Smooth Jazz Collab Mixed, Comments are here! Options

[David Wallimann]

It’s finally here! The Smooth Jazz collab is mixed and comments are here! I had great pleasure listening to your entries and you all did a wonderful job. All your leads are unique and everyone brought something interesting. I think you all have something very important to offer here and I tried to expose what I liked about them
For those who missed my take on this, check out the Smooth Jazz lesson.
Enjoy!

 Smooth_Jazz_mix.mp3 ( 8.43MB ) Number of downloads: 372



Ballistic 31
Good chops my friend. I like your alternate picking in this one. Your lead is well developed and prepared. Some tempo problems occur on the fast alternate picking run which could be easily fixed with patient metronome repetitive workout. Start on a very comfortable tempo and increase very gradually. If you work with your metronome on a steady basis, you’ll correct that problem in no time. Good job!

Chast
I like the intro to your lead. It builds up quite nicely and really gives the color of the Dorian mode. My suggestion to you would be to take that theme and add some more phrasing tools. Take one of the small licks you used and add to it more expression. It could be done by approaching a note with a bend, or maybe a few chromatic notes every once in a while. That will help your sense of melody shine.

Eddiecat
I enjoyed this take for its great rhythm phrasing. Your lead is very rich in that sense. Things are kept interesting with the use of repetition. That is something to remember, the human ear is always “attracted” to something when it recognizes it. You managed to create that with some recurring rhythm motifs. Good swing and great use of the Dorian scale. Nicely done!

Hammerin Hank
Your sound is very appropriate for this style of music. I admire your phrasing my friend. It’s indeed very smooth. Some of the licks you used are very interesting and have a swing to them that draws the listener in. Your sense of rhythm and swing are present through the whole track and keep the audience fascinated. Great job!

Illuha
I like the way your lead builds up and renews itself on the beginning of each measure. A little suggestion, or idea to work on, would be to try focusing landing on alternative notes not found in the main C minor 7 chord. Try landing on the 9th or the Major 6th to open things up a bit. To do that, locate these notes within the scale box you decide to use and simply build your idea thinking about approaching that chosen note. That will expand your ideas a lot I think and make a good lead even better. Good work!

ItsMe
There are some great ideas in here. I love the way your licks breathe and keep the improvisation interesting. You’re kind of playing a bit after the time which is wonderfully appropriate here. It gives your lead a laid back feel. You have a good technique and nice bluesy phrasing. Great job!

Leedbreak
You have a recognizable touch my friend. Your rhythm motifs are distinctive and I would develop that. You went a bit off scale on the last measure using a minor 6th instead of the major 6th of the Dorian mode. That’s something to watch while phrasing in Dorian as these two notes will clash together. My suggestion here would be to try approaching not so common notes and rest on them to open up your lead. The 9th is always a nice way to start opening things up. Add a bit more silences in your lead between your rhythm motifs will help a lot too. Keep exploring these things my friend, good work!

Organised Confusion
I hear some good ideas in this one! Good use of the Dorian color and nice rhythm approach too. I like the chord approach you have on the 6th measure. Very jazzy! As I suggested to previous leads, I think you would gain from trying to focus on the 9th and Major 6th to open up your ideas a bit. Adding a bit of expression with bends and other guitar tricks would help too. Other than that you did a good job. Keep up the hard work!

Siggum
Man, you phrase really well! There is a great swing to you improve that is very interesting and captivating. I think we can all learn from your rhythm use. Your licks are all tied together and well in place. It gives your lead a real liveliness that reminds me of the way a sax player would improvise. Great work!

Skennington
You did good use of the scales suggested, great job! I think you have things to say in you lead. One thing I would watch is your silences. I noticed that your lead doesn’t have any silences and that would help all your musical idea have a much bigger impact to the listener. Try to imagine your guitar being an extension of your mouth. That will force you to breathe more and will make your playing more expressive. Keep up the good work!

Smells
Some of your ideas are very interesting here. I love your use of chromatic notes to emphasize your licks. Your use of silence between the licks is very well thought. The lick you used at the end of the second measure is very interesting and worth learning. One thing that I noticed in your lead that we should all learn from is the way you play some notes louder than others. It makes your lead alive. Very tasteful work!

Tjchep
I like the laid back feel you gave to this lead. Good choice of notes and nice use of the Dorian scale. You managed here to focus on the important notes and bring all the color of that mode to the listener. I like the control and vibrato you gave to your notes. Your approach to certain notes is very tasteful, especially when you use little slides to “dig” into the notes. The fast lick on measure 7 is a bit out of place in rhythm, a little extra work with Mr metronome should help you there. Good work!

Zizi Top
You have some great phrasing ideas here. I love your use of chords in the 3rd measure. Very jazzy my friend! Your rhythm is a bit laid back which is wonderfully appropriate. Great feel! I like the way all your licks lead to one another. It’s as if one as preparing the next. They seem to respond to each other in a very pleasant way. Great job and thanks for participating!

Coffeeman
Nice use of the chromatic scale! This is a great example of how to accentuate on certain notes by approaching them with chromatic ascending or descending notes. I like your choice of notes here, it sounds very Dorian. Your lead could benefit from a little extra work on your rhythm. This is nothing that you can’t fix though. I like your use of silence here, it makes al your ideas have more impact on the listener, good job!

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