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Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
https://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7514		 Page 2 of 2
Author:  flynlion [ Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
greg wrote:

I rarely "bang off tunes" without messing up "a little". The secret is in knowing how to keep going even when things go awry.

One thing that really helps is to really know your material independently in each hand. If you're playing something that has two distinct parts, before you try to put left and right together, make sure you have them really down in each hand.

The main reason for this is that when we learn a piece in tandem, then all the fingering cues become interconnected. So when one hand messes up, the other will falter because it is looking for consistency in how the music is being executed. These are the kinds of train wrecks it's hard to recover from.

It's also very difficult to be spontaneous with one hand if it is "tied" to the other. So soloing will not be very easy. I try to "call" the next chord in my head slightly before I play it, as a ways of guiding my left hand, especially if it's a complicated form.

If there are ways to simplify the accompaniment part when you start putting things together, then try them. For example, only play the root bass note in the left hand for each chord change, then, once you hand really knows where to go, add in the rest of the part.

Now if you're playing an interdependent groove, this strategy doesn't help you much, as the groove is all about the interrelationship between the hands, so my best advice for those is slow them down until you have them down cold, then gradually take the tempo up.

I have a tendency to try to play things too fast before I'm really ready to, so I have to remind myself to slow things down a bit. Sometimes they groove much better that way in any case.

I hope that helps. Looking forward to our next lesson.


Thanks Greg, for both the wonderful music and the lesson that you posted along with it. Sometimes when I see these videos I'm torn between wanting to practice more and just throwing the freakin' Stick out the window. The lesson settles the issue and makes me get back to practicing :lol:
Author:  numbersix [ Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
flynlion wrote:

Sometimes when I see these videos I'm torn between wanting to practice more and just throwing the freakin' Stick out the window :lol:



I know that feeling all too well :( . Luckily, my window is intact and my Stick unharmed so far.......

-Marc-
Author:  greg [ Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
flynlion wrote:

Thanks Greg, for both the wonderful music and the lesson that you posted along with it. Sometimes when I see these videos I'm torn between wanting to practice more and just throwing the freakin' Stick out the window. The lesson settles the issue and makes me get back to practicing :lol:
Thanks much and you are very welcome,

I've been playing for almost 30 years, so don't despair. Keep it simple until you have command of what you are playing, then push forward...

05Ric wrote:
Super fab playing Greg, super envious of your independence, and know how much hard work/focused energy it took for you to earn it :) Thank You for these postings!
Thanks, Ric,

I was a mediocre keyboardist before I started playing Stick, but I think that background really helped. Another thing that really helps, in my opinion, is to get your hands involved more than your fingers in phrasing. When tapping is about coordinating the fingers of the two hands together, there is no way to develop independence, the fingers key off of each other, and can't function "on their own". But if each "hand" can play its own part, minimizing the role of the fingers in the timing, then I believe independence is easier to develop. Giving the fingers the responsibility for note choice, expression and timing is simply too much. Give the timing to the hands.

Because I was not a guitarist or bassist, I did not have the reflex or habit of using a "typing motion" with "finger energy alone" in positions. I always used my hands and arms as part of the equation.

As a drummer, you are already quite used to phrasing with the whole hand. Give it a whirl!

almost forgot the self-indulgent thread-page re-embedding....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbxEMkEyDMI[/youtube]
Author:  dbrosky [ Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
Greg,
Another timeless rendition arrangement of a jazz classic- fresh, understated and by no means cliche as I have heard it time and time again. so thanks to show it can still be done!

Your use of sectional playing truly sets this piece at a high standard. You can hear and anticipate the verses and chorus which pulls the listener in and makes it an interactive and communicative experience. Each section having its own feel and mood and being separate and distinct. Again I have heard this piece played as if the entire tune was poi. ( Hawaiian Poi- bland and non descript -I ate it when I was 7)

Always the teacher, at 1:14 is a beautiful example of what is so dutifully illustrated in your Songbook and that is how to switch areas on the Touchboard using varying techniques smoothly and flawlessly. great use of bends and double stop fourths- not for their own sake but weaving within the existing harmony set forth by the background chords, and finally what I term "flying without a net" you bend a note almost with abandon and it is "caught" by the next note on the adjacent string.

These videos work on many levels not only from a historical record of the arrangement and improvised solos captured on video, but from a casual listeners point and from an invaluable instruction on a "how to" level reinforcing key techniques such as proper repeated notes with alternating fingers, traversing, glides, independent bass and melody each standing on their own, a bass line which smoothly voices and moves between the changes, and rhythm techniques of odd meters over even meters and rubato.

Another great post,
Dave Brosky

PS. Do you play it in Am? :D inside jazz joke since it is played in multiple keys depending on who you play with.
Author:  greg [ Tue Mar 18, 2014 6:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
Thanks so much, Dave.

Did you catch the downward "creep" move at 0:50. I never realized how often I use that move until I gave it a name...

And yes, play it in Amin! Transposition is probably easier on The Stick than on any other instrument, no open strings, no black and white keys, no problem...
Author:  05Ric [ Sun Mar 23, 2014 9:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
Hey Greg,
your saying " Another thing that really helps, in my opinion, is to get your hands involved more than your fingers in phrasing" for some reason sparked off some tangent of an idea on how I would like to approach the Stick. It's still not completely clear to me (it's in the process of be-coming), but whatever it becomes was clearly because of that statement, so thank you !
Author:  greg [ Sun Mar 23, 2014 6:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
05Ric wrote:
Hey Greg,
your saying " Another thing that really helps, in my opinion, is to get your hands involved more than your fingers in phrasing" for some reason sparked off some tangent of an idea on how I would like to approach the Stick. It's still not completely clear to me (it's in the process of be-coming), but whatever it becomes was clearly because of that statement, so thank you !
Ric, as a fan of your musical endeavors, I look forward to where this inspiration takes you. You are most welcome.

I enjoy reminding people that Emmett named his method Free Hands not "Free Fingers"....

dig-it beyond your digits...
Author:  jwanka [ Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
Greg,

Just wow....I love the phrasing and the energy even at a tempo that the average person shouldn't probably attempt! I also really liked the huge descending jazz chord transitions/turnarounds between sections. Your keyboard background really shows there.

Probably THE definitive version of this great jazz tune.

When people ask whether you can play Real Book stuff on the Stick, this is where I'm going to send them from now on. =)
Author:  greg [ Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Chasing "Autumn Leaves" (a samba on the Railboard)
jwanka wrote:
Greg,

Just wow....I love the phrasing and the energy even at a tempo that the average person shouldn't probably attempt! I also really liked the huge descending jazz chord transitions/turnarounds between sections. Your keyboard background really shows there.

Probably THE definitive version of this great jazz tune.

When people ask whether you can play Real Book stuff on the Stick, this is where I'm going to send them from now on. =)
Hi Joseph,

I don't deserve such praise for this, but I'm glad you like it, and I welcome you sharing it with people. Very kind of you.

I love the way all the different 7th chords lay out in Emmett's tuning. It makes it possible for the left hand to serve multiple roles all by itself.
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