Phletch
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After what has been far too long getting into it, I've taken the plunge into chord soloing. It happened purely by accident, and the song is probably the last one anybody might consider doing - John Sebastian's "Welcome Back Kotter" TV theme song. I figured out the chords pretty quick smart and was just strumming whilst singing, and the beauty of the melody just sort of led me to chord voicings that just handed this idea to me.
My question is, when you guys are voicing your chords around the melody, do you play some single notes between the chords to connect them - like say, playing melody notes that go by rather quickly, then landing on a chord on the beat - or do you feel the urge to voice a chord for every note in the melody? Right now I've got ways to do both, and there are some situations where changing chords is a bit cumbersome (I know, just practice!) for each note. I just feel like not using a chord for each note is "cheating." I know it all comes down to what sounds best to you and that there are no rules. I'm just looking for some insight from you guys who are experienced in this.
Cheers
UPDATE: Well, I finally got around to working on it and recording it, so here it is. Not perfect and certainly nothing "advanced," but I'm happy with my first outing in arranging/playing a chord solo. Extraneous noise is a real bitch, so I'll continually work on minimizing that. Any critique, comments, etc. welcome because I'm enjoying the process and want to improve. Thanks for all the advice thus far.
[SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/kiwijoe-1/welcome-back-kotter-tv-theme-cover[/SOUNDCLOUD]
My question is, when you guys are voicing your chords around the melody, do you play some single notes between the chords to connect them - like say, playing melody notes that go by rather quickly, then landing on a chord on the beat - or do you feel the urge to voice a chord for every note in the melody? Right now I've got ways to do both, and there are some situations where changing chords is a bit cumbersome (I know, just practice!) for each note. I just feel like not using a chord for each note is "cheating." I know it all comes down to what sounds best to you and that there are no rules. I'm just looking for some insight from you guys who are experienced in this.
Cheers
UPDATE: Well, I finally got around to working on it and recording it, so here it is. Not perfect and certainly nothing "advanced," but I'm happy with my first outing in arranging/playing a chord solo. Extraneous noise is a real bitch, so I'll continually work on minimizing that. Any critique, comments, etc. welcome because I'm enjoying the process and want to improve. Thanks for all the advice thus far.
[SOUNDCLOUD]http://soundcloud.com/kiwijoe-1/welcome-back-kotter-tv-theme-cover[/SOUNDCLOUD]
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