BY KEITH WYATT Ten in-depth video lessons covering chord playing, “dead thumb” technique, jazz-blues soloing, the styles of Blind Blake and Charlie Christian and much more!
“STREET JAZZ” EXTENSIONS Jazz-blues soloing, part one “STREET JAZZ” ALTERATIONS Jazz-blues soloing, part two SOLOING OVER SUBSTITUTIONS Jazz-blues soloing, part three RAGTIME GUITAR How to play
like Blind Blake
“I HEAR AMatching MELODY” the
solo to the song
DEAD ATHUMB (OR PICK) useful, cool-sounding self-accompaniment technique
TALK TO ME, BABY Conversational phrasing IF 6 WAS 9 The versatility
of sixth and ninth chords
CHRISTIAN VALUES The legacy of the world’s
FIrst electric guitar star, Charlie Christian
THE SPANISH TINGE A signature
element of the New Orleans sound
“STREET JAZZ” EXTENSIONS JAZZ-Blues soloing, part one IN MY PREVIOUS DVD, TALKIN’ BLUES,
we focused on developing a jazz swingrhythm feel and learning some of the standard features of jazz-blues harmony. Now we’ll turn to soloing, and we’ll begin by adding some uptown melodic sounds to our existing blues style. Think of it as “street jazz.” Jazz soloing begins with rhythm. To quote the old Duke Ellington song, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” The next step in jazzing up our melodic vocabulary is to emphasize the extensions (ninth and 13th chord degrees, equivalent to the second and sixth scale degrees). Extended chords and melodies have been part of the electric blues vocabulary since T-Bone Walker, but the “jazz” emerges when you give the extensions more emphasis. Compare FIGURE 1a, a standard blues lick that nails the root on the downbeat, with FIGURE 1b—simply shifting the melodic focus to the ninth lends the phrase a slightly off-center, jazzy vibe. A practical way to begin soloing with extensions is to play an extended chord, locate the specific extension within the chord and add that note to an otherwise standard blues phrase. FIGURE 2 is a 12-barblues accompaniment with extended chords, and FIGURE 3 incorporates those extensions into a solo alongside some other jazz-blues phrasing characteristics, such as longer melodies (lines), sliding rather than string bending and Charlie Parker–style 16th-note embellishments. Compare each solo phrase to its accompanying chords and note how the extensions match up. Developing an awareness of the relationship between the melody and underlying harmony is an essential skill for improvising, not only in jazz but in any style of music with moving harmony. To capture jazz-blues stylistic nuances, listen to “cool blues” masters like Johnny Moore (with Charles Brown), Kenny Burrell (with organist Jimmy Smith) and Grant Green. All play familiar blues phrases flavored with extensions and other jazzy characteristics, the sort of “street jazz” that influenced both Hendrix (“Up From the Skies”) and Stevie Ray Vaughan (“Stang’s Swang”).
FIGURE FIG. 1a1
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FIGURE 1
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“STREET JAZZ” ALTERATIONS JAZZ-Blues soloing, part TWO FIG. 1 1 FIGURE Medium Swing
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over extended chords—chords “with numbers on ’em,” namely ninths and 13ths—that are typical of uptown blues. Now, we’ll go a step further and look at altered chords. At first, the mere sight of an altered chord (i.e., a dominant-seventh chord with a raised or lowered fifth or ninth degree) may cause temporary paralysis of the soloing muscles, but a little “street jazz” strategy will get you going. The most direct way to incorporate an alteration into a solo is to locate the specific alteration within the chord and build it into the flow of a straight-up blues phrase. Rather than starting with altered scales like diminished and whole tone, which can be unwieldy to manage in the midst of a solo, the focus is on playing the individual altered notes with a bluesy touch and rhythm. FIGURE 1 is a 12-bar jazz-blues accompaniment with altered chords. The solo in FIGURE 2 extracts the alterations and incorporates them into a blues solo. In bar 1, the phrase starts as a stock blues lick and finishes with alterations lifted directly from the rhythm guitar voicing. Bar 4 goes the other way, first following the contour of the Bf7s5 chord and then morphing into a minor blues lick. In bar 6, the melody tracks the top notes of E diminished 7 (E G Bf Cs) and in bar 9 directly climbs the Bf altered chord voicing. The melody in bar 10 echoes the voicings for F7s9 and f9 (altered five chords), and the chorus concludes with an F augmented arpeggio (F A Cs). Between alterations, standard uptown blues phrases provide the “glue.” In the street-jazz approach, theoretical explanations take a back seat to playing. By focusing on specific notes drawn directly from the harmony and playing them with blues rhythm and touch, you can expand your useful vocabulary more quickly than playing “by the book.” For inspiration, go to YouTube and check out Tiny Grimes and Bill Jennings (with Bill Doggett), two players who swung first and asked questions later.
IN CHAPTER 1, WE DISCUSSED SOLOING
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SOLOING OVER SUBSTITUTIONS Jazz-blues soloing, part 3 jazz-blues will focus on “street jazz” strategies for soloing over typical 12-bar chord substitutions. Like chord alterations, chord substitutions create alternate pathways through the basic changes of a 12-bar blues (refer to Chapters 1 and 2 and the Talkin’ Blues DVD). The first step in developing a solo over constantly moving changes is to look at the voice leading, or how the notes of each chord (particularly the highest note) connect to the next chord. In a well-arranged rhythm pattern, voice leading creates a melody line, and by using this line as the foundation for a solo you can begin to navigate the changes before you master the theory behind them. FIGURE 1 is a 12-bar chord pattern that includes standard jazz-blues substitutions. As such, the voice-leading melody isn’t particularly bluesy, but if you articulate the notes with the same sort of rhythm and touch—dynamics, blue notes, sliding, vibrato and so on— that you would use on a straight-ahead blues solo and fill around the edges with some standard blues phrases, the resulting blues-jazz hybrid sets the stage for further refinement as you get deeper into the style. FIGURE 2 illustrates this approach. After opening with standard blues phrases in bars 1–3, bar 4 tracks the Fm7-Bf13 substitution with a “bluesified” chromatic line. In bar 6, the melody emphasizes the minor third of the passing chord Efm7 (iv7). Bar 8 introduces a standard jazz-blues sub, VI7 (G7); the melody nails the major third (B), then moves up a half step to reflect the C9 (II9) in bar 9, followed by a standard blues phrase over the V7 chord (F7). The turnaround phrase (bars 11–12) economically tracks the changes. In blues and jazz soloing, rhythm and touch are the trump cards. A study of jazz harmony will answer the “whys” and method books will provide a lot more “hows,” but theory is not a prerequisite for survival. The school of street jazz has graduated generations of influential players.
FIG. 1 1 FIGURE Medium Swing B¨13
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THE LAST ENTRY IN THIS TRILOGY ON
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RAGTIME GUITAR
How to play like Blind Blake AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH
century, before the emergence of blues and jazz, one of the hippest beats in American contemporary music was known as ragtime. Formed from a mashup of European marches and syncopated (ragged) African-based rhythms, sophisticated piano rags by composer Scott Joplin and others topped sheet music charts in the days before sound recording was commonplace. Guitarists attempting to adapt ragtime’s tricky two-handed keyboard rhythms to just six strings faced a significant challenge. One who surmounted it brilliantly was Arthur “Blind” Blake. Virtually nothing is known about Blake, but the 80 sides he recorded for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932 represent a survey of guitar artistry that is as musically inspiring as it is technically daunting. FIGURE 1 shows typical ragtime changes in the key of C. Strum through the progression to familiarize yourself with the fingerings (using your thumb to fret the low Fs on the D7 chord is recommended). Next, pick out a “two-beat” alternating bass pattern while fretting the chords. Rags were originally performed fingerstyle, but hybrid (flatpick-andfingers) technique also works. Use downstrokes and mute the bass strings near the bridge with the heel of your picking hand. This will help make the alternating bass notes sound tight and “bouncy” and prevent them from ringing together. The fun begins when the ragged melody starts bouncing around against the steady bass pattern, as in FIGURE 2, an arrangement similar to Blake compositions like “Wabash Rag” and “West Coast Blues.” Take it chord by chord, playing the melody by itself without the bass pattern to learn the rhythmic placement of the notes, then add the bass and play it very slowly, with total accuracy. In bar 3, you’ll need to temporarily barre your index finger across the high E string at the first fret to capture the F natural while still holding the C note on the B string. In bars 5 and 6, hammer-on certain notes in the melody while simultaneously picking the bass note. Practice slowly and repeatedly until you can play it smoothly. To emulate Blake’s distinctive rhythmic bounce, repeat the phrases until your
FIG. 1 1 FIGURE q = 100 A7
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picking hand dances across the strings, something that Blake achieved with little apparent effort while
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singing and tossing out licks and verbal asides. But remember: patience is required.
“IMatching HEARtheAsoloMELODY” to the song THE TIME-HONORED WAY TO DEVELOP
a blues-guitar style is to learn and borrow phrases from accomplished players—a technique also known as “stealing licks.” But even with a fistful of licks, you still face the challenge of how to organize them into a solo and, beyond that, how to keep every solo from sounding more or less the same. Here’s one solution so obvious that it’s easy to ignore: learn songs, not just licks. Learning songs takes you past cookiecutter blues licks to the reason blues was invented in the first place: to express a universal story in a personal way. All blues songs have similarities— that’s how we know they’re blues, after all—but every song also contains something unique that you can apply to your solo to take it beyond the generic. Start with the vocal: learn the melody on your guitar and analyze how it relates to the harmony and rhythm. Vocal melodies often include non-guitar-oriented phrases that expand your repertoire of ideas and way of thinking on the guitar. Equally important, listen to what the song is about: the message of the lyrics and overall attitude, e.g. bitter, sweet, vengeful, or regretful. As you play, focus on this feeling, not just on technical execution. If your solo isn’t related in some way to the particular song you’re playing, it can project a “one-size-fits-all” quality, even if it’s well executed. To illustrate, FIGURE 1 is a chorus of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” one of the most famous blues songs of all time, and FIGURE 2 is a solo based on the same song. The solo alternates between interpreting the melody and answering it with improvised fills (call and response). Rather than literally restating the melody, it’s harmonized with sixth or third intervals and flavored with other embellishments, and the improvised “answers” are inspired by the feeling of the song and shaped to fit around the melody. Using the same approach, tweak the melody to taste and substitute your own fills to create your own version of “St. Louis Blues.”
FIGURE FIG. 1 1 Slow Blues A7 1
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I hate to see
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the eve-ning sun
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DEAD THUMB (OR PICK) A useful, cool-sounding self-accompaniment technique THERE’S A DISTINCT FEELING OF
accomplishment in being able to pick up the guitar and play a complete piece of music without relying on the participation of others. But many self-accompaniment techniques can be daunting to master. In this chapter we’ll take a look at one of the more accessible ways of backing yourself up, a style poetically known as dead thumb. Dead-thumb accompaniment simply means keeping time by repeatedly thumping one bass note with your thumb, usually on an open string, providing a steady foundation for melodies played on the upper strings. FIGURE 1 illustrates the technique with a phrase similar to James Burton’s riff on Dale Hawkins’ swamprock classic “Suzie Q.” On electric guitar, flat-pick the bass notes with downstrokes (strictly speaking, dead pick), muting with the heel of your palm near the bridge, while you pluck the melody notes with your fingers (hybrid picking). Learn the melody before you combine it with the bass pattern, and execute the rhythms with complete precision. Over time, the bass pattern will move into your “muscle memory” and free your conscious mind for improvisation. FIGURE 2 is a 12-bar dead-thumb figure similar to Big Bill Broonzy’s “Hey Hey” (reprised by Eric Clapton on his Unplugged album). Again, learn the melody independently before combining it with the bass accompaniment, and pay close attention to the fret-hand pull-offs. Big Bill played with deceptively casual virtuosity, a freedom most of us earn through an unnatural amount of practice. Broonzy’s use of the dead-thumb style preceded Muddy Waters and his Texas contemporary Lightnin’ Hopkins, who often bent and slid along the entire length of the neck over a shuffle feel in a manner similar to FIGURE 3. Today, sologuitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel adapts virtually the same phrases as part of his jaw-dropping live rendition of Arthur Smith’s “Guitar Boogie.” To emulate him, convert each eighth note in FIGURE 3 to a quarter note, i.e. tap your foot twice as fast while playing the same notes (FIGURE 4 shows a sample). Counter-intuitively, despite the blazing feel, the rate of notesper-second remains identical.
FIG. 1 1 FIGURE Straight eighths q = 145 E7
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0
A7
5 4
34
0
2
2
5
0
5
2
0
5
0
0
0
2
0
3
0 0
1
0
0
0
0
3
FIG. 3 3 FIGURE Medium shuffle q = 100 E7
1
1/4
1/4
15
0
15
0
1/4
15
0
15
0
hold bend
1/4
1
12
0
0
10
0
12
10
0
0
1
10
10
0
10
8
10
8
0
0
0
0
9
7
0
0
1/4
3
0
2
0
0
0 4
4
0
0
0 2 0
0
2 0
2
0
0
0
1 0
0
0
3 0
0
0
0
0
0
3
FIG. 4 4 FIGURE Fast boogie q = 200+ E7
0
1/4
1/4
1/4
1/4
15
15
15
15
12
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
12 0
TALK TO ME, BABY Conversational Phrasing DISCUSSING THE SOURCES OF HIS
distinctive style, blues guitar great Albert Collins once revealed that he was inspired not only by the usual musical influences but also by the rhythms and mannerisms of everyday speech. Collins took the idea further than most, but he was not unique in this regard— “conversational” phrasing is a secret ingredient in the styles of many great guitar players. Conversational elements usually consist of a short cluster of notes—be it a quick slide down the neck, a couple of rapid pull-offs or a sweep-picked burst— tacked onto the end of a phrase, like adding the sentiment “get my drift?” to the end of a sentence. FIGURES 1a–d illustrate examples of these kinds of embellishments in the styles of B.B. King, Freddie King and Collins. Use consecutive upstrokes (a sweep) when string crossing to smooth out your attack and make the “extra” notes more subliminal. Tacking these little flurries onto the ends of phrases contrasts sharply with the smooth, sustained effect of vibrato, a difference that Collins exploited to create different “characters” in his solos. In “Conversation with Collins,” for example, a guilty wife (smooth, vibrato-laden) tries to sweet-talk her riled-up husband (intense, percussive) in a musical minidrama, like an argument heard through a motel room wall. Players on the wild side, like Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix, also create conversational effects with fast, arrhythmic note clusters, attacking the strings like a hyped-up, in-your-face street hustler delivering a musical beatdown. FIGURE 2 illustrates some of these conversational techniques over a slow blues groove. The solo opens with four bars of “her” sweet-talking in classic B.B. King style, but “he” responds in bars 5–7 in a way that is not positive—a Collins-esque swoop and sweep is followed by a Hendrix-inspired minorpentatonic cascade. (The rhythms are approximate—just cram the notes in between the bar lines.) Another attempt at romance in bars 8 and 9 is met with a snappish retort in bar 10 (pluck with the fingernail for added emphasis), and the last-ditch plea in bar 11 draws a final, and downright obscene, kiss-off. She’s sleeping alone tonight.
FIG. 1a1a FIGURE
FIG. 1b1b FIGURE
A7
1
10
8 9
5
7
7
5
7
3
5
7
3
A9
9
11 10 12 12 1012
3
12 12 12
3
11
11
10 9
8
7
7 6 5
6
12
10
5
10
11
1/2
3
1
5 7 7 7 5 7 5 7
7
3
3
1
3
5 X
X
X
X
3
5
8
5
7
X
A9
7
5
11
10 10 10
7
5
7
3
11
10
11
7
5
9
3
7
3
12 12 10 10
5
E9
5
A9
10
4
3
10 10
1
11
4
3
Eb9
2
D9
5 5 11 4 5
X X X X
6 6 5 6
X 3
X
10
A9
5
3
5
3
3
11
12
88 78
4
5
X
12
12
12
3
E9 7 7 6 7
7
8
1
F9
5
5
1½
3
D9
5
1
12 12
3
3
3
5 3 0 3
7
3
1
10
7
7
3
3
11
5
3
3
75
1 10 12 14 14 14 12 12 10 ! 11
D9
1
7 5
1
3
9
3
5
7 7 7 7 5
3
1
12 12
1
10 10 10
D9
10 10 10
1
8
1
8 10 8
10
1
10
5
7 3
3
7
1
3
6
A9
1
3
12
10 8 5
3
FIG. 2 2 FIGURE slow blues
10
FIG. 1d1d FIGURE
1
7
8
3
FIG. 1c1c FIGURE
1
10 9 10 10 8
7 7 6 7
10 12
IFThe6Versatility WAS 9of Sixth and Ninth Chords THE NUMBER OF THEORETICALLY
possible guitar chords is seemingly infinite, but when it comes to playing a given style, most players wind up with a relatively small set of go-to voicings. Within the range of genres that comprise ‘Americana’– blues, country, swing, rockabilly, R&B etc.—two chords in particular stand out as real workhorses: the major sixth and the dominant ninth. When triads are too vanilla and dominant sevenths too salty, sixths and ninths bring just the right amount of harmonic flavor to the party. The sixth and ninth are structured differently (FIGURE 1) but certain partial voicings share identical fingerings, so it’s easy to slide them around to create colorful chordal melodies and rhythms (FIGURE 2). In blues, two of their most common applications are the classic T-Bone Walkerinspired slow rhythm part in FIGURE 3, ideal whenever a smoky-sexy vibe is called for (think “male dysfunction ad”), and ‘horn section’ rhythms (FIGURE 4), the punchy two-bar chord riffs that adorn a multitude of blues arrangements. By varying your tone and attack, you can use these across the blues spectrum from smart uptown swing to wild barroom shuffles. (For the latter, check out the edgy chording of Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Willie Johnson on tunes like “Rockin’ Daddy.”) The sixth/ninth combination is also right at home with musical cousins country & Western, Western swing and rockabilly, not coincidentally because the steel guitar (a la Hank Williams) is typically tuned to an open major sixth voicing. Harmonizing the dominant (Mixolydian) scale with sixth and ninth voicings provides the framework for chord-melody solos like that demonstrated in FIGURE 5. (Note that dominant chords and scales have a oneto-one relationship, so when the chord changes, the scale changes along with it). Going back uptown, create some “street jazz”-style chord-melody by harmonizing a minor pentatonic scale with a single sixth/ninth fingering (FIGURE 6); the scale provides a bluesy center of gravity while the harmonic tension says “jazz.” Since the fingering doesn’t change, concentrate on the melody; individual chord names are largely irrelevant in his context.
FIG. 1 1 FIGURE
FIG. 2 2 FIGURE C6
chord tones: 1,3,5,6
1,3,5,b7,9
C6
C9
5 5 5
3 3 3
3 3 3
C6
C9
C6
6,1,3
5,b7,9
3,6,1
9,5,b7
1,3,6
12 13 14
10 11 12
8 10 9
6 8 7
5 5 5
b7,9,5
C6
7 9 8
F9
8 10 9
C6
3 3 3
5 5 5
3
(B6) C6
8 10 9
C9
3 3 3
FIGURE FIG. 4 4 shuffle
C9
FIGURE FIG. 3 3 slow blues
C6
C9
(E9) F9
8 8 8
7 7 7
5
9
C6 12 13 14
C6
11 12 13
12 13 14
F9
(B6) 12 13 14
5
9
F6
F9
F6
F9
F6 F9
15 15 13 16 16 15 17 17 14
11 13 12
13 15 14
15 16 17
13 11 11 15 13 13 14 12 12
G6 (G¨6)G6
7 8 9
7 8 9
6 7 8
FIG. 6 6 jazz swing FIGURE 1
12 13 14
C6
E¨6
F6 F9
8 10 9
11 13 12
13 11 15 13 14 12
F6 14 16 15
15 17 16
G¨6
13 11 15 13 14 12
15 17 16
15 17 16
G¨6
14 16 15
G¨6 F6 14 16 15
14 16 15
13 15 14
14 16 15
7 9 8
8 10 9
7 9 8
F6
F9
13 15 14
13 11 15 13 14 12
F6
F9 13 11 15 13 14 12
11 13 12
C6
11 12 13
10 11 12
8 10 9
6 8 7
5 5 5
(B6) C6 (B6) C6
8 10 9
B¨6
8 10 9
7 9 8
6 8 7
8 10 9
C6
B6 C6
8 10 9
7 9 8
8 10 9
3 3 3
6 7 8
10 11 12
8 10 9
8 10 9
C9 15 15 15
B6 C6 7 9 8
11 12 13
G¨6
15 15 15
7 8 9
(B¨6) (B6)
C9
B6 C6 7 9 8
14
8 8 10 10 9 9
13
(G¨6) G6
3 3 3
B6 C6
6 8 7
C6
B¨6
8 10 9
(B6) C9 4 4 4
6 8 7
C6
11 12 11 12 12 13 12 13 13 14 13 14
8 10 9
6 8 7
10 11 12
12 12 10 13 13 11 14 14 12
8 10 9
8 10 9
(B6) C9
C6
C9
8 10 9
C9
F9 F6 F9 13 15 14
3 3 3
C6
8 10 9
12 13 14
C6
3 3 3
C6
8 10 9
13 15 14
11 13 12
3 3 3
C9
5 5 5
C9
(B6) C6 (B6) C6
5 6 7
14 16 15
F9
13 15 14
G6
5 6 7
7 9 8
11 12 13
C6
C6
(B6) 12 13 14
3 3 3
(B6) C6
8 10 9
C6
C6
8 8 8
FIG. 5 5 country swing FIGURE 1
8
C9
8 10 9
14 16 15
CHRISTIAN VALUES The legacy of the world’s FIrst electric guitar star, Charlie Christian IN AUGUST 1939, AN UNKNOWN
23-year-old from Oklahoma City plugged in his electric guitar and got ready to audition for Benny Goodman, then one of America’s most popular bandleaders. After a now-legendary 45-minute jam session, Goodman hired him on the spot, and within months Charlie Christian became known worldwide as the undisputed king of the still-novel instrument. His recording career would be tragically short—less than two years before his hospitalization and subsequent death from tuberculosis—but he left behind a collection of brilliant solos that continue to inspire anyone who seeks sophisticated melodies that rock. Swing is based on a four-on-the-floor dance groove, and Christian had a special gift for creating propulsive energy by syncopating (rhythmically shifting) a single note or simple melodic motif against the beat, an approach later widely exploited by soloists in jump blues, R&B, rockabilly and rock and roll. FIGURES 1–3 illustrate Christian-esque phrases similar to those he played on “Breakfast Feud” (11 complete versions of this tune were captured, each featuring a unique solo) and his showcase number, “Solo Flight.” Christian balanced this rhythmcentered approach with long, sophisticated melodic lines influenced by saxophonists, particularly Lester Young. Some of his most adaptable ideas were devised to fit the five chord (V7) and subsequent turnaround in a blues progression, a perennial challenge for soloists. Many of these signature phrases are based around an easy-to-finger V13 arpeggio, for example, F13 in the key of Bf (FIGURE 4), which Christian rearranged and filled in with chromatic (half-step) tones to create seemingly endless variations, like those in FIGURES 5–7. FIGURE 8 assembles a few Christianstyle ideas into a 12-bar blues framework. After the syncopated opening phrase (like FIGURE 2), a short melodic figure is moved to different beats (bars 5–7). Next, a variation on his trademark V7-I/turnaround pattern culminates in a final diminished arpeggio, another Christian favorite. Seven decades on, Christian’s brilliance still translates directly to jump, psycho-billy, cow-punk…American music goes by many names, but where there’s a driving beat and a good guitar, you’ll find a place for Christian values.
FIG. 1 1 FIGURE
B¨7
8
FIG. 2 2 FIGURE
F13
8
8
11
FIG. 3 3 FIGURE
8
B¨7
8
11
8 8
6 8
8
8
8 8
6 8
FIG. 4 4 FIGURE
8
8
8
11
8
8
11
6
6 8
8
11
6
8
6 8
7
8
6
8
8
6 8
6
8
6 8
8 6
8
8
8
7
6
8 7
F13
FIG. 5 5 FIGURE
7
10
F7
8
10 8
7
10 8 10
FIG. 6 6 FIGURE
9
8 10 8
10
FIG. 7 7 FIGURE
5
B¨7 8
8 10
7
6
8 10
6
8
8
8
10 9
8
8
8 7 10
6 8 6
8
11
6
8
10
10 9 8
8
8
6 8 6
10
8
11
8
6
10
8
6
7
B¨7
8
6
7
10 9 8
8
11
7
8 10
8
11
6
8 6 7
7 8
8
8
7
6
8
7
8
8
6
6
6
8
10
6
8
8
8
6
6 8
8
9 8 6
8
8
6 8 6
3
10 8
10 8
10
6 7
8
9
11
11
10
8
6
9
8
7
8
6
7
8 10
9 8
6
9
6
6
8
6
7
8
8 10
8
9 10
3
9
6
6
B¨7 10 8
B¨7
6
F7 11
8
10 10
8
10
B¨7
6
7
B¨7
3
9
8
10 8
F7
10 9 8
8
11
E¨7 6
8
8
10
F7 10
8 9 10
FIG. 8 8 FIGURE 1
7 10
8
6
6
(B¨º7) 8
8
6
7
8
8
5
8
6
5
8
6
6
THE SPANISH TINGE A SIGNATURE ELEMENT OF THE NEW ORLEANS SOUND AMERICAN MUSIC—BLUES, JAZZ, R&B,
country and all the rest—were formed from the blending and reblending of African, Caribbean and European musical elements in the social cauldron of these United States. New Orleans, Louisiana— a.k.a. NOLA—was a crucial first point of cultural contact and cited mainly as the birthplace of jazz, but by the early Fifties, New Orleans was also home to a distinctive style of rhythm and blues. The difference was in the rhythm itself. Records coming out of the city began featuring an unusual blend of ingredients like tresillo, triplets, backbeat, two-beat and second line (or parade beat). Tresillo describes the first, syncopated half of the son clave rhythm underlying Afro-Cuban music, better known in America as “Bo Diddley” or “shave and a haircut, two bits” (FIGURE 1; notated for ease of comparison in 4/4 rather than standard 2/4 meter). Early New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton described the tresillo and related habanera rhythm as the essential “Spanish tinge” of jazz, a thread that also ran through ragtime, Charleston and southern gospel ring shouts. After influential New Orleans bandleader Dave Bartholomew made it the central theme of his 1949 hit “Country Boy” (similar to FIGURE 2), variations on the tresillo pattern became a standard feature of NOLA rhythm and blues. With acoustic bass and electric guitar doubling the figure beneath steady piano triplets (a style that became a trademark of Fats Domino) and augmented by a backbeat—a hard snare-drum accent on beats two and four of each bar, identified with NOLA drum kingpin Earl Palmer—the result was a powerful, strolling groove that drove New Orleans–recorded hits by Domino (“Ain’t It a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill”), Guitar Slim (“The Things That I Used to Do”), Smiley Lewis (“I Hear You Knocking”) and countless others. Aside from doubling the bass pattern, this groove offers several options for rhythm guitar. Start by harmonizing the backbeat with chicks, or sharp chord accents, on the high strings (FIGURE 3; the examples show patterns for I, IV, and V chords that can be assembled into various progressions). In a piano-less lineup, the guitar can play triplets using major triads
FIG. 1 1 son clave rhythm FIGURE
FIG. 2 2 tresillo bass pattern FIGURE A
tresillo
( )
FIG. 3 3 “chicks” FIGURE
A
5 5 6
D
5 6 6
0
5 7 7
4
0
2
4
E
5 7 7
4
4
4 5 4
2
4 5 4
FIGURE FIG. 4 4 triplets
A
D7
E7
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
D
E
FIG. 5 5 bass pattern plus chicks FIGURE A
0
5 5 6
4
2
4
2
4
FIG. 6 6 bass pattern plus triplets FIGURE
A
5 7 7
0
2
4
4
2
4 0
D
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 0 4 4
4 5 4
4
2
4
2
4
E
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 0 4 4
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 0 4 4
FIGURE FIG. 7 7 intro/turnaround A7/G
Aº7/F#
Dm6/F
5 6 5
5
5
4 5 4
5
4
3 4 3
5
3
or dominant seventh chords (FIGURE 4; continuous triplets in 4/4 are typically notated in equivalent 12/8 meter). In a small band, combine parts to fill out the sound: for example, use bass plus chicks (FIGURE 5) or bass plus triplets (FIGURE 6; pick with downstrokes, or if the tempo isn’t too fast, use hybrid picking. A capo is
A
5 2 2 2
E7
5 7 6 7
5 7 6 7
5 7 6 7
5 7 6 7
5 7 6 7
5 7 6 7
5 7 6 7
recommended for keys other than A). FIGURE 7 shows an adaption of a classic NOLA piano intro that can be plugged in front of almost any tune with this sort of groove (note the recommended picking pattern). For solos, just climb atop that mountain of rhythm and play the blues.
