"CRAZY" instrumental

Here's a live version of Willie Nelson's "Crazy," with my band Chicken Fried Swing. This was the first gig, in baking heat outside at a Del Ray festival in 2008. Matt Tebo is on drums, Jerry Del Rosso is on bass, and Ira Gitlin plays some tasteful lines on a Gretsch.
http://www.karlstraubmusic.com/Crazy.mp3

and an August 08 version with Honky Tonk Heart at JV's.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/crazyjvaug08.mp3
Howard Parker played a tasteful western swing solo with a lot of chord stuff, and Bob Adamcik was on rhythm guitar, Jimmy Gapinski on drums, stretching out a little more than usual. Ira Gitlin showed up, straight from another gig, and sat in. He played some nice stuff here, including some chromatic double stop ideas that I'll have to steal when I get a chance. I think we played better than usual because we wanted to impress Ira. I'm in a "Django with slapback" mode (does that make it a Les Paul mode?) with a little Roy Buchanan on the second break.

I've been working on this tune for a while, playing it initially with Honky Tonk Heart, then with my Karl Straub Combo. The Chicken Fried Swing version here is my favorite of the ones that got recorded-- it's still not everything I'm trying to do with the tune, but it's getting there. I take the first break, in a trashy Django/western swing mode, with a Roy Buchanan harmonic thing here and there. Ira takes the middle chorus, very nice; then I come back in for the "crazy" chorus. Here's where I crank up the raunch. I like what I'm doing here, but I hope to get better at integrating jazz and trash for a more interesting blend. Stay tuned! If you come a live gig of any of the above-mentioned bands, you can watch me developing this approach.
The Honky Tonk Heart version I put up here after writing my comments above-- I thought it had some interesting different approaches, so it should be heard. Maybe for the fanatics I'll keep putting more versions up-- we'll see.

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"JUST WALK ON BY" guitar solo sketches

I have an upcoming demo session with the country band Honky Tonk Heart. I need to work up a solo for "Just Walk On By." Here are a few sketches.

1. CHORD MELODY. This is the melody of the tune, more or less, with chords voiced under it. I like to start out by working up chord melody, because it usually sounds pretty good, and you can develop in just about any direction from there.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo chord melody.mp3

2. SINGLE NOTE. This take has its moments. Here I'm playing in my default "Ray Price shuffle" style, where I try to play long lines, high up, with kind of a floating quality.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo single note.mp3

3. SINGLE NOTE, MOTIVIC. On this take, I tried to reuse short ideas and vary them, giving the solo more cohesion. I also tried to work in a bit of the melody, and a couple string bends. (There's a tiny bit of Django Reinhardt flavor in there somewhere also.)
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo motivic.mp3

4. DUET. Here I combined my two favorite takes, just for the hell of it. When you're making a record, this approach is something of an indulgence, but sometimes you get something great this way. I doubt I'd go with something like this at the session, because after all it's a country band demo, mainly for the purpose of getting gigs. (If it were my own band, I might go with something a little odd like this. It's a good idea to go with your instincts on a record, if you'd prefer to gig less rather than more.)
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo duet-01.mp3

At this point, I'll take some time to listen to these, and think about what to keep and what to ditch. I'll also try to figure out why the tone was so different from the warmer sound I had the other day at the gig, even though I used virtually the same gear and settings! (Dead strings might account for some of the brittle sound I got today-- after a three set gig, especially in a sweaty and smoky bar, my strings never sound as good. )

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DUO-LECTAR, 1960

Here's a crazy clip of Dave Bunker from 1960, playing the Duo-Lectar which he designed and built. This instrument was an early example of the "touch" method of playing guitar, where you have enough sustain on your instrument that just touching or tapping the neck will give you the sound. With this method, you can play two parts like a pianist. After the clip (it sounds like the Wills tune "Right or Wrong") I'll include some thoughts of mine about the pros and cons of this approach, which tends to polarize listeners. You may or not want to read my blather about it-- that's okay with me. (thanks to Charlie McCardell for sending me the Dave Bunker clip.)

"Tapping" and "touch" playing tend to polarize listeners. Here's where I stand, if anyone cares. I like to hear a variety of articulation and attacks on guitar-- originally the guitar was technically a percussion instrument, at least in part. Electricity has moved the instrument away from that, and I like to try to keep at least some percussiveness in my playing; if you work at it, you can develop a variety of attacks and keep some snap and bite in your sound. The touch approach takes all the edge off your attack, and for me the monochromatic result is less than thrilling. I remember when Stanley Jordan was hot years ago, and in a Blindfold Test in some magazine Leslie West (I think it was Leslie West) said he thought Jordan sounded like two lame players playing a duet. Jordan's hard work and virtuosic technique deserve credit, certainly, but I thought Leslie had a point.

I like Dave Bunker's sound. He essentially is playing in a Chet Atkins style, but the two-handed approach enables him to play a Chet backup part with chords and bass while he adds slides and double/triple stops in the melody. It sounds nice, but arguably has the same pros and cons of Chet's work. Don't get me wrong; I love Chet, Merle Travis, Mose Rager, et al. but they fall into the category with Stanley Jordan, Johnny Smith, and everyone else who uses a complex and unorthodox system to get more out of the guitar at one time than most players can get. These approaches, which often sound very beautiful and musical, mostly involve heavily practiced patterns and little or no improvising. There's nothing wrong with that, obviously, and I've stolen what I can from some of these guys, but I'm generally more excited by the improvising players. The placid quality of most of these maverick players loses me after a while. I feel the same way about the many whizkids you can find on youtube, playing heavy-metal two-handed versions of classical pieces, Queen songs, etc. For me there's a staleness about this kind of music-- it's fun watching someone play two or more parts at once, but ultimately it seems more a circus trick than creative art.

For anyone who feels that these are "fightin' words" I would encourage everyone to check out the late genius Ted Greene. Greene blended Bach-inspired counterpoint with jazz vocabulary, improvising in this style. I think there's a lot more going on musically in Ted's work than in that of the touch and tap guys. Check out the tribute site for Ted's music and teaching--

tedgreene.com/default.asp

The site has killer video and audio clips, plus many lessons for anyone serious or crazy enough to try to play this way. I have a few lessons on my guitar blog
karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2008/12/bach-counterpoint-exercise.html
karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2008/12/improvising-counterpoint-two-voices.html
about counterpoint playing; my stuff is pretty crude compared to Ted but it can get you started.

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BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE

Here's an interesting item. This excerpt is from the outtakes of the early seventies PBS special about Roy Buchanan. Roy played this solo with Merle Haggard and his Strangers. It shows how you can use a Tele to play a Bakersfield country-type solo, but with a bit more bite and raunch to it.
Roy splits a bridge on the Lefty Frizzell classic "Mom and Dad's Waltz." (At the end of Roy's solo, you can hear steel player Norman Hamlet come in so seamlessly I had trouble hearing whether it was Norman or Roy.) Most of his available recordings are more in a blues or rock vein, but this rare snippet represents the twilight zone between trash and twang.

Roy Buchanan was heavily influenced by Haggard's guitarist Roy Nichols, but it's mostly in outtakes and obscure recordings that you can hear the country element in Buchanan's work.
(note-- the notation is temporarily gone due to a Blogger error-- when it's fixed i'll get it up here again.)
TECHNICAL DISCUSSION

Any kind of guitar playing with a lot of bending is hard to notate. My program, Finale Guitar, doesn't have a way to clearly indicate whether a prebent note is struck again while bent, for example. (At least, I can't figure out how to do it.) On top of that, for those who have trouble reading already, the addition of bending symbols makes it even more confusing. I suggest using this transcription as a rough guide to where to put your fingers, and relying on your ear to get the timing and other details. I've left out muted string raking to embellish a note, and other little things. Roy's brief solo here illustrates one thing he may have seen in Roy Nichols's work-- the ability to move all over the neck efficiently to get desired effects. I think Nichols knew where the bending licks were, and could jump around to set himself up for the next bend. Whereas blues players often camp out in one position, players like Nichols often move up and down the neck constantly when filling or soloing. This Buchanan excerpt can help you get used to doing that.

Of course, most people revere Buchanan for his unique sound. Colleague Jeff Lang told me that Roy B. cranked up volume and tone knobs on amp and guitar to get his classic Fender/Fender tone. Probably true, but when I put my amp's volume and treble on ten it's pretty painful, so when I want to get a Roy Buchanan sound I start at ten and back off (usually WAY off). I've also found that I can get a fair approximation of the sound at a lower volume by using a Z. Vex Super Hard On with a Tube Screamer (drive down all or most of the way). On top of this, an Analogman CompRossor helps wake up the snarling false harmonic stuff. (This is a good place to plug www.analogman.com/ , the place to go online for great knockoffs of classic pedals, modifications to make your pedals sound more classic, and hip current boutique stuff like Z. Vex pedals.) All of that will get you in the ballpark, but ultimately you have to dig in with your pick and yank the hell out of those strings. The amp won't do it for you, and i guess most people reading this know that the Tele won't do anything without a fight. (I read somewhere that Buchanan liked his string action high, also, because he thought you should have to work to get your sound. I agree.)


www.karlstraubmusic.com/ROY MOM AND DAD'S WALTZ SOLO.mp3

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PHIL BAUGH, "COUNTRY GUITAR" CLIP

Here's a clip of the unsung great Phil Baugh, playing his classic showpiece "Country Guitar," where he apes Les Paul, Billy Byrd, Merle Travis, Luther Perkins, Chet Atkins, Hank Garland, and Duane Eddy.


He really captures each player's sound and style, and all with a Mosrite guitar. I'll tell you-- I used to have a Mosrite, and if I'd known you could get it to do all that stuff I would never have sold it.

I don't know if I'll get around to transcribing this stuff anytime soon-- that would take some serious work! Maybe if I get an avalanche of viewer mail about it-- In the meantime, enjoy the clip. There are other Phil Baugh clips on youtube, too, but this "Country Guitar" is a classic. You can get it on CD, as well-- a pretty good Phil Baugh collection called "Live Wire." (The studio version, according to what I've read, has Phil on a Tele.)

I got this clip from Charlie McCardell. (More evidence that steel players forward the craziest shit.)

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DON'T COME HOME A'DRINKIN' (GUITAR SOLO)

The guitar solo on "Don't Come Home A'Drinkin' " comes in at 1:01. here's the link.
www.last.fm/music/Loretta+Lynn/_/Don't+Come+Home+A-Drinkin'+(With+Lovin'+on+Your+Mind)?autostart

In an allmusicguide review, Eugene Chadbourne said this about the album this track came from.
"The series of lead guitar/pedal steel interchanges that run through this album are certainly more attractive than the Nashville freeway system, and definitely contributed more to 20th century civilization." Well put.

This guitar solo, probably played by Grady Martin, (although it may have been Johnny Russell) is a perfect illustration of how a country solo should be played.

The basic vocabulary is a mixture of major scale and major pentatonic ideas, plus a bent blue note or two. This analysis could describe what many rock and "alt-country" players have done on records, but the solo on the Loretta Lynn record has something those many "almost country" solos and fills don't have-- country phrasing. Notes are syncopated through the use of ties, pre-bent strings enable the player to "unbend" to a note, and the articulation throughout is mostly staccato. These are all things that rock players often omit when they are trying to play country. On top of that, the solo begins in a pickup measure, i.e. before beat one of the next section. This is a valuable technique for adding excitement to a solo.

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FRETBOARD BLIND SPOTS

THIS IS AN INCOMPLETE (AND TEMPORARY) POST. eventually i will put up info about using the "CAGED" system to learn how to play in all positions on the guitar. I'm putting it off for two reasons--
1. it's going to be a pain in the ass to put it together for you
2. most of my students get bored with this topic, and don't put the time in necessary to use this information.

if those two excuses don't scare you away, please post a comment! I'll tell you this much for now-- being able to play all over the neck is essential for a serious player. many of my posted lessons assume you have some notion of this. if you don't, then reading tablature or notation anywhere but the first few frets will be MUCH harder than it should be. if i get some feedback about this from people eager for me to write about it, i'll get on it.

thanks!
karl

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