Autumn Leaves scooby-fest: need comments

[Red Ant]

Still trying to play over real changes like a mensch as opposed to my usual funk wankage ;)

Leaves (http://www.eddegenaro.com/Anton/Leaves.mp3)

Any and all suggestions on improvement, motif/melodic development, etc, etc... are most welcome :)

[Hipster Dofus]

I'm not qualified to to judge, but sounds great to me.

[Guitar Slinger6]

Sounds good to me, I enjoyed it.

[Scoredog]

I think the tone and basic feel is good. You have a good understanding of what you need to do to get through changes and you accomplish this most of the time. I feel you get lost at times because you do not have a large enough vocabulary of ideas or licks to stay fresh through a period of time. Instead of practicing scales I would turn those scales into licks you can rely on and build off of. In this case off your harmonic minor scales and II-V-1 ideas.

[Red Ant]

I think the tone and basic feel is good. You have a good understanding of what you need to do to get through changes and you accomplish this most of the time. I feel you get lost at times because you do not have a large enough vocabulary of ideas or licks to stay fresh through a period of time. Instead of practicing scales I would turn those scales into licks you can rely on and build off of. In this case off your harmonic minor scales and II-V-1 ideas.

Thanks! I agree, except for the fact that I NEVER practice scales :) I practice music.

My vocabulary is sorely lacking though. Most of the time I can make up for it with swing and phrasing, but after a chorus or two, ya gotta come with some ideas ;)

[Scoredog]

so what does practicing music mean? Maybe if we know what or how you practice we can help better.

[scottl]

I agree with Craig. You have a great ear and great time/phrasing. SOme bop lines in the vocabulary goes a long way. Also, there are alot of V chords in here. That is where you can really stretch things. Try using your diminished ideas and/or altered on them Whether or not we are in the A or B section.

Good take none the less!

Scott

[Red Ant]

so what does practicing music mean? Maybe if we know what or how you practice we can help better.

For me, "practicing" music generally means opening up the real book and learning/playing tunes. As an alternative, I will sometimes run through the 5 forms of the 3 chord families (min, maj, dominant) in at least one key, starting with 7s then 9,11, 13, altered etc... though I must admit I don't do this nearly as much as I should.

[rockinrob]

Sounds good, I definitely think you're getting better. :BEER

I agree, you need to get more ideas/broaden your vocabulary. That just takes time. In the mean time, something you can work on is to take the vocabulary you have and learn how apply it to multiple situations. For instance, I'd say that you handle the minor ii7-V7-i7s better than the major ii7-V7-I7s. Which is actually kind of normal, because it's easier to not sound cheesy with a V7alt or V7b9 chord than a straight V7. So, why don't you simply make that F7 chord an F7alt or F7b9? It will add more tension there and give your lines more movement. In fact you could use the same exact lines you're using over D7 in that spot- use the same line you'd use over D7 over F7. Try it. It might confuse you becasue of fingerings and the resolutions will be a little different, but it will work.

After that you can start adding more V7s and ii7-V7s. In the last two bars of the tune try making that last bar of Gmin into G7b9. In the Cmin | F7 | Bb | Eb | part try making that Bb a Bb7 or Bb+5 or even Bbalt the last half of the bar. Sub Amin7b5 for Eb7#11 (which gives you basically the G blues scale).

Another thing I would point out is you're not really hitting the descending part towards the end, the Gmin7 C7 | Fmin7 Bb7 | part. That's the sort of part I look at to see if a guy knows how to play changes or not. The Gmin7-C7 is easy but you're not really hitting the Fmin7-Bb7 part. The key note would be Ab to signal that you're hearing that sequence.

Hope this helps- like I said, I think you're well on your way!

[Scoredog]

a simple solution is to grab licks that speak to you of other players. You will learn phrasing and often choose notes that make you think, how did he get here and how does it relate to me, and how big is the universe!
Often instead of choosing guitarists try a sax player like Sonny Stitt or Charlie Parker. These guys blow great without stepping to far out which allows you to get solid footing a little easier than some way out player.

anyway if you could actually assimilate one lick a day you would be amazing in a year. If you could do one lick a week which is comfortable, worked in, it would be pretty darn good. That is a reasonable goal.

[Red Ant]

anyway if you could actually assimilate one lick a day you would be amazing in a year. If you could do one lick a week which is comfortable, worked in, it would be pretty darn good. That is a reasonable goal.

This I've been doing all my life, on a more or less regular basis, but haven't really focused on it of late, as my life has been rather full. Just starting to get back into it now. And yeah, I listen to far more horn players and piano players than guitarists.

[Red Ant]

Another thing I would point out is you're not really hitting the descending part towards the end, the Gmin7 C7 | Fmin7 Bb7 | part. That's the sort of part I look at to see if a guy knows how to play changes or not. The Gmin7-C7 is easy but you're not really hitting the Fmin7-Bb7 part. The key note would be Ab to signal that you're hearing that sequence.


Good ears! After I listened back to my take, I noticed that I only hit those changes ONCE in the whole take :(

[rockinrob]

Good ears! After I listened back to my take, I noticed that I only hit those changes ONCE in the whole take :(


It's nothing to feel bad about. I only really noticed it because in the last chorus you play (I think) an A natural over the Fmin7 chord. It sounds nice as part of your line, but doesn't fit the harmony. It's the kind of thing that your average listener would never catch but it might jump out at somebody that's a jazzer.

What's funny is the better you get the more you'll be able to play things that shouldn't work, but at the same time they'll have another sort of logic to them. My main thing with students is to make sure they've got the harmony that's there down before they start implying the other stuff. That's why I gave you some suggestions for the rest of the tune, because you've got the basics down and can start adding to it. But that little descending part- it's something that I rarely hear newer players at say, a jam session hit.