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Licks and chord melody - books
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John Amato
I'm looking for recommended books on jazz licks and chord melody.
----------- Les Wise's "Jazz Solos" Ron Eschete "Chord Melody Phrases" Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: * New Members 10 Visit Your Group Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest ? Unsubscribe ? Terms of Use . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |
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Luciano,
Hi there. I am a beginner in JG (been working hard at it for two years now). I have been using the following to books amongs others: MASTERING JAZZ GUITAR CHORD / MELODY - Jody Fisher JAZZ LICKS ENCYCLOPEDIA - Jody Fisher Hope this helps and good luck, ? Mark Cassidy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |
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I can't say too much about Jazz licks books because I've never found them particularly useful, perhaps others have.
I prefer to get a book that has complete solos over standard tunes. If you are just starting out Frank Vignola has a number of these books (with CDs) with easier solos. Robert Conti (at robertconti.com) has a series of DVDs called Ticket to Improv that are good as well. But make sure you know your major scales and at least the Dorian, Mixolydian and Ionian modes/arpeggios beforehand. Otherwise, these books won't be a true learning experience that can be applied to other tunes. Regarding Chord Melody, the Barry Galbraith books are excellent and the Robert Yelin books are good but more advanced/complex. Good Luck and welcome aboard, Rob |
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On the subject of licks, I agree they aren't that useful. I felt that
concepts were more useful along with knowledge of scales arps and chord extensions. Time spent thrashing around in these will yield your own licks that will just occur to you as you hear rhythms and changes. It's ugly, but there aint no shortcuts. Spend some time with Dave at Lots of good stuff there starting w/left hand right hand, much good solid info and great tracks to help process the insights. Ron Living and playing outside the box. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |
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I found Martin Taylor's Guitar Method from Mel Bay publications very good.
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Although I don't have the ability to get through the whole lot, I've found that there's some very powerful concepts in there and a couple of nice blues chord melody ditties which with a bit of practice you can use as a base for some fun improv. Dan --- In jazz_guitar@..., "caneluc" <caneluc@...> wrote:
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I've used some lick books over the years, but I don't think any of it ever crept into my playing.
On the other hand ... One of my teachers, Steve Erquiaga, had me write out licks. I think there were some rules (this was quite a few years ago, so I don't recall it clearly), mainly that the downbeats had to be in the chord or scale and the upbeats could be anything. Or something like that. Anyway, I wrote out a handful of them one week. I still use one of them. I also use a couple of licks I learned from teachers. And a few from records. But, for some reason, I don't think I use any lick I ever learned from a book. Anyway, the point is that I've spent lots of time with things that didn't seem to get into my playing and reading licks out of books is one them. Maybe if my memory was better, I'd have gotten more out of that sort of thing. If I had to recommend a book anyway, I think it would be one of Lenny Niehaus'. Not a guitarist tho. |
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I disagree with the statement that licks aren't of great value. I have learned all of the scales and arpeggios that you should know and I use them all the time. They are the basis of my playing.
However, I want some things in my playing that are ..what I'll call classical. The sounds you are supposed to hear from a jazz guitar player. Licks help me to achieve this. Here is a link to a great series of jazz/blues licks from a college professor that I have worked on. He has ten licks that I feel are very useful..Why??.... I am a big fan of Howard Roberts, and he used a lot of jazz/blues licks in his playing, and I want to also be able to do that. Also, the licks when learned...open up tons of other licks based upon the original ones that I have learned. I also recommend Frank Vignola's "50 Jazz Licks You Must Know" from anglefire. Some of these are also on You-Tube. Here is a referrence: Also look at, David Bakers "How To Play Be-Bop" as another source of licks that will provide a classic sound. He has about more than 300 licks that were taken from actual Be-Bop recordings. I have also worked with Wolf Marshall's 100 Jazz licks book. Working these licks has greatly increased my ability to produce a sound that has a lot of classical jazz phrases. Learning these licks has opened up my playing. But, I feel that you have to have a foundation of scales and arpeggios to allow you to take this information to new levels. I can now create licks "on the fly" that give me the sound I am looking for. I spend a portion of every practice time adding and playing licks. I then immediately take the new licks into the songs I am working on to see how they work. My "sound" has improved immensely since I started this about a year ago. Ron |
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On 11/18/2010 6:16 PM, rperry19 wrote:
Learning these licks has opened up my playing. But, I feel that you have to have a foundation of scales and arpeggios to allow you to take this information to new levels.I agree with this. Licks are creative examples of how other musicians apply what it is that they know - some are, of course, more useful than others. When one can actually find them written, and so speed up that process, it's a good thing. The Charlie Parker Omnibook is a great example of this. In the end, all things lead to better music. best, Bobby |
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On 11/18/2010 6:37 PM, Bob Hansmann wrote:
The Charlie Parker Omnibook is a greatTwo more things: 1) Charlie Christian was a "lick" (riff) player, and that's how Tal Farlow studied him (and nobody studies Charlie Christian more than Tal or Wes). 2) Both Ron Becker & I have both managed to discuss licks and keep it musical.... best, Bobby |
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--- In jazz_guitar@..., "rperry19" <rperry19@...> wrote:
In jazz you want to be able to hear how a player develops their lines. "Licks" and "riffs" are fragments of lines they are a useful part of applying scales and arpeggios. A "Lick" on it's own does not tell a story, but is a useful tool to learning the language of jazz. What is important is to learn lines as much as possible by ear, transcribing from recordings, rather than being shown them, by video, or by book. Learn from the masters, Parker, Miles, Armstrong, from those players that inspire you. IMO, be wary of "10 essential licks etc" and other courses. Always go back to the masters. The real lessons are in the master of jazz and their music. Sing lines first, play lines, play them in different locations on the fretboard. -- Alisdair MacRae Birch Guitarist/Bassist/Educator/Arranger |
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You are right Bobby.
I have a book of Charlie Parker Songs for guitar that is great. Licks help me to hear the sounds that I want to play. Nothing is better than the Charlie Christian stuff that is available on the internet for free. My playing has reached the Charlie Parker statement of "Learn all that stuff" (scales and arpeggios) and then forget it. So now I take my "forget it attitude" into my playing and just try to create what I want to hear. I have worked on improvisation for almost 10 years... and some days it feels like I have just started. But, there are other days where I feel like "If it is in my head, I can play it". I work with a jazz quintet of very good musicians, and that in itself is a very humbling experience. I think the "learn licks period" is another step in the jazz learning process. In my situation it is the next step after the learning of the scales and arpeggios I am thinking of Juan and his group that we watched on You-Tube this week... That is what it is all about and you have to experience that to really understand the jazz process. I am fortunate to have done that also in public. Your gonads are on the line, and you are all alone at that time. But it is the greatest thrill you can have with a guitar. Ron |
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What book is that, Bird for guitar?
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john --- In jazz_guitar@..., "rperry19" <rperry19@...> wrote:
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I've found that I get very little out of lick books. There was one by Joe Pass that I looked through at one point. The reason behind even looking at it was to get some ideas on how to phrase melodic lines over standard changes like II-Vs. I tend to get a bit more from solo transcriptions after I attempt to learn them by ear first.
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The only problem is that you can get hung up on what is written on the page rather than what is going on aurally and on the guitar. A good example of this is that a side slip, or a pattern idea, looks like some sort of chromatic insanity when written out, but make a lot more sense when it is visualized on the guitar. It is even worse if the transcription contains an analysis of what is supposedly going on. Most of the time, those are really off base. The best way to learn the jazz language is to do a ton of listening and work on coming up with your own licks/phrases over typical progressions. That way, the licks and phrases become part of YOUR vocabulary. I have a notebook where I've written out a whole set of licks/phrases based on II-V-I with the I chord as a major or minor chord. So in the key of F I had: G-7, C7, F Maj7. For the minor resolution, it was G-7, C7, F-7. The point of my notebook was to work on different ways to activate the dominant 7th chord and target specific resolution notes. For activation techniques, I was looking at diminished, altered, lydian dominant, and whole tone scales. I also did some work with some patterns and side slipping. The key is to develop at least one lick with each resolution. For example, using the altered scale (7th mode of mel. minor), you have the b9, #9, b5, and #5 notes that resolve when going to either the major or minor I chord. I worked out a full jazz line using all eighth notes for the entire progression that resolved a specific one of those altered tones. For example, I'll pick the b9 of the C7 chord. This is a Db. The most common resolution is to resolve that down to the C on the F chord. So, on the and of 4 (4 + ) on the C7 measure, I put the Db, and on the "1" of the F chord. After that, it is a matter of building the lick around that resolution point. Singing the resolutions, and your lines, really helps get them into your ear. Let's say you do this for just one of the altered tones with both major and minor resolutions. Now you have 2 licks you can play over any II-V-I. Since they are your own, they become easier for you to execute and hear in context because you came up with them. Now add the fact that you can play those 2 licks in any of the 12 keys by shifting your hand. So, you really have 24 licks. Now you can play over a bunch of tunes. Add in the other 3 altered tones, and your 8 licks become 96! Come up w/ a few licks based on the diminished scale activation of the dominant chord and you're covering a huge amount of the sounds you hear in jazz. Good luck and happy exploring, -- Mike V. --- In jazz_guitar@..., "caneluc" <caneluc@...> wrote:
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The best way to learn the jazz language is to do a ton of listeningThis what I have always felt. It has never felt natural to me to play someone else's lines. Learn from it, adapt it, possibly, but if you do the work, and I admit I don't come close to doing what is really needed, and still, the note sequences get born of the rhythms and changes and bits and pieces of things I've learned more than trying to remember what Pat Metheny of Kenny Burrell played. But I spent my formative years playing bass in a band the did all original music and doing someone else's ideas became less satisfying. Even tho Burrell's may be better, I'd rather play my own. They feel so natural to play... for better or worse. In the time it would take me to internalize Burrell's stuff, assuming I could, I could have learned several new concepts on my own Besides in a jazz venue the guys with ears are going `hah there's a Howie Robert's lick, there's Burrell, oh its Parker lines, yep sounds like jazz. But incest over time has it's affect of the gene pool. If we just keep re hashing the cool guys ideas eventually people could get jaded by the sameness. I know this is an over simplification of what most people actually do. Call it worse case maybe. All that said, I must admit I'm learning other peoples chord melody arrangements with the hope it will improve my playing. So who's kidding who? {;^)> Ron Living and playing outside the box. On Nov 19, 2010, at 8:28 AM, dphidt wrote: |
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