Bill Frisell Video and...a BIG question.
I've watched this five-part Bill Frisell video on Youtube a few times:
(part 1)
I like so many things about Bill Frisell's playing. Especially, I think, the way that he can spin a song via every element of the instrument (rhythm, notes, melodies (and un-melodies or para-melodies), chords and voicings, harmonics, rests, picking nuances, tone, etc). It's something I admire in Jim's playing as well, obviously.
What I wonder, as I continue to try to make myself into a guitarist, is just what the hell is a Bill Frisell or a Jim Campilongo thinking? I mean, fellow forumites, Jim, when playing a standard (the aforementioned Frisell video makes use of The Days of Wine and Roses), are the changes going by in your head? Is it feel? Are you planning ahead to get from A-to-B (or from I to VI to II to V)? Do you just know so many of these songs so well that you can hear the melodies and lines lurking inside of whatever the rest of the band is doing? I can comp along from a chart and make some little transitions here and there but am totally stumped when trying to construct a melodic line either as a solo or just a jazzier chord-melody interlude. Do I just not know the cannon well enough?
I've taken a few lessons,but really not many, and am largely self-taught. I have a good ear and that has maybe made it to easy to fake my way through. How to take the next step is a total mystery to me. I love the contemporary chord melody style of Jim and Frisell (and others) but am just not clear on how to take my own playing in that direction.
I would love to hear how others have made this leap.
(part 1)
I like so many things about Bill Frisell's playing. Especially, I think, the way that he can spin a song via every element of the instrument (rhythm, notes, melodies (and un-melodies or para-melodies), chords and voicings, harmonics, rests, picking nuances, tone, etc). It's something I admire in Jim's playing as well, obviously.
What I wonder, as I continue to try to make myself into a guitarist, is just what the hell is a Bill Frisell or a Jim Campilongo thinking? I mean, fellow forumites, Jim, when playing a standard (the aforementioned Frisell video makes use of The Days of Wine and Roses), are the changes going by in your head? Is it feel? Are you planning ahead to get from A-to-B (or from I to VI to II to V)? Do you just know so many of these songs so well that you can hear the melodies and lines lurking inside of whatever the rest of the band is doing? I can comp along from a chart and make some little transitions here and there but am totally stumped when trying to construct a melodic line either as a solo or just a jazzier chord-melody interlude. Do I just not know the cannon well enough?
I've taken a few lessons,but really not many, and am largely self-taught. I have a good ear and that has maybe made it to easy to fake my way through. How to take the next step is a total mystery to me. I love the contemporary chord melody style of Jim and Frisell (and others) but am just not clear on how to take my own playing in that direction.
I would love to hear how others have made this leap.
Comments
I think one might try studying arpeggios to really internalize what's embodied in chords so the player isn't looking at chords as "shapes".
Bill plays one or two or three notes to imply a chord grip and it's always beautiful and impressionistic.
For example - instead of playing a standard E Major 7 to A Major 7 ... Bill might play two notes- 1st finger on E on the 5th fret 2nd string with Eb on the 4th finger 8th fret 3rd string making a dissonant E Major 7. Then try an A Major 7 with 1st finger on A on the 7th fret 4th string with 3rd finger on G# on the 2nd string, 7th fret. It's a nice sound that surprisingly takes more brainpower then finger athletics.
Choices like this showcase the infinite choices guitarists have - and sidestep the potential "by-rote" shortcomings of common guitar grips.
All that said, there aren't THAT MANY chords. Come up with a few Major, minor, diminished, augmented voicings and one can play through most standards using small chords supporting the single note melody. Additionally, two or three note chords can potentially be minor, dominant 7th etc. One size fits all!
Hope this helps- Take care - Jim
THis will intersect with jims arpeggios comment.
Good luck!!!!!!!!!!
For instance, I never get lost in a 12-bar blues or derivative form. Even turnarounds and endings etc. I'm not as imaginative and creative or deft as I'd like to be, but I can hang. Jazz in my household growing up, a few lucky encounters with blues mavens in my formative years (including my high school chemistry teacher who, as my total hopelessness in the math and science realm revealed its depth, allowed me to learn a few Sonny and Brownie tunes in lieu of my midterm and final exams), classic rock etc...it's in my brain.
I can also comp along uhhhh...competently when the music is in front of me. Close the fake book and I am lost. If I look at my hands for a minute while trying to play a melody, I am done for. The changes aren't running through my head the way a blues progression (or any number of rock and country or alt-country tunes) do. Do you guys need to think about the changes as the tune goes along? I've learned II-V-I's and I-VI-II-V's etc...but just haven't been able to see how to fit those progressions into "real life."
If it's muscle memory or just the simple fact that the tunes must be LEARNED and KNOWN, I'm ok with that...just so I know that that's the way it is. I know a few jazz standards, but many, many rock and country tunes that I have figured out and learned by ear over the years. I don't have to think about how to play "White Room" or almost anything by Wilco. Playing those songs, I'm not thinking in terms of changes...why are jazz standards and the desire to play over those changes so difficult for me to grasp?
1. play the tunes for a long time. you have been playing 12 bar blues since day one, you cant get lost in it bc your so familiar. i played mr sandman for over a year before i really started to feel okay with it, and i still cant always play it well!
2. learning some chet atkins tunes was a big eye opener, it forces you to see the chords and melody working together at the same time. seeing both helps me remember.
3. learn a handful off jazz songs and admire all the recycling that goes on. soon a lot of the songs will just be bits and pieces of other ones w a new melody.
Once i learn a tune well enough i feel like i know where the arrival points and tension building spots are.
I do think its just about spending a lot of time on it. I hope this helps a little
Thanks again and glad to have this forum!
Jeff
Additionally, the "Playing the Blues and Nailing the Changes" is good for stepping out of the blues scale too, but a little more basic then the "Bb Blues" lesson.
One of the things you might try is getting a Ray Charles standards record, or a Willie Nelson sings standards record. It's great to identify with these old great songs just like you would "White Room". Songs like "Georgia" were written for the "people", not just for jazzbo's!
Have fun and thanks for ordering the lesson!