The Art of Soloing: Frampton

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equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
This is a great breakdown of a couple of classic Peter Frampton solos.
Since hearing Humble Pie's 'Performance' album I've been a fan of Frampton's  playing. His solos have always been exceptionally lyrical and melodic. The two examples here are from his massive selling 1976 live album.

Excellent stuff!  :)

(pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • mudslide73mudslide73 Frets: 3049
    edited April 2018
    I love Peter and Rick so I'll watch this when I get home. 

    Edit: Just watched it. Rick's breakdowns really are great - there's so much more in here than a Lick Library lesson. He clearly loves Peter too.
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • humbuckohumbucko Frets: 179
    What an excellent video. Love Frampton's style, but I found his solos with Humble Pie, especially those on the Filmore live albums, to be a bit meandering, all over the place... his subsequent solo stuff is perfect though
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  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    will check it out later at home. I've got Frampton Comes Alive and tried to like it but it's full of voicebox which I think spoils it.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    Frampton Comes Alive was great and if I recall only two tracks used a voice box: Show Me The Way and Do You Feel Like I do.

    The crazy thing was at the time, given the sales of the album he was set to soar into even higher orbit and as a fan of his playing I was really looking forward to his next album. And what did he do?

    He released this:



    WTF! Seriously.. I was a 17 year hard rock fan back then and there was no way I was walking into a shop and buying an album with that cover and title on it. What was he thinking of? 
    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    Love Peter Frampton, fabulous player, great album, great track - but tell you what, listen to the keyboard solo by Bob Mayo on Do You Fell Like We do at around 4:10 - just superb.  If this track doesn't make you feel good....well, I think you must've given up breathing! lolk





      
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    edited April 2018
    Yep @Voxman, Bob Mayo was a brilliant all round musician and was key to this album's success.
    And yep.. Do You Feel Like We Do is  superb on this live recording 1 
    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    edited April 2018
    And I'll put this up cos the solo guitar work on Something's Happening is just superb and the repeated line he starts to play at 3:02 in has always been one of my favourites. Timeless it is!
    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    edited May 2018
    The 2nd song analysis is great but he really confuses things in the 1st one by stating that it is Dorian due to the fact that the chords are Am-C-Dm, that the progression is vi-I-ii and the D is somehow a ii chord and that the key is C.

    I mean, it IS D dorian, because (as he mentions later) it has a B natural in the solo, but the whole “vi-I-ii” progression and his mentioning of the key of C major and his singling out of the E note early on in the solo at 2:50 as making it Dorian is really odd. The E has nothing to do with D Dorian, apart from confirming that it’s not Phrygian (which itself would be highly unusual, and we already know it because the C chord was not C minor). 

    It’s just a v-VII-i progression in D minor, so D minor is the i chord not the ii chord. The chords Am-C-Dm could be either D Aeolian or D Dorian; it’s only determined as Dorian on that first B natural in the solo at 3:33. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    edited May 2018

    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    edited May 2018
    equalsql said:

    Lol. Sorry. I’ll try again.

    The song is in D minor. When he plays the solo, he uses a raised 6th. This is called soloing in Dorian style. 

    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • equalsqlequalsql Frets: 6084
    Thanks @viz ; I was scratching my head there.  :)
    (pronounced: equal-sequel)   "I suffered for my art.. now it's your turn"
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  • BradBrad Frets: 658
    @viz on face value I kinda get where you’re coming from as Beato only gives 3 chords for analysis. So it is a little ambiguous. But there is a 4th chord (G) in the solo section that he neglected to mention. Also listen to the harmony part in the line before the solo kicks in, B is there and it sets up Dorian in the ear. 

    But I take it you’re not disputing that it’s Dorian, more is it a case that you disagree with him calling Dm the ii chord rather than calling it i?


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  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    Brad said:
    @viz on face value I kinda get where you’re coming from as Beato only gives 3 chords for analysis. So it is a little ambiguous. But there is a 4th chord (G) in the solo section that he neglected to mention. Also listen to the harmony part in the line before the solo kicks in, B is there and it sets up Dorian in the ear. 

    But I take it you’re not disputing that it’s Dorian, more is it a case that you disagree with him calling Dm the ii chord rather than calling it i?


    Exactly! On the one hand it’s unnecessary and on the other hand it’s misleading. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • BradBrad Frets: 658
    viz said:
    Brad said:
    @viz on face value I kinda get where you’re coming from as Beato only gives 3 chords for analysis. So it is a little ambiguous. But there is a 4th chord (G) in the solo section that he neglected to mention. Also listen to the harmony part in the line before the solo kicks in, B is there and it sets up Dorian in the ear. 

    But I take it you’re not disputing that it’s Dorian, more is it a case that you disagree with him calling Dm the ii chord rather than calling it i?


    Exactly! On the one hand it’s unnecessary and on the other hand it’s misleading. 
    Ok, interesting. So including the G chord in bars 8 and 16, you prefer to think of it as i-v-VII-IV in Dm rather than ii-vi-I-V in C? That's cool, the same thing can be looked at in many different ways and they can all be correct.

    But what if the same chords were used in a more 'conventional' order, such as Dm7 G C Am7? Is that i-IV-VII-v and if so, out of interest how would you analyse the changes to something like Autumn Leaves for example? 

    My argument being that it's not unnecessary or misleading at all. He's using the parent key approach, the riff before the solo and the solo itself are Dorian and he defines C as being the parent key to analyse against, in a VERY blasé manner it has to be said. It's a standard way of doing things, establish the parent key and analyse against that.

    Anyways, I'm not being difficult. I just like to pull these things apart smile 
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  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    Brad said:
    viz said:
    Brad said:
    @viz on face value I kinda get where you’re coming from as Beato only gives 3 chords for analysis. So it is a little ambiguous. But there is a 4th chord (G) in the solo section that he neglected to mention. Also listen to the harmony part in the line before the solo kicks in, B is there and it sets up Dorian in the ear. 

    But I take it you’re not disputing that it’s Dorian, more is it a case that you disagree with him calling Dm the ii chord rather than calling it i?


    Exactly! On the one hand it’s unnecessary and on the other hand it’s misleading. 
    Ok, interesting. So including the G chord in bars 8 and 16, you prefer to think of it as i-v-VII-IV in Dm rather than ii-vi-I-V in C? That's cool, the same thing can be looked at in many different ways and they can all be correct.

    But what if the same chords were used in a more 'conventional' order, such as Dm7 G C Am7? Is that i-IV-VII-v and if so, out of interest how would you analyse the changes to something like Autumn Leaves for example? 

    My argument being that it's not unnecessary or misleading at all. He's using the parent key approach, the riff before the solo and the solo itself are Dorian and he defines C as being the parent key to analyse against, in a VERY blasé manner it has to be said. It's a standard way of doing things, establish the parent key and analyse against that.

    Anyways, I'm not being difficult. I just like to pull these things apart smile 
    Absolutely, all good.

    I’ll PM you more thorough stuff but in general I just think that he’s introduced ambiguity where none is needed. 

    If one’s talking about ‘music’ (rather than notes), I’d rather base it off the home note rather than an arbitrary key related only by shared notes not by musical context. And seeing as Beato IS talking about the musical flow of the solo in D (phrasing, melody etc) introducing anything other than i-v-VII-i is just counter-productive (and wrong ;) )

    I do respect a lot of Beato’s output, but sometimes I think he looks at music from the wrong end. 


    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • BradBrad Frets: 658
    If it was just Dm7-Am7-C then fair enough. But there is a G major triad in bars 8 and 16. Is that gonna lead to another type of confusion now, because in Dm it’s a iv (Gm)? Who knows...

    Using the parent key approach easily groups the chords together to then be able to see if anything changes or is different, but in this case Dm7 is home and I think he makes that pretty clear, I think him mentioning C is in passing and an assumption on his part that people know about this stuff, as he flies through it all pretty quickly. 

    Anyway, enough derailment from me, we can continue to bicker via PM :wink: 
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