Roy Patterson's Solo on I'm Old Fashioned

Transcribed by Matthew Warnock

Roy Patterson is the perfect example of a guitarist who understands all the
aspects of jazz improvisation. In this short two minute and thirty second
solo Roy demonstrates his technical ability as well as his imagination while
staying in the moment. His use of melodic and rhythmic motives, double
time lines and well structured harmonic lines make this solo a bountiful
source of ideas to learn from and to help out any guitarist on their journey
into jazz improvisation.

Roy's rhythmic control is made clear throughout this solo. Hints of Jim Hall
and Bill Evans can be heard coming through Roy's rhythmic development. The
first rhythmic motive we see occurs in the first bar. Roy starts his
solo with a triplet feel, but he leaves the first note of each triplet
as a
rest. This is a great technique to develop momentum while leaving space
and letting the line breath. This rhythmic idea happens four times
throughout the solo in bars 1 and 2, 23 and 24,
73 to 75, and with a slight variation using sixteenth
notes in bars 60 to 64. He augments this idea in bars 34 to 39 and bar
70. The
next rhythmic idea occurs in bars 25 to 27. Here
he uses two sixteenths followed by one eighth, a variation of the
first rhythmic idea. This shows that with just slight changes in
rhythm a whole new idea can be created and developed as Roy does with this
new idea in bars 60 and 61. There are many more rhythmic ideas
used in this solo but for our purposes I will just mention one more that is
interesting and quickly catches the listeners ear. This idea occurs in bars
40- 41, and 55- 56. This idea gives the line a sort of
stretched out swing feel which is a great idea for building momentum and
propelling the line and the band into the next idea.

Roy demonstrates his melodic control and great sense of motivic
development by
using simple melodic techniques that have been used since Bach and before.
The first example of this is his use of the double neighbour tone. This is
when a note is played, for example C, then a note two scale degrees
lower is
played, A, then it is resolved to the middle note, B. This technique occurs
in bars 1 and 2, 13, 43, 44, 48, 62 to 65, 67 and 68. We can also see
the use of another age old motivic idea, the lower neighbour tone. This
is when a note is played, for example C, then the note one scale degree
below it is played, B, then C is played again. This occurs in bars 9, 14
to 16, 18, 20, 29,
32, 44, 45, 48 to 52, 65, 67, 73 and 74. The last motivic idea we see
is the upper neighbour tone. It is the exact opposite of the lower
neighbour tone,
where for example a C is played followed by D and back to C. We see this
in bars 9, 10 and 31. This varied use of neighbour tones gives the
player a very good way of making scales sound musical. It also gives
the listener a firm sense of what is happening because these tried and
tested motives help lead the listener through the scales and modes of
the improvised line.

The next idea we should touch upon in this solo is the use of double time.
Roy shows us his flawless technique every time he plays sixteenth notes.
Each note is crystal clear and has a definite direction. We can see how he
starts his double time lines on different beats of the bar, for example the
and of beat one in bars 22, 28 and 64, on the and of beat three in bar
43 and on the and of beat four in bars 47 and 66. As well as upbeats, he
starts his double
time lines on downbeats in bars 31 and 51. Even though Roy
has the ability to play double time lines whenever he feels like it, he
always spaces them out so the listener doesn't feel overwhelmed. As
well, he
likes to break up the longer double time lines with syncopation and
rests to
help keep the momentum going, allowing the rest of the band to react.
Note the Jim Hall like line in bars 53 and 54.

The last idea I'd like to discuss in this solo is Roy's strong harmonic
sense. Not a chord goes by that he can't float over. In this solo he is
for the most part inside the chord changes but displays the ability to
go outside in a way that doesn't sound ambiguous, but intended. The
perfect example of this is in bars 37 and 38. Here he uses a technique
that can be found in many of his solos where he takes an intervallic
motive, 1, 4, and 5 of a scale, and plays it through the mode
to create a smooth flowing line. The outside part of the line occurs when
Roy inserts a non tonal motive in between two tonal ones, giving the
line a
bit of bite. This is a great example of using a simple idea to make a
normally tonal line sound outside.

This solo is a great example of Roy's command of the fundamentals of the
guitar and music as well. He takes very simple ideas and stretches them
into strong rhythmic and harmonic phrases. As well, he shows us his
technical ability through the use of crystal clear double time runs. This
solo is full of great ides and concepts that any musician should find helpful
in their journey through jazz improvisation.

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