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More Guitar Workshop

Jim Kelly

“A Little Wes”

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Audio CD Tracks choice because some notes just don't
Band I fit. Tliis section can seem trciiclierons
;uicl foreign. 'IF playingaroiind the
Play-along 16 (no guitar solo)
notes in the chord (the chord tones).
Since both chords are related to Hi
Dorian (Ab major scale), listen to ho\v
Intro: 8 bars these oilier notes sound when added
to the chord tones.
In Head: twice
Written Solo: I chorus It takes a longtime to understand and
Guitar Solo: 3 choruses feel mnifortalilc with chords that are
shiftingkeys. Many tunes are like this:
Out Head: once
you ciiii group most cliorrls into the
same key. but there arc places where
l i e chords arc from another key (non-
rliatonic). By snidyingdiese places.
Tiiis is a drdiration to Wes .VInntpniery-
you can improve the way your lines
without question, one of the greatest
conned.
.
jazz guitarists the world will ever
,
know. I lie fccl and the Immioiiy of
On tlie rccordin"; we played an 8-l~ar
this IIIIK" iiiv siniiliir to some of tiit"
intro vamp. Often tlicsc kinds of inlros
tliings Itc wrote iind played. Ifs a 16-
arc open (1101 set in lengtli). dtlioi~gli
liar fonn that's basically in the key of
the phrases would typically lie 4 bars
C minor. In fact, you can get throu$i long The inelocly is played twice at
most of the piece by ear. stayingin the
the beginning- then 1 played a one-
C minor blues sound. cliotiis written solo that is intended to
sonnrl like ideas \Iies might have
One of tlie more (liffioih aspects of
playcrl. This solo is all iironiitl tlic
this piecc is knowingltow and wlien in
lower positions aiid in a rrgister that
take a~lvantagcof alpeggins and scales
\Yes favored. To gn for that Wes-like
not directly in the key. Illis is one
tow. I used iny tlnii~ihinstead of a
tliinyliat \Ves conlrl do incredibly
pick.
veil. For example., in tlie 4th liar of
tlir tune. wlien tile C minor shifts to
I don't think anyone else will ever lie
tlic C7 somid. He could set up the
as flitcnt with tliis style as lie was, Inn
rrsoliition into the dl17 from tlic C7
it's a "reat sound and lends itself to
with souw hip-soni~lingscaleor r
expcniiientin"; T y slides and such
arpogio line. The blues sound would
since "tl~uinbing'each note doesn't
still work here, but a little research
work as well with this approach.
gives more options that can lend tliese
sorts of jam connections to your solos.
After the solos, the melody can lie
played once or hvice. Tlic enclingis a
A real drawback to playing only by
vamp on the intro chord cliangcs.
ear is tliat yo11can miss a lot of stuff if
When playingliive. tn, to fade out the
yoii're just guessingwhat chord scales
ending.
or notes will (it. Take tlir 6th bar, for
example. where the chords are Him?
to IN. The blues scale ism the best