开云体育

I'm a long time lurker in this group,so I thought it
is time I start to contribute what I can.

I would recommend the two Emily Remler videos-I can't
quite remember wheter it was from REH or hotlicks but
I remember them being really helpful for me.

The Jody Fisher Series from The National Guitar
WorkShop Library looks quite well structured and
comprehensive-but I've only gone through the Mastering
Jazz guitar set.
Of course you can never go wrong with the Barry
Galbraith series,particularly the comping one.
My teacher told me the core of that book is in the
part entitled"Sole",which is based on the progression
of Body and Soul.

There are alot of other great books out there and it
can be quite overwhelming to decide which ones to
choose.
Anybody else?

Regards,
Yuri Jo

--- "Mr. Paul" <astro@...> wrote:

Hi I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about
economizing my left hand fingering.I lift my fingers
too high from the fretboard and I loose speed. Can
anyone help???
Thanks,Justin

jazz_guitar@... wrote:

Original Message:
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 15:52:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Randy Groves <bebopguitar@...>
Subject: Bruno defense

Zeek wrote:

Jimmy left because he doesn't care to defend
statements he doesn't recall making,

Do you defend comments you didn't make? Why should he?
He may not have made them. Have you ever been
misquoted? It has happened to me, so I am less
surprised to see it happen to others. From what little
I know about Bruno, my sense is that if he had said
it, he would say so.

Randy,
I think as much was said by what he didn't say as what he did, once he said
anything at all. He did not immediately respond with, "I would never say
something like that!" Thereby, allowing wiggle room for whatever, reinforced by
suggesting a question mark may have been substituted for an explanation point.
At first, I think most of us gave him the benefit of the doubt, but then...
Casual remark, misquoted or not, Jimmy jumped from the frying pan deeper into
the fire with each subsequent response.

doesn't read

his interviews, and doesn't have time to monitor
what "his people" release about him, etc.

I can easily see how he could get to the point where
he would rather play or be with his family than
monitor all that stuff. After all, there is a lot of
press on Bruno out there. As much as I like his
playing, I don't think I would want to search out
every mention of him.

From my experience, PR firms normally send an artist everything they publish
about them, and more. Managers generally do the same thing, although some have
been know to misrepresent certain aspects. However, I know of no case where
something along the lines of a critique or an interview would be proffered as an
opinion that didn't actually come from the artist. That would get someone fired
in a New York Minute. Most artists should be smart enough to be contractually
sure anything published by or about them through their minions, first needs
their specific approval.

You you put "his people" in
quotes. Don't you think he has hired people to work on
the business end so he can concentrate more on the
music?

The quotes indicated an "et al." Sheesh!

If he

truly doesn't practice anymore, he's either stopped
growing or is fast becoming bored.

Well, it certainly doesn't show in his playing. It may
be the case that once a person has practiced a million
hours, things just occur and execution just happens.
(Buddy Rich stopped practicing at one point and still
sounded great. I have also heard advanced classical
guys say the same thing)I don't think his technique
needs any more work--and if you can fault it, you have
better ears than I have. And his last two cds (the Joe
Beck and Midnight Blue cds) seem to be departures from
his previous work, so he hasn't stopped growing. On
his boredom, I don't care if he keeps putting out
excellent music.

That's the rub. Tal Farlow got so bored and/or so arrogant he decided he had
done all that could be done in his genre. Yes, he made one amazing album, and
another from Ed Fuerst's living room in 1956 that wasn't quite as amazing. I
own both vinyls. He did a few guest shots, one in particular comes to mind with
Lenny Breau on which his playing reeked. I suppose the only thing that proves
is that if you don't stick with it, it goes away. If you don't keep growing,
either you or your audience will lose interest. Perhaps, both. I really didn't
comment on Mr. Bruno's playing, except for what I actually heard. I haven't
followed his growth, and didn't address that specifically, either. I did
address, in general, "appearances."

Every serious listener/itinerant player has their mentors/idols, and when I
remarked on Jimmy's playing, it was simply my take on my opinion that the genre
he expresses is one of many, and he is one of many within that genre, and I had
a hard time following what I heard on one song. The other stuff is extraneous,
a "bomb" being dropped first (I think) by someone suggesting Bruno's playing
smoked Metheny's, and the idea of them representing two different sub-genres got
lost in the ensuing melee of egotism, represented by what was first seemingly
arrogance that quickly became profoundly apparent as the real deal. (whew)

I find that

boring, and from cats like that, if you've heard 'em
play one tune, you've heard 'em all.

Well that's a cliche. THe question is whether it
applies to Bruno. I find all kinds of new ideas in
Bruno's work, and he continues to surprise me. That's
why I will buy everything he produces. But let's say
he was doing the same thing. What about classical
players who play the exact same music w/o improv?

What about them? As a lifetime accomplishment, there's only one plateau?
Segovia would've disagreed, and he said "mastering the guitar is a lifelong
proposition." I know many who have, and would agree today with that prospect.
I certainly do. I agree the question is whether it applies to a certain someone
and we haven't addressed that. I can't do more than generalize at this point
for that particular someone... Perhaps, my "cats like that" was an over
generalization, but the attitude seen here definitely pointed me there.

If
he does it extremely well, there would be value in
that. I think we are seeing a fairly weak aesthetic
flying around this list. I have said other things
about aesthetic theory that people have failed to pick
up on. It looks like people like to judge merely by
the seat of their pants and utter cliches rather than
engage in aesthetic argument. (I will try again in a
future post to get the aesthetic argument rolling.)

What aesthetics are you talking about? Execution? Tonality? Genre? Some
imaginary "right" to be unreasonable? What's really important in this context,
what/how you play, or your attitude about other players and/or other kinds of
styles and approaches? Doesn't one have a profound effect upon the other? Man,
there's a LOT of various and even varying aesthetics that could apply to jazz
guitar/music discussion... It's ALL fascinating, and mostly, subjective. You
aren't a Kantian philosopher BTW, are you? Or, Nietzschian? ;)

Harsh? You betcha. That's life on Earth... I
would have liked, even expected a little more
humility from Mr. Jimmy Bruno.

I didn't notice any arrogance from him. Indeed, if I
were him, I would have been tempted to let loose with
rather more than he did. What ever happened to
deference to great artists?

Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Deference to "authority?" LOL! Gimme a
break! Or, do you mean we should tolerate artist's "eccentricities?" ;)
Others here took some of his remarks here as arrogant. I saw only one glaringly
arrogant one, "I don't see anyone bidding to take a lesson with you. Or did I
miss it???" Directed to Steve Gallagher, someone on this list, on Monday 8/20.
Maybe he was joking? Didn't look like it...

Had he said

something like, "I never meant to imply Metheny
can't play jazz, I just don't care for his kind of
music." End of discussion.

Didn't he? He said he didn't say it and then said he
liked a lot of what Metheney has done. Isn't that good
enough?

Not exactly. He said he didn't recall saying it. His subsequent remarks seemed
like backpedalling. (Ah, Gary Condit Syndrome!;) He responded emotionally and
angrily, apparently didn't think things through, and wrote in the same fashion I
found his playing; intense, with extended lines, incomplete thoughts, changing
to another thought in the midst of a line. Hey, that makes for interesting jazz
at times, don't get me wrong. But, I would have taken a bit more time to
respond with less inflammation if I were in his shoes, or (better yet) simply
ignored the original accusation, completely.

Good job, you managed to alienate a great artist, and
you were wrong on pretty much every point.

Nonsense. If he's truly a "great artist," what I say would be of little
consequence to him. This reminds me of the old Downbeat Blindfold Tests. Years
ago, I read some stuff there that made some "great artists" sound like idiots,
yet it sure didn't seem to affect their record sales OR their playing. However,
I vowed that if I were ever asked, I'd bow out. :)))

The world of music making has a number of interesting trick bags; here's just a
couple. One, a cat can spend his entire life learning and growing, playing
whatever, whenever they choose, letting their own ability be their "guide," and
things either just happen for them, or not. Two, a cat can be very ambitious
and make a lot happen; ready or not, here they come. In either scenario, career
wise, direction is of paramount importance. In any case, focus is key, and some
folks narrow their scope to the point where, like Tal Farlow, all they see is
one very specific genre. IMO, there's nothing wrong with that per se, as long
as the attitude that precludes their interest in other genres doesn't become one
of "hipper than thou." Unfortunately, that happens to a lot of BeBop type cats
especially, bringing to mind comments like "I don't play Disco, I don't know the
chord." Balderdash.

I think what has spurred this thread so far is an image that needs to be
overcome, one that's just as bad as Rockers tearing up hotel rooms; that of
"arrogant jazzers." My remarks come from over 40 years of playing guitar, over
30 as a working professional sideman (nope, no "day gig"), with a few original
projects under my belt. I don't have a Ph.D. in Psychology, but I have a pretty
good musical education, especially in eking out a living at it. So, I think I'm
entitled to my opinion. :)

BTW, I've received private email applauding the very statements of mine you've
objected to, here. One wrote he has met Mr. Bruno and while impressed with his
playing, was put off by the "chip on his shoulder." Interesting, huh? :D

If you'd like to discuss the correlation I see between this subject and Philip
Zimbardo's "prison experiment," we should do that off the list. Perhaps, you
already see it. ;)

Maybe we should start a sub-list for "The Psychology of Jazz Guitar as Art, It's
Creation and the Artist, Public Perception, and Reality." Nah... Good book
title though, maybe. ;D

My (almost) final point; I've met a lot of fantastic musicians who were/are so
humble as to be honestly surprised by their acceptance and popularity. I've
also met a few who would not stoop to speaking to a fan or particularly, to a
novice who makes the mistake of introducing themselves as an aspiring musician.
Does that affect the quality of the music either makes? I believe it does,
eventually. With age, one either learns humility or loses their ability to
grow, along with their public appreciation. Some, like Kenny Burrell (whom I've
met), Chet Atkins (I gigged playing Gypsy Jazz with Jethro Burns, Chet's
brother-in-law with many a kind word for Chet) or even BB King (whom I met in
his dressing room), stay humble from the git-go. Nice.

A couple of years ago, after Larry Carlton had joined FourPlay and they went on
tour promoting FourPlay IV, my wife and I had the good fortune to see them in a
fairly small local venue. I believe it was their second gig with Carlton. I
had met Larry Carlton about 35 years ago when he was with the Jazz Crusaders and
had met Harvey Mason also, also sometime in the 60s. Naturally, it being so
long ago, neither recalled either meeting, but both were talkative, cordially
warm and friendly, as were Bob James, and Nathan East (who had my wife
spellbound, but not speechless;). All four had come out front after the show to
meet and greet fans, sign autographs, etc. (Yes, it helped sell a few hundred
pieces of memorabilia, but it was still very cool, and the stuff would've sold
well, regardless.) How much confidence did they all four need for Larry Carlton
to have replaced Lee Ritenour in one of the most popular jazz groups around and
continue on as though nothing had happened, yet have so much humility as to be
open to all commentary after only their second performance together? Tired and
sweaty? Maybe. Burned out? Not even close, yet the gig had just plain
smoked. Great, shining example, IMHO.

I believe I've about said all I care to on the matter on the list, I think this
thread should now evolve into something else. The bottom line; I'm sure none of
this was intended by anyone to specifically hurt Jimmy Bruno's feelings. But,
if it did, he just needs to take a good, long, hard look in the mirror. Zeek's
Soapbox Mode, "OFF." ;)

Regards,
...z


Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that
there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
-- John Kenneth Galbraith

-- =---Seek the truth, speak the truth!---= --

L.G. "Zeek" Duff
WHAT!Productions!
Blue Wall Studio
303.485.9438
ICQ#35974686

don't really buy that one i'm afraid. maybe zeeks sense of humour was a
little too pointed for your taste but thats about all you can say about it,
there was nothing particuarly offensive in there from what i read. he has
also been a significant contributor to the list for a while with usually
pretty insightful and useful info.

also his opinion is just as valid as anyone else, and the fact that he
decided to call jimmy on what he saw as some b.s should be commended i
think. jimmy is a great player but doesn't walk on water and if someone
doesn't agree with him they should be allowed to mention it. personal
attacks are obviously a bad idea but i didn't see anything personal in zeeks
posts.

as far as whose inputs i would prefer, just because someone is a famous jazz
player doesn't mean they have more interesting input. my experience is quite
the opposite as the famous guy has already focused on "his" way and is less
likely to discuss other things. i happen to completely disagree with jimmys
"theres just 5 scales" approach. i was at a workshop of his and when i
quizzed him on it didn't get anything that was strong enough to make me
change my mind. i even bought his book to investigate it further but still
wasn't convinced. i'm not saying he's wrong but it just doesn't work for me.
i bought the john scofield video and its pretty clear that jimmys approach
doesn't work for sco either..

anyway, my recommendation would be that certain folks on the list maybe try
to take things (and maybe even themselves) less seriously and we'll be
better off for it..

Hi all,

Just letting you know that Ervin Somogyi is teaching a class this coming
October on Intermediate/Advanced Guitar Construction. Topics will include
tonewood selection, top voicing, etc. I will definitely be attending, I
suggest that those of you who are interested should get in touch with Ervin
to get details ( esomogyi@... ).

Take care,

brent

Brent D. Stuntzner

stuntzner@...


"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too,can become
great"
Mark Twain 1835-1910

Why the philsophical squabble? Who can debate that these
two artists are masters of their instrument, and why would the ego massage
associated with being "more right" be worth driving Jimmy and others from
this list?


Well said Jim, one of the surest ways to get the flames going is
to talk about which guitarists one doesn't like. By the way, it
is possible to dig both Bruno AND Metheny.... And I am sorry that
Jimmy and Lan bailed on us, hopefully they'll be back.

--- In jazz_guitar@y..., "Mr. Paul" <astro@g...> wrote:

HI,

I am a self-taught jazz guitarist. My
left-hand fingers tire and hurt very
quickly inspite of frequent rest periods.
Can anyone of you, professionals,
suggest some remedial advice. Would
highly appreciate the same.

Thanks and best wishes to all of you there!

Paul,
mailto:astro@g...

As far as strengthening your fingers, I would recommend you skip the
exercise devices, finger weights etc and just keep playing. Try
various fretboard exercises which involve string skips, complex
chords etc.
In January of this year I suffered an accident to my fretting hand. I
severed the tendor and digital nerves at the base of my ring finger.
They were surgically reattached and I had to do a lot of hand
therapy. Four months ago I couldn't make fist let alone play the
guitar. Today, I'm playing nearly at the same level as before the
accident. Actually in someways, I'm better. Being forced to go very
slow made me look at both my right and left hand. I spent more time
looking at how to maximize the effort e.g. examine my chord fingering
and was it the best fingering to set me up for the next chord change
(I enjoy playing solo chord melody style).
In order to redevelop my chops I focused on less musical tasks such
as exercises with wide intervals, geometric patterns etc. When my
hand gets sore, I'll stop and rest. My favorite way to keep it loose
is to fill a pliable small hot bottle about half full of hot water
and gently squeeze the bottle. I also do this prior to picking up the
instrument for the first time. I've also heated up several handtowels
in the mircrowave and wrapped my left hand in them. Obviously make
sure its not too hot. Bottom line, IMHO just keep on playing and make
it challenging. r/rob taft

--- In jazz_guitar@y..., "Mr. Paul" <astro@g...> wrote:

Hi,

Can anyone of you recommend to me
a really good jazz guitar self-tutor from
intermediate level onwards comprising
of book with CD video, and the source.

Thanks and warm regards,

Paul,
mailto:astro@g...

I would recommend the National Guitar Workshop series by Jody Fisher.
Four volumes, Beginning, Intermediate, Mastering Jazz Guitar Chord
Melody and Mastering Jazz Guitar Improvisation. Available at several
places but my favorite place is:
rob taft

I'm new to this whole thing, jazz guitar. I'm a guitarist of 35
years trying to switch over to jazz. I joined the group to pick up
tips and techniques to help with my journey into jazz and now there
are members leaving, other members bad mouthing pro's that I respect
and stand in awe of. STOP the bickering and STAY to help guys/gals
like me, please, thank you.
ES175guy

I would have to say that after reading Mr. Duff's comments on Lan leaving the
group I too would not wish to be affiliated with a group that would have Mr.
Duff as a member.

His comments went beyond good taste (i.e. "Too bad Lan's prozac ran out"),
his psychology banal, and his opinions certainly don't represent me or my
feelings.

I am saddened by Lan's departure. My recommendation would be that Mr. Duff
seriously reconsider his boorish actions. While he may passionately feel he
is correct in his opinions he may consider that there are better ways to
disagree and express views than to attack someone's character so
vitriolically in a public forum.

My suggestion would be that the moderator not post patently inappropriate
material, have some clear guidelines regarding what is and not appropriate,
and ask members to respond to how they would like the forum to operate.
Certainly, there should be no need for a "Jazz Guitar Nazi" in a forum such
as this. Hopefully, responses such as this will help set the tone.

There are many opportunities on this forum to develop a special "on line
community." As a human being first and a jazz guitarist second I am saddened
by the attacks, I am saddened that Jimmy Bruno was treated so disrespectfully
and we will not have his input. If it was my vote I would much prefer to
speak with Lan and Jimmy than than Mr. Duff.

Lets see, I am in a jazz guitar forum, who would I like to interact with?
Jimmy Bruno or Mr. Duff. Hmmm.

David Rudick

Hello Group,

Just wanted to put in a plug for the Aebersold play along series. I have
found the series to be extremely helpful, practical, fun, and a great way to
practice and grow without bugging my piano player friend to play 2-5 and
rhythm changes endlessly!

There is one by David Baker on how to learn and memorize songs. It is
extremely helpful as it also teaches basic construction and song writing in
that it deconstructs songs and shows the architecture behind them. This is
very helpful for us that picked up music as music lovers and may not have
music degrees.

I have been playing for a long time and I am not too bad, yet I even found
the first book helpful. Going back to basics and doing them very well cannot
hurt. It is surprising how many holes there are in my knowledge.

Kudos to the series

David Rudick

zeek quoted

"When the song is over, the music is gone; it's in the air, and you
can never capture it again." -- John Coltrane

-- =---Seek the truth, speak the truth!---= --

Actually, Eric Dolphy was the one who said that. It was at a gig
in Europe about 10 days before he died. It's on an album he
recorded live at the gig.

Lonnie

Hi gang. I lurk here only. Never posted because, frankly, I have nothing to offer. I've yet to read a post that didn't indicate a player advanced well beyond my poor capabilities. But I have profited from this list, thank you, and wish to continue. But the contributor list appears to be drying up, for no good reason so far as I'm concerned.

If Jimmy Bruno is not to your personal or aesthetic taste, so be it and get on with it. Life is too short. Whether Pat Metheny plays jazz is neither here nor there. Why the philsophical squabble? Who can debate that these two artists are masters of their instrument, and why would the ego massage associated with being "more right" be worth driving Jimmy and others from this list? You'da thought this guy kidnapped Chandra Levy or something.

Who was it that said, "jazz criticism is a bad idea, poorly executed." Jeez people, criticize the music or the technique if you must, but leave the personal attacks at home. Seems we're already the poorer for it.

PS to Jimmy, you've provided me much musical pleasure over the years. Don't go.

I use a combination of using the fingers and the wrist for alternate
picking. It depends on what I'm playing.

Ted Vieira
--
Listen to my CDs for free:


--
Or visit my website:

Bio Information, Sound Files,
Free Online Guitar Instruction, Books, CDs and more...


Me again,
I assume this question will draw some responses like
whatever works for you but having spent the last few years
learning the mandolin (bluegrass, old time fiddle tunes etc)
where alternate picking (down on the one and up on the
and)is almost a religion and the picking motion comes almost
solely from the wrist, I find the method proposed by Chuck
Wayne in his book on scales very interesting. If I
understand it correctly he gets all his picking motion from
his finger joints and not his wrist and depending on the
scale and which way it is heading he will play consecutive
down-down or up-up strokes when changing strings. I assume
this is only for single note work, I don't know how you
could get a good rhythm sound and feel without playing form
the wrist. My question is, how common is this approach among
the jazz players? Is it more something that some guys do
some of the time or closer to most guys do it all the time?

Thanks, Jay Jessup

I'm using a Line 6 POD on stage and I have done some recording with it, but
mostly for funk and R&B. I haven't really found it warm enough to use for
jazz. For everything else, it's great. Especially since I do a lot of Vegas
rooms where the band has to clear all the gear off the stage everynight. So,
when it comes to convenience vs. tone it's a pretty good unit, but for jazz
I'd look for something else. (For jazz gigs I use a Digitech 2101 through a
Mesa 50/50 pwr amp into a Mesa 1x12 closed-back cabinet wich sounds great!)

Ted Vieira
--
Listen to my CDs for free:


--
Or visit my website:

Bio Information, Sound Files,
Free Online Guitar Instruction, Books, CDs and more...

Does anyone know what John McLaughlin's guitar/FX
setup is on the "After The Rain" album?
Dave Wilson

I believe on the early ones he was still playing a Gibson ES-175. On most of
the later ones I'm pretty sure he played a custom made D'Aquisto.


--
Bob Schwartz

Zeek wrote:

Jimmy left because he doesn't care to defend
statements he doesn't recall making,

Do you defend comments you didn't make? Why should he?
He may not have made them. Have you ever been
misquoted? It has happened to me, so I am less
surprised to see it happen to others. From what little
I know about Bruno, my sense is that if he had said
it, he would say so.

doesn't read

his interviews, and doesn't have time to monitor
what "his people" release about him, etc.

I can easily see how he could get to the point where
he would rather play or be with his family than
monitor all that stuff. After all, there is a lot of
press on Bruno out there. As much as I like his
playing, I don't think I would want to search out
every mention of him. You you put "his people" in
quotes. Don't you think he has hired people to work on
the business end so he can concentrate more on the
music?

If he

truly doesn't practice anymore, he's either stopped
growing or is fast becoming bored.

Well, it certainly doesn't show in his playing. It may
be the case that once a person has practiced a million
hours, things just occur and execution just happens.
(Buddy Rich stopped practicing at one point and still
sounded great. I have also heard advanced classical
guys say the same thing)I don't think his technique
needs any more work--and if you can fault it, you have
better ears than I have. And his last two cds (the Joe
Beck and Midnight Blue cds) seem to be departures from
his previous work, so he hasn't stopped growing. On
his boredom, I don't care if he keeps putting out
excellent music.

I find that

boring, and from cats like that, if you've heard 'em
play one tune, you've heard 'em all.

Well that's a cliche. THe question is whether it
applies to Bruno. I find all kinds of new ideas in
Bruno's work, and he continues to surprise me. That's
why I will buy everything he produces. But let's say
he was doing the same thing. What about classical
players who play the exact same music w/o improv? If
he does it extremely well, there would be value in
that. I think we are seeing a fairly weak aesthetic
flying around this list. I have said other things
about aesthetic theory that people have failed to pick
up on. It looks like people like to judge merely by
the seat of their pants and utter cliches rather than
engage in aesthetic argument. (I will try again in a
future post to get the aesthetic argument rolling.)

Harsh? You betcha. That's life on Earth... I
would have liked, even expected a little more
humility from Mr. Jimmy Bruno.

I didn't notice any arrogance from him. Indeed, if I
were him, I would have been tempted to let loose with
rather more than he did. What ever happened to
deference to great artists?

Had he said

something like, "I never meant to imply Metheny
can't play jazz, I just don't care for his kind of
music." End of discussion.

Didn't he? He said he didn't say it and then said he
liked a lot of what Metheney has done. Isn't that good
enough?

Good job, you managed to alienate a great artist, and
you were wrong on pretty much every point.

Randy Groves


=====
J. Randall Groves, Ph.D. ("Rando")
Professor of Humanities
Ferris State University
groves@...
bebopguitar@...

--- In jazz_guitar@y..., Eric Brazier <ericbrazier@y...> wrote:

NO,this by no means was meant to insult anyone.It
seems that guitarist are a little anal when it comes
to the execution of song.I include myself in this
catagory and time to time have to check myself and
realize that most of my audience is made up of non
musicians and could not give a hoot about my knowledge
of theory.A humbling example was when I was playing an
absolutely scorching solo over dolphin dance and I was
proud,that same eve during my set I let a friend come
up,who btw,plays nothing but blues.needless to
say,after his first long ,vibrating,sustained,and very
soulful note,my regular audience took several minutes
to quiet down for the rest of his song.My point,grab
the audience with something that is emotional even if
it's mary had a lil lamb...so,so,solly...Eric...

Well, I guess if you knew me, you'd know that I agree with you
100% . . . that said, I still would like to be able to "scorch" in
more of a jazz style, as opposed to the blues style which I have
down, for the sake of more variety when I play five-hour gigs . . .
anyway, Jimmy Bruno still hasn't answered the original question, so I
may have to give up! :)

Thanks to all who responded on my "double diminished" question. I think
Paul Erlich's post comes close to what my bass player friend was trying to
tell me - Paul mentioned playing 2 diminished chords 1/2 step apart
simultaneously on piano, but that itsn't possible on guitar, so I believe on
a stringed instrument, one has to alternate between the chord tones of the 2
diminished chords instead. That sounds similar to what my friend was
saying.

Thanks again for the responses.
Nick