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Bond,
James Bond
As a kid one of my favorite reading activities was to see how
fast I could finish the latest Ian Fleming ‘James Bond’ novel
while listening to my favourite band, the Shadows. With the
release of ‘Dr No’ in 1962, Monty Norman’s ‘Bond’ theme, with
its twangy guitar riff arranged by John Barry, became an instant
classic.
Later, when I started taking guitar lessons I was intrigued
by the ‘adult’ musical vocabulary of this style of music, which
seemed so much more sophisticated, than most of the pop or classic
jazz that I was hearing on the BBC - although there were some
pretty advanced voicings in some of George Harrison’s Beatle
parts.
Minor, Melodic Minor
The text-book melodic minor scale suggests a rivalry between
the ascending major 6th and major 7th versus the descending
minor 6th and 7th, when in practice, these alternates coexist.
The fun begins when it is harmonized with triads and upper partials.
Compared with the major scale, the number of possible chords
is effectively doubled and, other than the tonic, each scale
tone is available in two different flavours.
The scale also allows for the dominant minor V chord ex
1
The ii-V(or v)-i progression, for example, exists in four versions,
the ascending, descending and the hybrids i.e. b6 #7 and #6
b7. ex 2
Seventh, Major Seventh
Take the tonic chord in E minor for example. There are two kinds
of 7th , the minor and the major. Add a ninth and you get the
‘007’ flavored Em9(maj7). In the case of the dominant B7, the
D natural (#9) can comfortably sit above the D#. ex
3 A further step is to add the bluesy Lydian #4, which
supplies the minor 7th on the b6 chord – in E minor, the C7
chord. ex 4
Include the #1 and the maj 3rd as chromatic passing tones to
the 2 and 4 respectively ex 5,
and you end up with a ‘super-melodic’ minor which includes the
whole chromatic scale. This excerpt from my composition ‘Private
Dick’* treats all the intervals as equally available, with some
cool harmonic results, including some ‘thickened line’ parallel
harmonies. ex 6
Strummed, not stirred
The postscript to my Bond obsession occurred in 1977, when I
arrived at CTS studios in Wembley, North London, for a session
that turned out to be for "The Spy Who Loved Me"–
Marvin Hamlisch’s debut as a Bond composer. I got to add my
twang to this Oscar-nominated part of Bond repertoire. Then
the next year I joined Wings and playing “Live And Let Die”
fused my Beatles and Bond obsessions.
* Appears on the Laurence Juber Collection from Solid
Air Records
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About
the author
Laurence Juber has been playing guitar for close
to 40 years, and was the lead guitarist in Paul McCartney's band,
Wings, winning a "Best Rock Instrumental" Grammy for the song,
"Rockestra". However, Laurence, best known to his fans as "LJ",
has since established himself as an artist in his own right, and
has recently extended his catalog to TEN acoustic guitar instrumental
cd's, all featuring his unique fingerstyle technique and extensive
use of alternate tunings. A favorite amongst fans is his CD, "LJ
Plays the Beatles", featuring Laurence's arrangements of Beatle
songs.
Laurence's most recent release is "Different Times", a
collection of 11 original tunes, as well as Laurence's cover versions
of the classic "My Girl", and McCartney's "My Love". Some songs
are solo acoustic, while others feature a light background ensemble.
Laurence also enjoys continued success as a studio guitarist.
He co-wrote and played all the music on the NBC hit, "Three Sisters".
He has also worked on scores for television shows, (Home Improvement,
Boy Meets World, and 7th Heaven), films (Academy Award Winning
Good Will Hunting, Angel Eyes, Dirty Dancing, Pocahontas, Snow
Day), and record albums (including Ringo Starr, Alan Parsons,
Paul Williams, Al Stewart, Belinda Carlisle, Barry Manilow, The
Monkees, and Lou Rawls), as well as several Disney productions,
including music heard at theme parks!
LJ tours extensively in support of these releases with concert
and clinic dates in the United States and Europe. He is also featured
in collaboration with the unique guitar stylist, Preston Reed,
on Groovemasters, Volume 1, and with singer-songwriter Al Stewart
on "Between the Wars". Visit his website at www.LaurenceJuber.com
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