House Jam

[adi_mrok]

@CT

I do miss my electrics.

Any chance grabbing those back anytime soon?

[CT]

@adi_mrok

Any chance grabbing those back anytime soon?

Yes sir. Most likely with my little Joyo practice amp.

[Socio]

That was a great little improv over the HOTR. You’re giving this little grasshopper ideas to add to the list to explore when I develop the necessary techniques.

[roger_holland]

Hi Clint,
I enjoyed it as the first of the day, I hope this is the “mood” of the day here ,… Greetings,…

[Richard_close2u]

@adi_mrok

Dmaj D F# A - Look out not to play F note from Am as chord has F#
Fmaj - Look out not to play B note as chord has Bb?

You have the general concept okay Adi.
Check your analysis though.

[Richard_close2u]

@CT

I had to borrow some notes from the major/minor scale to nail the actual melody. Is that what you are alluding to @Richard_close2u?

Exactly that.

You can’t get all the way there with just the Amin pentatonic scale.

No.

What’s cool is that when sussing out the melody the actual scale you are using can be the furthest thing from your mind.

Just so. Thinking in terms of a new scale each time a new chord comes along is too much thinking.

[adi_mrok]

Yep definitely too late when I was thinking about it as Fmaj is F A C In that case:

Am A C E
Cmaj C E G
Dmaj D F# A
Fmaj FAC
E7 E G# B D

So strikes out it’s F# in D and G# in E7 correct? Or am I missing some other pieces here?

[Richard_close2u]

More …

The melody is virtually all A minor pentatonic apart from one occurrence of B over an Am chord and one of G# over an E7 chord.

Melody Tab / Notation:

Neck diagram:

Audio:

For most of the chords, A minor pentatonic or A natural minor will give what you want if you’re thinking of scales. Here, the A minor pentatonic scale is shown with the blue notes being those that make up the fuller A minor scale.

For the D major chord, the F# presents an issue. A minor penatonic is fine, for a fuller scale choice the F would need to be replaced by F#. (NB - this is actually A Dorian if you want that information).

For the E7 chord - used to give that strong resolution back to the tonic Am chord - the note G# is essential. Placing a major / dominant 7 chord as the V in a minor key is where the harmonic minor comes in. The 7th scale degree of the A minor scale (the note G) is raised a semitone (to the note G#). In terms of melody and improvising, when the harmonic minor is used to create the harmonic structure (chords) the melodic minor is used to create the melodic structure. Makes sense right? But rather than complicate things with that just here, simply use this diagram of note choices for the E7 chord. (NB F is also altered to F#).

[CT]

@Richard_close2u

Neck diagram:

That’s pretty much the heart and soul of if from the Amin pentatonic 5th position perspective. Do check out Justin’s approach from the video link I shared previously. It’s probably an easier entry point for most folks.

The fun for me is adding the pentatonic extensions and moving up and down the neck and finding doodle spots along the way. Wrong note? Bend it or move to the nearest half-step note. The 12th position and beyond (even where my cigar fingers tend to struggle) is especially fun.

[SgtColon]

What a tasty take on a classic. I loved it Clint. Sweet playing indeed.

You could see the Animals pulling something like that out at one of their live gigs.

[LBro]

Hey Clint,
You are a progressing machine mano… In one way you are back to your roots. I recall back when all you did was get a backing track going and play for 5 minutes. Or so it seemed. I think when we did a project together you had a hard time fitting your parts into the required space(s)… Them were the days eh? But evolve you have in your play and oh so much better now!

Are you still tinkering with the harp?

Great job on this one and keep up the good vibe!
LB

[CT]

Always appreciate your comments @LBro!

There’s a fair amount to unpack here sir. I try not to overthink my playing too much, other than “did I do what I set out to do” with this track? Ultimately upon self assessment there are always chops/techniques/ideas that were left on the table.

I enjoyed our Mr Jones session very much. In that context I did (and still do) find having to fit things into certain spaces on a DAW grid to be a bit restrictive. I don’t want to start on the one beat or end on the 4th, or try to fit everything I want to do in X number of bars. I’m a grass-fed free-range playa (for better or worse). LOL. I think your lead playing has gotten better to where you can and should play all the parts. The same can be said for your vocal chops.

Here’s an out take (that didn’t fit the grid) from our Mr Jones session. It is one of my top five most popular videos:
Royal Blenheim Apricots

It’s been a while since I played any harmonica tracks, need to do something soon. Thanks again!