Members Jimmy James Posted December 4, 2002 Members Share Posted December 4, 2002 I'm bored. My playing sucks. My technique is sloppy and I'm sick of playing blues. I also have two weeks off from the band. What do I do? I get off my ass and decide to learn Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" not for note. I have an excellent transcription. I've worked out everything except the very last few bars of the solo. Larry Carlton is a bad mother {censored}er. Bluesy phrasing but with a brain. Hip arpeggios that sound like actual music instead of exercises. This tune is so funky. The chords he's playing over are very cool and easy to apply to the blusey stuff I already play. Yeah, it's tedious working out every single bop phrase and lick. I thought I would have given up by now but I'm nailing it. I recommend this tune to anyone who wants open their minds and get into Larry's head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wayrockin1 Posted December 4, 2002 Members Share Posted December 4, 2002 Man, you're right about Carlton! He's right up there with my favorite guitarist, Robben Ford. That tune is one I've always been meaning to learn to play, but haven't ever sat down and taken the time. Will you be posting your transcription here when you get it done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy James Posted December 4, 2002 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2002 Originally posted by Wayrockin1 Man, you're right about Carlton! He's right up there with my favorite guitarist, Robben Ford.That tune is one I've always been meaning to learn to play, but haven't ever sat down and taken the time. Will you be posting your transcription here when you get it done? I'm not transcribing it. I got the transcription from a magazine. I'm just learning to play it. I'm sure it's fairly easy to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lechip Posted December 4, 2002 Members Share Posted December 4, 2002 Jimmy, what you said about being bored, sloppy and tired of playing blues is EXACTLY what I have been feeling lately. I need to get off my ass and learn some new stuff. I'm going to try Kid Charlemaign. I'm not pretending that I'm even close to being good enough to play LC, but damn it I'm gonna give it a shot. When I started 35 years ago I couln't even imagine playing some of the stuff I can now so I guess I can learn this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy James Posted December 4, 2002 Author Members Share Posted December 4, 2002 Originally posted by lechip Jimmy, what you said about being bored, sloppy and tired of playing blues is EXACTLY what I have been feeling lately.I need to get off my ass and learn some new stuff.I'm going to try Kid Charlemaign.I'm not pretending that I'm even close to being good enough to play LC, but damn it I'm gonna give it a shot.When I started 35 years ago I couln't even imagine playing some of the stuff I can now so I guess I can learn this stuff. Thing is I'm nowhere near Larry Carlton. I'm almost done learning the solo and all I can think of is, "Yeah, I can play it. But I would have never thought of playing this solo like he does. Kinda like modern art. "I could have done that!" "Yeah, but you didn't think of doing it." This ain't no "Blues Box" 3rd generation Clapton extrapolations. Carlton is all over the neck. He using blues bends, super arpeggios, and even pedal tone licks. Then there's the Bop influence. The other thing I learned is that simply jamming is one thing but getting your discipline together is a whole other thing. I don't mess around too much with other stuff. I sit down and tedioulsy go over every phrase over and over again and hearing the note choices in context of the chords under it. A great education. Playing that sucker in time with the recording is great for your chops. No up and down scales. You're playing actual music. After this I might have find something else on Royal Scam to tackle. Guitar can get boring but this stuff wakes your ass up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dog online Posted December 5, 2002 Members Share Posted December 5, 2002 Try these books for Steely Danhttp://www.stagepass.com/cgi-bin/search/allproduct/searchdatabase.pl?m=and&type=general&kwrds=steely+dan&x=17&y=14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dog online Posted December 5, 2002 Members Share Posted December 5, 2002 Try this book for note for note tab and Cd for fast and slow speeds http://www.stagepass.com/allproduct/item_detail.hperl?m=and&type=general&kwrds=steely+dan&Rank=1&Invnum=2500160 Also try Only the Riffs and Guitar Solos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheAxeMan Posted December 6, 2002 Members Share Posted December 6, 2002 Ya I love Steely Dan. I learned those solo's a long time ago too. I guess the second one was just improved and he did it on his first or second take. AMAZING. I love that guy. I have the box set and learned almost every song he played on. Truely an amazing player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheAxeMan Posted December 6, 2002 Members Share Posted December 6, 2002 scratch that, every song i have tab for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members G.A.S._is_good! Posted December 7, 2002 Members Share Posted December 7, 2002 Funny - this solo is my absolute favorite recorded solo of all time. Not sure why, but it is. I haven't gotten the nerve up yet to try to tackle it - maybe I've just gotten inspired......! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucker Posted December 7, 2002 Members Share Posted December 7, 2002 I love the song "Kid Charlemagne." My favorite Steely Dan song and solo is the wicked slide on "Show Biz Kids." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy James Posted December 7, 2002 Author Members Share Posted December 7, 2002 I finally nailed the entire solo a couple of days ago. It's very cool. Some how I thought the heavens would open up and a light bulb would come on over my head but it didn't. Technically it's not outrageously hard. It's just sequences of notes that you would have never thought of putting together. Not necessarily easy to finger either. No pattern playing or blues box stuff. All melody. It just takes time. Basically Carlton plays all around or in between Am or CM but it's his choice of notes that's the issue. When, where, and what context. He leaves lots of space as well and his phrasing is to die for. A combination of blues bends, pedal tone licks, and...and...well, Carlton is just a bad mother {censored}er. I'm gonna have go back to square one and figure out these note choices over these chords. Wish my chord theory was better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fred5 Posted December 8, 2002 Members Share Posted December 8, 2002 JJ, is it the studio version with Steely Dan you've been working on? Listening to it now...bless the web Great tune, great playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy James Posted December 8, 2002 Author Members Share Posted December 8, 2002 Originally posted by Fred5 JJ, is it the studio version with Steely Dan you've been working on? Listening to it now... bless the web Great tune, great playing. Is there any other version? Sure, there's the live stuff that came out a few years back but Carlton is nowhere to be found.Royal Scam is cherry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SonicTonic Posted December 11, 2002 Members Share Posted December 11, 2002 I think the intro solo to "Don't Take Me Alive" by Larry Carlton on The Royal Scam would be a good one for some to study for a blues-rock solo done with taste. It may not be that particularly demanding, but it is tasteful nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheAxeMan Posted December 13, 2002 Members Share Posted December 13, 2002 Anyone know what scale he uses on the second solo? It's not Amin pent for sure. Unless he's a mad-man with the passing tones. Cause last time I checked there's like Bb, Eb, and Ab's all over the place. It's a diff progression 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy James Posted December 13, 2002 Author Members Share Posted December 13, 2002 I was messing around with it last night. I believe it's Cm. It's too hip. But I'm finding I'm not learning much other than how to play it. The light hasn't come on yet. It's about his tasty note selection not scales. I was doing some research and found out that Fagan and Becker busted Carlton's ass on that solo. They had two hours of recorded solos from Carlton over that progression and they simply chose the bits they liked. No wonder it's so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kirk95 Posted December 16, 2002 Members Share Posted December 16, 2002 Hey guys I'm a huge Carlton fan!During that time Larry was into superimposing triads rather than playing out of scales. That way he would get those wide interval leaps 3rds, 4ths and 5ths.So for example if you are playing in A minor Carlton might play out of a C (3,5,7), Em (5,7,9), or G (7,9, 11) triad.I am also a huge Robben Fan....check out my board!http://www.dhenderson.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy James Posted December 16, 2002 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2002 Originally posted by Kirk95 Hey guys I'm a huge Carlton fan! During that time Larry was into superimposing triads rather than playing out of scales. That way he would get those wide interval leaps 3rds, 4ths and 5ths. So for example if you are playing in A minor Carlton might play out of a C (3,5,7), Em (5,7,9), or G (7,9, 11) triad. I am also a huge Robben Fan....check out my board! http://www.dhenderson.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evan_02 Posted December 17, 2002 Members Share Posted December 17, 2002 FYI - there is a larry carlton video (!) lesson at guitar.com...he says he doesn't know any scales or how to play the "kid charlemagne" solo, so don't feel too bad:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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