There is a secret built into Bach’s Little Fugue in G minor.
I issued a friendly challenge to listeners to spot the famous Jazz standard nestled among the busy polyphonic dialog in this Bach piece.
Even an offering of 2000 internet cool points has not unearthed the answer, so I’ll give it to you now:
Listen at 1:52
…now listen to the video below at 2:25.
Nerdy but cool.
Guess that comes with the territory when your navigating lines that Bach laid out in logical beautiful detail. I learned the Little Fugue in G minor years ago as a self-imposed study in how Bach ‘improvised’ through chord changes.
I always want to improvise melodies that possess that clear, eloquent almost story-telling manner about them like Bach.
When you play these pieces, you’re afforded an opportunity to almost enter Bach’s mind for a short time.
…and that’s where we’ve been hangin’ over here.
I have a ritual of sorts that I begin each day with. It’s been this way for me for decades.
To re-establish the connection that I need with the guitar, I begin the day with music. This may seem obvious but I see players running scales and patterns and all this technical finger-wiggle stuff and not get around to actually playing music. On this day, Stings’ Fragile was the vehicle of choice.
I’ve decided to share this here as this video seems to resonate with people. This is the only video that I’ve made where I’ve actually had people stop me on the street, more than a couple of times, and comment on how much they liked it.
I hope you’ll like it too.
Times are tough and everyone is looking for a deal. To that end, I’m offering-up this little morsel of jazzy vocabulary.
The (half-step/ whole-step) diminished scale is arguably the most flexible harmonic and melodic device available to the improvising musician. We talked about this great device before in terms of using it chordally so I thought I would explore some melodic applications.
The diminished scale is a symmetrical scale that is nothing more that alternating half-steps and whole-steps. Due to this construction, anything derived from diminished harmony can be transposed up or down in minor thirds and you never leave the scale.
In this video, I play the same phase in four different ‘keys’ over C13b9 – Fm progression: a common V-i. All four of the variations offered here can be equally used over A13b9 – Dm, F#13b9 – Bm or Eb13b9 – Abm. If you’re careful with the final note, you can also resolve the like to major chords.
I think that really makes this a 32 for the price of one… I’ll let you work-out the math.
Want to study with me privately? You can–from anywhere in the world via my Online Guitar Lessons.
Dig it.
Over the past few years, I’ve connected w/ many many uber-talented people via popular social networks; people I would most certainly never have met before the “Social Age.”
One such connection is my piano playing friend from the UK, Yukie Smith. She approached my a few days ago about collaborating on a musical piece she composed for the Save the Children foundation. Together, we created this musical dialog and are now inviting you join us.
Yukies piece, Above the Clouds, won me over with its charming melody and sparse, intimate arrangement. Piano/ guitar pairings can be difficult, but I think we’ve succeeded in allowing our musical voices to speak with a mutual eloquence that is rare.
It’s as though we’re whispering to one another even though we’re thousands of miles apart.
I finished my part at 3am the other morning and am pleased to share the track with you today. You can stream it and share it to anywhere in the world for free and, if you like, can purchase the track, and in doing so, make a donation to Save the Children.
I’ve always loved that old Channel slogan: If you want to get someone’s attention…whisper
Can you dig it?
It’s sort of a guitar lesson I guess…
I recently released my solo guitar Christmas EP “Rob Michael’s Christmas by the Fire.” I’ve had some very pleasant positive feedback from both casual listeners and other guitarists.
My offering today is my printed arrangement of Little town of Bethlehem.
If you decide to play this, I would love to hear it!!