La La means I love you' - Booker T
With
Joe GlossopJoe Glossop recreates Booker T. Jones's Hammond sound on 'La La', dialling in the drawbar and percussion settings behind the lead tone.
What's in the course
45 lessons (3h 0m) · 1 free
01. Performance: 'Green Onions' Booker T
3:01
02. Tones: 'Green Onions' Booker T
3:08
03. Playing the tune: 'Green Onions' Booker T
8:21
04. Lead lines: 'Green Onions' Booker T
4:43
05. Bassline: 'Green Onions' Booker T
2:01
06. Performance: Jimmy McGriff - All About My Girl
3:43
07. Keyboard view performance: Jimmy McGriff - All About My Girl
3:43
08. Tones: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff
4:01
09. Intro: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff
2:10
10. Playing the head: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff
2:58
11. Bassline: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff
1:52
12. Ending: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff
1:51
13. Improvisation and comping: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff
4:38
01. A Change is Gonna Come' - Sam Cooke
7:46
02. Keyboard View: 'A Change is Gonna Come' - Sam Cooke
1:20
03. La La means I love you' - Booker T
You are here5:39
04. Keyboard view: 'La La means I love you' - Booker T
2:25
05. Groovin' Booker T & the MGs
4:57
06. Keyboard view: 'Groovin' ' - Booker T & the MGs
1:15
07. Time is Tight' - Booker T & the MGs
5:31
08. Keyboard view: 'Time is Tight' - Booker T & the MGs
1:39
09. 'The Girl from Ipanema' - Antonio Carlos Jobim
6:17
10. Keyboard view: 'The Girl from Ipanema' - Antonio Carlos Jobim
2:36
11. Blues based on 'Blue Bash' - Jimmy Smith
7:59
12. Keyboard view: Blues based on 'Blue Bash' - Jimmy Smith
3:24
13. Walk on the Wild Side' M series jam - Jimmy Smith
6:44
Lesson transcript
Music Lesson: Booker T. Jones Tunes
Okay, guys, we're going to do a few Booker tunes. Sure, you've all heard of him, very famous for "Green Onions," obviously, but he did lots of other stuff, usually on a BLC3.
First Tune: "La La"
This first one's called "La La." It means "I love you." Strange title, but nice.
Tonal Characteristics
- The tones in this song are very interesting.
- He kind of uses a lot of different things all in the same space.
- Very good at switching between sounds.
Main Lead Sound
The main lead sound there is created with:
- A set of drawbars
- Second harmonic percussion
He plays it quite low down. There is a lot of top on this organ. On some organs, you might need to take some bass out, but on this one, you don't really play it down there. It can sound quite clunky and low.
Pad Settings
For the pad, we're using these two settings:
- If you've got numbers 8 and 4ft, it doesn't really matter about the drawbar settings.
Main Tone Creation
We'd play like this:
- C
- A
- B
- 11
That's how the main tone is created.
Dynamics and Swell
It's very interesting how he uses the swell in between chords. You can use it to really play with dynamics, making it engaging by coming in and out.
B Section
In the B section, it switches to a more toppy, full sound, depending on how you want to play it. You can kind of use glissando and that kind of technique. Personally, I find that I prefer that to other methods, it just doesn't work for me otherwise.
Switching Sounds
Those are the main tones used in the track.
- In terms of switching between sounds on this tune:
- From the lead line
- From the percussion
- To the mid-8 section
The switching requires careful attention:
- You've got to change the Leslie and the preset from one setting to another.
Key Switching Techniques
- From that set to that set in the gap, sort of thing.
- Leslie: different set of drawbars
- Coming out of that section requires the same approach: Leslie on slow again and then back to your original setting.
Summary
And so on! Enjoy the exploration of these tones and techniques in your playing!
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Joe Glossop is a keyboard player from Sheffield who has made his name on the Hammond organ. He currently holds the organ chair in Tom Jones's touring band, and has played with Van Morrison and James Hunter, as well as on piano and Rhodes. His courses get the real Hammond sound out of any keyboard - drawbar registration, the Leslie, the walking-bass left hand, and the comping and soloing vocabulary of the soul-jazz, blues and rock organ traditions, from Jimmy Smith to Booker T.
