Hi.
I am new in this forum, so hello to everybody. I am reading some topics posted about chord substitution, voicings and comping. But I am a little bit confused.
I am trying to play some standard jazz tunes by reading at some real and fake books. But the thing is, using standard chords, it doesn´t sound jazzy and not near the tunes.
So I was trying some substitutions and so.... but I am stuck. So, if anyone tries to help me, I would appreciate it.
I am starting with Satin Doll (D. Ellington). And reading the sheet I see that the first chords are:
||Dm G7 | Dm G7 | Em A7 | Em A7| Am D7 | Abm Db7 |C B Bm A||
But while trying to play these chords it doesn´t sound jazzy. And I really don´t know what to play there. What I am playing now is:
5 ||xx|x
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G C F A
for the Dm and G7 chord. And all it transposed to the 7th fret as the Em7 and A7 chord.
For the Am7 and D7 chord I am doing:
10 ||x|xx
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And the transposing to the 9th fret for Abm7 and Db7.
It doesn´t sound ok but better than standard chords.
Suggestions? Books? Corrections? Help?
Thanks a lot
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G C F A
Sorry but I seriously dont understand this chart thing O_O
I dont understdn what you are playing.
Maybe you should just do them open chords, in my opinion Open extended chords sound better than barred extended chords.
I wanna be that guy that you wish you were ! ( i wish I were that guy)
You gotta set your sights high to get high!
Everyone is a teacher when you are looking to learn.
( wise stuff man! )
Its Kirby....
Those are closed position, movable seventh chords, with the root note on the high E string.
Back to the question at hand, though. There are all sorts of possible voicings and chord substitutions and "generic" fake books aren't necessarily going to carry them. One way to get more versed in the possibilities is to look at specific arrangements. Just looking at books that are specific to jazz guitar will certainly help.
Between myself and Karen (who teaches piano), we've probably got six to ten different versions of Satin Doll around the house. Grabbing the first handy guitar book (which fortunately for me has a written out comping etude) I see that this arrangement, by John Purse, uses the following (and I'm ignoring the repeated measures as well of the turnaround for brevity):
Dm7 (x5756x)
G13 (x8998x)
Em11 (xx5775)
A13 (xx5675)
Am9 (xx5557)
D9 (xx4555)
Abm9 (xx4446)
Db13#11 (xx5466)
C69 (xx2233)
There are also certainly other ways to voice those chords, not to mention different possible substitutions. What you're doing right now, even though it's not as jazzy as you'd like, is exploring the possibilities. And you've also been smart in finding an identifyable movable shape in order to break you out of the open chord habit.
Now you just need to expand your vocabulary and (naturally) there are all sorts of ways of doing that, too. There are a lot of good books on basic jazz chords, not to mention on chord substitions. And, as mentioned, you can find other arrangements and learn the chords and fingerings that way - this is a good method to use when learning about ecomony of movement in comping.
There are other GN members who are far more qualified to give you advice on this topic than I. Give them a chance to respond and I'm sure you'll have a lot of suggestions to get you on your way.
And welcome to Guitar Noise, by the way. Looking forward to seeing you on the boards.
Peace
Well, thank you very VERY much for your reply. I will try that. I also will try to get some books from amazon about: jazz chords, substitutions and voicings. If you have some recommendation please let me know.
I will post my progress here!
Thanks again!
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G C F A
Sorry but I seriously dont understand this chart thing O_O
I dont understdn what you are playing.
Maybe you should just do them open chords, in my opinion Open extended chords sound better than barred extended chords.
Sorry, I will try to use the same chart dhodge used. It's deffinitly simplier to read :)
Not to mention write! :wink:
As I mentioned, jazz is not my forte by any stretch of the imagination, so you definitely want other folks' opinions as well, but here are some books that I've found very helpful:
The National Guitar Workshop / Alfred triology - Beginning Jazz Guitar, Intermediate Jazz Guitar and Mastering Jazz Guitar by Jody Fisher
The 21st Century PRO METHOD - two books by Doug Monro - Jazz Guitar Swing to Bebop and Jazz Guitar Bebop and Beyond.
I also enjoy learning through analysis and a "learn by doing" approach, so I found the book I alluded to earlier (the one with the Satin Doll arrangement) to be very helpful. It's by Mel Bay and Warner Brothers and it's called "Jazz Guitar Standards." It contains twenty-two jazz standards and presents each one in four methods:
1) Lead sheet - you get exactly what you'd find in a fake book, the melody and the chords. Some of the standards also have chord substitutions written in. The melody is in notation only.
2) Chord melody style
3) Comping style
4) Single - line guitar solo
The last three are in both standard notation as well as guitar tablature.
As you can imagine, there's a wealth of information here, but you've got to dig it out yourself. I've barely scratched the surface but I'm having a blast with it.
Hope this helps and I also hope you get more suggestions!
Peace
