want to start with something easier. get a book of folk tunes and start harmonizing them.

i have a 2 hour set of solo arrangements worked up and i'd say at least half of it is improvised. well, maybe even more if you take into account little variations of phrasing, tempo and dynamics. but the solo sections i usually just mess around with inversions, subsitutions, and short melodic ideas. i usually have some idea of where the solos will go, maybe a few landmarks mapped out.

hope this has made some sense. it's late.
good luck and don't be intimidated, just get started!

peace

Posted

Originally posted by JeffN

I want to get started on playing solo jazz guitar. Where should I start from?


I've been studying chord inversions, and I can play the maj7 and the four inversions in two different places on the neck(8 voicings total for each chord, then?).

 

 

Make sure you repeat the process for m7, dom7, m7b5, and dim7.

 

You can also take the melody note for each one of those voicings and move it up or down a scale degree (works better on some voicings). This way you'll have about 2-3 melody notes per chord shape and be able to play an entire scale over that one chord type.

 

Try taking a scale (lydian for example) and playing it on the 1st or 2nd string while harmonizing it with a maj7 chord from the I degree (Fmaj7 underneath F lydian).

 

 

What should I do if I want to start playing some tunes then? I took a look at my Real Book today, and went through a couple of songs, but it was so intimidating that I completely gave up.


I had no idea of which beat I should've been playing chords on, which note to count as the melody note, and so on.

 

 

Tunes are essential in learning this style, although jumping right into the Real Book might be a bit too much if you're just starting as it gives you very little clues as to how to approach things.

 

I would recommend getting a couple books of easy chord-melody arrangements of standards for guitar. Most of them are technically easy to play and are fairly straight forward in their construction, so you can both begin to get some songs under your fingers as well as understanding very basically how to build a solo arrangement of a tune.

 

How much of a solo jazz arrangement is improvised? It seems like in order to move from one chord voicing with a certain note on top to another, you're not left with a lot of space to noodle.

 

 

For me, when I play the head of the tune it's mostly from an arrangement. If the piece is a more lyrical ballad type song, I'll take more liberty with the rhythm and tempo, but everything is still pretty much figured out ahead of time, sans any fills I might want to add, but those are usually just single note lines that aren't any different than a line used when soloing.

 

The real improvisation for me comes when I start to solo over the tune. This is where I have to have a lot of voicings under my fingers as well as knowing the tune very well.

 

You don't have to play a chord on every beat, or even on every chord. I usually play a short chord voicing when an important landmark chord comes up. On tunes with faster changes, like Rhythm Changes for example, I'll play a lot less chords and allow my lines to imply the changes through arpeggiation.

 

At this point in the game it would be a good idea to check out a lot of Joe Pass and Martin Taylor and hear how they do it. There are transcription books out for Joe's 'Virtuoso' cd. I transcribed the first track myself, and it really helped out my solo guitar playing.

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Posted

My first venture into this style was to learn to walk the bass with the E and A strings while playing syncopated chords on the rest. Perhaps it's not quite what you asked for, but for me it was a great start.

If you can sing in addition to this, you've come a long way already.

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Posted

Originally posted by lazaraga

right on!


instead of diving right into the real book, you might want to start with something easier. get a book of folk tunes and start harmonizing them.

peace

 

 

lazaraga.... (I'm jumping in here)....that's a great idea for a beginner, i am attempting this with some blues tunes(or just a progression) too, but the folk tunes make a lot of sense too. I am thinking now about some James Taylor and Paul Simon tunes would work well maybe?

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Posted

Jeff, here's a few tips that have helped me with this issue:

Don't take the melody too literally, both rhythmically & melodically.
You have a lot of lattitude, especially on "standards" to play
around with this. The melodies given in the fakebooks can
serve as a useful guide, but think of what a good vocalist might do
with the melodies.

Open strings are your friend, especially the low E and A, let them
ring out wherever you can. This helps create an overall legato
feel and gives you some breathing room to move to the next
chord or play some melody etc.

Try to get some simple bass movement going, even if it's initially just simple diatonic walk-up/down or chromatic passing lead in notes.
This will enhance the feeling of movement.

When you lay down a chord, try arpeggiating it, or hitting the bass
note then the rest of the chord, or the low two notes then the high
two, or vice-versa (on a 4 note chord) etc. of any variation thereof. This will break up a monotonous "block" chord feel and also add the feeling of movement.

Learn a fingestyle technique, even a rudimentary one, if you don't
know one already. Since you'll be plucking the notes of a chord
rather than strumming, you'll no longer have to worry about
dampening unwanted notes. This will allow you to use alternate
fingerings of chords that can free up your other fingers to play
single notes. In the most extreme example, consider the normal
root position m7 voicing of (from low E), R-7-m3-5. You can now
play that with just a first finger bar and have your other 3 fingers
to play melodies. Try to figure out other fingerings of standard
chords that will free up fingers.

Playing solo gives you a great deal of lattitude & freedom to interpret
the song as you see fit. You can vary the tempo, rhythim, feel etc.
as you feel appropriate. The only caveat is if you get too used to doing this your internal metronome may begin to suffer. If you are
going to do a lot of solo playing, I suggest that you also practice them with a metronome.

Finally, while we would all love to play solo jazz guitar like Joe Pass or
Lenny Breau, you can still play some very beautiful, effective pieces
that are fairly simple and not that technically overwhelming. I've
seen Chet Atkins play some solo pieces that were simple but also
very moving. I've also heard Willie Nelson play some very nice,
simple solo stuff on that beat up old nylon of his. I think for someone just starting out on this, the key is to keep it simple and
go for a good smooth overall feel, you don't necessarily need to dazzle people with chops to play interesting stuff.

Good luck,
Ron

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Posted

Whoa, thanks for all the extensive replies. I'm going to have to learn more about walking bass lines and harmonizing those scales right away.

Looks like I'm going to have to start playing
finger style again too.

I'm not sure if I understand this part fully though.

You can also take the melody note for each one of those voicings and move it up or down a scale degree (works better on some voicings). This way you'll have about 2-3 melody notes per chord shape and be able to play an entire scale over that one chord type.



Do you think you could elaborate a bit on that, Poparad?

Posted

Originally posted by JeffN


Do you think you could elaborate a bit on that, Poparad?

 

 

Sure thing.

 

Let's go with Gmaj7 because the G major scale fits nicely on the top E string.

 

Here's a common voicing of Gmaj7 with the third (B) in the melody. I then moved the melody note down to an A, and then up to a C#:

 

 



			
		
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Posted

Ooh, I see. Thanks :)

Is there a reason why you chose G Lydian over G major for the scale choice? Or is it just a matter of preference?

Posted
Originally posted by JeffN

Ooh, I see. Thanks
:)

Is there a reason why you chose G Lydian over G major for the scale choice? Or is it just a matter of preference?



Just preference, but try playing it with a C natural and I'm sure you'll prefer lydian too. ;)

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Posted

Oh, and a technique related question: Did Joe Pass use a pick or no? I think I heard somewhere that he fingerpicked exclusively, but a lot of his lines have that percussive edge that you'd expect to get from a pick.

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Posted
Originally posted by lazaraga

http://www.geocities.com/craun99/craun_guitar_arr.pdf


check out the above link.


this guy put together a dozen or so arrangements of some standards, in tab and standard notation. they look to be pretty basic arrangements that would be useful to the beginner and to more advanced (but lazy) people.

play them as they are or put your own twist on em.


peace



Wow, thanks for the link! Just what I needed. :)

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Posted

About the walking bassline, how do you contruct them, and what are the techniques involved playing them?

I've noticed that guitarists can comp along while playing walking basslines. How is it done without getting your fingers all tangled up in a mess?

Posted

Originally posted by JeffN

About the walking bassline, how do you contruct them, and what are the techniques involved playing them?


I've noticed that guitarists can comp along while playing walking basslines. How is it done without getting your fingers all tangled up in a mess?

 

 

Here's a short synopsis for bassline construction:

 

 

First rule of thumb: on the first beat of the measure, or first beat of the chord if there is more than one chord per bar, 95% of the time it will be the root of the chord.

 

All the remaining beats until the next chord are just away to connect the notes together, so you don't need to worry so much about how the notes relate to the chord.

 

Second rule of thumb: the last beat of the chord before a new chord occurs is usually a step away. It can be either a whole step or half step, above or below. Half steps have a stronger pull to the new root, but whole steps work well too when they are in the key of the current chord.

 

In between those two beats (if there are any beats left): anything goes. Usually this will be arpeggiation, a scale fragement, or just plain chromaticism.

 

Walking basslines are just like soloing; the more you do it, the more 'licks' you will have worked out and have at your fingertips to play, whether you're concious of them or not.

 

 

 

As for the chord parts, just stick to simple voicings of 3rd and 7th at first. If you want to be more adventurous you can add more notes later, but the thicker the chord, the less nimble your fingers are, so it's usually not practical to do so.

 

Figuring out the fingering really isn't too bad; it just takes some time and work to figure out some things that work. If you stick to using thin voicings you really won't have too much trouble because your fingers won't be very tied up.

 

 

 

For a much more in depth instruction for this, there is an excellent video by Tuck Andress (the master at playing more parts than should be legal to do so on guitar) on solo guitar playing where he spends a considerable ammount of time (probably half the video or more) discussing this playing style. He discusses a lot more detailed topics like articulation, simulating the 2 and 4 backbeat, polyrhythms and hemiolas in the chord stabs above the basslines, etc. Of all the guitar videos I've seen that discuss this topic Tuck's is the most informative and thorough.

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Posted

Oh, I thought walking basslines were a lot more complicated than that. I'm glad that the basic concept is relatively simple.

I'll try and get a hold of that video. I was planning on buying some of Joe Pass' instructional stuff, so I'll keep my eye out.

Thanks Poparad, what would I do without you? :o

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Posted

Originally posted by Poparad





For a much more in depth instruction for this, there is an excellent video by Tuck Andress (the master at playing more parts than should be legal to do so on guitar) on solo guitar playing where he spends a considerable ammount of time (probably half the video or more) discussing this playing style.

 

 

that is a very good video.

 

i have been looking for a useable transcription of tuck's man in the mirror from that vid.

 

i would add that a good way to practice walking basslines is by practicing chord inversions.

connecting chord inversions with passing tones (either diatonic or non) is a good shortcut to doing the chords with bass lines thingy.

 

peace

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Posted

Very timely thread, folks.

My other instrument is almost always solo, so the idea of learning a complete tune comes quite natural. I've spent the last 3 months or so doing nothing but scales and modes. Very few chords, although I have begun to familiarize myself with the theory of chord spelling.

Here's the tune I'm starting with:

White Christmas

I chose a tune I could already sing in my head. When i started on this tune I knew almost none of these chords. Although I used his 'chord notation' to help me get the shape of these chords, I'm putting some effort into making sure I understand why these chords are named the way they are. I'm also going through each chord and saying each note to myself.

Have I thrown myself to the dogs? Am I in too deep? Should I start with something simpler? Am I astray? I dunno, but I'm thinking that one day I'll understand what I'm doing.

Any tips from you guru's out there and I'll be a happy clam.

Mike

Posted

Originally posted by bronco

Very timely thread, folks.


My other instrument is almost always solo, so the idea of learning a complete tune comes quite natural. I've spent the last 3 months or so doing nothing but scales and modes. Very few chords, although I have begun to familiarize myself with the theory of chord spelling.


Here's the tune I'm starting with:


White Christmas


I chose a tune I could already sing in my head. When i started on this tune I knew almost none of these chords. Although I used his 'chord notation' to help me get the shape of these chords, I'm putting some effort into making sure I understand why these chords are named the way they are. I'm also going through each chord and saying each note to myself.


Have I thrown myself to the dogs? Am I in too deep? Should I start with something simpler? Am I astray? I dunno, but I'm thinking that one day I'll understand what I'm doing.


Any tips from you guru's out there and I'll be a happy clam.


Mike

 

 

 

Sounds like you are going about things the right way. I've learned a few of Rick's arrangements myself (I take it you visit rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz).

 

The best place to start with solo guitar is to take a tune you already know well. In the process of learning a tune as a solo tune, you have to learn the song inside and out, and by starting with a song whose melody you already know well you're saving yourself a lot of work.

 

One thing I did when I was learning how to play solo was I'd find as many different arrangements or recordings of a tune to hear the different takes on it that other people had done. This gave me ideas on how to treat a song that I could apply to other things I was working on. By sticking to just one song for comparison, it allows you to see what is different and see what is the same between arrangements.

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Posted

Thank you very much for your response. That helps a lot.

Now, if I do this enough with enough tunes, where will I be?

I will become familiar with many chords, and know a number of tunes.

How does this cross over to reading lead sheets?

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Posted

Originally posted by bronco

Thank you very much for your response. That helps a lot.


Now, if I do this enough with enough tunes, where will I be?


I will become familiar with many chords, and know a number of tunes.


How does this cross over to reading lead sheets?

 

 

well, hopefully you get some enjoyment out of it. if you do it enough, maybe other people might get enjoyment out of it too. then maybe you can make some money off your work.

 

how does it cross over to reading lead sheets? well, i think you will better understand how to take a piece of paper and turn it into music. that's a pretty big thing.

i've gotten to the point where i can pretty much sight read a solo arrangement on the spot (at least with ballads!).

 

to me, doing solo arrangements is the most rewarding part of playing music.

 

peace

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Posted

Originally posted by Poparad




Sounds like you are going about things the right way. I've learned a few of Rick's arrangements myself (I take it you visit rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz).


The best place to start with solo guitar is to take a tune you already know well. In the process of learning a tune as a solo tune, you have to learn the song inside and out, and by starting with a song whose melody you already know well you're saving yourself a lot of work.


One thing I did when I was learning how to play solo was I'd find as many different arrangements or recordings of a tune to hear the different takes on it that other people had done. This gave me ideas on how to treat a song that I could apply to other things I was working on. By sticking to just one song for comparison, it allows you to see what is different and see what is the same between arrangements.

 

 

Yes I lurk on rmmgj quite a bit. I have Jack Zucker's book to help me with building a single note line repetoire. Right now I use lines from there while improvizing over the first couple of Aebersold CD's (I have volume 1 and 24). He makes a few suggestions about which to try in certain situations. Is there material out there that analyzes and categorizes kinds of motives over catagories of chord changes?

Posted

Originally posted by bronco



Yes I lurk on rmmgj quite a bit. I have Jack Zucker's book to help me with building a single note line repetoire. Right now I use lines from there while improvizing over the first couple of Aebersold CD's (I have volume 1 and 24). He makes a few suggestions about which to try in certain situations. Is there material out there that analyzes and categorizes kinds of motives over catagories of chord changes?

 

 

 

A book or two on ii V I licks would probably be what you're looking for. As that kind of progression is what makes up a huge deal of jazz it will give you a good start to branch off of.

 

Other than that, do a lot of listening, and everytime you hear a lick that you like, make note of it and try to sit down and figure it out. This works best when you're beginning on standard tunes that you can access a lead sheet to, because figuring out the chord changes by ear might be a bit tough at this stage. Your own cds are often one of your best teachers.

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Posted

My top three jazz CD's feature some old live Hiram Bullock (from his gigs with Jaco days), Mike Stern's "Standards", Joe Beck's Relaxin'.

Where do I get standards lead sheets? Are they matched with specific recordings?

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