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| Song Background | |
| The Song Days Of Wine and Roses is from the 1962 film of the same name. The music was written by Henry Mancini with lyrics penned by Johnny Mercer. Andy Williams sang the version used for the titles of the Film. Many other artists have performed it over the years and it is well established as part of the jazz repetoire. Some of my favourite versions are listed below. | |
| Guitar Chord Progression Analysis | |
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Distinctively the I chord in the progression moves to the bVII chord and then the VI7 chord. Mostly through the rest of the progression we have II-V turnarounds. As with many songs of this genre, the key to playing the progressions well is having the right chord shapes under your fingers to pull out when you need to. When played in a fingerpicking style, I think this song and chord progression lends itself well to playing a walking bass line along with the chords. This technique can be quite tricky if new to you. If you would like to learn how to do this why not visit my FREE Beyond TABS guitar course where I have guitar lessons that go into chord shapes and moving lines in detail. Further Reading: Go to my Days of Wine and Roses and adding a bass line blog where i look at how we can go about creating different styles of guitar chord progression arrangements Herb Ellis Jazz Guitarist – Days of Wine and Roses blog where you’ll find a great rendition of the sing and a short biography on this great guitarist |
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| Suggested Listening | |
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Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass Album -Easy Living You can here the walking bass line movement that I talk of in Joe Pass’s playing. Joe was a master of this style |
Frank Sanatra Album – Days of Wine and Roses Listen to Frank Sanatra’s phrasing of the melody. Jazz musicians for decades have learned loads from Frank Sanatra’s phrasing. It’s not just the notes you play but how you phrase them |
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Earl Klugh Album – The Earl Klugh Trio Volume 1 Very subtle rendition by Earl Klugh on nylon strung guitar….great fingerpicking technique |
Wes Montgomery Album – Pretty Blue Lovely sustained jazz sound, full chords, mellow, brilliant
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Which artist’s version of Days of Wine and Roses would you recommend? Tell me about it and I can feature it here |