Brent Mason "Alabama Jubilee"

[Valvey]

I just finished this Powertab transcription of Brent Mason playing "Alabama Jubillee" at the Jerry Reed Tribute this year. A non-stop double stop orgy!



If this link dies the file will eventually be available at Countrytabs.com

Free Powertab software download.

[JPW2105]

Excellent, I'll look forward to looking at that

[polishcomedy]

Excellent work, Valvey!! Thanks!

[Kingpin]

Oh yeah!

[GERARD9415]

WOW, great job. More please!!!!

[kiwi_caster]

He does Jerry Reed style so well


Thanks Valvey

[Valvey]

Originally Posted by kiwi_caster

He does Jerry Reed style so well


Thanks Valvey

The first chorus is the same note for note as in the Jerry Reed original. So it goes to show that even the best players can find it worthwhile to sit down and copy a solo exactly.

[blue water girl]

Originally Posted by Valvey

The first chorus is the same note for note as in the Jerry Reed original. So it goes to show that even the best players can find it worthwhile to sit down and copy a solo exactly.

He learned that by repetitively playing it over and over as a kid of around 9 to 11 years old. It is completely committed to his memory as are most of Jerry Reed's songs! Jerry is Brent's idol/hero/mentor/influence and whatever other words you can come up with. He hadn't yet heard George Benson, Jeff Beck, Lenny Breau, Pat Martino or Larry Carlton yet, so he basically focused all of his attention on learning Jerry Reed songs note for note, including the vocals. When he got to high school age he also began emulating the other guitarists I mention above, but Jerry will always hold the most special place for Brent.

[Budda]

Thanks!

I've been wanting to learn this Tune, and having a version with both JR's AND Brent's licks on there...........

Woo-Hoo!

[jjh37854]

anyway you could do a text or html export of the tab for those of us on a mac?

[jjh37854]

my bad, found a ptb viewer for mac

[mody]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing this.

[BeeBender]

Originally Posted by blue water girl

He learned that by repetitively playing it over and over as a kid of around 9 to 11 years old. It is completely committed to his memory as are most of Jerry Reed's songs! Jerry is Brent's idol/hero/mentor/influence and whatever other words you can come up with. He hadn't yet heard George Benson, Jeff Beck, Lenny Breau, Pat Martino or Larry Carlton yet, so he basically focused all of his attention on learning Jerry Reed songs note for note, including the vocals. When he got to high school age he also began emulating the other guitarists I mention above, but Jerry will always hold the most special place for Brent.

Yeah Jerry was great like the others, but Lenny Breau made us all students of the instrument. The harmonic sophistication of his solos (virtuosity aside) renders them impossible for even the most gifted transcriber. Like Brent whom I admire, all those other players you've mentioned have been quoted in agreement. As long as I've been playing (over 40 years yikes!) I have "graduated" from one player's influence to another's. But on this path there's only a few at the summit . Chet said it best when he said to Tommy Emmanuel that "...Lenny was like a comet; they only come through here once in a lifetime...". Lenny was in a class all his own. I think its very important for younger guitarists to be informed by all these wonderful players but especially Lenny. There is no end to what we can learn from his musical innovations and artistic integrity.

[bigm27]

The harmonic sophistication of his solos (virtuosity aside) renders them impossible for even the most gifted transcriber.

He def was one of a kind, but his songs can be figured out!

[BeeBender]

Not sure what is meant by "his songs". If you mean the chord structure, melody and some sample licks, you don't even need to bother figuring them out. Many of the songs he based his improvisations on are standards readily available in quality Jazz Fake books. Some of his signature licks have appeared in Guitar Player and other publications. There is also a DVD out from a Master Class he taught at the University of Southern California (available through Randy Bachman's website). In the DVD, he demonstrates in delightful detail his technique of playing arpeggios with artificial harmonics (a technique that I have yet to see notated in a fully explained manner - its much more efficient to have someone show a student how its done). A deeper understanding of what Lenny referred to as the "philosophy behind the notes" can be obtained through a few books that I know of. They're available at a modest price in a Mel Bay book "Fingerstyle Jazz" by Lenny Breau and John Knowles or one recently published by Stephen D. Anderson: "Visions: A Personal Tribute to Jazz Guitarist Lenny Breau". In the latter book, there's a description of one of the techniques used by Lenny called "3 against 2" i.e. 2 quarter notes divided into a triplet. He commonly used odd rythmic displacements when comping chords behind his solo lines. This would be where his command of both Travis picking and Flamenco was used to create the pianistic sound he had. Figuring that out is one thing; playing it fluidly is another - years of dedication and practice in addition to other worldly talent is what applies here. What is virtually impossible to capture through transcription is the touch he had where certain notes in the chord voicing were subtly sustained or emphasized so as to create the illusion of two, sometimes three distinct voices. Then again, Steve Vai got his gig with Frank Zappa by transcribing the insanely complex tune "The Black Page" for him so maybe he could do it. I doubt that he has the time though I've heard he's a busy guy. But if you can, hey! good on you buddy!

[Paulie13]

The tabs no longer there....

[Rob Moody]

Tab is there for me, really great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[beez]

I was at CAAS this year, and sat through several hours of the Reed tribute....but I was so tired, I went back to my room around 10:30 that night, and missed Brent played.

When I was heading back to my room, I did run into Tommy Emmanuel and Mark Casstevens jamming in the hall way. I had my video camera with me, and got to tape a little bit of them jamming on "The Claw". Fun to see those guys playing for kicks with only a handful of people standing around.

thanks,
George

[Ormond]

I did find a mac app that would open it.TabView. I think it is a demo before pay requirement.
BTW, that is very nicely done and very cleanly done. You have a lot of hours in that. I really appreciate the generosity of people who have good enough ears to do transcription and then share them. I could not figure these things out on my own.
Speaking of tabs and acoustic guitars, when I get a camera set up I will post myself playing "Hot Wired" on a Martin D-28. With a few modifications for the intense bends the song actually translates pretty well because it does not go above the 15th fret.

[axeornot]

Originally Posted by BeeBender

Not sure what is meant by "his songs". If you mean the chord structure, melody and some sample licks, you don't even need to bother figuring them out. Many of the songs he based his improvisations on are standards readily available in quality Jazz Fake books. Some of his signature licks have appeared in Guitar Player and other publications. There is also a DVD out from a Master Class he taught at the University of Southern California (available through Randy Bachman's website). In the DVD, he demonstrates in delightful detail his technique of playing arpeggios with artificial harmonics (a technique that I have yet to see notated in a fully explained manner - its much more efficient to have someone show a student how its done). A deeper understanding of what Lenny referred to as the "philosophy behind the notes" can be obtained through a few books that I know of. They're available at a modest price in a Mel Bay book "Fingerstyle Jazz" by Lenny Breau and John Knowles or one recently published by Stephen D. Anderson: "Visions: A Personal Tribute to Jazz Guitarist Lenny Breau". In the latter book, there's a description of one of the techniques used by Lenny called "3 against 2" i.e. 2 quarter notes divided into a triplet. He commonly used odd rythmic displacements when comping chords behind his solo lines. This would be where his command of both Travis picking and Flamenco was used to create the pianistic sound he had. Figuring that out is one thing; playing it fluidly is another - years of dedication and practice in addition to other worldly talent is what applies here. What is virtually impossible to capture through transcription is the touch he had where certain notes in the chord voicing were subtly sustained or emphasized so as to create the illusion of two, sometimes three distinct voices. Then again, Steve Vai got his gig with Frank Zappa by transcribing the insanely complex tune "The Black Page" for him so maybe he could do it. I doubt that he has the time though I've heard he's a busy guy. But if you can, hey! good on you buddy!

I really enjoyed your post here....but I think this is all over some people's head. You clearly know your stuff...it's refreshing. Thanks for sharing.