Mickey Baker's complete method vol 1

[BobD]

So I picked up this book and the first section is to memorize a bunch of chords. Some of the chords are so difficult and when I look them up on chordfinder.com they don't exist in the configuration in the book. Gma7, Gma6 are not in chordfinder the way Baker's book shows. Does anyone have any insight to this?

[jazzalta]

I have the book and his chords are correct. Remember there are many different ways and places on the fretboard to play these chords. Your source probably only shows one or more very basic forms. Baker books are a great source for guitarists wanting to get into jazz. With a little patience and practice these chords can fall under your fingers with ease. Best of luck.

[El Hombre]

I have his first book as well. The first section of his book with the Chords is very useful and is a good introduction into jazz chords. I never did play around with the second section of his book dealing with soloing. Also Mickey Baker put out a second book as well, but I never got into that one. Has anyone else played around with his 2nd book and was it useful?

[mahayana]

I've never seen the second book, but have looked through a new edition of vol.1 which contains tab. I actually spent a couple of years working through the chord pages, diagraming them, learning to use them.

They get easy to play (hard to believe at first) and are arranged to play in groups, so the scale notes ascend or descend. When in doubt about a chord, simply write down each note and compare with the notes from a piano score of the chord.

Guitar chords typically leave out some of notes in extended chords, and there really are lots of ways to play each one. Hang in there, MB gives you most of what you need to comp from standard music or fake books with chord names.

[mahayana]

This is really a book that influenced lots of people. I have considered scanning that first page of chords in here. They belong to everyone, you see the examples in most jazz method books. "Mickey Baker style chords" are everywhere, they're also a good way to learn the fretboard, just by playing them up and down the neck like he says to do.

Bob, you mentioned Gma7, Gma6 (chords 2 and 3 on page 2).

3X443X---------G-F#BD

3X243X---------G-EBD

These are G chords with ma7 or ma6 notes added, i.e GBD with F# added to get Gma7, E added to get Gma6.

Once you learn to grab these, you can play a ma7 or ma6 chord for every note on the low E string, like if you see Ab6 you just grab it on fret 4, Bbma7 on fret 6, Ebma7 and Ebma6 on 11, so on.

All his chords are like that, do you follow?

[El Hombre]

Mickey Baker's books definitely were standard teaching material back in the day for jazz. The first book is much more prevalent than the 2nd. I have seen the second book only once. The first Mickey Baker book is usually in stock at most reputable music store and I have even seen in places like Barnes & Noble and also in Borders Books, if any of you have one of those book store chains near you.

Does anyone know if there were more than 2 books?

[mahayana]

I'm also curious about the author (born in 1925, deceased by now?) and what came of his music career. I'd like to hear "Dark Eyes" and other standards performed by Mickey Baker's combo.

Anyone know?

[mahayana]

I found this biography at VH1:

"Of all the guitarists who helped transform rhythm & blues into rock & roll, Mickey Baker is one of the very most important, ranking almost on the level of


Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. The reason he isn't nearly as well known as those legends is that a great deal of his work wasn't issued under his own name, but as a backing guitarist for many R&B and rock & roll musicians. Baker originally aspired to be a jazz musician, but turned to calypso, mambo, and then R&B, where the most work could be found. In the early and mid-'50s, he did countless sessions for Atlantic, King, RCA, Decca, and OKeh, playing on such classics as the Drifters' "Money Honey" and "Such a Night," Joe Turner's "Shake Rattle & Roll," Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," and Big Maybelle's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On." He also released a few singles under his own name, and made a Latin jazz-tinged solo album, Guitar Mambo. Baker's best work, though, was recorded as half of the duo Mickey & Sylvia. Their hit "Love Is Strange," as well as several other unknown but nearly equally strong tracks, featured Baker's keening, bluesy guitar riffs, which were gutsier and more piercing than most anything else around in the late '50s. Mickey & Sylvia split in the late '50s (though they recorded off and on until the middle of the next decade), and Baker recorded his best solo album, the all-instrumental The Wildest Guitar. In 1961, he took the male spoken part (usually assumed to be Ike Turner) on Ike & Tina Turner's first hit, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine." Shortly afterwards he moved to France, making a few hard-to-find solo records and working with a lot of French pop and rock performers, including Ronnie Bird, the best '60s French rock singer. He's recorded only sporadically since the mid-'60s." ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

So, apparently his jazz recordings from the early '50s are in the "lost" category.

[weelie]

For chord construction, try this for example:
www.jmdl.com/howard/music/guitar_faq.html

It has a list of the needed intervals for chord. Then try to figure out why chords you already know are called what they are. Like Open-E: has an E on both e-strings. Has a fifth (you know the rock boogies have a E-fifth chord: 02xxxx). The fifth chord played by rockbands is sometimes also 022xxx, as twelve frets above the root is the root again. The D string is fretted at one as a major chord needs a major 3rd (a minor needs minor 3rd). etc etc.

There's also a very nice and simple MelBay-book on chord construction (the name escapes me now). I also have the Only Complete, which has a nice card (to carry in your wallet or guitra case) for instant chord composing. www.sjoki.uta.fi/~zzrehi/onlycomplete/index.html

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For basic "jazz" chords, I use this "method":
Two ways of making a 7th chord, based on knowing the roots E and A-string from playing the common barre chords:

C7
x323xx (as opposed to 335353) which look svery similar to the open C7, naturally (lacks the doubled notes on the B & e-strings).

where the A-string fretted to the root, the third is on the D-string, and the flat-7th is on the G string. The rule here is xR3795, where R=root, 3=third&minor3rd, 7=maj7&flat7th&6th, 9=9th&b9th, 5=5th(& 6th for 13th chords).

and
G7
3x34xx
where the G-root is on the E-string, the flat-7th is on the D-string and the thrid is on the G-string. The rule here is Rx735R.

On the C7 you can do a Cmaj7 by lifting 7th a fret higher: x324xx. You can do minor7 by replcaing 3rd by flat-3rd: x313xx. For a 9th chord, just add the 9: x3233, or add the 5th too: x32333 for C9. For 13th, lift the 5th two frets, for 6th which is the 13th (13-7=6)): x32335. And you have the funk right there. Get on the good foot! Before I would skip everything that looks as complicated as CMaj7(b5b9), but now I'd just play x32422. (If my reach it, if they don't I'll leave the root out)

On the G7 it works the same way: 3x33 is the Gm7, 3x44 for Gmaj7, 3x345 for 13th, 3x3435 for 9th and 3x3322 so forth. Knowing the intervals needed these add a lot of chords to your vocabulary... well it did add to mine at least.

OK, this is just my regular ramblings, I'll get off the box now, and let the real players chat. I am just beginner myself.

[mahayana]

Thanks for the links, Weelie, and welcome!

We have a few threads about chords, but not enough. You seem to be on the right track. Learning to play extended chords is one thing; really getting to know where the notes are in them is another.

Then you get into which subs work where, the whole subject of using them effectively.

[weelie]

Well, Thanks for the welcome!

I've been currently working on learning chords that do not have the 5th or root on the big old 6 string, with the Swing and Big Band Guitar (by Charlton Johnson) book and some swing classics from a real book. Also have "Gypsy jazz chord book (By Cosimini)" which I enjoy.

Substitution, yes, learning a bit of that too.

[kiwijohn]

I had the loan of Mickey Baker 2,the second book, for a while(might even still have it in the garage somewhere).I played all the way through the first book and it certainly helped me muchly.The second book,however,is not so rewarding.....a lot of work required for not much result although if you like dissonance a lot you might like it.
If I remember rightly Mickey and Sylvia had a minor hit with "LOve IS Strange"

[houseofshawn]

If you learn now that no matter how much you try, there's going to be a new chord you'll have to voice. I find myself comparing chords and finding relationships within them for only 2 or 3 notes max when playing with the big band.

Chords are endless. it would be more advisable to learn to create a chord on demand, than memorize them all...

[kiwijohn]

I agree,Shawn.Learning the Mickey Baker way sure set me up good.....but it got to more fun figuring out chords for myself....the endless complexity of chord chemistry....there's always new ways to develop your playing

[jazzalta]

I also concur. I learn all kinds of inversions when I do my own arrangements/chord melodys.