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Learn a chord melody inspired by some of the jazz greats from the 1950's.. Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel and Jim Hall etc.

Some beautiful, dense chord voicings in this one and a nice slow tempo 👌🏻

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Moonlight in Vermont - Jazz Chord Melody Guitar Lesson. Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel & Jim Hall style

Access all lesson materials by becoming a Patreon at the link below for just a small monthly cost!.. https://www.patreon.com/AlexFarranGuitar If Patreon isn’t your bag, you can purchase the materials for this lesson alone, directly at the link below; https://smogfalls.gumroad.com/l/ytcbi Book in for a private Zoom lesson!.. just choose a slot at the link below; https://tidycal.com/alexfarranguitar/guitarlesson A thorough breakdown and lesson on my chord melody arrangement of this classic Charles Mingus tune.. a lot of guitar players will know this via the Jeff Beck version, (which is also fantastic), but this one is based on the original Mingus recording from the 1959 "Mingus Ah Um" record. This song also goes by the name "Theme For Lester Young".. this is a tribute to the great Pork pie hat wearing saxophone player who epitomised the swing era, and kick-started the bebop age! Full of beautifully rich and interesting chord changes that intertwine in a seemingly effortless way, all while an incredibly simple, but effective blues scale based melody sits on top. Magic! 👌🏻 Buckle in for a lesson on chord voicings, octaves, technique and tone! -------------------------------------------- 🎥 Reference Videos; 🎥 Triads and three note voicings; https://youtu.be/fvvIc93f-EU?si=X0REa9pcLZ_6oqZC Beautiful jazz chords (including the Barry Harris scale); https://youtu.be/e7ojDU1pNSI?si=2glkvrPoBjyT5Pho My Jazz chords survival guide; https://youtu.be/YuGjk8Hqpnw ---------------------------------------- Gear used in this video; 1953 Gibson es125 Emprize Falcon amp Thomastik Flatwound 12 Gauge strings Bluechip STP45 plectrum Universal Audio OX - amp top box Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Logic Pro Universal Audio plugins Sony ZVE-10 camera Neewer Desktop Tripod Final Cut Pro Thanks for watching! Alex Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfarranguitar/ Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alexfarran #guitar #guitarlesson #guitarist #guitarsolo #chordmelody #jazzguitar #jazz #jazzlesson #vintageguitar #vintagemusic #guitartutorial #guitarteacher #leadguitar #rhythmguitar #chetbaker #ellafitzgerald #tradjazz #jazzstandard #chords #motivation #motivational #inspiration #instrumental #charlesmingus #goodbyeporkpiehat #jeffbeck #1950s #joepass #barneykessel #jimhall #wesmontgomery #octave #lesson #teacher #bebop #lesteryoung

Comments

Johan

Beautiful song. A lot to dig into here. Thanks Alex.

Guy Roberts

Hey, This was our Zoom Lesson! Gotta finish this and set up another one. Been sidetracked by a bunch of your other video lessons, all of which are great.

Alex Farran Guitar

Ah yes I remember that! You were doing great with it!.. just gotta circle back and complete it now like you say 👌🏻

JonB

Just really nice. Some challenging voicings especially with that thumb over the neck. Ahh the time spent with classical guitar technique is now a bit questionable smh ;-)

Ron Bogdanoff

Right up my alley! Will be digging into this. You got the tone working beautiful using the TI swing flat wounds. I can't get a bass sound I like out of them myself (on a Heritage Golden Eagle with a single built in humbucker) I use the TI bebop round wound 13's and put up with the scratchiness.

Alex Farran Guitar

Glad you liked the arrangement Jon! Don’t feel that you HAVE to use the thumb, just find a work-around, ie: the finger tip mini-barre 👌🏻

Alex Farran Guitar

Thank you Ron! Yes I do find that flatwounds are so guitar specific. I really don’t like these strings on my es125.. the bass is muddy and lacking shape, but they match this es175 so well!

Marinho Del Santo

Introvertly beautiful. This one demands a deep dive into jazz theory and concepts, a real challenge, for me at least... Thank you for the beautiful "reading" of the chords and their chemistry together.

Wieger Sietsma

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Thank you Alex.

MarkF

Sublime thanks so much this is a perfect lesson Alex!!

Ron Culbertson

I like these lessons coming on Saturday. Such a nice break to dig into such a great song. This was Willie Nelson‘s favorite song. He said it was proof. You didn’t have to rhyme anything to make a great song. Played it all my life, but she’s still bring a new perspective. Great substitutions. Thanks for sharing.

Ron Culbertson

Alex as the last cord on the word in just before Vermont, I like to use the, open E in the base open DG Sharp with the first finger and then the D in the G on the two top strings. A great tension cord before coming back to the E flat. There I was able to share something with you ha ha ha.

Michael Sosebee

What a great treatment of Johnny Smith's timeless classic, "Moonlight in Vermont". Smith also composed "Walk Don't Run" which launched the Ventures. I am having tough time with the B flat 13 flat 9. Argh! Another great lesson!

Alex Farran Guitar

Thank you buddy, really glad you enjoyed it and that you dig Johnny Smith too! Haha yeah that’s a tricky chord shape to get under the fingers for sure! 😅

Alex Farran Guitar

Thank you my friend, I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! It’ll be worth the hard work for sure. Chords like these are so satisfying once you get them into your muscle memory. 👌🏻

Alex Farran Guitar

That’s interesting Ron!.. I didn’t know it was Willie’s favourite song! Super cool! 👌🏻😎

Alex Farran Guitar

I bet that sounds great! I’ll give it a go next time. Always love a good Dominant 7#9 chord! 🔥👌🏻

Dan T

Great lesson Alex!

Jan Geerts

Wonderful rendition and lesson, thanks

Rob Bright

Great lesson. Love it 👍