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Topic: C6th Approach |
John Knight
From:
Alaska
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 12:07 pm |
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How do you approach a new song when you need to blow a tasty jazz solo. I was learning an ole pop standerd "Fly Me To The Moon" last night when my younger brother asked me to take a solo in it. I barley had the melody down. How do some of the 6th players approach playing through chord progressions?
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D 10 Thomas with 8&6, '61'D-10 Sho-Bud 8&3
S12 Knight 4&4
Nashville 400 and Profex II
81' Fender Twin JBL's
Asleep at the Steel
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Chuck S. Lettes
From:
Denver, Colorado
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 12:58 pm
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Hello John,
A basic way to start is to cluster the notes around a scale in the song's key. For example, if this song is in the key of C, I would start on the 12 fret (C chord without pedals), the 5th fret with pedal D that raises my 3rd and 4th strings, and work on the seventh fret with pedal C that raises my 2nd and lowers my 6th string. This method of clustering my notes in "pockets" is a good starting point, one that I often use. The same ideas/ techniques apply to the E9th tuning. Hope this helps.
Chuck |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 2:49 pm
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Thinking modally can help too, John.
Realizing that you can play a CMaj scale over, for example, a Bdim or a G9 or a Dmi7 or FMa7, etc., can be a real revelation. Playing the major scale (Ionian mode) of the I chord over all three chords of a iim V7 I progression can buy you some time to think in a quick bebop progression. You have to practice doing it to hear the leading tones and use the principle to your best advantage, but it pays off big time.
Obviously, people get PhD's in jazz improv, so it's a very broad and complex topic and the subject of many excellent books attempting to make some sense out of what sounds cool. Understanding how the diatonic modes work is one step toward making that logic seem logical. And the more you study it, the deeper it gets. 
Just start by listening to Ellington or Cole Porter, then Charlie Parker, then Miles, Ornette, and down the line. In all likelihood, someone has already gone as far outside the box as you care to go.
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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 06 March 2003 at 02:52 PM.] |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 6:09 pm
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| Step one is to learn the melody so that you know it completely and can play it in more than one position. Then, move on to playing variations on the melody and finally, to substituting a new melody via scales, chord tones and arpeggios. |
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Sigi Meissner
From:
Duebendorf, Switzerland
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Posted 7 Mar 2003 11:37 am
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I can not explain or advice anything for the C6 tuning since I haven't played the steel not longer then 15 months. But I've been playing jazz for over 20 Years on the standard guitar. Everything what is said here will help. When playing a jazz solo we
have to seperate the task into 2 tasks:
one is the technic and the other is to know as much jazz music as possible. Starting with the Tonica, and then with the II-V7 progression in major and minor. It is very essential to learn to sing along short phrases or licks of the great players. I sometimes used computer technic to slow them down to hear or know more accurate over which progression it is played.
Many jazz players sing along
while improvising on the instrument. A Good example is George Benson. An inner voice should tell you what to play. A good player
is also an instant composer.
The more phrases and licks you can sing or hum the more you will have to render on your instrument, independent what kind of
One other great thing of course is to play along
with the records from Jamey Aebersold. You will find hundreds of Jazz
Standards in any key and tempi. |
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