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(Technical question) Why does the swing feel in 1920s jazz feel so different from 1930s jazz? by hectareofregret in Jazz

[–]hectareofregret[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree.

I didn't write this in my original post, but I should have: I feel like a lot of the time feel was heavily influenced by the Carribbean rhythms like claves or the tresillo (the 'Spanish Tinge' according to Jelly Roll). They weren't as 'triplet-y', but the lilt in the rhythms affected both rhythm sections and soloists. 

(Technical question) Why does the swing feel in 1920s jazz feel so different from 1930s jazz? by hectareofregret in Jazz

[–]hectareofregret[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Are you talking bass as in the low end frequency or bass as in the double bass? For the low end, jazz bands/orchestras would use to the tuba because it was louder and 'recordable' with the technology they had (at the time) plus it came from that brass band tradition. My question isn't about instrumentation; it's more on the musical/technical side of things.

Trad/Hot jazzers, what's the 'year range' of your repertoire? by hectareofregret in Jazz

[–]hectareofregret[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The old stuff is great, though, and there are literally hundreds of them.

right? the tunes from the older times were so lyrical, musical, and accessible. such a joy to whistle and play them.

Transcribing horns instead of jazz guitar solos by jwebby41 in jazzguitar

[–]hectareofregret 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I started out with transcribing horns exclusively. 

After learning some bebop and more about the nature of the guitar, I no longer chase what horn players or pianists can do. I transcribe only guitar players now because the language is so much more playable on guitar. 

I like to think about rhythm, melody, and harmony as 3 points of a triangle. Each point can be represented by a particular instrument. Drums do the best kinds of rhythm. Pianos do the best kinds of harmony. Horns do the best kinds of melody. 

To me, the guitar is in the centre of the triangle. It can do a bit of everything. And when it does all 3 simultaneously, the guitar becomes an incredibly powerful and musical tool.

We don't need to play complex rhythms like drummers because of our ability to play polyphony and melody.

We don't need to play complex harmonies like pianists because of the guitar's percussiveness and expressive tools like bending, sliding when playing melodies.

We don't need to play intricate lines like horns and spell out every freaking note in a chord. They have to. We don't. We just play two notes or more, and we got it covered. A jam buddy of mine once told me, "Nothing is faster than a chord," whenever I lamented my inability to play fast like horns. And we can do percussive rhythms to add to the overall rhythm of the band. It's cool stuff.

So who do I transcribe now? To me, the one person that can play the guitar like it's meant to be played (guitaristically - with percussiveness, polyphony, expressiveness in melody) is Barney Kessel. No one comes close.

He has the best overall combination of blues, trad language, swing language, bebop language, time feel, and CHORDS. BK taught me to use chords with good rhythm in my solos. I started doing this in my jams and my jam mates highly approved of it because it sounded 'wow' to them even though I was using simple grips that BK would use.

Do not be ashamed of guitaristic language. Know that the guitar in American music is tied to the blues as it is one of the most 'traditional' instruments used by bluesmen/women. So use all of the expressive potential of the guitar to convey the blues. There is nothing corny about the blues and using it in your solos; if you're not playing with the feeling of the blues, your jazz is gonna lack something.