Charlie Parker & the Omnibook

[jackaroo]

Looking for a copy of bird's solos transcribed for guitar w/ tab. Even better...an online or CDrom/DVD with the lines as midi so I can slow them down and play along and slowly increase tempo. Anyone know of anything like this - or where to look?

thanks,

J

[JimmyD]

Haven't seen anything related on line to Bird and guitar. There is a book that has 50 bebop heads arranged for the guitar. You could probably google that. I'll give you a line on a great set of books though. David Baker Volumes 1,2 and 3 are fantastic for learning the language of bebop. Run, do not walk and grab those exceptional study aids.

[dkaplowitz]

Originally Posted by JimmyD

David Baker Volumes 1,2 and 3 are fantastic for learning the language of bebop. Run, do not walk and grab those exceptional study aids.

+1, great books!

As to yardbird, there are a couple books I've seen off the top of my head. One is "Charlie Parker for Guitar" by Mark Voelpel, and the other is a Mel Bay joint called "Essential Jazz Lines in the Style of Charlie Parker". The first one seems a little better, both have tab. I don't think either are as good as the omnibook, nor are they as good as taking a slowdowner app and playing along with Bird, since those books (omnibook included) won't show you exactly how he phrased the notes on the paper. And though his lines are worth studying unto themselves, the phrasing is a whole 'nother world of schooling.

Good luck either way,

Dave

[Tim Bowen]

Probably currently out of print, but the best collective of classic bop lines that I've found is the
"Bebop Bible", by Les Wise.

Sorry for the potential hijack, but JimmyD, are you by any chance from Philadelphia?

[dkaplowitz]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

Probably currently out of print, but the best collective of classic bop lines that I've found is the
"Bebop Bible", by Les Wise.

I remember that book! Yeah, it's hard to find now. Les is a great teacher. Very inspiring approach. You'd always walk out of his classes pumped up and ready to take anything on. I remember liking his book "Inner Jazz" but that's another one that's hard to find now.

Anyway, he's got a couple other similar books in production, one of which is "Bebop licks for guitar". Book (with tab) + CD. It's not bad.

[Tim Bowen]

Originally Posted by dkaplowitz

I remember that book! Yeah, it's hard to find now. Les is a great teacher. Very inspiring approach. You'd always walk out of his classes pumped up and ready to take anything on. I remember liking his book "Inner Jazz" but that's another one that's hard to find now.

Anyway, he's got a couple other similar books in production, one of which is "Bebop licks for guitar". Book (with tab) + CD. It's not bad.

Yeah, Les is a great inspirer, for sure. He always maintained that any new concept required 21 straight days of reiteration in order to be assimilated. Not sure how he arrived at the math, but I bought it. I've relied on his teaching concepts for a couple of decades now.

[JimmyD]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

Sorry for the potential hijack, but JimmyD, are you by any chance from Philadelphia?

Actually I live about 50 miles away from Philly in Reading!

Jim

[Tim Bowen]

Originally Posted by JimmyD

Actually I live about 50 miles away from Philly in Reading!

Jim

Could be that you and I have a mutual friend. If your last record was co-produced, and contained drum/percussion tracks, by a fellow named Jim E., be sure to give a yell for me. If I'm on track here, nice record.

[ari]

Are you talking about this book?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/079...Fencoding=UTF8

ari

[neve1073]

the omnibook is great.
even greater is software or a machine that can slow down parker's solos so you can learn them that way. i don't know of any comprehensive midi transcription source--but even if i did, wouldn't it be better to hear bird at half speed than midi!!??

[dkaplowitz]

Originally Posted by ari

Are you talking about this book?

ari

Yes, ari. I have that one. It's pretty cool, except no backing track/cd. So you'll have to figure out how to make what's written sound like what Charlie Parker really played, if you care about that. If you're just analyzing his solos for theory purposes, this book is probably worth getting. It's not really better than the Omnibook, though, so whichever's cheaper is what I'd go for if I had to choose.

[neve1073]

Originally Posted by ari

Are you talking about this book?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/079...Fencoding=UTF8

ari

I've looked at that book too. The transcriptions sound right, but I remember disliking many of the fingering choices he made...oh well, i'm picky.

[jzucker]

Is it a matter of reading music? Because the omnibook is a good place to start (get the concert version). There are many wrong notes but you can get the general drift. You might try just transcribing the stuff yourself. Figuring out the fingerings is part and parcel to developing your own approach IMO.

[KRosser]

Originally Posted by jzucker

Figuring out the fingerings is part and parcel to developing your own approach IMO.

A big +1...figuring out a way (or, ways) to finger those lines is the key to getting your phrasing together, in terms of both the right and left hands.

[dkaplowitz]

Hi Tim,

I see ...you went in the golden days of the old building. I was in the first f/t classes in the new building ('87-'88).

I have a buddy Daniel Messerli (from Switzerland originally) who used to go by the name Micky Mess that went around the same time you did. It must have been good in those smaller quarters. I get the feeling it was a lot more personal than it has since become.

Anyway, didn't want to hijack the thread. Sorry for posting o/t.

Cheers,

Dave