What is there to say about this tune. An original composition of mine. The title has a bizarre story behind it.
One night after a gig (say 02:30) I was at Denny’s getting some chow, and I ran into some guys I had gone to high school with. This would have been in the late 80’s. They were in a state of chemically-enhanced consciousness when I met up with them, and it created a degree of exuberant behavior. This culminated in a series of what I suppose you’d have to call dance moves, demonstrated for the benefit of the patrons of Denny’s (who geenrally seemed to appreciate the show). One of the guys would call out the move, and the other guy would perform it. One of the moves they did was “Spyderico,” which entailed making the spiderman-stlye web shooting hand gesture while crouching and attempting to walk around. You kind of had to be there I suppose, but it made a lasting impression on me. A couple more were the “fetus” and “the claw.” They would shout these out and then act them out in front of everyone (and the place was pretty busy).
Years later when I was working out my diminished scale, I wrote this little tune, and the shape of the melodic line for some reason made me think of these guys in Denny’s that night. I have no idea what spyderico actually means. There’s a knife called Spyderco, and a web spider called spiderico. I always figured it should be spelled with a y, no telling why.
You probably won’t go home humming this melody, but it’s got a nice beat and you can dance to it. This is a first take, and I am posting it in spite of some “defects” because it has that first take vibe. At about 3:00 my daughter marches up and starts complaining at me–it has a minor effect on my phrasing choices. I recorded the backing track myself, even though I’m midi impaired.
You can grab a chart here and sing along. If you ever play this on a gig, I’d love to know about it.
cool, i used to hate jazz. I wish i could understand the diminished scale cause i wanna play it on guitar but i see no patterns, im trying to figure it out with the order of sharps and flats but it's not workin.. anyway good vid keep it up
Comment by Taproz — November 22, 2007 @ 10:47 am
half step-whole step and repeat!
Comment by volvoxburger — November 22, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Kind of has a Thelonious Monk "Epistrophy" feel to it... I love that tune as well as this one. Did you base this song around that?
Comment by kellymaeb — October 22, 2007 @ 8:05 pm
Thanks--it's one of my favorites too.This grew out of my appreciation for the diminished scale.
Comment by volvoxburger — October 22, 2007 @ 8:26 pm
Really classic, I love it. Just wondering, what did you use to program the background?
Comment by coolbraz — August 17, 2007 @ 1:25 am
Thanks, I did it in Cakewalk, but the only reason is because that's what I had on hand. I entered every note with a mouse, believe it or not. Since then I got a midi controller keyboard that makes it a bit more efficient.
Comment by volvoxburger — August 17, 2007 @ 7:43 am
I have watched a number of your videos and you have a very unique style. In this piece your explosive runs (like at 3:15) fit so smoothly into a masterpiece that you have set up with your excellent left hand comping. I also liked the way you held the opening chord to its full value- it really set the tone for the piece. Please keep up the excellent playing!
Comment by camdaram7 — March 28, 2007 @ 6:49 pm
Clearly you are a perceptive listener--I like you already. Glad you stopped by.
Comment by volvoxburger — March 28, 2007 @ 10:40 pm
this is a true thing that happens! its not a chain letter! its kinda scary at first but it really works!! paste this message into 3 comments and press ALT F4 and your crushes name will appear on the screen!!! its soo wierd!
Comment by nannerz333 — March 27, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
Very cool and laid back---I love the drums and bass accomp. that really set it off. As usual great job.
So the fundamental idea at work here is that the diminshed scale can be expressed as four major triads whose roots are a minor third apart. The melody outlines the four major triads C, Eb, Gb, and A, which together make the C half/whole diminished scale, or what I call the C7 diminished scale. The melody is built by outlining at least two triads within each phrase. But since it’s triads, it’s actually not terribly hard to play.
My solo is built using similar ideas, but I vary the phrasing a lot more, and I extensively end lines on the most “outside” sounding notes, and on upbeats where possible, to build the unusual feeling. I’m working on getting more major 7ths and minor ninths into my lines for even more disjointed sound.
So the fundamental idea at work here is that the diminshed scale can be expressed as four major triads whose roots are a minor third apart. The melody outlines the four major triads C, Eb, Gb, and A, which together make the C half/whole diminished scale, or what I call the C7 diminished scale. The melody is built by outlining at least two triads within each phrase. But since it’s triads, it’s actually not terribly hard to play.
My solo is built using similar ideas, but I vary the phrasing a lot more, and I extensively end lines on the most “outside” sounding notes, and on upbeats where possible, to build the unusual feeling. I’m working on getting more major 7ths and minor ninths into my lines for even more disjointed sound.
Comment by Rob — February 19, 2007 @ 7:57 pm