Howard Roberts - The Howard Roberts Guitar Book

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HowardRobefts' Guitar Book By Howard Roberts&JamesStewart

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197i, by PlaybacM k u s i cP u b l i s l i i nC g o m p a n yP . o . B o x 4 2 7 8 ,N o r t h H o l l y w o o dC , a l i f o r n i a9 1 6 0 7 All RightsReserved Printedand Publishedin U. S. A. InternationalCopyrightSecured

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FOREWORD Collaborationis a delicateart;few egosare small enough to allow for a compatible, creativerelationship. Howard Roberts a n d J i m S t e w a r t- - w o r k i n g a n d t h i n k i n g a s c l o s e l ya s R i m s k y and Korsakov- - have brought collaborationto a new sophistication. At the sametime they have raisedthe stature of the guitar to its proper level of respect. They accomplishedthis by meansof a simple, direct technique that took full advantageof their 1S-yearrelationshipin a n d o u t o f t h e s t u d i o s : H o w a r d a n d J i m d i s c u s s e tdh e f o r m a t o f t h e b o o k , f l i p p e d o n a t a p e r e c o r d e r ,t h e n a l l o w e ds t r e a mo f to outline the five major topics - - picking, cdmpconsciousness ing, improvising,fingerboardtechniqueand chord solo playing. To illustrate each of those functions, Howard provided e v e r y n o t e o f m u s i cp l u s t h e a c c o m p a n y i n gf i n g e r i n g .A l l t h e s l u r s ,a l l t h e a c c e n t s- - a l l t h e n u a r l c e so f n o t a t i o n- - r e U e c t H o w a r d ' sg u i t a r t i s t r y . I n i t s f u l l e s tm e a s u r et,h i s i s T h e H o w a r d R o b e r t sG u i t a r B o o k . W h a t J i m S t e w a r th a sd o n e i n v o l v e sm o r e t h a n j u s t a d d i n gw o r d s t o m u s i c . H e a n a l y z e dH o w a r d ' st e c h n i q u e a n d i n t e r p r e t e dh i s t h o u g h t sa b o u t t l t e i n s t r u n t e n t .A l l t h e s u b t l e t i e so f t h e t e x t r e t l e c tS t e w a r t ' sg i f t f o r u n d e r s t a n d i n g "artistic a l t e re g o " i s a t h e m a n b e h i n dt h e m u s i c . T l i i s r o l e o f f a m i l i a ro n e t o J i m : h e p r o d u c e ds i m i l a rr e s u l t si n T h c _ W e s M o n t g o m e r yJ a z zG u i t a r M e t l i o d f o r R o b b i n s . o f H o w a r d R o b e r t si s t o r e - c r e a t e T o c a p t u r et h e e s s e n c e t h e v i r t u a lh i s t o r yo f t h e g u i t a r . S t y l i s t i c a l l ay n d a e s t h c t i c a l l y . H o w a r d ' sk n o w l e d g ea n d t e c h n i q u ee n c o m p a stsl t e en t i r c p l e c t r u m p a n t h e o n l f r o m t h e e a r l y a c o u s t i ce x p l o r a t i o n so t ' E t l d i e L a n g ; t h e u n o r t h o d o x f i n g e r i n go f D j a n g oR e i n h u r d t :t h e r m p l i s ;t ' f i e d g e n i u so f C h a r l i eC h r i s t i a n ,t h e c o m p i r r gs t e a c l i r t c o s sf J i r n r n yR a n c ya' n c lJ r l F r e d d i eG r e e n ; t h ei n v e n t i v e n e o F a r l o w ; t o t h a t l i n e a r - c h o r d ga il a n to f t o d a y ,G e o r g eV a n E p s . F r o m 2 0 y e a r so f e x a c t i n gs t u d i oa s s i g n m c n tps l.u s t h e d u e s p a y i n ga p p r e n t i c e s h i tph a t p r e c e d e da, n d t h e c l u b a n d c o l t c e r t g i g st h a t h a v ec o n t i n u e d ,H o w a r d R o b e r t sh a sr e c k o n e dw i t h t y p e o f g u i t a r a n d n r e t e v e r yp o s s i b l et y p e o f e v e r yc o n c e i v a b l e m u s i c a lc h a l l e n g e .I f h e s y m b o l i z e sa l l t h a t i s p a s t i n t h e e v o l u t i o n o f t h e g u i t a r ,h e i s t h e l o g i c a ls p o k e s r n a fno r t h e e x p l o s i v e r o l e st h e g u i t a r w i l l a s s u m ei n t h e f u t u r e . "The guitaris the cuttingedge. A s H o w a r d l i k e st o s a y , V a r i o u si n s t r u m e n t sh a v ee n j o y e dt h e i r d a y a s t h e v a n g u a r do f n e w s o u n d s .N o w i t ' s t h e g u i t a r ,a n d o t h e r sa r e f o l l o w i n gs u i t e l e c t l o n i c a l l y . " L i t t l e w o n d e r H o w a r d ' sm u s i c a le x a m p l e s" g o b e y o n d t h e p a g e . " E a c h i s a c o m p a c t ,h i g h l y c o n c e n t r a t e ds t u d y . T h e r e a r e n o w a s t e dn o t e s ;n o w a s t e dw o r d s . T h e a d v a n c e ds t u d e n t w i l l s o o n r e a l i z et h a t H o w a r d R o b e r t sh a ss u c c e s s f u l lcyo n veyed what he has digestedand coaxed it through the fingerboard. The beginnerstandsto benefit more from one example than from any ten exercisesin a simple rote method. There's a wealth of material condensedin these pages- - the entire plectrum spectrum- - complimentsof the Roberts-Stewart "fret-ernity." Now it's up to you to take your pick. Harvey Siders West CoastEditor down beat masazine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION I

The Fingerboard Five Distinct FingeringPatterns Slidins on Half-Sleps The I-Eft Hand and'rheFinqerboard Fingerboard/Left -Hand preisure TechnicalExercise Etude The GraceNote The Gliss The Hammer-On(One String) The Hammer-On(AdjacentString)

SECTION II

SECTION III

Picking Warm-upExercise Exercisefor Developmentof Up-pick Strokes Exercisefor Developmentof Short Strokes Back-Pickine AdvancedPickinsExercrses Cadenza Improvising WholeTone ScaleLick Run in Fourths Run Built Over a Dominant SeventhChord Lick and Run Over a Dominant SeventhChord WholeTone/DiminishedScaleRuns Minor SecondIntervalLick Updatingan Old MusicalLick Eastern/Semite Sounds TraditionalOld Blues Lightening(JazzStylb of phrasing) B e b o pJ a z zS t v l eB l u e s ContemporarvBlues Expiorationsin the Bi-TonalityConceptof Improvisations

4 + 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 -

l z

I2 1"4 15 76 1 1

18 1,9 20 22 22 23 ZJ

23 24 24 . A

L+

25 26 27 2B 30 JZ

SECTIONIV

Comping Exercisein CreatingGhost Notes Catalogof IdiornatlcCompingColors

33 33 35

SECTION V

Chord Solo Playine The Guitar asa'Mi"niature OrchestralAcc