montunoman

Thanks Jazz+ , glad to hear you agree with my scale choice. I just thought it was weird since the first chord of the progression is D minor, but the Dminor scale doesn't fit the whole progression,. To me the melody seems to be a A minor pentatonic. Funny, the other the day my daughter attended a Wynton Marsalis virtual workshop and he said to try not to improvise using scales, just use your ears and create melodies. Easier said than done?

So I'm taking an improvised solo on this 4 chord hit (Dmin, Amin, C, G) I seem to be drawn to A minor pentatonic or blues. What scale would you use? Here's the song if you somehow haven't heard it....

Started as a drummer and I still play and teach drums. I went the ' total percusión' route all through high school and college. I became pretty good at 4 mallet marimba and vibes, but mostly focused on drum set and Latin percussion. In college I had to take piano , and really enjoyed it and even took a few jazz piano fundamentals classes with Dan Harle at UNT. Great stuff which I still work on daily. I can play some chromatic harmonica and nylon string guitar ( easy classical, bossa nova comping, mariachi , flamenco and blues) I sing out of necessity, and try to sing just about everything that I play. I"d love to learn flute and sax but my other instruments keep me too busy as it is..... I often think it would be good just to concentrate on one instrument but I really enjoy playing them all too much to let them go....,

Thank you Richie, I enjoyed the Nat Cole, jo Stafford, Connie Boswell versions very much. There's so many ways to interpret these great standards. I'm trying to do it as a bossa nova or maybe a bolero. Also I wanted to let you know I am enjoying your series on song interpretation, you have some really great insights. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Thank you so much Mr. Kaye! You exp lined that so well, played and sang beautifully too. You inspired me to learn the "The Nearness of You" and I am very much enjoying it! One way I determine my key, is to try to find versions of the song by singers who sing more or less in my range. That usually gets me close. Sinatra is always good starting point for me. He sang the "Nearness of You " in D, a great key for guitar, but I probably take it up a bit. Thanks again!

Thanks, I was wondering if he was improvising or what?

Yes, I couldn"t help but feel nostalgic

Nice! I can hear very clearly that all his tips are coins ?!? Hopefully lots of 5's. 10's, and 20's fill up his case as the day goes on!

I"m really happy with my Flashfish battery that runs my keyboard, vocal effects, small mixer and the battery powered Bose S1 Pros. Great set up for solo outdoor gigs.

Good suggestions, I'll try to fit some time in my practice to use a pick, and look into the different methods mentioned. No need to keep a closed mind!

Yes, he must have been so proud that his sons did so well in the music business, but outliving them must have been so hard. He was a very kind man, and who will be missed so much. What a legacy he left.

I"m sorry about your friend but that"s cool that you got to play a totally rock version of Stairway to Heaven with him. RIP

Yes sir!

Greetings, right now I only play on a nylon string guitar, mostly bossa nova and bolero comping and some easy classical pieces. I mess around with blue scales too. Probably someday I'll try to play electric guitar, but I guess you can even play that with "classical style: fingerings, right? My favorite electric players are Carlos Santana, George Benson, and Joe Pass. I guess they all used picks.... One of my favorite "rock/pop" guitar solo is from Dire Straights "Sultan of Swing" . I've heard that he didn't use a pick on that solo..... Can anyone confirm? So, would I miss out on much without learning to use a pick?

In 1987-88, I had the privileged to study drums with Joe Pocaro (father of Jeff, Mike, and Steve, best known for their work with Toto) He was a great teacher, full of encouraging and positive vibes. His primary focus as a drum teacher was taking the basic snare drum rudiments and applying them to the full kit in jazz, rock, and Latin styles. I still have a thick book that he wrote, full of my notes from the lessons that I still work out of. Very classy guy, kind and modest. He died peacefully at the age of 90. Here's a short bio: Porcaro recorded with Natalie Cole, Don Ellis, Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, Gladys Knight, Madonna, The Monkees, Gerry Mulligan, Pink Floyd, Howard Roberts, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughan. He performed film scores with James Newton Howard, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Danny Elfman, John Frizzell and his son Steve Porcaro. With educator and drummer Ralph Humphrey, he was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Music Academy (LAMA) in Pasadena, California, which is now called the Los Angeles College of Music (LACM). His three sons were in the rock band Toto: drummer Jeff Porcaro (1954â1992), bassist Mike Porcaro (1955â2015), and keyboardist Steve Porcaro (b. 1957), who still is a session musician and programmer. Joe contributed additional percussion to every Toto album from Turn Back through Kingdom of Desire. He has a daughter, Joleen Porcaro Duddy (actress and designer), whose children, Chase and Paige Duddy, formed the electronic duo XYLO. Porcaro led a group with Emil Richards, a native of Hartford who plays vibraphone and collects percussion instruments from around the world.[1] He died, aged 90, on July 6, 2020.[2] Here he is performing at age 85, still swinging, with his life long friend Emil Richards on vibes. [video:youtube] ]

Sounds like we have a lot in common musically, Larryz. I'm sure we'd have good ole' time playing some music together!

I use a pair of Bose S1 Pro for outdoor busking. They have worked very well.

I like your approach Larryz, cherry picking from your favorite artist and coming up this your own arrangement. I love the old standards too, and it so great to listen to the crooners and also the jazzers unique arrangements and interpretations. Lately I've been listening to James Taylor's album called "American Standard" ( not to be confused with the toilet company : ) that he did in his acoustic style in a quasi Latin way. Maybe you'd like it too? My wife an I, in our keyboard/vocal duo, take the same approach, For example we do some well known songs by artist such as the Beatles, Queen, Eagles, Donna Summers or old standards and play them as salsa,cha-cha-chaa bachata , merengue... With so many great songs out there, I never really had the urge to write, but I do love to arrange and put my stamp on an old classic.

That seems to be the way the great masters learned, putting in the time and transcribing/copying. It's a step in the learning process that can't be skipped! It seems to me that you have to be fairly advanced to do that though.....

By doing, by practicing, and by a little studying with excellent players here and there........ That's right, DBM, man, you got to put in the time, practicing and studying with excellent players sure helps too! I see that you live in Phoenix, AZ. A high school buddy of mine has a band that is based out of Phoenix, I believe. The band is called "Calexico" and my old friend is Joey Burns, who plays guitar and sings with them. He actually was a great jazz and all around bass player (upright and electric) back when I played with him in the high school jazz band . Very talented fellow that lived and breathed music back in the day, as I'm sure he still does.

Yes KP, reading music on guitar is a different challenge. I'm a pretty good reader on the piano, but I really need TAB on the guitar. Hopefully one day I'll figure it out the guitar fret board! Your approach seems great for cover bands. I take it is that you learn by ear and come up with your own part that fits the song. Just trying to get the feel and some signature lines seems adequate because, as you say, it is often times impossible to have the same instrumentation for a local event band as the original recorded version. Even when you see the original artist perform live, they more often than not change up the arrangement and instrumentation. Congrats on passing the audition for the Motown band. That's such great feel good music that so many people enjoy, especially during times like these! I hope y'all get out there working soon if you're not already.....

OK, I don't feel so bad now, knowing I'm not alone. I am just used to learning that way, but I really need the audio to go along with the book, as it's hard to get the whole story from just the notation. With that being said, I can definitely see advantages to a combination of video and notation such as the True Fire videos (which I have still not tired) Of course getting one on one lessons, in person, with an expert would be ideal, but maybe a bit hard now days.

Greetings, With my new hybrid Nylon purchase I am inspired to learn some new material. Being that I am old school, a pretty good reader with a piano and music theory background, I bought some books/CD packages for flamenco,bossa nova comping, and easy classical guitar. But there are so many options now, face to face lessons, Zoom lessons, Youtube videos, subscription sights like True Fire. Which approach do you prefer to learn and sharpen your guitar skills?

Thank Larryz. Like I said I really liked the feel of the Taylor that I tried. I think it was my favorite! Maybe one day..... Who stops at just one guitar? : )

We ended buying a used Ovation 1624, a new Yamaha NTX 500 and a Lucero LFN200SCE. Also tried an Ibenez, a Taylor Academy and a Cordoba. I actually really liked to feel of the Taylor but it was out of our price range, as was the Cordoba. The guitars were very nice, and could have worked out for us, and all of them played easier than our Yamaha standard classical. After much thought we picked the Lucero and returned the other guitars to GC without any issues. The Lucero sounded the best to our ears and plays very well. funny, I had never even heard of this brand before, but we're very happy so far. It's so fun to plug into a speaker and use the loop pedal. Thanks everyone for the input, and soon we'll seeking Latin guitar learning resources for bossa nova and rumba flamenco. Fun times await!