| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2682.1 | mail or post | FRETZ::HEISER | | Mon Feb 22 1993 14:04 | 1 |
| I have numbers 2 and 3, anyone have the first one?
|
| 2682.2 | fyi | FRETZ::HEISER | | Mon Feb 22 1993 15:02 | 12 |
| to subscribe to these lessons, send mail to:
DECWRL::"guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au"
and in the body of your message include this:
subscribe {your Usenet email address}
For example, FRETZ::HEISER is heiser@fretz.enet.dec.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Mike
|
| 2682.3 | in the interest of efficiency... | EZ2GET::STEWART | Fight fire with marshmallows! | Mon Feb 22 1993 21:49 | 5 |
|
Is there any problem with just starting a new note here and storing
these lessons? Any existing subscribers to these lessons want to
volunteer?
|
| 2682.4 | I would like to see them | POBOX::PATLA | Elvis sells PATHWORKS at DEC! | Tue Mar 02 1993 12:09 | 7 |
| RE: .1
could you send me the two that you have?
Thanks,
PATWRX::PATLA
|
| 2682.5 | REQUEST FOR LESSONS | EPTMAX::DESPO | Jim Despo - Storage | Fri Mar 05 1993 16:23 | 7 |
| I just sent in my subscription. Would you be able to send over the
first two.
Thank you,
Jim
EPTMAX::DESPO
|
| 2682.6 | 5 so far... | FRETZ::HEISER | | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:24 | 29 |
| Article 7000 of alt.guitar.tab:
Xref: nntpd2.cxo.dec.com alt.guitar.tab:7000 rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature:2687
Newsgroups: alt.guitar.tab,rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature
Path: nntpd2.cxo.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!wupost!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!princeton!phoenix.Princeton.EDU!viswswrn
From: viswswrn@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (V. Visweswaran)
Subject: Guitar lessons (Big posting)
Organization: Princeton University
Seeing the number of requests for the guitar lessons, I thought I might
as well post them on the net and reduce some traffic. I am just another
pupil :-) but since these lessons are archived publicly, I assume that
there are no objections on the part of the people involved in creating/
maintaining the guitar list to my posting them.
Please note that you can get these from 149.171.224.9 in
/pub/guitar-lessons.
Vishy Visweswaran
INDEX
-----
Title Style Level Instructor
----- ----- ----- ----------
1 BASIC BLUES 12-bar Blues, theory B Olav Torvund
2 THE BLUES MELODY AND BLUES SCA Blues, theory I Olav Torvund
3 BLUE NOTES AND PASSING TONES, Blues, theory I Olav Torvund
4 Scale Harmonization and Chord Application of music I Dave Good
5 The Pentatonic Scale Theory B Bill Quinn
|
| 2682.7 | Lesson 1 | FRETZ::HEISER | | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:26 | 204 |
| Lesson: 1
Title: BASIC BLUES
Level: Beginner (+Intermediate)
Style: 12-bar Blues, theory
Instructor: Olav Torvund
[Editor's note - Olav is sending us this lesson for Norway. Some of
the musical terms he is using are spelled slightly differently from the
way they are spelled in the U.S. (they are probably closer to the Latin
than English allows) Wherever these spelling differences occur, I
have added the U.S. English equivalent initially, but have left them
in their original spelling throughout the lesson.]
I will start with a look at the basic 12-bar blues form, familiar to
almost any guitarist. Every guitarist interested in blues, folk,
country or rock should know the 12-bar blues by heart; Just switch on
the "auto-pilot" and play.
In it's simplest form, it consist of three lines in AAB form. The first
4-measure line (motiv) [motif, motive - ed] is repeated with a slight
variation, and then a new motiv is introduced in the third and
concluding line. If we put chord numbers in the three lines, it will
be:
1 2 3 4
| I / / / | I / / / | I / / / | I / / / |
5 6 7 8
| IV / / / | IV / / / | I / / / | I / / / |
9 10 11 12
| V7 / / / | V7 / / / | I / / / | / / / / |
I = tonika [tonic - ed], or the basic chord/note of the key you are playing.
IV = subdominant
V7 = dominant 7th
If we apply the chord group to some key signatures, you will have the
following chords:
E-major: I = E, IV = A, V7 = B7 (B7=H7 as the notation
some European countries)
A-major: I = A, IV = D, V7 = E7
D-major: I = D, IV = G, V7 = A7
G-major: I = G, IV = C, V7 = D7
C-major: I = C, IV = F, V7 = G7.
Those of you who have a basic knowledge of music theory, will notice
that I started in the key of E-major, and moved leftwards in the circle
of fifths. All of you should notice that the subdominant (IV) chord
in one key is the tonika in the key below, and that the dominant is the
tonika in the key above.
Listen carefully to the dominant7 - tonika relationship. Listen how the
dominant7 leads back to tonika. Those of you who are interested in
music theory should notice that to some extent the dissonant minor
fifth interval between the 7th note and the 4th note in a scale will be
resolved by going to the tonika (1st note). (The 7th and 4th notes of
the scale are the 5th and the 7th notes in the dominant 7th chord).
Let us again put it to the five keys (the dominant 7 in parenthesis):
Key 7th note 4th note Tonika
E-major (B7): D# A E
A-major (E7): G# D A
D-major (A7): C# G D
G-major (D7): F# C G
C-major (G7): B F C.
Play the two related chords (V7 - I), and play the interval up (notes
7-4-1), down (notes 1-4-7) and as a block, each time resolving to the
tonika.
Try also to substitute the IV of the scale with the II in the interval,
and listen to the effect (E: A-> F#, A: D -> E, D: G -> E, G: C-> A, C:
F->D). The II note is also part of the dominant7 chord, but you will
then have a minor third interval instead of a minor fifth, and it does
not call that much for an immediate resolution.
The dominant - tonika relationship is very important to any kind of
western music, not only to blues. So listen carefully, and train your
ear to identify it when you listen to music.
Now, let us go back to the 12-bar blues, and take a second look at the
last line, bar 9 - 12. As it was written, the dominant7 is resolved to
tonika from bar 10 to 11. If we substitute the tonika in the last bar
with the dominant7, we will get a chord that leads back to the
beginning. The dominant7 will be resolved when you start the next verse
on the tonika chord. Then the last line will be like this:
9 10 11 12
| V7 / / / | V7 / / / | I / / / | V7 / / / |
The V7 chord functions as a TURNAROUND chord. It will sound even better
if you hold the tonika chord for the first beat in bar 12, and change
to V7 on the second beat.
You cannot end a song on that chord, so you have to play another verse.
Be sure to end on the tonika when you do not want to play any more
verses.
The last line is often played with a subdominant instead of a dominant7
in the 10th bar:
9 10 11 12
| V7 / / / | IV / / / | I / / / | I V7 / / |
In my ears the last line sounds better if you are using a turnaround V7
chord. There will be a bit too much of V7 if you play it both in the
10th and 12th bar, but that is a matter of taste. If you do not use a
turnaround, both variations may sound well.
If we then go back to the first line, you can substitute the I chord on
the last three beats in bar 4 with a I7 chord (i.e. from E to E7 in the
key of E, etc). Then the line will be like this:
1 2 3 4
| I / / / | I / / / | I / / / | I I7 / / |
Listen to the effect: You put some tension to the last three beats of
the line, and that tension is not resolved before you change to the IV
chord in the second line. And if you go back an look at the
relationship between the keys, you will realize that the 7-chord on the
tonika is the dominant-7 to the IV chord. So what you do is to
introduce some kind of a V7 - I relationship when you go to the second
line. I do not know enough about music theory to decide if that is just
a change of chords, or if you are actually changing key from I to IV,
and then back to the I key (for instance from E-major to A-major, and
then back to E-major in bar 7). But I do not think that it matters.
The IV chord in a blues is often substituted with the IV7 chord: In the
key of E-major you will often play A7 instead of A. If you put all
this in the 12-bar blues with a turnaround, it will be like this:
1 2 3 4
| I / / / | I / / / | I / / / | I I7 / / |
5 6 7 8
| IV7 / / / | IV7 / / / | I / / / | I / / / |
9 10 11 12
| V7 / / / | IV7 / / / | I / / / | / V7 / / |
In E-major, that will be:
1 2 3 4
| E / / / | E / / / | E / / / | E7 / / / |
5 6 7 8
| A7 / / / | A7 / / / | E / / / | E / / / |
9 10 11 12
| B7 / / / | A7 / / / | E / / / | / B7 / / |
Often you will hear a IV7 chord in the second bar instead of a I chord.
The first line will then be like this:
1 2 3 4
| E / / / | A7 / / / | E / / / | E7 / / / |
Listen to the effect of the chords. Listen to other people playing, and
try to identify if they are using I or IV7 chord in bar 2, if they go
to the I7 or not in bar 4, if they play IV7 or V7 in bar 10 and if they
use a turnaround chord.
You will soon realize that a lot of blues-like songs do not fit into a
form like the one described. You should remember that the 12-bar blues
form is not a rule for blues-players, it is just a label that has been
attached to a common blues-form. But then you have a point of departure
for ear-training: If you hear that the music played almost, but not
exactly, fits into the form you know, then you know what to listen for
and try out: What are the variations? What chord is being played? etc.
You can also find some 8 and 16 bar forms, but they will be covered in
an upcoming lesson.
Class assignment:
I will suggest a follow-up thread: Listen to songs with variations of
the blues-form, identify the variations and post what it is to
alt.guitar.tab. Give us the name of the artist/composer, the name of
the song and tell about the variation(s). In that way you can train
your ear, and you will help your friends on the net with listening and
ear-training material.
One last reminder:
Remember that you should be a musician, not only a guitar player. You
have to train your ears, not only your eyes and your fingers.
Olav Torvund
University of Oslo
Norway
Olavt@jus.uio.no
|
| 2682.8 | Lesson 2 | FRETZ::HEISER | | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:27 | 243 |
| Title: THE BLUES MELODY AND BLUES SCALE.
Style: Blues, theory
Level: Intermediate
Instructor: Olav Torvund
Those who want to play blues, should know the blues scale. Guitar
players should know how to finger blues scales all the way up the neck in the
so called "box position". But let us start with some peculiarities of
blues tonality.
If you start from the root note and play a scale, a major scale is
like this: (A major scale is often called a diatonic scale.)
I + II + III - IV + V + VI + VII - I.
In the most favored blues-guitar keys, it will be (starting in C-
this time):
C: C + D + E - F + G + A + B - C
G: G + A + B - C + D + E + F# - G
D: D + E + F# - G + A + B + C# - D
A: A + B + C# - D + E + F# + G# - A
E: E + F# + G# - A + B + C# + D# - E
If there is a + between two notes, it indicates a whole step (two
frets), and - means a half step (one fret). The interval between notes
I and III determines if it is major or minor scale: A major third,
consisting of two whole steps (four frets) between the I and III notes
gives major, and a minor third with one whole and one half step (three
frets) between notes I and III gives minor.
The blues scale is like this:
I + - IIIb + IV + V + - VIIb + I.
In the five keys, it will be:
C: C + - Eb + F + G + - Bb + C
G: G + - Bb + C + D + - F + G
D: D + - F + G + A + - C + D
A: A + - C + D + E + - G + A
E: E + - G + A + B + - D + E
It consists of 5 notes, compared to the 7 notes in the major scale.
Notice that there is no II or VI notes, and the III and VII notes are
lowered one half step.
If we write a major and a blues scale in parallel, they look like
this:
Major: I + II + III - IV + V + VI + VII - I
Blues: I + - IIIb + IV + V + - VIIb + I
The interval I + - IIIb is a minor third, that should indicate a minor
scale. But a blues melody is usually played over major chords. And a
major chord consists of the notes I + III + V. So we will often play a
melody based on a scale with a minor third over chords with a major
third. For that reason, blues does not have a very well established
tonality, and that is part of the blues-sound.
You should also note the VIIb in the blues scale, compared to the VII
in the major scale. If you read my lesson about the 12-bar blues form,
you will remember that I stressed the dominant-7 to tonika [tonic - ed]
relationship, and I stressed the effect of the intervals built on the
VII note: First of all the minor fifth interval from the VII note to
the IV note, but also the minor third interval from the VII note to the
II note. Now you can notice that both the VII note and the II note are
omitted from the blues scale, but are still part of the blues-harmony.
Let us then introduce the "box positions":
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
1 4 7b 3b 5 1
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| 5 1 4 | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
3b | | | 7b 3b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
Box 1. The numbers refer to the numbers in the scale. I will refer to
the fret marked with a double line as the position. If you play it in
5th position, you will be in the key of A, 8th position will give you
C, and note that both the 12th and the 0th (open) positions give you
the key of E.
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| 5 1 4 | |
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
3b | | | 7b 3b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | 5 | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
4 7b 3b | 1 4
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
Box 2: 7th pos -> A, 10th pos -> C,
12th pos and open -> D, 2nd (and
14th) -> E.
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | 5 | |
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
4 7b 3b | 1 4
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
5 1 4 7b | 5
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | | 3b |
| | | | | |
Box 3: 9th pos -> A,
12th pos and open -> C,
2nd ps - > D, 4th pos - > E.
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
5 1 4 7b | 5
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
| | | | 3b |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | 5 1 | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
7b 3b | | 4 7b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
Box 4: 12th pos and open - > A,
3rd (and 15th) pos -> C, 5th pos -> D
and 7th pos -> E.
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | 5 1 | |
| | | | | |
+===+===+===+===+===+
| | | | | |
7b 3b | | 4 7b
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
1 4 7b 3b 5 1
| | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
Box 5: 2nd pos - > A, 5th pos -> C,
9th pos -> E, 12th pos and open -> G.
Class Assignment:
Have someone play a 12-bar blues accompaniment or play along with a
tape. Practice those 5 boxes in the 5 keys mentioned. Listen carefully
how the scale works over different chords.
After a while you will realize that it is boring to play the scale up
and down. You must play melodies, and you have to utilize notes outside
the blues-scale as "spices" in your playing. But we will cover that in
a later lesson, where we will look at some blues-licks.
Olav Torvund University of Oslo Norway Olavt@jus.uio.no
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
3 BLUE NOTES AND PASSING TONES, Blues, theory I Olav Torvund
4 Scale Harmonization and Chord application of music i Dave Good
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
|
| 2682.9 | Lesson 3 | FRETZ::HEISER | | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:29 | 222 |
| Title: BLUE NOTES AND PASSING TONES, BENDING.
Style: Blues, theory
Level: Intermediate
Instructor: Olav Torvund
If you read my previous lesson on the blues scale, you will remember
that the blues-tonality is unstable and unsettled, because you play a
minor of scale over major chords. You should also remember that one and
a half steps up from the root gives you a minor third, and two steps up
from the root gives you a major third. I will also remind you of the
VII note, where you have the VIIb note in the blues scale, but a VII
note in the major scale and in the chords.
The third and the seventh notes are the two most important "blue
notes". You can drift from minor third to major third and back, and
from minor seventh to major seventh. You can do it with a hammer on
(and an optional pull-off), or by bending the strings.
[editor's note - the notation below represents hammer on as 'h' and a
pull off as 'p'. Refer to the description following the lesson for
details regarding these techniques]
Without proper graphics, it is hard to illustrate string-bending. But
the point is to push or pull the string across the fingerbord, and by
that raise the pitch. On the upper 2 - 3 (E B G) strings one would
usually push, and pull on the lower (D A E) strings. You can bend the
string up one half note, a whole note or even more. Lighter strings
make string-bending easier, but it is also a question of strength and
technique.
Use your third finger, and support it with first and second finger. If
you make a long stretch, you can push the string under adjacent
strings, lifting them away with your left hand fingers.
Listen to the effect of the blue-notes. You should also listen to the
flatted fifth, the third of the "blue notes".
Practice string bending in the box-positions. Bend IIIb up to III, IV
up to V, Vb up to V, VIIb up to VII and VIIb up to I.
THE 6th NOTE
The 6th note is an effective note in an introduction. It gives a lick a
kick-off, and you have to go on. The 6th is one note (two frets) up
from the 5th, or one half note (one fret) down from the minor 7th.
Compare the following two licks, both played in E using an open E
chord position:
___3___ ( tie )
| | | | |
|---------0------|-----|--------------------
|---0 h 3--------5-----5--------------------
|------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------
___3___ ( tie )
| | | | |
|---------0------|-----|--------------------
|---0 h 2--------5-----5--------------------
|------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------
The only difference is that you play the minor (or flatted) 7th on the 3rd
fret, 2nd string in the first lick; and the 6th on 2nd fret, 2nd string
in the second lick. Listen carefully, and notice how the music is put
to rest on the I note (E) in the first lick, and how the 6th in the 2nd
lick will push you forward.
You should also notice the doubling of the I note, when it is first
played on open 1st string, and then on the 5th fret, 2nd string.
Let us then play the same kind of lick in A, and add a quick slide from
the minor to major third in the opening. A note in () means a grace note:
___3__
| | |
|------------------5----------------------
|------------5---7-------(8)-s-10-----------
|---(5)-s-6-------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
Listen once again to the effect when you play the 7b instead of the
6th:
___3__
| | |
|------------------5----------------------
|------------5--8-------(8)-s-10-----------
|---(5)-s-6-------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
I have indicated a slide from the 8th to the 10th fret on the 2nd string. You
should also try to bend the tone one whole step up from the 8th fret. You
will then start at a 7b (G) and bend it up to the root (A). Listen to
B.B. King. He often uses intros like that.
We will end our short exploration of the 6th with a third lick, now in
G:
b b
|-----------------6(7)--6(7)---------------
|--------5----8----------------8----------
|----7------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
b
This time the note (7) means that you should bend up to the note:
Bending in 6th fret (the 3b of the G-scale) up one half step (equals
the note on 7th fret), which means bending up to a major 3, before
going back to the root. This lick is based on some Lonnie Johnson
playing.
Once again, we can substitute the 6th with the min7th, and listen to
the difference:
b b
|-----------------6(7)--6(7)---------------
|--------6----8----------------8----------
|----7------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
In this lick, you should also listen to the effect of the III note. You
bend up to it, and then go back to the root. Listen how the same note
works around an open-E chord in E:
____
| |
|--|---|-----------------------------------
|--|---|-----------------------------------
|--0-h-1----------------------------------
|----------2------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------
By going from 3b to 3 and then to the root (1), you establish the root
(tonika) chord very solidly. Particularly if you go from the IV chord
to the I chord, a little swing from 3b to 3 very clearly underscores
that harmonic movement. The 3 note is very dissonant, and will not work
with the IV7th chord, so you are telling very clearly that you are "going
home" when you use that note.
THE FLATTED FIFTH (5b)
The last note I will mention, is the flatted fifth. It is also often
used on the "way home". Try this simple lick in A:
|----------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------
|---------0------------------------------
|---0-h-2-----1-p-0----------------------
|--------------------3---0---------------
|----------------------------------------
And compare it to one without the flatted fifth:
|----------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------
|---------0------------------------------
|---0-h-2-----2-p-0----------------------
|--------------------3---0---------------
|----------------------------------------
I will end this lesson with another lick with a flatted fifth. This is
also played in A, and can be connected to the B.B. King like A-intro:
|----------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------
|------10-8------------------------------
|-----------9---(7)h8-7------------------
|-----------------------10---7-----------
|----------------------------------------
Olav Torvund University of Oslo Norway Olavt@jus.uio.no
----------------------------------------------------------
Techniques:
h = hammer-on. You play the first note, then hammer on to the second
note with your left hand finger without picking the string.
p = pull-off. You play the first note, then pull off the finger
fretting the first note, and let the second note ring without picking
the string with your right hand. You can either lift your left hand
finger right off the string, or you can snap/pick it with the left
hand finger that you are pulling off.
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
4 Scale Harmonization and Chord application of music i Dave Good
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
|
| 2682.10 | Lesson 4 | FRETZ::HEISER | | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:32 | 232 |
| Title: Scale Harmonization and Chord Construction
Level: Intermediate
Style : Application of music theory
Instructor: Dave Good
In this lesson, I want to look at building chords through scale harmonizing.
I am asked over and over questions like "How do you make this chord?" and
"What chord is this?" Well, I would like to present the idea of chord
construction, first from a theoretical point of view, and then how to relate
this to the guitar. If you already know basic music theory, you can skip
this first section, if not, please read and understand the following before
jumping into part 2.
Part One.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all, I would like to define and clarify a few terms
that we will use:
Interval:
The distance between two notes. The following is a chart of
intervals, followed by their distances in half-steps and an example.
Name Distance Example
-------------------------------------------
Unison 0 half steps C to C
Minor Second 1 half step C to Db
Major Second 2 half steps C to D
Minor Third 3 half steps C to Eb
Major Third 4 half steps C to E
Perfect Fourth 5 half steps C to F
Augmented Fourth/
Diminished Fifth 6 half steps C to F#
Perfect Fifth 7 half steps C to G
Augmented Fifth/
Minor Sixth 8 half steps C to G#
Major Sixth/
Diminished Seventh 9 half steps C to A
Minor Seventh 10 half steps C to Bb
Major Seventh 11 half steps C to B
Octave 12 half steps C to C
Scale:
A specific set of intervals contained within one octave. In this lesson
we will deal only with the Major scale, but will utilize the Minor and others
soon. The interval formula for the major scale is as such (in C Major):
root major major perfect perfect major major
second third fourth fifth sixth seventh octave
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
C D E F G A B C
I ii iii IV V vi vii* I
The Roman numerals underneath the note name indicate the type of chord
that is formed when the scale is harmonized, which is what we will look
at in this lesson.
Capital letter (I) indicates a major chord
Lower case letter (i) indicates a minor chord
An asterisk (*) next to it indicates a diminished chord
A plus sign (+) indicates an augmented chord; there is no augmented
chord in the example above since the augmented chord does not occur
naturally in the major scale. example: III+
That about does it as far as basic information you will need for this
lesson. The best thing to do would be to commit the previous
information to memory, and that will make putting it into practice much
easier.
Part Two.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
On to the fun stuff. First off, pick a key. Any key. For the sake
of clarity and simplicity, we'll pick C Major. Once you have these
ideas down, you can go back and apply them to any scale, including
minor, synthetic, and any others you wish to mention. Now, spell out
the scale and number it as above, so that you have:
C D E F G A B C
I ii iii IV V vi vii* octave
Now, harmonize the scale in thirds, i.e. take a note, and put the second note
from it on top, such as C-E. This is called harmonizing in DIATONIC thirds,
where the third is either major or minor, depending on which note is contained
within the key signature.
So, once you have done this, you should have the following pairs:
C-E Maj
D-F
E-G
F-A Maj
G-B Maj
A-C
B-D
(There is no need to repeat the octave here)
Notice that pairs 1,4,and 5 are major thirds, and that pairs 2,3,6 and
7 are minor thirds. This is the pattern you will ALWAYS get when
harmonizing a major scale.
Now go back and add a fifth above the root of each third, i.e. take the
fourth note over from the root, such as C-G. You should end up with
the following:
C-E-G Maj
D-F-A
E-G-B
F-A-C Maj
G-B-D Maj
A-C-E
B-D-F
Now, look at the resulting triads. You will notice that the 1st, 4th
and 5th triads are major chords, the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th triads are minor
chords, and the 7th triad is a diminished chord. This is the pattern
for all major keys.
So, looking at the results we get the following formulas:
Major chord: Root note, Major third, Perfect fifth (from root)
Minor chord: Root note, Minor third, Perfect fifth
Diminished chord: Root note, Minor third, Diminished fifth
Now that you know the theory involved, memorize all the above, and
apply it to all 12 keys. You will end up with double sharps and double
flats in some of the keys, so don't be alarmed when it happens-just
check and make sure that you have the correct intervals from the root
note.
That Was Interesting, But How Do I Apply It To The Guitar??
-----------------------------------------------------------
Simple! First thing you do is get a fret board chart, such as the one
at the end of this lesson. Then, build your triads as above. Next,
pick a position on the neck and build the chord in that position,
e.g.:
In Eighth Position
C Major chord : C E G
8 9 10 11
E|---1---|-------|-------|-------|
B|---1---|-------|-------|-------|
G|-------|---2---|-------|-------|
D|-------|-------|-------|-------|
A|-------|-------|-------|-------|
E|-------|-------|-------|-------|
Chord Notes:
C
G E
This is called a Chord Inversion, where the root note of the chord is
not the lowest sounding note. In this case, it is a first inversion
chord, because the third of the chord (E) is on the bottom. If the
fifth of the chord (G) were on the bottom, it would be referred to as
a second inversion chord.
Well, that's about all for this lesson. Next time we will examine more
chords obtained by adding to the basic triads, and will begin
harmonizing the minor scale. If you have any questions, feel free to
write me at either E-Mail address below, and I will happily answer
anything you have to ask.
Dave Good
Internet: blj@tiamat.umd.umich.edu
blj@cw-f1.umd.umich.edu
========================================================================
Fingerboard by Frank Palcat, taken from Usenet:
Musical note equivalencies:
A# = Bb B# = C
C# = Db Cb = B
D# = Eb E# = F
F# = Gb Fb = E
G# = Ab
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
E||-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--| thin
B||-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--| ||
G||-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--| ||
D||-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--| ||
A||-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--| \/
E||-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--| thick
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
E |-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|
B |-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|
G |-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|
D |-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|
A |-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|
E |-F--|-F#-|-G--|-G#-|-A--|-A#-|-B--|-C--|-C#-|-D--|-D#-|-E--|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| Frank Palcat \ e-----0-------- |
| Ottawa, Ontario, Canada / B--3-----3----- Oh,____ life___ |
| E-mail: frank.palcat@synapse.org \ G-----------2-- |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
5 The Pentatonic Scale Theory B Bill Quinn
6 More Chord Construction Using Music Theory Applicat I Dave Good
7 Right and Left Hand Technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
8 Right hand Left hand technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
9 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% Received: by enet-gw.pa.dec.com; id AA20432; Sun, 28 Feb 93 20:45:10 -0800
% Received: by conch.vast.unsw.edu.au id AA27206 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for guitar-lessons-list); Mon, 1 Mar 1993 13:11:59 +110
% Received: by conch.vast.unsw.edu.au id AA27201 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for guitar-lessons-out); Mon, 1 Mar 1993 13:11:56 +110
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% Subject: GUITAR LESSON OF THE WEEK - NUMBER 4
|
| 2682.11 | Lesson 5 | FRETZ::HEISER | | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:38 | 121 |
| Title: The Pentatonic Scale
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Style: Theory
Instructor: Bill Quinn
Hello, I'm Bill. I've thought a lot about the '1st lesson' but the
only thing that really makes sense is to just jump right in. For those of
you who know the pentatonic scale - this will surely be a nice review, for
the rest of you, get ready for the 1st step in playing lead.
The guitar makes learning scales easy! To most players, a scale is
just a memorized fingering pattern. Sure, the pattern contains notes, and
the notes have names, but its still just a pattern. I will use the term
'pattern' to refer to a set of places (frets) on the guitar neck where you
will find the notes in a scale.
Here is a pentatonic pattern:
E ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|-----|--O--|-----|
B ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|-----|--O--|-----|
G ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|--O--|-----|-----|
D ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|--O--|-----|-----|
A ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|--O--|-----|-----|
E ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|-----|--O--|-----|
The picture shows a 'top view' of a right handed neck. The horizontal
lines are strings and the vertical lines are frets. The letters to the left
side of the 'neck' are the string names (and tunings).
The O's are the places to play. We will soon see that this pattern is
one of many ways to play a pentatonic scale. Remember we are really talking
about patterns *NOT* scales.
Another look at the pattern:
E ||-----|-----|--1--|-----|-----|--2--|-----|
B ||-----|-----|--4--|-----|-----|--5--|-----|
G ||-----|-----|--2--|-----|--3--|-----|-----|
D ||-----|-----|--5--|-----|--1--|-----|-----|
A ||-----|-----|--3--|-----|--4--|-----|-----|
E ||-----|-----|--1--|-----|-----|--2--|-----|
The numbers represent each unique note in the pattern. If we start
on the bottom string and play from left to right, we will be playing the notes
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2). There are only 5 unique notes! No duh?
Thats why it's called a PENTA(meaning 5) TONIC(meaning note or tone) pattern.
Now what? Well, as most experienced players will tell you, this is
the pattern to learn. Although there are *MANY* ways to memorize the notes
in a pentatonic scale, this is the most common way to do it.
I will leave you with the following exercises in TAB to help you get
familiar with the given pentatonic pattern. Next week, we will take a look
at ocatves and more pentatonic fingerings. In a couple of weeks we will give
the pattern a good work-out by having a technique/lick lesson.
exercise: (playing the pentatonic scale at the 5th fret)
---------------------------------5--8--------------------------------8--5---
---------------------------5--8--------------------------------8--5---------
---------------------5--7--------------------------------7--5---------------
---------------5--7--------------------------------7--5---------------------
---------5--7--------------------------------7--5---------------------------
---5--8--------------------------------8--5---------------------------------
exercise: (play '3 notes down' then 'back up')
---8--5-----5---------------------------------------------------------------
---------8-----8--5--8--5-----5---------------------------------------------
---------------------------7-----7--5--7--5-----5---------------------------
---------------------------------------------7----7--5--7--5----------------
--------------------------------------------------------------7-------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
exercise: (skipping strings)
-------------------------5--------------------------------------------------
---5--------------8---------------------------------------------------------
----------5-----------------7-----------------------------------------------
------7--------------7------------------------------------------------------
--------------7-------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Practice each of these to a metronome at a tempo that is easy - then work
the tempo up until you can't play the exercise. Make note of your highest
tempo at each pratice session and always try to improve!
See ya next week!
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
6 More Chord Construction Using Music Theory Applicat I Dave Good
7 Right and Left Hand Technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
8 Right hand Left hand technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
9 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
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% Received: by conch.vast.unsw.edu.au id AA17193 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for guitar-lessons-out); Mon, 8 Mar 1993 09:00:04 +100
% Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1993 09:00:04 +1000
% Message-Id: <199303072300.AA17193@conch.vast.unsw.edu.au>
% To: guitar-students@vast.unsw.edu.au
% From: guitar-lesson-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
% Subject: GUITAR LESSON OF THE WEEK - NUMBER 5
|
| 2682.12 | | POWDML::BUCKLEY | Whoway, da Wabbit kicked da bucket! | Thu Mar 11 1993 17:42 | 3 |
| Mods can move opr delete this, but does anyone else not toatlly agree
with the angles presented in those 5 lessons? I know some things
seem really weird to me..
|
| 2682.13 | you asked for it, you got it | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Tue Mar 23 1993 12:20 | 5 |
| I haven't had time to read them yet. They have been posted because
everyone was bugging me for them. The next 2 in the series are coming
up.
Mike
|
| 2682.14 | Lesson 6 | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Tue Mar 23 1993 12:22 | 174 |
| Title: More Chord Construction Using the Major Scale
Level: Intermediate
Style: Music Theory Application
Instructor: Dave Good
In my last lesson, we looked at harmonizing the major scale and the
chords that occur. This time, I want to talk about other types of
chords that are found in the major scale and give chord spellings for
some of the more unusual chords that are not found in everyday rock.
Let's work with the key of C Major again, for simplicity. Remember the
naturally occurring triads in the major scale:
Major : 1st, 4th, 5th scale degrees
Minor : 2nd, 3rd, 6th degrees
Diminished : 7th degree
These are what we will begin with in this lesson.
The most common Extended chord is the Dominant Seventh (7). These
chords are referred to as Extended because they are an "extension" of
the basic triads (logical, eh?). Now, to create a dominant seventh
chord, take each triad and add a minor seventh to it, counting up from
the root as always. So, for a C Dominant Seventh (C7), the chord
spelling would look like this:
C-E-G-Bb
Please note that the Dominant Seventh is NOT found naturally in the major
scale-as you can see, the C7 chord contains a Bb, whereas the scale
contains a B natural. This leads me to the next version of the Seventh
chord, the Major Seventh. As the name implies, to form this chord, you
take the basic triad and add a Major Seventh to it. For a C Major Seventh,
you will end up with:
C-E-G-B
Notice that this chord does indeed fit the C Major scale, therefore this is
the chord that will occur when you harmonize the scale in diatonic sevenths.
However, this is only true for the first and fourth scale degree triads!
For the Minor triads, you will end up with the last type of seventh chord,
called (of course) the Minor Seventh. This one is formed by adding
(what else?) a Minor Seventh to the basic triad. For an A Minor Seventh,
which is the 6th degree of the C Major Scale, you will have:
A-C-E-G
Again, notice that the seventh of the chord fits nicely into the C Major
scale. Also note that a chord with this chord spelling will only be
called a Minor Seventh IF AND ONLY IF the basic triad is a MINOR triad.
If the basic triad is major, then you will have a Dominant Seventh.
So, if you keep in mind that the notes of the chord must fit into
the scale you are working with, then you have an easy method of checking
your work as you build these chords.
So to recap the Seventh chords:
Dominant 7th (Major triad)/
Minor 7th (Minor triad): root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh.
Major 7th : root, major third, perfect fifth, major 7th.
O.K., so now that you are all experts at creating chords from the chord
spelling, I will give you a list of some common and uncommon chords
found throughout all types of music. Some you may never use, some you
may love to death, but if you are truly interested in mastering chord
theory, then have no hesitation about building these chords in all
different positions on the guitar neck. As in the last lesson, take
the chord spelling, and (this is very important) while working with the
MAJOR scale built on the root note, modify the notes as indicated on
the chart.
For example:
Chord Chord
Name Spelling
^ ^
D Sus4 (D suspended fourth) : 1, 4, 5
So, take the D Major Scale : D E F# G A B C# D
The chord spelling for this chord type is root, perfect fourth, perfect fifth.
This gives you : D (root) G (perfect fourth) A (perfect fifth)
Now take these notes, find all their occurences on the fretboard, and
play whatever groupings of them that you find comfotable and/or like
the quality of sound.
Also note that the type of chord that the following are named after
will depend on the basic triad, e.g. D Maj 11, D Min 11, etc. And,
(yes, another warning!) keep the following in mind:
The Ninth (9) is the same as the 2nd scale degree an octave
up. The Eleventh (11) is the same as the 4th degree an octave
up. The Thirteenth (13) is the same as the 6th degree an
octave up.
As always:
b=flattened note bb=double flat #=sharpened note X=double sharp
maj=Major m=minor +=augmented *=diminished
So, here we go with the chord spellings:
Sus 4th (Suspended Fourth)= 1, 4, 5.
Sus 2nd (Suspended Second)= 1, 2, 5.
7 Sus 4th (Seventh suspended Fourth)= 1, 4, 5, b7.
6 (Sixth)= 1, 3, 5, 6.
m6 (minor Sixth)= 1, b3, 5, 6.
9 (Ninth)=1, 3, 5, b7, 9.
m9 (minor Ninth)=1, b3, 5, b7, 9.
maj 9 (major Ninth)=1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
6/9 (Sixth added Ninth)=1, 3, 5, 6, 9.
7+9 (Seventh augmented Ninth)=1, 3, 5, b7, #9.
7-9 (Seventh flat Ninth / also called Seventh minor Ninth)
=1, 3, 5, b7, b9.
aug (Augmented)=1, 3, #5.
7+5 (Seventh augmented Fifth)=1, 3, #5, b7.
dim (Diminished)=1, b3, b5, bb7.
-5 (diminished Fifth)=1, 3, b5.
7-5 (Seventh diminished Fifth)=1, 3, b5, b7.
9-5 (Ninth diminished Fifth)=1, 3, b5, b7, 9.
11 (Eleventh)=1, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11.
m 11 (minor Eleventh)=1, b3, 5, b7, 9, 11.
maj 11 (major Eleventh)=1, 3, 5, 7, 9, #11.
13 (Thirteenth)=1, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11 (optional), 13.
m13 (minor Thirteenth)=1, b3, 5, b7, 9, 11 (optional), 13.
maj13 (major Thirteenth)=1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (optional), 13.
Notice that in the 13th chord, the 11th is an optional interval.
Also notice that in some of the chords there may be more than six notes, the
limit of the guitar. In these cases, it is permissible to remove notes, with
the 9th and the 5th being the notes most often removed from the 11th chord, and
the 11th and the 9th being removed from the 13th chord.
Well, that should do it for this lesson. I hope you come away from this
with an improved knowledge of chords and their relationship to notes,scales,
and each other. As always, if there are any questions, please feel free
to contact me through E-Mail.
Dave Good
blj@tiamat.umd.umich.edu
blj@cw-f1.umd.umich.edu
******************************************************************************
* *
* "Cleared my feet of mud, followed the empty *
* Zebra ride to the Cirkus *
* Past a painted cage, spoke to the paybox *
* Glove which wrote on my toungue- *
* Pushed me down a slide to the arena, *
* Megaphonium fanfare. *
* In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster *
* Bid me join the parade.........." *
* *
* -King Crimson, "Cirkus" *
******************************************************************************
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
7 Right and Left Hand Technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
8 Right hand Left hand technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
9 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
10 Development of Chords from Sca Chord theory B Dennis O'Neill 10
11 Right and Left hand techniques theory (etc.) b Tim Fullerton
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
|
| 2682.15 | Lesson 7 | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Tue Mar 23 1993 12:23 | 85 |
| Title: Right and Left Hand Technique
Level: Beginner
Style: Technique
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
This is part one in a series of how to develop good right and left
hand technique for pick-style guitar.
*****THE LESSON****
PART I -- guitar position
This series is the approach that I use to teach pick-style
technique to all of my students. For best results, take these
articles to an educated and experienced teacher who is stylistically
broad based and who is acquainted with this approach, so that
(s)he may coach you.
**Disclaimer**
This approach is to attain the maximum possible cleanliness and
articulateness in ones tone. It will also give, ultimately, the
greatest speed with the least health risk. I am careful to never say
that it is the CORRECT way to play. There is no such thing, and a
lot of people do great things with really sloppy technique. Wherever
possible, though, I will indicate the exact benefits of each
technique.
If you are left handed, please excuse my right-handed bias, and
reverse all of the relevant direction and hand indications.
A) GUITAR POSITION
The strap should be worn always.
The guitar should rest on your abdomen, well above your left leg, such
that it is in the same position whether you are sitting or standing.
The neck should be at a 45 degree angle up. Note that I said LEFT leg
(if you're right handed, vice versa if you're left handed). This is
contrary to how untrained people USUALLY play. Ususally, right-handed
people rest the guitar on their right leg.
Benefits:
This is required so that the left hand may be positioned well.
Exceptions:
While some may find this awkward (or nerdy looking) at first, it is
a small hurdle. The only apprehension that I have ever had is with
small female students. A full sized guitar angled up can rest on
their left breast. All so far have assured me that this is not
a big deal. Nonetheless, if it is a problem for you for this reason, you are
probably small enough to merit a 3/4 size instrument. If this is not the case,
but you still have problems seeing the neck and/or reaching the first
fret, then having the guitar a little further to the right should solve
the problem.
Class Assignment:
Play with the guitar set up in this way all of the time from now on.
fullerto@cis.ohio-state.edu
1987 Upper Chelsea Rd
Columbus, Ohio 43221
(614) - 488 - 9322
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
8 Right hand Left hand technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
9 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
10 Development of Chords from Sca Chord theory B Dennis O'Neill 10
11 Right and Left hand techniques theory (etc.) b Tim Fullerton
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
|
| 2682.16 | Lesson 8 | FRETZ::HEISER | Spam & Eggs, Spam, Spam | Mon Apr 19 1993 16:20 | 599 |
| Title: Development of Chords from Scale Tones in Thirds
Level: Beginner
Style: Chord theory
Instructor: Dennis O'Neill
10 February 1993
Introduction.
Many chords can be developed by extracting alternate scale tones,
i.e., using tones that are major thirds or minor thirds apart within a
scale. In this series of exercises, you will begin by building
three-note chords from the major and three minor scales relative to C
major and progress to building seven-note (thirteenth) chords. You
will learn to determine what (relatively) simple chords may be
substituted for more complex chords and what extensions may be added
to chords while remaining harmonically correct. Most importantly, you
will be able to figure out what notes to leave out when playing a
chord.
All the examples will be written in the keys of C Major and A Minor.
Students are strongly encouraged to examine results in other keys.
It's important when learning the material that you work through the
exercises yourself without first looking at the completed exercises.
I developed this material as a way of learning it myself. I don't
intend it to be a list of prescriptions; merely as a way to take a
simple concept as far as I can for the background of interested
players.
This set of lessons is divided into several parts. Each part except
the first builds upon material developed in the previous lesson. My
plans for the set include the following:
==> Part 1. Preliminaries and an introduction to chord construction
Part 2. 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-note chords; naming chords
Part 3. What to leave out while retaining chord identity
Do the exercises!
Development of Chords from Scale Tones in Thirds
Part 1. Preliminaries and an Introduction to Chord Construction
Section 1.1. Definitions and notation conventions.
First, let's define some terms.
An "interval" is the distance between two tones. There are five
qualities of intervals; their names are perfect, major, minor,
diminished, and augmented. These qualities of intervals are defined
as follows:
o Perfect interval: an interval which, when inverted, becomes
another perfect interval (a self-referential definition if ever
I heard one). E.g., C-F is a perfect 4th, F-C is a perfect 5th;
C1-F2 is a perfect 11th (where the 1 and 2 mean that the C and F
are in different octaves), C2-F2 is a perfect 4th, F2-C3 is a
perfect 5th; and so on.
o Major: an interval other than a perfect interval that appears in
a major scale.
o Minor: an interval that does not appear in a major scale.
o Augmented: a raised perfect or major interval.
o Diminished: a lowered perfect or minor interval.
In defining major and minor scales, the intervals between adjacent
notes in the scale are sometimes called "half step" and "whole step",
or, equivalently, "semitone" and "whole tone".
o Semitone: the interval between the notes of two adjacent keys on
the piano, or two adjacent frets on the guitar. Also called a
"minor 2nd" or "half step". Example: C-Db. [b is used to denote
flat]
o Whole tone: the interval between a key and the key next to the
adjacent key on the piano [two keys away], or at two frets' apart
on the guitar. Also called a "major 2nd" or "whole step".
Example: C-D.
I will use the following conventions in my notation:
o M: major interval, scale, or chord
o m: minor interval, scale, or chord
o b: the "flat" symbol, i.e., the specified note is lowered by one
semitone. Example: Bb is a semitone lower than B.
o #: the "sharp" symbol, i.e., the specified note is raised by one
semitone. Example: G# is a semitone higher than G.
o nat: used to indicate that a note is neither sharped nor flatted
(usual music notation uses a sort of L7 symbol that I can't
reproduce at the computer keyboard).
o upper case Roman numeral: a major-, dominant-, or augmented-
family chord. The number refers to the degree of the scale on
which a chord is built. Example: I indicates the major chord
built on the first degree of a scale (e.g., C in the key of C).
o lower case Roman numeral: a minor-, half-diminished-, or
diminished-family chord. The number refers to the degree of the
scale on which a chord is built. Example: vi indicates the
minor chord built on the sixth degree of a scale (e.g., Am in
the key of C).
Section 1.2. The Major and Minor Scales
1.2.1. The Major Scale.
The major scale is defined as an 8-tone scale comprising the set of
intervals (in terms of whole- and half-steps). The intervals are:
whole whole half whole whole whole half
The C Major scale is:
C D E F G A B C
1.2.2. The Natural Minor Scale.
The natural minor scale is defined as an 8-tone scale containing the
same notes as its relative major scale, but starting on the 6th scale
degree of its relative major scale; also known as the Aeolian mode.
The relative minor of C Major is A Minor, and its intervals are:
whole half whole whole half whole whole
The A natural minor scale is:
A B C D E F G A
1.2.3. The Harmonic Minor Scale.
Similar to the natural minor scale but with a raised 7th scale degree.
The component intervals are:
whole half whole whole half m3 half
The A harmonic minor scale is:
A B C D E F G# A
1.2.4. The Melodic Minor Scale.
Similar to the natural minor scale but with a raised 6th and a raised
7th when ascending; identical to the natural minor scale when played
descending. The component intervals are:
whole half whole whole whole whole half
The ascending A melodic minor scale is:
A B C D E F# G# A
Other definitions and conventions will be introduced as needed.
Section 1.3. Elementary Chord Construction From Tertiary Harmony.
One can develop a useful set of chords by stacking notes from the
scale. For the purposes of this set of lessons I will stack thirds.
I will start with, say, a C major scale; over that I will place the
same scale but starting with the 3rd scale degree (E); over that I
will place the same scale starting with the 5th scale degree (G). The
harmony deriving from stacking alternate scale tones is called
"tertiary harmony".
The harmonized scales in C and its relative minors are:
C major:
G A B C D E F G - fifth above root
E F G A B C D E - third above root
C D E F G A B C - root of chord
A natural minor:
E F G A B C D E - fifth above root
C D E F G A B C - third above root
A B C D E F G A - root of chord
A harmonic minor:
E F G# A B C D E - fifth above root
C D E F G# A B C - third above root
A B C D E F G# A - root of chord
A melodic minor:
E F# G# A B C D E - fifth above root
C D E F# G# A B C - third above root
A B C D E F# G# A - root of chord
If we examine the intervals contained in these stacks of notes, we'll
discover that there are only a few distinct sets of relationships.
Listed with the bottommost interval first, these are:
o M3 m3 - defined as a "major" chord, e.g., C-E-G. It's called a
"major" chord because the chord built upon the tonic of the
major scale is of this type. (Warning - another kind of chord
containing the intervals M3 m3 on the bottom is called a
"dominant" chord. Dominant chords are not distinguishable from
major chords in three-note chords, but are distinguishable in
chords having four or more notes. See part 2 for more
information.)
o m3 M3 - defined as a "minor" chord, e.g., A-C-E. It's called a
"minor" chord because the chord built upon the tonic of the
minor scale is of this type.
o m3 m3 - ambiguous, either diminished or half-diminished, e.g.,
B-D-F. This chord will divide in unambiguous ways starting with
4-note chords in Part 2.
o M3 M3 - defined as an "augmented" chord, e.g., C-E-G#.
These interval patterns, along with one or two others, will serve as
the basis for a chord classification system to be introduced in Part
2.
Do the exercises!
Exercise 1. Table of Intervals.
Create a table of intervals for all note pairs between unison and
two octaves. Format the table so that one column reflects the
number of semitones between the note pair and another column
shows the name of the interval. You may include any other
information that you find useful, such as the sequence of major
and minor thirds that make up a particular interval, or examples
of the interval. Information developed in this table will be
used later to assist in the naming of chords.
As an example, here are the first few lines from such a table.
_____________________________________________________
Example for Exercise 1. Intervals
_____________________________________________________
Semitones Interval Thirds Example
0 d2 unison
1 m2 1 semitone C-C#, C-Db
2 M2 2 semitones C-D
3 m3 m3 C-D#, C-Eb
4 M3, d4 M3 C-E
5 P4 M3 + 1 semitone C-F
...
_____________________________________________________
Exercise 2. Three-note chords in C major and A minor.
Create a table of three-note chords based on alternate
notes taken from the various major and minor scale
types for the key of C major/A minor. Format the table
so that the root of the chord is on the bottom, the
third is in the middle, and the fifth is on the top,
leaving spaces between each line and between each
column. In the intermediate lines and columns, indi-
cate whether the accompanying interval is a major third
or a minor third. Below the intervals column, place
the generic symbol for the type of chord based on the
interval. These chords comprise the family of major
and minor chords.
Notice that the intervals contained in each chord are
unique to the position of the chord within the scale,
and that the same chord type appears at the same posi-
tion within each key.
As an example, here is the table for C major.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Example for Exercise 2. Triad chord stacks, key of C major
_____________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Degree
Chord tone
_____________________________________________________________________________
G A B C D E F fifth
m3 M3 M3 m3 m3 M3 m3
E F G A B C D third
M3 m3 m3 M3 M3 m3 m3
C D E F G A B root
_____________________________________________________________________________
I ii iii IV V vi vii symbol
_____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3. Three-note chords in all keys.
Create a key-independent abstract of the information
developed in exercise 2 (three-note chords). The
columns of the table should contain:
o the chord type and name
o the interval between the root and third,
expressed as a major or minor third
o the interval between the third and fifth,
expressed as a major or minor third
o the number of semitones between the root and
third (see exercise 1)
o the number of semitones between the root and
fifth (see exercise 1)
o the scale degrees on which this type of chord
occurs for each scale type (see exercise 2)
Here is an example of such a table.
____________________________________________________________________________
Example for Exercise 3. Naturally-occurring triads, grouped by chord type
____________________________________________________________________________
Chord type Intervals Semitones Scale source
and chord name 3rd 5th M nm hm mm
____________________________________________________________________________
Major
major M3 m3 4 7 1 4 5 3 6 7 5 6 4 5
Minor
minor m3 M3 3 7 2 3 6 1 4 5 1 4 1 2
Diminished or
half-diminished
(ambiguous)
m3 m3 3 6 7 2 2 7 6 7
Augmented
aug M3 M3 4 8 3 3
____________________________________________________________________________
Interval Meaning
M3 major 3rd, 4 semitones
m3 minor 3rd, 3 semitones
Semitones Meaning
(#) number of semitones of chord tone above chord root
Scale source Meaning
M major scale
nm natural minor scale
mm melodic minor scale
hm harmonic minor scale
Note: if one desires a more conventional notation in
the "Semitones" column, replace the numbers by the
corresponding interval names from Table 1.
******************************************
******************************************
******************************************
*** ***
*** STOP! ***
*** ***
*** Answers to exercises appear below. ***
*** Do the exercises before peeking. ***
*** ***
******************************************
******************************************
******************************************
____________________________________________________________
Solution to Exercise 1. Intervals
____________________________________________________________
Semitones Interval Thirds Example
0 d2 unison
1 m2 1 semitone C-C#, C-Db
2 M2 2 semitones C-D
3 m3 m3 C-D#, C-Eb
4 M3, d4 M3 C-E
5 P4 M3 + 1 semitone C-F
6 a4, d5 m3 m3 C-F#, C-Gb
7 P5 M3 m3 C-G
8 a5, m6 M3 M3 C-G#, C-Ab
9 M6, d7 m3 m3 m3 C-A, C-Bbb
10 m7 M3 m3 m3 C-A#, C-Bb
11 M7 M3 M3 m3 C-B
12 P8 M3 M3 M3 C1-C2
13 a8, m9 M3 m3 m3 m3 C1-Db2
14 M9 M3 M3 m3 m3 C1-D2
15 m10 M3 M3 M3 m3 C1-D#2, C1-Eb2
16 M10, d11 M3 M3 M3 M3 C1-E2
17 P11 M3 M3 m3 m3 m3 C1-F2
18 a11, d12 M3 M3 M3 m3 m3 C1-A#2, C1-Gb2
19 P12 M3 M3 M3 M3 m3 C1-G2
20 a12, m13 M3 M3 M3 M3 M3 C1-G#2, C1-Ab2
21 M13 M3 M3 M3 m3 m3 m3 C1-A2
22 m14 M3 M3 M3 M3 m3 m3 C1-Bb2
23 M14 M3 M3 M3 M3 M3 m3 C1-B2
24 p15 M3 M3 M3 M3 M3 M3 C1-C2
____________________________________________________________
Notes:
1. In the "Thirds" column, note that M3 M3 M3 = m3 m3 m3
m3; therefore one can substitute four minor thirds for
three major thirds in any interval with no change in
the total size of the interval.
2. In the "Example" column, if note names have numbers
appended, the numbers refer to the relative octave in
which the notes appear.
Definitions:
Perfect interval: an interval which, when inverted, becomes
another perfect interval (a self-referential definition
if ever I heard one). E.g., C-F is a perfect 4th, F-C
is a perfect 5th; C1-F2 is a perfect 11th, C2-F2 is a
perfect 4th, F2-C3 is a perfect 5th; and so on.
Augmented: a raised perfect or major interval.
Diminished: a lowered perfect or minor interval.
Major: an interval other than a perfect interval that
appears in a major scale.
Minor: an interval that does not appear in a major scale.
Solutions to Exercise 2. Triad Chord Stacks
___________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2a. Triad chord stacks, key of C major
___________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Degree
Chord tone
___________________________________________________________________________
G A B C D E F fifth
m3 M3 M3 m3 m3 M3 m3
E F G A B C D third
M3 m3 m3 M3 M3 m3 m3
C D E F G A B root
___________________________________________________________________________
I ii iii IV V vi vii symbol
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2b. Triad chord stacks, key of A natural minor
___________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Degree
Chord tone
___________________________________________________________________________
E F G A B C D fifth
M3 m3 m3 M3 M3 m3 m3
C D E F G A B third
m3 m3 M3 m3 m3 M3 M3
A B C D E F G root
___________________________________________________________________________
i ii III iv v VI VII symbol
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2c. Triad chord stacks, key of A harmonic minor
___________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Degree
Chord tone
___________________________________________________________________________
E F G# A B C D fifth
M3 m3 M3 M3 m3 m3 m3
C D E F G# A B third
m3 m3 M3 m3 M3 M3 m3
A B C D E F G# root
___________________________________________________________________________
i ii III iv v VI VII symbol
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2d. Triad chord stacks, key of A melodic minor
___________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Degree
Chord tone
___________________________________________________________________________
E F# G# A B C D fifth
M3 M3 M3 m3 m3 m3 m3
C D E F# G# A B third
m3 m3 M3 M3 M3 m3 m3
A B C D E F# G# root
___________________________________________________________________________
i ii III iv v VI VII symbol
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Solution to Exercise 3. Naturally-occurring triads, grouped by chord type
_______________________________________________________________________________
Chord type Intervals Semitones Scale source
and chord name 3 5 M nm hm mm
_______________________________________________________________________________
Major
major M3 m3 4 7 1 4 5 3 6 7 5 6 4 5
Minor
minor m3 M3 3 7 2 3 6 1 4 5 1 4 1 2
Diminished or
half-diminished
(ambiguous)
m3 m3 3 6 7 2 2 7 6 7
Augmented
aug M3 M3 4 8 3 3
_______________________________________________________________________________
Column key for this table
Interval Meaning
M3 major 3rd, 4 semitones
m3 minor 3rd, 3 semitones
Semitones Meaning
(#) number of semitones of chord tone above chord root
Scale source Meaning
M major scale
nm natural minor scale
mm melodic minor scale
hm harmonic minor scale
Note: if one desires a more conventional notation in the
"Semitones" column, replace the numbers by the corresponding
interval names from Table 1.
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
9 Right hand Left hand technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
10 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
11 Right and Left hand techniques theory (etc.) b Tim Fullerton
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.17 | Lesson 9 | FRETZ::HEISER | Spam & Eggs, Spam, Spam | Mon Apr 19 1993 16:21 | 173 |
| Title: Right hand Left hand technique - cont.
Level: Beginner
Style: Technique
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
This is part two in a series of how to develop good right and left hand
technique for pick-style guitar.
*****THE LESSON****
PART II -- left hand position
This series is the approach that I use to teach pick-style
technique to all of my students. For best results, take these
articles to an educated and experienced teacher who is stylistically
broad based and who is acquainted with this approach, so that
(s)he may coach you.
**Disclaimer**
This approach is to attain the maximum possible cleanliness and
articulateness in ones tone. It will also give, ultimately, the
greatest speed with the least health risk. I am careful to never say
that it is the CORRECT way to play. There is no such thing, and a
lot of people do great things with really sloppy technique. Wherever
possible, though, I will indicate the exact benefits of each
technique.
If you are left handed, please excuse my right-handed bias, and
reverse all of the relevant direction and hand indications.
B) LEFT HAND THUMB POSITION
Place your fingers on the bottom string like so:
E|----------------|
B|----------------|
G|----------------|
D|----------------|
A|----------------|
E|-1-2-3-4--------| FRET
1 2 3 4 <--- FINGER
With your fingers in this position, the TIP of your thumb should be
touching the midline of the neck; that is, behind the G string. Most
people tend to have the thumb peeking up over the top. Also, most people
tend to squeeze much too tightly, grinding in with the knuckle of their
thumb.
Now place your fingers on the top string:
E|-1-2-3-4--------|
B|----------------|
G|----------------|
D|----------------|
A|----------------|
E|----------------| FRET
1 2 3 4 <--- FINGER
In this position, the tip of your thumb should be behind the top E
string, directly behind your fingers.
C) LEFT HAND WRIST
In all cases, the left hand wrist should be straight. Many with bad
thumb habits tend to rest their palms against the back of the neck.
Avoid this! Also, many who adapt the "good" thumb position tend to jut
their wrist forward. You should be able to place a straight edge from
the back of your forearm to any of your last knuckles.
Benefits:
The thumb position is required so that :
1) the wrist can be straight.
2) The fingers can come down straight and not mute the strings
beside what they are actually fretting (remember the first
time you tried to make a "D"?).
3) With the thumb low, the average full sized person can reach
across eight frets. With the thumb high, the average person
can barely span four frets.
Low thumb pressure reduces strain on certain muscles and tendons. It
will also increase your endurance dramatically.
The wrist position is a matter of your health. If you practice a lot,
especially with any speed, and you have a bent wrist, your tendons and
carpal nerves are obstructed and you run a greater risks of repetitive
strain injuries.
Exceptions:
Some styles, blues for example, demand having the thumb over the top
to assist in muting strings. Here it is often appropriate to pick all six
strings and mute all except the ones you want to ring. Also, the thumb
should come over the top to give you leverage in a bend. In neither
case should the palm touch the back of the neck. Just the webbing
between the thumb and the first finger.
There are certainly other examples of specific tones that you would
want to get that demand a thumb-over-the-top technique. In general,
though, for pristine tone, avoid it.
Class Assignment:
Play this as an exercise:
E|------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2------------|
B|---------------------------------1-2-3-4------------------5-4-3-2----|
G|-------------------------1-2-3-4-------------------------------------|
D|-----------------1-2-3-4---------------------------------------------|
A|---------1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------------------|
E|-1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------------------|...etc
Make sure that you assign 1 finger per fret... just like they were
set up a page ago.
Continue this pattern up the neck until you can't get clean notes
out anymore. As you do this, do not stray from this checklist:
A) Guitar Position (see part I)
B)1. Left Hand Thumb Position and range of motion (midline [G
string] to edge)
2. Left Hand Thumb Pressure
If this continues to be a problem, take a couple of passes of
this exercise without your thumb touching at all. This will give
you an idea of exactly how little pressure it takes. Then put
your thumb back down WITH NO MORE PRESSURE. It is just there as
a guide.
C) Left hand wrist.
Stay Tuned, and be patient. There is a lot left!
copyright 1993 by Tim Fullerton
fullerto@cis.ohio-state.edu
1987 Upper Chelsea Rd
Columbus, Ohio 43221
(614) - 488 - 9322
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
10 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
11 Right and Left hand techniques theory (etc.) b Tim Fullerton
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.18 | Lesson 10 | FRETZ::HEISER | Spam & Eggs, Spam, Spam | Mon Apr 19 1993 16:22 | 109 |
| Title: How Chords work
Level: Beginner
Style: Theory
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
This is something that I wrote some time ago that I keep on hand as a FAQ
when people ask about how chords work.
This explanation of harmony really depends on your understanding
the major scale and how it works. If you don't drop me a line and I'll
take a stab at that.
Given that the major scale is the thing that sounds like
"Do re mi fa sol la ti (do)", let us change each of those syllables to
the numbers "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)." In the following model of how chords
are built, each number represents the corresponding scale degree
above. So... "4" would mean the fourth degree of the major scale, "fa."
#4 means that the fourth scale degree is raised by a half step, or one
fret, and b4 means it is lowered by 1/2 step.
The simplest thing that is treated as a chord (in common practice,
not in theory) is the "power chord" or "Five" chord. Compared to
a major scale, it is:
R - 5 ...(Root - fifth or Do - sol...get the idea?)
Next comes the most common form of harmony, tertiary. It consists
of chords built as stacked thirds. In other words, start at someplace
in the scale and select every other note. The simplest of these are
triads. They are, compared to a major scale:
Major R - 3 - 5 ex: G
Minor R -b3 - 5 ex: Gmi or G-
diminished R -b3 -b5 ex: Go
(pretend "o" is a degree symbol)
augmented R -#3 -#5 ex G+
Aside from suspensions, those are all of the triads.
Next come seventh chords. Those are produced simply by adding and
altering "7." As a rule, unless the word "major" appears in the name
of the chord, the seventh will be flatted. There are a lot more
possible combinations with seventh chords, for example:
Major 7 R - 3 - 5 - 7 ex: Gma7
minor 7 R -b3 - 5 -b7 ex : Gmi7
Dominant 7 R - 3 - 5 -b7 ex : G7
half diminished R -b3 -b5 -b7 ex : Gmi7(b5)
diminished 7 R -b3 -b5 -bb7 ex : Go7
Augmented 7 R - 3 - #5 - b7 ex G+7
major 6 R - 3 - 5 - 6
minor 6 R -b3 - 5 - 6 (note NOT b6)
get the idea?...there are LOTS more.
In case you were wondering about chords with higher numbers,
it continues on in the same way. If you were to put two octaves
of a major scale together, you would have
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 (15).
So... any sort of 9th chord is some type of 1 3 5 7 9, any type of
11th chord is 1 3 5 7 9 11, and any type of 13th chord is some type
of 1 3 5 7 9 11 13. It doesn't go any farther. When you get to 15, you
have started over.
It is always assumed that these extended notes are as they
would be in a major scale whose root is the root of the chord. If they
are to be altered, they must be addressed individually. For example,
a Dominant9 with a sharped 11 and a flat 13 would be notated
G9(#11 b13).
Now...it is usually not possible to play all of the notes of
some of these chords. Many notes are optional. Those that are not
are the third, the seventh, and the highest extension. The root is
kind of important, too, but less so...and usually the bass player will
play that.
That's tertiary harmony in a nutshell. Something else that
some people experiment with is "quartal," or stacked fourths,
"quintal," or stacked fifths, etc... I, myself, am unaware of any
treatises on discerning between qualities of these kinds of chords,
and if anyone knows if anything has been made up in this area or how
different kinds of these harmonies are notated (I've seen Q3 to
represent a quartal triad, Q4 to represent four stacked fourths, etc)
I'd really apreciate hearing about it.
copyright 1992 by Tim Fullerton
by Tim Fullerton
fullerto@cis.ohio-state.edu
1987 Upper Chelsea Rd
Columbus, Ohio 43221
(614) - 488 - 9322
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
11 Right and Left hand techniques theory (etc.) b Tim Fullerton
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.19 | Lesson 11 | FRETZ::HEISER | Spam & Eggs, Spam, Spam | Mon Apr 19 1993 16:23 | 149 |
| Title: Right and Left hand techniques -
Level: beginer - intermediate
Style: theory (etc.)
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
This is part three in a series of how to develop good right and left
hand technique for pick-style guitar.
PART III -- left hand position (cont.)
This series is the approach that I use to teach pick-style
technique to all of my students. For best results, take these
articles to an educated and experienced teacher who is stylistically
broad based and who knows this approach, so that (s)he may coach you.
**Disclaimer**
This approach is to attain the maximum possible cleanliness and
articulateness in ones tone. Also, it will give, ultimately, the
greatest speed with the least health risk. I am careful never to say
that it is the CORRECT way to play. There is no such thing, and many
people do great things with really sloppy technique. Wherever
possible, though, I will indicate the exact benefits of each
technique.
If you are left handed, please excuse my right-handed bias, and
reverse all of the relevant direction and hand indications.
D) LEFT HAND WRIST ALIGNMENT:
The palm of the left hand should be parallel to the underside of
the neck. Untrained people tend to place their hand so that the bone
leading to their index finger is much closer to the neck than the bone
leading to their pinky. This forces the pinky to reach. A way to
exercise this out is to place the bone to the pinky AGAINST the
underside of the neck. Try this as you play the pseudo-chromatic
exercise presented in lesson II. Understand that this is an
EXAGGERATION so that one may get used to how it feels when the palm is
parallel to the neck. Play with the bone to your pinky against the
neck just while you practice until the awkwardness is gone; play with
your palm parallel when you play.
E) THE PINKY:
It should be CLOSE. Addressing the problems in "D" usually
halves the distance that the pinky stays from the neck. Nonetheless,
people invariably still have problems with left hand pinky height
until they tackle them.
In short, always keep your pinky less than an inch from the neck . Not only that, keep it directly over the fret for which it is
responsible.
If this is a challenge, treat the pseudo-chromatic exercise
in the following manner:
While you ASCEND, keep your pinky FRETTING the string that you just
finished playing. Don't pick it, just keep it there.
like this...
E|------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-------------|
B|---------------------------------1-2-3-4--4-4-4---------------|
G|-------------------------1-2-3-4-4-4-4------------------------|
D|-----------------1-2-3-4-4-4-4--------------------------------|
A|---------1-2-3-4-4-4-4----------------------------------------|
E|-1-2-3-4-4-4-4------------------------------------------------|
While you DESCEND, place your pinky on the next string AS SOON AS
IT IS DONE WITH THE CURRENT STRING.
E|--5-4-3-2------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----5-5-5--5-4-3-2---------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------5-5-5--5-4-3-2------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------5-5-5--5-4-3-2---------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------5-5-5--5-4-3-2------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------5-5-5--5-4-3-2---------------|
Really, all of your fingers should be less than an inch from the neck,
but if you concentrate on your pinky, that should take care of them all.
Benefits:
It places less of a burden on your pinky when your palm is parallel
to the neck. It also makes it easier to keep your pinky close to the
strings.
If there is less of a distance for your pinky to travel to fret a note,
then you can ultimately achieve higher speed because of the travel time.
Not only that, it is easier to coordinate your picking with your left
hand because there is less margin for error.
Class Assignment:
Do the pseudo-chromatic exercise from Lesson II with the following
criteria:
A) Guitar Position (see part I)
B)1. Left Hand Thumb Position and range of motion (midline [G
string] to edge... see lesson II)
2. Left Hand Thumb Pressure (NONE! PERIOD! again, see lesson II)
C) Left hand wrist. (straight as a ruler, palm away from the neck...
again, lesson II)
D) Left hand wrist. (parallel to the underside of the neck)
E) Finger placement. (close to the neck)
RELAX
PLAY SLOW ENOUGH TO DO EVERYTHING PERFECTLY
PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE
more to come...
copyright 1993 by Tim Fullerton. Used by permission.
by Tim Fullerton
fullerto@cis.ohio-state.edu
1987 Upper Chelsea Road
Columbus, Ohio 43221
(614) - 488 - 9322
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.20 | Lesson 12 | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Wed May 05 1993 17:39 | 107 |
| Title: Modes
Level: Intermediate
Style: Theory
Instructor: Dave Good
In this lesson, I want to discuss and hopefully try to clarify
the confusion surrounding the modes. The ability to understand and utilize the
modes is one of the most important abilities for a modern guitarist to have. I
have my own way of explaining the modes, which I feel makes more sense than the
way most other teachers and textbooks explain them, so even if you have tried
to learn the modes before and gotten confused, stick with this lesson and you
should have a good idea of what they are and how to use them.
Before we begin, you need to know all the key signatures. If you don't,
you can still probably understand this lesson, but I would suggest going back
and applying this information in all the keys (as usual). All the examples
will relate back to the key of C, as this is the clearest way to descibe these
ideas.
And now for the lesson
----------------------
The Modes are, simply put, scales that are derived from the major scale.
For example, most of you (I would hope!) are familiar with the minor scale and
understand that it is built from the 6th degree of the relative major scale.
Correct? Of course. Now, what you need to realize is that the minor scale is
technically a mode, but is not usually referred to as such for various reasons
(these reasons go back hundreds of years, but do not bear repeating here).
So far, we can make a chart that looks like this:
Key of C
Scale Degree Note
1 C
2 D
3 E
4 F
5 G
6 A
7 B
8 (octave) C
Examining this, we notice that the key is C Major, and the relative minor key
to C Major is A Minor which is the 6th degree of the scale. There is a concept
at work here, in that you may build a scale starting on ANY degree of the major
scale-in fact, this is where the modes are found.
If you were in the key of C, and decided to start on D instead of C,
and continue through the key of C, you would have a scale that looks like this:
D E F G A B C D
Notice it has the same notes as the key of C Major, but begins on the
2nd degree of the C Major scale. This is what is called the Dorian mode.
If you were to get a friend, and have him play a C Major chord while you played
these notes, it would sound just like C Major. But, if you had him play a D
Minor chord, and you played these notes, then you would hear a difference in
the sound of the scale (to see why I said D Minor instead of Major, see my
earlier lesson on chord construction).
Similarly, you can do this with the 3rd degree of the C Major scale,
obtaining E F G A B C D E for your next scale. This is called the Phrygian
mode, and sounds darker and more mysterious than the Dorian mode. Again, play
this over an E Minor chord to hear the distinctive sound of this mode.
Like I said earlier, you can do this for each scale degree,
obtaining a different mode on each degree. The following chart
presents a summary of the modes that are obtained on each degree, and
the characteristics of each mode:
Key of C Major
Scale Degree Mode Name Characteristic Sound
------------------------------------------------------
1 Ionian (Major) Major (Majestic sounding)
2 Dorain Minor (Weepy. Used a lot in Country music)
3 Phrygian Minor (Dark, used a lot in Heavy metal)
4 Lydian Major (Sweet, used all over)
5 Mixolydian Major (The basis of rock and blues.)
6 Aeolian (Minor) Minor (The Natural Minor scale)
7 Locrian Minor (Vaugely oriental sounding)
Whether a mode is major or minor depends on the triad that is built
on the root. For example, the Mixolydian mode is major because its' root triad
is major. G Mixolydian is a major mode because in the Key of C, the chord
built on G is a major chord. This list of modes will hold true for any key.
Before I give the next lesson, I want you to go through and write out
all the modes in all the key signatures, so that you begin to know and get
familiar with what mode is associated with what scale degree. In the next
lesson I will show a second way of learning the modes, one that can be
slightly confusing if you have not yet learned which mode is in what key
signature. The next method will involve retaining the root note of the major
scale, but changing key signatures, thereby changing mode and really showing
the difference between the modes and the major scale.
As always, feel free to write me if you have any questions.
Dave Good
blj@tiamat.umd.umich.edu
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.21 | Lesson 13 | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Wed May 05 1993 17:40 | 186 |
| Title: Octaves
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Style: Theory
Instructor: Bill Quinn
Last time we looked at the Pentatonic Pattern. This time
we will discuss 'octaves'. We will pick-up where we left off - with
the Pentatonic pattern:
Here is a pentatonic pattern:
E ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|-----|--O--|-----|
B ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|-----|--O--|-----|
G ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|--O--|-----|-----|
D ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|--O--|-----|-----|
A ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|--O--|-----|-----|
E ||-----|-----|--O--|-----|-----|--O--|-----|
Another look at the pattern:
E ||-----|-----|--1--|-----|-----|--2--|-----|
B ||-----|-----|--4--|-----|-----|--5--|-----|
G ||-----|-----|--2--|-----|--3--|-----|-----|
D ||-----|-----|--5--|-----|--1--|-----|-----|
A ||-----|-----|--3--|-----|--4--|-----|-----|
E ||-----|-----|--1--|-----|-----|--2--|-----|
Remember last time, we said that each number represents a unique
note in the pattern. Actually, this means that each number represents
a unique note *name*. For example if we assume the '1' on the top string
is a 'G' note, then the '1' on the 4th string (D string) is also a 'G'.
*BUT* even though they are both named 'G' notes they are not the same note!
They are octaves of one another.
An octave is a note that has the same *NAME* as another note but
is higher/lower in pitch. Most people can just 'hear' an octave. For
example when asked to hum something 'higher' the average person will hum
an octave higher.
But as guitarists we need some nice tricks to help us remember where
all of the possible octaves are. Again, we must be thankful for the nice way
the fingerboard is designed, and that these 'octave patterns' are so easy to
remember.
The following examples will show a few of the common patterns used
to remember octaves. I will use the numbers found in the pentatonic scale
to help all of this make sense:
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|--1--|-----|-----| Play at the same fret on the top/bottom
B|-----|-----|-----|-----| string.
G|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|-----|--1--|-----|-----|
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|-----|-----|-----| Skip a string and skip a fret.
B|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|-----|-----|-----|--1--|
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|-----|--1--|-----|-----|
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|-----|-----|-----| Skip a string and skip a fret. Same
B|-----|-----|-----|-----| above rule, just on different set of
G|-----|-----|-----|--3--| strings.
D|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|-----|--3--|-----|-----|
E|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|-----|-----|-----| Skip a string and skip two frets.
B|-----|-----|-----|--5--|
G|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|--5--|-----|-----|-----|
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|-----|-----|--2--| Skip a string and skip two frets.
B|-----|-----|-----|-----| Same as above rule, on different
G|--2--|-----|-----|-----| sets of strings.
D|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|-----|-----|-----| Skip two strings and down two frets.
B|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|--2--|-----|-----|-----|
D|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|-----|-----|-----|--2--|
Pattern: Rule:
E|-----|-----|-----|-----| Skip two strings and down a fret.
B|--4--|-----|-----|-----|
G|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|-----|-----|--4--|-----|
E|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern: Rule:
E|--1--|-----|-----|-----| Skip two strings and down a fret.
B|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|-----|-----|--1--|-----|
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Why memorize these? Well, if you know your octaves, then you
will quickly learn your note names. If you know the names of only the
notes on your top string (E string) then by using octaves, you can find
the name of any note on the neck.
Also, once you learn a nice 'lick' it will be easily transferred
to other parts of the guitar neck using these sort of octave 'tricks'.
Finally, a lot of players play in octaves. In other words, a
player will play 2 (or 3) notes at the same time to thicken-up the sound
of a phrase. You will find this in jazz especially but also in other styles.
To help you learn your octaves, I will leave you with the some
exercises:
1) Pick *ANY* note on the neck (randomly) and then play at least two
different notes that are octaves of that same note.
2) Learn the 1st part of "Mary had a little lamb" and play each note
on a different string. Can you play the 1st 6 notes on 6 different
strings?
3) Practice this TAB, which is the Pentatonic pattern with octaves:
---------------------------------(5)---(8)-------------------5-----8------
---------------------(5)---(8)-------------------5-----8------------------
---------(5)---(7)-------------------5-----7-------------------------(5)--
---(7)-------------------5-----7-------------------------(5)---(7)--------
-------------5-----7-------------------------(5)---(7)--------------------
-5-----8------------------------------------------------------------------
This a cool 'lick' and is a real challenge to play at a 'rock-n-roll'
tempo. This will also give you a good feel for which octaves are always in
reach (i.e. no need to change hand position)
Next time we will look at all of the different places on the neck
you may use the Pentatonic pattern. This will involve more theory and help
touch into some of the 'mode' mysteries.
See ya!
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
14 Major Triads Theory B Roger Brotherhood
15 Right and Left Hand Technique Techniq B Tim Fullerton
16 Major Triad - Part 2 Theory I Tim Fullerton
17 Good Right and Left Hand Techn Technique I Tim Fullerton
18 The Modes part II Theory I David Good
19 Good Right and Left hand Techn Technique I Tim Fullerton
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.22 | | STRATA::KLO | don't get me wrong | Thu May 06 1993 11:40 | 6 |
|
Dave, can you write all the scale for the mode and can you explain how
you know what mode others person's playing in.
Thanks,
KL
|
| 2682.23 | Lesson 14 | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Tue May 11 1993 17:49 | 69 |
| Title: Major Triads
Level: Beginner
Style: Theory
Instructor: Roger Brotherhood
Here is a map of the major triads on the guitar. This is the relative
location of the Root, Third, and Fifth of a major triad. Here's what I
mean by the root, 3rd or 5th of a chord. The triad is constructed by
stacking up the notes of the scale "every other note". The first note
is called the Root. The second note is called the Third because it is
three scale steps away from the root. The third note is called the
Fifth because it is five scale steps away from the root. Check this out
for yourself in a C major scale:
5th -> G A B C D E F G <-5 letter names from the root
3rd -> E F G A B C D E <-3 letter names from the root
Root-> C D E F G A B C
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
C D E F G A B C
maj min min maj maj min dim maj
Here is a graphic representation of the relationships of the roots
thirds and fifths of a major triad. This gives you all the possible
voicings for a major triad on the fingerboard. For the minor triads,
just lower the 3rd one fret.
E|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|
B|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|
G|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|
D|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|
A|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|
E|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|
^-----------^-------^-----------^-------^-------^-----------^
"G" "E" "D" "C" "A" "G"
shape shape shape shape shape shape
If you look closely, you will see that the "map" can be divided into
five "bar chord" areas that correspond to the five first position triad
shapes. You can link these five large bar chord areas together to learn
the fingerboard, then extract smaller, more easily playable triads.
This "map" is entirely moveable. Be sure you try it with the root note
in many places on the fingerboard. Try to relate all the chords you
know to this map, even if it's just a power chord. As you play a chord,
ask yourself, "Which note is the root ... which one is the 3rd ...
which one is the 5th."
If you have any questions, ask your teacher to help you, or post your questions and I'll try to answer them.
Have fun ....
Rog.
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
15 Right and Left Hand Technique Techniq B Tim Fullerton
16 Major Triad - Part 2 Theory I Roger Brotherhood
17 Good Right and Left Hand Techn Technique I Tim Fullerton
18 The Modes part II Theory I David Good
19 Good Right and Left hand Techn Technique I Tim Fullerton
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.24 | Lesson 15 | FRETZ::HEISER | raise your voice in shouts of joy | Mon May 17 1993 15:42 | 206 |
| Title: Right and Left Hand Technique - IV
Level: Beginner
Style: Techniq
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
PART IV -- Right hand position
This series is the approach that I use to teach pick-style
technique to all of my students. For best results, take these
articles to an educated and experienced teacher who is stylistically
broad based and who knows this approach, so that (s)he may coach you.
**Disclaimer**
This approach is to attain the maximum possible cleanliness and
articulateness in ones tone. Also, it will give, ultimately, the
greatest speed with the least health risk. I am careful never to say
that it is the CORRECT way to play. There is no such thing, and many
people do great things with really sloppy technique. Wherever
possible, though, I will indicate the exact benefits of each
technique.
If you are left handed, please excuse my right-handed bias, and
reverse all of the relevant direction and hand indications.
F) Overall position
If you have set up the guitar position as in lesson I, your right
forearm should be making an angle of about 160 degrees with the strings.
That is as it should be. Furthermore, one could even position one's
forearm so that it is parallel to those strings, extending from them.
The thing to avoid is having the guitar low, with your right forearm
perpendicular to the strings.
This enables one to the pick set up as follows.
G) The Pick
Only a very small portion of the pick should extend -- a millimeter
or less. The flat of the pick should be parallel to the strings, and the
pick itself should be perpendicular to the guitar.
One common mistake...people usually try to adjust this by angling
differently at their wrist. That is unnecessary. The wrist should stay
straight. All pick adjustments can be made by placing it at a different
point on the fingertip.
BENEFITS:
This reduces pick noise. Many people are inclined to have the pick
angled because it produces less friction, and seems faster. The
problem, though, is that any angle increases the noise produced as
the pick scrapes across the string. If one does play fast with this
angle, the scraping noise buries the actual tones.
EXCEPTIONS:
Sometimes the noise sounds cool. For example, the beginning of
_Hoardes of Locusts_ by Satriani, or an accented blues articulation...
H) Alternate Picking
Alternate picking is the alternation of downstrokes with upstrokes.
Use it!
Do that exercise presented in previous lessons like this:
d = Downstroke, u = upstroke
Ascending:
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E|-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4--|
B|---------------------------------1-2-3-4----------|
G|-------------------------1-2-3-4------------------|
D|-----------------1-2-3-4--------------------------|
A|---------1-2-3-4----------------------------------|
E|-1-2-3-4------------------------------------------|...etc
Descending:
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E|-5-4-3-2-----------------------------------------|
B|---------5-4-3-2---------------------------------|
G|-----------------5-4-3-2-------------------------|
D|-------------------------5-4-3-2-----------------|
A|---------------------------------5-4-3-2---------|
E|-----------------------------------------5-4-3-2-|
Be very careful descending. People who are uncomfortable with
alternate picking generally reverse their picking pattern to:
d u d u u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u etc...
E|-5-4-3-2-----------------------------------------|
B|---------5-4-3-2---------------------------------|
G|-----------------5-4-3-2-------------------------|
D|-------------------------5-4-3-2-----------------|
A|---------------------------------5-4-3-2---------|
E|-----------------------------------------5-4-3-2-|
because an upstroke to a lower string requires traveling less distance.
Avoid this!
BENEFITS:
The most obvious -- one has the potential for playing twice as fast
with alternate picking than one does with just downstrokes.
The reason to be rigorous about the pattern is to produce a
more musical pattern of accents. A downstroke naturally produces a
little heavier accent than an upstroke. You CAN modify this
deliberately, so that your upstrokes are heavier, but this is not what
will come out naturally.
Now, there is a pretty predictable pattern of accents in the
rhythms of just about everything you will play. Take something in
4/4 time. The BEATS 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 in any measure will take the accents
HARD - SOFT - MEDIUM - SOFT respectively. That would be efficiently
executed with Down - up - down - up.
Imagine subdividing that measure into eighth notes....
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
is accented HARD SOFT MEDIUM SOFT HARD SOFT MEDIUM SOFT
and picked down up down up down up down up
sixteenth notes?...
1 a & a 2 a & a
HARD SOFT MEDIUM SOFT HARD SOFT MEDIUM SOFT
down up down up down up down up
triplets?
1 & a 2 & a
HARD SOFT SOFT MED SOFT SOFT
down up down up down up or...
down up down down up down
EXCEPTIONS:
Since downstrokes and upstrokes sound different, sometimes one
will want that sound. Fifties Rock, for example, is most
convincingly executed with downstrokes only.
In some Rock and Fusion styles, "economy" or "sweep" picking is
appropriate. This is where one always downstrokes to a higher string,
or upstrokes to a lower string. It is easier to develop speed this
way. Unfortunately, the accents flatten out, and the passage just
sounds fast and picked. Time permitting, I will go into sweep picking
in greater detail in other lessons.
Class Assignment:
Do the pseudo-chromatic exercise from Lesson II with the following
criteria:
A) Guitar Position (see part I)
B)1. Left Hand Thumb Position and range of motion (midline [G
string] to edge... see lesson II)
2. Left Hand Thumb Pressure (NONE! PERIOD! again, see lesson II)
C) Left hand wrist. (straight as a ruler, palm away from the neck...
again, lesson II)
D) Left hand wrist. (parallel to the underside of the neck... lesson III)
E) Finger placement. (close to the neck... lesson III)
F) Overall position of right forearm.
G) The pick, angled for the least noise
H) Alternate Pick
RELAX RELAX RELAX
more to come...
copyright 1993 by Tim Fullerton. Used by permission.
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
16 Major Triad - Part 2 Theory I Roger Brotherhood
17 Good Right and Left Hand Techn Technique I Tim Fullerton
18 The Modes part II Theory I David Good
19 Good Right and Left hand Techn Technique I Tim Fullerton
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.25 | Just Curious..anymore? | PATE::PLOURDE | If only you knew who I know! | Wed Aug 18 1993 18:22 | 8 |
| Hello,
I was wondering if there will still be lessons posted? I know there is
enough material in here to last me a lonnggg time. I haven't gone through
all of them by any means ....just curious!
/Richard
|
| 2682.26 | yes, they're up to #24 | FRETZ::HEISER | one more song | Wed Aug 18 1993 19:08 | 1 |
|
|
| 2682.27 | Lesson 16 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 12:16 | 117 |
| Subject: GUITAR L.O.T.W. - # 16
Title: Major Triad - Part 2
Level: Intermediate
Style: Theory
Instructor: Roger Brotherhood
SOME of you folks may have looked at the previous lesson regarding the
importance of learning the map of major and minor triads in all
locations on the fingerboard. I thought it might be a good idea to take
another look at the map and talk about some ways to make memorizing it
a little easier. If you'd like to take another look at the first post,
search the <subject> field for "TRIAD MAP".
It's important NOT to try to memorize "shapes" on the guitar. This can
become overwhelming when you begin to learn ALL the possible chords on
the instrument. Instead, try to learn the relationships between the
basic chord tones (Root, 3rd, and 5th).
It's a good idea to start with the Root/5th relationship. Here's the
way it loo
ks, ANYWHERE on the fingerboard.
E|---|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|---|---|
B|---|---|---|---| B|---|---|---|---| B|---|---|---|---|-R-|
G|---|---|---|---| G|---|---|---|-R-| G|---|---|---|-5-|---|
D|---|---|---|-R-| D|---|---|---|-5-| D|---|-R-|---|---|---|
A|---|---|---|-5-| A|---|-R-|---|---| A|---|---|---|---|---|
E|---|-R-|---|---| E|---|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|---|---|
E|---|---|---|---|-R-| E|---|---|---|-5-|
B|---|---|---|---|-5-| B|---|-R-|---|---|
G|---|-R-|---|---|---| G|---|---|---|---|
D|---|---|---|---|---| D|---|---|---|---|
A|---|---|---|---|---| A|---|---|---|---|
E|---|---|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|---|
Rock players refer to this as a "power chord". It's the most basic
relationship on the guitar. Here's the way the map looks when you tie
all the Roots and 5ths together.
E|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|
B|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|---|-5-|---|---|
G|---|---|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|
D|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|
A|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|---|-5-|
E|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|
Remember, these relationships are true no matter which note you choose
as the root. A really good exercise is picking a note anywhere on the
guitar and playing the COMPLETE map of Roots and 5ths with that note as
the root. Make sure you go down to the lowest available note, and up to
the highest available note before you return to the note you started
on. Make sure you become VERY familiar with the map using the roots: E,
A, D, G, and C. Any other chord root will be 3 frets or less from one
of these tones.
Here's the relationship of the 3rd to each root. Again, this is true
ANYWHERE on the fingerboard.
E|---|---|---| E|---|---|---| E|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|
B|---|---|---| B|---|---|---| B|---|---|---| B|---|-3-|---|
G|---|---|---| G|---|---|---| G|-3-|---|---| G|---|-R-|---|
D|---|---|---| D|---|-3-|---| D|---|-R-|---| D|---|---|---|
A|-3-|---|---| A|---|---|-R-| A|---|---|---| A|---|---|---|
E|---|-R-|---| E|---|---|---| E|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|
E|-3-|---|---|
B|---|-R-|---|
G|---|---|---|
D|---|---|---|
A|---|---|---|
E|---|---|---|
Notice how you have to compensate for the tuning of the guitar when you
transfer these intervals to the second and third strings. (The B and G
strings.)
Here's how the map of roots and 3rds looks when you put it together
with the Roots and 5ths. Remember, the Roots and 5ths form the skeleton
of the major and minor triads. Once you know those, the 3rds are easy
to add on.
E|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|
B|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|
G|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|
D|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|---|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|
A|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|
E|---|---|---|-R-|---|---|---|-3-|---|---|-5-|---|---|---|---|-R-|
Remember, learn the Roots and 5ths WELL before you even think about
adding the 3rds. Then, practice up and down the neck as before, except
this time whenever you reach a Root, play the 3rd. Then continue on to
the 5th, which takes you to the next Root, etc.
It might be a good idea to take another look at the first post on the
triad map, at this point.
Remember, this concept is the secret to making everything else you
learn on the guitar easy. ANYTHING you learn about the guitar will be
related to and based on this map . . . chords, scales, EVERYTHING!!
Please let me know if there is an interest in this stuff ... I'll be
happy to continue with this from time to time if there is.
Have fun,
Roger Brotherhood <roger.brotherhood@njackn.uucp>
|
| 2682.28 | Lesson 17 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 12:18 | 133 |
| Subject: GUITAR L.O.T.W. - # 17
Title: Good Right and Left Hand Technique - V
Level: Intermediate
Style: Technique
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
PART V -- Right hand position (cont.)
This series is the approach that I use to teach pick-style
technique to all of my students. For best results, take these
articles to an educated and experienced teacher who is stylistically
broad based and who knows this approach, so that (s)he may coach you.
**Disclaimer**
This approach is to attain the maximum possible cleanliness and
articulateness in ones tone. Also, it will give, ultimately, the
greatest speed with the least health risk. I am careful never to say
that it is the CORRECT way to play. There is no such thing, and many
people do great things with really sloppy technique. Wherever
possible, though, I will indicate the exact benefits of each
technique.
If you are left handed, please excuse my right-handed bias, and
reverse all of the relevant direction and hand indications.
I) Right Hand Fingers
I recommend that the right hand not be braced against the
strings or the surface of the guitar in any way, shape, or form.
This is the single worst habit that I have to deal with in the right
hands of my students. Most people start by placing one or more
fingers on the surface of the guitar, and use that as a tactile guide
to where the strings are. Furthermore, many rest their palm on the
bridge. These are all bad! The fingers should be loosely curved into
the palm, and the right hand should be off the strings and the bridge.
BENEFITS:
Any tension anywhere in the body will manifest itself in one's
tone. It defies description. I cannot say it sounds more staccato or
brighter or anything like that. It just sounds TENSE and less fluid.
Bracing against the fingerboard is physically restraining the right
hand; it produces a source of tension that one simply cannot remove
while the fingers are planted there. Also, it directly
interferes with crossing strings.
It's like riding a bike with training wheels on. You can get by
okay with them, but they really get in the way during a slalom race.
This habit is very difficult not only because removing the
training
wheels is very awkward for a couple of days, people are more unwilling
to give this habit up for some reason. Usually, they use as an example
some Rock star that they revere -- that on MtTV (grin) said Rock star
is bracing his/her fingers against the guitar.
Again, my reply is that disclaimer that I put on each of these
technique lessons. I acknowledge that some people have done a
lot undustry despite what I would consider to be really
sucky technique. Nonetheless, Pop guitarists are notoriously
untrained. I cannot advise that you take what you see from one of
them as the paradigm of technique. Also, what they do might produce
appropriate tone for their style, but would sound bad for anything
else. They could be completely incapable of producing the clean,
pristine tone that I am selling.
In Alt.guitar, there was a thread about this topic some time
ago.
Someone argued that some classical guitarist advocated bracing with
the pinky. The obvious counter from me is that fingerstyle is in no
way, shape, or form, anything like pickstyle. When I did try to brace
my pinky with some fingerstyle playing, the tone did become tense
though.
EXCEPTIONS:
I hear the question coming from the world:
"But Tim... if you forbid my muting the strings with my right hand,
when my Marshall stack is on ten (or eleven), how do I keep my strings
from feeding back wildly??!"
Obviously, sometimes you have to mute your strings with your
right
hand.
Class Assignment:
Since this addition is generally so loathed, and since it is a
handful, let it be the only new point for this week.
Do the pseudo-chromatic exercise from Lesson II with the following
criteria:
A) Guitar Position (see part I)
B)1. Left Hand Thumb Position and range of motion (midline [G
string] to edge... see lesson II)
2. Left Hand Thumb Pressure (NONE! PERIOD! again, see lesson II)
C) Left hand wrist. (straight as a ruler, palm away from the neck...
again, lesson II)
D) Left hand wrist. (parallel to the underside of the neck... lesson
III)
E) Finger placement. (close to the neck... lesson III)
F) Overall position of right forearm. (lesson IV)
G) The pick, angled for the least noise (Lesson IV)
H) Alternate Pick (lesson IV)
and
I) Do not brace the right hand
RELAX RELAX RELAX
more to come, although we're in the home stretch...
copyright 1993 by Tim Fullerton. Used by permission.
==============================================================================
|
| 2682.29 | lesson 18 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 12:19 | 64 |
| Subject: GUITAR L.O.T.W. - # 18
Title: The Modes part II
Level: Intermediate
Style: Theory
Instructor: David Good
This time around, I want to look at the modes in a slightly different
way. In my last lesson, I showed you how to derive the modes by
staying within one scale and changing the root note. Now, I will show
you how to create each mode while keeping the same root note. This
method requires a slightly different way of thinking in that we are
changing key each time we change mode, instead of just changing the
mode within the same key. This method is far superior to the other
method in that you will immediately be able to hear the difference
between the modes. Once again, please make sure that you have a halfway
decent background in basic theory terms before attempting to tackle
this lesson.
The following chart shows how to build each mode on the same root note,
and will better show the difference between each mode. Make the
following alterations to the major scale to produce the mode:
Ionian= Major Scale
Dorian= b3,b7
Phrygian=b2,b3,b6,b7
Lydian=#4
Mixolydian=b7
Aeolian=b3,b6,b7
Locrian=b2,b3,b5,b6,b7
So, for example, with C as our root note, each mode and its'
corresponding key would be:
Ionian: C D E F G A B C Key: C Major
Dorian: C D Eb F G A Bb C Key: Bb Major
Phrygian: C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Key: Ab Major
Lydian: C D E F# G A B C Key: G Major
Mixolydian: C D E F G A Bb C Key: F Major
Aeolian: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Key: Eb Major
Locrian: C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Key: Db Major
Now, if you were to play all of these back to back, you would be able
to hear quite well the difference between the modes. Like I said
before, this is a much better way to learn them than the method I
presented in my last lesson. As always feel free to contact me with
any questions or comments.
Dave
blj@tiamat.umd.umich.edu
****************************************
| "Has the dawn ever seen your eyes? |
| Have the days made you so unwise, |
| Realize, you are........." |
****************************************
|
| 2682.30 | lesson 19 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 12:20 | 139 |
| Lesson: 19
Title: Good Right and Left hand Technique - VI
Level: Intermediate
Style: Technique
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
PART V -- Right hand position (cont.)
This series is the approach that I use to teach pick-style
technique to all of my students. For best results, take these
articles to an educated and experienced teacher who is stylistically
broad based and who knows this approach, so that (s)he may coach you.
**Disclaimer**
This approach is to attain the maximum possible cleanliness and
articulateness in ones tone. Also, it will give, ultimately, the
greatest speed with the least health risk. I am careful never to say
that it is the CORRECT way to play. There is no such thing, and many
people do great things with really sloppy technique. Wherever
possible, though, I will indicate the exact benefits of each
technique.
If you are left handed, please excuse my right-handed bias, and
reverse all of the relevant direction and hand indications.
J) Picking Motion
The picking motion should come from the wrist or from the thumb. A
common bad habit is to get the picking motion from the elbow. I have
found that if one tries to get the motion from one's wrist, then it
will come from the elbow. I recommend that you try to get the motion
from the thumb, and it will come from the wrist.
Also, the motion should be as small as possible. Experiment, find
out the smallest motion you can use and still have a good attack.
The stroke should not be visible to the eye.
As you move the pick from string to string, that motion can come
from the elbow. The bad habit that people have is to get the motion
from the shoulder. Again, to get the motion from your elbow,
visualize it from your wrist.
BENEFITS:
You expend less effort, thus, improve your endurance. There is
also, ultimately, greater control. A smaller motion provides,
ultimately, greater speed.
EXCEPTIONS:
There is a tremolo picking technique where one flexes one's arm and
picks with the trembling that the flexing produces. It can
sound very clean, but there is absolutely no control over the speed.
I would recommend that you develop enough legitimate speed to
surpass that which the trembling produces so that you have control
over what you are playing.
K) Relaxation
I have said before that any tension anywhere in the body will
manifest itself adversely in one's tone. I have found that people
often simply do not know how to relax. Other disciplines teach
it. You may have learned it from the likes of Martial Arts; other
instruments, especially voice; marksmanship; or meditation. If not,
approach it systematically.
Sit up in a straight-backed chair or lay on your back.
relax your scalp
relax your forehead
relax your eyelids
relax your cheeks
relax your nose
relax your ears
relax your jaw
relax the back of your neck
relax your throat
relax your shoulders
relax your upper back
relax your deltoids (where your arms join your shoulders)
relax your biceps
relax your triceps
relax your forearms
relax your chest
relax your abdomen
relax your lower back
relax your sides
relax your buttocks
relax your quadriceps (upper legs)
relax your calves
relax your shins
relax your feet
When you play you should be that relaxed. With a little practice it
is pretty easy to do, although tension can creep in
insidiously. I found that it crept into my right bicep and my back.
Do the pseudo-chromatic exercise from Lesson II with the following
criteria:
A) Guitar Position (see part I)
B)1. Left Hand Thumb Position and range of motion (midline [G
string] to edge... see lesson II)
2. Left Hand Thumb Pressure (NONE! PERIOD! again, see lesson II)
C) Left hand wrist. (Straight as a ruler, palm away from the neck...
again, lesson II)
D) Left hand wrist. (parallel to the underside of the neck... lesson
III)
E) Finger placement. (close to the neck... lesson III)
F) Overall position of right forearm. (lesson IV)
G) The pick, angled for the least noise (Lesson IV)
H) Alternate Pick (lesson IV)
I) Do not brace the right hand
J) Use a very tiny motion to pick
K) Relax
THAT'S IT!
Coming Soon: speed development...the technique exercise
from Hell
copyright 1993 by Tim Fullerton. Used by permission.
|
| 2682.31 | lesson 20 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 13:12 | 236 |
| Lesson: 20
Title: Heavy Metal Guitar, Lesson I: The Basics
Level: Beginner
Style: Heavy Metal
Instructor: Kevin Marcus
Why? When I first bought my guitar, all I wanted to do was play heavy
metal licks, and after playing the intro to Enter Sandman ten thousand
times. I got sick of my guitar because I didn't know where to go from
there!
So, I thought that if there was a compendium that had a list of common
techniques that are used in Heavy Metal, that maybe it'd be helpful,
and so that is what these should do.
Intro: What is Heavy Metal? That is a really tough question, but to
sum it up in a nutshell, I would say it's pretty fast music that has a lot
of harsh sound to it, often comprised of a few chord formations posed at
different spots on the fretboard.
This lesson should introduce you to some of the more common chords
used in heavy metal guitar. Fingers will be referred to by numbers,
meaning:
1 = Index finger
2 = Middle finger
3 = Ring finger
4 = Pinky (finger)
Future lessons will cover techniques used for both common rhythms,
and good ways to break the palm muted open 6th string E sound that most
people find monotonous in heavy metal. Maybe some Ballad techniques, etc...
Power Chords: I don't want to get into technical definitions of
anything if it's possible, because:
A) They're usually confusing.
B) Someone always wants to argue. That is fine, but argue with
someone else, eh?
C) I am aware three frets are needed for a chord, but that's what
it's called, okay?
The primary chord used in heavy metal is called the "Power Chord".
This is basically done in the following way:
e --- This chord would be called an "F Power Chord". This means that the
--- note that you'll hear is an F, but there will be a harsh dragging
--- sound, created by the c (3rd fret, 5th string) added with it.
A -3- fretboa rd to allow for a variety of notes at different octaves to
E -1- be produced. These can be slightly expanded to contain another
string, by placing fretting the 3rd fret on the "D" string, as
illustrated above. This sound is slightly more throaty.
Fingering for this chord can be done in two ways. I prefer to use finger 1
at the root of the chord (the lower octave note - the string that will be
deeper sounding), and use finger 3 on the other string. Some people
(for example, James Hetfield, of Metallica) choose to use finger 4. Both
have advantages -> the first method leaves your pinky to move to a fret
closer to the body of the guitar, and you can probably go up or down a
string, as well. The second way does not allow this, but instead allows you
to fret notes in between the two up or down strings much easier.
The root of this formation of chord can be placed anywhere on the top three
strings (strings 4-6). On the two bottom strings, the chord sounds little
odd. (You can't make it on the 1st string!)
Try practicing these riffs (If you have the album, then by all means, listen
to the song and try to play it at the same speed!)
(By the way, 'v' means down strummed, '^' means up strummed. Down strummed
means the pick strikes these going downward. Up strummed is the reverse;
these strings are struck while the pick is moving upwards)
Anthrax: Milk
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
e ---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
A -4---5---4-----2--4---5---4-----4---5---4-----2--4---5---7---5-
E -2---3---2-----0--2---3---2-----2---3---2-----0--2---3---5---3-
Once you have got that down, try this for a little bit more difficulty.
Slayer: Face The Slayer/Metalstorm
sl.
v ^ v ^ v ^ v v v ^ v ^ v ^ v v
e ------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
--7-7-7-7-7-7/10-10-9-------------------5-
A --5-5-5-5-5-5/8--8--7---5-5-5-5-5-5/7-7-3-
E ------------------------3-3-3-3-3-3/5-5---
Inverted Power Chords: These chords are similar to the aforementioned
chord, except that these chords switch aruond the ordering.
e --- This chord formation is the opposite of the one above (look). This
--- is also NOT an F; it is a G. (3rd fret, 6th string). I prefer to
--- use the same fingering as above, but, also inverted, meaning finger
--- 3 would go on the higher string, and finger 1 on the string below.
A -1- It is still possible to use finger 4 instead of 3, of course, with
E -3- the same commentary as before.
These chords are not at all as common as the regular power chord. However,
these chords definately offer a break to the power chord sound. It ruffles
the sound quite a bit; it almost doesn't sound like anything except randomly
fretted notes.
I can't think of any riff off the top of my head that is ONLY comprised of
these chords, so here is a quick primer...
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
e ------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------1--3--1----------------------
----0-----------3--3--5--3--5--3--5--3--3-----------0-
A -1--2--0--1--3--5--5--7-----------7--5--5--3--1--0--2-
E -3-----2--3--5-----------------------------5--3--2----
Repeat that, and go progressively faster, of course. These formations are
quite weird, and don't get too used to them, but, once again, they are easy
to use to break away from the regular power chord monotony.
Another type of chord, follows this formation, and is very easy to
remember:
e --- This chord produces a somewhat deathly sound, and is very throaty.
--- As it looks, it is very simple to create. There are really two ways.
--- The first is to lay finger 1 across the two desired frets, and mute
--- the others. The other way involvs using two fingers; usually 1 and 2.
A -3- This is somimes better in situations when you might want to change
E -3- to another similar chord quickly by moving one of the fingers
one fret in the desired direction (The next formation is one of
these...)
This chord is probably more common than the inverted power chord, and
is
quite useful for breaking away from that infamous power chord sound.
Megadeth seems to use the chords a bit. (NOTE: To those with tab
to "The Thing That Should Not Be" [Metallica/Master of Puppets], the
chords
may be formed this way, but the sixth string is tuned down, so it
does not
resonateas if it were this type of chord.) Let's take a look at some
Megadeth riffs to get an idea of these chords and their use and
sound.
Megadeth: Go To Hell (Bill-n-Ted's!)
PM----- PM----- PM----- PM-----
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
e ---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
---------2-----------3-----------0-----------5-4-3-
A ---------2-----------3-----------0-----------5-4-3-
E -0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-------
Megadeth: Symphony of Destruction
PM PM PM PM
v v v v v v v v
e ---------------------
---------------------
---------------------
---7---6---5---5h7p5-
A ---7---6---5---------
E -0---0---0---0-------
The last chord that we will discuss is rather odd. I've seen it in a
few
difference songs, but it appears most prominent in Metallica (their
newer
albums, to say the least...) It's general form is:
e --- This chord can be most easily formed with two fingers. Use finger
--- 1 and 2. Some people use 1 and 3, but there is really no point; it
--- will just make finger 2 less easy to move somewhere fast; giving you
-6- only one finger to move somewhere after the chords been strummed.
A -7- At first, this will seem like your guitar is out of tune, but it
E --- is really supposed to sound that way. It'll seem normal after awhile,
but if you're used to power chords, this will be a heartbreaker!
As aforementioned, Metallica seems to enjoy using this chord, rather
than
power chords. Lets take a look at the opening riff to ...And Justice
For
All. Remember, this starts out acoustic!
Metallica: ...And Justice For All
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
e ---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
-6-7-9---7-6h7p6-4-5-5-4-7-4-2-3-5---3-2h3p2-0-2-2-0-2-0-
A -7-----7---------5-----5---5-3-----3---------2-----2---2-
E -0-------------------------------------------------------
Synopsis: Now you have learned a few basic chords that a good quantity
of
mainstream metal is made up of. Try mixing them together, see what
sounds
good. Don't feel obligated to make your riffs use them all, a lot of
riffs
are comprised solely of just a few power chords, twined together.
Nonetheless, try playing this a few times to get used to switching
between
the various chords and listen to the differences in each chord! For
simplicity, I won't throw in any slides and all. Remember, you just
want
to work your ear to pick up various chords and bounce between them
quickly.
PM--- PM--- PM PM---
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
e -------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
-------5-3-------4-2---5-5-5-5-7---------5-7-5---
A -------3-3-------2-2---6-6-6-7-5-------5-5-7-7-3-
E -0-0-0-----0-0-0-----0-----------0-0-0-3-------5-
That's all for now. If you have any questions or comments, feel free
to
contact me: tck@bend.ucsd.edu
-=+> Kevin Marcus, Virus Researcher. Author: TSCAN, RE-xxx, MICHEX,
STONEXT
datadec@ucrengr.ucr.edu (619)/457-1836, 3-2400 baud, 24
hours.
Comp. Sci. Major, University of California, Riverside.
|
| 2682.32 | lesson 21 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 13:19 | 304 |
| Lesson: 21
Title: S T R I N G S K I P P I N G
Level: Beginner
Style: Technique
Instructor: Geoff Thorpe (and laboriously proof read by Dan
Brough!)
Hi everyone. This lesson serves as an introduction to the idea of
string
skipping. This is by no means an exclusive tool, indeed its best
applications
are usually tied in with sweeps, tapping, alternate-picking and loads
of other
things. Most of the material here is not intended, in itself, to be
used in a
musical sense, but to develop the technique. Although this is a
foundation in
skipping, some of the exercises would be considered a handful for most
players.
Don't lose hope! Also, if you have any ideas or suggestions to make, or
any
queries, e-mail me at:
gthorpe@comp.vuw.ac.nz
:--=====================--:
Ok, to start with, I have included some fairly basic warm-ups, that
should get
the muscles loosened, and are relevant to the later skipping exercises.
String Skipping exercise 1.
===========================
Theoretically this isn't a 'skip' but it is a good warm-up!
D U D U D U (D=down stroke, U=up stroke)
e-----------12-------
B--12-13-15----15-13-
G-------------------- keep repeating.
D--------------------
A--------------------
E--------------------
this should be very even and uniform before continuing.
String Skipping exercise 2.
===========================
This is also a warm-up
U D U D U D
e--15-13-12----12-13-
B-----------15-------
G-------------------- keep repeating
D--------------------
A--------------------
E--------------------
both exercise 1 and 2 should be played on all strings with the fretting
structure changed and all finger combinations used.
String Skipping exercise 3.
===========================
This is a natural extension to ex1 for 'real' skipping
D U D U D U D U D U D U
e-----------------------------12-------
B-----------12-------------------------
G--12-14-16----16-14-12-14-16----16-14- keep repeating
D--------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------
String Skipping exercise 4.
===========================
Then a further extension for all the strings, (Great warm-up exercise!)
Picking is straight alternate picking as above.
e-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------|----------------------------12-------
D----------------------------12-------|----------12-------------------16-14-
A----------12-------------------15-14-|-12-14-15----15-14-12-14-15----------
E-12-14-15----15-14-12-14-15----------|-------------------------------------
e-------------------------------------|----------------------------14-------|
B----------------------------13-------|----------13-------------------17-15-|-1
7
G----------12-------------------16-14-|-12-14-16----16-14-12-14-16----------|
D-12-14-16----16-14-12-14-16----------|-------------------------------------|
A-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
E-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
String Skipping exercise 5.
===========================
This similarly, is an extension of ex2
U D U D U D U D U D U D
e--15-14-12----12-14-15-14-12----12-14-
B-----------15-------------------------
G-----------------------------16------- keep repeating
D--------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------
String Skipping exercise 6.
===========================
This is the converse of ex4
e-15-14-12----12-14-15-14-12----------|-------------------------------------
B----------15-------------------12-13-|-15-13-12----12-13-15-13-12----------
G----------------------------14-------|----------14-------------------11-12-
D-------------------------------------|----------------------------14-------
A-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
e-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
B-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
G-14-12-11----11-12-14-12-11----------|-------------------------------------|
D----------14-------------------10-12-|-14-12-10----10-12-14-12-10----------|
A----------------------------14-------|----------14-------------------10-12-|-1
4
E-------------------------------------|----------------------------14-------|
right, now we get down to some serious skips!!
The next idea is one that, I must confess, I 'nicked' off Paul Gilbert,
though
I've changed it a bit from the one I read of his. He is to my mind the
pioneer
of "serious skipping" although others have done it on a smaller 'scale'
before.
This lick arpeggiates the E minor chord in the 12th position. This
could take a
while to get used to so practise it slow and don't play it any faster
than you
can play it confidently.
String Skipping exercise 7.
===========================
D p D p D U h U D p D p D U h U
e--15-12----------------12-15-12----------------12-
B--------------------------------------------------
G--------16-12----12-16----------16-12----12-16---- keep repeating
D--------------14----------------------------------
A--------------------------------------14----------
E--------------------------------------------------
Note, developing an efficient and almost subconsious technique for
picking is
essential with this. If I am not going to pick EVERY note, or I am not
tapping
everything, I employ the following technique.
(1) Every time you jump to a new string, pick the first note. (Even if
you are
just jumping to an adjacent string).
(2) If a note is on the same string as the previous note, hammer-on or
pull-off
to it. (Unless the line is too long, then pick a couple of them)
(3) Decide on the rhythmic structure (ie. groups of 3 or 4) and if the
picked
note lies on a "down" beat, use a down stroke, otherwise use an
"up"
stroke.
This will take a while to get used to, but I strongly endorse
practising it
religiously! I'm now able to do this whenever I want as a second nature
and in
almost all applications of skipping, this proves to be the most
efficient and
articulate way of playing. Of course, keep the rut-busters going by
making
yourself do things differently now and then. You want this as a skill,
not as
master. Aim to get it down, but always have control of it and make sure
you are
able to alter things if you wish.
The above idea can be manipulated for different voicings, chord types,
strings
and time signatures. Keep reformulating new ones otherwise you will go
STALE!
Here is a pentatonic idea which is in the same key and position for the
purposes of consistency, but play around with it to really get to grips
with
the idea.
String Skipping exercise 8.
===========================
D p D p D U D p D p D p D U h D
e--17-12-15-12----12---------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------12-
G--------------16----14-12---15-12-14-12-------------
D-------------------------------------------12-14----
A----------------------------------------14----------
E----------------------------------------------------
[Note.. The last note is a Down stroke rather than an up-stroke. If you
look at
the next note (ie. the first note of the exercise), an up-stroke would
involve
a tricky bit of inside picking, so the down allows you to sweep the two
strings. If you prefer, use the up-stroke for the sake of consistency]
To illustrate the possibilities of skipping in a chordal sense, I have
scratched together a little exercise which utilises two-string sweeps
(easy), 1
string skips, and open strings. Note that this can easily be
constructed for a
sweep picking exercise (that's what I originally created it as) but
it's easy
to keep it rhythmic with the skips.
String Skipping exercise 8.
===========================
B 6/9(no 3)
D D U h U D p U
e------------------
B----------0-------
G------6-9---9-6--- 4 times
D------------------
A----9-----------9-
E--7---------------
similarly, repeat the remaining chords 4 times, with same picking,
C major 9 (#11) C# minor 9 D 6/9
e----------------------|----------------------|------------------------
B------------0---------|------------0---------|-------------0----------
G-------7-11---11-7----|----------------------|--------9-11---11-9-----
D----------------------|-------9-13---13-9----|------------------------
A----10-------------10-|----11-------------11-|-----12-------------12--
E--8-------------------|--9-------------------|--10--------------------
keep repeating the whole exercise until you've had enough then do one
of those
posey retardando's with the over-dramatised emotional thing on the
final D
chord. Great Stuff!
String Skipping exercise 9.
===========================
Ok, if you can get this one working well at even a moderate speed,
you're a
certified "Skipper"! It involves some wild left hand stretches and
giant
picking! Also, the timing is fairly regular, so concentrate on getting
it even,
play it with a metronome if so desire! Either economy pick (as
described
above), or pick every note. Either would do, but I would recommend
getting both
variations down, and perhaps the ability to interchange at will would
be useful
also.
e--------7-----------| R |----------10------------| R |
B--------------------| e |------------------------| e |
G-7-9-12---12-9-7----| p |--9-12-14----14-12-9----| p |
D--------------------| e |------------------------| e |
A-----------------10-| a |---------------------12-| a |
E--------------------| t |------------------------| t |
e----------12-------------| R |-----------15-------------| R |
B-------------------------| e |--------------------------| e |
G-12-14-16----16-14-12----| p |--14-16-19----19-16-14----| p |
D-------------------------| e |--------------------------| e |
A----------------------14-| a |-----------------------17-| a |
E-------------------------| t |--------------------------| t |
Then repeat back down the positions. You can extend this over the whole
fret-
board in any key, with all your own special little blues scale
modifications.
Happy picking everyone, and I hope to send you some more soon with some
other
practical angles to this subject, particularly arpeggiation and
tapping.
Au Revoir,
Geoff Thorpe
Symbols: D = down stroke
U = up stroke
h = hammer-on
p = pull-off
------------------------------------------------------
| Geoff Thorpe | |
| Victoria University | e-mail: gthorpe@comp.vuw.ac.nz |
| Wellington, | |
| NEW ZEALAND | |
|
| 2682.33 | lesson 22 | LJSRV2::MAGNELL | | Thu Aug 19 1993 13:25 | 566 |
| Lesson: 22
Title: Technique from Hell
Level: beginner, intermediate, advanced.
Style: Technique
Instructor: Tim Fullerton
Behold, the dreaded technique exercise from Hell! Use this to
develop and maintain almost unlimited speed. This exercise covers
and drills every possible combination of motions between the pick
and the fingers.
I beg you not to do this until you are quite comfortable with all
of the technical aspects that I provided across six lessons. If you
are not using good ergonomic technique, and you reinforce these bad
habits with this exercise, YOU WILL INJURE YOURSELF! If you are not
using good tonal technique, your bad habits will be that much more
difficult to dig out of your technique later.
Here is a summary of the points of good technique as I
know it:
A) Guitar Position (see part I)
B)1. Left Hand Thumb Position and range of motion (midline [G
string] to edge... see lesson II)
2. Left Hand Thumb Pressure (NONE! PERIOD! again, see lesson II)
C) Left hand wrist. (Straight as a ruler, palm away from the
neck...
again, lesson II)
D) Left hand wrist. (parallel to the underside of the neck...
lesson III)
E) Finger placement. (close to the neck... lesson III)
F) Overall position of right forearm. (lesson IV)
G) The pick, angled for the least noise (Lesson IV)
H) Alternate Pick (lesson IV)
I) Do not brace the right hand
J) Use a very tiny motion to pick
K) Relax
(from lesson VI, or Internet L.O.T.W._19)
If you are not absolutely comfortable with everything, for God's
sake
do not do this yet. Keep up with the six lessons until you can
dependably
keep track of all of these points, however slowly you have to play. I
keep
a consolidation of all six lessons on my hard drive; if you wish it,
mail
a request to fullerto@cis.ohio-state.edu and I will be glad to mail it
to
you.
SETTING UP THE CHART
Make this chart that you will practice from each day. First,
write the permutations of 1234 down the left side of a piece of paper.
1234
1243
1324
1342
1423
1432
2134
2143
2314
2341
2413
2431
3124
3142
3214
3241
3412
3421
4123
4132
4213
4231
4312
4321
Write SABCD across the top. These are titles of columns, so put
plenty
of room between each.
S A B C
D
1234
1243
1324
1342
1423
1432
2134
2143
2314
2341
2413
2431
3124
3142
3214
3241
3412
3421
4123
4132
4213
4231
4312
4321
The letters represent various left hand fingerings, and the numbers
are the orders that each note is played in each fingering.
Pattern "S" is a single string:
Finger =====> 1 2 3 4
E|------|-----|---0-|---0-|---0-|---0-|-----|-----|-----|
B|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern A:
Finger =====> 1 2 3 4
E|------|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
B|------|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|------|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|
A|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern B:
Finger =====> 1 2 3 4
E|------|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
B|------|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|------|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|
A|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern C:
Finger =====> 1 2 3 4
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|
B|------|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|------|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|------|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Pattern D:
Finger =====> 1 2 3 4
E|------|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|
B|------|-----|---0-|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|
G|------|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
A|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
Choose a picking pattern for this chart. There are four to apply.
Down, up, down, up;
Up, down, up, down;
Down, down, down, down; and
Up, up, up, up.
Let us begin by drilling down, up, down, up. Indicate that on the
chart:
down, up, down, up
S A B C
D
1234
1243
1324
1342
1423
1432
2134
2143
2314
2341
2413
2431
3124
3142
3214
3241
3412
3421
4123
4132
4213
4231
4312
4321
FILLING THE CHART
Fill the chart with metronome markings. Find the speed where
you can play each pattern perfectly five times. Then drop that speed
25%. That is the number that you put on the chart, and that is the
speed at which you will practice that particular pattern.
For example:
Let us begin with 1234 on a single string, and let us say that we
will practice it on the 5th fret. Start playing it.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 <== Fingering
E|-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-| etc...
B|---------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|
Now while you are playing it, go through the technique check list
and incorporate each aspect on the check list:
For example, ask yourself "Is the guitar set up properly? Are my
fingers staying low?" Keep slowing your speed until you can maintain
all of the aspects of good technique.
Then make sure that you are using the correct picking pattern for
this chart...
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u <== Picking
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 <== Fingering
E|-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-| etc...
B|---------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|
and make sure that it is played in an even tempo...
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u <== Picking
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 <== Fingering
E|-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-5-6-7-8-| etc...
B|---------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|
not
d u d u d u d u d u d u
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 <== Fingering
E|-5-6-7-8 (pause) -5-6-7-8 (pause) -5-6-7-8 (pause)
B|--------- --------- ---------------|
G|--------- --------- ---------------|
D|--------- --------- ---------------|
A|--------- --------- ---------------|
E|--------- --------- ---------------|
Let us say that you came up with a speed of 92 on a standard
metronome. Drop that back by 25% (5 clicks on a standard metronome)
and put that figure (69) at the intersection of 1234 (the fingering
order) and "S," the fingering pattern.
down, up, down, up
S A B C
D
1234 69
1243
1324
1342
1423
1432
2134
2143
2314
2341
2413
2431
3124
3142
3214
3241
3412
3421
4123
4132
4213
4231
4312
4321
Let us try one a little more awkward. How about pattern "A" 1324.
Recall that pattern A is:
Finger =====> 1 2 3 4
E|------|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
B|------|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G|------|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|-----|
D|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|---0-|-----|-----|-----|
A|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
E|------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
thus the way you would execute that pattern (in fifth position) is:
d u d u d u d u <== Picking
1 3 2 4 1 3 2 4 <== Fingering
E|-------6-------6----|
B|---5-------5--------|
G|-----7-------7------| etc...
D|---------8-------8--|
A|--------------------|
E|--------------------|
Again, slow down until perfect technique can be maintained and
until there are no pauses between iterations. Be especially
conscious of the picking pattern. I know this is not the way you
want to do it, and this way is terribly awkward. That is the whole
point of this exercise -- to drill every possible motion, awkward or
not.
Say that you can do this perfectly in quarter notes at 50. Drop the
metronome back five clicks to 40, and mark that on your chart.
down, up, down, up
S A B C
D
1234 69
1243
1324 40
1342
1423
1432
2134
2143
2314
2341
2413
2431
3124
3142
3214
3241
3412
3421
4123
4132
4213
4231
4312
4321
Obviously, you should put your own speeds in place of the examples
that I provide. I leave it up to you to fill out your chart.
There are two reasons to keep the practice speed 25% slower than
your maximum. For one thing, we are guitarists. As such, we are
egomaniacs. We are constitutionally incapable of being honest with
ourselves about how fast we can really play.:-) More seriously, some
days our chops work better than others. If we try to practice at our
top speed every day, some days we are just not going to be able to
do it. Those days, sloppiness will erode our progress. That 25%
reduction allows for a comfortable cushion to account for when your
chops just aren't working. Fear not, your top speed will still rise
with the practice speed.
PRACTICING
Aspire to practice through this chart six days a week. After a
week, make a new chart and increase each speed by one metronome
increment. If you are using one of those digital metronomes that
increments by ones, refer to the chart of standard metronome
increments at the end of this lesson.
Right now, I would expect that it takes a ridiculous amount of time
to play through this chart. For that reason, I would say not to make
charts for up, down, up, down; down, down, down, down; or
up, up, up, up. When you are faster, then start adding charts one by
one.
Soon you are going to be REALLY fast. For that reason, I suggest
that you acquire the habit of warming up before you do this.
Unfortunately, I have never run across any definitive warm-up
routines. I have heard that merely playing slowly is insufficient.
Unfortunately, no one has offered anything better yet. If you know
of anything, mail me. Meanwhile, I would suggest something that
lightly works the fingers of your left hand -- for example, the
pseudo chromatic exercise from the six technique lessons, any
scales, and sightreading. Play slowly and very gradually work up to
around the speeds at which you play the exercise from Hell. Rest
frequently.
Also, move around where you practice the patterns. For example, do
not always play them on the top four strings in fifth position. Play
them in arbitrary positions on arbitrary groups of adjoining four
strings around the whole range of the neck.
THE METRONOME
Don't have a metronome? The kind that is best for this exercise is
the battery powered kind with a dial on the front. The time kept is
infallible, the dial has standard increments, and you can get from
one speed to another instantly -- all come in very handy in the
exercise from Hell. Other kinds of metronomes that exist are the
little digital ones, the plug in mechanical kind, and the
upside-down pendulum kind. The little digital ones are great for
general purpose practicing. They are cheap and keep infallible time.
They are inconvenient for this, though, because they increment by
one and because you can't get from one speed to another instantly;
you have to wait for it to scroll up to the speed you want. The
other kinds just plain suck. The plug-in mechanical kind varies with
household current, and when they wear out they get noisy. The
upside-down pendulum kind keep time badly.
STANDARD METRONOME INCREMENTS
40 - 60 increment by two
40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60
60 - 72 increment by three
60, 63, 66, 69, 72
72 - 120 increment by four
72, 76, 80, 84, 88, 92, 96, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120
120 - 144 increment by six
120, 126, 132, 138, 144
144 - 208 increment by eight
144, 152, 160, 168, 176, 184, 192, 200, 208
Tim Fullerton
fullerto@cis.ohio-state.edu
1987 Upper Chelsea Rd
Columbus, Ohio 43221
(614) - 488 - 9322
|
| 2682.34 | Lesson 23 | FRETZ::HEISER | one more song | Thu Aug 19 1993 13:30 | 200 |
| Title: Barre Chords
Level: Beginner (Advanced) / Intermediate
Style: Technique - Barre Chords
Instructor: Denny Straussfogel
For those guitarists that have been stuck playing "easy guitar"
versions of songs or not playing certain songs at all I guarantee that
learning barre chords will be the single biggest leap you will ever
make in playing ability, and it's no where near as difficult as some
folks think. (I'm REALLY not overstating this! By learning a few basic
forms, you'll be able to play any song in any key. So when you see all
those C#m7, you'll think "no problem" rather than "I can't play that.")
The key to playing barre chords is developing the ability to "barre"
(fret) all six strings of the guitar with your index finger. Of course,
you have to do this "cleanly" and get a good tone out of all six
strings. I suggest you start by holding the guitar in the "classical"
position with the body of the guitar on the LEFT knee (I'll assume
you're playing a right-handed guitar) and the neck held up at a 45
degree angle. This puts your left hand in a much better position for
everything. (You'll be amazed at how much more speed and "reach" you'll
have and you can always return to playing with the guitar in some old
familiar position once you've mastered this technique.) Since
everyone's index finger is shaped a little differently, you may have
to experiment a little to get a good tone. Usually contact is made
towards the side of the index finger rather than right on the flat
part. You have to have your thumb pushing against the back of the
neck, not wrapped around it. Just pinch the neck between thumb and
index finger, with your finger covering all six strings (at the fret of
your choice) and work until you get a passable tone from all the
strings. This might not happen all at once; you need to build up a
little strength, and toughness on your finger. (I've never developed a
callous there, as on the fingertips, but it has gotten a little
tougher.) Anyway, this is usually the most frustrating part of
learning barre chords. Don't give up if it doesn't sound great at
first, it will with practice.
Now to the chord forms. The only theory you need to know is that the
frets on a guitar are analogous to the keys on a piano. Since you'll be
fretting all six strings you can move the entire chord for an F chord
up one fret and you'll be playing an F# chord. One more fret and you'll
be playing a G chord, one more a G# chord, and so on until you run out
of fretboard. So you can see, by learning a single form, you can play
as many chords as you have frets. There are two basic forms, and they
can be converted into minors and/or sevenths by simply raising a
finger. One form requires a finger rearrangement to do the minor, so
you could call it a different form. Okay, so there are three forms. By
learning these three forms, you can play any, yes ANY major chord,
seventh chord, minor chord, or minor seventh chord. (B-flat minor
seventh? No problem!) Major sevenths and major ninths are easy too once
you get the barring down. So here are the forms. Let's barre the 3rd
fret and look at the form for a G chord there ("i" indicates fretting
with index finger, "m" with middle finger, "r" with ring finger, and
"p" with pinky.This might be an unusual diagram format, but it's what
you see when looking over the top of the neck)
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- G chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
to form a seventh, simply lift your pinky
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- G7 chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
to form the minor, put back your pinky, and lift your middle finger (You
can use your middle finger to help with the barre until your strength
increases.)
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- Gm chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
to get a minor seventh, raise both middle and pinky fingers
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- Gm7 chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
Now remember the utility in this is that if you slide everything up one
fret you'll be playing a G#, G#7, G#m, and G#m7, respectively. Slide up
another fret and you've got A, A7, Am, and Am7, and so on right up the
fret board. In the opposite direction if you slide everything down one
fret from the "G" position, you'll have F#, F#7, F#m, and F#m7. One
more,fret down and you'll have something that should be somewhat
familiar, at least on the four high strings, an F, F7, Fm, and Fm7.
Actually, if you slide one more fret down, using the nut of the guitar
as your barre, you're back to an E, E7, Em, and Em7, which you probably
already know, using different fingers.
Okay, now the second form. Again, barre the 3rd fret and a C chord is
played as
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- C chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
to get the seventh, raise you ring finger
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- C7 chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
[Ed. Note: The sixth string (E) is not fretted or played. The
fifth string (A) is the root note of the chord.]
The minor is the same basic form with the second string dropped a fret,
but the fingering needs to be rearranged, hence, a third form which is
really an extension of the second. Also, you'll notice this is similar
to the "G" form given above, with the fingers all moved up a string.
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- Cm chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
and the minor seventh by raising your pinky
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- Cm7 chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
And finally, major seventh, and major ninths played out of this form as
e||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- Cmaj7 chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
e||---|---|-i-|---|-p-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-i-|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- Cmaj9 chord
D||---|---|-i-|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|-x-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
As in the first form, by moving the whole thing up or down the fret
board you can play as many different chords as you have frets.
One last word. Persevere. It may be a little frustrating at first, but
if you force yourself to practice and play using the barre chords, your
strength will increase, your hand will stop cramping, and you'll be
able to play all songs in the book. Good luck.
Denny Straussfogel
Postscript for the adventurous:
To play a ninth chord (not a major ninth, just a ninth) you need to
barre the three high strings with your RING finger. These chords are
found in a lot of mellow jazz pieces. The form for a C9 is
e||---|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
B||---|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
G||---|---|-r-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- C9 chord
D||---|-i-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
A||---|---|-m-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
E||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
The first (bass) string is muted (not played). As usual, move it up or
down the fret board and you've got any ninth you want.
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.35 | Lesson 24 | FRETZ::HEISER | one more song | Thu Aug 19 1993 13:31 | 122 |
| Title: The Minor Scale
Level: Beginner
Style: Heavy Metal Rhythm
Instructor: Ky MacPherson
Hey kids, my name is Ky, and I am going to teach you the Minor scale!
If you are confused and/or discouraged by the discussion of the various
"modes" or "scales", then this lesson is for you! The minor scale is
very popular in heavy metal, as well as a lot of other types of music.
So even if you don't care for heavy metal, you might learn something!
To me the minor scale sounds sadder, more emotional than the major scale.
Check out some previous lessons for a discussion of the major scale.
I will go out on a limb and say that 95% of all heavy metal is in
either a MINOR key, or in the CHROMATIC key. You are already familiar
with the chromatic key (whether you know it or not!) ... it is simply
the collection of all the notes on the fretboard. The MINOR scale is a
subset of the CHROMATIC scale. Let me also point out that the
PENTATONIC MINOR scale is a subset of the MINOR scale.
Let me now define some important terms:
An INTERVAL is the distance between two notes. Two very important
intervals that you need to know are the HALF-STEP, which is two
consecutive notes in the CHROMATIC SCALE, i.e. two adjacent frets,
and the WHOLE-STEP, which equals two HALF-STEPS.
The ROOT of a scale is the first note of the scale, and the scale is
named after the ROOT note. For example, when you hear a reference to
the "key of B minor" - the B is the root note.
OK! Now we are ready to learn the minor scale.
whole half whole whole half whole whole
step step step step step step step
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | | 2 | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | 6 | | 7 | | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(Root) (Root)
Let's do a specific example. First I will write out all the notes
in the G chromatic scale:
G - Ab - A - Bb - B - C - Db - D - Eb - E - F - Gb - G
Remember that the flats ("b"s) correspond to the black keys on the piano.
But on your guitar, these are just 12 consecutive frets starting with a "G".
(Any G will do fine!)
Now lets select the notes which make up the G minor scale.
G - - A - Bb - - C - - D - Eb - - F - - G
There you have the G minor scale! Painless, wasn't it!
Let me end this lesson with some muscial examples.
Here we are ascending and descending in the G minor scale:
G A Bb C D Eb F G F Eb D C Bb A G
E|---------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------|
E|---3--5--6--8--10-11-13-15-13-11-10-8--6--5--3-----|
Now here's an easier way to play it, using several strings:
G A Bb C D Eb F G F Eb D C Bb A G
E|---------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------3--5--3-----------------------|
A|------------3--5--6-----------6--5--3--------------|
E|---3--5--6-----------------------------6--5--3-----|
Finally, here's a simple G minor lick:
G D G A Bb D Bb A G D G A Bb D Bb A
E|-----10-----------10---------|-----10-----------10---------|
B|---8-----8--10-11----11-10---|---8-----8--10-11----11-10---| etc ...
G|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
D|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
It is helpful to have some kind of map of the fretboard, so that you
can find notes easily. One of the previous lessons contains an ASCII
fretboard map. There is also a PostScript file that creates maps
for many different scales and modes, however, I can't tell you where to
get that! I couldn't find it at any ftp sites. If demand is high, maybe
I will include it in a future lesson.
In our next lesson we will look at power chords, the fundamental tool
of the heavy metal rhythm guitarist! See you then!
--
Ky MacPherson (KMACPHE1@UA1VM.UA.EDU)
"Yeah, but what are you gonna do" - Homer Simpson
(I am currently moving so don't expect a quick response!)
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
25 Polychords Theory A Kevin Morgan
26 Power Chords Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
27 The Tonic Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.36 | Lesson 25 | FRETZ::HEISER | slow burn | Mon Aug 23 1993 14:12 | 164 |
| Title: Polychords
Level: Advanced
Style: Theory
Instructor: Kevin Morgan
A polychord is a "stacking", both literally and harmonically, of
two "adjacent" chords within a key.
For example, in the key of G, one of the seven possible polychords
is C/D. By C/D I mean a chord in which a C triad is played on the
6th, 5th, and 4th strings, and a D triad on the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st
strings. One such way of playing this is (in psuedo-tab):
2
3
2
2
3
3
Where the 6th and 5th strings are fretting with the thumb, the
4, 3 and 1 strings are fretted with a 1st finger barre, and the
2nd string is fretted with the 2nd finger. (yes, it's awkward;
work at it a bit. It's IMPORTANT that the 1st string ring out
too; don't accept less than all 6 strings ringing!).
Before we go futher with more polychord possibilities, you are by
now asking "what good is this"? It's a new tool. Play the polychord
and listen. It's a unique sound, and creates a unique emotional
feeling, which after all is the whole point of music, to create
feeling in the listener. Knowing polychords well gives you an
opportunity to inject them in your music, be it compositions, be
it free improvising, be it chord substitution when playing changes,
etcetera.
Another interesting use of polychords is as a means of "inventing"
interesting arpeggiated lead lines. By directly arpeggiating the
polychord tones, or otherwise using all six (or fewer) of them
in close succession, your lead line starts to also take on the
"mood" of the polychord. You get interesting intevallic leaps.
(Be sure to base your polychord lead lines on a theme, with either a
theme-variation or question-answer type of phrasing, as I'm sure you
always do!! And of course you should probably resolve your lead lines
to a chord tone of the actual underlying chord you are playing over.
For example, someone's playing a D7. You go for a lead line using
this C-D polychord. Ending on a D-F#-A-C will give more or less
resolution and sense of "yea, that fit's", while ending on a non
D7 chord tone will give alot more tension. Since your already creating
some serious tension with the polychord already (playing a C over D7!),
you should probably initially work with resolving to a D7 chord tone.
Of course, a jazzer probably wouldn't call this a "polychord".
They might view it as an inversion of D13, where the 7-9-11 are
played "in the bass" and the 1-3-5 are played in the treble. Or,
as a C with add 9, add 11, and add 13 (how do you write this,
C+9+11+13? There is no 7, but perhaps folks would just write C13
anyway? I don't know). Could be, could be. Viewing it as stacked
triads ("polychords") is just a different mental model.
Another term for this concept is "upper structure triads", the idea
that the base chord is always a simple triad, be it major, minor,
or diminished, and extensions are just triads "on top", such as
5-7-9, or 7-9-11, or 9-11-13. Polychords we are defining here as
being 9-11-13 played in the bass (strings 6-5-4), played over a
simple triad 1-3-5.
Enough theory, on to more fun stuff!
For playing lead stuff over polychords, whoa, you've got lots of
stuff to work with!! Using our C/D polychord again, you can
play C lydian, D mixolydian (okay, the same notes BUT you are emphasizing
different chord tones), D blues. Hey, whole tone scales thrown in
for a moment or two sound cool too!! Experiment.
How many polychords are there in a key? Seven. The C/D in the
key of G is, from a theory/any key point of view, just IV/V. Okay,
so the total set of polychords are:
I/II II/III III/IV IV/V V/VI VI/VII VII/I
Now how do we find them on the fretboard?
Note that the 6-5-4 component of the C/D polychord is, of course, just
a C triad in 2nd inversion (the 5th is a G, and it's in the bass, so
it's 2nd inversion). Do you know all 2nd inversion triads in the
key of G on the 6-5-4 string set? I.e., staying with this form of
5th of the chord on the 6th string, root of the chord on the 5th
string, third of the chord on the 4th string, play ALL the chords in
the key of G. We were just playing C at frets 3/3/2 on strings 6-5-4,
so slide up to the D (the V chord) at 5/5/4. Now slide up to the
Em on 7/7/5. The F#dim is at 8/9/7. And so on. Can you play all
7 chords in the key this way, up and down the neck, in time with
a metronome. No problem.
So now you have 1/2 of the 7 polychords. Next step: do the same
work on the 3-2-1 string set. Our starting point was D, the V chord,
in our C/D polychord. We used a 2nd inversion form (5th on 3, root
on 2, 3rd on 1). Next chord "up" is Em, which is at frets 4/5/3 on
strings 3-2-1, etcetera.
Now put these two chords together!! The reality is, the fingering
is tough. Doable, but tough. You frequently need to use the trick
of one finger fretting two strings.
Now the way out of the conundrum. Drop the 6th string out of the
equation. You are dropping the 5th of the "top" (bottom? I don't
know) polychord (in the C/D example, we are dropping the G, which is
the 5th of the C triad). That's okay, because we still have the
third (on the 4th string) giving us the "quality" of the chord (minor
or major), and we have the root (on the 5th string).
Now work out the fingerings. They are quite reasonable, and we now
have a whole new set of cool chords within the key, with a very
different vibe/feel from regular old major, minor, 7, 9 type chords.
Try a 2 chord vamp using two of these polychords, record it for
5 minutes or so, then jam over it. You got billions and billions
of scale and arpeggio possibilities to work with. Don't forget
whole tone scales!! (I usually do, don't be like me).
By the way, just to give you a sense that you indeed are on the
right track, the Em/F#dim polychord, dropping the 6th string, is:
5
7
5
5
7
x
So that's polychords in a nutshell. As I started with, another tool
to put into your bag.
Keep on jammin'!!
-Kevin Morgan
kmorgan@cup.hp.com
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
26 Power Chords Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
27 The Tonic Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List (Un)Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
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% Subject: GUITAR L.O.T.W. - # 25
|
| 2682.37 | Lesson 26 | FRETZ::HEISER | notes from a lost civilization | Wed Sep 08 1993 00:09 | 99 |
| Title: Power Chords
Level: Beginner
Style: Heavy Metal Rhythm
Instructor: Ky MacPherson
Hey kids, its Ky again! Today we will learn about power chords!
Last time we learned the Half-Step and Whole-Step intervals. To start
this lesson off we will learn a new interval: the Perfect Fifth.
A perfect fifth is equal to seven half steps, i.e. two notes seven frets
apart. However, since we are talking about a chord, that means we want
to strike both notes simultaneously, and the only way to do this is by
using two strings. Here is a sample power chord:
E|----------------|
B|----------------|
G|----------------|
D|--------5-------|
A|--------3-------|
E|----------------|
The root note, played on the A string, is the C. And the fifth of C, which
is a G, is played on the D string. The beauty of power chords, is that
you can make a root-fifth chord almost anywhere by simply moving the
same shape around the fretboard. However, note that the shape changes when
you play the root on the G-string, since the interval between the G-string
and the B-string is different from the interval between other strings.
Now lets look at some variations on the power chord:
E|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G|-------5-------|-------5-------|---------------|
D|-------5-------|-------5-------|---------------|
A|-------3-------|-------3-------|-------3-------|
E|---------------|-------3-------|-------3-------|
In the first example, we have added another root above the fifth. This
is another very common shape. The added high note makes the chord a
little brighter. In the second example, we still have the root above the
fifth, and now we have added a fifth below the root.
The third example shows just the two lowest notes of the previous example.
Here the root is actually the higher of the two notes, and the fifth is
the lower note. This is another important shape to learn. Technically,
this chord is called an "inverted" power chord. "Inversion" simply
refers to the fact that the root is higher than the fifth ... you can
think of this as turning the chord upside-down.
Now lets combine our understanding of power chords with the minor scale
that we learned in the last lesson. Lets write all the power chords for
the E minor key.
I II iii IV V vi vii I
E|-------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------2----4--------|
D|--------------------2----4----5----0----2--------|
A|-----2----4----5----0----2----3------------------|
E|-----0----2----3---------------------------------|
Notice several things: The root notes of the chords simply follow the
pattern we learned last time, the ascending E minor scale. I numbered
the chords using roman numerals. This is the convention for chords.
In this and future lessons from me, it will be understood that we are talking
about root-fifth power chords when I use a roman numeral. Note that this
is not always the case in other kinds of music.
Finally, if you are wondering why I used lowercase letters for the 3rd,
6th and 7th chords, it is because we are using the minor scale, and these
three minor intervals are flatted with respect to the major scale.
Notice how the first chord and the last chord are both I-chords. In fact,
any chord whose root note is an E would be an I-chord in the E minor key.
Similarly, there are many of each chord all over the fretboard.
Class Assignment:
Try finding some more I-chords, II-chords, etc. in the E minor key. Also,
try finding all the chords for another minor key of your choice.
In the next lesson, we will learn about the tonic, which is an extremely
important concept. See you then!
--
Ky MacPherson (KMACPHE1@UA1VM.UA.EDU)
"Glam rock just isn't what it used to be, Beavis"
(I am currently moving so don't expect a quick response!)
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
27 The Tonic Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List (Un)Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.38 | Lesson 27 | FRETZ::HEISER | notes from a lost civilization | Wed Sep 08 1993 00:11 | 155 |
| Title: The Tonic
Level: Beginner
Style: Heavy Metal Rhythm
Instructor: Ky MacPherson
Hey kids, today I will introduce you to a very important concept in
music ... the tonic. And although we are focusing on heavy metal in
this lesson, it is essential to understand the concept of the tonic to
write any kind of music.
Let's start right off with some musical examples! The following examples
are in the key of E minor.
I I I vii I
E|---------------------|---------|
B|---------------------|---------|
G|----------------2----|----4----|
D|----------------0----|----2----|
A|----2---2---2--------|---------|
E|----0---0---0--------|---------|
Notice how there is a sense of finality after the final chord. This is
caused by moving to the root chord, the E5 chord. The root chord is also
called the "tonic." Compare that sound with the following sequence
of chords:
I vii II
E|---------------------|---------|
B|---------------------|---------|
G|----------------2----|----6----|
D|----------------0----|----4----|
A|----2---2---2--------|---------|
E|----0---0---0--------|---------|
Notice how much different the second example sounds. It would sound
very irregular to end a song this way, because this sequence of chords
leaves a lot of unresolved "tension." How do you resolve this tension?
By moving to the tonic, of course!
But it is important to understand that this tension can be useful.
I vii iii II vi
E|---------------------|---------------------|---------------
B|---------------------|---------------------|---------------
G|----------------2----|----7---7---7---6----|---------------
D|----------------0----|----5---5---5---4----|----5---5---5-- etc.
A|----2---2---2--------|---------------------|----3---3---3--
E|----0---0---0--------|---------------------|---------------
Maintaining the tension gives the song a sense of movement. And a
song without movement (and thus tension) would be a very boring song!
Now I hope you have a grasp of the special properties of the tonic.
Now let me introduce you to another special chord: the dominant.
The dominant is the V chord, the chord whose root is a perfect fifth
above the tonic. Resolving to the dominant also gives a sense of finality,
although not as strong as resolving to the tonic.
I vi V
E|---------------------|---------|
B|---------------------|---------|
G|---------------------|---------|
D|----------------5----|----4----|
A|----2---2---2---3----|----2----|
E|----0---0---0--------|---------|
Listen to this example, and then listen to the one at the beginning of
the lesson again.
Now for some general rules:
1. A song should begin and end on the tonic.
2. The song should end by hitting the tonic on the first beat of a measure.
3. The lowest voice in a song (i.e. rhythm guitar for heavy metal)
should end the song on the tonic that is the lowest note played by
that instrument in the song. In simpler terms, you should end the song
by moving DOWN to the tonic.
Of course, as with any rules, these are commonly broken. However, if
you want to write a song that sounds good, you should keep these rules
in mind.
I am using the concepts of tonic and dominant in the context of chords,
but it is important to realize that these properties also hold true for
single notes. Thus a guitar solo should also begin and end on the tonic.
Now it is time to see these ideas in action! We are now going to examine
some excerpts from a song called "Evil Dead" by the group Death. I am not
suggesting that you rush out and purchase a copy of this song ... it is not
necessary that you have heard it before. I chose to include this song
because: (1) it is simple, and (2) it illustrates the principles I have
presented in this lesson. The song is in the key of G minor.
Tune down: (6)=D
The song begins with the cool G-minor lick I gave you way back in my
first lesson being played over the progression:
I vii vi V
E||--------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|--------||
B||--------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|--------||
G||o-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------o||
D||o---5---|--(5)--|---3---|--(3)--|---1---|--(1)--|---0---|--(0)--o||
A||----5---|--(5)--|---3---|--(3)--|---1---|--(1)--|---0---|--(0)---||
D||----5---|--(5)--|---3---|--(3)--|---1---|--(1)--|---0---|--(0)---||
Notice that both guitars begin on the tonic. The progression I-vii-vi-V
has a nice sound, and you will find it in other songs as well.
Now we will skip all the way to the end of the song:
E|---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|---5----------7------------|---8------10---8---7---------------|
D|---5----------7------------|---8------10---8---7---------------|
A|---3----------5------------|---6------8----6---5---------------|
D|---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------------------|--------||
|-------------------------|------------------------------------|--------||
|---5---------7-----------|---8------10---8---7----------------|--------||
|---5---------7-----------|---8------10---8---7---10---8---7---|---5----||
|---3---------5-----------|---6------8----6---5---10---8---7---|---5----||
|-------------------------|-----------------------10---8---7---|---5----||
The song also ends on the tonic, moving down. Notice how the tonic is
avoided, but the dominant is heavily used in the measures just preceding
the end of the song.
I hope you found my lessons to be entertaining, and I hope you learned
something too! This is my last lesson for now, although maybe in the
future I will cover some more advanced topics. Take care, and Good luck!
--
Ky MacPherson (KMACPHE1@UA1VM.UA.EDU)
"To me, Gorbachev always looks like a man who just had his accordian stolen"
- Lazlo Toth
(I am currently moving so don't expect a quick response!)
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List (Un)Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.39 | what? | COMET::VERMETTEC | Confusion will be my Epitaph ... | Sun Dec 12 1993 06:16 | 4 |
| what happened to the lessons?
chris
|
| 2682.40 | help! | COMET::VERMETTEC | Confusion will be my Epitaph ... | Sun Dec 12 1993 07:05 | 5 |
| I have also tried the subscription listed in .0 and have received
errors in mailing it.
chris
|
| 2682.41 | Lesson 28 | FRETZ::HEISER | no, I'm very, very shy | Mon Jan 10 1994 13:09 | 414 |
| Title: Top Note Chords (voice leading)
Level: Intermediate
Style: Technique
Instructor: Kevin Morgan
The subject of this lesson is the development of voice leading
capability, coupled with increasing your chord vocabulary.
We will be working in a major key based on the major scale
(i.e., a key based on a scale where the interval spacing between notes
is W-W-H-W-W-W-H, where W means whole tone and H means half tone). As
you should be aware to make full use of this lesson, the triad chords
that arise from such a scale, if the starting note is C, are:
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim
The 7th chords that arise from such a scale (starting again at C) are:
Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bdim7
Of course, these chords (formed from our scale) can be extended further
to include 9's, 11's, and 13's. As those notes are included, the
specifics of each chord diverge even more (in the same way that
at the triad level, both F and G were simple major chords, but at
the four note/7th level, the F extended to Fmaj7, while the G extended
to G7).
Now let me explain where we are headed. I want you to develop an
ability to play four note chords for ALL chords in the key, with
ANY of the possible notes in the FULLY EXTENDED (i.e., up to the
13th) chord "on top" (highest tone in the chord). Hence, working
with C out of the key of C major, we will be able to play four
note C chords where the top note is any of:
C D E F G A B
root 9th 3rd 11th 5th 13th maj7th
When looked at this way, it becomes relatively clear: we are talking
about playing varieties of a C chord with ANY of the notes in the
key on top.
Another way of organizing this list is by position in the chord instead
of in the scale:
C E G B D F A
root 3rd 5th maj7th 9th 11th 13th
Our approach to forming useful chords will be to put the root of
all chords into the bass, and always use the 5th string for this
root. We won't be delving into inversions in this lesson. And
why use the 5th string? Only one good reason: when playing with
a root on the 5th string, you have "easy access" to the 5th of the
chord on the 6th string, same fret (for all but the diminished chord,
which as a b5 instead of a normal 5th). Thus, we have convenient
access to an alternate bass tone, for creating some bass movement
(you've heard the term "alternating bass"?).
Also, with 4 note chord voicing, we will be forced to be selective
about which notes go into the chord (i.e., a full 13th chord has
all 7 notes in the key in it!). In general we'll be trying to get
the 3rd and 7th, which are most significant in defining the character
or "type" of the chord. As we've already said, we'll always have
the root (on the 5th string), or optionally, the 5th (on the 6th
string), in the bass.
We will use a system that will give us, for each of the seven chords
in the key, seven different voicings, where each voicing has a
different one of the seven possible notes in the key in the upper
voice. Hence, we are going to cover 7x7 = 49 chords. But don't
panic (yet!).
Enough talk, let's play.
Our starting point is Cmaj7, the first
chord in the key (C major) we are working in, and the first voicing
we want is with the ROOT of Cmaj7 (C) as the highest tone, and the ROOT
of Cmaj7 on the 5th string. Here's the chord in tab:
Cmaj7:
--- x ---
--- 1 --- C (root) (1st finger)
--- 4 --- B (maj7) (4th finger)
--- 2 --- E (3rd) (2rd finger)
--- 3 --- C (root) (3nd finger)
--- x ---
This is a nice maj7 voicing (if you ask my opinion). The "adjacent"
tones of the maj7 and the root on the 3rd and 2nd strings gives
it a nice feel. Note there is no 5th, but it's hardly missed.
Now what we are going to do is, using the same voicing structure,
play ALL the chords in the key. That is, we'll use the same
root on 5 string, 3rd on 4th string, 7th (or maj7) on 3rd string,
and root on 2nd string chord structure, making adjustments based
on the specific chord (b3 for minor, 7th for 7th chords, etcetera).
Hence, the next chord "up" in the key is Dm7, which is:
Dm7:
--- x ---
--- 3 --- D (root) (1st finger)
--- 5 --- C (7th) (4th finger)
--- 3 --- F (b3rd) (1st finger)
--- 5 --- D (root) (3rd finger)
--- x ---
Note the barre on fret 3. 3rd and 4th fingers can "slide" up from
the Cmaj7 chord without repositioning, and vice-versa.
The next chord is Em7, and it has the same shape/fingering as Dm7,
only two frets higher up (barre is on the 5th fret).
The next chord is Fmaj7, and it has the same shape/fingering as
Cmaj7, but with the third finger on the F at the 8th fret of the 5th
string, and 1st finger on the F at the 6th fret of the 2nd string.
The next chord is G7, and now we have a new shape (but same general
"forumla" of root-3rd-7-root, 5th to 2nd string). This one is
probably familiar to you as a "C7" shape:
G7:
--- x ---
--- 8 --- G (root) (1st finger)
--- 10 --- F (7th) (4th finger)
--- 9 --- B (3rd) (2nd finger)
--- 10 --- G (root) (3rd finger)
--- x ---
Next is Am7, with the same shape as our other m7 chords, barre on
the 10th fret.
Last is Bdim7. The difference between a diminished 7 and a minor is
the b5 in the diminished chord. Our chord voicings have no 5th at
all, so the shape for our Bdim7 is the same as our m7 chords. In
fact, with no b5, you could say we aren't really playing a Bdim7,
but...let's not quibble. When played in the context of the other
chords in the key, it's a Bdim7. This one has the barre on fret
12 (or no barre at the nut, with the 5th and 3rd strings fretted
at fret 2; in this open position, be sure to keep the 1st string
quiet!).
Okay...we've now covered all chords in the key of C major, using
a voicing that puts the root on top. Next up are all the chords
in C major using a 3rd on top.
These are easy, because they are familiar to you. Our formula
will be root-5th-7th-3rd on the 5th through 2nd strings. This
gives us our standard A7 chord shapes. We start with the Cmaj7
played as:
Cmaj7:
--- x ---
--- 5 --- E (3rd) (4th finger)
--- 4 --- B (maj7) (2nd finger)
--- 5 --- G (5th) (3rd finger)
--- 3 --- C (root) (1st finger)
--- x ---
Familiar, right? I'm going to assume you either know or can work
out on your own the rest of the chords in the key using this
formula/fingering/chord shape. Note that because we have the
5th in these chords, the Bdim7 IS a different shape from the
rest of the minor chords.
Now lets drop back to the chord voicings with the 9th on top. These
you probably are less familiar with across the board. Our formula
for these voicings is root-3rd-7th-9th on strings 5-4-3-2. The
first two you probably are familiar with, particularly you jazzer
types:
Cmaj7(9):
--- x ---
--- 3 --- D (9th) (3rd finger)
--- 4 --- B (maj7) (4th finger)
--- 2 --- E (3rd) (1st finger)
--- 3 --- C (root) (2nd finger)
--- x ---
Dmi7(9) (or Dmi9) :
--- x ---
--- 5 --- E (9th) (4th finger)
--- 5 --- C (7th) (3rd finger)
--- 3 --- F (b3rd) (1st finger)
--- 5 --- D (root) (2nd finger)
--- x ---
Now we hit a rather interesting and less known chord shape. The
Emi7 is the iii chord in the key of C major. We are forming 9 chords
_within_the_key_, and the 9th of Emi in the key is F, which relative
to the Emi chord is a b9. Hence, the chord is:
Emi7(b9)
--- x ---
--- 6 --- E (9th) (2nd finger)
--- 5 --- C (7th) (4th finger)
--- 5 --- F (b3rd) (1st finger)
--- 7 --- D (root) (3rd finger)
--- x ---
The next chord is Fmaj7(9), with the same shape as the Cmaj7(9) chord.
The 2nd finger goes on the 8th fret of the 5th string (the F, whaddya
know).
Next is G9 (or G7(9), either way). This is a familiar chord shape
also:
G9:
--- x ---
--- 10 --- A (9th) (2nd finger)
--- 10 --- F (7th) (1st finger)
--- 9 --- B (3rd) (3rd finger)
--- 10 --- G (root) (4th finger)
--- x ---
Next is Ami9 (or Ami7(9)), with the same shape as Dmi9, with the
D bass note on the 10th fret of the 5th string.
Next is Bdim7(b9)), with the same same as the Emi9. Why?
Because both have b9's!
And that does it for four notes voicings with the root on the fifth
string and the 9ths (within the key) in the top voice.
So far, we've covered roots in the top voice, 3rds in the top voice,
and 9ths in the top voice, for a total of 3*7 = 21 different chords,
although again, many have the same "shape" and hence are the
same chord structure.
Let's go to fifths. However, I'm now going to speed this up because
you should now have the concept. Once we define a "formula" for
the chord (a particular set of strings and a particular selection
of chord tones to go on each string), you should be able to work out
the fingerings for the entire set of such chords within the key.
So the formula we will use for putting the 5th on top is to use
strings 5-3-2-1, with with root, 7th, 3rd, and 5th on the respective
strings. So for Cmaj7 we have:
Cmaj7:
--- 3 --- G (5th) (2nd finger)
--- 5 --- E (3rd) (4th finger)
--- 4 --- B (maj7) (3rd finger)
--- x ---
--- 3 --- C (root) (1st finger)
--- x ---
My guess is most of you haven't used this chord form before! I'll
give you one more (which may be a little more familiar), then, you're
on your own with the rest of the 5th on top chords:
Dmi7:
--- 5 --- A (5th) (3rd finger)
--- 6 --- F (b3rd) (4th finger)
--- 5 --- C (7th) (2nd finger)
--- x ---
--- 5 --- D (root) (1st finger)
--- x ---
Now work out the rest: Emi7, Fmaj7, G7, Ami7, Bdim7. Which ones
have different shapes from the above? G7 and Bdim7.
Moving on...lets cover the chords with the 11th on top. Here we
are going to use a kindof funky formula because, well, because
I like it and the fingering works out well. Again, we are working
on the 5-3-2-1 string set, and the formula is root-7-9-11. No
3rd, no 5th. Now you could probably rename this chord as some
bizarre inversion of something or other, but let's not confuse our
concept. If you are playing the chords discussed so far in a
key (or any other chords in the key), and throw this in, the
surrounding music will "fill in" the sense of the chord. In a band
situation, the bass will in all likelyhood hit the 5th for you at
some point and maybe the 3rd too, etcetera. So let's flow with it.
Of course, there's the issue of what the heck I call these chords.
Okay, I'm going to cheat. I'm going to call the first one a
Cmaj7(9)(11), and (wink wink) hey there's no 3rd or 5th in the
voicing, sorry about that.
Cmaj7(9)(11):
--- 1 --- F (11th) (1st finger)
--- 3 --- D (9th) (3rd finger)
--- 4 --- B (maj7) (4th finger)
--- x ---
--- 3 --- C (root) (2nd finger)
--- x ---
One more:
Dmi7(9)(11):
--- 3 --- G (11th) (1st finger)
--- 5 --- E (9th) (4th finger)
--- 5 --- C (7th) (3rd finger)
--- x ---
--- 5 --- D (root) (2nd finger)
--- x ---
These will test your understanding of our chord construction concept
as you work out the rest of the chords in the key of C major, because
almost every shape is different here. Here are the chord spellings
that indicate why:
Cmaj7(9)(11)
Dmi7(9)(11) (or just Dmi11)
Emi7(b9)(11)
Fmaj7(9)(#11)
G7(9)(11) (or just G11)
Ami7(9)(11) (or just Ami11)
Bdim7(b9)(11)
So the ii chord and the vi chord have the same shape/spelling, and
the iii and vii chords also (since there is no fifth in these
chords).
Only the 7th and 13th are left to handle.
For the 7th on top, we'll "cheat" and go to a 5 string voicing.
Why? Because the fingering, using a barre, is much easier. If
you're plucking, you can still pluck just 4 strings (5-3-2-1
recommended). The string set we will use is 5-4-3-2-1. The
formula is root-5th-7th-3rd-7th. The shapes are the same as the
shapes for the 3rd on top voicings, except we are adding the 7th
on the 1st string, using the 4th finger.
Cmaj7:
--- 7 --- B (maj7) (4th finger)
--- 5 --- E (3rd) (3rd finger)
--- 5 --- C (root) (3rd finger)
--- 5 --- G (3rd) (3rd finger)
--- 3 --- C (root) (1st finger)
--- x ---
You can work out the rest; there's only two other voicings.
For the 13th, we'll use a root-7th-3rd-13th voicing using strings
5-3-2-1.
Cmaj7(13):
--- 5 --- A (13th) (4th finger or 3rd finger)
--- 5 --- E (3rd) (3rd finger)
--- 4 --- B (maj7) (2nd finger)
--- x ---
--- 3 --- C (root) (1st finger)
--- x ---
Since the 13th (6th) changes it's position in different minor chords
(if you are strictly staying in the key, which we are), the shape is
different for a Dmin7(13) and a Emin7(b13).
You get to work out the remaining 13th chords.
So there you've got 'em. Simple suggestion: try playing a chord
progession of IV-iii-ii-I, using the SAME voicings for each pass
over the progression, but CHANGING voicings each time you go back
to the IV chord (i.e., first time use root on top; 2nd time use
3rd on top, etcetera; after you can "cycle", jump around randomly).
Record this vamp for 5 minutes, and boogie over it!
Fun city!
Of course, these chords are of big time use when composing and you
need a particular chord over a particular note, also.
You could get into other inversions instead of just the root in
the bass...just think, that multiplies the number of chords we
just talked about by 7!!
Next lesson we'll talk about...11th chords! All inversions
for all chords in a major key, using the chord formula 1-3-5-7-11.
VERY cool chords, useful for substition for tension AND as a basis for
interesting lead lines.
-Kevin Morgan
ps: little advertisement here: I teach guitar at my home in
San Francisco (close to 19th Ave.) and am also willing (extra $'s)
to teach elsewhere in the south bay (SJ, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, etc.)
and the peninsula (since I commute each day up and down). Cost
is $30/hour. Time is evenings and/or weekends, only. Anyone interested
can write (kmorgan@cup.hp.com) or call (home after 7:00: 415-661-8388).
Beginner's and intermediate; for advanced students, I can share some
things and consult on some things, but I'm not the guy to be a
primary instructor for a truly "advanced" player.
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List (Un)Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.42 | Lesson 29 | FRETZ::HEISER | no, I'm very, very shy | Mon Jan 10 1994 13:10 | 263 |
| Title: Everything on harmonics
Level: Beginners ( and the other )
Style: Technique
Instructor: Vincent Pagel
Dear Guitar Lessoners of the Week, today we're going to meditate Steve
Portigal's thoughts about harmonics :
"Hey man , it's easier to produce harmonics on the 12th fret
than 7th fret, on the 7th than on the 5th and so on.
Can you help me ? "
Is it him , his guitar , or both? Well it's not surprising that harms on
the lower frets are more difficult to produce. I'll try to give you an
initiation , giving you some theoretical reasons first, then I'll give
you practical advice to produce them queer notes coming from outer
spaces.
Fasten your seatbelts ...for those of you who are really disgusted by
maths you can SKIP the theoretical part, but it sometimes can help you
to understand the grounds of strings' behavior.
When you play a note, you initiate the vibration of the string with your
right hand, and as you perhaps know the physics of vibrating strings
tells us that for a given string there exists an infinite ( theoriticaly
) of vibrating modes :
the first , which is called the fondamental with a frequency F1,
and the others, called harmonics whose frequency is an integer multiple
of F1:
Fn = n * F1
F1 is the fondamental it is the percieved frequency
F2= 2 * F1 is one octave higher than the fondamentale
F3= 3 * F1 is one octave and a half hihger => it's a fifth, that is to
say that if F1 is a C, F3 is a G on the octave above, that's the reason
why whenyou play a C and a G at the same time it sound very consonnant
to your ears, because the C already include a G !
F4= 4 * F1 is two octaves higher
F5= 5 * F1 is two octaves plus a third. That is to say for a C ,
F5 is E, and what do you see in front of your puzzled eyes : C E G is a
chord of C major, also called the perfect chord. With F7 you get the B
which is a major seventh.
Here is the base of the theory of our music ( consonance ).
REMARK : to transform Frequency into semi-tone intervals ->
log (F/440) * 12 / log 2 = number of semi tones from A (440Hz).
This explain :
* when you multiply by 2 the frequency, you raise by an octave
log( 2F / 440)/log2*12 - log(F/440)/log2*12
= log( 2f/f ) /log2 *12
= 12 semitones interval = 1 octave
* F3 = 3 * F1 gives us log 3/log2 * 12 = 19.01955
= 1 octave + 7 semitones
So the interval between F3 and F1 is 1 octave and a fifth
So when the string begins to vibrate, its movement is not monochromatic,
it's made of the fondamental which is the more energetic, superposed
with the succesion of its harmonics whose energy goes decreasing like an
exponent function. As someone, I forgot the name, replied to me this is
due to the initial condition of the string : the shape it has when you
release it with your finger or mediator is approximativately a triangle
( the flat corner being made at the position where you pull the string
). And the fourrier transform of such a wave function gives us
an exponantial repartition. So the sound ( the repartition ) depends on
the way you pinch the string, of the resonnance with the wood of your
guitar an so on (( Note: even on an electric guitar there's resonance
with the wood of it's body))) You can notice that if you pinch the
string nearly at the 12th fret, the sound is very dull. The reason is
that there is nearly no second harmonic
What's the conclusion : when you make a note, your ear percieve only one
note, that is to say the most energetic, the fondamental, but in fact
there are fainter other notes you don't percieve but you can clearly see
on a spectrogram as represented below => when you play one note, you
actually play a perfect chord without knowing it !!!!
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| | |
| | | | -
| | | | | | - _ _
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 ...
You can hear harmonics when you play a note and that you let the sound die. When
the fundamental has nearly completely damped, then you hear the rest. This is
particularly true on an electric guitar with much amplification.
But there is one way to make the harmonics audible at first => if you
manage to absorb all the harmonics from F1 ( fondamental ) to Fk, then
Fk+1 become audible because all the other frequencies more energetic
thant it are dead, so Fk+1 becomes the most energetic frequency and is
audible ( and as a matter of fact is the new fondamental )!!!!
HERE WE ARE : WHEN YOU JUST PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE TWELVEth FRET WITH
PRESSING, YOU PREVENT THE STRING FROM VIBRATING IN IMPAIR MODES because
the 12th fret is exactly in the middle of the string, and your finger
creates an initial condition saying : the middle of the sting is
moveless, since the finger prevent it from moving ! So the possible
vibration frequencies are multiple by 2 of F1
So if you draw the spectrogram of the sound you get => you see F2 F4 F6
F8 F10 and so on, with energy decreasing. So if you make it on the first
string which is E, you will hear a E one octave higher.
ON THE SEVENTH FRET, only multiples of F3 are heard because the 7th fret
parts the string in exactly 3 parts : spectrogram shows F3 F6 F9 F12
..... on the first string it gives you a B
ON THE FIFTH FRET, multiples of F4 cos' the 5th parts the string in 4
equal parts: spectro shows F4 F8 F12 ... you hear a E two octaves higher
than the fondamental
ON THE THIRD , multiples of F5 : F5 F10 F15 F20 .... your hear a G sharp
BUT AS I WAS TELLING YOU EARLIER THE ENERGY OF HARMS DECREASES LIKE AN
EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION SO HIGHER THE NUMBER OF THE HARM IS, THE FAINTER IT
IS, AND THE HARDER IT IS TO PRODUCE IT, BECAUSE THE FINGER OF YOUR LEFT
HAND CAN EASILY ABSORB THIS ENERGY IF BADLY PLACED (and the width of the
node of the vibration is smaller)!!!!!
So let's give up with theory, let's speak technic. There is two
convenient ways to produce harmonics:
FIRST: you put one of your finger (the thiner side of your little finger
) of the left hand on the 12th fret WITHOUT PRESSING AT ALL, and as the
same time as you pinch the string you take this finger off. It's not
easy to have a good coordination between the pinching and the taking
off. If you go off to early the string sound as usual, and if you go off
too late the harmonic sounds "poor" and doesn't last long. Just train on
the 12th fret to get some beautiful harmonics that sound bright and last
for a minute.
When your sound is neat, you can train on the 7th, 5th, 3th
fret... which is getting harder and harder. First of all the position on
the string is not exactly the position of the fret because, as I did not
mention earlier, the higher the order of the harmonic is, the more it is
getting "untuned". For this reason try to move your finger of the left
hand around the position of the fret to FEEL the exact place of the
harmonic. E. G. 2 ^ ( 7 / 12 ) = 1.4983071 which indicates the position
of the 7th fret. To divide the string in 4 equal parts the rate should
have been 1.5, so the position of the third harm is a bit higher than
the 7th. For the fifth fret => 2 ^ (5/12) =1.3348399 , to divide the
string in three part the rate should have been 1.3333333 so this time
the harmonic position is lower than the 5th fret. 2^((4/12) = 1.259921
so to reach the 1.25 rate and get the fourth harmonic you must place
your finger between the 3th and the 4th fret.
Something funny, when around the 3th fret the position of successive
harmonics becomes closer and closer and is not adjusted at all with
frets, and if you simply move a bit your finger, you will change the
note by a great interval. But those harmonics near the third fret are
very hard to produce and are not usually used. The current range is
12th, 7th and 5th fret (equivallent to 9th).
ANOTHER TECHNIC WHICH IS LESS COMMON: it comes from classical guitar and
allows to play ANY NOTE with harmonics. The idea is to make 12th fret
harmonic all the time, as they are very easy to make. You place the
finger of your left hand on the note you want to play in harmonmic (you
press the string against the fret as usual), and then you spot the
position which is 12 frets higher than this note. You give away your
mediator, get your right hand ready because all the difficulty is here (
as i don't know the name of fingers in english let's number fingers
beginning from the thumb=0, the finger to show=1, the finger to fuck=2,
the finger for rings =3 the finger to clean ones ears=4 ! ).
You stiffen your finger 1 and put it on the fret you have spotted ( 12
frets above the note you are playing with the left hand) this finger
doesn't press the string, simply lays on it. Then with you finger 2 you
pinch the string and take off your finger 1 swiftly. Is it clear? In
fact the whole movement is equivallent to the first method described,
the point was that for this first method the string was played without
pressing a note with the left hand.
With some training you can play a whole melody in harmonics. The
difficulty is that with the finger 1 of the right hand you must follow
the moves of the finger of your left hand 12 frets higher, which is not
easy at first. But I assure you that you can play some complex, single
notes, tune fast enough this way. If someone manage to play chords this
way, he'll have to explain how !
IN CONCLUSION I should add that this last method is applied by rockers (
without knowing it!) to make strings sound odd : the method is to play
with a mediator, and let a part of the thumb protude, so just after the
mediator has pinched the string, the flat part of the thumb hit the
string very quickly as your right hand is going forth, which absorb the
most energetic frequencies, leaving some harmonics. I don't know the
reason why but people call it "artificial harmonics".
When you try it first, it's not easy not to completly mute the string.
And if you have followed my explainations, you'll understand that you
must'nt do that at any position with your right hand : it will be easier
if the approximative position where your mediator attack the string is a
position where you have spotted harmonics. So try many positions to find
a spot , and then when your left hand moves to another note, you'll have
to move a bit in the same direction with your mediator by an amount
which is usually smaller than the move made by the left hand, as to
follow the nodes on the string.
SUMMARY OF THIS LESSON (thanks to ncah@dcs.ed.ac.uk ! )
>> To VINCENT PAGE1 (and the guy who needed the tips)
>>
>>As I'm not doing a Doctorate in producing Harmonics, this is a rough translation
>> of your thesis on how to produce them.
>>
>> 1. Hold your pick close to the end, with your thumb at roughly the same level as
>> the picking edge. When you pick, the edge of your thumb should touch the string
>> ALMOST simultaneously. Pick at the same speed as usual. Practise on the G string
>> first.
>>
>> OR
>>
>> 2. Lightly touch the string with a left hand finger, over a fret (eg. fifth).
>> Pick the string (as normal), and simultaneously remove your left hand finger.
>> This works anywhere along the string (as Vincent said y=mx+c) but some places
>> are better than others. Try fourth, fifth, seventh and twelth frets on the G
>> string to start with.
>> Yours, a harmonics layman.
After that lesson I hope you can play the Aram Khatchaturian Violin Concerto in
Dm with harmonics only ....
Good work and happy christmas
Vincent Pagel alias pagel@loria.fr alias HTS ( Harmonique Ta Soeur )
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Vincent Pagel Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List (Un)Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
bugs.specialix.co.uk[192.65.144.4]:/public/netsrc/guitar
|
| 2682.43 | Still going on ? | NOTAPC::BURGESS | | Fri May 27 1994 17:02 | 6 |
|
Would someone care to bring this series up to date ?
Assuming there is/was more.
Reg
|
| 2682.44 | Out Of Steam | TECRUS::ROST | From the dance hall to hell | Fri May 27 1994 18:13 | 4 |
| I haven't seen any new postings for some time. Lesson #29 probably IS
the newest one.
Brian
|