--- In jazz_guitar@y..., "Zeek Duff" <zkduff@q...> wrote:
jazz_guitar@y... wrote:
With regard to Ted Greene's ideas for syncopation in
soloing; he talks about using accents as perhaps the single
most important aspect of polyrhythmic soloing. Start by
accenting the "ands" which gives a nice backbeat feel, and
move the accents around until you find something you like,
and don't be afraid to put two or more together, next to
each other. He also suggests the use of 1/4 note triplets
instead of 1/8th note swing, but watch out for the late
"ones" on the downbeat of the next bar. I guess kinda think
of it as a -. (minus dot) after the downbeat. In other
words, you're gonna get there late, so just feel for it,
don't try to count it.
Something that I benefit from is occasionally going through life with
a pair of drumsticks and a xeroxed page of drum patterns on my person
at all times. Then when I have a couple of minutes of downtime,
stuck in traffic or whatever, I pull out the sticks. Right foot is
kick, left foot is hi-hat, left thigh is snare and right thigh is
either ride cymbal or tom. Practicing drums really helps your sense
of time and gives you all _kinds_ of syncopation ideas that you start
to hear and use on the guitar. To translate drum patterns to guitar,
think of the bass strings as the kick or toms and the open or muted
strum as a snare or cymbal. When you find yourself picking in
perididdles, you'll know you're on your way.
Cheers,
Kevin
www.TheNettles.com
