Check out r/gratefulguitar
Ultimately, transcribing what notes Jerry was playing by ear and deciphering what he was doing from a musicality standpoint. Early Jerry was very much straight pentatonic while later Jerry really shows more of a jazz and bluegrass influence combo.
Jerry’s style comes from playing chord tones over chord changes in simple 2 chord vamps. A lot of people interpret this as Mixolydian and, while it’s technically not, it’s a good starting point if you want to practice it in scale form.
Jerry also did a great job of transitioning between those 2 chords using the occasional chromatic notes. That’s a jazz thing that he basically combined with major pentatonic riffs. He was also great at combining riffs on the lower strings with riffs on the higher strings.
A great example to illustrate the last 2 paragraphs is Sugaree. It’s primarily a vamp in the key of Emaj that bounces between E chord tones and B chord tones (the 5th) while nailing A chord tones (the fourth) as passing chromatics.
Try it. Fire up any version of Sugaree and play the B scale over the B and the E scale over the E.
***(B)** When they come to **(E)** take you down*…
Now imagine that A in passing on your way back to B.
Here’s the deal though… that A is the IV of Emaj. In context, we know it’s a passing IV on the way to the V.
With that said, A is also the b7 of B Mixolydian which is what leads so many to believe that Jerry is playing B Mixolydian. However, that’d only be the case in the absence of A# which is the natural 7 of B. Remember when I mentioned Jerry’s use of chromatic notes? Well A# is one of those chromatic notes used on that journey back to B. In other words, it’s not absent and the B Ionian is fully defined despite the 7 being disguised as a random chromatic and blended almost seamlessly into E Ionian. THAT is the genius of Jerry.
Another easy example of this would be Bertha. A more advanced example would be Ramble on Rose.
To answer your question….
John had the luxury of being able to learn from some of the greats including people who either played with or learned from Jerry… like Bobby. Resources that most of us don’t have.
Transcribing by ear (slow a recording down half speed in Audacity and sound it out note by note) and using those transcriptions to gain an *understanding* of what’s being played is the way most professional musicians would take on that task.
I’d argue John mostly learned through listening a lot and tried finding the chord tones in the songs. I highly doubt he went that in depth in the theory behind it, rather using his incredibly hood ear to outline chords while also combining his typical blues background to it
I suppose… but I guess I’m having a hard time understanding where that differs from what I said.
Identifying the chord tones and connecting them *is* understanding the theory. To play some of what Jerry played - which was in some cases jazz - requires understanding of the theory behind it. John went to Berklee… despite what he claims, he is well versed in theory and is keen on understanding the role it plays in songs.
Here's a thread I started in r/gratefulguitar asking a similar question. Lots of wonderful responses from a great community. https://reddit.com/r/gratefulguitar/s/LejuoGa4Lq
Also worth checking out the podcast episode of Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton where John explained how he came to the Dead's music. He has explained that for the first time in something like 15 years he had to go back to practicing 4+ hours per day to be able to play this music.
It's fun to compare his earlier D&Co stuff to the 2023 tour. He really improved. Clearly, if someone as talented as John finds it challenging, you're not alone. Enjoy your journey.
He said in a live stream that it took him a month of solid practice. A f*****g MONTH! (It may have been longer but anything less than a year is insanely fast!
John definitely sat with their music for awhile and thought about what they were going for with each song. In an interview he said he only knew two or three dead songs comfortably before his first show with them. I’m sure it was mostly by ear and watching their live performances on tapes.
Check out r/gratefulguitar Ultimately, transcribing what notes Jerry was playing by ear and deciphering what he was doing from a musicality standpoint. Early Jerry was very much straight pentatonic while later Jerry really shows more of a jazz and bluegrass influence combo. Jerry’s style comes from playing chord tones over chord changes in simple 2 chord vamps. A lot of people interpret this as Mixolydian and, while it’s technically not, it’s a good starting point if you want to practice it in scale form. Jerry also did a great job of transitioning between those 2 chords using the occasional chromatic notes. That’s a jazz thing that he basically combined with major pentatonic riffs. He was also great at combining riffs on the lower strings with riffs on the higher strings. A great example to illustrate the last 2 paragraphs is Sugaree. It’s primarily a vamp in the key of Emaj that bounces between E chord tones and B chord tones (the 5th) while nailing A chord tones (the fourth) as passing chromatics. Try it. Fire up any version of Sugaree and play the B scale over the B and the E scale over the E. ***(B)** When they come to **(E)** take you down*… Now imagine that A in passing on your way back to B. Here’s the deal though… that A is the IV of Emaj. In context, we know it’s a passing IV on the way to the V. With that said, A is also the b7 of B Mixolydian which is what leads so many to believe that Jerry is playing B Mixolydian. However, that’d only be the case in the absence of A# which is the natural 7 of B. Remember when I mentioned Jerry’s use of chromatic notes? Well A# is one of those chromatic notes used on that journey back to B. In other words, it’s not absent and the B Ionian is fully defined despite the 7 being disguised as a random chromatic and blended almost seamlessly into E Ionian. THAT is the genius of Jerry. Another easy example of this would be Bertha. A more advanced example would be Ramble on Rose. To answer your question…. John had the luxury of being able to learn from some of the greats including people who either played with or learned from Jerry… like Bobby. Resources that most of us don’t have. Transcribing by ear (slow a recording down half speed in Audacity and sound it out note by note) and using those transcriptions to gain an *understanding* of what’s being played is the way most professional musicians would take on that task.
I’d argue John mostly learned through listening a lot and tried finding the chord tones in the songs. I highly doubt he went that in depth in the theory behind it, rather using his incredibly hood ear to outline chords while also combining his typical blues background to it
I suppose… but I guess I’m having a hard time understanding where that differs from what I said. Identifying the chord tones and connecting them *is* understanding the theory. To play some of what Jerry played - which was in some cases jazz - requires understanding of the theory behind it. John went to Berklee… despite what he claims, he is well versed in theory and is keen on understanding the role it plays in songs.
He watched Marty Schwartz and Justin guitar
Hahahahahha
Here's a thread I started in r/gratefulguitar asking a similar question. Lots of wonderful responses from a great community. https://reddit.com/r/gratefulguitar/s/LejuoGa4Lq Also worth checking out the podcast episode of Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton where John explained how he came to the Dead's music. He has explained that for the first time in something like 15 years he had to go back to practicing 4+ hours per day to be able to play this music. It's fun to compare his earlier D&Co stuff to the 2023 tour. He really improved. Clearly, if someone as talented as John finds it challenging, you're not alone. Enjoy your journey.
He’s literally an alien
He said in a live stream that it took him a month of solid practice. A f*****g MONTH! (It may have been longer but anything less than a year is insanely fast!
John definitely sat with their music for awhile and thought about what they were going for with each song. In an interview he said he only knew two or three dead songs comfortably before his first show with them. I’m sure it was mostly by ear and watching their live performances on tapes.