Simplifying changes

Bones

Thanks Denis, yes it always amazes me how Django really nails the changes.

Twang, yes that self doubt thing is really a road block. For me it kept me trying to copy Django (haha good luck with that) and not doing my own thing. I struggled to try to get some hard passages in transcriptions verbatim up to speed but then I just decided that it probably wasn't going to happen so now I just try to get the essence of it but modify it to make it doable for me which makes it a lot more fun and actually I'm finding that it is helping my playing and technique probably just because it is more motivating to play. It's really freeing to do your own thing, even with heads. If the exact melody doesn't fit well on the guitar change it. Make it your own. But try to stay true to the intended melody at least the first time thru on some level.

Again, not saying people should take shortcuts and not try to play Django's solos up to speed verbatim. I'm late starting soloing and I'm in my mid-60s, hand and shoulder issues, and not a natural musician so I realized I needed to be realistic about what I thought I could achieve but still find fun and satisfaction. And as Denis said, everyone has to find the approach that works for them. That said, I have done a lot of transcriptions and really enjoyed that process as well.

Buco

After a gazillionth take:

https://soundcloud.com/bucobuco/after-youve-gone-1

Backing track is Band in a Box (still didn't learn how to enter a coda at the end). After the melody the first chorus is mainly composed solo, an etude I came up with years ago. Then second chorus is where I've been trying to use the stuff I've practiced recently, months and years, then the last chorus is just a major scale really, few bum notes right at the end but like I mentioned in the beginning I was kinda exhausted trying to get this thing. And yeah, I tried playing at 240, then 220 etc...couldn't get through it to save my life so it ended up at 180.

Lango-Django

Buco,

I can help you add codas, and its not hard... and i would also suggest that this tune would be even more exciting if the rhythm track would stop playing every now and then to give the lead guitar a two bar break, perhaps at bars 15 and 16 and/or 31- 32 for some extra drama...

... other than that, your phrasing is nice and that guitar tone as recorded is LOVELY... I’d just like to hear you go for the jugular a little bit more...perhaps some swingy repeated chord riffs for that final climactic chorus...?

Will

Twang

This is great playing Buco? I agree with Lango you have a great tone. Nothing not to like and a strong sense of melody always.

i looked at band in a box but its a lot of money and I would Only use it for practicing.

Buco

Thank you guys @Lango-Django @Twang !

I mostly practice in the evening these days when my kid is asleep so I have to pick softly but maybe I'm onto something because of it. That's the reason I couldn't record a video because I couldn't crank up the backing track to be loud enough in the background.

Will, there's a video tutorial on adding coda to BIAB, if I get stuck I'll ask you. I know how to do it in the iReal app so hopefully this isn't that much different. And yes, I need to figure out the breaks too. I just started messing with this program a few days ago myself. But you're correct to notice that I'm not that good at building drama, that's also something that needs to be addressed and practiced separately.

But really the reason I recorded it was to show you can indeed play over the major scale and sound decent, well I hope the last chorus sounds decent enough to make a point. Try first two are to contrast that. The first one is where I spent time really trying that it has that melodic sense and follow the chords at the same time. The second is again trying to keep up with the changes but it's really mostly lick driven. But the last chorus was my main soloing approach for at least a few years. And to me that's the ultimate simplifying changes approach.

Bones

Ok so I was mindlessly noodling over a Douce Ambiance backing track and at one point I just looped a Gm6 arp over the whole A section. Didn't sound great but didn't sound horrible either. Just kinda bland. So I started trying to figure out why that sorta worked. I'm thinking this is another good one to discuss simplification. The A section is really all about Gm with just a quick trip to Cm for one measure but I always have to remember that as soon as I start a Cm idea in that part I immediately need to head back to Gm or I sound "late" getting back to Gm.

The changes go:

Gm---/D7---/Gm-"F7"/Gm-(G7/B)-/Cm---/Gm---/Ab7---/D7----

Gm---/D7---/Gm-"F7"/Gm-(G7/B)-/Cm---/Gm---/Eb7---/D7----

I put the "F7" in quotes because it is only 2 beats and really just functions as a D7b9 which is really just back-cycling around Gm. The G7/B I put in parens since it is really just 2 beats leading to Cm and provides nice bass line movement but it goes by so quick you don't have to hit that if you can't get it but it sounds nice if you do.

Similar to the F7, the Cm (or rather Cm6) is really close to D7b9 so again, just hunkering down around Gm is "ok".

Lastly, Ab7 is just the tritone of D7 so again, heading back to Gm (or 2 measures of D7).

I guess my point is nailing arps over all those changes would be pretty tough and it isn't really necessary. Just don't "land" on a "bad" note and stay there (like if you are playing a Gm6 arp don't sit on the E note when the F7 chord comes around). Conversely if you go for trying to hit the changes and don't nail it it would probably sound sloppy and be better to go for something simple that you can play clean and maybe try to hit only a few of the changes. And in the mean time slow it way down and try to come up with some nice lines that do hit some of the changes. For example highlighting the notes that DO change (the "changes") as opposed to simplifying (where you try to highlight the notes in common). Or some combo of that like mostly play Gm but try to target the Eb when Cm or Ab7 come around??? Or just noodle around G harmonic minor and try to add in some arps over some of the changes.

Anyway, just thinking out loud so be sure to grab your big grain of salt....

Twang

Are you sure you are not much of a lead player? Your harmonic knowledge is impressing me and is way more helpful than any book I've read and I've read a few!

I was working through your ideas from your earlier post today regarding after you've gone. Everything worked as you said it would but you get away with more as you increase the tempo.

It got me thinking, as I saw all the chord choices laid before me, that you can choose to make it as simple (bland) or complex as your like depending on your ability. The overriding factor, when choosing what to miss out or keep, is what your ear finds pleasing or acceptable. Yes I could play through 4 bars of G and get away with it but do I really want to miss out that B7 or whatever.

I don't think I would enjoy listening to or playing a solo if I couldn't hear the written underlying harmony.

Bones

Yeah actually mostly a rhythm player but took up soloing out of necessity when my arthritis got too much to play a lot of chords. Again, don't really know what I'm talking about since this idea of simplifying changes is pretty new to me but something I've been thinking about a lot lately so your OP was very interesting and timely for me. Kind of trying to figure out survival techniques for jamming at tempos that are above my comfort zone. Sure, hit all those changes on a ballad with triplet arps but at fast tempos it's a whole other story. I think the bottom line is play as advanced as you can play cleanly and up to tempo. Sure keep striving but still have fun.

ChristopheCarington

A lot of great conversation, I'll add my two cents about the "what to play over XXXXX chord" preference:

Have you tried singing a solo over the chord progression? I personally find the easiest way to discover my personal preference is listening back to my singing /w a backing track. I find my ideas to be clearer and not biased by muscle memory. Plus having a recording lets me focus on judging the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic content.

If you find something that you enjoyed (I bet you'll surprise yourself with an idea or two you sing), pick up your guitar and try to play it.

Lango-Django

Yeah, good suggestion, Christophe.

I like to try to escape from muscle memory too and for me great fun is to dream up a little riff in my head and then try to make the same thing come out of my fingers... I can do this pretty well at home but my batting average isnt quite so good on a gig!

Weirdly enough, somehow the stuff frim my muscle memory bleeds over so that even if I am singing quietly to myself with no guitar, surprise! there it is again!

will