What are you practicing this week?

Having somewhat figured out the Midi stuff and made some improvements on the song based on some input from here :thu: I am working on layering some guitars on the original track...trying to figure a harmony part that won't sound like crap. I know the theory of harmony but never really spend that much time using it in my playing...not sure that this will help or hurt by frustration :P
 
A bunch of songs none of you guys have ever heard.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
 
As you know ad nauseum, I have a new geetar and amp, so i am regurgitating everything I knew right now, But it is FUN.
 
Elec bass. Learned the progs to a half doz instrumentals we're adding, mostly of the surf variety. Most of em Ive played before on guitar but forgot.
Then just thumping along to whatever comes up on You Tube.
I discovered these guys great cover of this Dylan tune.
 
This week, I practicing patience. I'm failing miserably!

Guitar wise, I've been playing the acoustic tuned to open G (DGDGBD) and coming up with some really nice finger picked melodies.
 
"Autumn Leaves". Well, the chords, at least, wanna learn this properly before taking on any other jazz standards. Got some great little tips by Martin Miller a few years back, and I wanna do this thing justice. Only know some triad chords with walking bass, but it's a start.
 
Yngtchie Blacksteen said:
"Autumn Leaves". Well, the chords, at least, wanna learn this properly before taking on any other jazz standards. Got some great little tips by Martin Miller a few years back, and I wanna do this thing justice. Only know some triad chords with walking bass, but it's a start.
Click to expand...
I actually spent some time on "Days of Wine and Roses" this morning. The best thing for me when I learn standards is to learn the melody from a vocal version first.
 
Yeah, I learned the chords first, but now I'm trying to blend the melody with the chords and the bass line. It's hard, but it makes it easier to know which chords go with which part of the melody.
 
Yngtchie Blacksteen said:
Yeah, I learned the chords first, but now I'm trying to blend the melody with the chords and the bass line. It's hard, but it makes it easier to know which chords go with which part of the melody.
Click to expand...
absolutely. I'm a pretty crap jazz player but it's still really fun for me. And the most I work on it the better the rest of my playing gets.
 
I finally decided to work on my swing rhythm playing. Not counting the quick changes to unfamiliar chord shapes it seems like it should be relatively easy. Never the less whenever I've tried it in the past I haven't been able to get it to sound right.
So I'm going to focus on it until I get a decent result.
 
Going back to my jazz awakening, plus I need to get the rust out of my joints.

A couple of non guitar specific books by David Baker Jazz Improvisation, and for dexterity Techniques Of Improvisation: Volume 1, The Lydian Chromatic Concept.

Starting both on page one, been decades since I've used them!
 
This may sound funny but my band had gotten away from reggae tunes.... our set list was full of reggae-ized pop and rock songs, but not regular reggae songs.

So, working on "Funky Kingston" by Toots and the Maytals, "Say Hey" by Michael Franti, a couple Marley tunes, and I'm also working on "Land Down Under" from Men at Work.
 
Yngtchie Blacksteen said:
"Autumn Leaves". Well, the chords, at least, wanna learn this properly before taking on any other jazz standards. Got some great little tips by Martin Miller a few years back, and I wanna do this thing justice. Only know some triad chords with walking bass, but it's a start.
Click to expand...

If you're looking to cop some great jazz licks for Autumn Leaves check out the Jim Hall & Ron Carter version from Alone Together if you haven't already. I started transcribing Hall's solo a while back and haven't finished yet, but his solo is a thing of beauty and very manageable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top