Pat Enz plays: Donna Lee

[rwdotvom]

Very nice playing indeed!

[hanj31]

Your sick man keep it up! I personally would have liked the head up an octave but other than that it sounds good! This song took me a while to get on sax when I was first trying to learn it!

[AmundLauritzen]

Got to love reading the comments from the know-it-alls telling this great player how to play. Most of them have never touched a guitar in their lives. Insecure much? No need to hate on someone who does something well just because you can't do it yourself.

[mig29su27f16]

somehow I think that ur the hope of jazz music

please keep on playing and improvising

[enzmusic]

@mig29su27f16 Thank you, that's a nice compliment:)

[smf961]

Nice tone, great playing man !

[cleo2008spam]

you improvise very musical thank you,

maybe you could try to rerecorded in a half year time send it to me

so I could hear your development,

maybe yor ideom could be augmented a bit, you play already augmented over dom7

but most of the time in small intervalls try to practice larger ones etc.

but enjoy and respect your playing a lot!!!You did a fine and courages JOb!!

[carvetop01]

You gave a damn good performance Pat. You outlined the harmony throughout your improv. You played just enough outside tones to maintain some slight tension. Bravo.

allen

[rooseguitar64]

Love some of the comments...How many of you on here who are so quick to point out faults, are yourselves "owning" the composition? The point of the videos are to celebrate great styles of music, and in my estimation, anyone who has the balls to demonstarte that they can replicate lines from Parker, Coleman, Coltrane, etc.. is alright in my book.. Keep up the great work, and what issues you may or may not have, they will resolve themselves. Remember,its the heart that matters.

[carvetop01]

@rooseguitar64

Yours is the most intelligent and insightful comment I have read on this performance. How many of us could play this as well as Pat?

allen

[rooseguitar64]

@carvetop01 Thank you kindly sir... I had heard Donna Lee years ago from my father's record collection, but it wasnt until I heard Bireli Legrene's version recorded live at Marciac that I attempted to learn this tune. WOW. What makes the execution so difficult for me personally is the "feel" of the Jazz eighths, and some of the physical execution. But the whole point to this I think is..to enjoy, love and share this great music with everyone... Nice chatting with you.

[bungholio80]

Love the quotes! so many good ones! I must agree that you're not swinging the melody, which at this tempo should still be swung. Great playing though!!

[CRISELEMENTO]

What kind of scales do I need to know to play, something like this, I´ve been playing for quite a while, but I´m no longer satisfied playing rock, ¨n Metal!!

Please any sugestions

Sorry about my english!!!

OH AND, THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

JUST LIKE MEDICINE

[satothequeen]

AMAZING!

[MrNadav1995]

biliiant

[RyanBakermusic]

I noticed at some points your strumming looked uncomfortable, try anchoring the second finger of your right hand next to the neck pickup. Amazing soloing by the way, loved the chord melody part.

[qz3bmz]

Fantastic, in so many ways....keep it up and good luck to you

And thanks for posting

[djbot]

i luv it! do you come up with your own licks? or are they like arrangements of others; because i find it a little difficult to create licks based on chords

[thejazzman8]

@djbot you need to look at the chord and determine what scale or mode to use first. Then you decide the movement you want to make and where you want to go on the kneck...THEN most importantly, incorporate use of chromatic notes. For example, using the flat 3rd on a dominant7 chord.

[ex6arch6angel6]

the only problem im having with this song is the fact that i can't get the different positions down. i'm so used to playing with sharps that i don't know my flats too well, and dont know it past the first time you jump to 5th :'(

[aikidoka00]

Great tone. Nice solo

[zarpion11]

Completely agree with the comment of marcospinetta. Great tone, excellent articulation in the theme. But the solo is not so convincing : many many classic gimmicks that everyone knows and no true construction.

But for me, you already are great !!!!

[jw89]

the beginning of your solo was pretty solid. around 1:30, it seemed to me like you were starting to get a bit lost. overall I like it, good playing man

[xdivinebladex]

I LOVE your right hand technique and your tone is BLISS

[CvgGuitarPlayer]

Great playing!

David Simmons

[gnravila]

Man, I like it but I don't love it at all. You just don't have that swing. Try not to play it so flat and worry about emphasising the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar. Try also to make more pull-off's.

[thejazzman8]

great comment...put your own video up and show something to back up your fat mouth.

[crateamps15]

@gnravila Dude it's bebop. You aren't supposed to emphasize a swinging rhythm, It's straight eighths. I think he does a great job.

[habbobosol]

You can start with NOT imitating this guy:P

[22side]

hhh.i reaally wanna play this song..but i don't even know where to start ;P lol

[kenkarsh]

Nice sound and technique. I would love to hear you with a band, but I know it's hard to get people together sometimes. Keep on doing it. You should also show your face in the video.

[thejazzman8]

theres a backing track for this on youtube....its under gypsy jazz backing tracks...helpful

[bhebrews1214]

man you got skills sir!!

[drewhet]

the part from 3:16 to 3:48, is that the chord progression that you are soloing over throughout the song?

[matthewcross]

if you do a google search for Donna Lee, a chord / melody chart is one of the first images that comes up, if you're interested in learning the tune. That's what I'm doing right now... it's a bit of a bear for my non-bebop fingers!

[Spimp4]

u probly gt this down by now, and i myself can't even solo at all i suck. but it sounded like u your licks in the beging were just kind of thrown in because the changes were catching you off guard i guess. But u caught your wind half way through. and turned it aroudn pretty nice. i'd say just practice arpeggios and ur hole tone stuff so you can play it more in time and a little cleaner. very nice job though

[JR1840]

great stuff, my teacher is making transpose some lines for this tune. I hope you don't mind if I steal a couple of yours.

[chscher]

love the tone!! great playing!

[PiotrLatoMusic]

Love your fingering and cleanliness in playing, but you've got to give it some more swing!

Definitely something to slow down, clock, and really push those eighth notes into Parker territory.

[phishfan08]

Jesus Christ.... I'm learning this on guitar and the phrasing takes me forever to get right.

[ramro65]

That was great !!!

[exvotivezach]

Even though its a fast tune you can sit back on the beat a bit more i think. You're really on top the whole time vary it up. Other then that, excellent!

[marcospinetta]

very good job man.. nice playing, very warm tone... good phrasing... to me you have just to improve the climax composition of your solo, and you'll be a very great one! Congratulations, Marco

[enzmusic]

Thanks Marco, very constructive critic. Cheers, Pat

[HendrixcommaMartin]

At certain places there's some problems with your timing.

[enzmusic]

That's true Martin.

[EduGondim18]

perfect! got tab for this?

[enzmusic]

not yet, sorry:(

[dannyinternetz]

@EduGondim18 I believe you're looking for the rock section. Aisle 8.

[enzmusic]

@EduGondim18 Thanks a lot. Sorry I do not have tabs. This song is great as a workout for your chops I noticed.

[AFDex16]

just fantastic, great job!

[thejazzman8]

great stuff...you make such a difficult head seem so effortless

[WwwLickonizerDe]

see my page for donna lee

[markus180963]

Sensational playing, great tone - superb axe. M

[smartwood11]

very nice!! is that the fulltone scale you're using for some of the dominant chords?

[enzmusic]

Absolutely, I like that scale a lot.

[jorgesatch]

i just love this song, i am trying to play it on guitar too, great version, congratulations!.

also this video make me see more clearly how to play it.

[enzmusic]

Thank you. My pleasure:)

[rudessdfdf]

thats so nice! ll upload one with this great standard... congrats

[AmundLauritzen]

Very nice lines!

I liked it.

[yourmotherwashere1]

i can play this!!!! about 10 times slower thouh :/

[PlanB991]

thank you Pat Enz, that was beautiful

[nitemare187]

I love your playing but:

Donna Lee is Miles Davis' composition and is often incorrectly referred to as Charlie Parker's

[DAVIDDAMIENR]

Ha Ha Ha ... that's one of th Myths of Jazz.

Miles Never Wrote Donna Lee and He Never wrote Blue and Green.

Donna Lee is a Transcription of Bird Solo to Back Home in Indiana that he turned into one of his Many Be Bop Heads.

DDR

[OnSugarHill]

Takes some balls to take Donna Lee that many choruses. Nice endurance, cool licks too

[immortalsoloist]

Wonderful!

[xdivinebladex]

love that one whole tone part

[1419825]

half round strings??

[enzmusic]

Flatwound

[urheadonastick]

Well done! Is that a Gibson your ripping on?

[enzmusic]

Gibson L49 with PU added:)

[rudessdfdf]

good one , post my impro video , would be an honor guys

[CasualMaggot]

i think you should put these on a playlist, or at least i should.. i want to listen to this for a long time, it's very soothing.

[conn6m]

More Bebop magic from the swiss maestro. Very Unique style and sound. 5*

[enzmusic]

A heartfelt "MERCI VELMOL" from Switzerland:)

[lexo30]

Very tasty. I specially liked the irregular phrase lengths in the solo. Although you do seem to know quite a lot of licks, am I right?

[enzmusic]

Thanks:) Yes, I play some licks. Some learnt, some self made. Cheers, Pat

[lepine840202]

wow very good !

[JCiswobbly]

your shit good

[kbilbou]

could you post a lesson

[kortahans]

thats some mad gituar skills

[xiz90]

5 stars! Alive sounding guitar!

[elherna262]

really nice job dude congraulations :D

[enzmusic]

Thanks man!

[elherna262]

I find really difficult to improvise on jazz xD any tips? that's not an easy one anyway.

[enzmusic]

one key is to listen to it a lot. you can start out with herb ellis or barney kessel or kenny burrell. just get started with some major7 and minor seve arpeggios and then some dorian mixolydian and ionian scales. Make your own playalongs or use the software band in a box.

cheers,

pat

[elherna262]

Thanks, i'll listen to those

:)

[Isaac2c]

so what if hes a jew? when are people gonna wake up and realize we are all one? all religion is is an artificial barrier between the love we should all have for every conscious being on this planet.

[Sunderlanding]

@Isaac2c Why should we have love? If we want to hate one another who's to say what's better? Quit hating hate.

[Isaac2c]

@Sunderlanding did you see me use the word hate once in my comment? i pity you for asking such a question.

[Sunderlanding]

@Isaac2c Not but you said we should all love one another, which implies that we shouldn't hate, or didn't you get that far in school?

[Sunderlanding]

@Isaac2c So you have nothing against hating people then? Is that what you're saying, or are you in fact saying nothing? Either you have something against hatred, or your statement is the most retarded waste of time on YouTube.

[enzmusic]

Thanks a lot:)

[BluesRockRevival]

that was really good. i like your tone, you've got good chops.

[enzmusic]

...had the pleasure to have a man who was in Jaco's band in the audience...what an experience:-)

[enzmusic]

Hey, that's great:)

[davemartyn]

Thanks for posting this. I looked at many of the guitarists on YouTube playing Donna Lee, this one was the best I could find! It helped me work out a couple of the fingering challenges in the head.

[enicolino]

hey pat, nice job!  I've been wanting to learn some parker, so I've learned the chord progression tonight, but is there anywhere out there that has the transcription to the melody?? This is a great chord progression to improv on.

Great job, sounds awesum!

[enzmusic]

If you mean the TABs, I've learnt it with notes. But check by tiping in a search engine Donna Lee and Guitar pro.

[enicolino]

Thanks, I found the TAB for the head. Thanks for the help!

[kulamdaparim]

never listen to those haters

you got the shit.

[panzerschnott]

love it- that's the way a jazz guitarist from the 40s, 50s, and 60s would have played it.

[redplouhg]

6コーラスですね。

[MontgomerylandFunk]

Second time seeing this video in a while, and your work with the head still impresses me. Charlie's stuff can be incredibly technically difficult on guitar. I should learn this one now! Thanks for sharing.

[micktree]

hey, you are very good jazz player and guitarist, there is nothing wrong with your picking technique, good luck

[gabigluck]

anyone who know's anything about jazz would know that this is a charlie parker tune. i've never heard miles playing it. i've been looking and am yet to find a studio album or live performance of him playing. and i've never heard anyone attribute donna lee to miles.

just an observation

[Djpawno1]

miles plays trumpet on the byrd version

[bradley1107]

actually no its widely disputed, miles claims its his in his autobiography, and yes miles has played donna lee, he was in birds quintet and recorded with him

[haraldtheman]

you should consider changing you're plectrum technique, but pretty nice playing and phrasing!

[hegelped]

man the theme was rigth, but you seriusly need to improve your improvisation sakills

[BMXER1987]

i'm digging it!

[benlemp5055]

Eh ... kinda lame - dudes' time feel is pretty bad and you can tell that he's just moving his fingers around on the guitar more than he's playing what he's hearing in his head. Some more motivic development would make improve his soloing a bunch.

[itsinhiseyes1]

Benlemp... It's all very well to have an opinion, it's another to have one without being able retort the same thing being said against yourself...

[urheadonastick]

benemp5055-come on buddy why the lame comentary? yer probably still hammering out Smoke on the Water-LOL

[alyrljt777]

wow love those pull-offs at 1:39-1:40!! sickkkkk nasty yooooo

[CadillacL]

that's some nice jazz licks. Flows nicely. Swinging.

[dunkyboy77]

that is the worst I'm afraid... do no one else's ears work right??

[bobgure]

No. Only yours. Must get lonely.

[cuahtemoc83]

sounds great! awesome playing!

[enzmusic]

thanks a lot:)

[waset13]

are u improvising or did u memorize the solo

[enzmusic]

both. parts of it were memorized as a natural process during practicing, parts are licks, parts are spontaneaous.

[cuahtemoc83]

awesome playing... great vid

[andreibm00]

nice playing!!! what tipe of guitar you have?please answer me.

[enzmusic]

That's a Gibson L-4 from the late fourties. The pick-up was added later on, it's a humbucker. Originally, the L-4 was an accoustic guitar. Thx 4 listening!

[mothernella]

Great song, really swinging guitarist!

[sunset2046]

yeah good swing

[usafjazzguitar16]

Great playing Pat. You have a nice sound. Where are you located?

[enzmusic]

i live in switzerland. what about you?

[coffeeguy9]

Very nice, like the solo a lot too. The head itself could swing a little harder though, very nice still.

[ReverendNovember]

hater

[budda1064]

nice tune

[kevinherbert]

Cool...I like it......

[owoo008]

you need to work on your time. apart from that very good.

[enzmusic]

i know, i think about that every time I listen to it:)

[rachmaninov46]

nice palying, bad compressor sidechaining! :S

[enzmusic]

i know, i played directly into the camera, and i can't switch that darn thing off:(

[edudzzaj]

very nice guitar tone, nice playing too :)

[WwwLickonizerDe]

Great version!

I've also done a video of "Donna Lee".

[Ollie00000008]

Miles Davis claims to have written in it his autobiography. He only mentions it because SO many people think its Parker's.

[enzmusic]

aah, thanks for your elucidation:)

[Mitch434poj]

Good word there.... elucidation. Thanks for YOUR elucidation <3

And, nice!

[masterfullnoob]

just cuz he claims don mena it actuall yis davis'. appreciate parkers art.

[enzmusic]

so what? let's fly to the moon... and do some ornithology...

[muskete]

Great ! Really enjoyed it!

[klactv]

Kudos to you from an amateur jazz pianist. Your timing is all right and so are the changes!

With you I believe that Miles wrote the tune; rhythmically it is not in Parker's 'shorthand'.

[athar077]

wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow

awesome ability to chord, a little weak on the sweeping technique , but buddy no complaints at all you are incredible and thanks a bunch for taking the time and effort

[OwenClapp]

Great playing...a weird coincidence, I play the same riff as you on that Dbmajor to Dbminor part when I solo over it.

[enzmusic]

not weird, I hear that also sometimes played by other musicians. there must be something floating in space....

[qead0828]

That phrase is from a head called yardbird suite i believe. It's a charlie parker line. On the subject of Donna Lee being Miles' tune, I disagree. Firstly, the phrases he uses in the head of donna lee can be heard in his later recordings. Also, the original key of donna lee (concert Ab major) reflects it's written by an alto saxophonist. I know it's hard to play the tune on tenor but it all fits nicely on the alto. I imagine it would be harder on trumpet as well. Therefore, i think its by parker

[qead0828]

Sorry no it's not from yardbird suite I just remembered it's actually a line in 'Jeru'. It's a big band arrangement done by someone that was played by the Miles' Band

[waset13]

yeah ive been playing for 3 years and im am learning this song but it takes for ever to get it perfect like that but now i have 2 work on speed omg lol... well ur wicked good.

[enzmusic]

thanks:) it took me several attempts to get that sucker down. what was a big help for me is a thing called burst practice where you take a very short sequence and play as fast as you can. also to always maintain from the beginning the same picking pattern is crucial.

[TuviaGering]

on what keys the song is?

[enzmusic]

A flat

[TuviaGering]

Thanks. Love your playing

[enzmusic]

that's very kind, thanks:))

[doublealufwaffe]

That is cool, he reminds me slightly of tiny grimes, given the time gap.

[jazzdog2]

I can play this on piano but not nearly as fast or as good... that's so good man

[clemrhcp]

so good !

very good !

[nemesekernyo]

Nagyon ügyes a bácsi, csak nem annyira zenész...

[d3ad0n]

awesome.

I want to do this song for my next semesters performance piece :)

[enzmusic]

yeah man, do it, i'll play it on a gig next monday:)

[d3ad0n]

oh sweet.

the picking pattern in 3rd position which i think you are doing it in is weird to me, I feel like doing it up higher on the neck for some odd reason :x

[enzmusic]

mick godrick mentioned to me once that he couldn't get my picking. I try to play how it makes sense to me.

[djwaddle]

dude amazing i play blues and classic rock but thats just beutiful.

[enzmusic]

everyone has his one fingering baggage. do it the way it feels good and you can make it sound good:)

[jazzdog2]

sweet improv

[bones4ey]

Brilliant- i luv it.

[turbolawnmower]

cool phrasing, and what program are you using for the accompaniment?

[enzmusic]

band in a box

[Carlosdamiano]

since when band in a box has that amazing sound??!

[guitwiz]

since the latest version:)

[skiingguitarist]

Beautiful tone! Did you learn this by ear, standard notation,tab?

[enzmusic]

by standard notation

[tarusaband]

cool

[dazedandconfucious]

which charlie parker recording of this tune is the best?