I've decided to learn a respectable amount of jazz guitar in 2012. I've started by focusing on some Charlie Christian solos because they are a reasonable speed and melodically and rhythmically are less intimidating than more modern jazz. Charlie Christian solos also swing mightily and are beautiful pieces of music. The first song I tackled was "Rose Room" from "Genius of the Electric Guitar". The solo had a lyrical quality and I was quickly humming along to it. It that spirit I've tried to come up with a little jazz guitar lick over the first four chords in the standard Bb Rhythm Changes. BbMaj7/Gm7|Cm7/F7
I really haven't delved into much jazz scale theory so I tried to incorporate chord tones and used passing chromatic notes that I liked. I think it what came out was a pretty cool sounding guitar lick. Certainly doesn't swing as much as I'd like but I'm just beginning to get a handle on this.
This is a blues guitar solo in A. The backing track was provided by Jimihaynes http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=532816 this track is used by permission of the author. Please note that this track is in STANDARD tuning. This track is based in A Minor Pentatonic is a 12 bar blues progression. It utilizes a sliding 6ths at the start. This was originally part of the old video guitar lessons site that is now being migrated into this blog.
In the final week before Christmas I thought it would be fun to look at one more Christmas Carol arranged for solo guitar. This is an arrangement of 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' by guitarist Jim Nailon. Jim has kindly allowed some of his work to be used on this site. You can find more of Jim's work at the Liturgical Guitarist This arrangement is copyrighted by Jim Nailon.
I've included a video of myself playing this on electric guitar with views of the right and left hand. I am not really an experienced fingerstyle guitarist but posted the video to give you some idea of what the piece looks and sounds like when played. My version is tuned down 1/2 step.The scorch audio is standard tuning. I would strongly recommend trying this piece on an acoustic and utilizing a more classical left hand neck placement. I am only a beginner at reading standard notation so I would recommend you listen to the audio in Scorch for a more strict rhythmic interpretation.
You'll note this video was recorded for my old website. I will be transferring most of the guitar tab and video over to this blog in the new year. You can send me a direct message on twitter @jimifan if you need guitar tab from the old site for one of my youtube videos. Happy Holidays.
Ok I seem to be on a Christmas Carol roll so here is a new video of Silent Night on guitar. This arrangement is by Jim Nailon at the liturgical guitarist. Used with permission. I couldn't get the open strings to ring out properly so I adapted the piece a little and tried to capture its essence while playing with a pick. You can check out Jim's page for the score in Sibelius Scorch format for a more correct rendition. I hope the video gives you a few ideas about the piece and I encourage you to try and learn it.
As I stated in my last post I am moving my guitar lessons and tab into this blog. Given the time of year I thought it would be appropriate to start with some Christmas Carols arranged for guitar.This is a look at an arrangement of 'O Come All Ye Faithful' by guitarist Jim Nailon. Jim has kindly given his permission to use some of his work on this site. You can also find more of Jim's work on his website Liturgical Guitarist. This arrangement is copyrighted by Jim Nailon.
I've included a video of myself playing this on electric guitar. I am not an experienced fingerstyle player but posted the video to give you some idea of what the piece looks and sounds like when played. My version is tuned down 1/2 step like a lot of video on this blog.The scorch audio is standard tuning.I would strongly recommend trying this piece on an acoustic and utilizing a more classical left hand neck placement. I am only a beginner at reading standard notation so I would recommend you listen to the audio in Scorch for a more strict rhythmic interpretation. This is a beautiful song. Try to let the emotion of the song come alive in your playing. I hope you enjoy practicing this piece as much as I do.
My main video guitar lesson site host is moving servers so I plan to close the site and migrate content into this blog. I will be incorporating guitar lessons, licks, songs and tab from my old video guitar lessons site into this blog. I hope the transition will not be too confusing to existing users. I will reference course titles and descriptions so guitarists working on a specific course topic can locate them easier. Thanks to www.guitarvoice.com for hosting the site in its original incarnation.
The folks at True Fire have a new series going where you can jam with instructors from their site. Basically they get users to jam along with backing tracks on guitar and then are going to create a mash up of all the players together. The first track is with Larry Carlton over a blues in A similar to Stormy Monday. Here is my submission to the True Fire Tag Jam.
If you want to grab your guitar and give it a whirl you can check out the details here. Hurry though submissions wrap up in two days but you can still practice your blues guitar licks with this great backing track. http://truefire.com/tag-jams/index.html?
