MINOR-KEY MAGIC

AS ONE OF today’s most innovative and creative jazz fusion guitarists, Israeliborn Oz Noy has developed an exciting playing style by blending the sophistication of jazz with the raw energy of rock, blues and funk. In this lesson, we’ll look at Oz’s solo in his instrumental cover of the mid-’60s classic “She’s Not There” by the Zombies. This funky and evocative arrangement appears on his 2020 release Snapdragon and showcases his creative and highly appealing jazz fusion-style soloing on a simple pop chord progression. The solo is played in the key of A minor, and while the majority of it is blues based, there are plenty of harmonically inventive twists and turns along the way.

The transcription presented herein spans the entire solo, which is 32 bars long and begins at 2:38 on the recording. The chord progression over which Noy solos is based on the verse and prechorus sections from the original Zombies version of the song and follows a repeating 16-bar form, or “chorus,” that consists of an eight-bar “A” section followed by an eight-bar “B” section. It’s a good idea to take a look at the chords above the staff and familiarize yourself with the entire progression before digging into the solo, as this will help you get a handle on the overall form and better appreciate Noy’s harmonicmelodic thinking.

Oz begins the solo with some bluesy phrases