short coryell lick (which has been seen before...)

I've been listening to a lot of Larry Coryell lately and on the tune "Wolfbane" (from his 2005 album Electric with bassist Victor Bailey and Lenny White on drums) I heard a lick which I had transcribed on this blog before...yup one from Vinnie Moore's "Morning Star". Here's the Larry phrase (which is over E7#9) and the lick under discussion begins on the 4th beat of the 2nd measure:


And if you go to the Vinnie Moore transcription it's pretty easy to find: it's the very first phrase.

So the question is: did Larry listen to Vinnie's lick? or is it the case that given the number of players and the style that this pattern is inevitable? Similarities are bound to occur: just listen to the last movement of Brahms' First Symphony...remind anyone of Beethoven?

vinnie moore solo from morning star

Yup, more Vinnie (Moore). This is his solo from "Morning Star", the opening track from the album Time Odyssey (1988). The solo begins at 1:38. Click on the gif to get a bigger image.



There are a million great things to discuss about this solo, but I'll leave that for a bit later. I did forget to put in the chords over which he's playing, but they're not hard to hear. The main point is learn the solo, or parts you like, take it/them apart and see what else you can come up with!

There's a short Vinnie lick in this post.

midnight tango bass solo

So I was thinking this morning that I've never done a bass transcription here. I remembered that there was a short, cool one in DiMeola's "Midnight Tango" (from the most excellent cd Elegant Gypsy) played by Anthony Jackson, so here it is. The solo starts at 3:52. Though short it's very interesting -- click on the gif to get a bigger image.

There are a number of things worth mentioning here:

1. The first motive (rhythmically 2 eighth notes to a long note, melodically a double stop of a perfect fourth that jumps up a 3rd and comes back a 2nd) is unifying but falls on different beats in the first 2 measures. It comes back on the 2nd beat in the 3rd measure but is varied.

2. The descending leap of a P4 in measure 5 is echoed but varied slightly in measure 7 (on the same chord).

3. Nice pedal point on C in measure 5.

4. The rhythmic motive of 16th triplets with 2 (non-triplet) 16ths in measure 4 is used again in measure 6.

5. Tonally measure 6 is a little surprising because rather than playing a form of A major over the E major chord he plays the parallel major, i.e. he opts for E mixolydian.

6. Overall the solo moves from longer note values to more florid ones (a well-used technique of composers going back at least to the Renaissance if not earlier).

Of course all of the above points are good food for thought, but in no way are they meant to be taken as the only interesting points. Actually the one main point (if you will) is the emotive content of the solo. The details we've pointed out are good for us a improvisers -- they may make us think and become more creative -- but their real use is in attempting to find correspondences between them and the emotive effect that they produce.

Also if you're interested I transcribed Al's solo (sequentially right after the bass solo in this tune) years ago. I was a sweep picking fanatic back then, so be warned: I did re-finger it slightly to bring it into my world view. I wouldn't actually play it the same way these days.

diamond dust

My all time favorite Jeff Beck tune (and there are a LOT of good ones from which to choose) from the classic album Blow By Blow. I think George Martin did the orchestration. This is the first chorus of the solo. Click on the image to get a bigger gif:



Some things to note about the tune: a couple of minMaj7ths and it's in 5. Also Beck does a great job of changing up whether he's starting phrases right on the 1 of the measure or not. And I noted on the chart where he goes for the Lydian mode.

Some issues: I did this transcription years ago, and even if I did it today I'd say don't get too hung up on the rhythmic values. Also I don't think that I'd play the notes the same way/places (but the notes themselves are accurate). And the chords get kind of approximate here and there...having said that it'll get you in the game. Lastly I did this in PowerTab (which is awesome) but the accidentals aren't really the ones I'd like to see. The only way around this would be to have the key signature change every measure or so at sections which is not really a great way to go. A good exercise in thinking enharmonically.

If you're interested in learning the head I have that up on my site:
diamond dust head.

This tune should be a standard.

phil keagy's willow tree

I'm a late convert to Phil Keagy. I'm not sure why because I love his music. This morning I was listening to his 2007 album The Song Within and fell in love with all of it. And one little thing in particular jumped out at me from the 12th track entitled "Willow Tree". There's just a little harp-like effect that he does and I'll share how I play it. Here's the passage in question, which occurs right around 0:31:

The issue is handling the pull off from the A to the E. It's what I call a 'delayed pull off' because you wait to pull it off until after you play the (in this case) the F# on the 2nd string. The trick to playing the thing light and airy is to use one finger and drag it across the strings. I use my i (index) finger: pluck the A, F#, pull off the A to E, pluck the D. Now that the i is on D you're all set to use your m and a (middle and ring) fingers for the arpeggiated chord.

Give it a go: it's quite lovely...

move it on over

The guitar solo on this classic Hank Williams tune from 1947 is a favorite of mine, and since it's so short (just one chorus of 12 bars) I offer the whole thing here...click on the image and it'll get bigger:

Keep in mind that the eighth notes aren't even, they're swung.

If I had to pick a favorite part -- besides just the whole solo -- I'd have to say the way the A7 gets articulated is hip, and it's hard to ignore as being utterly cool the triplet figures. Also the double-stop section near the end is evocative of the steel guitar. (Oh, yeah, that steel guitar part is cool and worth learning, too!)

Also, if you don't have the recording you can listen to it here on youtube. The solo in question starts at around 0:58.

max: kiss me kiss me, baby

Ahh, Max, how I love them. And my favorite song is this delicious tune Kiss Me Kiss Me, Baby (1996), from which I'm offering the signature synth lick on today's post. It's doable on guitar (play it up an octave): even though the picking will have to be fast to keep up it's mainly pentatonic (it's at around a quarter = 128, but depending upon how you finger it the jumps can be a bit tricky). Anyway, play it on whatever instrument at whatever tempo...and because it's pentatonicly pliable -- and has a great shape -- it sounds awesome re-purposed. Basically it's over the chords Bb, C and Dmin.

Clicking on the following image will enlarge it:


I broke with convention in notating the 16th tied to an 8th in the 3rd beat of the first measure (and when the same repeats in measure 5) just to drive home the fact visually that it's the very same rhythm as in the in the first beat going to the second.

Here's a youtube link of the tune, although this "live" version is better. (The above starts at 0:27 on both clips.)

freddie hubbard lick from stolen moments

This whole solo is super cool, and you should learn the whole thing if you get a chance. I just really like the way this lick lays over the IImin7b5 - V7 progression: it has a perfect contour, and is filled with some nice bebop passing tones. Extremely useful...

(Clicking on the images will make them slightly larger.)





This lick starts at 2:04 on the recording (it's in the 2nd time through the form for Freddie). And oh, yeah, I'm not a trumpet player, so if there are any nuances I've grossly overlooked in transcribing this please let me know...

you know, you know

A staple of the fusion repertoire Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame is a must-own. It contains all of the ingredients that mark fusion as distinctive: electric instruments, odd meters, rich harmonies, high energy and meditative states. And McLaughlin's playing was much more raw back in the day.

The tune You Know, You Know is a fave of mine. It's basically this (at about an eighth note = 120):


With Jan doing most of the improvising (in his trademark guitaristic manner).

I bring up this tune because it's notable for being so simplistic -- you could imagine a tune with less elements (structually) but it's tough to do that and be this 'catchy'. Plus the 12 beats in the second measure allow for a lot of room improvisationally. Let it be inspirational to you when you compose...

Side note: it would be possible to see this tune as a measure of 9/8 and a measure of 15/8 (instead of 2 measures of 12/8) -- and it might make more sense that way -- but for me it's easier to count it (any tune) when the meter isn't changing.

vinnie moore lick

I love Vinnie Moore. This comes from a tune of his called "Pieces of a Picture" from his great 1988 album Time Odyssey. It occurs at 2:48 in the tune.

I transcribed this lick because:
1. it's cool,
2. it makes a great exercise,
3. the ending I consider a signature Vinnie lick.

(Clicking on the images will make them slightly -- ever so slightly -- larger.)






Some notes:

He plays it over F#minor, but it would work over anything from the key of A major. Of course you can transpose it to wherever...

It really is around a quarter = 132, so getting it up to tempo may (or may not) be challenging for you.

There's a little bit of rhythmic displacement: the motive that starts with the triplet sixteenths followed by 4 sixteenths begins the first time on the and of the beat then it begins on the downbeat...unity and diversity...