Forty-Two - Basic Turnarounds for all guitarists

John Watt

Member
onacarom! I've got a request for you, and I really like taking requests.

I see what you're saying about turnarounds, and for me,
that's traditional turnarounds, and I'll admit it,
that's a big weakness for me, mostly knowing what you mean.

I'm working out "Misty" by Erroll Garner with a friend, in E#maj7.
He's an old high school friend now living in British Columbia, an online thing.
When I was an usher at the show in high school,
they played a short between the movies,
and one of them was Erroll Garner playing Misty on a Hammond B3.
He looked older and chubby there.
That was about a walking bass and a walking line through the chords,
as only a Hammond B3 player, or organist with foot pedals, can get into that deep.

When it gets to the last line, say, "I get misty just holding your hand", I, uh, mist it.
I'm playing Emaj7, to C#min7 to F#min7, and it really isn't a chord after that,
going into a turnaround that I can't remember from the show.
When I saw it on YouTube last week, he's young and playing piano,
and he has to be one of the best pianists I've ever heard.
But that was playing like a great classical and great jazz pianist combined,
no walking chords or bass.

I like how he makes it look casual, even looking around to look into the camera,
but then you see him starting to sweat.

Hey! You know I've been commenting on you a lot,
so let me show you what this pro player writes out to scan and send,
and if you think that's rough,
here's a letter from one of the first major solid-body electric guitar builders.

The red dots are root notes, and the green are walking notes on the D string.
Can you play a C formation barre chord in minor and within on the D string,
walk four frets? I can. That's a Jimi Hendrix chord formation for me,
and it's really easy to play upside-down with the bass strings on the bottom.

My first Emaj7 for the verse is a G chord formation at the fourth fret,
having the bass B held, that stays there as you move up to Bmin.
I try not to hit the high E string, but it's in harmony.


B.C.Rich.jpgmist it.jpg
 
Last edited:

onacarom

Member
Do not complicate your life, every guitar builder has his own vision of the instrument he is making and of his circuits, when the instrument is electric, and just as with musicians, each one is a world with its own truth.The important thing about music is the melody, and it can fly over many types of chords that are not logical, but harmonious when that inspired melody is made on.
:cool:
 

John Watt

Member
Let's not get too metaphysical right away, because my arrangement isn't there yet.

However, this is a happy message to see, a nice philosophy, when it could have been your advice for nothing.
I was working out the song in Emaj7, the first chord, and my friend said E# like Erroll Garner on piano.
That kept me busy, and I did come up with an ending chord.

But when I tried singing it, I felt there wasn't any room for any vocal progression,
struggling just to sing in the range of the chords.
I found Amaj7 as the first chord to be the best. And, I found the Amaj7 I like.

E string, fifth fret for a bass A,
A and D strings, fourth fret,
G and B string, second fret,
with the high E string open.
That's a really nice chord, with a wide expanse for the vocal.

It also has an open E and a walking a line to open strings,
that only makes moving down to the Eminor, uh, beautiful.

You might think I walked myself into the Eminor walking chord trap.
Taking the E on the D string down three frets,
but hitting the nut on the guitar before you can go down four.

That's when I thought about the walking E chord,
in a Kenny Rogers' song, "She Believes in Me", nice, ready to jam out.

And lo and behold, the B formation I worked out as an ending chord,
works two frets above the A, at the seventh fret.
Nice, I can slide or use effects, or just the tremolo, being different every time.

I have the words to the chorus, but haven't tried to figure that out.

Music is the melody, if you are the only singer.
What makes me the big bucks playing guitar is not being out front,
but using effects to soften or define my sound within the song,
and I'm trailing other musicians, adding an aural backdrop of sound,
something that only works for me when I'm playing all six strings all the time,
just strumming or letting the guitar make it's own noise.

And for the solo, I'll go for a Mr. George Benson, 1955 Gibson L5 sound,
because I have that same pickup by the neck on my guitar too,
just like he told me to put it. yeah, tricks of the trade, tricky.
That's the guitar he was playing when he won the Downbeat Jazz Guitarist of the Year,
five years in a row. That's when I met him, going backstage to share a guitar lesson.
I say lesson, because I could play six string chords he couldn't, and move them around.
He laughed a lot, and moved my fingers around a lot, but I could hold them and move them.
up and down.
He said, here's some chords I'm working on, the top four strings.
Let's see you play them, and I used six strings, getting bass. "Breezin".
Oh yeah. One of my favorite evenings.

My inventive guitar isn't anything electrical, even though that is there.
Inventive interior shielding/grounding, something no other electric has,
what really is like a big balloon of aluminum blown up inside a semi-acoustic body.
The guitar has a singular and undisputed acoustic sound and it's loud.
You Tube, "John Watt semi-solid-body". I gave so much of my life for this guitar.
But it's my instrument, and it's worth it. That's what I want to play, building number two.
I'm a symphonic-electric virtuoso with previously unavailable harmonics on every fret.
hey... hey... Nicolo... Nicolo Paganini... no... you've got a violin... not my guitar...
 

onacarom

Member
Let's not get too metaphysical right away, because my arrangement isn't there yet.

However, this is a happy message to see, a nice philosophy, when it could have been your advice for nothing.
I was working out the song in Emaj7, the first chord, and my friend said E# like Erroll Garner on piano.
That kept me busy, and I did come up with an ending chord.

But when I tried singing it, I felt there wasn't any room for any vocal progression,
struggling just to sing in the range of the chords.
I found Amaj7 as the first chord to be the best. And, I found the Amaj7 I like.

E string, fifth fret for a bass A,
A and D strings, fourth fret,
G and B string, second fret,
with the high E string open.
That's a really nice chord, with a wide expanse for the vocal.

It also has an open E and a walking a line to open strings,
that only makes moving down to the Eminor, uh, beautiful.

You might think I walked myself into the Eminor walking chord trap.
Taking the E on the D string down three frets,
but hitting the nut on the guitar before you can go down four.

That's when I thought about the walking E chord,
in a Kenny Rogers' song, "She Believes in Me", nice, ready to jam out.

And lo and behold, the B formation I worked out as an ending chord,
works two frets above the A, at the seventh fret.
Nice, I can slide or use effects, or just the tremolo, being different every time.

I have the words to the chorus, but haven't tried to figure that out.

Music is the melody, if you are the only singer.
What makes me the big bucks playing guitar is not being out front,
but using effects to soften or define my sound within the song,
and I'm trailing other musicians, adding an aural backdrop of sound,
something that only works for me when I'm playing all six strings all the time,
just strumming or letting the guitar make it's own noise.

And for the solo, I'll go for a Mr. George Benson, 1955 Gibson L5 sound,
because I have that same pickup by the neck on my guitar too,
just like he told me to put it. yeah, tricks of the trade, tricky.
That's the guitar he was playing when he won the Downbeat Jazz Guitarist of the Year,
five years in a row. That's when I met him, going backstage to share a guitar lesson.
I say lesson, because I could play six string chords he couldn't, and move them around.
He laughed a lot, and moved my fingers around a lot, but I could hold them and move them.
up and down.
He said, here's some chords I'm working on, the top four strings.
Let's see you play them, and I used six strings, getting bass. "Breezin".
Oh yeah. One of my favorite evenings.

My inventive guitar isn't anything electrical, even though that is there.
Inventive interior shielding/grounding, something no other electric has,
what really is like a big balloon of aluminum blown up inside a semi-acoustic body.
The guitar has a singular and undisputed acoustic sound and it's loud.
You Tube, "John Watt semi-solid-body". I gave so much of my life for this guitar.
But it's my instrument, and it's worth it. That's what I want to play, building number two.
I'm a symphonic-electric virtuoso with previously unavailable harmonics on every fret.
hey... hey... Nicolo... Nicolo Paganini... no... you've got a violin... not my guitar...

Thanks for your comments John :guitar:
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
Almost makes me want to take up the Guitar, should have done it 30 years ago
 

John Watt

Member
I'm changing my last name to Tesla, and switching to right-handed.
It's not easy holding your guitar up, aiming it up to the sky,
so your musical vibes can be transmitted over the entire audience,
and heat the back of the vendors' booths in front of the stage.

Try playing a left-handed guitar upside-down.
You might like it as much as I do.
 
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