POST 588 : MUSIC POCKET NOTEBOOKS UPDATE

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I had discovered for the first time pocket music notebooks (made by Moleskine). I have since had a lot of pleasure filling them with useful straightforward lead-sheets of tunes played by traditional jazz bands - particularly those that are the more difficult to remember, or that have verses worth hearing but rarely played.

I have made such progress that I have filled three books, with a total of over 400 tunes so far. Of course, I also keep and regularly update an Index, so that I can find any tune in a moment.

Although they truly are pocketable, I like their robustness, the amount of space they give on and between staves (just right for me) and the way the books stay open at the desired pages when playing an instrument.

Moleskine Pocket Music Books

I intend to start a fourth soon. However, I have noticed (as at late-February 2018) that Moleskine seem no longer to be producing the notebooks for music in pocket size. So I may have to buy a plain pocket notebook and draw the staves myself. That should work just as well.

Post 421: 'LIKE' A CHALLENGE? - COMPLETE WITH ANSWERS

I invited you to come up with tunes from the traditional jazz repertoire that include the word 'like' (or 'likes') in the title.

Here's a list of all that were sent in - some by several people. (I must admit there are a few titles I had never heard of.) Thanks to the many readers who contributed. Robert Duis and Marinus-Jan van Langevelde were specially prolific.

Ain't Nobody Got The Blues Like Me
All I Need is Just a Girl Like You
Almost Like Being in Love
A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
As You Like It
Exactly Like You
He Likes It Slow
How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
How Could You Do a Thing Like That?
I Hate a Man Like You
I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music
I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones
I Like New Orleans
I Like to Go Back in the Evening
I Wanna Be Like You
I Want A Girl, Just Like the Girl Who Married Dear Old Dad
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
It Looks Like a Big Time Tonight
It Looks Like Rain in Cherry Blossom Lane
It's Tight Like That
Just Like The Ivy
Like Someone in Love
Moments Like This
Seems Like Old Times
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Sweet Like This
There Ain't No Land Like Dixieland
Tight Like This
Would You Like To Take a Walk?

Post 156: 'SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES' - A LOVELY SONG BY CARMEN LOMBARDO

Browsing jazz bands on YouTube, I came across something specially delightful: Loose Marbles playing Seems Like Old Times.

If you don't know the tune - and whether you play in a band or not - may I recommend it to you?

The great cornet-player Shaye Cohn (though barely visible in the video) was this time playing piano, with Barnabus Jones on trombone. Michael Magro was on clarinet and Ben Polcer on trumpet.

I did not previously know this tune. It is relaxed, very melodic, easy to pick up and a good one on which to improvise. To watch the video: CLICK HERE.

I found that the tune was written by Carmen Lombardo in 1945.

I also found from other performances by singers on YouTube that it has touching words - about a couple who have been in love for many years and whose love is just as strong as ever.

So, all in all, a great song and one I am very pleased to have come across.

I spent time on my keyboard, trying to play along with the video. I soon noticed that - in terms of chord progression - it comes in the 'Salty Dog' category. That is to say it begins with four bars based on the chord of the sixth note of the scale and these are followed by four bars based on the chord of the second note of the scale.

There is no middle eight: it has one of those 16 + 16 structures, easy to memorise.

Finally, as I usually do, I wrote up my attempt at Seems Like Old Times in my mini filofax, so that I can have this as a future aide-mémoire. Although Loose Marbles was playing it in the Key of F, I put it in G as that is more convenient to me as a Bb cornet player.

Post 92: THE SALTY DOG CHORD PROGRESSION

Below, with much gratitude to Lasse Collin and his wonderful website, is the tune Salty Dog. You will note that Lasse gives the chords (concert) at the top. The key is Bb but the first chord is G7, leading to C7, then F7, and so to Bb, before the cycle begins again. This sequence (VI7-II7-V7-I) is known as The Salty Dog Chord Progression and it is used in many tunes. It begins on the Chord of the VI and then goes through the Circle of Fifths.

In the lower part of his Chart, Lasse has transposed the tune into the key of C (for Bb instruments), so this time it begins on A7 and progresses through D7, etc.

Take another example. If you're in the key of F and the chord for the first full bar of the tune is D7, it's likely you are playing a song that begins with The Salty Dog Chord Progression. It appears quite frequently in traditional jazz. So it is helpful to become familiar with it, especially as this will help you with improvising.

Examples of our tunes in which The Salty Dog Chord Progression is used:

A Good Man Is Hard To Find
Alabamy Bound
All I Want is a Spoonful
Any Time
At The Jazz Band Ball [main strain]
Balling The Jack
Buck Fever Rag
Cushion Foot Stomp [final theme]
Friends and Neighbours
Good Time Flat Blues (also known as Farewell to Storyville) [chorus]
Jazz Me Blues [main strain]
Lonesome Drag
Louis-i-a-ni-a
Put and Take Blues
Rose of the Rio Grande
Salty Dog
Seems Like Old Times
Shine On Harvest Moon
Since My Best Girl Turned Me Down
Sweet Georgia Brown
Tailgate Ramble
Take a Ferryboat Down to New Orleans
There’ll Be Some Changes Made
Up A Lazy River
You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
You've Got The Right Key But The Wrong Keyhole

I have received this e-mail from James Sterling in Florida. James is a fan of bluegrass as well as traditional jazz:

Ivan,
I was catching up on your blog tonight and saw your post on 'Salty Dog' and thought I would forward you the version I grew up with. This is a clip from the Flatt and Scruggs television show recorded in the 1960s. It was a ritual in our home to watch Flatt and Scruggs every Saturday night at 6pm. Lester Flatt singing lead and playing rhythm guitar, Earl Scruggs on five-string banjo (the best there ever was and the best there ever will be), Buck Graves (also known as 'Uncle Josh') on dobro, Paul Warren on fiddle, Curly Seckler harmony and mandolin (the only living member of the original band at 94), and 'Cousin Jake' Tullock on bass:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

Thanks, James. I enjoyed that. And, by the way, those essential repeated four chords keep coming through loud and clear.