Who is able to play this? Larry Carlton's Solo to Kid Charlemagne...

[docbennett]

Hey everyone....a thread on this solo appeared on a different forum. Here are two youtube videos that provide two different tutorials. Here are the tabbed out notes to the solo.

I figure it will take me about a month to nail this. It's taken me about 3 days just to get through the first 20 seconds of this 60 second solo.

I am hoping that those of you that have the chops will post videos of you playing the solo.

Additionally, any advice, tricks or other videos/tabs that may be useful in learning this solo would be appreciated.

Maybe we shpould have a "Lessons and Tutorials" section in this forum. But for now, anyone who would like to add a post to help the learning process would be appreciated.

Here are the videos I am using as tutorials:
First:
http://www.walkerguitar.com/solos/3832/kid-charlemagne-solo/

Second:

http://www.learnblueslicks.com/kid-charlemagne-solo/#awp::kid-charlemagne-solo/

Here are the notes, tabbed out...


Solo

E-----------------------------------------8--10b12--10p8-10p8----|
B------------------------------------8-10---------------------10-|
G----7b9--r7p5---7b9r7b9-r7------7/9-----------------------------|
D--------------7-------------------------------------------------|
A----------------------------------------------------------------|
E----------------------------------------------------------------|

E--8/10/8---------------------------14----14-14b15--14--------12-|
B--------------------------13-15/16----16---------------10/12----|
G-----------------------14---------------------------------------|
D-----------------14/15------------------------------------------|
A----------------------------------------------------------------|
E----------------------------------------------------------------|

E-14b15r14-12-------------------------17-----19r17p15-17--15---15-|
B-------------------15-17----15----15------------------------15---|
G-------------12/14-------14----14--------------------------------|
D-----------------------------------------------------------------|
A-----------------------------------------------------------------|
E-----------------------------------------------------------------|

E-------------------15-19-15-17-19-14------------------15-17b19-17-|
B-17-----------15-17------------------15---------15-17-------------|
G----16---14/16--------------------------16-14-16------------------|
D------------------------------------------------------------------|
A------------------------------------------------------------------|
E------------------------------------------------------------------|

E-----5-7b8--7--5--7--5/7-------10----------------8--10--10/12--|
B---5---------------------8--------8-------8--10----------------|
G---------------------------9-7----------/9--9---9--9---9-------|
D---------------------------------------------------------------|
A---------------------------------------------------------------|
E---------------------------------------------------------------|

E----------10----8---8-------------------------------------------|
B-10-13-------11---9---8--------------------5--------------------|
G------------------------9----------------5---5h7p5--------8---8-|
D--------------------------10-9-8-----6/7----------------7---7---|
A----------------------------------------------------7/9---------|
E----------------------------------------------------------------|

E-8--------------------------------------------------------------|
B---10b12--10----------------------------------------------------|
G-------------9--7-7/9------7--9-----7--9-----------------7------|
D--------------------------7--7-----7--7------------7-8-9---9-10-|
A----------------------------------------------7-10--------------|
E----------------------------------------------------------------|
[ Tab from: http://www.guitaretab.com/s/steely-dan/18305.html ]
E-----------8-10--11r10p8---------------------------------------|
B----8-9-10---------------11---11r10p8--------7b8h14p8r7--5h7p5-|
G--9-----------------------------------8bp----------------------|
D---------------------------------------------------------------|
A---------------------------------------------------------------|
E---------------------------------------------------------------|



I look forward to seeing any additiona demonstrations, or to getting any additional advice as to how to learn this (to me) quite complicated solo.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Hey Doc, I'll take a stab at this if you'd like. Let me know if there's something you'd particularly like me to focus on and i'll see if I can do it.

I've never heard this before but a very cool song and solo.

 

[docbennett]

Hey Doc, I'll take a stab at this if you'd like. Let me know if there's something you'd particularly like me to focus on and i'll see if I can do it.

I've never heard this before but a very cool song and solo.

Gee....anyone who can play this thing a bit slower than the demo...with the guitar facing the camera...would prove invaluable as an instructor...I find that each "phrase" of about 10 notes takes a half hour to learn...and then, as soon as I learn that phrase....the next phrase cause inteference. So far, after 3 days, this is as far as I've gotten....

E-----------------------------------------8--10b12--10p8-10p8----|
B------------------------------------8-10---------------------10-|
G----7b9--r7p5---7b9r7b9-r7------7/9-----------------------------|
D--------------7-------------------------------------------------|
A----------------------------------------------------------------|
E----------------------------------------------------------------|

E--8/10/8---------------------------14----14-14b15--14--------12-|
B--------------------------13-15/16----16---------------10/12----|
G-----------------------14---------------------------------------|
D-----------------14/15------------------------------------------|
A----------------------------------------------------------------|
E----------------------------------------------------------------|

E-14b15r14-12-------------------------17---
B-------------------15-17----15----15-----
G-------------12/14-------14----14------
D--------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------
E----

I also noticed that his demo doesn't follow the tabs exactly....where I highlighted in red above....he uses the 10th fret G string instead of the 14th fret D string...just makes it a little more difficult to try to follow his demo with the tabs in front of me.

 

[garrett]

That's probably my all-time favorite solo. It's the only one I've really worked at to learn note by note. I spent two weeks on it several years ago and had it down pretty well. Don't think I've played it since!

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

I'll start working on this in the next couple of days. Too cool not to learn!

 

[docbennett]

I'm currently as far as post #3 above...it's weird to realize that it's taken several days to play about 15 seconds worth of a solo correctly. I plan to work on the rest in the next few days, but I need some time off!!

 

[Em7]

Bennett:

Why did you have to open Pandora's box? I was happy to let that sleeping dog lie. I worked my fingers into a bloody mess attempting to learn that solo completely by ear when I was nineteen. I had to transfer the song to cassette because I was wearing the album out. I have been working on the solo again for a few nights, and it is still as difficult to play as it was when I was kid. Larry Carlton's feel and phrasing are unique in the world of jazz-rock.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

This is a fairly tough cookie. It's the phrasing and precision that are hard to do.

I'm re-doing the tab as I go along and putting fingering recommendations on there.

 

[docbennett]

This has also helped....I am now past the 30" mark, and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. but this is HARD!

 

[Em7]

Here's a much older Larry Carlton performing the song with Steely Dan.

The solo is difficult because it is a modal potpourri. Kid Charlemagne is in the key of Am/C major. The beginning of the solo is played in Am pentatonic, starting on D. However, the solo shifts from Am pentatonic to E Phrygian to E harmonic minor starting at the notes that Bennett marked in red. Some people claim that this part of the solo is in G harmonic minor; however, the use of B instead of Bb in the note sequence E (14th fret, D String), F (15th fret, D String), A (14th fret, G String), C (13th fret, B String), D (15th fret, B String), D# (16th fret, B String), F# (14th fret, E String), and G releasing back to F# (bend to the 15th fret on the E string from the 14th fret before releasing the note) leads me to believe that the phrase is actually played in E Phrygian (E, F, G, A, B, C, and D) into E harmonic minor (E, F#, G, A, B, C, and D#) ending on G, not G harmonic minor (G, A, Bb/A#, C, D, Eb/D#, and F#). However, then again, what the heck do I know? This solo is a example of why jazz guitarists are a different breed.

 

[docbennett]

This has become my own personal "Mount Everest". I'm a pretty ham fisted soloist already, and enjoy just noodling along and doing my share of record copying. However, after Grego7 posted his version of it on VR, I got hooked. To actually learn this solo, and be able to play it speed-accurate became a task that I will not walk away from.

I've been at it for about 3+ weeks now. Typically, I am now at the point where every new 5" phrase has to be copied and repeated so many times that I literally go to bed and then wake up with this solo playing in my head. One of the frustrating things is getting it correct, but realizing that the accents and nuances are off....making it sound like a poor comparison.

But...I am getting there. And, continuing to post this publically will force me to eventually complete it. I have now nailed it, up to the 29" mark of the video I am posting below. My committment is to learn it by this month's end...anyone who wants to post their prowess at it is welcome to do so.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Doc, here's a couple more tabs...

http://larrycarlton.com/pdf/kidcharlemagne_solo.pdf

http://media.walkerguitar.com/Kid-Charlemagne-solo.pdf

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

looks like there's a couple of small notation mistakes in both, but clearer than the (ascii?) guitar tab.

 

[Em7]

You will definitely have my respect after you master the Kid Charlemagne solo. It's is not fast or flashy; however, it is a iconic solo that left many young guitarists scratching their heads in the days before tablature and YouTube.

 

[Em7]

looks like there's a couple of small notation mistakes in both, but clearer than the (ascii?) guitar tab.

One cannot go by the string and fret because the same note can be played in several places on a guitar.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

One cannot go by the string and fret because the same note can be played in several places on a guitar.

Ahh, sorry, I didn't mean that... yep the different tabs have some of the licks in different spots which isn't a big deal but economy of movement is important so if it seems you need to make a big or awkward movement between licks it's important to see if there's an easier way to play it.

What I meant in this case is the notation has a couple of errors such as a full tone bend when it should be half or semitone. For the most part they seem pretty accurate.

 

[Em7]

What I meant in this case is the notation has a couple of errors such as a full tone bend when it should be half or semitone. For the most part they seem pretty accurate.

I look at tablature as a way to get on the page more quickly than having to learn a tune completely by ear. I am happy if a tab is only 50% accurate. That's fifty percent that I do not have to figure out by ear.

 

[docbennett]

Without tablature, I'd still be playing songs using only cowboy chords.

With youtube, I've progressed more in the past 2 years than I had in the 30 years prior.

 

[Em7]

Bennett:

Have you ever really listened to the Kid Charlemagne lyrics? The music is so good that most people miss the message. Kid Charlemagne was a real-life Walter White named Owsley Stanley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owsley_Stanley).

"While the music played you worked by candlelight
Those San Francisco nights"

"Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
You turned it on the world"

"On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen clean"

"Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home"

"All those dayglow freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race"

"Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get them all out of here"

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Doc, I've got this solo licked at 75% speed. I'm going to spend a few days bringing it up to speed - couple of licks i'm stumbling over at full speed - and then i'll do a lesson video.

I'll tab this out again over the weekend. Let me know if you want me to email the tab or are you happy enough with the tabs you have?