Chunks Library?

Playing Technique
#1

I’m a big believer in “chunking” to develop your licks. There is even a great book called “Cellular Approach” that claims to break down jazz solos into “cells” (chunks). The only problem with the book is that it isn’t aware of in any way pick slanting or picking strategies. Also, while the author breaks down the “cells” into note patterns, eg. “3-b9-1-b7” he isn’t consistent with his fingerings. That makes it hard to play these things at speed.

So that got me wondering if there isn’t a Chunking library anyone has put together. Four, five or six note chunks that are fully “cracking the code” ready? Things you could practice and learn at speed to incorporate into your own solo’s?

Yes, yes. I know I can develop chunks myself by transcribing solos. And I know that doing so would develop my ear, etc. But I just think it would be awesome not to have to reinvent the wheel if the resource is out there.

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#2

I think its a great idea,
Yes you can find chunks here but the source material is so vast it can be hard to remember where the chunk was.
I need to edit my bookmarks because Im like a hoarder and again the list gets too long.

What would be really nice is a simple list of links or like a site map.

I find it hard remembering what section I was in and what vid it was.

Not complaining , the site is well thought out and overall incredible.

I just have troubles navigating

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#3

I like these ideas! Currently our “Interviews” section is the biggest collection of great musical examples we have:

Lots more in the Pickslanting Primer and Seminars as well but the interviews is larger selection / more variety.

For each specific interview or seminar we have a “clips index” page listing all the ones for that thing. And if you have a specific one in mind you can use the general site search or save to “bookmarks”.

But yeah we don’t currently have a comprehensive universal advanced site search specifically for musical examples where you could e.g. search by e.g. genre, difficulty, length… Agree this would be a cool thing for the long term roadmap!

We have some similar discussion here: Learning new licks from places other than listening to other players? — but that’s more general re: places to find new musical ideas, not specifically for shorter chunks / licks to learn.

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#4

A comprehensive list would be a daunting task.
You would have to compile all examples then 1 by 1
Hang multiple relevant meta tags or whatever on each because each could show up in a search for picking or sequencing etc…

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#5

Whoa, whoa! You don’t have to go from zero to a thousand miles an hour. I guess this IS a speed picking site! :wink:

It’s too bad it hasn’t been done, but you don’t have to suddenly catalog every “chunk” ever done for every musical example. And you wouldn’t need every musical example cross referenced in every possible way. I was thinking something much simpler. For example, a simple database

6:p-i, 5:p-i, 4:r (or whatever convention for fingering and strings you use)

It could be tagged under:

Pentatonic, five note, minor, 3rd to 3rd, descending, dwps, Johnson–Cliffs of Dover:bar 36 (this last one perhaps as a link to an interview or tutorial).

Just that.

I know that Troy references four note chunks, six note chunks, and eight note chunks in his “Cracking the Code – Episode 8” Perhaps those “chunks” could be similarly listed and referenced to the lick. Just a slowly growing database of chunks for people to study and assimilate.

PS: I just made up the Cliffs of Dover reference. No need to try to find it.

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#6

I’m working on a “cookbook” for my students that breaks Downward Pick Slanting into “moves” they can use to create their own “recipes.”

Not quite as granular as a chunk library, but helpful in applying a picking system to a desired melodic figure.

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#7

There is a thread out here somewhere where people were sharing cyclic patterns they had come up with, but it never really went anywhere.

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