 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: fskelley
Date: 2010-12-07 21:24
Attachment: DYKWIMb.png (20k)
I'm back on clarinet 5 months after 38 years off- been a gospel/pop keyboard guy all the years in between. Of course us piano guys get used to playing in any key, but for clarinet it makes more of a difference. Maybe if you always carry a 2nd (A) horn it's easier as long as you don't need to swap horns mid-song.
So anyway I've transcribed one of Pete Fountain's solos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mimWHUWuaG4- with more to come later- as an alternative to studying Mozart or some such (no thank you). And I noted that Pete was playing in D and Bb- not too bad, and I suppose his choice since it's his show.
Then today I was paging through some of my MP3 files for things to play along with, and got to Elvis' "Reconsider Baby" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmNXXUmP8W0. That's just a standard 3 chord blues number, and it's got an absolutely dynamite Boots Randolph tenor sax solo I've admired for decades at 1:35 to 2:55. But of course I'd never considered what key it was in. Surprise, surprise... concert E, so Boots is playing his solo and all his improvisations (on the fly first or 2nd shot I bet) in F#/Gb! Ouch! I'm sure that's where Elvis felt most comfortable vocally- and that's the way it should be. But if you're a session player (and not the star) you'd better be ready for anything. I'll be listening to that solo with even more admiration now.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2015-05-17 05:28)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2010-12-08 15:01
Most top players like Boots--who is, btw, an accomplished musician--can play "anything" in any key. Years ago, in Vegas, the show musicians used to get together for informal jam sessions and challenge each other to play standards in all of the "hard" keys.....just for fun. If you really know your horn, you can navigate through any set of harmonic changes with a fair amount of ease just like you do on your keyboard.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: sfalexi
Date: 2010-12-09 20:24
One of the ways our jazz musicians test themselves out is trying to play "Giant Steps"including improv in all twelve keys. One of those, "If you can play this in all twelve keys, you can play anything" type phrases.
And yup, the best pros will be able to play anything in any key. Then even a STEP above that are the ones that will be able to transpose on the fly (ie, go to a recording session, get told that they have to play it up a fourth for the singer, and they will just do it. No rewriting, just be able to do it).
Alexi
PS - I am NOT one of these people. Not yet, and by the looks of it, not for a long time.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
