From groovecake@yahoo.com Mon Aug 02 06:59:44 2004
Subject:Re: E vs Eb WAS is Reese Wynans

If you play any amount of jazz, you will need to get
used to Eb pretty quickly.

--- g_e_marshall wrote:

> I must admit, Eb is not my srongest suit, but when
> you learn to play
> jazz, blues, rock keyboards, you are admonished to
> learn all scales,
> changes, riffs in "all keys" (which we all go -
> Yeah, OK - and
> proceed to specialize in C, E, A, G!) I would think
> a pro player,
> especially one who plays with a an Eb freak (or alto
> saxes for that
> matter) would have internalized all his riffs into
> Eb and it would
> seem weird that he would wuss out and complicate
> matters by
> transposing his synths :-)
>
> That said, I am working on "Shuck it Up" by MMW on
> the Its a Jungle
> in Here CD - and it is Eb even though there are no
> horns anywhere
> near this track. I don't know what that madman
> Medeski was thinking,
> the signiture head riff is a mf to finger in Eb. Its
> tempting to
> transpose the ole' clone down to finger it in E, but
> I am forcing
> myself not to, and I think it can only help me. Eb
> can easily suggest
> pentatonic riffs using mostly black keys.
>
> That is an incredible song, and a great album I
> recommend as an intro
> to MMW with a decent amount of hammond, and not to
> far out.
>
> Greg
>
> --- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, Dan S
> wrote:
> > It's definitely not something most of us would do,
> but I would
> think - like
> > playing left hand parts independently - over time
> it might become
> easier to
> > do. There are times we can play the first w/our
> left hand and do a
> scale in
> > a different key. Not the same, of course, but
> given we get the
> effect we're
> > looking for, anything's possible to master.
> >
> > Pure speculation, but perhaps Reese was not even
> aware of the
> power/cycle
> > mod box and that's why he played the B3 "as is".
> >
> > > It's just plain strange no matter how you look
> at it. Say
> > > Stevie calls for blues shuffle in B...you know
> he just says
> > > "In B boys!", not "We gonna do this one in B,
> but since we're
> > > tuned down a half step, it's really Bflat, but
> keep yo
> > > fingers in the B positions!" Nope...
> > > But here's where it REALLY gets strange....
> > >
> > > Pick any song from In Step. The arrangements
> got a little
> > > more colorful on that record. So if you take
> say
> > > "Crossfire", the bass riff is a pentatonic E
> move. The
> > > guitar and Hammond double each other on the
> hook, in Emaj.
> > > The "horns" (Reese playing his M1) answer that
> riff with
> > > chord stabs on A and E. Now picture him playing
> this live.
> > > His left hand is playing in E (because his
> non-Hammonds are
> > > already tuned down 1/2 a step) and his right
> hand is playing
> > > in Eflat to double Stevie, and then he grabs the
> M1 (already
> > > tuned down a half step) with this right hand in
> between those
> > > doubled guitar figures to play A and E...then
> it's back to
> > > playing Eflat on the Hammond.
> > >
> > > I'm sure the reason he kept the Hammond at
> 60cycles (to keep
> > > it tuned) was that it probably sounded a little
> strange with
> > > the tuning drifting, or maybe he was worried the
> slower motor
> > > speeds would affect the life of the Hammond
> parts (I don't
> > > know that this is true, it's just an
> assumption). But for
> > > me, I don't have that kind of left brain/right
> brain
> > > independence to play 2 different keyboards in
> different keys,
> > > a 1/2 step away from each other. (I doubt it's
> even a
> > > left-right brain thing, but WHATEVER it is, I
> sure don't have it!)
> > >
> > > Truly peculiar!
> > > T
> > >
> > > Dan S wrote:
> > > I remember hearing that, maybe read the same
> article. I
> > > suspect he did that
> > > so if SRV was in the key of.. whatever, he would
> *play* in that
> key on
> > > everything BUT the B3 and then transpose,
> keeping it "in" the key
> SRV
> > > called.
> > >
> > > > ACTUALLY......
> > > >
> > > > Reese was a total freak: he used the transpose
> functions on
> > > > his non Hammond keyboards to drop things a
> half-step, but
> > > > played his Hammond "as is." So to
> demonstrate, if Stevie was
> > > > playing "Superstition" in E (fingerings that
> is...his guitar
> > > > was tuned down a half step, so his fingers
> were in E but his
> > > > guitar was in Eflat), Reese was playing his
> non Hammond
> > > > keyboards in E (his Juno 106 and Korg M1 and
> Roland RD1000
> > > > dropped down to Eflat) but played his Hammond
> in Eflat.
> > > >
> > > > Why he would intentionally play one keyboard
> in Eflat and the
> > > > rest in E is totally beyond me, but there you
> go. (I got this
> > > > info from a Reese interview in Keyboard
> magazine a while back.)
> > > >
> > > > T
> > > >
> > > > Dan S wrote:
> > > > SRV played heavier gauge strings and dropped
> down a half
> > > step. So not
> > > > *everything* was in Eb, but if he was in E,
> keys (Hammond)
> > > > would be in Eb.
> > >
> > > To unsubscribe, send email to: CloneWheel-
> unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > >
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