5/4

[Roy Smeck]

As a guitar player, how would I play Take Five?? Bass-chord or straight comping on the beat?/

[dogbite]

Originally Posted by Roy Smeck

As a guitar player, how would I play Take Five?? Bass-chord or straight comping on the beat?/

i tend to play bass-chord on that one but much depends upon what the bassist (if there is one) is doing...

keep your options open

[Phil Kelly]

The comp for that particular tune is pretty well locked into some version of the the original Brubeck comp figure.

just sayin' ......

[Jeff Smith]

Originally Posted by Phil Kelly

The comp for that particular tune is pretty well locked into some version of the the original Brubeck comp figure.

just sayin' ......

I agree.

[jazz oud]

Originally Posted by Roy Smeck

As a guitar player, how would I play Take Five??

I wouldn't recommend it.

[Vic J]

3 plus 2 pulse

[RevWrona]

My guitarist plays the whole thing and amp on the A part during solo's. Sometimes we would give the entire B section to him to change it up.

[engelbach]

Can a guitar play the same figure as the piano?

Or the bass can play on 1 and 4 and the guitar on 1-and, 3, and 5.

[ohPunky81]

When I learned Take Five a while back, I could have swore the turnaround was Fm7(b5) - Bb7alt, but now looking at the Realbook and jazzguitar.be it shows Fm7 - Bb7. Listening to the recording, (my ear is pretty bad) it sounds like Brubeck is playing Fm7 - Bb7, but after playing it wrong for so long, playing it right sounds funny to me. Does anybody ever make that alteration, or should I just forget I ever learned it that other way and get used to Fm7 - Bb7?

[guitarjazz]

Originally Posted by ohPunky81

When I learned Take Five a while back, I could have swore the turnaround was Fm7(b5) - Bb7alt, but now looking at the Realbook and jazzguitar.be it shows Fm7 - Bb7. Listening to the recording, (my ear is pretty bad) it sounds like Brubeck is playing Fm7 - Bb7, but after playing it wrong for so long, playing it right sounds funny to me. Does anybody ever make that alteration, or should I just forget I ever learned it that other way and get used to Fm7 - Bb7?

Try F7#9-Bb7+5....really wrong, I mean right...or wrong...you decide.

[engelbach]

Originally Posted by ohPunky81

When I learned Take Five a while back, I could have swore the turnaround was Fm7(b5) - Bb7alt, but now looking at the Realbook and jazzguitar.be it shows Fm7 - Bb7. Listening to the recording, (my ear is pretty bad) it sounds like Brubeck is playing Fm7 - Bb7, but after playing it wrong for so long, playing it right sounds funny to me. Does anybody ever make that alteration, or should I just forget I ever learned it that other way and get used to Fm7 - Bb7?

I've played it both ways. It's not a big deal one way or the other.

[ohPunky81]

Thanks!

[duane massey]

I learned Take Five by ear from the LP. Found out years later that Dmin was NOT the original key, and our family turntable was not running at the correct speed in my youth.
Probably best to play the normal syncopated figures during the head, but I've always enjoyed playing 5/4 or 7/4 without the syncopation, more of a walking 5 or 7 feel. Drummer and bass player need to be really confident for this.

[michaelsorg]

Originally Posted by duane massey

I learned Take Five by ear from the LP. Found out years later that Dmin was NOT the original key, and our family turntable was not running at the correct speed in my youth.
Probably best to play the normal syncopated figures during the head, but I've always enjoyed playing 5/4 or 7/4 without the syncopation, more of a walking 5 or 7 feel. Drummer and bass player need to be really confident for this.

I agree with Duane. You've got to play the original vamp as a nod to the expected sound, then depart from it. People love it. I dig the Al Jarreau version with the Rhodes just sustaining the chords. On my solo, I vary the chords. The Ebm might be a min 69 or even min(maj7). The Bbm could turn in to a Bb9sus or a Bb7alt. I also like to set up a 7 over 5 rhythm, which is a lot simpler than it sounds. Just play quadruplets over the first three beats, 1/4 note triplets over the last 2 beats. The length of the values is so similar, it sounds like you're playing evenly spaced notes.

My audience often consists of German people who have only had exposure to Dixieland, Louis Armstrong, Glen Miller, and yes, Take Five. But they love hearing the tune as it originally was, and then a clear departure from that before coming back at the end.