My First Jazz Guitar Composition

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Aug 2009 7:38 am

I've been studying jazz guitar with Jimmy Bruno for the last 6 months and this is my first attempt at writing a head for a jazz tune. It grew out of an exercise in which I played over 2-5-1 changes all around the circle of 4ths. However, for this tune, I only use the first 32 bars, which takes me through the keys of C, F, Bb, and Eb. I don't know yet if I'll keep it as a kind of "jazz etude", or perhaps really treat it as a tune and open it up for solos, etc, and then come back and play the head at the end. Maybe I'll transfer it to steel too. I think it would be fun to hear the line doubled with another instrument like piano, sax, trumpet, etc. Hope you enjoy it. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnalDiCxeN0

Jim

p.s. I can't recommend the Bruno method highly enough. Check it out at www.jimmybrunoguitarinstitute.com

p.p.s. For those who are interested to know, that is the Jay Turser guitar that I recently purchased on eBay and the tuner for the D-string was kindly provided by Forumite, Jerry Roller. Thanks again Jerry!

Don Drummer · Post by **Don Drummer** » 14 Aug 2009 9:07 am

Nice job Jim, how about a title say "Lucky Legato"

. I've been doing the same circle of 4ths for the last year and a half using the CD from the "IN the Style of Cannon Ball Adderly" on the C neck. It is a great study for connecting all the obvious pockets with the not so obvious. The CD has Cory Christiansen playing guitar with Bass and drums. The tracks I use the most are # 17, 18 23, and 24. Again very good job on the 6 string. Don D.

Richard Damron · Post by **Richard Damron** » 14 Aug 2009 9:35 am

Jimbeaux -

Just a thought -

I'm certain that you know the easy modulation from Eb back to C which would close up the "tune" while still embracing a ton of potential blowing changes in and around the format. Would be great fun and a challenge to solo over. Good playin'. Good show. Good listening. Gotta investigate this Bruno guy.

Respectfully,

Richard

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Aug 2009 10:29 am

Richard, I was hoping someone would tell me how to get back from Eb to C. Thanks for offering. What's the secret combination?

Don Drummer · Post by **Don Drummer** » 14 Aug 2009 11:21 am

Hows about going up a whole step doing what you just played in Eb giving you F major giving you Dm the iim of C, jump to diminished scale that jives with G7 and land on a perfectly sonorus E note. I haven't tried this , it's all in my head at this time. Don D.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Aug 2009 11:25 am

Thanks for the suggestion, Don. How many bars would you imagine using to accomplish this? Right now I have a 32 bar form and I'm wondering if a 36, 40, or 44 bar form would sound weird, or whether I should try to somehow carve the turnaround into the last line to keep things at 32. Got an opinion on that?

Don Drummer · Post by **Don Drummer** » 14 Aug 2009 11:55 am

Jim, split the last 4 bars like this: (Fm7 Bb7), (Em7 A7)(Dm7 G7). Pretty much just a turn around. Don D.

Don Drummer · Post by **Don Drummer** » 14 Aug 2009 12:00 pm

Jim, split the last 4 bars like this: (Fm7 Bb7), (Em7 A7)(Dm7 G7)( CMaj7)

Don Drummer · Post by **Don Drummer** » 14 Aug 2009 12:04 pm

Jim, split the last 4 bars like this: (Fm7 Bb7), (Em7 A7)(Dm7 G7)( CMaj7)

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Aug 2009 12:27 pm

Thanks, Don. I'll give it a try and see how bad I can mess it up.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 14 Aug 2009 6:38 pm

Sounds great, Jimbeaux. Whatsamatter? You not satisfied with being the best jazz steeler in the region? Now you gotta take on all the guitarists too?

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 Aug 2009 7:11 pm

David Doggett wrote:Whatsamatter? You not satisfied with being the best jazz steeler in the region?

Yeah, well that and $1.65 will buy me a Starbucks.

Actually, I've just transcribed that head for C6 steel and have been enjoying soloing over the changes on steel tonight too. It's all working together really well for me. I can learn the concepts from Bruno easiest on guitar and then transfer them to my steel playing, and I get a fringe benefit of learning to play some jazz guitar along the way. What's not to like?

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 15 Aug 2009 2:52 am

Love it Jimbeaux ! A guitar player using 4 fingers in several different scale positions across and up the neck, you have got it down !

lets hear some more !

tp

Richard Damron · Post by **Richard Damron** » 15 Aug 2009 6:12 am

Eb, Dm11, G7, C

Rob Segal · Post by **Rob Segal** » 15 Aug 2009 6:15 am

A very nice bit of all right Jim--Rob

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 15 Aug 2009 8:30 am

Jim, I really enjoyed that!

Could you compare and contrast a lesson with Jimmy Bruno to a lesson with Maurice Anderson or other advanced steel lessons you may have had?

Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 15 Aug 2009 9:53 am

Sounds good Jim! How long have you been playing guitar? Are you one of us who's played guitar first before getting into steel? It's funny, I'm always amazed at the great steel players like Jay Dee etc. who have never played any other stringed instrument unless you used a bar and picks. For me even after playing steel since the early 70s, I still am thinking guitar patterns in my head when I'm figuring stuff out.

What do you think Jimmy Bruno's true feelings are about your other axe?

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 15 Aug 2009 10:48 am

For me even after playing steel since the early 70s, I still am thinking guitar patterns in my head when I'm figuring stuff out.

After 38 years of guitar and 9 of steel, I'm getting tired of this.... I want to go direct-to-steel, but it's so much easier to get stuff on a guitar. But then, so?

I got all fascinated with Martin Taylor's strict division of the guitar neck into three parts, so I worked on it for a year and a half till I got it going OK. But now when I try to translate it to steel, it's almost like I have to make up a guitar exercise, write it down, then play it on steel - like I'm adding more steps, not less....

Don Drummer · Post by **Don Drummer** » 15 Aug 2009 11:08 am

Dave Mason,Ifeel your pain. The guitar has it's obvious visual advantages i.e. we can see the notes we're playing, a m7b5 is recognizable at a glance, once you learn where the fingers go, not so when pedals are involved. The best that's happened to me is what Jimbeaux is exploring. Playing over 2m 57 II four bar changes. in all twelve keys. Sometimes I loose my place and the sound I get gets a little exotic but then perhaps I'm entering into the Lydian sphere. Don D.

Robert Tripp · Post by **Robert Tripp** » 16 Aug 2009 9:41 am

Great playing Jim.....

I enjoyed that quite a lot.....

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 16 Aug 2009 12:52 pm

That is nice Jim, I was going to suggest working up the same progression on steel, but I see you are already doing it. It'll be time for another CD before long, Jazz only, guitar and steel.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 17 Aug 2009 4:36 pm

edited

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Aug 2009 10:46 pm

Thanks for all the nice comments, folks. It's been a real joy to get back into guitar again after so many years away from it.

Bill Cunningham wrote:Could you compare and contrast a lesson with Jimmy Bruno to a lesson with Maurice Anderson or other advanced steel lessons you may have had?

No, other than to say that they are both extremely insightful teachers and both have in common that they immediately can see what you need to back up and work on before you can move forward in the direction you're trying to go. Beyond that, it's hard for me to compare since with Reece my lessons were just single occasions separated by months-long interludes, whereas with Jimmy, I'm getting his input every few weeks and we're moving along in a real progressive direction. I'm sure Reece would do that too, if I lived close enough to work with him that intensively.

Rick Schmidt wrote:Sounds good Jim! How long have you been playing guitar? Are you one of us who's played guitar first before getting into steel? It's funny, I'm always amazed at the great steel players like Jay Dee etc. who have never played any other stringed instrument unless you used a bar and picks. For me even after playing steel since the early 70s, I still am thinking guitar patterns in my head when I'm figuring stuff out.

What do you think Jimmy Bruno's true feelings are about your other axe?

Rick, I played basic (country-folk, country-rock rhythm) guitar for a lot of years before encountering my first pedal steel at age 19 or so. At that point I dropped guitar like a hot potato for about 35 years. During my time on steel, my tastes evolved toward jazz but my guitar playing was stuck in the '60s-'70s country-rock stuff which no longer had much appeal to me. So every time I picked up a guitar, I bored myself within 3 minutes and put it back down. So I'm finally making the time and effort to learn to play some jazz guitar and try to 'catch up' a bit toward my jazz steel abilities.

I started studying with Jimmy Bruno on pedal steel and he loved it. He considered it a treat to hear his ideas and his teachings flowing out of a differently-voiced instrument. But it was harder to me to access his ideas when he was demonstrating them on 6-string and I was trying to apply them immediately to steel. So, after a month or so I decided to concentrate on just gettng the ideas into my head the best way, which is by using the same tool that Bruno is using, i.e., 6-string. Once I have the ideas and understand their musical application, then I figure I can make them come out of a steel guitar. And that is indeed starting to happen. In the meantime, I'm getting this great bonus of learning to play some jazz guitar.

By the way, Jimmy once told me that he once tried to play steel but couldn't really get a feel for it between using a bar and having finger picks and rotating the whole thing 90 degrees. But he seems to like it quite a lot. Not sure that he has ever heard any of the jazz steel greats yet but I hope to introduce him to them at some point. Would love to see a Bruno-Jernigan gig sometime!

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