The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > PLAY and Write

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 10-01-2016, 02:33 PM
iamanders iamanders is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 7
Default Western Swing

Howdy!
I watched a tutorial on how to play a simple comping for a chord progression in western swing. Although the tutorial was for piano I think we can apply this to guitar as well. The song mentioned in the tutorial was Stay all night (stay a little longer). The compoing was: bass (walking bass) note then chord and so on. It is often said that in country music if you play a bass note (either on guitar or piano) you double the bass, i.e. playing exactly what the bass player does. Then how do you know what kind of improvised bass line the bassist will use for such a song (it's not pre-written)? It also seems that the bass note and chords is a bit different from jazz but still uses sharps and naturals, i.e. playing what seems to be chromatic notes. How do can I learn the difference between the western swing way and the jazz way of doing it?
I am a bit confused on how to learn to play this song. Tutorials hasn't helped since they never mentioned these questions. And what are the chords used for this song (one must transcribe?)? I classical music you study harmonizing and theory before becoming great improvisers and harmonizers but in country and western swing you are supposed to just f*****g do it without proper training. Is this even correct?
I hope you could give me some advice.

Last edited by iamanders; 10-01-2016 at 02:40 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-01-2016, 02:48 PM
Wyllys Wyllys is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Earth, mostly
Posts: 1,208
Default

This is a question in ensemble technique. An anecdote:

I played upright bass in a string band/swing band for a while, leaving the band to play fiddle on European streets for 6 months. I was replaced by a series of trained bassists. I was self-taught and had played guitar for years before playing the bass.

When I returned I ran into the guitar player from the old band. I asked him how it was going with the other bass players. His reply:

"We played 4-5 jobs a week for 2 1/2 years and I never noticed what you were doing. When you were gone, I missed it."
I gave him room to do whatever he wanted without having to defer to me...or even listen, apparently.

The point is that I played to support the others, not to show what I could do.
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" ...The Wizard of Oz

It has well been said that the band plays music but the bass player plays the band. If you're lucky you'll get to work with an ensemble player who does more than play the bass. Likewise, you should look to develop comp chording which leaves room for other people/ instruments.

Good luck, have fun.
__________________
Harmony Sovereign H-1203
"You're making the wrong mistakes."
...T. Monk

Theory is the post mortem of Music.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-02-2016, 12:37 PM
JonPR JonPR is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 6,450
Default

I'm a little confused...
Quote:
Originally Posted by iamanders View Post
I watched a tutorial on how to play a simple comping for a chord progression in western swing.
...
The song mentioned in the tutorial was Stay all night (stay a little longer)
...
I am a bit confused on how to learn to play this song. Tutorials hasn't helped since they never mentioned these questions. And what are the chords used for this song...
You watched a tutorial on a chord progression - mentioning a specific song - that didn't tell you what the chords were?
__________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-02-2016, 01:45 PM
Wyllys Wyllys is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Earth, mostly
Posts: 1,208
Default

Anders...

Give this a
https://youtu.be/i1n_okQya18

Don't worry too kuch about conflicts with the bass line. The guitar bass line here will be a couple of octaves above the upright bass line and that much room is very forgiving. As a bass player I would defer to the guitar on the moving line and stay with a simpler line that moved at a slower rate.

https://youtu.be/i1n_okQya18

The descending line in the guitar goes something like:

g - f - e - e flat - d - c sharp - c - and so on...

I might make an ascending line on the bass like this:

g - b - c - c - [a -b -c- c sharp -d] , bracketed notes double time.

Good luck, have fun.
__________________
Harmony Sovereign H-1203
"You're making the wrong mistakes."
...T. Monk

Theory is the post mortem of Music.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > PLAY and Write

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:28 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=