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u/Avalon-Residant

questions - chromatic passing notes (longish)
▲ 1 r/jazzguitar

questions - chromatic passing notes (longish)

I have been working on getting chromatic passing notes into my head.

For some reason I feel it is a square peg to pound into my round smooth brain.

I have been working on a basic bebob scale. (pictured)

https://preview.redd.it/7je2yjegqp0h1.png?width=2562&format=png&auto=webp&s=e1083ec930052c9c9f43c49bf1b84519cfc8b120

What is tripping me up is getting into my head the requirement of hitting that G# passing note on the off beat consistently when I attempt to swing the scale or add that four note run into licks I already have in my vocabulary. (none of which use a full 8th note passing note)

My question is centered around my struggle to find some mechanism that helps me to lock in that chromatic string.

I have been thinking of it in on these terms as I try to internalize the sound.

  1. "add a chromatic, subtract a diatonic "

  2. "begin four note run on beat 1 or 3 with first note a chord tone"

  3. chromatics on "2 and" or "3 and"

(I believe I can internalize these things, but maybe I can't really)

Finally:

THE Question:

The problem is thinking. Does the "sound" of a passing note get internalized or are players literally, thinking, counting and planning ahead to target a passing notes?

I ask, because I have a feeling that if players say: "Absolutely, I am planning bars ahead. But it is all laid out and the passing notes just happen. I can hear them coming and it happens, its part of the sound.", there there is hope for me to internalize it.

If most players say "Oh it is 100% an intellectual brain smasher. You have to accept that is happening and not listen for it or you will screw up."

So far my experience with messing this scale has me in the latter camp.

Tell me it take time and practice. Unlearning normal scales and keep practicing swinging and phrasing with bebop scales until it clicks.

thanks in advance...for your thoughts on passing notes and how you think or don't think about them.

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u/Avalon-Residant — 3 days ago
▲ 1 r/jazzguitar

My "practice" is rather unstructured. My days are filled with listening to music, running through my 3 or 4 active exercises. Work on a a couple songs, which includes listening to them and then comping the cords solo, getting comfy with the changes, and finding the swing. Once I get that bit then I do the metronome thing and tighten it up. But I think it is important to not be too tight. Seems a lot of the older small ensemble ballads recorded in the 40's feel loose, sliding, playing with the lengths and timing of the changes.

Been listening to Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Hawkins did a couple albums with Kenny Burrell I enjoy a lot. Young's solo older recordings have Freeddie green and Count Basie. Been focusing on the ballads, they are slow. And working through the cord changes has been pretty eye opening as the harmony starts to make sense, I hear the tension and voice leading to resolution...is seemingly unrelated chords but they are.

That has been quite a break through this month.

After those activities I feel good for a couple days and noodle the things I learned and comping the changes and experimenting with tension and resolution and always the bluesy feel. And tone, always dabbling. I bought a Epi Les Paul Studio the other day...Seymour Duncans Whole Lotta pickups. With coil splitting and two tone stacks to pick from. Crazy...Epiphones are amazing. I have three of them now.

Ballads and modest swing tempos...this is about as fast I will go. Fine by me. I have always favored tight timing, a good swing and clear notes. You'll never get kicked out of a jam for keeping a good rhythm, fitting in, playing smooth and clean.

Broken cell phone video not the best sound...

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u/Avalon-Residant — 14 days ago
▲ 3 r/telecaster

https://preview.redd.it/got9ifklsbyg1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3aa21294288de4b4bb16caa517b8129d9fa9cff3

I picked up one these after selling off some old gear I was no longer using. (nearly 25 years of collecting mixers, synths, drum synths, sequencers, P.A., recording gear etc...)

Anywho, the pots were scratchy and despite some cleaning there still remained dead spots on both tone and volume. I am guessing they are due to overheating the pot during soldering. It was still playable if you didn't touch the tone or volume much. But I tend to. the price was right. So I took it home.

I was intrigued by the pine body, it felt good. The neck is nice. The whole thing is gloriously simple and cheap. The setup of the neck is quite good. Frets edges filed and polished. It also has a darker tone to it. I think it is the pine. The neck pickup sounds particularly good. The weight comes in close to 8 pounds, so its pretty comfy.

I ordered a new harness from a guy on reverb, with CTS pots, cloth wire, and a bumble bee cap, all soldered up, very well done. $65. Definitely increased the clarity and presence. I have some parts coming, knobs, and new output jack cup and jack support thing. The pot shafts and jack were larger in diameter. And touching the support brace on the output jack seem to render it unuseable. I thought about an electrosocket style but wanted to keep it classic vibey...but may end up that route anyway.

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u/Avalon-Residant — 15 days ago