#Modal Chords for Guitar

[guitarguitarworld]

Modal Chords For Guitar:

CLICK SUBSCRIBE! Please watch video above for detailed info: Hi Guys, Today, a quick look at modal chords. The chords are from the backing track [below in this page] and they are “Transposed” with C as the root note. These are exploited in the 12 bar form of a fusion blues. Here are the chords for the chart: To begin with, we will take the first chord for the basic Ionian/Major sound. Here…

[xabiramone]

Townshend doesn't play many solos, which might be why so many people don’t realize just how good he really is. But he's so important to rock – he’s a visionary musician who really lit the whole thing up. His rhythm-guitar playing is extremely exciting and aggressive – he's a savage player, in a way. He has a wonderful, fluid physicality with the guitar that you don't see often, and his playing is very much a reflection of who he is as a person – a very intense guy. He's like the original punk, the first one to destroy a guitar onstage – a breathtaking statement at that point in time. But he's also a very articulate, literate person. He listens to a lot of jazz, and he told me that's what he'd really like to be doing. On "Substitute" you can hear the influence of Miles Davis' modal approach in the way his chords move against the open D string. He was using feedback early, which I think was influenced by European avant-garde music like Stockhausen – an art-school thing. The big ringing chords he used in the Who were so musically smart when you consider how busy the drumming and bass playing were in that band – it could have gotten chaotic if not for him. He more or less invented the power chord, and you can hear a sort of pre-Zeppelin thing in the Who's Sixties work. So much of this stuff came from him.

By Andy Summers

[strawberryfairi]

The TR Boys as Musicians Headcanons

Keisuke Baji

Absolutely does not have the patience to learn (and definitely not master) an instrument. There's just no way. Any time he'd go to practice he'd crash tf out for hitting the wrong note (probably break the poor instrument). And speaking of wrong notes, he's MOST DEFINITELY NOT playing an instrument he'd need to tune himself (EX: Literally any string instrument besides a piano which you can get professionally tuned).

Music theory would be the bane of his existence for sure! Especially getting into the deep theory concepts and mastering tonal harmony. I think he'd be ok like mentally grasping counterpoint but like...the execution....no.

Ear training would also piss him off. Hearing a bunch of rhythms then having to write it down, along with hearing random played melodies like 4-8 bars long and having to write it out just by what you heard alone?! No, he's not on that....

Shuji Hanma

If we're applying the musician stereotype that tall people make great upright bassists/bassists in general ('cause upright basses are so damn tall. They're like 6" tall which can make it a little hard for shorter folk to play so they say), I could see him potentially choosing the bass as his instrument. It would be random as hell but not surprising if Shuji went with the upright as opposed to electric bass since I think he'd just find it as the next appealing thing.

His interest in the bass would absolutely NOT last long, and he just would not have the attention span for mastering it (highly likely would get bored and search for something else more interesting).

On the other hand though, I could see him like late at night when he can't sleep randomly fiddling around with it.

The callouses that come from playing bass (especially upright) would probably annoy the hell out of him. Less from the looks of them and more just 'cause they hurt and are so tempting to pick at (as many bass players tend to say).

Ken "Draken" Ryuguji

Percussion. Drums. Period.

This man is playing the drums. He'd actually be good at it too! I think he'd have fun practicing keeping good timing and especially dynamics (which to be honest omg so many drummers lack...).

He'd definitely get annoyed often with messing up, but I feel like instead of crashing out (like Keisuke), it would just motivate him to keep going.

Definitely does "performances" in his room where he's pretending to be on some big stage doing a sold out show.

I think his most favorite things to practice would be getting into the quintuplets (like so many drummers do, literally they're obsessed lol), odd meter, DEFINITELY polyrhythms, and of course drum fills.

Has that drummer condition where he constantly brags about how absolutely top tier his ride and crash symbols are....

Manjiro "Mikey" Sano

Guitar. Acoustic. Period.

It's not like a deep thing for him, he's just one of those standard acoustic guitar players where they love to play it outside by some water or park or something.

A fiddler with the guitar, doesn't actually know anything technical about it but it's just therapeutic to play.

Usually unknowingly plays lots of "calm" tunes. I can see him naturally falling into a modal kind of sound (Phrygian for a sort of "dark/warm tone" that blends into Dorian which can be fairly "bright" depending on how you go about it).

Likes to sing or hum along to the melodies he plays, especially the ones that he finds himself constantly going back to.

I think he's light-handed with the strings, very soft volume, and likes to do rather slow tempo melodies. You won't find him doing too many fast lines, but he does tend to sometimes do particularly complex (theory wise) melodies and chord progressions.

[fugengulsen]

MISSISSIPPI FRED McDOWELL and young BONNIE RAITT in the 1960s. McDowell was the powerhouse slide guitarist and singer who the Rolling Stones based their "You Got To Move" on. Fred took Bonnie Raitt under his wing and taught her about playing slide guitar. Fred's sound was very modal, mostly based in one chord and a deep groove, positively locomotive in nature. Many of his songs accelerated to a frenzied rhythm, like a train picking up steam. He was well known in his Como, Mississippi neighborhood as "Shake 'Em," after his popular piece, "Shake 'Em On Down." The music included blues and gospel, all from the same wellspring. He is one of the best blues musicians of all time. Bonnie Raitt, of course, went on to considerable fame herself, and is still touring the world with her wonderful voice and guitars.

[soop-musical-fool]

Ok I said I would make a pin full of music so here it is

First off, I mentioned KNOWER. It's a long project that started a really long time ago, but their best stuff is probably coming out like right now. As in, they are just about to release a new album, KNOWER FOREVER. The singles on it are incredible, like I'm The President just comes right out the gate with the fattest walkdown I've ever heard from a horn section. The B section makes it feel like I'm enjoying a song like I would a multiple-course meal. Then Crash The Car just transfixes you. Yes, yes, you should listen to those, but don't neglect the fire they put out in 2017 because you owe it to yourself to watch the live sesh of Overtime:

Oh god this post is gonna make viewing my blog super annoying isn't it

Anyway the next thing I gotta mention is Vulfpeck. These guys are famous for scamming Spotify, basically. They released an album full of 30-second tracks of pure silence, just absolutely nothing, titled Sleepify. They got online and said "Yo guys, help us raise money for a free concert by listening to this on loop while you sleep." What they were actually doing was exposing a loophole in the way Spotify calculated royalties, and before they could pull the album (citing "content policy violations," of course), Vulfpeck had already bagged around $20,000, so they put on the completely admission-free Sleepify Tour, which was incredibly fucking based of them.

Vulf went on to become several spin-off projects, all entirely independently released and full of some of the stankiest funk fusion that I cannot stop listening to.

My favorite of these projects, The Fearless Flyers, is headed by Cory Wong, with a guitar idol of mine for 5+ years Mark Lettieri and of course the government subsidized active bass of Joe Dart, but the keystone of the group is no doubt Nate Smith on drums. Dude makes a three-piece set onstage sound like a full kit.

Like just look at what they can do with the added power of sax:

And yeah, I could just talk about those guys, but let's get weirder.

I'm talking modal. The kind of stuff that makes my choir-trained mother cringe inward at the dissonance. Let's talk about the crunchiest, most feral fucking harmonies and keyboard solos that make you question what you thought you knew about chord progressions and key centers.

Obviously anyone super into this stuff will have already heard of Jacob Collier, so I won't show him. But THIS:

I listened to this the first time and it was just.. too much. I put it in its own specific playlist titled "very complex shit" immediately. When I went back to it, enough time had passed and I had learned enough that after way too many listens I can actually follow along with this insanity. This track blew my fucking mind, dude. I have never heard a chorus use so many of the 12 chromatic notes and still sound heavenly. The groove changes add so much texture. The flute solo goes off way too hard. The slower final section is just disgusting syncopation when the drums come back in. Everything about it is incredible, and this album came out in 2007. I am staring back at years of my life I spent not listening to this and ruminating my lack of music theory knowledge. And when I wanted to see if some kind transcribing jazz grad student like June Lee had uploaded anything of System, I found a 2020 reboot with 24 musicians playing System for over twice its original runtime, and guess who did the showstopping final solo??

JACOB FUCKING COLLIER.

Look him up if you don't know. The other musicians I obsess over inspire me. This guy makes me want to quit.

[extraordinaryhistories]

#14 – 'Happy Birthday' (A Sun Came, 1998)

Oh! the things that you learn when you start seeking them out. In doing some research in preparation for the entry for ‘Happy Birthday’, at certain times and in certain states of mind my favourite A Sun Came song, I discovered that a sizeable corner of the fanbase thinks ‘Happy Birthday’ is about Jesus. They take Sufjan singing ‘you’re God’s great paramour and sweet’ quite literally, and point to lines like ‘your birthday brings a pardoning’ – a reference to Christ-as-redeemer, his birthday an enduring sign of his sacrifice for our sins – and ‘keep your proverbs short and sweet’ – a reference to, um, Jesus’ proverbs – as evidence. It is a compelling case, and it would be keeping with the grand tradition of Sufjan love songs to God, ones where God is not an inaccessible other but someone very corporeal, and very close to Sufjan. (It would also make ‘Happy Birthday’ a Christmas song.)

It's a fascinating way to think about the song, but honestly, I prefer to read it in a different way. I would prefer there to be no religious connotations to ‘Happy Birthday’. I would prefer if ‘Happy Birthday’ were a song about a person – no baggage, an earthly, real, thoroughly mundane person – who Sufjan wants the world for. I think that would be quite beautiful. Because that would make ‘Happy Birthday’ an incredibly sincere expression of platonic love in an album full of them (c.f. the dedication on ‘Wordsworth’s Ridge (for Fran Fike)’.) No baggage, no imbalance of power, nobody owing, nothing owed. Just Sufjan and his affection for somebody in his life. Would that not be the greatest gift of all?

Part of the effervescent magic of ‘Happy Birthday’ lies in how the instrumental is, well, so effervescent, so magical. The spirit of the song, its countless well-wishes, is captured perfectly in the main motif. Sufjan songs are often very simple in construction – it is what sets him apart from the Elliott Smiths of the folk world – but they are rarely this simple. There are no chord progressions, no key changes, no intricate modal shifts; the song is anchored around a single insistent guitar line, consisting of arpeggio triplets that suggest a G ♭ chord. The song never shifts from that guitar line at any point. It spins on and on and on around that tonal centre, that one chord, perpetually at ease with itself. A sign of musical immaturity, perhaps, but the effect it creates is sublime.

The sense of melody in the instrumentation is created by the first note of each arpeggio, which ascends and descends with every passing beat. It moves up in small steps and then down in small steps, creating this sort of contented, quasi-hymnal melody, the sound of sunny mornings and good tidings. And to be clear, this melody is the song. Sufjan’s vocal line in the verses follows that melody note-for-note, with a slight variation in the chorus – ‘I’m happy, I’m happy...’ – that adds more sunshine still. Again, this is something you would scarcely see him do on later releases. Here it is deployed proudly, and to the song’s eternal benefit, because that melody burrows its way into your head, and it will never leave for as long as this man’s music is in your life. It took me a while to embrace it. Once I did, I found ‘Happy Birthday’ to be exceedingly beautiful.

In this song, Sufjan is wishing somebody a happy birthday. But it goes deeper than that, because the subject of ‘Happy Birthday’ seems to be specific, and somebody that Sufjan knows very well. We know this because despite the clear affection he demonstrates, he will poke fun at the subject, point out their flaws. It is good-natured joshing, but joshing nonetheless. Sufjan invokes the delightful image of a ‘periwig on parakeet’ in describing the subject, which is one of my favourite little lyrical moments on A Sun Came because of its naïve playfulness (a ‘periwig’ being an archaic term for the wig worn by a barrister in traditional legal dress.) There is absolutely no ill will in an image like that; it is the sort of thing that one could imagine an Edwardian mother calling her child, with all its old-fashioned farce. The subject is clearly prone to rumination, and they can be a little silly in doing so. ‘You’re like a bird that will not be’: so much purity in you, so much natural kindness and song, so why squander it all by acting like anything but?

And yet there is empathy here in equal measure. The second chorus brings a change in lyrical motif – the first and the third centre themselves around ‘I’m happy’, the simplest of declarations, but the second centres itself around ‘I’m sorry’, and here Sufjan does acknowledge the hardships that his friend has undergone (and will undergo.) Life can be harsh; life can be anxious; life can be mean. This is what makes ‘Happy Birthday’ so incredibly sweet: Sufjan will poke fun at his friend, because he’s their friend, but he will commiserate with his friend too, because he’s their friend, and any playfulness is only playfulness at the end of the day. This platonic ideal of friendship is explored in a few other (later) songs – ‘Vito’s Ordination Song’ and ‘The Greatest Gift’ come to mind – but rarely with this sort of directness, rarely with this sort of charm.

In this song, Sufjan is wishing somebody a happy birthday. It goes deeper than that, granted, but the stark simplicity cannot be denied. ‘Your birthday brings a pardoning’, he repeats, transparently employing a Christian metaphor to communicate to his friend that his birthday is a reset, a new dawn. As Sufjan might put it, last year’s shit is last year’s shit; there need not be anything vital about it. Sufjan’s direct advice is fittingly simple and fittingly adorable: ‘keep your bed warm, keep your humor, keep your proverbs short and sweet’, the former two reminding his friend to focus on immediate self-care needs, the latter one a return to the playful, featherlight jabs that he shares in the first verse. Sufjan’s friend is the only one who can act on any of this – it is their choice – but Sufjan does everything that he can in this song to give them the necessary drive. It is time to turn a new leaf. God has given you divine providence; go – go and find all that you deserve. 

And I suppose that he is also speaking directly to the listener, if you choose to so interpret it. Birthdays can be emotionally taxing; aging is a bitter pill to swallow, and swallow it we must, though it never gets much easier, does it? ‘Happy Birthday’ thus becomes a rallying cry for the listener in the truest sense of the word. Find in it the drive to go out there and achieve everything your heart could ever desire. Sufjan wants it for you.

‘Happy Birthday’ holds the fascinating distinction of being the only song on A Sun Came that Sufjan has performed live since the year 2004, and in a surprising spread of shows, too – two performances in 2005, one in 2009, one in 2016 on the Carrie & Lowell  tour(!), and one in 2017 for the Tibet House Benefit Concert series(!!). Something about this song’s music and lyrics clearly remains enduring for Sufjan, and it is easy to surmise why. The melody sounds just as natural in 2016 Sufjan’s hushed tones as it does in 1998 Sufjan’s more nasally voice, struggle as he might to reach some of the high notes. And the message, well, the message endures. This is one song where I really am quite glad that Sufjan released it when he did, because I think later Sufjan may have baulked slightly at some of the naïveté in the lyrics. Thankfully, it is irrevocably out there, a gift for all. And if Sufjan ever tours again, catch him on the right night, and you might just see him celebrating another trip ‘round the sun.

There is one final detail about ‘Happy Birthday’ that I always like to point out. In the opening instrumental introduction, before the verse proper hits, you can hear Sufjan very quietly vocalising something into the microphone. It’s entirely indistinguishable – he is whispering, or possibly even just breathing heavily – but it’s there, and to my knowledge nobody else has pointed it out. Like a shadow of a shadow of a shadow of Sufjan, impressed onto a cassette forever.

I get chills every time I hear that sound. The sound is so faint that it cannot really be heard in a public place, or in a car, or in any setting with background noise. One where there might be people disturbing the communion. It can only be heard by you, in a room, no distractions. Just Sufjan and the listener. To fully experience this song, to hear all of its secrets, you have to be alone. Because ‘Happy Birthday’ is for you. You, and nobody else.

[sonicmusicmusings]

Hey, gang! Let's move away from the rock sound, and back into some very 00's techno inspired flavors...

I keep thinking of the "Metropolis" track from Spyro 2 whenever I hear this, for some reason. It evokes the same kind of vibe. There is a very vague tropical feeling evoked in some of the auxiliary synths in the A section. I think it's because it sounds similar to steel drums. The B section is a modal groove that sits on one chord--when the chords don't move the song along, everything else has to! The focus becomes on the bass and drums, the latter being moved to the left and right sound spaces, while the bass sits right in the middle. Everything moves front and center when the A section comes back in, with crunching guitars and swirling sounds that bring the energy right back.

[dustedmagazine]

Guided by Voices — Welshpool Frillies (Guided by Voices Inc.)

Welshpool Frillies by Guided By Voices

Welshpool Frillies is the second Guided by Voice album of 2023. Perhaps more importantly, it’s the first of Pollard’s live post-pandemic discs, recorded as all GBV albums are meant to be, live in a room with five grizzled vets rocking out. And so while La La Land entertained itself with baroque complexities (said I, “Brash, fuzzy guitar riffs collide with twining, folk-derived modal melodies, sure, just like always, but the song structures are more complicated and open-ended than you remember from Isolation Drills.”). Welshpool Frillies digs right back into the basics. It slaps in the most elemental way, on clanging power chords and thumping rhythms and Pollard’s bright absurdities cranked to top volume.

It starts in jagged power pop with “Meet the Star,” whose riff rubs back and forth like flint on tinder, conjuring the fire with pure friction. From this swaggering heaviness floats weightless melody, lines that curve upward like balloons let off their strings. “Meet the star/ his plectrum strums/a universal web,” Pollard croons, both enmeshed in and separate from the roiling noise. The tune is crushingly heavy and confectionary at the same time.  

This is the same band that Pollard has marshalled for the last string of albums, Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr. on guitar, Mark Shue on bass and Kevin March on drums. They are lifers to a man, with skills burned in deep enough and over a long enough period to seem effortless. The sound is monolithically tight, but unpremeditated and fluid, the kind of sound you get when everyone hits their marks the first time (and every time).

I like “Rust Belt Boogie” maybe the best, its rupturing, continuous explosion of drums, its layered anarchy of three guitars and bass, its wide angle, kraut-rock-ish propulsion. It zooms like an old t-bird over flat midwestern highways. There are plenty of bangers, but also the jangly lyricism of “Chain Dance,” which has a bit of “Awful Bliss” in its loose-stringed melancholy. And “Seedling,” the single, is good too, circling around a descending riff before it settles into rolling forward motion. Here in the chorus, the band joins together for a little bit in rough, triumphant unison, and while it’s always good to hear Guided by Voices, in whatever circumstances, it is especially great to hear them together, all in the same room, once again.

Jennifer Kelly  

[mywifeleftme]

314: Manu Dibango // O Boso

O Boso Manu Dibango 1972, London Records

In 2014, a Discogs user who goes by the handle nyuorican wrote on the page for Manu Dibango's O Boso/Soul Makossa, “Such an amazing album, musically it deserves to be like a $500 album easily, we're so lucky a lot were pressed up and kept circulating.” As criticism it’s not making Craig Jenkins sweat or anything, but it’ll probably be a more decisive assessment for anyone curious about Afro-jazz/funk of whether to listen than any of my blather. Original copies of stuff this good in this genre from this region almost invariably costs the same as a dog bred like a Spanish Habsburg, but thanks to the worldwide success of its pioneering single “Soul Makossa” this shouldn’t run you much more than $20. That’s a steal for music that grooves like this does.

Dibango wrote and arranged everything here and, as his note on the back cover makes explicit, his goal is to pay tribute to the common African roots of contemporary global Black music (jazz, soul, calypso, samba, etc.) via fusion. The Cameroonian sax giant surrounds himself with a crack band of African, Caribbean, and French jazz players, and the sheer variety of skills they bring to the table gives him great latitude to explore. The chords of “Dangwa” have the joyous lilt of African dance music but the bassline could be an R&B banger, while Dibango’s freaky sax runs are straight modal jazz. “Hibiscus” is soul jazz that would make Roy Ayers proud, Dibango’s horn blowing a lonely mating call while the casually funky electric piano, congos, and wacka-wacka guitar sketch an image of a hot city night after the clubs let out.

Of course, it’s “Soul Makossa,” an emissary of the makossa sound of Cameroon that predicts the disco wave, that towers over the rest in terms of influence, and it’s difficult to imagine how novel its minimalist percussive strut, echoing Duala-language ad libs, and deluxe horn hits must’ve sounded in the era. It’s one of those records where you can hear a bit of everything that was to come in Black music, from Chic to Kurtis Blow to Prince—partially because it’s been so frequently sampled that it literally is a bit of everything that was to come in Black music. But don’t sleep on opener “New Bell” either, a less hooky track in the same general mold, but one that rolls extremely deep.

314/365

[guitarbrain]

I DIDNT GET TO LISTEN TO IT AT MIDNIGHT BUT OMGGG VIOLET IS OUT. LS DUNES TIME.

DISCLAIMER: i have not proof-read any of this. this is all word soup. like stream of consciousness as i was listening. idk why i'm posting this publicly but hiiiiiiii. this album is great. spoiler.

like magick: i thought the song wasn't very engaging tbh, might take a couple more listens. but that guitar solo, frank's riff at the ending, and that smooth as fuck transition into fatal deluxe??? they have me hooked (they did even before i hit play though)

fatal deluxe: this song is fantastic man. obsessed with the riffs, the dynamics of the song's tone/mood. fantastic. this song kicks ass forever.

i can see it now: the drums and that nasty guitar tone in the intro. fantastic. i love the layers in the chorus. the second verse has frank doing some strange ass technique, then travis comes in with his lead part kinda diverting from what i expected to hear from that line (maybe a weird modal thing or smth??? i'm not great with hearing that stuff yet), the very heavy rocky bridge, then it quiets down, builds, and breaks open with these faint backing vocals and just a single chord to end it. love this one. yet another song that has you fucking blindfolded and you have No Idea Where It's Going To Go.

violet: i have written about this song before. i love the very post-hardcore-y sound of it, the chord progression and the way the chorus sits unresolved until that bridge part, but doesn't get a fully satisfying resolution, until the very last bridge part when frank in travis play that whole walk up in unison and bring it to its very end, finally resolving that progression that never really reached home until then. andt he song overall has this light feeling until the breakdowns hit, which again is one of those tone shifts i adore. and that last bridge when it goes "you're gonna get--" and then the instruments pause and don't come back in until the last syllable of the phrase and you hear those lovely melodies coming through. ugh. this may be my favourite song from the album unless something later on dethrones it. this song is just genius man. so beautifully put together.

machines: still kicks ass just like fatal deluxe! this one sounds very sparkly and nice but you get that nasty gritty bass line that starts the song and sits as a focal point the whole way through. i love how strong the focus on bass is in this band. really lets tim shine, he's insanely good at what he does. i love that harmonic-y muting between the chorus and verses. and the pre-chorus serves as such a great build-up for the chorus where the song kinda breaks open and you get that really bright octave riff from frank(?). only nitpick is that in the chorus the guitar is very heavy to the left since they have frank and travis panned to opposite sides and when travis isn't doing much the right feels too dark and empty and doesn't have that lead part to break things up.

you deserve to be haunted: WHOA. THIS INTRO. frank doing that crazy sliding thing while travis is doing that little palm muted riff??????? and straight into anthony screaming and then when the vocals clean up they hit a set of chords that bring the song in a new direction. and the drums picking up for the chorus that kinda bring the pace up because in the pre-chorus the drums were kinda rolling along and not driving the song much. but tucker is really great at leading through song sections with his drumming. i love the verses where you get frank doing a cool riff and travis is doing that screamy lead part overtop, makes it sound almost spooky. this song has a very fitting title. i am obsessed. and that palm muted build up at the end of that second(?) chorus and everything stops and then it goes into a really cool bridge part where frank and travis re playing similar riffs together with cool vocals layers and then this awful noise comes in to drown out the song and transition to the next. omg. so cool. but that noise really was awful.

holograms: another bass into!! with travis playing this really bright lead part and feedback-y sounds on franks side, the drums just pounding 8th notes until the verse starts and it loses that strong build0up feeling and gets GROOVY AS FUCK! i love the tone of this song. and the vocal layers, little separate lines in the back with different lyrics, sometimes joining as harmonies and then breaking separate again. AND A BRIEF FRANK SOLO! and it goes into a background riff which then gets really chuggy before the pre-chorus (?) and his part goes up super high. i'm starting to wonder if this is actually frank's line. he's covering what travis usually plays since travis seems to just be doing little chords and fills. not a fan of the fade out but that weird pitch modulation at the end is a cool touch.

paper tigers: I LOVE THIS SONG. second favourite single after violet. love that powerful bass line in the first verse with the guitars coming in not too strong towards the end so that the bass still keeps the focus. and that really bright riff in the chorus is just co cool and i love that the guitars feel very centred for the chorus, i assume since frank is just playing power chords so the panning isn't necessary to separate their lines. and i love that bridge. idk what else to say. my analyze-y brain is getting tired. i just wanna listen :P

a little side note. when they released how dare you last year and they really leaned into the mixing style of frank panned to the left and travis panned to the right. it really bothered me. but i am a changed man and i see the value in it. with the way this band plays and the way the guitars interact, i think their individual lines just would not get to shine very well if they were centred. they're often still in a typical range for their part, frank is rhythm so he sits lower and travis covers the higher end with his lead. but there are also a lot of parts where their ranges start to overlap, and even where they do not i think it is really great to have them pushed to opposite sides so that there's no chance of them clashing, and you can really strongly hear both guitars, making it even cooler when they line up and play something parallel to each other.

things i thought would last forever: OK WHAT. THIS SONG SOUNDS LIKE IT STARTS WITH A PRE-CHORUS?????? INSANE. just the way it's set up is an instant build up and sounds very pre-chorus-y. and it goes into a cool solo part from travis and frank and goes into more of a verse. then you get the pre-chorus. AND THEN THE CHORUS HITS. these powerful strikes of a chord and then quiet. fantastic. that chorus hits you hard. and then the next verse has that typical ls dunes flow. big fan of travis' part in the pre-chorus. THE BRIDGE. ooooooooobh. i can;t even form thoughts. this song fucks. this song is fantastic. this song is so cool. the bridge has so many layers of vocals. i think three separate lines? and then a super punchy ending with those strong chord hits and then it slides down and that's it. song is done! like wow. that was insane. i'm speechless.

forgiveness: i am still recovering from that last song man wtf. and this is the last one! i hope it is sadder than sleep cult. this guitar part is already making out to be that way. i love the focus of bass and frank's riff off to the right side and taking focus while travis mostly stays quiet until the pre-chorus, and when he does join in it's very soft and doesn't draw much attention. the harmonies in the pre-chorus are lovely. and omg this chorus is so pretty. and the interlude between verses leads nicely and makes sure you don't stop feeling emotional. lol. i love that going into the chorus you get that classic ls dunes riff that i don't know how to describe since idk how to play it but it's a specific movement of the notes and rhythm that you hear a Lot from the guitar in dunes songs. i love this bridge, harmonically it carries that sense of home that the chorus has. this song is like the opposite of violet where everything gets resolved beautifully. i adore the build up to the end that leads to that abrupt stop. great song. yay!

overall! this album is fantastic. i will be listening to it on repeat for. a while. in my unprofessional and inexperienced opinion i love the way it was mixed, and the style of panning the guitars to opposite sides has really grown on me. i think these songs are really creatively and expertly crafted. it's almost like these guys do this. as their job. but yknow. it's still great and i feel the need to say how great it is! every song has such interesting dynamics and movement that you really stay hooked and sometimes can't really predict where things will go next. my one nitpick is that i think the singles stand out the most and some of the album songs fall behind them a little. i didn't find like magick to be very engaging even though it's the opener of the album. maybe these songs will grow on me as i listen more, but i feel like i wasn't as totally blown away as some of those singles had me feeling. but it's good they released their strongest songs as singles. because some bands release. weak or uninteresting songs as their singles (cough cough some of bring me the horizon's nexgen singles cough cough). the exception to this is forgiveness, and more notably, things i thought would last forever. omfg. that song was insane. i hope i get to hear it live. dunes show in less than 3 months. frank iero will finally be real.

my favourite songs are: things i thought would last forever, violet, forgiveness, and paper tigers.

[thomasberglund9]

Jam of the month, Nov. 2024 - Funk blues in A - Backing track in the video

The "jam of the month" this month is to a funk blues in A. I first play to the backing track and to the text with the backing track there are suggestions on scales that I use in the solo.

There are transcribed lines from my solo in the video. These guitar lines, a pdf article, scale/chord tabs and an extended mp3 back track are available from the links below.

Members area website. Sign up here. ► https://www.thomasberglundguitarlessons.com/forum-1/members-signup.html

Patreon page ► https://www.patreon.com/thomasberglund

Web store (Pdf files - Jam of the month): ► https://www.thomasberglundguitarlessons.com/store/pdf-files---store-1/jam-of-the-month-pdf---store.html

Backing track available here (Modal grooves 2-3): ► https://www.thomasberglundguitarlessons.com/store/teebeebackingtracks---store-1/modal-grooves-2---store.html

My guitar lessons website: ► https://www.thomasberglundguitarlessons.com/home/index.html

Get two free e-Books with 15 Jazz guitar licks & 15 Fusion guitar licks here. ► https://www.thomasberglundguitarlessons.com/forum-1/free-e-books.html

Jazz on and feel free to share, like & subscribe!

[guitarguitarworld]

Jazz Fusion Chords:How to create them from scales

CLICK SUBSCRIBE! Hi Guys, Today, a look at how to create colourful and interesting jazz/fusion chords: Because, we are dealing with jazz/fusion we will manipulate a scale in modal form. This will be C Mixolydian: Now, let’s add one note above each note of the mode and create 3rds. [Here we can hear the mode in double stops]. Now, we will add another note a 5th above the root and create…

[music-industry-updates]

How to Become a Self-Taught Musician: A Beginner's Guide

Becoming a musician is a dream many people hold close, but it is a path that requires dedication, perseverance, and continuous growth. While some may have innate talent, turning that talent into a sustainable and successful career involves much more. Whether you’re just starting or looking to advance your skills, understanding the steps to become a musician can set you on the right path.

This guide will break down the essential steps, covering everything from mastering your instrument to finding opportunities in the music industry. With determination and the right guidance, you can transform your passion for music into a fulfilling career.

Step 1: Master Your Instrument

The first and most critical step toward becoming a musician is mastering your chosen instrument. Whether it’s your voice, the guitar, piano, or even a digital audio workstation (DAW) for production, you need to invest time in practice. This isn’t just about playing notes correctly but understanding the nuances of your instrument and how to create emotion through sound.

Formal Lessons vs. Self-Taught

For beginners, formal lessons can provide structured learning, enabling you to build strong foundational skills. However, many successful musicians are self-taught. The key is discipline. There are countless online resources, including video tutorials, music theory websites, and practice guides, that can help you develop.

Practice Daily

Consistent practice is the cornerstone of becoming a musician. Set aside dedicated time each day to work on your technique, improvisation, and songwriting. Remember, the goal is to progress, not just to play the same things you already know. Challenge yourself by learning new pieces or scales that push your abilities.

Step 2: Understand Music Theory

While many musicians rely solely on ear training, understanding music theory is an invaluable skill that can open doors for more complex composition and performance. Music theory will help you communicate with other musicians, read sheet music, and understand how different elements of music fit together.

Key Areas to Focus On:

Scales and Modes: Understanding major, minor, and modal scales gives you the foundation to create melodies and harmonies.

Chords and Progressions: Learning chord structures and how they progress will help you write songs and arrange music more effectively.

Rhythm and Timing: Whether you’re playing solo or with a band, understanding rhythm is key to maintaining the flow of a piece.

You don’t have to become a music theory expert overnight, but familiarizing yourself with these concepts will dramatically enhance your musical abilities.

Step 3: Develop a Unique Sound

One of the most challenging but essential steps in becoming a successful musician is developing your unique sound. This is what sets you apart from others in the industry. It involves exploring different genres, experimenting with your instrument, and combining various influences to create something original.

Find Your Influences

Every musician is inspired by those who came before them. Start by analyzing the artists you admire. What makes their music special? Is it their use of rhythm, melody, or perhaps their lyricism? By identifying these elements, you can draw inspiration and incorporate them into your own music while adding your personal flair.

Experiment with Styles

Don’t be afraid to experiment with multiple genres and styles. For instance, if you’re a guitarist, try playing jazz, blues, and classical pieces to broaden your range. If you’re a singer, explore different vocal techniques. Mixing genres can result in a unique sound that stands out.

Step 4: Build Your Repertoire

Once you’ve honed your skills and developed your sound, it’s time to build a repertoire. This means learning and memorizing a diverse set of songs that you can perform. If you’re aiming for live performances or studio sessions, having a strong repertoire will increase your credibility and make you more versatile.

Originals vs. Covers

While performing covers can help you gain an audience (especially at the start of your career), writing your own original songs is essential for establishing yourself as a serious musician. Your original work showcases your creativity and helps you connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Adaptability

Ensure that your repertoire includes various songs that fit different occasions. If you’re performing live, be prepared to adjust your setlist depending on the audience, whether it’s a small acoustic show or a large festival. Adaptability is key for musicians who want to perform consistently.

Step 5: Get Comfortable with Performing

Becoming a musician doesn’t just mean playing music; it also means performing in front of others. Stage presence is an important part of connecting with your audience and growing your fanbase.

Start Small

If you’re new to performing, start with smaller gigs, such as open mic nights, local festivals, or even online live streams. These low-pressure settings allow you to build confidence and get comfortable with being on stage. You’ll also get immediate feedback from your audience, which can help you improve.

Overcoming Stage Fright

Stage fright is a common challenge, especially for beginners. To overcome it, practice performing in front of friends or family members before hitting the stage. Visualize success and focus on the enjoyment of playing your music rather than the fear of making mistakes.

Step 6: Network and Promote Yourself

The music industry is as much about who you know as it is about your skills. Networking with other musicians, producers, venue managers, and industry professionals can open doors to new opportunities, whether it’s landing a gig, a collaboration, or a recording deal.

Online Presence

In today’s digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial for any musician. Use social media platforms to share your music, connect with fans, and promote your shows. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are great for reaching a wider audience. Don’t forget to create a professional website that showcases your portfolio, including your songs, videos, and upcoming events.

Collaborations

Working with other artists can help you grow your network and introduce you to new audiences. Collaborating can also enhance your creativity by pushing you outside of your musical comfort zone.

Conclusion

Becoming a musician is a journey that requires consistent effort, growth, and learning. By mastering your instrument, understanding music theory, developing a unique sound, and actively seeking performance opportunities, you can make significant strides toward building a successful music career. Remember, perseverance is key — success won’t happen overnight, but with dedication and a clear path forward, you can achieve your dream of becoming a musician.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 18th April

We've got recognisable names at every corner, seems like. 1957 really is shaping up to be a year, isn't it? Neither of this week's artists are entirely new, but I'm intrigued to see what they're going to throw at us. So, without further ado...

Look Homeward, Angel - Johnnie Ray (peaked at Number 7)

This is a ballad, at heart, but a deliberately intense one, complete with some really intense, cinematic horns at the start, and a backing choir that's laying it on thick. It kind of works, I think, but I was honestly hoping for a bit more rocking and rolling - I know Johnnie has it in him, but this song could have been a hit at about any point since the charts began, with its plodding, slightly country-ish guitar, Johnnie's controlled, sweeping delivery and its grandiose lyrics.

Because yes, the lyrics. They're quite something, straight out of a particularly melodramatic Western. That's not a bad thing, and I like the concept - I assumed naively that the "angel" of the title would be Johnnie's love interest, but no, it's about a man who's for some unknown reason away from home, and urges an angel to look back and answer him: Do the folks I used to know remember me? And that's when the love interest arrives, as he asks the angel to Eye my lady fair / Does she dream about the love we used to share?

There's something odd about the phrasing in that last bit, and it gets weirder as Johnnie asks the angel while she's dreaming, won't you kiss her? I don't know, it just seems a bit weird - is the angel meant to be Johnnie, secretly? Why else would he want it to kiss her? Odd.

There's not much more to the song, after this, though. It modulates around a lot, never quite settling into a major or a minor modality, which does a lot to conjure up this sense of dissatisfaction and unsettledness, of being away from "home", but I'm not entirely convinced that that's deliberate. And I'm even less convinced that I entirely like it, though some of the chords that it lands on are beautiful! And the final horn flourish is pretty awesome, so there's that, but overall, the song leaves me feeling a little frustrated.

Cumberland Gap - The Vipers Skiffle Group (10)

Okay, I did really like Lonnie Donegan's version of this one, and I also appreciated the Vipers' rawer, rougher version of Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O, so I'm tentatively quite optimistic here?

Okay, we start with some plucky, strummy guitar, and then it does really get into a driving rhythm almost straight away, which is fun - I love it when a song starts slow then immediately picks up the pace. I also get the impression - much like last time - that the Vipers are a bit rougher around the edge than Lonnie. He sounded deranged and frantic in his version of this song, but not particularly menacing, whereas the Vipers, while their lyrics are clearer and more coherent, have a sort of rasp to their version of the song. They sound like they're in control of the song, more than Lonnie was, but they're by no means clear-cut.

Again, like last time, there are some different lyrics - gone is Lonnie's comedy turn with the two old ladies and the girl who's eight feet tall, in favour of lyrics about taking a nap and raising all hell in the Cumberland Gap. I guess that's something you can see with folk songs, with different versions making the charts with different artists. We don't get enough folk songs charting nowadays. I can't think of a single one, which now I think about it is a crying shame.

I also like the higher-pitched guitar picking that comes into this at the end. Cumberland Gap is apparently usually a banjo tune, and you can kind of hear the influence, though this is clearly a guitar, amped up and played really high in its register. It's fun, and whoever's playing's clearly good, even if it's not the longest solo ever. It plays a nifty little counterpoint to what the group are singing, and cuts through the voices deftly. Good job, Vipers.

Yeah, those were both fine songs. Honestly, looking at the artists, I kind of expected a bit more intensity. Johnnie Ray can really rock and roll when the mood takes him, and the Vipers' last outing felt a bit wilder - though that might just be the contrast with Lonnie's version, which was unusually deranged, compared to Daddy-O. I have to say, I am also more generally enjoying the rivalry that I'm beginning to see forming between Lonnie and the Vipers, and enjoying contrasting their versions of songs. You have to wonder if they did it deliberately, or if they just happened to do the same songs and then the popularity of Lonnie's version dragged the Vipers' version into the spotlight? Either way, I appreciate hearing both, for sure.

Favourite song of the bunch: Cumberland Gap

[automaticfrenchhorn]

Today's study is an exploration of the Ionian Mode, which I find I used to overlook as being "just the same as the major scale". While they are indeed the same notes, I have found that a distinction does exist in how they are used.

One of my goals stepping into today's piece was to write something that only uses seven diatonic notes. My usual harmonic style is always shifting around different diatonic and non-diatonic spaces, so today I wanted to challenge myself by strictly using just seven notes. My solution was to write a modal piece.

I chose Ionian because I don't find many people writing for it. I get the sense that composers (myself included)choose not to since they believe it would sound too similar to major-key tonal music, and thus it would not sound very modal. However, after some experimentation, I find that to not be the case. In this study, I kept the harmony mostly static, as to avoid any chord progressions that would make the piece seem to have functional, tonal harmony.

Instead, I aimed to create harmonic interest by using the characteristic notes of the Ionian Mode. The perfect 4th (to distinguish it from Lydian) and major 7th (to distinguish it from Mixolydian). Adding the perfect fourth to a major triad can be a dangerous endevour, as it clashes with the major third, but with careful voicing (i.e., spreading these notes to a major seventh, and never a minor ninth) it becomes a colouristic effect rather than a dissonance. I was also careful in which instruments use these tones, often placing the 3rd in a softer timbre than the 4th as to lighten the dissonance.

The result has the piece in an unusual state, skirting the line between Gb Ionian and Cb Lydian. The abundance of Gbadd4 harmonies can be understood as a suspended Cb chord, but there's just enough emphasis on Gb in the bass to keep Cb from sounding like the root.

In writing this, I have finally come to understand why Ionian wasn't one of the original church modes; the fourth is just so unstable over the root, constantly trying to be the root instead (resulting in the Lydian Mode). The perfect fourth is inherently designed around functional, tonal music, specifically its pull down to the major third as part of dominant function. When that functionality is gone, this note is simply hard to use, being simply more dissonant overall than the Lydian Mode's #4.

As for why I wrote this in G flat, the voicings at the start actually come from a shape I found on guitar (technically baritone ukelele, same DGBE strings) where I could use the open B string for the add4 part of a major chord, resulting in F#add4. I rewrote it in Gb for this study, simply because it looks cleaner, especially for the transposing instruments, since they add sharps to their keys.

As always, these pieces are welcome for anyone and everyone to play! All I ask is that you share it with me, because I'd love to hear it done by live players!

[sheetmusiclibrarypdf]

The Language of Jazz

The Language of JazzBrowse in the Library:Best Sheet Music download from our Library.Please, subscribe to our Library. Thank you!Varieties of JazzBop: Best Sheet Music download from our Library.Bossa Nova:Chicago Jazz: Cool Jazz: Dixieland Jazz: Free Jazz: Fusion: Hard Bop: Kansas City Swing: Latin Jazz: Modal Jazz:New Orleans Jazz: Smooth Jazz: Soul Jazz: Stride: Swing: Third Stream: West Coast Jazz: The Very Best Of Jazz | Jazz Songs Greatest Hits 2023 | Jazz Music Collection PlaylistBest Sheet Music download from our Library.Browse in the Library:

The Language of Jazz

In the same way that it developed its own musical voice, Jazz has also spawned its own vocabulary. Many of the expressions that define American English from its mother tongue stem from the African-African community, and specifically from Jazz musicians. Louis Armstrong invented or played a large role in popularizing many of these. However, the great majority are not specifically musical, and therefore will not find their way into this glossary. Here we have several dozen terms that you will encounter in your reading about the music—many of which are largely self-explanatory, and others which need a bit of extra clarification.

From its beginning, most Jazz musicians used the same terminology as other vernacular, American musicians, with terms taken directly or adapted from European models. And as the number of players who receive formal training increases, the adaptation of terms is usually exaggerated and the old Jazz lingo becomes more scarce. Too often, the perception of a separate musical language of Jazz terminology is linked to some aspect of condescension toward the music or to latent racism or to just the plain old cultural inferiority complex that still plagues many American perceptions about American art forms. A cappella: Performed with no accompaniment. AABA: A common song form—usually thirty-two bars long, divided into four eight-bar segments—which consists of a musical theme (A), played twice, followed by a second theme (B), played once, followed by a return of the first theme. Arco: In reference to a stringed instrument, played with a bow. Arrangement: The reworking of a composition for a specific group or performer. Atonal: having no established key or tonal center. Beat: The basic metrical unit of a piece of music; what you tap your foot to. Bitonal: Played in two keys at once. Blue note: A tone borrowed from a minor mode and used in a major key. The effect resonates aesthetically as well as musically, since the association with minor sounds is “sad,” while the association with major sounds is “happy.” Blues: An African-American musical form whose standard length is twelve bars. In its early vocal form, it comprised a four-bar question, repeated, and a four-bar answer.

Boogie-woogie: A blues-oriented piano style characterized by rolling left-hand figures—wherein the left pinky plays the note first, answered by the left thumb—and repetitive riffs on the right hand. Break: When the rhythm section stops playing, and an instrument or instruments fill in the gap. Bridge: The B section of an AABA composition. Cadenza: In a performance, a section in which the tempo stops and the soloist plays without accompaniment. Changes: The chords that define the harmonic structure of a song. Chorus: One time through a song form. Chromatic: Incorporating notes from outside a basic key or tonality. Comping: The accompaniment of a rhythm-section instrument to a solo—usually refers to the function of a chorded instrument (piano, guitar, or vibes), but can also apply to others. Consonance: Musical sounds that feel resolved. Counterpoint: The simultaneous occurrence of two distinct melodies; more broadly, a point of contrast. Diatonic: Referring to the notes that occur in the basic major and minor scales of a given key. Dissonance: Musical sounds that feel unresolved and suggest resolution. Double time: A tempo double the standard rhythmic base of a piece. Downbeat: The first beat of a measure; also, any rhythm that occurs on the beat. Fake: To improvise. Front line: The horn section of a band, usually associated with New Orleans music. Gig: A musical engagement. Glissando: The gliding up or down to a given “target” note, without clearly articulating the notes along the way. Harmony: The confluence of two or more tones. Head: The melody of a piece. Head arrangement: An interpretation of a piece that is made up on the spot and not written down. Horn: Any instrument played through a mouthpiece. Laid back: Referring to a rhythmic feeling that lags slightly behind the actual metronomic placement of the beat; usually in contrast to “on top.” Lead: The primary melodic line of a composition. Lead sheet: A musical manuscript containing the melody and harmony of a piece. Legato: A way of phrasing notes wherein individual notes are not separately articulated. Lick: A melodic phrase. Melody: The succession of individual notes that define the primary shape of a composition. Meter: The rhythmic base of a composition. Mode: The seven scales that can be played on all the white notes of the piano, starting on one note and running up to the next octave. Modulation: The change from one key or mode to another. Motif: A musical unit that serves as the basis for composition through repetition and development. Mute: An implement, usually wood, fiber, or metal, that is placed in the bell of an instrument to alter its tone. Obbligato: A melody that accompanies the primary melody. Off beat: A rhythm that is not placed on the downbeat. On top: Referring to a rhythmic feeling that lines up with the metronomic placement of the beat; usually used in contrast to “laid back.” Ostinato: A repeated phrase, usually played in a lower register, that serves as accompaniment. Out chorus: The final chorus of a Jazz performance. Phrase: A melodic sequence that forms a complete unit. Pizzicato: In reference to a stringed instrument, plucked with the fingers. Polyrhythm: The simultaneous use of contrasting rhythmic patterns. Real book: A collection of lead sheets. Register: The specific range of a particular instrument or voice—usually high, medium, or low. Rhythm: The feeling of motion in music, based on patterns of regularity or differentiation. Rhythm section: Any combination of piano, guitar, bass vibes, and drums (or related instruments) whose basic role is to provide the accompaniment to a band. Riff: A repeated, usually short, melodic phrase. Rim shot: A beat struck by a drummer with a stick against the snare drum (commonly on the second and fourth beats of a measure). Rubato: A musical device in which the soloist moves freely over a regularly stated tempo. The term has also come to be used to imply a temporary interruption of a piece’s regular tempo. Sideman: Musician hired by a bandleader. Solo: An episode in which a musician departs from the ensemble and plays on his own. Sotto voce: Quietly. Staccato: Articulated in a manner whereby each note is separated. Stomp: A swinging performance. Straight ahead: Performed within the conventional Jazz format—4/4 time, theme-solos-theme, and an overall songlike structure. Tag: An extended ending to a piece, usually four or eight measures, that repeats the closing cadence. Tempo: The rate at which the beat is played. Theme: The central melodic idea of a composition. Timbre: The characteristic sound color of an instrument or a group of instruments. Vamp: The section of a tune where the harmonies are repeated, usually as an introduction or an interlude. Variation: The development of a theme. Vibrato: The alteration of a tone’s pitch, from slightly above that pitch to slightly below, usually used as an expressive device. Voicing: The specific order in which a composer groups the notes of a chord; also, the assigning of these notes to particular instruments.

Varieties of Jazz

Bop: All music is tied to its cultural context, and bop (also known as bebop) is inextricably bound to the social issues of the early 1940s, when young black musicians defined themselves against the pernicious remnants of minstrelsy that were buried deep in popular culture. Not only did they behave differently, but their music, in the context of its time, had a penchant for dissonance that many found off-putting. Gone, for the most part, were the straightforward melodies that distinguished the best of the American popular song. Unlike previous styles of Jazz, much of bop seemed to have a “take it or leave it” attitude when it came to mass appeal. And in this regard, it aligned itself with other contemporary forms of art in other genres. This, of course, played into the hands of both audiences—those seeking to be “hip” and into something new, and those who liked to feel excluded. Bop was basically an instrumental music, though it did have its vocal subgenre (with even more nonsense syllables and affectations than the worst excesses of the Swing Era). The rhythm sections played in a more overtly aggressive fashion than before, with the drummer tending to predominate, shaping the general flow of the accompaniment. The bop vocabulary was largely taken verbatim from the solos of saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and reveled in angular melodic shapes (“Shaw ’Nuff” and “Salt Peanuts”). These solos were characterized by a great range, clean and virtuosic displays of technique, a penchant for unresolved chord changes, and a sense of great urgency. This is not to imply that these characteristics are also not to be found in earlier music—of course they are—but it’s a matter of proportion. And in the same way that it took awhile for Armstrong’s innovation to trickle down to the next generation, many of the first attempts to capture Parker’s and Gillespie’s style were immature. Among the first to deal effectively with their new music were the trumpeters Miles Davis and Fats Navarro, the trombonist J. J. Johnson, the tenor saxophonists Warded Gray and Sonny Rollins, the pianists Bud Powell and Dodo Marmarosa, the vibraphonist Milt Jackson, the bassists Oscar Pettiford and Charles Mingus, and the drummers Max Roach and Roy Haynes. Bop was essentially a small-group music (though Gillespie valiantly tried to sustain a big band for several years) played by a couple of horns and a rhythm section of piano, bass, and drums. There was little in the way of arrangements or interludes— once the theme was stated, a string of solos followed, with the theme being restated without variation at the end. With this eschewing of the compositional and ensemble element, a much greater demand was placed on the individual soloists. Few of the acolytes of Parker and Gillespie had a comparable genius, and most could not sustain interest over long periods of time. But those who could bring a new electricity and risk taking to the music that could be thrilling. It is a decidedly unsentimental music, but bop in its most concentrated form does not lack for a want of emotion. There were those who blended the best of the Swing Era with the new vocabulary, and they tended to be composer/ arrangers. Tadd Dameron and Gil Evans found ways to weave the new sounds into arrangements that restored some balance between the ensemble and the soloist. In many ways, their music formed a bridge between the aggressive extremes of some early bop music and the cool Jazz that was to follow. Bossa Nova: During the early 1960s, in the waning days of the pre-Beatles music world, there were a few bright moments when popular music approached the kind of sophistication that had been taken for granted in the ’30s and early ’40s. The bossa nova craze of the ’60s was one of those moments. It was led by a handful of young composers and instrumentalists in South America who, inspired by pianist and composer Gerry Mulligan and other Jazz writers, strove to combine the best of modern Jazz with their own rhythmically propulsive native music. In the late ’50s, the partnership of guitarist/singer Joao Gilberto and composer Antonio Carlos Jobim created quite a stir in Brazil with their collaboration on “Chega de Saudade.” The rhythms were descendants of the Brazilian samba, and it was frequently accented by the use of acoustic guitars. Though there were intimations of things to come and an intersection between Jazz and Brazilian music, it wasn’t until the American guitarist Charlie Byrd asked saxophonist Stan Getz to record the now classic album Jazz Samba that bossa nova (“new wave” in Portuguese) was launched. Getz became an international attraction based on his subsequent albums, with his biggest hit being Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema.” The intimate, almost spoken vocal by Gilberto’s wife, Astrud, played a large role in the success of this recording. Though its popularity has waned, there remains a large audience for bossa nova, and it continues to occupy a significant place in the Jazz marketplace. Two outstanding albums in the genre are Stan Getz’s Big Band Bossa and saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer (with Milton Nascimento). Chicago Jazz: The presence of New Orleans masters in Chicago in the ’20s such as King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and the Dodds Brothers (clarinetist Johnny and drummer Baby) had a profound influence on a group of young, white musicians who wanted to find their own Jazz voices. Their efforts reflected the heady atmosphere of their hometown, rather than the blues-inspired reflections of Oliver and company. The most significant fact about the Austin High Gang (some of them attended that institution) was that their role models were African Americans. Out of this group came the clarinetists Frank Teschemacher and Benny Goodman; drummers Dave Tough, Gene Krupa, and George Wettling; and the cornetist Muggsy Spanier. (Black youngsters like drummers Sidney Catlett and Lionel Hampton and bassist Milt Hinton were also there in Chicago, picking up from the same men—but are conveniently overlooked by those who used the term “Chicago Jazz.”) In later years, the bandleader/guitarist Eddie Condon became the personification of the Chicago school. He had a quick wit—and about the hoppers, he said, “They flat their fifths; we drink ours”) —and generated a lot of work for a long time. But nonetheless, this style remained confining for the handful of superlative players who were its prime exponents. Musicians such as Pee Wee Russell, Roy Eldridge, Buck Clayton, Bud Freeman, Vic Dickenson, George Wettling, and many others spent the great majority of their later careers unfairly grouped in this category. On the rare occasions when these musicians were given the latitude to expand on a more varied repertoire with musicians of different stylistic stripes, the results were generally revelatory. Cool Jazz: “Cool” is the term used to refer to the reaction to bop, in which its frequently frenetic tempos and impassioned solos were replaced by a more reflective attitude. This was usually expressed in moderate tempos and in an instrumental style that drew heavily on the example of the great saxophonist Lester Young, though it must be stated that in lesser hands. Young’s style was occasionally distorted beyond recognition. Nonetheless, cool Jazz was a welcome relief to the rapid degeneration of the bop style in inferior hands. And in the hands of masters such as trumpeter Miles Davis, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and pianist Dave Brubeck, it was a thing of great beauty. The origins of the style, which emerged in the late 1940s, may be traced to Claude Thornhiirs big band, an ensemble which favored clarinets, French horns, and tuba. Many young musicians (who had revolved around saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie) were attracted to this sonority and to the innovative arrangements Gil Evans wrote for the band, adapting elements from classical music to Jazz ends. With Davis as the primary force, Evans and others (trumpeter John Carisi, pianist John Lewis, and baritone saxophonist Mulligan) arrived at a band of their own that used the smallest amount of instruments necessary to get the tonal colors they desired—trumpet, trombone, alto sax, baritone sax, French horn, tuba, piano, bass, and drums. The solos were integrated into the ensemble in an Ellingtonian fashion, and this forced the players to think compositionally (“Boplicity,” “Moon Dreams,” and “Jeru”). The band’s dynamic range was wide, but the group never shouted, and functioned best at a medium to medium-soft level that let all the instruments shine. Though the band was a commercial flop and folded shortly after its debut, its recordings (originally 78s) were reissued the year after as an early LP, titled The Birth of the Cool—and the name stuck. In the next few years, virtually any new Jazz style that was not overtly boplike was classified as cool. This rather large umbrella covered the music of Lennie Tristano, Dave Brubeck, and Mulligan, all of whom, like the Birth of the Cool musicians, shared Lester Young as an inspiration—but each of whom came up with radically different results. Yes, there was a surface placidity to the sound of their bands, and in relation to Parker and Gillespie, maybe they were “cool,” but that’s as far as it goes. Dixieland Jazz: Most of the misinformation that has befallen New Orleans Jazz comes from what has become known as “Dixieland” Jazz. Here the emphasis was on banjos, straw hats, a clipped and frequently unswinging way of phrasing, and hokum. In the mid-forties, a group of white musicians on the West Coast began replicating the music of cornetist King Oliver and others, and this led a “New Orleans” revival —the primary exponent of which was a band led by Lu Watters. Their efforts, though occasionally amateurish, were sincere and respectful of their music’s roots. Read the full article