For anyone interested, I tracked down when the first example is played on "The Things We Did Last Summer" off of Nigeria. So glad to have been introduced to this tune. Ok so its actually in F, not C (which is great to learn these licks in different keys) It starts at 1:52, and its in double time! whooo! So, C7 resolving to F major. (top of the chorus) - or in the example here G7 resolving to C major
i've never seen such an elegant fret layout. i usually think "hmmm, nice... birds" or "sweet opal inlay". but this offset, minimalist, mistletoe or whatever, is dope.
@@NathanBortonMusic i saw one in a video before and out of curiosity googled the price. it hurts but im sure theyre a joy to have. I've recently picked up a dangelico dc with a stairstep tailpiece for a nice $400 on reverb, so i can't really complain on my end haha
Wes was always my no1, but the older I get the more grant green climbs up. So many nuggets of goodness in his playing. Nice job highlighting that man. Also, so cool how you can squeeze so much from the same piece of language if you change its harmonic context. E.g. that last piece of language for Dm7 from grant stand, my ear actually heard it as some great stuff for G7. Or u can use some of that line for the Dm7 and then repeat the same stuff a minor 3rd up to imply some cool altered stuff on the G7. The possibilites are endless
It looks like you're wearing a LAB COAT = Dr. Smooth Jazz!!! 😮 HAHAHA jk 😂 Super Cool Licks!!! And, thank you for including the TABs!!! I recently found your YT channel, I love your videos, and thank you for the content!!! Please keep up the good work!!! Bless you, my friend
@ 4:17 when beginning to form new lines, the term: "just minor language" is used. I noticed the example is from D-7b5.... The original language from example #3 starts on the 7th degree of the D-7b5 chord and sounds great. Your example of building a new line here over a straight D-7 uses the exact language transposed (superimposed ?) starting on the third of a straight D-7 chord. It also sounds great... but you hadn't mentioned playing it across different chord tones, so I tried it starting on the 1, 3,5 and 7th of a D minor 7 and it was quite interesting on all of them. I wouldn't think all these language ideas would translate if superimposed over all chord tones though... so whats your take? was it just random to start the same lick from the third, or are there some specific guidelines we can use? The next example (adding line closer) uses language un-transposed, but subsequent example of adding line closer @5:56 is cool because you move the opening figure over D-7b5 from #3 to the beginning of the bar, and again transpose the figure to start from the third of D-7....sensing a theme here... For the minor third Barry Harris technique, things seem to be gelling... When you take the first pass you've transposed the send bar of example #3 down a minor third to start on the 5th chord tone, and used it to open the phrase, so when you transpose it up a minor third for the next bar, you are actually just playing the phrase from our original example. this is too cool...
My next upcoming video will deal with Wes! For now I have done another "piecing language together" video using Pat Martino's line: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w9pPW94Mbm4.html
Great suggestion! Pat would be Killin! I the mean time I did do a video on him in the past if you want to check it out! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4oXfGx4g_aw.htmlsi=0xg0DohNkMvbkk_6
Great video Nathan! Grant's the man. I would encourage your viewers to make sure to really check out this material in the context of his recorded work. I'm sure most of it is on YT. It's important to really check out his time-feel - he has some serious swagger. Thanks again!
Great Job, Love the Grant Green licks and breakdown most important. You bring a new level to teaching on You tube that's why I became a patron., last month.....Keep up the great work...
Thanks Jimi! Really appreciate the kind words! I'm just glad my lessons are helping you out! Also thanks so much for the Patreon sub, more content to come!
Good stuff. Now check out and break down for us the slammin’ arrangement of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” on Green’s Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark. Art Blakey sits in on this legendary Blue Note ‘61 recording. That will bring you some serious followers
Another excellent video making the most from the work of this great musician 👏. I've been re-listening to the great Tal Farlow's recordings from the early 1950s - I don't think anyone has got to his level, except maybe Joe Pass, and so many bop and post bob musicians have clearly studied him. Maybe worth a video some time - just a suggestion.
Great suggestion! Tal's stuff honestly always scares me.... I tried transcribing some of his material before but sometimes my hands can't make his jumps hahaha
@@NathanBortonMusicI know what you mean 😅 - he had very large hands, played very fast using large intervals, so it sounded 'correct' but very ethereal - very much a 'one off' I guess.
I ve only watched 2 minutes of this and i instinctively know this is for me. My compliments to you and i look forward to completing my viewing of this video and future indulgences in more of your material.
The fundamental lessons are good for any jazz instrumentalist, let alone the guitar. Thanks for this insight! Will be playing some Grant Green language on a trombone! lol
You know I'll admit I've been watching your videos on TV from the couch and have gotten a lot out of them but I finally sat down with this one with guitar in hand and worked through it and wow what a lazy fool I've been. I got so much more out of it I'm looking forward to doing the others right. Keep it up! And yeah love Grant Green but other favorites aside from Wes obviously include Jimmy Bruno, Doug and Jimmy Raney, and Joe Cohn. But I think Grant is the best for those of us transitioning from rock. There's something so classic and yet somehow contemporary sounding about his style.
Thanks Mike! That’s cool you’re watching them on the TV, I feel like a star! Haha. 😂 but, very happy you got a lot out of the lesson with the guitar in hand!
I have only 1 recommendation... PLEASE MARK THE TIME STAMPS FOR ALL OF THE LICKS!!! This would make it so much more convenient for revisiting the Licks to practice!!! Please... I know that I would truly appreciate it and I am certain other aspiring guitarists would, too!!! Thank you!!!
I found both Martino and Grant Green useful thnks you very much. I love your playing and a clean tone and sound. Might I suggest a Benson lines or Metheny mght be good also ! Great work Sibbs
Yeah defiantly! All are useable and valid ways. The thought process behind this lesson was to show the various "parts" of a jazz line and the different paths one could take to play over chord changes. I defiantly think either just ii or V when playing fast :)
Thanks for posting this vid. I have read that Charlie Christian took a similar approach to his solos. It would be helpful if you could maybe look at some of the CC solos and do a simar analysis.
Great stuff Nathan, played like a true Gryffindor! Went back and listened to all those tunes to hear the licks in context, I'd forgotten how good he was. Really enjoyed the lesson, keep up the good work.
Yet playing through the 5 licks it's the first time for me associating Grant Green with Charlie Parker - they all sound very familiar within the bebop idiom.
Yes, that's true, though I think that's from people basing the bebop language of Bird and Diz. I'm getting that information from his biography written by Sharony Andrews Green, were she talks about Grant listening to Charlie Parker and Charlie Christian, distilling his own lines from them. Thanks for you comment!
@@NathanBortonMusic : thanx for this insight. Just checked my library and there are 5 CD's from Grant Green - I always favoured Joe Pass but I will relisten to Grant Green due to your video.
really great video. really like how you broke down the individual devices within a lick and showed how they can be interchanged to curate one's own voice. I'm wondering what your top 3 or so recommended Grant Green Solos to transcribe are? anyone can answer 😅
Wonderful lesson, thanks. There's a lot more to Grant's playing than people realise and you can hear his influence on all kinds of players. Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze for example seems very influenced by him.
Shifting the minor 2 chord lick up a minor 3rd and playing it over the 5 chord is great but shifting it up another minor 3rd to a tritone above the original sounds even better.
That's a great sound! If you would like more info on that topic check out this lesson video I did perviously on that topic: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GtsEElgIPuo.html
Hi Nathan, nice work on these videos. I'd love to hear your thoughts on right hand technique. I've been playing for decades (professionally up until I was 35 years old) and find myself in need of a restructuring of my right hand technique. I'm struggling to improve my accuracy, speed, time, and agility the past few years. Any and all thoughts are welcome, thanks.
Thanks for the video. Very good, and I admire your knowlegde. Im now learning the licks in the video, but I find it much harder to learn the phrasing without any rhytmical context. If you would play the licks to a click on 2 and 4, that would make it 10 times easier to learn, at least for me. So please consider that in the future (: Again really appreciate your work!
Hi Robert! Thanks for your questions. You could think about it multiple ways. 1) the F-7 shares a lot of the same tones as a G7alt chord 2) the F-7 is related to Bb7 which also shares the 3rd and the 7th of G7 3) the minor 3rd interval links the two chords together. Hope one of those helps you understand the process :)
@@NathanBortonMusic nah man! I love playing Sco stuff. Go for it! I think it gets easier. It's one of those styles that seems like magic when you first hear it, but with time and a couple analysis and stuff, it comes I think. It's all about the out playing and the dynamics. But what do I know! It's not like I'm a Sco's disciple nor am I that great of an improviser, not even close to Sco's feet lol Just my humble 2 cents and a bit of a push, You're a great player and a nice guy and good at passing knowledge. And I love Scofield, so, why not? Cheers man.
Your the most important teacher that I’ve whatched,much appreciated,maybe you could play (while we’re young) Wes Montgomery?? Even though we’re concentrating on Grant,Thank u Nathan, Your a breath of fresh air. Vincent Parrela.❤
Hi Vincent, thanks so much for your comment! I recently did a Wes video about his chord shapes/arpeggios (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gr2uNv1_lZw.html) and this Friday I'm releasing one about his block chord soloing :)
Very pretty playing, man, and very eloquently explained music theory, which I reckon, if it isn't already (and I'm pretty sure it is to some extent) earning you a decent income, is going to play an important role in helping you retain the energy our modern vampire clown society seems always to be after and surely has already succeeded in stealing of from us all. Wow, I wish PCs and the internet had become household fixtures a decade earlier. My dad was one of those dudes who said, "Pfft. Home Computers? Expensive calculators. They'll never catch on." Those guitar magazines were sick, but dang, if my generation had had access to this stuff? Jeez. It's possible that nearly all the embarrassing stuff about the '90s might never have happened. Lives might've been saved! Awesome stuff. Subscribed. Keep narrowly avoiding tendinitis and pleasing Euterpe with your devotion to her.
Nice. Billy Taylor turned me on to Grant Green. (He was a visiting professor and I got to talk to him in the hall. :-) I need to master this lesson though . Do you every feel like you don't 'ear' this stuff but know how to play it? I guess there s jestation period while it soaks into your bones but i have imposter syndrome with legit ajzz licks. I whip out my Charlie Christian adn bluesier side of Kenny Burrell licks and even sort of alter them but this sounds more from the bebop school and I like it but can't hear it yet.
Agreed, when your first starting studying language it can feel like you're just using licks. However, using methods, like the one in this video, you can start to "speak" with the lines and even hear what you want to play before you play it. I would suggest transcribing a grant green solo (cool blues is a great first one) and learning it by ear! This will help with hearing the language. Best of luck!
My man! Wes is the best! I recently did a video on him cover his colorful guitar shapes if you want to check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gr2uNv1_lZw.html
Thanks for asking! Yes I have an album as a leader called "Each Step." You can find it on band camp or any streaming services. Most recently I'm on a collaborative record called "Technocats: The Music of Gregg Hill" which of course features the music of Gregg Hill.
This was a great lesson. I have memorised many licks over the years but always found it very hard to bring them into my playing, this lesson really shows how to do that.
Hi William, thanks for your comment! When I'm referring to dominant or minor language I'm simply referring to lines that outline the minor sound (notes around the min7 arpeggio) or the dominant sound (notes around the dom7 arpeggio). I've done some videos in the past on these topics which I've linked below, hopefully they help! Minor: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vu4n8x0YEUM.html Dominant: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-h7zDKfL6ZiM.html
For the You Stepped Out of a Dream example, I've always played this tune with changes at C section (your example area) like: | D-7b5 | G7 | Cmaj7 F9 | E-7 A7 | Maybe its just an example of how you can use the same language in many places but can anyone chime in on this, or ...Nathan? Either way, its ear opening and thanks. (upright bassist here) update: Grant plays almost exactly the same lick in the same place on his second chorus! Yay, even the masters weren't always reinventing the wheel for each phrase and it means there is hope for us students yet!
Hey! Thanks for your question. Yes, that part of the tune can be played differently. The changes differ depending on where you learn them. I've seen it played like that or how it is in the video with the walk down from f-6 (which is a sub for D-7b5). I've seen people do Ab7 to G7 to Cmaj7. Nat king Cole does a cool thing where at the end turn around it goes E-7-Eb7-Abmaj7-Db7-Cmaj to end the tune. So it all depends on who you're playing with!
@@NathanBortonMusic thanks very cool...I see it now. nice walkdown i would do that normally on the bass over Dhalfdim / G7... but the cool thing youve got is the F-6 walkdown suspends the entrance of the Dhalfdim, so the harmonic motion becomes 2 chords per bar. Builds interest. I like it. and thanks for the NKC changes too, nd the alternate one starting Ab7..i wonder if you could do a backdoor dom instead of the Ab7, So F7 - G7 -Cmaj? (but I just tried it and it sounds better on the next 4 bars to bring it back to the top - if at all and if not too "corny")
Great job Nathan! This is so beneficial to anyone wanting to learn jazz guitar. And….Grant Green is the best and so overlooked. Chuck Wayne, who played with George Shearing’s original quintet is also great and overlooked.
Hi Sam! Thanks so much for your comment! Yes, I have heard to Chuck but to be honestly I haven't really looked into his stuff. I will make a point to do that this week, thanks! :)
Hi Denis, thanks so much for your comment! I've seen your channel before and really love it! I also saw you had Jocelyn on a while back, we went to school together at MSU. Glad you two could meet!
This is basically what all jazz guitarists do theorically, this is jazz harmonic soloing rules over II V I. I would have seen what Grant do with it, personnaly (enclosures, chromatismes, arpeggios, bebop scales, blanks, placement, sound, picking attack... how and when) 😉 Anyways, great job!
Yes, definitely! Also as far as Grant specific topics I have a couple of other videos that get into more detail about grants lines that you might enjoy? (apologizes in advance for awkwardness in earlier videos haha) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RLB-BRSTK8A.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5EOZ8Q6RBGs.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fY828wuhJp8.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hFcv564EvqA.html
@@m.vonhollen6673 no! I would never make fun of someone commenting on my video. That was a typo on my part… I edited my comment to now say definitely. I was agreeing with him when he said, “this is jazz harmonic soloing rules over a ii-V-I”
Interesting, I hear people say this phrase a lot. But jazz is a language and has a deep tradition. My of the greats started by “copying” other peoples language. Grant, for example, copied Parker (his lines make that clear). However, after years of working with language you can speak it in your own way and develop your own ideas. If you just play theory that of course isn’t jazz… and even if you dont like straight ahead, modern players have their own language as well. I would argue it’s impossible to have your own voice without first having a pool of influences to pull from.
