It seems that amidst the 2020 lockdown John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” has only increased in popularity. It’s even become something of a MEME!? I was teaching this song, via a virtual lesson, and I decided to send some chord voicings to my student. There is nothing fancy here, but these diagrams can definitely help a guitarist find their bearings on this challenging song.
A big part of the value in these diagrams is that the Melody note is the top-voice in each chord. The student I made this arrangement for does not have a cut-away, so you’ll notice that the Melody starts in one octave and then transposes a bit higher for the rest of the song.
Here is a modern take on the jazz standard made famous by Les Paul and played on an updated version of his signature Gold Top guitar. I wanted to embrace my electric side and also dig into some 20th century classical melodic runs and chord clusters. Guitar: Fibernare Basic Jazz Goldtop Recorded: Line 6 HX Stomp Video: Filmora 9
Performance/Lesson on Jaco’s Mellow Fusion Masterpiece
I first became aware of this song about a year ago. The extra practice time of the covid-19 lockdown was the perfect moment to really get comfortable with its many sections.
I really love the gospel, pop, and jazz influences in this piece. Jaco and his Weather Report band-mates really were creating a ‘fusion’ in the best possible sense of the word. Perhaps because it was written by a bassist, and also because I just can’t seem to put this guitar down, I recorded with my Godin Multiac Nylon 7-String.
I first played this song as a duo with my wife on vocals , but on solo gigs I started to work out this instrumental arrangement. Let me know how you like it and please subscribe! The video was shot in the old “dye house” at the Velvet Mill in Stonington, CT. Thanks! Adam Lomeo Mic: Shure MV88 Guitar: Larivee www.adamlomeo.com IG: @adamplomeo FB: @adamlomeomusic
This simple Barrios Prelude from 1939 is one of my favorite warm-ups. I had a moment to film and did a first take on my 1963 Gretsch Country Club Guitar. This is also a great piece for anyone looking to work on arpeggios all-over the neck.
Here is another one of my Etudes for solo guitar. This one focuses on the right hand and features alternating bass notes in the thumb. The chord voicings range from folky to exotic colors, and it also has a fun country style open-string cascade near the end.
My latest recorded project is a duo with pianist Daniel Rufolo. Dan and I have been friends since our undergraduate days at William Paterson’s jazz studies program.
Acoustic Chapel presents instrumental versions of well-loved hymns and spirituals from various Christian traditions.
The duo of Guitar and Piano perform the songs in a reflective manner that enhances their natural elegance.
I’ve been very interested in the classic fiddle tunes lately, whether they come from the “old-time” or “Irish” traditions. “Angeline the Baker” is such a beautiful and simple melody, and a great example of the pentatonic scale. I’ve mostly been working on flat-picking these tunes(others include: Black Mountain Rag, Over the Waterfall, Fisher’s Hornpipe, and few more..) but inspired by Doc Watson’s beautiful travis kind of fingerpicking style and a very interesting fiddle tune medley performed by classical guitarist, Muriel Andersen, I decided to create a fingerpicking arrangement of this tune. I’ve added some additional harmony with a walk down bass-which definitely moves this arrangement out of the pure old-time sound. That said, the ringing of the open-strings is very important and the melody in harmonics for the ending is a nice challenge.
This is also a great arrangement for teaching. The tab should be helpful in identifying the right fingerings to maximize on the use of open ringing strings.
They don’t actually play until 3:50 into this video, but Allison Krauss and Dan Tyminski play this tune so beautifully!
I want to use this section of my blog not just to feature already widely celebrated players, but also people whom are truly on their way to becoming the top musicians of tomorrow.
Greg Ward is an alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. Greg has a great progressive sound, he has rhythmic superpowers, his technique is brilliant, and everything he plays is soulful. There are so many great sax-players in NYC, but to me Greg really stands out. Whenever we chat about what he is working on it is something like doing harmonic analysis of a symphonic work or getting a little deeper into electronic music.
