Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi, I'm looking at this video:

Can someone tell me if this is 8 blues?
They way I transcribed it, it makes sense until the sax solo, and then I second guess that can't be 8 bar blues. I can add what I have written on on paper,into this thread, however, it never formats out correctly lin this forum??? I could take a picture with my phone and paste it, but I don't know if that's possible either???

Thanks for any help with this!

I don't see a good way to share files on this platform. You can share small files over on the Discord server that was set-up for the sight-reading study group. I think the only other way would be for you to either post it to a file sharing service like DropBox or Google Drive and setup a public link.

I spent a couple of hours with the song trying to map it out over on Soundslice and it seems to be one of those cool hybrids of blues and gospel and soul and it fits neatly in 8 bar sections. I tried to make this a public link, so hopefully you can see it.

Someone with a lot more savvy (and better ears) and more literate in the music history of different forms would have to explain what is really going on. There are a lot of familiar patterns and cadences, but not quite "standard issue" changes.

I'll be curious to see what you came up with. Here's my initial attempt: https://www.soundslice.com/slices/Bcc4c/

This is a really good lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i+got+a+woman+ray+charles+guitar+lesson

The 4 note chords are on the 1st 4 strings.
The A6 and A7, is root on 4th string, the E7 is root on 2nd string,
and the D7 is 1st inversion, A form.

This is what I have. I know the solo chords are not correct, but they work.

| A6 | E7 | A6 D7 | A6 A7 |
| D7 | D7 | E7 | E7 |
| A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 |
| A6 | E7 | A6 D7| A6 E7 | 2X

Sax Solo:
| A6 | A6 | A6 | E7 |
| A6 | D7 | A6 E7 | A6 |

| A6 | Bb6 A6 | 8x

Repeat first 4 lines and fade out

Ah, is there any chance that Tomo might comment on the sax solo chord changes? (before this thread is pushed out-of-date by newer posts;-))

To me, the solo sounds similar to "Yakity Sax", so I wonder if the progression under these 8 bars is similar? I think I hear the minor IV in there, or maybe a chord that can substitute for it, in order to get the descending chromatic line. But I also think that it is so far in the background that it probably doesn't matter. The solo is strong enough with those wailing bends, so the comping just has to resolve using the I IV I V I that you have there.

How about this:

Sax Solo:
| A6 | A6 | A6 | E7 |
| A A7 |D DMin | A6 E7 | A6 |

That's how I hear it. I think that's called a descending line cliché... and kind of a standard turnaround technique. It might be valuable to see if there is another recording by another artist and see how someone else implemented it-- and maybe it's more audible, too.

My original chord choice was E7b9, and that may be a good enough sub, but I think the Dmin would be more "traditional"; the guy in the video lesson used one of Tomo's favorite F13 voicings, although I don't see how it makes "roman numeral sense" in this progression in the key of A.

I think a "3 Levels of Turnarounds", deep-dive lesson from Tomo would be a great addition to the Foundation series. There are slight variations in turnarounds based on whether it is jazz, rhythm changes, 12 bar blues, 8 bar blues, or jazz blues.

Turnarounds are a practical example of voice-leading, which could lead into lessons on how to choose triad inversions and chord subs to navigate through a progression and spice it up--and not just the ending. Maybe a little advanced for Foundation series, but an important topic to cover somewhere, maybe in "3 Levels" type of fashion, I think.

Thanks Brad for taking the time to comment on this!

I used your Soundslice link above, and I looped the sax solo, and then slowed it down. For what's it worth, Tomo taught that "descending line cliché" in his "Freddie King Leon Russell 8 Bar R&B Gospel Blues Style" youTube lesson.

Thanks!

I get a LOT of mileage out of that "Freddie King Leon Russell 8 Bar R&B Gospel Blues Style" YouTube lesson!

In fact, it would be nice to merge some of the Youtube lessons into Guitar Wisdom, or at least provide a "supplemental" index page with some of the Youtube content.

Plus, some of the jams, like the Youtube video released today of the "just the two of us" jam are really good companions to the GW lesson videos on the same song. There is a lot of contents to sift through.

Of course it's the old I.T. guy in me who wishes to put it all in a giant spreadsheet , but that's probably not a good way to teach... but it makes for a nice library index.

Maybe in Guitar Wisdom 3.0!