Playing Melodies In and Out of Tempo with Martin Taylor

Playing Melodies In and Out of Tempo with Martin Taylor [Demonstration] One of the temptations that we can fall into when first starting to play solo jazz guitar and I fell into this trap myself, is to just play the chords and melody together. [Demonstration] There was nothing really wrong with that but it wasn’t very interesting or creative. So, we need to add other dimensions to the music by playing in moving lines and by playing fills at the end of phrases. We can bring more color and personality to the music. Another thing to remember is that it's not necessary to play a big six-string chord in order to get a full sound. You can get the effect of a large chord by just using the right voice voicings, you can just use two or three notes. If they're the right ones used in the right place, it can give the effect of a large chord to the listener. The listener will actually make up the other notes themselves. [Demonstration] When I'm playing the melody on top, I try to maintain a singing quality. It gives a kind of sense of lyricism. In fact, it's probably a good idea if you can learn the lyrics to a tune as well. It means that you can phrase the tune to how it should be phrased in no way you're sacrificing the melody. At all times, try and maintain a steady metronomic pace. Try not to speed up or slow down. It makes it more convincing for the listener. Also, if you then get to play with a band and you’ve developed bad time keeping, you're going to be very unpopular with the guys. So, try and keep a good timing. It's important to remember that it's not really necessary to overplay chord or sequences. Very often, what you leave out can be just as important as what you put in. Also, I try to be as economical as possible with the left hand so that my fingers are hovering over the chords I'm just about to play. [Demonstration] Nothing has got a little bit more complicated. Everything that I've said before still applies but what I'm trying to do, what I tend to do is to improvise on the top line and accompany myself with chord or passages and bass lines. The accompaniment isn’t always rigid. In fact, very often the improvisations that I play one the top line can dictate what I'm going to play on the chord or passages and the bass lines. So, they actually become improvisations too. It's essential that you have a firm grasp of harmonic structure. Now, that’s a broader subject for me to go into in this video. So, I'm really taking it for granted that you already have a firm, good knowledge of harmony or at least know a man that does. So, when you're improvising, keep in mind the harmonic structure of the piece. [Demonstration]