Derryl Gabel – Cool Legato Phrases 2

Cool Legato Phrases 2

(See also Cool Legato Phrases and Pentatonic Passages)

Increasingly I find with Derryl’s releases that I am hard-pushed to come up with enough superlatives to adequately cover the contents. The playing throughout is first rate, the explanations are clear and concise, the production is of a very high quality and the contents of the DVD are above that of any other offering on the market in that there are .pdf’s, power tab files etc etc….so taking that as a start point I’m left with a fairly dry list of points to explain.

Starting where the first Legato Phrases leaves off, Derryl is quick to place emphasis on the importance of examining all the presented phrases and then taking them through different inversions/positions/rhythms in order to gain the most benefit from what appears at first to be a simple selection of licks. Each example is played at three tempos – slow, medium and fast – if further explanation were needed then let me re-emphasise the fact that Derryl has a very serious level of technique and some of these phrases involve wide stretches and rapid position shifts that he makes look effortless – my only caveat is as usual, to be careful and don’t hurt yourself.

Cool Legato Phrases 2 doesn’t cover any unusual theoretical premises if you are familiar with the first DVD – to whit:

Heptatonics (actually triads and triad inversions), String Skipping Arpeggios (and a nice acknowledgement of Derek Taylor’s influence), examinations of odd note groupings/polyrhythms, Harmonic Minor Hybrids (think Harmonic Minor Pentatonic – or a scale/arpeggio cross) a further examination of Pentatonics and also some Melodic Minor Hybrid ideas

He also includes some ii-V-I progressions and chord voicings and a few examples of the “Spock” technique utilising two fingers of the right hand (if you’re right handed) to tap notes on the fretboard a la Derek Taylor. So, we’re presented with a plethora of scary licks varying from inside to outside tonalities, incorporating many theoretical concepts and some extremely smooth legato playing that on occasion simply elicited the reaction of “WTAF” – which is to say that those people who crave licks will be as satisfied as those more studious types who are looking for further ideas to incorporate into their own solos.

Although I would have to label this offering as “Advanced” only it is in many ways a tremendously inspiring video and only the lack of accessibility for mere mortals would give me pause in awarding 5 stars.

http://derrylgabel.com/

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