As I continue to fine tune my picking, fingerstyle, and fretting technique, with the primary goal of developing articulation and tone, and the secondary (though equally important) goal of endurance and longevity, I've managed to isolate an issue that I haven't ever heard a teacher specifically point out to a student, and have never seen in any book, and I've got a PILE of them, classical, rock, fusion, eclectic, academic, you name it. I've often seen the general category the issue falls under referred to, but never this particular detail.
If your hands hurt when you play, assuming you don't have any other physical condition, or you're not managing to get the fluidity and speed you're looking for, you can have a combination of issues:
- You're not properly warmed up
- You're not relaxing your hands and arms when you play
- You're technique is causing you to repeatedly execute an unnatural motion.
I think it's the last one that gets most advancing guitar players. You're either going to learn to warm up and relax or you'll just always be in pain and you'll just stop moving forward. But when it comes to "unnatural motion", what specifically qualifies?
For me, one of the less obvious ones I found was "bouncing" with my right hand (my pick/fingerstyle hand). It applies to both my classical and electric playing.
By "bouncing", I mean, that you're not just moving your fingers, or the pick, when you fret. You're hand actually "bounces" away from the strings when you pluck, and/or, when moving your pick vertically from string to string, you "bounce" over one string to get to the next one.
"Bouncing" is insidious (as are most fine details of technique). It managed to make it's way into my playing even though I've focused carefully on both hands in my daily regimen for years. I believe this is because, when you're focusing on your hands and playing at a speed that allows your brain to lead your fingers entirely, you're conscious of unnecessary motion. We all know that conservation of motion is important, and we practice it when we focus. But when you "let 'er rip", the untrained elements of muscle motion take over.
Interestingly, it's not just guitar playing. I've seen this in all kinds of things. When I was a snowboard instructor, you'd get some hotshot guy that could rip down a hill all fancy. He gets back to the top all "check me out". Then you say, "carve four turns at these points along the hill, and nowhere else". They sneer and off they go. And they miss all of them; in fact, they go more or less the same way as the first time. They come back up the hill, usually saying, "alright I got it now," and try again. And fail again. They get angry and/or confused...is this some kind of trick? Nope. You just showed them that they're not in control of the board, the board is in control of them. And I see that a lot in guitar playing. Some guy in Guitar Center is ripping insane. But you say, "play 8th notes, and nothing else, without stopping", and they can't do it. They're not in control of their playing.
Anyway...
"Bouncing" causes a TREMENDOUS amount of tension in your hand, because of course, if you're playing fast, you have to get your fingers back to the strings. So your wrist goes rigid, which goes into your forearm; you start to stiffen up. Eventually you simply won't be able to play.
I wanted to validate this before writing about it, so for quite some time I've been watching other guitars players very carefully, and sure enough, I see it all over. Guys that are synonymous with technique, like Battio or Yngwie, are VERY in control of this sort of thing. Watch their videos; when they get down to the business of those unbelievable runs, their hands often don't even seem to really move.
As Philip Hii says in his essays on virtuosity (which every guitar player absolutely should read), a certain amount of sympathetic motion is to be expected and shouldn't be avoided (in favor of a completely unnatural stillness), and periodically, some inspired abandon is just fine. After all, your fingers are attached to your hand, and your hand is attached to your wrist. They're going to move. But having to stiffen your wrist and forearm to force your fingers to stay near the stings clearly isn't in your best interest. In fact, anything you do, like holding your elbow and shoulder high instead of letting them fall naturally while you play, is just bad news (but still you see so many classical guitar players do it for some reason).
I've analyzed and worked on this; I allow my fingers to do more of the work. I lightened up the pluck in fingerstyle, focusing on a clean strike with the nail and not a press/pluck (which is what I found was triggering the "bouncing"), and with a pick, I angle it a bit (thank you Paul Gilbert and Eric Johnson for verbalizing this), so that the pick can naturally slide over the string without an undue "lift and over" motion.
Without a doubt, it's allowed my speed to become more fluid. I've been able to play very fast runs for a long time, but since I've worked this, it's a hell of a lot less effort, and my overall attack just sounds more fluid. Naturally, this is opening up new possibilities for me since not only can I play cleaner, but I can play faster, and faster for longer, than ever. Discipline time; just because you can play fast doesn't mean you should. But that's a different conversation; I love to rip through phrases, and it's a damn powerful tool when used well.
So, if you're finding your hands hurt and you're struggling with speed, maybe look careful at "bouncing". It can be a major roadblock that makes it painful, or impossible, to get where you want to go.
As always thanks for visiting.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Strat/Seymour Duncan Pickup Replacement: Those mysterious inner wires.
Here's one for the pickup replacements folks, and it'll hopefully save somebody some anguish: after I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge position of my strat, which was fairly easy, I decided to finish the job, and got a Vintage Rails for the middle, and a Cool Rails for the neck. Versatility, all that. I followed the wiring diagrams provided, it wasn't that hard...BUT....
There are two more wires in the strat, in the body, itself, that no Seymour Duncan schematic addressed, and I looked hard. The two wires to the jack are documented; but, evidently, there can be two more wires in a given strat. One is a black wire seemingly coming from nowhere in the body (not the jack), the other is just screwed onto the inside body itself (the wire is held by a "ring" that you just screw onto the wood.
Fender evidently has gotten greedy with schematics; they don't share these things anymore as I understand it, you have to buy their wiring book. I refused, and just kept looking and looking, and guessing. So....the black wire that runs into the body had to be a ground (because it's black). But soldering it to the volume pot as a ground breaks the tone knobs. It turns out, and I don't know the logic, that this must be soldered onto the center pot (the middle knob, a tone knob). The other black wire, that screws onto the body, must be soldered onto the volume pot like any other ground wire.
More research showed; the first black wire that runs mysteriously into the body, is actually grounded to the base of the tremolo; this is the one that gets soldered to the middle (tone) pot. The second black wire has to do with the "paint shielding", and requires a ground to be attached to the body to "ground the paint" as it was explained to me. It has to do with a particular kind of paint used on the inside of the guitar. I don't fully understand this but that's the best explanation I got.
Also, the way Fender wired my guitar stock, did not match any of the schematics I could find anywhere. The way the pots were wired to the switch was different than their schematics. So in the end, I just removed every single wire from the guitar and started from scratch, followed the Seymour Duncan schematic, finished the job with the two "mystery wires" the way I had figured out, and lo and behold, a working strat now graces my arsenal again. Sheesh!
Home electronics, what fun.
There are two more wires in the strat, in the body, itself, that no Seymour Duncan schematic addressed, and I looked hard. The two wires to the jack are documented; but, evidently, there can be two more wires in a given strat. One is a black wire seemingly coming from nowhere in the body (not the jack), the other is just screwed onto the inside body itself (the wire is held by a "ring" that you just screw onto the wood.
Fender evidently has gotten greedy with schematics; they don't share these things anymore as I understand it, you have to buy their wiring book. I refused, and just kept looking and looking, and guessing. So....the black wire that runs into the body had to be a ground (because it's black). But soldering it to the volume pot as a ground breaks the tone knobs. It turns out, and I don't know the logic, that this must be soldered onto the center pot (the middle knob, a tone knob). The other black wire, that screws onto the body, must be soldered onto the volume pot like any other ground wire.
More research showed; the first black wire that runs mysteriously into the body, is actually grounded to the base of the tremolo; this is the one that gets soldered to the middle (tone) pot. The second black wire has to do with the "paint shielding", and requires a ground to be attached to the body to "ground the paint" as it was explained to me. It has to do with a particular kind of paint used on the inside of the guitar. I don't fully understand this but that's the best explanation I got.
Also, the way Fender wired my guitar stock, did not match any of the schematics I could find anywhere. The way the pots were wired to the switch was different than their schematics. So in the end, I just removed every single wire from the guitar and started from scratch, followed the Seymour Duncan schematic, finished the job with the two "mystery wires" the way I had figured out, and lo and behold, a working strat now graces my arsenal again. Sheesh!
Home electronics, what fun.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Drop 2 Chord Mode Map, Root Positions
As usual, I've been thinking a lot about modes, and how to use them over a given chord.
One thing that's been evolving in my playing for quite some time; I have had countless guitar teachers tell me that switching modes over chords is a mistake. I've never understood it; if you stick entirely to a key center, you're going to miss out on a number of harmonic opportunities in any piece where all the chords aren't diatonic to a given key, and even if they are, it'll prevent you from taking interesting turns in your phrasing, be it composed or improvised (i.e., playing the octatonic scale built off the third of a dominant seven chord...I mean, there is a diminished triad in a dom7 chord, why not make it shine?). In a piece that gets a little more interesting, sticking to a key center often boils you down to pentatonics with an occasional passing tone, and that's where I've seen many guitarists stay for the long term.
Nothing wrong with it, but me, I'm going to try and work with the underlying harmony as much as possible. Tones that are common to chords are of course important, for voice leading and such, but otherwise, I want as many colors in my improvisational palette as possible at any given time.
The first thing you realize when you go this way; you need to match chords to scales and modes. The more evolved version of this is, knowing where all the chord tones, and extensions, are, in a given mode as well. And then add ear and taste, so that you're not just burning through modes over chords all the time, and you've set yourself up with some work, to say the least.
To get it rolling though, you learn things like, "Well, over a minor 7 chord, at a fundamental level, I can use Aeolian (or Dorian, we'll start with Aeolian). Mind the 6th degree as it can destabilize the underlying harmony."
So, you know your minor 7 bar chord, fifth fret, all six strings. As it rings out, you play A Aeolian from the low E string root (fifth fret) to the high E string root (fifth fret again). Sounds great. Aeolian and minor 7. Easy. Fifth fret...fifth fret. Same registers, you know how your modes connect. Pat Martino eat my dust.
Enter drop 2, drop 3, open, quartal, and who knows what else, chords. Now you're playing chords all over the neck, and you're not even into the inversions yet. An A minor 7 chord, just root position drop 2 chords, can have the roots on three different strings, which puts them in three different parts of the neck (six if you count the octave). No more fifth fret...fifth fret.
Hmm...a little thought shows you that, hey I can still use the Aeolian form starting at the chord root, no matter where it is. Just remember how the B string tuning effects the pattern. Problem is, now you don't have the perspective of the whole neck, just a fragment of a pattern. It's a great step, and a necessary one, but losing site of the whole neck is frustrating, and frequently you find yourself jumping back to your familiar position, or locking into a key center again, or worse, just burning through some approximation to land on the tonic.
To that end, I decided to find out where, exactly, these pattern fragments fit into the standard vertical modes we all know. For example, say you're playing A minor 7 as a drop 2 chord, which means you have a 1,5,7,3 degree stack starting on the seventh fret of the D string. What's the entire vertical pattern? It's not going to be Aeolian. Yes, the fragment starting from the seventh fret on the D string will be. But what about the A and E strings, and what full horizontal mode patterns connect to the left and right?
Answer: The full horizontal pattern the Aeolian fragment is in, is Locrian, starting on the second degree of A Aeolian (so B). If you know your modes, that means that Aeolian is to the left, Ionian is to the right. Suddenly that little drop 2 chord is sitting in a very large and familiar area for improvisation.
What if you play the A minor 7, drop 2, root on the A string? Answer: Phrygian. Which again, sets you up for Dorian to the left, Lydian to the right.
Where do I get this? I mapped it all out on paper. I created a reasonably high quality version of the first one; drop 2 chords, root position, major7, dominant7, minor7, min7b5, dim7. For each, I show the chord form, then below it, where it plugs into the overall horizontal pattern, what mode that is, and what all the degrees are (with the chord degrees differentiated).
There's a lot of ways I can take this; instead of assuming Aeolian for minor chords, use Dorian (probably my next one). Instead of assuming Ionian for major chords, assume Lydian (though either of these become pretty obvious from looking at this chart, raise the sixth for dorian, raise the fourth for lydian). Then, do the inversions. Then, do the Drop 3s.
Do I plan on memorizing all this? Errr....no. The idea is really to give me starting points and clues, which over time, I'll internalize into an ever-expanding framework. But, writing it all down and adding it to the practice regimen has already proven valuable to me. I'm thinking about modes over chords, and scale degrees. Jazzy.
Learned some pretty interesting things too...did you know that Melodic Minor seems to be a straightforward scale to play over minor7(b5) chords?
Note 1: regarding Melodic Minor, I know there are names for all the modes. They seem to change depending on what you read or who you talk to, with the possible exception of Aeolian Dominant. To that end, for my personal sanity, I just think of Melodic Minor as a b3 version of the standard Ionian mode, and refer to the subsequent modes as "Melodic Minor Ionian" (root mode), "Melodic Minor Dorian" (second mode), etc.
Note 2: For the diminished 7 chords, you'll see two "7" indicators, one filled with grey. Because the symmetrical scales (whole/half and half/whole) have 8 notes (a bb7, which is a chord tone, and a 7), I differentiate the two by color. The grey one is the "extra" note.
The Drop 2 Chord Mode Map, Root Positions, can be found at:
http://www.tcoz.com/fretboardframework/Drop2ChordModeMap_RootPositions.pdf
As always, thanks for visiting.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Determing Scale/Mode Discussion
I posted this in response to a fellow student's question at Berklee, which was, more or less, "I know that using the V7 chord to determine scale works for major modes. How does it apply to other modes/scales?"
My reply, which was evidently well received:
----------
I'll take a stab at this, as I've toyed around with it a bit; the same logic you mention seems to apply. Look for the structures that are characteristic of the scale, particularly as they relate to the dominant and tonic chord within it (if they are present...they aren't always).
Major:
I ii iii IV V7 vi vii(b5)
Minor:
i ii(b5) III iv v VI V7
Melodic minor:
i(maj7), ii, III(#5), IV7, V7, vi(b5), vii(b5)
Harmonic minor:
i(maj7), ii(b5), III(#5), iv, V7, VI, vii(b5)
So, you look at the chord structures, then determine the possibilities. For instance, say you got into a song that vamps on an E7 for the lead for 16 bars. You might say, "that's a V chord of A major. So my improv is A major" (modally, E mixo, 5th mode of A major). That's correct, albeit predictable. Nothing wrong with that though, a good mixo solo is a great thing.
BUT...E7 is also the V chord of A harmonic minor. So, to spice it up, I'll start in E mixo, and hit a tone common to A harmonic minor (G# is a good one, it's the third of E7, and the seventh of A harmonic minor), then play in E phrygian dominant (the 5th mode of A harmonic minor), then before the end of the lead, pivot off the G# again and come out in E mixo. Very dramatic and sets you apart from the penta minor crowd.
Single chord vamps have a lot of possibilities though. Here's something more structured:
i, VI, V7, i.
It's got a minor chord as the resolution; lot of possibilities there. But, I see it has a major chord on the VI, and a dominant chord on the V7. Look at the diatonic structures we know; that's harmonic minor (play that progression; you'll hear it loud and clear).
Alter it to this:
i, vi(b5), V7, i
And it's not harmonic minor anymore, because harmonic minor doesn't have a min7b5 chord on the vi...melodic minor does though. If you play this one, again, you'll hear it loud and clear (and might recognize it as a VERY common jazz progression...go 4 beats on the i, and 2 beats on the vi(b5) and V7).
So the original thinking is valid, you just keep applying it.
But what if no tonic, and/or dominant chord, is visible in the arrangement? For instance, one I frequently see the hippies get wrong:
Amaj, Bmaj (Fire on the Mountain).
I see this played in either A or B Ionian all the time. Both are basically wrong, because neither chord is the tonic. Two major chords in a row...that could be a few things, but straightforwardly, that's a IV-V progression. So, E f g A B...E major. To use the roots of the chord, use either the fourth or fifth mode; A Lydian or B Mixolydian. The hippy-in-the-know knows that Lydian was Jerry's favorite mode (the #4 is a huge part of Jerry's spacey lead style), so, you go for A Lydian. It sounds great. Don't try to explain it at the jam though.
Another example...two Dom7 chords in a row.
A7, B7.
What scale, diatonically, has two dom7 chords consecutively?
Melodic minor (on the IV7 and V7). So, if you hit a song that is just two dom7 chords like this in a row (or is mostly those two chords), you know that you E melodic minor is a possibility, even though no tonic chord is visible.
Everything is subject to interpretation, and the ear rules all, but as far as I understand it, this is the basic mechanics of making these kinds of determinations. Powerful stuff for the improviser.
My reply, which was evidently well received:
----------
I'll take a stab at this, as I've toyed around with it a bit; the same logic you mention seems to apply. Look for the structures that are characteristic of the scale, particularly as they relate to the dominant and tonic chord within it (if they are present...they aren't always).
Major:
I ii iii IV V7 vi vii(b5)
Minor:
i ii(b5) III iv v VI V7
Melodic minor:
i(maj7), ii, III(#5), IV7, V7, vi(b5), vii(b5)
Harmonic minor:
i(maj7), ii(b5), III(#5), iv, V7, VI, vii(b5)
So, you look at the chord structures, then determine the possibilities. For instance, say you got into a song that vamps on an E7 for the lead for 16 bars. You might say, "that's a V chord of A major. So my improv is A major" (modally, E mixo, 5th mode of A major). That's correct, albeit predictable. Nothing wrong with that though, a good mixo solo is a great thing.
BUT...E7 is also the V chord of A harmonic minor. So, to spice it up, I'll start in E mixo, and hit a tone common to A harmonic minor (G# is a good one, it's the third of E7, and the seventh of A harmonic minor), then play in E phrygian dominant (the 5th mode of A harmonic minor), then before the end of the lead, pivot off the G# again and come out in E mixo. Very dramatic and sets you apart from the penta minor crowd.
Single chord vamps have a lot of possibilities though. Here's something more structured:
i, VI, V7, i.
It's got a minor chord as the resolution; lot of possibilities there. But, I see it has a major chord on the VI, and a dominant chord on the V7. Look at the diatonic structures we know; that's harmonic minor (play that progression; you'll hear it loud and clear).
Alter it to this:
i, vi(b5), V7, i
And it's not harmonic minor anymore, because harmonic minor doesn't have a min7b5 chord on the vi...melodic minor does though. If you play this one, again, you'll hear it loud and clear (and might recognize it as a VERY common jazz progression...go 4 beats on the i, and 2 beats on the vi(b5) and V7).
So the original thinking is valid, you just keep applying it.
But what if no tonic, and/or dominant chord, is visible in the arrangement? For instance, one I frequently see the hippies get wrong:
Amaj, Bmaj (Fire on the Mountain).
I see this played in either A or B Ionian all the time. Both are basically wrong, because neither chord is the tonic. Two major chords in a row...that could be a few things, but straightforwardly, that's a IV-V progression. So, E f g A B...E major. To use the roots of the chord, use either the fourth or fifth mode; A Lydian or B Mixolydian. The hippy-in-the-know knows that Lydian was Jerry's favorite mode (the #4 is a huge part of Jerry's spacey lead style), so, you go for A Lydian. It sounds great. Don't try to explain it at the jam though.
Another example...two Dom7 chords in a row.
A7, B7.
What scale, diatonically, has two dom7 chords consecutively?
Melodic minor (on the IV7 and V7). So, if you hit a song that is just two dom7 chords like this in a row (or is mostly those two chords), you know that you E melodic minor is a possibility, even though no tonic chord is visible.
Everything is subject to interpretation, and the ear rules all, but as far as I understand it, this is the basic mechanics of making these kinds of determinations. Powerful stuff for the improviser.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Work out all drop 2 and drop 3 7th chord inversions of any quality (maj, min, min7b5, dim) without remembering shapes or where the roots are.
Came up with an interesting one here. I wanted an easy way to be able to compute drop 2 and drop 3 inversions up the neck (if you're not familiar with drop 2 and drop 3 voicings, you'll have to google it, it's a technique for building chords used heavily at Berklee), so that if I forgot a seventh chord shape, I could easily figure it out. From there, I could add the 9th, change it to an open chord, whatever; the idea is to get to the base 7th chord quickly and then do the extensions or alterations.
There are 12 basic inversions of a drop 2 chord available --per octave--. Drop 2 voicing are across four consecutive strings (no skipped strings), so the root of the chord can be on the low D, A, or E strings, and there's four inversions per string; that's 12 shapes. If the B string was tuned consistently, you'd only have to remember four, because they'd repeat from string to string...but that's not the case, so you have to know all the fingerings.
There are 8 basic inversions of a drop 3 chord available per octave. Drop 3 have a set of top 3 strings, then skip a string, and the root is on the next string (the low string). So, the root can either be on the low A string (skipping the D in the chord), or the E string (skipping the A in the chord). Four inversions per string, 2 possible strings to put the root on; 8 shapes.
And that's PER CHORD QUALITY, and we're just talking seventh chords (so major 7, dom 7, minor 7, min 7 flat 5, dim 7). Do the math:
- Drop 2 7th chords: 12 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 60 SHAPES.
- Drop 3 7th chords: 8 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 40 SHAPES.
Technically, because diminished shapes are symmetrical, there's only three drop 2 shapes, and two drop 3 shapes, to memorize. Even then, you're still dealing with dozens of shapes to remember. That sounds really hard...and it is. Interestingly, this seems to be how most guitar players try to do it (ergo the haphazard chord knowledge of your typical guitar player).
There has to be a better way, and I came up with this: note there may be different ways to describe the steps, but these steps are the ones I find easiest to visualize.
Drop 2: 1573. Move second degree from top, to bottom. Move new top degree, to bottom.
Drop 3, 1735. Move the second degree from the top, to the bottom. Switch the order of the new top 2 degrees.
Let's try it:
The drop 2 first inversion voicing for any chord quality is 1,5,7,3 (your starting point). It can be any quality, it doesn't matter, so we'll use minor 7; In E, that'd be E, B, D, G. That's 1, 5, 7, 3.
Apply the formula (algorithm really): Move second from top, to bottom. Move new top, to bottom.
3-3-5
7-5-1
5-1-7
1-7-3
Do it again, second inversion (over the fifth).
5-5-7
1-7-3
7-3-1
3-1-5
Do it again, third inversion (over the 7th).
7-7-1
3-1-5
1-5-3
5-3-7
That's four inversions, which incidentally, you can call, "573 over 1, 715 over 3, 137 over 5, 351 over 7"...which reveals more relationships, like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string in a drop 2, is always a 5th, and 5ths are always perfect unless they are altered, like a min7b5 or dim chord). Move the drop 2 form down a string (so start with first inversion voicing on A string) and start the formula all over again to get the four inversions on that string. Move down to the E string, repeat: 12 inversions.
For drop 3, let's start with the first inversion voicing of E minor 7 on the A string, and work the formula: move second-degree-from-the-top, to the bottom of the stack. Switch order of the new top 2 degrees. The starting degree order is 1, 7, 3, 5 (remember, drop 3...you are skipping a string).
5-5-7
3-7-5
7-1-1
1-3-3
Do it again to move from second to third inversion:
7-7-1
5-1-7
1-3-3
3-5-5
Do it again to move from third to fourth inversion:
1-1-3
7-3-1
3-5-5
5-7-7
Again, you could call these, "735 over 1, 157 over 3, 371 over 5, 513 over 7", which reveals relationships like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string, is always a 7th of one kind or another).
Now...how do you remember exactly what fret each inversion starts on (what's the inversion root?).
Fortunately, the answer lies in something you probably already know if your still reading, and it applies to both drop 2 and drop 3 voicings: interval stacks.
All interval stacks for 7th chords (chords are built in intervals of thirds, so these are stacked thirds):
- Maj7: maj, min, maj.
- Dom7: maj, min, min.
- Min 7: min, maj, min.
- Min 7 b5, min, min, maj.
- Dim: min, min, min (symmetrical).
In terms of frets:
Any major third is 4 frets away (5, if you include the start fret).
Any minor third is 3 frets away (4, if you include the start fret).
Take E maj 7, which is E, G#, B, D#. Start on first inversion; your are playing chord/root (chord over root). You want to:
- Start on E.
- move to second inversion (chord/3rd). The first interval in a major chord is major third...four frets away. You'll be on G#
- move to the third inversion (chord/5th). The second interval is a minor third....three frets away. From G#, you'll be on B.
-move to the fourth inversion (chord/7th). The third interval is a major third...four frets away. From B, you'll be on D#.
Take diminished chords. The interval stack is minor 3rd, minor 3rd, minor 3rd (symmetrical). Start with first inversion voicing (chord/root).
- Start on E.
- Move up a minor third. G.
- Move up a minor third. Bb
- Move up a minor third. Db.
Put it all together, let's take A maj 7, which is A, C#, E, G#:
- Start with a drop 2 first inversion, 1573. This is chord/root (so you should be fretting an A on the bottom string).
- First interval of a maj 7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (C#). The formula for drop 2 gives you 3715. So you've already got the third fingered, and you know what string to find the root on, so finger that A. Now just work out the 7th and 5th.
- Second interval of a maj7 chord, is a minor third. Move up three frets (E). The drop 2 formula gives you 5137. You already have the fifth fingered, you know what string the root belongs on, so finger that A, then work out the 3 and 7.
- Third interval of a maj7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (G#). The drop 2 formula gives 7351. You already have the 7th fingered, and know what string the root is supposed to be on, so finger that A, and work out the 3rd and 5th.
For improvising, say you can't work out the "remaining two" quickly; you still have the fundamental tone of the inversion you want to hit, and the root. You can comp that all the way up and down the neck over a given chord voicing. That's snazzy.
Anyway, I've been working with this, and it's paying off, so I decided to write it out, and if you find it helpful, cheers. Chords are starting to naturally look like collections of intervals with harmonic possibilities. And of course the more I do it, the more automatic the fingerings will get, and I'll internalize the order of degrees instead of having to apply the formula. This seems to be a path to where I want to get; seeing the neck as one pattern that applies to everything.
As always, thanks for visiting.
There are 12 basic inversions of a drop 2 chord available --per octave--. Drop 2 voicing are across four consecutive strings (no skipped strings), so the root of the chord can be on the low D, A, or E strings, and there's four inversions per string; that's 12 shapes. If the B string was tuned consistently, you'd only have to remember four, because they'd repeat from string to string...but that's not the case, so you have to know all the fingerings.
There are 8 basic inversions of a drop 3 chord available per octave. Drop 3 have a set of top 3 strings, then skip a string, and the root is on the next string (the low string). So, the root can either be on the low A string (skipping the D in the chord), or the E string (skipping the A in the chord). Four inversions per string, 2 possible strings to put the root on; 8 shapes.
And that's PER CHORD QUALITY, and we're just talking seventh chords (so major 7, dom 7, minor 7, min 7 flat 5, dim 7). Do the math:
- Drop 2 7th chords: 12 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 60 SHAPES.
- Drop 3 7th chords: 8 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 40 SHAPES.
Technically, because diminished shapes are symmetrical, there's only three drop 2 shapes, and two drop 3 shapes, to memorize. Even then, you're still dealing with dozens of shapes to remember. That sounds really hard...and it is. Interestingly, this seems to be how most guitar players try to do it (ergo the haphazard chord knowledge of your typical guitar player).
There has to be a better way, and I came up with this: note there may be different ways to describe the steps, but these steps are the ones I find easiest to visualize.
Drop 2: 1573. Move second degree from top, to bottom. Move new top degree, to bottom.
Drop 3, 1735. Move the second degree from the top, to the bottom. Switch the order of the new top 2 degrees.
Let's try it:
The drop 2 first inversion voicing for any chord quality is 1,5,7,3 (your starting point). It can be any quality, it doesn't matter, so we'll use minor 7; In E, that'd be E, B, D, G. That's 1, 5, 7, 3.
Apply the formula (algorithm really): Move second from top, to bottom. Move new top, to bottom.
3-3-5
7-5-1
5-1-7
1-7-3
Do it again, second inversion (over the fifth).
5-5-7
1-7-3
7-3-1
3-1-5
Do it again, third inversion (over the 7th).
7-7-1
3-1-5
1-5-3
5-3-7
That's four inversions, which incidentally, you can call, "573 over 1, 715 over 3, 137 over 5, 351 over 7"...which reveals more relationships, like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string in a drop 2, is always a 5th, and 5ths are always perfect unless they are altered, like a min7b5 or dim chord). Move the drop 2 form down a string (so start with first inversion voicing on A string) and start the formula all over again to get the four inversions on that string. Move down to the E string, repeat: 12 inversions.
For drop 3, let's start with the first inversion voicing of E minor 7 on the A string, and work the formula: move second-degree-from-the-top, to the bottom of the stack. Switch order of the new top 2 degrees. The starting degree order is 1, 7, 3, 5 (remember, drop 3...you are skipping a string).
5-5-7
3-7-5
7-1-1
1-3-3
Do it again to move from second to third inversion:
7-7-1
5-1-7
1-3-3
3-5-5
Do it again to move from third to fourth inversion:
1-1-3
7-3-1
3-5-5
5-7-7
Again, you could call these, "735 over 1, 157 over 3, 371 over 5, 513 over 7", which reveals relationships like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string, is always a 7th of one kind or another).
Now...how do you remember exactly what fret each inversion starts on (what's the inversion root?).
Fortunately, the answer lies in something you probably already know if your still reading, and it applies to both drop 2 and drop 3 voicings: interval stacks.
All interval stacks for 7th chords (chords are built in intervals of thirds, so these are stacked thirds):
- Maj7: maj, min, maj.
- Dom7: maj, min, min.
- Min 7: min, maj, min.
- Min 7 b5, min, min, maj.
- Dim: min, min, min (symmetrical).
In terms of frets:
Any major third is 4 frets away (5, if you include the start fret).
Any minor third is 3 frets away (4, if you include the start fret).
Take E maj 7, which is E, G#, B, D#. Start on first inversion; your are playing chord/root (chord over root). You want to:
- Start on E.
- move to second inversion (chord/3rd). The first interval in a major chord is major third...four frets away. You'll be on G#
- move to the third inversion (chord/5th). The second interval is a minor third....three frets away. From G#, you'll be on B.
-move to the fourth inversion (chord/7th). The third interval is a major third...four frets away. From B, you'll be on D#.
Take diminished chords. The interval stack is minor 3rd, minor 3rd, minor 3rd (symmetrical). Start with first inversion voicing (chord/root).
- Start on E.
- Move up a minor third. G.
- Move up a minor third. Bb
- Move up a minor third. Db.
Put it all together, let's take A maj 7, which is A, C#, E, G#:
- Start with a drop 2 first inversion, 1573. This is chord/root (so you should be fretting an A on the bottom string).
- First interval of a maj 7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (C#). The formula for drop 2 gives you 3715. So you've already got the third fingered, and you know what string to find the root on, so finger that A. Now just work out the 7th and 5th.
- Second interval of a maj7 chord, is a minor third. Move up three frets (E). The drop 2 formula gives you 5137. You already have the fifth fingered, you know what string the root belongs on, so finger that A, then work out the 3 and 7.
- Third interval of a maj7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (G#). The drop 2 formula gives 7351. You already have the 7th fingered, and know what string the root is supposed to be on, so finger that A, and work out the 3rd and 5th.
For improvising, say you can't work out the "remaining two" quickly; you still have the fundamental tone of the inversion you want to hit, and the root. You can comp that all the way up and down the neck over a given chord voicing. That's snazzy.
Anyway, I've been working with this, and it's paying off, so I decided to write it out, and if you find it helpful, cheers. Chords are starting to naturally look like collections of intervals with harmonic possibilities. And of course the more I do it, the more automatic the fingerings will get, and I'll internalize the order of degrees instead of having to apply the formula. This seems to be a path to where I want to get; seeing the neck as one pattern that applies to everything.
As always, thanks for visiting.
Work out all drop 2 and drop 3 7th chord inversions of any quality (maj, min, min7b5, dim) without remembering shapes.
Came up with an interesting one here. I wanted an easy way to be able to compute drop 2 and drop 3 inversions up the neck (if you're not familiar with drop 2 and drop 3 voicings, you'll have to google it, it's a technique for building chords used heavily at Berklee), so that if I forgot a seventh chord shape, I could easily figure it out. From there, I could add the 9th, change it to an open chord, whatever; the idea is to get to the base 7th chord quickly and then do the extensions or alterations.
There are 12 basic inversions of a drop 2 chord available --per octave--. Drop 2 voicing are across four consecutive strings (no skipped strings), so the root of the chord can be on the low D, A, or E strings, and there's four inversions per string; that's 12 shapes. If the B string was tuned consistently, you'd only have to remember four, because they'd repeat from string to string...but that's not the case, so you have to know all the fingerings.
There are 8 basic inversions of a drop 3 chord available per octave. Drop 3 have a set of top 3 strings, then skip a string, and the root is on the next string (the low string). So, the root can either be on the low A string (skipping the D in the chord), or the E string (skipping the A in the chord). Four inversions per string, 2 possible strings to put the root on; 8 shapes.
And that's PER CHORD QUALITY, and we're just talking seventh chords (so major 7, dom 7, minor 7, min 7 flat 5, dim 7). Do the math:
- Drop 2 7th chords: 12 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 60 SHAPES.
- Drop 3 7th chords: 8 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 40 SHAPES.
Technically, because diminished shapes are symmetrical, there's only three drop 2 shapes, and two drop 3 shapes, to memorize. Even then, you're still dealing with dozens of shapes to remember. That sounds really hard...and it is. Interestingly, this seems to be how most guitar players try to do it (ergo the haphazard chord knowledge of your typical guitar player).
There has to be a better way, and I came up with this: note there may be different ways to describe the steps, but these steps are the ones I find easiest to visualize.
Drop 2: 1573. Move second degree from top, to bottom. Move new top degree, to bottom.
Drop 3, 1735. Move the second degree from the top, to the bottom. Switch the order of the new top 2 degrees.
Let's try it:
The drop 2 first inversion voicing for any chord quality is 1,5,7,3 (your starting point). It can be any quality, it doesn't matter, so we'll use minor 7; In E, that'd be E, B, D, G. That's 1, 5, 7, 3.
Apply the formula (algorithm really): Move second from top, to bottom. Move new top, to bottom.
3-3-5
7-5-1
5-1-7
1-7-3
Do it again, second inversion (over the fifth).
5-5-7
1-7-3
7-3-1
3-1-5
Do it again, third inversion (over the 7th).
7-7-1
3-1-5
1-5-3
5-3-7
That's four inversions, which incidentally, you can call, "573 over 1, 715 over 3, 137 over 5, 351 over 7"...which reveals more relationships, like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string in a drop 2, is always a 5th, and 5ths are always perfect unless they are altered, like a min7b5 or dim chord). Move the drop 2 form down a string (so start with first inversion voicing on A string) and start the formula all over again to get the four inversions on that string. Move down to the E string, repeat: 12 inversions.
For drop 3, let's start with the first inversion voicing of E minor 7 on the A string, and work the formula: move second-degree-from-the-top, to the bottom of the stack. Switch order of the new top 2 degrees. The starting degree order is 1, 7, 3, 5 (remember, drop 3...you are skipping a string).
5-5-7
3-7-5
7-1-1
1-3-3
Do it again to move from second to third inversion:
7-7-1
5-1-7
1-3-3
3-5-5
Do it again to move from third to fourth inversion:
1-1-3
7-3-1
3-5-5
5-7-7
Again, you could call these, "735 over 1, 157 over 3, 371 over 5, 513 over 7", which reveals relationships like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string, is always a 7th of one kind or another).
Now...how do you remember exactly what fret each inversion starts on (what's the inversion root?).
Fortunately, the answer lies in something you probably already know if your still reading, and it applies to both drop 2 and drop 3 voicings: interval stacks.
All interval stacks for 7th chords (chords are built in intervals of thirds, so these are stacked thirds):
- Maj7: maj, min, maj.
- Dom7: maj, min, min.
- Min 7: min, maj, min.
- Min 7 b5, min, min, maj.
- Dim: min, min, min (symmetrical).
In terms of frets:
Any major third is 4 frets away (5, if you include the start fret).
Any minor third is 3 frets away (4, if you include the start fret).
Take E maj 7, which is E, G#, B, D#. Start on first inversion; your are playing chord/root (chord over root). You want to:
- Start on E.
- move to second inversion (chord/3rd). The first interval in a major chord is major third...four frets away. You'll be on G#
- move to the third inversion (chord/5th). The second interval is a minor third....three frets away. From G#, you'll be on B.
-move to the fourth inversion (chord/7th). The third interval is a major third...four frets away. From B, you'll be on D#.
Take diminished chords. The interval stack is minor 3rd, minor 3rd, minor 3rd (symmetrical). Start with first inversion voicing (chord/root).
- Start on E.
- Move up a minor third. G.
- Move up a minor third. Bb
- Move up a minor third. Db.
Put it all together, let's take A maj 7, which is A, C#, E, G#:
- Start with a drop 2 first inversion, 1573. This is chord/root (so you should be fretting an A on the bottom string).
- First interval of a maj 7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (C#). The formula for drop 2 gives you 3715. So you've already got the third fingered, and you know what string to find the root on, so finger that A. Now just work out the 7th and 5th.
- Second interval of a maj7 chord, is a minor third. Move up three frets (E). The drop 2 formula gives you 5137. You already have the fifth fingered, you know what string the root belongs on, so finger that A, then work out the 3 and 7.
- Third interval of a maj7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (G#). The drop 2 formula gives 7351. You already have the 7th fingered, and know what string the root is supposed to be on, so finger that A, and work out the 3rd and 5th.
For improvising, say you can't work out the "remaining two" quickly; you still have the fundamental tone of the inversion you want to hit, and the root. You can comp that all the way up and down the neck over a given chord voicing. That's snazzy.
Anyway, I've been working with this, and it's paying off, so I decided to write it out, and if you find it helpful, cheers. Chords are starting to naturally look like collections of intervals with harmonic possibilities. And of course the more I do it, the more automatic the fingerings will get, and I'll internalize the order of degrees instead of having to apply the formula. This seems to be a path to where I want to get; seeing the neck as one pattern that applies to everything.
As always, thanks for visiting.
There are 12 basic inversions of a drop 2 chord available --per octave--. Drop 2 voicing are across four consecutive strings (no skipped strings), so the root of the chord can be on the low D, A, or E strings, and there's four inversions per string; that's 12 shapes. If the B string was tuned consistently, you'd only have to remember four, because they'd repeat from string to string...but that's not the case, so you have to know all the fingerings.
There are 8 basic inversions of a drop 3 chord available per octave. Drop 3 have a set of top 3 strings, then skip a string, and the root is on the next string (the low string). So, the root can either be on the low A string (skipping the D in the chord), or the E string (skipping the A in the chord). Four inversions per string, 2 possible strings to put the root on; 8 shapes.
And that's PER CHORD QUALITY, and we're just talking seventh chords (so major 7, dom 7, minor 7, min 7 flat 5, dim 7). Do the math:
- Drop 2 7th chords: 12 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 60 SHAPES.
- Drop 3 7th chords: 8 inversions per octave, 5 chord qualities. 40 SHAPES.
Technically, because diminished shapes are symmetrical, there's only three drop 2 shapes, and two drop 3 shapes, to memorize. Even then, you're still dealing with dozens of shapes to remember. That sounds really hard...and it is. Interestingly, this seems to be how most guitar players try to do it (ergo the haphazard chord knowledge of your typical guitar player).
There has to be a better way, and I came up with this: note there may be different ways to describe the steps, but these steps are the ones I find easiest to visualize.
Drop 2: 1573. Move second degree from top, to bottom. Move new top degree, to bottom.
Drop 3, 1735. Move the second degree from the top, to the bottom. Switch the order of the new top 2 degrees.
Let's try it:
The drop 2 first inversion voicing for any chord quality is 1,5,7,3 (your starting point). It can be any quality, it doesn't matter, so we'll use minor 7; In E, that'd be E, B, D, G. That's 1, 5, 7, 3.
Apply the formula (algorithm really): Move second from top, to bottom. Move new top, to bottom.
3-3-5
7-5-1
5-1-7
1-7-3
Do it again, second inversion (over the fifth).
5-5-7
1-7-3
7-3-1
3-1-5
Do it again, third inversion (over the 7th).
7-7-1
3-1-5
1-5-3
5-3-7
That's four inversions, which incidentally, you can call, "573 over 1, 715 over 3, 137 over 5, 351 over 7"...which reveals more relationships, like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string in a drop 2, is always a 5th, and 5ths are always perfect unless they are altered, like a min7b5 or dim chord). Move the drop 2 form down a string (so start with first inversion voicing on A string) and start the formula all over again to get the four inversions on that string. Move down to the E string, repeat: 12 inversions.
For drop 3, let's start with the first inversion voicing of E minor 7 on the A string, and work the formula: move second-degree-from-the-top, to the bottom of the stack. Switch order of the new top 2 degrees. The starting degree order is 1, 7, 3, 5 (remember, drop 3...you are skipping a string).
5-5-7
3-7-5
7-1-1
1-3-3
Do it again to move from second to third inversion:
7-7-1
5-1-7
1-3-3
3-5-5
Do it again to move from third to fourth inversion:
1-1-3
7-3-1
3-5-5
5-7-7
Again, you could call these, "735 over 1, 157 over 3, 371 over 5, 513 over 7", which reveals relationships like, the interval from the root of the inversion to the note on the top string, is always a 7th of one kind or another).
Now...how do you remember exactly what fret each inversion starts on (what's the inversion root?).
Fortunately, the answer lies in something you probably already know if your still reading, and it applies to both drop 2 and drop 3 voicings: interval stacks.
All interval stacks for 7th chords (chords are built in intervals of thirds, so these are stacked thirds):
- Maj7: maj, min, maj.
- Dom7: maj, min, min.
- Min 7: min, maj, min.
- Min 7 b5, min, min, maj.
- Dim: min, min, min (symmetrical).
In terms of frets:
Any major third is 4 frets away (5, if you include the start fret).
Any minor third is 3 frets away (4, if you include the start fret).
Take E maj 7, which is E, G#, B, D#. Start on first inversion; your are playing chord/root (chord over root). You want to:
- Start on E.
- move to second inversion (chord/3rd). The first interval in a major chord is major third...four frets away. You'll be on G#
- move to the third inversion (chord/5th). The second interval is a minor third....three frets away. From G#, you'll be on B.
-move to the fourth inversion (chord/7th). The third interval is a major third...four frets away. From B, you'll be on D#.
Take diminished chords. The interval stack is minor 3rd, minor 3rd, minor 3rd (symmetrical). Start with first inversion voicing (chord/root).
- Start on E.
- Move up a minor third. G.
- Move up a minor third. Bb
- Move up a minor third. Db.
Put it all together, let's take A maj 7, which is A, C#, E, G#:
- Start with a drop 2 first inversion, 1573. This is chord/root (so you should be fretting an A on the bottom string).
- First interval of a maj 7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (C#). The formula for drop 2 gives you 3715. So you've already got the third fingered, and you know what string to find the root on, so finger that A. Now just work out the 7th and 5th.
- Second interval of a maj7 chord, is a minor third. Move up three frets (E). The drop 2 formula gives you 5137. You already have the fifth fingered, you know what string the root belongs on, so finger that A, then work out the 3 and 7.
- Third interval of a maj7 chord, is a major third. Move up four frets (G#). The drop 2 formula gives 7351. You already have the 7th fingered, and know what string the root is supposed to be on, so finger that A, and work out the 3rd and 5th.
For improvising, say you can't work out the "remaining two" quickly; you still have the fundamental tone of the inversion you want to hit, and the root. You can comp that all the way up and down the neck over a given chord voicing. That's snazzy.
Anyway, I've been working with this, and it's paying off, so I decided to write it out, and if you find it helpful, cheers. Chords are starting to naturally look like collections of intervals with harmonic possibilities. And of course the more I do it, the more automatic the fingerings will get, and I'll internalize the order of degrees instead of having to apply the formula. This seems to be a path to where I want to get; seeing the neck as one pattern that applies to everything.
As always, thanks for visiting.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Chord Tone Targeting Shortcut (sorta)
Chord tone targeting means, while playing a lead, you land your musical thoughts on a note in the chord you're improvising over. So, if you're improvising over a Cmaj triad, you'd target C, E, G.
The importance of practicing this, and getting really good at it, is extreme, for the same reason that when you are speaking, you don't just suddenly stop
Looks like a typo doesn't it? Although you can still get what I'm trying to say, the thought is clearly unfinished. If I was to train a few more sentences like that together, you'd eventually become confused as to what I'm trying to say.
Leads are no different. You're chaining together musical thoughts. Many of the same rules as speaking, or writing, apply; tell 'em what you're going to say, say it, tell 'em what you said. Stay on topic. Make every word count. And so on.
"Staying on topic", and "make every word count" are probably the ones I'd relate chord tone targeting to the most. If you consider the harmony (chord) to be the topic, and the topic is C major, then you can present your points as you like, as long as you come back to C major chord tones. Expanding on this basic soloing principal, to me, shows the wit, thoughtfulness, and experience, of the player. But just like somebody speaking, if they do nothing but tell jokes, offer personal insights, or talk about the old days, you'll probably stop listening.
Anyways, I've been working pretty hard on this, and along the way, came up with a practical way to make sure you do this without having to constantly be thinking about the notes in the chord.
It's all about knowing your five octave positions, and where they fit into the mode you're playing in. If you haven't yet, take a look at my CAGED, PMAID, 45123 article. What it discusses is how the five Caged octave patterns relate positionally to the five most commonly used modes, and the five pentatonic positions. I give enough in this article though to get you through it; as long as you more or less know the notes all over the fretboard, and know some basic positions (like a major scale, a minor scale, and your pentatonics), you can use this tip.
Here's a diagram showing the five octave positions. If you don't know this, you really, really should. It's an easy way of finding every place on the fretboard you can play a given note.
Here's the basics for an A blues jam (so an A7 vamp, making A mixolydian, and A pentatonic major, good candidates for improvising). Remember, when you just see a 7 with no other indication, it's a dominant chord (a lot of people call it a "blues" chord).
So...A7. You know right off the bat it's got an A in it. If you know a little about chords, you know a dominant 7 chord, is the same as a major 7 chord, but with a flatted 7th. So, A7 is A, C#, E, G (an Amaj7 would be A, C#, E, G#). You can also just play the chord and see where your fingers are, but it's good to know how basic chords are built.
If 7th chords aren't in your bag of tricks yet, just stick to A major (A, C#, E), and work with the third (C#)...keep reading.
Anyway, I've often read that the most important chord tones are the third (which determines if a chord is major or minor), and the 7th (which determines a lot of things, like if the chord is dominant, diminished, adds a major or minor 7th to create chords like Amin(maj7), etc.). This seems to pan out, because if you take any seventh chord of any kind, and cut out all the notes but the third and seventh, you can still hear the character of the chord (that's a great comping technique btw). If there's no 7th, play the root and third, or third and 5th. Extensions make it more interesting, but let's stick to the basics for now.
Based on that, let's target the third. So, A, C#, E, G....we want to target the C# in our lead phrases. Every time we play this note, it will sound very much "in", because it's "on topic".
Let's use A pentatonic major to get started (the number at the top is the starting fret of the diagram, R = root, so in this case A, and the numbers indicate the number of the note in the scale, NOT the finger or fret number). Remember that in pentatonic major, which is a five note scale, there is no 4 and no 7.
4
- R - 2 - 3 -
- 5 - 6 - - -
2 - 3 - - - -
6 - - R - - -
3 - - 5 - - -
- R - 2 - - -
Now, find an easy C# in that scale. Everybody knows that C is the third fret on the A string, so C# would be the fourth fret. If you look at this diagram, you see it pans out; the fourth fret is where the third note of this scale pattern is located. You probably play it with your index finger when playing this pattern. Note that, no matter where you play this scale pattern, the third (and all the other tones) will ALWAYS be in that same position relative to the root of the scale.
So, now look at the octave chart. Based on that, you should be able to see that if you play a note on the A string, you can find the octave of that note on the G string, two frets over. So, up two strings, over two frets, there's your first octave. You can also see that if you play a note on the G string, you can find the next octave up two strings and over three frets. Look at the diagram again, you see it works.
If you memorize the five octave positions, you can just find the note you want, anywhere, and your fingers will show you the octaves on their own, making it easy to find everywhere you can play any note on the fretboard.
So, play A string, 4th fret; G string, 6th fret; E string, 9th fret. You've played three octaves of C#.
Now, starting anywhere in the scale (the root is a good candidate, so start on A), play up the scale (or down it) until you get to one of those three C#. Try to make the C# land on a beat. Voila, you have just exercised chord tone targeting.
What if you wanted to target the flatted 7th (remember, A7 = A, C#, E, G). Well...there is no 7th in a pentatonic major scale, so in this case, no G. That doesn't mean you can't add it though; in fact, many, many guitar players have built their sound around using pentatonic scales with the correct 7th degree added, creating a 6 note scale.
Here's the pattern again with the flatted 7th added (this is building up to the mixolydian mode btw...). Note that we now start on the third fret so we can get that nice low G in there:
3
- R - 2 - 3 -
- - 5 - 6 7 - -
- 2 - 3 - - - -
- 6 7 - R - - -
- 3 - - 5 - - -
7 - R - 2 - - -
Look at the octave diagram again; you see if you play a note on the low E, you can find the octave two strings up, two frets over. From there, you can find the next octave 2 strings up, three frets over. So, E string 3rd fret, D string 5th fret, B string 8th fret. These are all Gs.
Do it again; start anywhere in the scale, land on any of the newly added G notes. Bam, you are now targeting the b7, which sounds great in leads over dominant chords.
Get creative from there; do a run to G, then from that G, go up to a C#, then from that C#, do a run to an A. You've chained three thoughts, targeting the b7, 3, and root. Once you can do that consistently (and one day, without really thinking about it at all, just because you've done this so much you just know where they all are), you're really well on your way to "staying on topic".
That's the basic mechanics, and you'd be surprised how just sticking to that can drastically improve the quality of your solos; you'd also be surprised how many people don't practice this; imho, it's one of the most important things that separates a player from the wanker. Of course you can experiment with landing in different places, or use really long thoughts that don't resolve exactly when expected, but remember, if you just ramble on and never get back to the topic in any way, people will stop listening (unless you can fool them into thinking your some kind of savant).
Have fun with that. As always, thanks for visiting.
The importance of practicing this, and getting really good at it, is extreme, for the same reason that when you are speaking, you don't just suddenly stop
Looks like a typo doesn't it? Although you can still get what I'm trying to say, the thought is clearly unfinished. If I was to train a few more sentences like that together, you'd eventually become confused as to what I'm trying to say.
Leads are no different. You're chaining together musical thoughts. Many of the same rules as speaking, or writing, apply; tell 'em what you're going to say, say it, tell 'em what you said. Stay on topic. Make every word count. And so on.
"Staying on topic", and "make every word count" are probably the ones I'd relate chord tone targeting to the most. If you consider the harmony (chord) to be the topic, and the topic is C major, then you can present your points as you like, as long as you come back to C major chord tones. Expanding on this basic soloing principal, to me, shows the wit, thoughtfulness, and experience, of the player. But just like somebody speaking, if they do nothing but tell jokes, offer personal insights, or talk about the old days, you'll probably stop listening.
Anyways, I've been working pretty hard on this, and along the way, came up with a practical way to make sure you do this without having to constantly be thinking about the notes in the chord.
It's all about knowing your five octave positions, and where they fit into the mode you're playing in. If you haven't yet, take a look at my CAGED, PMAID, 45123 article. What it discusses is how the five Caged octave patterns relate positionally to the five most commonly used modes, and the five pentatonic positions. I give enough in this article though to get you through it; as long as you more or less know the notes all over the fretboard, and know some basic positions (like a major scale, a minor scale, and your pentatonics), you can use this tip.
Here's a diagram showing the five octave positions. If you don't know this, you really, really should. It's an easy way of finding every place on the fretboard you can play a given note.
Here's the basics for an A blues jam (so an A7 vamp, making A mixolydian, and A pentatonic major, good candidates for improvising). Remember, when you just see a 7 with no other indication, it's a dominant chord (a lot of people call it a "blues" chord).
So...A7. You know right off the bat it's got an A in it. If you know a little about chords, you know a dominant 7 chord, is the same as a major 7 chord, but with a flatted 7th. So, A7 is A, C#, E, G (an Amaj7 would be A, C#, E, G#). You can also just play the chord and see where your fingers are, but it's good to know how basic chords are built.
If 7th chords aren't in your bag of tricks yet, just stick to A major (A, C#, E), and work with the third (C#)...keep reading.
Anyway, I've often read that the most important chord tones are the third (which determines if a chord is major or minor), and the 7th (which determines a lot of things, like if the chord is dominant, diminished, adds a major or minor 7th to create chords like Amin(maj7), etc.). This seems to pan out, because if you take any seventh chord of any kind, and cut out all the notes but the third and seventh, you can still hear the character of the chord (that's a great comping technique btw). If there's no 7th, play the root and third, or third and 5th. Extensions make it more interesting, but let's stick to the basics for now.
Based on that, let's target the third. So, A, C#, E, G....we want to target the C# in our lead phrases. Every time we play this note, it will sound very much "in", because it's "on topic".
Let's use A pentatonic major to get started (the number at the top is the starting fret of the diagram, R = root, so in this case A, and the numbers indicate the number of the note in the scale, NOT the finger or fret number). Remember that in pentatonic major, which is a five note scale, there is no 4 and no 7.
4
- R - 2 - 3 -
- 5 - 6 - - -
2 - 3 - - - -
6 - - R - - -
3 - - 5 - - -
- R - 2 - - -
Now, find an easy C# in that scale. Everybody knows that C is the third fret on the A string, so C# would be the fourth fret. If you look at this diagram, you see it pans out; the fourth fret is where the third note of this scale pattern is located. You probably play it with your index finger when playing this pattern. Note that, no matter where you play this scale pattern, the third (and all the other tones) will ALWAYS be in that same position relative to the root of the scale.
So, now look at the octave chart. Based on that, you should be able to see that if you play a note on the A string, you can find the octave of that note on the G string, two frets over. So, up two strings, over two frets, there's your first octave. You can also see that if you play a note on the G string, you can find the next octave up two strings and over three frets. Look at the diagram again, you see it works.
If you memorize the five octave positions, you can just find the note you want, anywhere, and your fingers will show you the octaves on their own, making it easy to find everywhere you can play any note on the fretboard.
So, play A string, 4th fret; G string, 6th fret; E string, 9th fret. You've played three octaves of C#.
Now, starting anywhere in the scale (the root is a good candidate, so start on A), play up the scale (or down it) until you get to one of those three C#. Try to make the C# land on a beat. Voila, you have just exercised chord tone targeting.
What if you wanted to target the flatted 7th (remember, A7 = A, C#, E, G). Well...there is no 7th in a pentatonic major scale, so in this case, no G. That doesn't mean you can't add it though; in fact, many, many guitar players have built their sound around using pentatonic scales with the correct 7th degree added, creating a 6 note scale.
Here's the pattern again with the flatted 7th added (this is building up to the mixolydian mode btw...). Note that we now start on the third fret so we can get that nice low G in there:
3
- R - 2 - 3 -
- - 5 - 6 7 - -
- 2 - 3 - - - -
- 6 7 - R - - -
- 3 - - 5 - - -
7 - R - 2 - - -
Look at the octave diagram again; you see if you play a note on the low E, you can find the octave two strings up, two frets over. From there, you can find the next octave 2 strings up, three frets over. So, E string 3rd fret, D string 5th fret, B string 8th fret. These are all Gs.
Do it again; start anywhere in the scale, land on any of the newly added G notes. Bam, you are now targeting the b7, which sounds great in leads over dominant chords.
Get creative from there; do a run to G, then from that G, go up to a C#, then from that C#, do a run to an A. You've chained three thoughts, targeting the b7, 3, and root. Once you can do that consistently (and one day, without really thinking about it at all, just because you've done this so much you just know where they all are), you're really well on your way to "staying on topic".
That's the basic mechanics, and you'd be surprised how just sticking to that can drastically improve the quality of your solos; you'd also be surprised how many people don't practice this; imho, it's one of the most important things that separates a player from the wanker. Of course you can experiment with landing in different places, or use really long thoughts that don't resolve exactly when expected, but remember, if you just ramble on and never get back to the topic in any way, people will stop listening (unless you can fool them into thinking your some kind of savant).
Have fun with that. As always, thanks for visiting.
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