bungle Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 Can any Jazz players on here tell me what scale the Ren and Stimpy theme is based around? I'm tring to learn it, but I'm too lazy to learn all the solo bits note for note, plus that's not what Jazz improv is about is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Not sure what you mean about "based around"? Are you talking about which scale the chords are derived from, or the solos? Honestly, my ears are pretty terrible, but I think that is quite clearly a blues: I,IV,V, dominant chords. It's chord I a couple of times/bars, then IV, back to I, then V,IV, back to I. Sounds like a 6-bar cycle (half a 12-bar blues), weirdly. The soloing is mainly blues scale and dorian, but with all sorts of chromaticism and other jazzier bits. So actually, it's much more of blues than a jazz track, although there's a lot of jazz flavour of course. Edited May 31, 2013 by scottyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 And actually I think it is the standard 12-bars, just ridiculously fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bungle Posted June 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 I have the chords down, they are indeed a blues progression, just Jazzy versions of the chords, with numbers attached. It's the solo bits I was wondering about, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted June 2, 2013 Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 I cheated and downloaded a tab to check each tone. It's for this version however: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLzJ3tGLWxA So basically just the dominant 13th chord tones plus an occasional b3 and b5, the typical blues notes. If you need it described in terms of scales: mixolydian and just superimposed dorian blues for the other notes. The turnaround at the end of each solo are just really chromatic lines. The version you linked sounds more hip and jazzy but I think it's just greater use of the typical blue notes and a more bebop rhythm in the phrasing than anything scalar. The horn gets a bit more outside: I think superimposed diminished arpeggios or a related scale (half-whole, or some other weird bebop monstrosity), either way just using nasty notes over the V chord to create tension before the turnaround. I've never heard this before, it does sounds pretty fun to play over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bungle Posted June 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 Cheers, the Mixolydian seems to work quite well, if you've never heard this before does that mean you've never seen Ren and Stimpy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyboy Posted June 2, 2013 Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 I've never watched a whole episode, no I had seen some clips on youtube and so forth, but I don't think I really got it With regards to capturing the vibe of the original, it's probably more about recreating the jaunty bebop phrasing than anything else; if you want more of the horn solos vibe, again the jazz approach of ripping through arpeggios rather than scalar blues licks. I had a bash and couldn't really do it justice I sound like BB King trying to be Charlie Christian Still, I can happily use jazzier scales and that doesn't automatically make it sound any more like jazz, just more exotic and dissonant really, without the appropriate phrasing and probably arpeggio approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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