Kayvon Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I'm covering West Coast Blues for my final uni performance and I keep on coming unstuck at comping & soloing in 6/8 and I was wondering if you guys had any helpful tips. I'm struggling to maintain a solid simple but interesting pulse and I keep on reverting to 4/4. I've got the Jamey Aebersold play along CD which i'm working through with my piano teacher but i'm just wondering if you guys had any other good examples of similar tempo tunes where I could get some more rhythmic ideas from. What isn't helping is that I first started trying to adapt this tune to 5/4 and then a couple of times i've jammed it in 4/4 with just a drummer which actually sounded really good and gave me loads of scope for rhythmic interest but I don't want to give in and change the time signature just to make it easier for myself. Any help appreciated, Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodyMary Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I just count '1-2-3-1-2-3'. You can treat it as triplets. Of course, it's not very accurate, but would do for blues and rock. Stage: MOX6, V-machine, and Roland AX7 Rolls PM351 for IEMs. Home/recording: Roland FP4, a few guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayvon Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Yeah, i'm tending to do that but what i'm getting is I can keep time ok when i'm doing repetitive LH comping but when I do more sparse syncopated comping I seem to lose track of things. Thanks for the reply, i'm gonna keep on hammering away at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loxley11 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 To start off with, you'll think of it in the standard 2 groups of 3. I think the most common and appealing ways to make things interesting is by interspersing a rhythm with 3 groups of 2, or combine the two in the same measure. Or one of my favorite ways to hear 6/8 is in a surging pulse of 1 group of six. Fortunately, there happens to be a really good jazz example of this: Savanna, by the the Kenichi Tsunoda big band - a well-known Japanese jazz band. The slow "surging" feel I mentioned is very apparent, and is great for building tension as well as a climactic point in the song. I should add that when thinking of the song in 2, it's actually easier for me to feel two beats rather than two groups of triplets. These will be implied by the drummer's rhythm as well as the rhythm of the melody. Regards,drew "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" -Mike Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Playing latin rock changed the way I think of everything. I think in 6, 7, and 8s. It really changed a lot of what I do. As they said, think in groups of 2 (123,456). Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayvon Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 I had a listen to a clip of that tune Loxley11, sounds great. They've got more of a back-beat feel going on which is cool. Might have to give something like that a try see how it works out with the band. Examples of different 6/8 feels like that are helpful thanks Drew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Just don't lose that ability to feel 4/4 against the 6/8. Nothing says twisted quite like playing 4/4 boogie woogie against a 3/4 or 6/8 feel... A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Pretend you are waltzing. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Studiosoundman Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Drop the 1 and the 4 concentrate on the 2-3 5-6. West Coast Blues has a funny feel at the turn around and it is very easy to get lost. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayvon Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 I'm ok playing the head it's just when I start to loosen up in my solos and when I try and do more adventurous comping that I get caught out. I randomly started jamming the progression today solo on the piano at uni (was satisfying to play a real piano for a change) and just as I started making it sound good I realised I was playing it in 4/4. I don't really want to change it to 4/4 as I think that might look like I couldn't play it in 6/8 (which I can't very well ) but if the progression sounds good in 4/4 and opens up more opportunities then it seems daft to stick to the original. I've got the head melody sounding decent in 4/4 & to be honest I was never that mad about it anyway, I just was drawn to the first couple of bars where it alternates between Bb7 & Ab. During the solos i'm replacing the couple bars of CM7 then F7 with a F7 then Eb7 (not my substitutions though) The solos progression is actually quite fun to play with a heavy backbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayvon Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 I'm getting it now. I started off by accenting the 1 and the 2-and & the 4 and the 5-and. Then I moved on to alternating between accenting different semi-quavers & quavers. I still like the way i've been playing it in 4/4 though. Hmm, still undecided which I should go for. Modern, funk flavoured or keep true to the original. It's such a great chord progression and that's the real reason i'm covering this tune but at the same time, even though I've got no real qualms about changing it, it might seem a little unfaithful to others. I might just say i'm playing a tune inspired by Wes Montgomery & call my version West Mid Blues(!) Representing \m/>.\ Y'all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I should add that when thinking of the song in 2, it's actually easier for me to feel two beats rather than two groups of triplets. These will be implied by the drummer's rhythm as well as the rhythm of the melody. This is so true. It's much easier, imo, to get a great swing and good phrasing happening if you're feeling something in longer beats rather than small divisions. Either a 2 or 2xwaltz time where you're feeling the waltz as a downbeat push rather than 3 distinct beats. If you can find it get hold of a copy of Donal Lunny's album "Coolfin". Yes it's Irish folk, with jazz and reggae influences to be heard in the rhythm section as they mess with what are otherwise standard jigs (6/8) or slip-jigs (9/8). Well played Irish folk swings as hard as any jazz waltz, or if you're up for it check out some Bulgarian folk stuff, which will swing as hard, but in 11/8 or 15/8 or combinations there-of. Other standard tunes in 6 include All Blues (which could be written in 3 but isn't) and Wayne Shorter's Footprints. Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicale Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I think of Norwegian Wood in 6/8. This in improv is a jazz waltz. Put on the metronome and get in the groove. regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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