“The Man I Love”

July 19th, 2010 by ChristopherSchlegel

Christopher Schlegel Update 05-20-2010

Another George Gershwin gem, “The Man I Love” is the sixth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

The legend behind this tune is that Gershwin attempted to craft an entire song starting with the typically throw away ending of many show pieces, “That’s all folks!”.  Or if you’ve ever sang the campy ending to “Happy Birthday To You”, it’s the part tacked on the end, “And many moooooo-re!”.  It’s also the well-known, bluesy ending to Gershwin’s own “Rhapsody In Blue”.

The tune Gershwin built is a masterpiece of beautiful melodic themes perfectly integrated with a brilliant harmonic structure.  Learning this song and making my own arrangement of it was a milestone in my development as a solo artist.

Here’s an old studio practice version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-NTieZAXnQ

Here’s a more recent live version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-VrI6xYvUY

Enjoy!

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“Georgia On My Mind”

July 19th, 2010 by ChristopherSchlegel

Christopher Schlegel Update 07-19-2010

 Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia On My Mind” is the eighth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

This is typically a big crowd pleaser. Even for an obtuse live performer such as myself. Everyone has heard Ray Charles do this tune. But even without the lyrics (that most people don’t know past the first two lines anyway; which is even more than I know) people will listen the whole way through. I’ve got a couple live performances of this one on vid.

From the Paris Arts Fest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POeD8a-j9Og

From my DixiePAC performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4zB6N90weI

Interested musicians or jazz-lovers can compare the two performances and see how I use the same basic arrangement but change the details on the fly each time I perform it. Or they can complain about how badly I mangle it. That seems to be popular sport also. Either way I have a lot of fun playing this tune. Lots of opportunities for grandstanding.

Enjoy!

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“In A Sentimental Mood”

June 17th, 2010 by ChristopherSchlegel

Another Ellington ballad, “In A Sentimental Mood” is the seventh tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

This song was the earliest recorded on the disc.  I did it back in 2000 on a borrowed Epiphone Emperor, before I actually owned one!  This was from back when I was just starting to get my bearings in this type of work.  I think it stands up admirably to the newer recordings.  In performances I usually do this dark, dreamy, laid back ballad as a contrast to my uptempo zillion-note arrangments of other standards.

People often say they recognize it or seems familiar to them.  But few remember the name or where they heard it.  It is a beautiful composition and a lot of fun to play.  I don’t have any video of me playing this tune.  So, how about another?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PYxhiHiJGM

Another Ellington oldie & goodie, a fave of mine to play.  Enjoy!

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“St. Louis Blues”

April 17th, 2010 by ChristopherSchlegel

Christopher Schlegel Update 04-16-2010

I was born and raised in St. Louis. So, this tune had to make the cut on my first album of standards. William Christopher Handy’s classic blues is the fifth tune on my Solo Jazz Guitar Standards, Vol. 1 disc.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/schlegel8

W. C. Handy was an amazing man whose life deserves a little study if you aren’t familiar with him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Christopher_Handy

I did a whole tutorial series on GuitarTricks.com on how to build a chord melody solo guitar arrangement. I used “St. Louis Blues” to do it. It really is a great tune for that kind of thing. Much of the lesson material grew out of my own arrangement. This vid on my YouTube channel is a highlights overview of those lessons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbfGJzfFBRU

Later on, the Gibson Guitar company website picked up my “St. Louis Blues” video lesson and embedded it on their lesson pages. It has been in rotation as a featured Lesson Of The Day. If you play guitar and want to try my arrangment, I suggest the Gibson lesson page because they included my musical score along with the vid.

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/InstrumentLessons/Learn-St-Louis-Blues-320/

For those of you with Guitar Tricks subscriptions, you can see the whole tutorial series of lessons here:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=759

Enjoy!

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“Adelita” by Francisco Tarrega

April 1st, 2010 by ChristopherSchlegel

Christopher Schlegel Update 03-24-2010

Among my 1000 plus lessons at Guitar Tricks I currently have 161 in the classical genre.  Only 9 of them have been redone in High- Defintion.  I’ve spent most of the last year working on improving my video & audio quality in other areas.  For example, I’ve reshot all my beginner lessons, close to 300 videos that form the two Guitar Fundamentals courses.  And then there are over 500 other lessons on other topics (theory, scale, chords, technique, improvisation, etc.), in multiple skill levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and in multiple genres (Blues, Jazz & Rock).

 
http://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=155014

In short, I’ve been holding off on reshooting classical until other things were taken care of.  Mostly, it was due to the user data.  Non- classical lessons are simply more popular in use by Guitar Tricks subscribers.  Therefore, it was in my best interest to reshoot those things first.  Another reason was that the classical lessons (teaching & playing them) required much more planning & recording time & effort.

So, I’ve put it off until now.  But now is here!  I’ve been practicing my classical repertoire lately.  I’ve performed a couple of times recently using my classical guitar.  I’ve been reviewing scores & re-writing lesson materials.  And I’ve even shot some test footage.

Some that footage included a pass at Tarrega’s “Adelita”.  Francisco Tarrega was a brilliant guitarist & classical composer.  He is somewhat unique in that he is a composer that wrote primarily for guitar; being a guitarist himself!  This particular piece is one that will be reshot for the lesson site.  It is also one I frequently play live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngaq6tW05ec

Happy viewing & listening!

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