Look out

Here’s part of a text message that I sent a friend:

“…EUREKA!!! Just recently had a EUREKA moment. I LOVE the sounds of the first real electric guitar jazz giant Charlie Christian. He utilized chord shapes in developing solos. Hmmm instead of learning “jazz arpeggios,” why not use the chord shapes that he used and of which I have some books that cover the shapes?! Chord shapes contain arpeggios, I’m thinking, and maybe I can be closer to his sound using them!

Weekend will bring 2 Christmas shows with the band. Saturday will play at a Fire House, and Sunday playing at a Christmas Church function.

Improvisation

I don’t want to be a jazz guitar player. Instead I would just want to IMPROVISE. That’s music to me: being able to express oneself in a way that doesn’t use language. You can do that with the visual arts too, but I prefer sounds.

Going thru my books trying to figure out how I can do that! Found a site that might help.

Stay tuned ….

Beaver Moon

November 27, 2023

Topsy Turvy

Trying to learn sbout what scales to play over chords and I’m not getting there (yet). I can play the modes pretty well, but I’m still not sure about when they are played. Went back on piano for a bit. Guitar - piano

Thanksgiving Eve, 2023

Found out yesterday that my aunt passed away yesterday morning. Feels weird. On my mom’s side there was my mom, my uncle, and my aunt. They have all passed away. My dad and all of his eight siblings have also passed away…

Had a nice time with guitar this evening. Got a music book in the mail, and played around with “Christmas Time is Here” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Was nice. 

Happy Thanksgiving / 2023

Modes

A friend got me into how to use the modes a different way and it’s opening sone doors. Needs practice of course!

Not a great music day

Fumbled through attempting guitar improvisation and piano tonight. Regarding guitar improvisation, difficult for me to determine what modes are associated with the chord changes. Played piano very briefly and fumbled. 

1. Learn circle of fifths in order to LEARN HOW MANY SHARPS AND FLATS ARE IN EACH KEY.

2. Then write out the chords for each key using:

M m m M Dom7 m m7b5.

Guitar

Ok so I haven’t practiced piano. That’s ok; guitar has been calling. Tried to do some learning regarding modes. I know how to play them, but some questions remain:

1) When they are spaced out over the length of the fretboard, can it be said that: the X mode (major scale mode), is the same thing as the Y mode elsewhere on the fretboard using my Improv book’s idea as a guide?

2) So if the answer to (2) above is yes, and I’m thinking it is yes, can I substitute the Major pattern with a different pattern elsewhere on the fretboard, i.e., instead of only playing the major scale mode in a particular key, can I start in a different mode elsewhere on the fretboard as long as I use the counting technique?

3) What is a good procedure for figuring out what scale goes with non-diatonic chords in a progression? [It has something to do with the notes in the non-diatonic chord(s)]. 

Listened to some examples that I found on-line, and the ones I listened to were quite good! 

All the Things You Are 🎹

Continued to work on “All the Things You Are,” and it is sounding quite nice with those Sudnow voicings.

Finding out, and this may be something to expect in the future, that a significant amount of time at the beginning of practice is spent going over what I previously learned. 

Also finding out what I knew already: No Need to Rush Learning a Song. I may not get to 52 songs in a year (hahahahaha!), but that’s ok. Just want to stick with this. Daily! 

Sudnow Piano

Working on “All the Things You Are” mostly using the Sudnow Method. Must say that I am absolutely enthralled by the music that materializes as a result of the Sudnow Method. It just keeps drawing me back. In this tune, I’m also using a “closed voicing” for a particular Bbm7 chord. Maybe I’m about halfway done with this tune. I don’t think I’ll use the “Method” for the whole song; may use some regular chords. 

Just thinking out loud here. Why get another piano course?? This is how I want to sound. For songs that need less color tones, I can always just use “less color tones.” Wouldn’t it be great to work on this challenge: figure out one song per week. Try to keep at least three ready to play at all times; using sheet music or not. 

But I wonder what will happen if I work on one per week… Some guidelines:

1. Keep three in hand at all times even if using sheet music to look at while playing…

2. It is likely that some  of the songs learned will not exclusively use the Sudnow Method. Will not be held to a perfectionistic expectation of just using his stuff. The emphasis will be on balancing:

Sudnow’s Method with Sounding Good.

3. Learn the closed voicings.

In the past, I focused on using his method about 99% of the time for each song, and I’m not sure that was the best idea. Here I’ll focus on using the method as a foundation for the songs, but understanding that there are other ways of sounding good.

Piano / guitar / piano

Played a Christmas gig with the full band this morning for a sales event. First set was really good. Bass/aerophone player, me (guitar), and drummer later played a jazz Christmas set that went ok. My solos need work. Second set of band music did not go as well as the first. Came home, later tried piano with disappointing results. Hmmmmm. 🤷 

The good news is that I went to piano later today, relaxed, and liked the way “All the Things You Are” is happening. Doing it Sudnow style, but may vere off during the song and do sone other style, then arrive back using Suds’ voicings. 👍 

Blah blah blah

Stopped piano lessons today. Thinking about doing piano just for fun now, using the Sudnow stuff. Thinking of getting deeper into blues guitar.

Still wondering

Still wondering if I will stop piano lessons. Focus on guitar? 

Blues guitar? Focus on just enjoying the guitar rather than learning more than what I know? Learn to read music in other positions other than the first on guitar? Chord melody on guitar?????

Will I feel relief or remorse if I stop piano lessons? 

Am I selling myself short regarding my piano potential?

Ouch

Got back to piano tonight and things weren’t clicking. I haven’t practiced in awhile and perhaps that had something to do with it. Losing patience.