Sweet Home Chicago
Improvisation
In this section we will analyze a complete chorus of the famous blues standard, Sweet Home Chicago.
In the score that you see below, a solo is developed that will be analyzed later. Be aware of the fact that the octave division is shuffle, as it results from the indication of time. You can experiment using the base and listening to the solo, both in mp3 format.
Bar 1: E7
The rest in beat in the first movement of the bar is quite uncommon. In fact there is the tendency to play ahead of the bar, for instance using a syncopated note that starts on the previous bar, instead of playing behind, as in this case. Therefore pay attention to the rhythmic division.
In the triplet found in the second movement we will work with typical 4 step licks in E minor in box 2. The last two notes are pulled slightly, using the false bending just mentioned.
In the last movement, the triplet introduces the A arpeggio that we will find in the next bar.
Bar 2: A7
I suggest playing the first two notes with the index and middle fingers, respectively. In the second movement the B is played open, so that you can move the hand into the twelfth position where the ring finger performs a bending between the A (14th fret) and B notes, as well as to the D note on the second string by the little finger. The final tercet closes the entire phrase with the E note of the third bar.
Bar 3: E7
At the end of this bar there are licks built entirely in the next bar. You will have to perform a slide from the 15th to the 17th fret of the 2nd string with the ring finger, so that you are in position for the following licks. Pay attention to the rhythmic division, because it starts on the second octave of the tercet.
Bar 4: E7
These licks are built in polyrhythm with tercet divisions. In fact, the groups of notes are two by two, which provokes a continuous movement in the tones within that tercet. It's best to play the phrase with the pick/finger hybrid technique: the pick plays the third string, while the middle and ring finger of the right hand simultaneously play the first two strings. The purpose of this lick is to harmonically transport, in a descending sense, the mixolidian scale of E (the A major scale), giving harmonization to the E7 chord by the presence of the notes that overlap during the licks of the same chord.
Fundamentally we can say that we played some descending triads. For example, the first triad is a minor triad of C#, and is recognized by the sum of the first two octaves in the first tercet. The other two octaves have a triad of Bm. The phrase concludes with the G# and D notes, which implies the E7 chord.
At the end of the bar, the lick begings that gives the A7 chord harmony, underlined by the ligature between the F# and G notes on the 2nd string.
Bar 5: A7
The notes in beat on the first movement characterize the A7, already seen in the final of the previous bar. The following pairs of notes always bring the harmony to the base chord (A7). This technique, similar to the previous licks, is often used when you want to harmonize the single notes of a chord. In this specific case the melody given by the notes of the third string (E, D andC #) is harmonized in thirds (G, F# and E, respectively on the 2nd string).
Bar 6: A7
Pay attention to the sixteenth scaling in the sixth bar. The sixteenth rhythmics can be a little strange, as its played in a shuffle tempo. Melodically it deals with playing a mixolidian scale of A (which is D major), that also includes a chromatic sequence between the G and A notes (G#), only in the first octave.
It could seem a little boring to simply play a succession of scaled notes.
Bar 7: E7
The conclusion of the previous phrase is done in G on the 1st string with slight bending in a classical use of blues notes. The G note, with respect to the base chord of E7, is one third minor. The characteristic blues note come when the note undergoes a slight bending (usually around 1/4 of a tone), that implies the arrival of the third major (which is found a half-step above, in this case, the G#).
To follow, a series of raised third intervals.
Bar 8: E7
The phrase at the beginning of the bar melodically concludes the succession of previous chords. Notice how the last note in this phrase is the seventh minor of the E7 chord, and how it holds the melody in suspension. This choice is used for creating tension within a melodic line. Closing with the root, for instance, gives the melodic line the resolution and immobility of the phrase.
In the final part of the bar, the phrase begins that connects to the following B7 chord, characterized by a tercet where the first note (the E on 2nd string at the 17th fret) is in bending of a tone (up to the F#) with the ring finger, where another two F#'s follow, played with the index finger on the 1st string at the 14th fret.
Bar 9: B7
After having repeated the bending between E and F#, at the end of the bar we find the advance of the melodic line for the following A7 chord, made of three notes (in triplet) a barrč is played with the index finger on the first two strings at the 17th fret. Notice how the first note of this group (the E, 2nd string, 17th fret) is anticipated on the previous fret.
Bar 10: A7
The particularity of this phrase played in A7 comes from the fact that we initially use box2 of A minor, something that seems abnormal for a quarter step blues chord in major. Usually, the use of the pentatonic scale in this way is not very suitable, but there is a trick. If you notice, the first note (C, 20th fret of the 1st string) played by the ring finger is played as a blue-note, and this naturally serves to recall the third major (C#) of the A7 chord.
The next scale is developed on the pentatonic of Em. Pay attention to the last note of the bar, which is the G#, 4th string, 18th fret. This is the third major of the E7 chord that comes in the next bar. Notice also how a scale like the one just performed can be varied even by one note.
Bar 11: E7
The scale therefore concludes directly with the root (E), 4th string, 14th fret.
At the end of the bar the final phrase is anticipated, by preparing the index finger to play a barrč on the 3rd and 4th strings at the 7th fret.
Bar 12: B7
Also working on a major chord, the first two notes (B and D) recall the minor tone, immediately denied by the D# (third major of B) obtained by connecting the 8th fret with the middle finger of the barrč index finger at the 7th fret on the 3rd and 2nd strings.
To finish, a descending chromatic sequence of three pairs of notes at third minor intervals. The first two pairs basically support the last pair (F#, 11th fret, 3rd string and A, 10th fret, 2nd string), that specifies the B7 chord. In fact the F# note is the fifth step while the A note is the seventh minor.
|
|
