“This was my first nice guitar,” remarks LG. Nashville luthier Dave Johnson (Scale Model Guitars) built this custom ride from a photograph LG provided of an early ’60s, natural-finish SG Special that was owned by her uncle. It has a single Burstbucker 1 humbucker and the Bigsby was acquired for “party time” and was gifted to her by Fly Golden Eagle. She requested that Johnson keep the gun-oil finish to a minimum, so it didn’t stay “new” for too long. The “Fancy” fretboard inlay is an ode to her favorite “white trash” song penned by Bobbie Gentry and popularized by Reba McEntire.
Gilbert uses Ernie Ball Super Slinky Classic Rock N Roll strings (.010–.046) and plays in standard tuning.
A chance meeting at a NAMM booth and love for reusing old materials directed her on a quest for a guitar that incorporated a skateboard deck. Again, relying on Scale Model Guitar’s Dave Johnson to bring it fruition, he used old skate decks LG found for the body and pickguard. The “T.R.K.” fretboard inlays on this one is a nod to LG’s grandfather (“because he’s the reason I play guitar”) who built and sold guitars during her youth. And even though this guitar is a pain in the neck (literally, it’s over 10 pounds), she loves how it sounds onstage thanks to the Bare Knuckle Yardbird pickups.
“A true Peavey should be able to be thrown off the Empire State Building and then play a fucking arena,” laughs LG. She loves this ’80s Peavey Classic VTX Series 65-watt 2x12 combo. She took the 12" speakers out and now routes it through a Fender 4x10 cab with Celestions that has added clarity and focus to her tone.
“I wouldn’t even play this thing at home,” says LG. However, she did use the Gorilla GG-20 to record the bulk of her 2019 record, Fuck, Marry, Kill.
Her longtime stage steward was this Ibanez UE300 multi-effects unit that houses a compressor/limiter, Tube Screamer, and a stereo chorus. It became too finicky and encroaching beers gave her too much anxiety, so she has retired it from the road.
Covering the void (and adding some new mayhem) left by the UE300 is her shapeshifting board that currently has a trio of pedals from her former employer EarthQuaker Devices (Dispatch Master, Night Wire, and Plumes). Other stomps include an Ibanez PH7, Boss DS-1 Distortion, and a Rude Tech Chorus. A Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner keeps her guitars in check.
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To fully digest these changes, it makes sense to examine the progression in small chunks and see how it relates to the traditional blues form. First, let’s look at the “Bird” changes below. (Remember, in jazz circles a triangle means a major 7 chord and a dash means minor 7 chord.)
When looking at a traditional 12-bar blues in F, the first four measures are usually an F7 (I) moving to a Bb7 (IV) in measure 5. In this version, Parker works backwards from the IV chord with a series of IIm-V7 moves that descend in whole-steps. Measures 4 and 3 are “major” IIm–V7s, but the second measure uses a “minor” version with a half-diminished chord for the IIm. Finally, Parker changed the chord in the first measure from a dominant 7 to a major 7 to place us squarely in the key of F. (It also helps with voice-leading across the first four measures.)
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Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker was the figurehead of the bebop era. Listen to his relaxed, swinging take on “Blues for Alice,” which is one of his most popular compositions.
Ex. 1 demonstrates one way to navigate the first four measures. Let’s break that down a bit. I stick entirely within the F major scale (F–G–A–Bb–C–D–E) for the first measure. Easy enough. In the second measure, for the sake of simplicity, I am just implying A7 through both chords. The first two beats outline A7 (A–C#–E–G) and the remaining notes are plucked from the A Super Locrian scale (A–Bb–C–Db–Eb–F–G).
Click here for Ex. 1
I’m using a similar concept in Ex. 2, working with the F major scale in the first measure and thinking A7 in the second. I’m using the D melodic minor scale (D–E–F–G–A–B–C#) over the third measure while targeting the 3 of Cm7 (Eb) on the downbeat of the fourth measure. To create an altered sound over the F7b9, I use a Gbdim7 arpeggio (Gb–A–C–Eb) to nail the b9 (Gb).
Click here for Ex. 2
This next example (Ex. 3) takes cues from great piano players so it requires some quick position shifting. The first shift happens in the first measure, where we move from 5th position up to 8th on the “and” of beat 2. In the second measure, we imply an A7b9 sound using a Bbdim7 (Bb–C–E–G) arpeggio that touches on the #9 (C) and b9 (Bb).
In the second and third measures of this example, we’re basically using the same concept. Because D Dorian (D–E–F–G–A–B–C) and G Mixolydian (G–A–B–C–D–E–F) contain the same notes, we’re simply adding some chromatic passing tones that help the chord tones line up on strong beats. Move the whole concept down a whole-step (to C Dorian/F Mixolydian) for the next measure.
Click here for Ex. 3
The next section of a blues in F might look something like: Bb7–Bb7–F7–F7. Or, if you think of a traditional jazz-blues progression, it might be Bb7–Bdim7–F7–D7. Looking ahead, Parker wanted to target the Gm7 in measure 9. What’s the best way to lead into that chord? Simply add a IIm–V before it. Parker used backcycling to create a series of descending IIm-V7 progressions that connect the Bb7 in measure 5 to the Gm7 in measure 9. Rather ingenious, huh?
While these chords are easy enough to play with basic chord forms, it’s much trickier to solo through them in an authentic way.
Ex. 4 uses the Bb Mixolydian scale (Bb–C–D–Eb–F–G–Ab) over the Bb7 before moving to Eb Mixolydian (Eb–F–G–Ab–Bb–C–Db) for Bm7–Eb7. In the third measure, we move to A minor pentatonic (A–C–D–E–G) before coasting through an Abm7 arpeggio (Ab–Cb–Eb–Gb) for the last measure.
Click here for Ex. 4
The next lick (Ex. 5) demonstrates how you can use simple melodies to navigate this chord progression. The first measure is a simple lick based on the Bb7 chord, then we create a melody just using the F major scale—it’s all about landing on the Gm7 chord at the right time.
Click here for Ex. 5
Our final example over this section (Ex. 6) is just as loose with the chords, but makes sure to hit them as they land. The first measure uses the Bb major pentatonic scale (Bb–C–D–F–G) before using some outside notes that resolve to the root of the Am7 chord. At this point you should be seeing that a big part of the bebop genre is based on rhythm. The mixture of triplets and heavy syncopation is an essential part of the sound.
Click here for Ex. 6
The final section of a blues in F usually goes: C7–Bb7–F7–C7, but that’s too basic for beboppers. In Bird blues, we use a two-measure IIm-V7 progression before increasing the harmonic rhythm with F7–D7–Gm7–C7. In Roman numerals, this translates to I7–VI7–IIm7–V7.
I find the best way to play over this section is to remember you’re playing a blues, so some blues scale ideas might not be a bad idea, as shown in Ex. 7. We’ve even included some slight bends!
Click here for Ex. 7
This final example (Ex. 8) feels like another melody rather than something clever. Remember, we’re playing music, and often the best music is the type that your audience can sing along to. So don’t be afraid to hold off and play something melodic.
Click here for Ex. 8
Lastly, here’s a short backing track to help you practice these ideas, and then come up with some of your own. Keep listening and copying and before long you’ll be soaring like Bird!