note for note; or, Setzer is a monster

i never learn stuff note for note anymore-just lazy for the most part, and we tend to genre-bend stuff, so most of what we play ends up sounding more like us than the original artist, BUT...

we've been kicking around the idea of doing "stray cat strut" for a couple of years, and once i started working on it i realized i could offer absolutely nothing to that song that wasn't already there.

so, i ended up learning every lick true to the original recording, checking out live versions for variations (suprisingly few...)and all in all spent more time playing guitar in the last week than i have all year.

it's been fun, and now i'm starting to delve into theory more than i have since i was in college, trying to figure out why what i just learned by rote sounds so fucking cool, and how to apply it to my improvisation.

no real point here, no question, just thought i'd share a step on the journey.

Truely inspirational, learning new licks, or just a nuance of different phrasing etc. adds new tools to the shed. I'm sure some part of this will show up somewhere later when soloing in a different jam.
New toys (licks) keeps the passion going. It's a worthwhile journey.
BW

Bone, the 2nd half of the solo - the ascending lick where he works his way up the diminished scale by hammering on from nowhere, then slides up, then picks the next note...well, I've been playing that song for years and years - and even though I've seen the tab, I just can't get that part right. You are right - Setzer is a monster. I've rarely seen such a mixture of chops, taste, tone, musical/theory knowledge, and pure gonzo white-knuckled anarchy in one player before - perhaps Danny Gatton - but Brian's in my top 10, if not my top 5.

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Originally Posted by bonefish

it's been fun, and now i'm starting to delve into theory more than i have since i was in college, trying to figure out why what i just learned by rote sounds so fucking cool, and how to apply it to my improvisation.

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Studying it may help you duplicate it and theory can help you make something similar of your, but it sounds cool to you because it sounds cool to you.

I don't know who originally said this, but:
"A creative solution always seems to be one that, when seen, appears obvious, but completely unexpected. It does not require explanation. Everything fits. There are no holes, no rough edges, it feels complete. You understand it more from an intuitive than from a logical thought process."

Have any of you seen Setzer perform live? Oh my! And to think I used to make fun of the 'Cats back in the days. It just goes to show how little I knew about the art of guitar playing back then. We saw him and his big band (from the front row) the first year they came out...we're talking quite a few years ago....at a very small venue in Louisville. We walked out of there absolutely blown away. The precision of the chords he played all up and down the neck..some I KNOW he was making up...was like nothing I'd seen before. IMO, he has few peers in that style of playing. Who'd have thunk it ?

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Originally Posted by MikeP

And to think I used to make fun of the 'Cats back in the days.

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The 'Cats were one of the only cool guitar bands to make it onto mass market radio in the early 80's.

Setzer is one of the last few unsung heroes of today's guitar playing. (everything else has been screwed by MTV) Everything I've heard from him is utterly enjoyable... But I know I can never play like him... He's just everywhere, covering every base. Awesome player!

Yes, Setzer is a monster player.

I grabbed Rockabilly Riot last year on a whim and...

...its still in heavy rotation (well, on my iPod anyway...)

Yep!
Seen him three times but i was there for Bernie Dresel, the drummer. Man, right there's a monster drummer. They had that mark Winchester on doghouse back then and HE was a monster too!

Just imagine, three monster players all at the same time. How can you not be blown away.
Always liked brian and always will. Just plain great music!

It is a tough song and even if you play half of it you have to be pretty darn good

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Originally Posted by JM3

It is a tough song and even if you play half of it you have to be pretty darn good

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Whenever I'm in a store, trying out a new guitar, I get the most smiles and nods from other patrons when I play SCS. That is one amazing guitar piece. Great hooks, instantly recognizable - and the diminished runs really dress it up quite a bit. Still wish I could really nail the solo. Perhaps if I just bought a big, orange Gretsch and a piggyback '63 bassman and a Roland Space Echo, THEN I could sound like Setzer. :odie:

I don't play too many solos - and even fewer note for note, but Stray Cat Strut is one that I can nail fairly well. Now, I don't NAIL it like Setzer does, but I can get a pretty good approximation. I had a guitar teacher deconstruct it once for me...lots of diminished modal stuff in there for sure.

RJ - that run you're talking about...I can hit the notes at the right time and make it sound OK, but there's just that thing Setzer does in that part that I cannot figure out...kinda like echoey, ghost noted, syncopated kind of thing - he's raking the strings maybe??

But onstage in front of a bunch of drunks, I can pull it off passably! :salud:

I wish I had more Setzer style stuff in my arsenal but man, I'm still working on Jimmie Vaughan after all these years.

DD

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Originally Posted by Rickenjangle

Perhaps if I just bought a big, orange Gretsch and a piggyback '63 bassman and a Roland Space Echo, THEN I could sound like Setzer. :odie:

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That's just what the marketing men would like you to believe!!

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Originally Posted by dirtdog

RJ - that run you're talking about...I can hit the notes at the right time and make it sound OK, but there's just that thing Setzer does in that part that I cannot figure out...kinda like echoey, ghost noted, syncopated kind of thing.

But onstage in front of a bunch of drunks, I can pull it off passably! :salud:

I wish I had more Setzer style stuff in my arsenal but man, I'm still working on Jimmie Vaughan after all these years.

DD

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Yup. It's the ghost notes that I can't seem to get. Not that I spend a lot of time trying, anymore. I just figured out something close and go with that. The bar patrons are not tough critics, for the most part.

Jimmie Vaughan - now there's a master of tone, touch, and taste that I haven't even begun to digest. Have you ever heard Jimmie's Dengue Woman, from the Dusk Til Dawn soundtrack? Wow - the notes aren't hard, but the phrasing is amazing, and his tone - well, it's the biggest, most lard-a$$ed tone I've ever heard from Jimmie.

That augmented run is a T-Bone Walker lick over the V...

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Originally Posted by Rickenjangle

Jimmie Vaughan - now there's a master of tone, touch, and taste that I haven't even begun to digest. Have you ever heard Jimmie's Dengue Woman, from the Dusk Til Dawn soundtrack? Wow - the notes aren't hard, but the phrasing is amazing, and his tone - well, it's the biggest, most lard-a$$ed tone I've ever heard from Jimmie.

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Tone aside, the man IS all about the phrase. I just can't do what he does with the fingers on his right hand.

DD

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Originally Posted by MikeP

Have any of you seen Setzer perform live? Oh my! And to think I used to make fun of the 'Cats back in the days.

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It was hard not to laugh back then. We were young and the Stray Cats come along with the overblown 50s style...

Then, one day, you're watching the video and it hits you. That guy is great.

I didn't play guitar back then.