Tag Archives: barney kessel guitar

Barney Kessel – How To Make A Bebop Solo Catchy

Leave a reply

Barney Kessel has a way of playing jazz guitar that often makes his solos very catchy. This is something that you can’t actually say about many players after bebop, maybe only Wes? So it is interesting to look at why his solos have this quality.

The solo I am taking some phrases from is on “Satin Doll” of the album Poll Winners with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne. This album really has Kessel in a great setting and in top form. Well worth checking out if you don’t know it already!

Kessel is truly great at mixing bebop lines with swing riffs and in that way creating a lot of variation in his solos.

Check out some more Barney Kessel

This lesson is analyzing some great rhythmical ideas from his solo on Just Friends. Some really great rhythmical phrases to add to your vocabulary.

Barney Kessel – How to mix Swing and Bebop

Get a free E-book

If you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe to my newsletter:

Sign up for my newsletter – Get the II V I Ebook

Get the PDF!

The PDF with examples for this video is available through Patreon. You can check out my Patreon Page here: https://www.patreon.com/jenslarsen

Jazz Guitar Insiders Facebook Group

Join 1500+ Other Jazz Guitarists 🎸Join us in the Facebook Jazz Guitar Group Community: http://bit.ly/InsidersFBGroup

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and feel free to connect with me via Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook to keep up to date with new lessons, concerts, and releases.

Barney Kessel – How to mix Swing and Bebop

This Barney Kessel Guitar Lesson breaks down three examples of the great mix of swing and bebop in his playing. Barney Kessel is a guitarist that has been around for a huge part of Jazz Guitar history. He has played with everybody from Charlie Parker to Sonny Rollins and done a lot of sideman stuff!

What to learn from Barney Kessel

The idea for this video came from a student bringing in the video and the transcription in a lesson. While there are things that this track are not a great example of it also showcases some of the things that are truly great about Barney Kessels playing and something that everybody should check out! Melodies with great interesting rhythms and how to use that in a jazz context! His mix of swing guitar licks and bebop is really a worthwhile study.

The  Transcription video

The video that my student brought in was this one. It has a transcription of the entire song, theme solo and out theme. The intro is really beautiful and at the same time also really simple!

There are a lot of great phrases and ideas to be lifted from this if you are interested in digging into it a bit deeper.

Get a free E-book

If you want to download a Free E-book of 15 II Valt I licks then subscribe to my newsletter:

Sign up for my newsletter – Get the II V I Ebook