Hal Galper on Attitude

LinearLineman

This guy says it just as I learned it. He hits all the high points and he says it in his own unique way.

dubbub

Wisdom. Thanks for posting.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

He's dropping gems here. He changed my life four decades ago with a Downbeat article on forward motion.

MadGav

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:
He's dropping gems here. He changed my life four decades ago with a Downbeat article on forward motion.

And there’s now a book!

MadGav

https://www.shermusic.com/1883217415.php

pedro

Words of wisdom. And many points the man is making apply to life in general, if you think about it. You also “practice” and “play” life.
Thanks for sharing this, I’d never heard of him before, but this guy zen’s!

pedro

@MadGav said:
https://www.shermusic.com/1883217415.php

Very interesting

“Hal shows how many people don't swing because they are thinking of the “one” as the start of each phrase, instead of the resolution of phrases - an idea that can radically transform people's ability to play jazz correctly!”

Exactly! I only master percussion as a musician, but it’s always not about where you start, it’s always about where you finish!
You can be tripping on your shoelaces for eight measures, as long as you arrive on the final ONE everyone will cheer

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@MadGav said:

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:
He's dropping gems here. He changed my life four decades ago with a Downbeat article on forward motion.

And there’s now a book!

I heard of that when it came out, but never had a peek. My impression was that you could state the entire lesson in a sentence or two, and everything else was just demonstration. I could be completely wrong though.

But once you internalize that sentence or two, what a great lesson.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@MadGav said:
https://www.shermusic.com/1883217415.php

Maybe I was wrong. Now I want to see it. But I don't play jazz any more.

GovernorSilver

I'm indeed one of the aspiring improvisers who has done what Galper mentions - attempt to work a lick or some other newly learned concept into an improvisation, then feel unsatisfied with the result. As soon as I attempt to work in the new thing I can already feel that I'm trying to force something.

I've been listening to 70s concert recordings of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers and have come to appreciate just how fearless Jeff Baxter was as a performing guitarist. He often improvised something brilliant, but he also had some moments that had me thinking "wtf?" - like inserting a motif from some TV or movie theme song in the middle of a solo, or choosing to play a repeating chordal riff as his solo. That, and his penchant for frequently changing his guitar part (not just solos) apparently drove some bandmates like Michael McDonald batty. That said, I love hearing the less predictable players like Skunk Baxter more than the perfectly polished type players.

Fellow founding Steely Dan guitarist Denny Dias occasionally displayed the opposite case - very tentative and careful on some live versions of the very same songs he's remembered for going Beast Mode on in the studio. I didn't expect that from the guitarist billed as the "jazz/bebop specialist" in the liner notes to Can't Buy A Thrill (Baxter was billed as a "the rock specialist", though he ironically ended up taking the "jazzy chord changes specialist" role with the Doobies later).

MadGav

@GovernorSilver said:
I'm indeed one of the aspiring improvisers who has done what Galper mentions - attempt to work a lick or some other newly learned concept into an improvisation, then feel unsatisfied with the result. As soon as I attempt to work in the new thing I can already feel that I'm trying to force something.

I've been listening to 70s concert recordings of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers and have come to appreciate just how fearless Jeff Baxter was as a performing guitarist. He often improvised something brilliant, but he also had some moments that had me thinking "wtf?" - like inserting a motif from some TV or movie theme song in the middle of a solo, or choosing to play a repeating chordal riff as his solo. That, and his penchant for frequently changing his guitar part (not just solos) apparently drove some bandmates like Michael McDonald batty. That said, I love hearing the less predictable players like Skunk Baxter more than the perfectly polished type players.

Fellow founding Steely Dan guitarist Denny Dias occasionally displayed the opposite case - very tentative and careful on some live versions of the very same songs he's remembered for going Beast Mode on in the studio. I didn't expect that from the guitarist billed as the "jazz/bebop specialist" in the liner notes to Can't Buy A Thrill (Baxter was billed as a "the rock specialist", though he ironically ended up taking the "jazzy chord changes specialist" role with the Doobies later).

Quoting is definitely a bebop thing!

GovernorSilver

@MadGav said:

@GovernorSilver said:
I'm indeed one of the aspiring improvisers who has done what Galper mentions - attempt to work a lick or some other newly learned concept into an improvisation, then feel unsatisfied with the result. As soon as I attempt to work in the new thing I can already feel that I'm trying to force something.

I've been listening to 70s concert recordings of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers and have come to appreciate just how fearless Jeff Baxter was as a performing guitarist. He often improvised something brilliant, but he also had some moments that had me thinking "wtf?" - like inserting a motif from some TV or movie theme song in the middle of a solo, or choosing to play a repeating chordal riff as his solo. That, and his penchant for frequently changing his guitar part (not just solos) apparently drove some bandmates like Michael McDonald batty. That said, I love hearing the less predictable players like Skunk Baxter more than the perfectly polished type players.

Fellow founding Steely Dan guitarist Denny Dias occasionally displayed the opposite case - very tentative and careful on some live versions of the very same songs he's remembered for going Beast Mode on in the studio. I didn't expect that from the guitarist billed as the "jazz/bebop specialist" in the liner notes to Can't Buy A Thrill (Baxter was billed as a "the rock specialist", though he ironically ended up taking the "jazzy chord changes specialist" role with the Doobies later).

Quoting is definitely a bebop thing!

Sure it is, though not as common in rock/pop soloing. Jeff Baxter is an uncommon player though, and he wasn't shy about bringing influences from country/bluegrass and jazz into his playing with the Doobies. I brought him up because in the OP video Hal Galper talked about not being afraid to make mistakes, and Skunk immediately came to mind. But if peeps want to limit the discussion to bebop improvisersI can comply.

In this example he starts his solo with a familiar sounding quote - can't identify the TV show or move off the top of my head though:

Later in the same concert when they play Road Angel, he quotes the "Bonanza" TV theme while trading guitar solos with Pat Simmons - seemingly without effort or missing a beat... then some time after the drum break, he repeats the theme he started his "It Keeps You Runnin" solo with