On tabs

I despise tabs, past the first few weeks of picking up their guitar my students never see them with me, many who use tab assume we don't like it because they have no rhythmic indications, however there are a number of reasons beyond that which lead me to dislike using it.

”You don't have a clue what you're doing”

Look at a piece of tabulature, and pick a random note, you should be able to tell me what that note is, tell me what chord it's over top of and what degree of the chord that is, when I see sheet music I can do that instantly, tabs however don't give you nearly enough information, the reasoning for knowing this comes in improvisation and decorating the melody.

”It's WAY easier to play like this”

I've yet to see any reasonably complicated song tabbed out in the way that I'd play it, most tabbers do what's known as “searching” moving up and down the fretboard trying to find the right note, they then skip the step of rewriting it into a more sensible position. Most tabbers break positional playing ideas constantly (I've seen it as bad as changing positions every few measures,) making your playing incredibly inefficient. And usually when tabbers DO follow positional rules they choose a position that isn't the most efficient place.

”It promotes 'parroting'”

Parroting is what some of my colleagues call playing everything note for note exactly the way it was shown to you, this is a style of learning that doesn't get you very far in the long run, this goes back to improvisation and melody decoration, but it also goes back to moving the same ideas across different songs, I've met a few people who learnt off tab that have learnt 8 different ways to play a ii-V-I progression without realizing they were relearning the same idea until I played it with my back to them, this won't happen with standard notation.

The Alternatives

Unfortunately there aren't many, it's hard to find notation for most rock songs. Transcribing the song your self is the most beatifically, but far from practical for beginner students, Powertab is a free alternative, however tab is written underneath you have to learn to ignore it, Guitar Pro is a similar (and in my opinion better) program, with the option to hide tab, however it runs about $60.

Conclusion

I generally recommend my students to learn a few tunes off tab or powertab when they start, this way when someone asks them to play something they can do something people can recognize, however, I get them to rewrite notes outside position into an easier place, then transcribe what they're doing into standard notation, creating, although a longer process, the student will gain MUCH more benefit in the long run. As soon as they have enough fretboard and theory knowledge to figure these things out themselves, they learn that way.

Soloing Exercises

I'm not going to attempt to get into “what is improvising” I'm going to assume you know some basics, if Grand Weepers wrote a great essay on it if you need a refresher, I'm simply going to deal with some exercises that help your abilities.

Single Chord Tones

The strongest notes to use over any chord are the notes in the arpeggio (or notes actually within the chord). The root and the third being the strongest of these. (refer back to Harmonizing Scales. So for the first exercise play through the tune in question playing only the roots of every chord in straight quarter notes.

After you're comfortable with the roots, play only the thirds. Then play only the fifths, then play only the sevenths (if applicable).

Try to stick with the highest of each note in the position you're playing, then only the lowest.

Multiple Chord Tones

Do exactly the same thing as the single chord tone exercise, however this time change notes every beat, for example, play root, third, fifth seventh every measure, play around with different patterns.

Continuous Chord Tone Exercise

This one is tough, but defiantly the most beneficial of the bunch. You want to be able to start on any note within the arpeggio, and play the next note within it ascending, when you get to a chord change play the next highest note in that arpeggio. When you're as high as you can go in your current position, switch directions and do it ascending. For example, if I were to play a C blues in straight quarter notes, in second position I might play:

Bb (on the fifth string), C, E, G for the first measure.

Bb (on the third string), C, E, G in the second

E, C, Bb, G in the third.

E, C, Bb, G switch to F7 for the second line.

F, A, C, Eb

etc.

Then try straight 8th notes, or even different rhythmic ideas such as, quarter, quarter, eighth, eighth, quarter

In addition to getting you used to where the arpeggio notes are for each chord all these exercises will get you used to how the progression sounds, the continuous chord tone exercise specifically will really help you break habits.

I had one student that when playing the blues would always play the root note of the one chord each time he switched to it, this exercise broke that habit.

How to practice scales

Practicing scales are a necessary part of learning any instrument: They get your hands used to playing faster and finding the notes you need for composing and improvising, they also get you used to the sound of the scale. Here are some exercises I give my students for practicing scales.

Start on the root note and go as high as you can in the position you're playing in, then as low as you can, then back to the root.

Now start on the root again and go up in thirds, then back down.

Then start on the root again and play the IM7 arpeggio up and down, then ii7, iii7, etc. And you'll get this:

Speed this up with a metronome, then work on G major, then C major, then A major, then F major. Once you're comfortable with them practice the same ideas in different positions across the neck.

Secondary Dominance

The idea of secondary dominance comes from the idea of using the strong V-I progression (refer back to Harmonizing Scales from another key signature to add movement to your chords. Let's take a standard twelve-bar blues to start.

 
|C7      |F7      |C7      |C7      |
|I       |IV      |I       |I       |

|F7      |F7      |C7      |C7      |
|IV      |IV      |I       |I       | 
|G7      |F7      |C7      |F7      |
|V       |IV      |I       |IV      |

*The IV chord in measure two is a fairly common substitution.

Now what we're going to do in measure eight is take the V chord of G major, (D7) and call this the V/V. Add the V/IV (C7) into the end of measure 9, and the V into measure two.

|C7      |F7  G7  |C7      |C7      |
|I       |IV  V   |I       |I       | 
|F7      |F7      |C7      |C7  D7  | 
|IV      |IV      |I       |I   V/V |
|G7 C7   |F7      |C7      |F7      |
|V  V/IV |IV      |I       |IV      |
 

Already this progression has much more movement in it. However, we can also do the same thing with the ii chord, creating a ii-V-I progression.

|C7        |F7  Dm7 G7|C7        |C7  Gm7 C7|
|F7        |F7  Dm7 G7|C7        |C7  Am7 D7|

|G7  Gm7 C7|F7  Dm7 G7|C7  Gm7 C7|F7        |

Play through this progression, the constant ii-V-I change is pretty common in Jazz, however used a little more selectively can be applied to any style of music, spice up your standard I – IV – V progression in C by playing:

C        Gm        C         F         Am        D         G
I        ii/IV     V/IV      IV        ii/V      V/V       V
 
 

Thirteenth Chords

R, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11, 13: A fully extended 13th chord, refer back to Harmonizing Scales If you don't know what this means.

Now obviously a seven note chord is impossible to play on a six string guitar so we need to eliminate one or more.

Root - Easily removed, the bass player will cover this note, however it's often kept in for strength.

Third - Required.

Fifth - Easily Removed, the bass player will usually cover this note.

Flat Seventh - Required.

ninth - Easily removed, added for colour.

eleventh - Known as the "avoid note" because of the way it rubs against the major third, the #11 can be added for colour.

thirteenth - Can be eliminated, but you'd no longer be playing a thirteenth chord.

Now remember a 7 chord is: 1 3 5 b7

A 9 is: 1 3 5 b7 9

a #11 chord is: 1 3 5 b7 9 #11

All four of these chords interchange with each other. This information can be really useful in creating colourful comping and soloing.

Your best friend as a musician

I tell my students as soon as they're comfortable with a guitar in their hands that they need to start practicing with a metronome. A metronome is the most valuable tool any musician can have other then their instrument itself, but so few guitar players think to use one.

What it does

In the simplest terms a metronome clicks in perfect time at a given speed (usually between 40 and 208 times per minute).

Having trouble playing something in time? Stick a metronome to it.

Having trouble playing something faster? A metronome will help you get your speed up.

How to use it

To start find some repetitive exercises and work on building your speed up (I usually start students alternating between frets 1 and 3 four times per sting, starting on the first, going up to the sixth and back with a goal of 100bpm.)

How to build speed – Metronome Bouncing

Say you can play something at 120 and you want it at 200 and can't seem to bridge that gap, try playing it at 112, then bump it up to 132 – you're not going to play it perfect, the idea is to get through it. Then back down to 120, 120 should seem easy at this point, “metronome bouncing” will build your speed up.

How to build speed – Burst Speed

Want to play the C major scale in straight 16ths at 100bpm and have no idea how to approach this? Rather then attacking the whole thing at once, start small: 1 and ¼ beats (always end right on the click). When you can get that work on beat 2, then put them together.

Cut time

Metronomes only go up to 208 for good reason, even at that speed they sound hectic and hard to follow. However, there are a lot of songs faster then 208, what you need to learn to do is have the metronome click only on beats 2 and 4 when in 4/4 time (be careful the tendency is to play beats 1 and 3 on the click). This click will emulate the snare drum of a drummer and smooth out your overall time.

Where to get one

Any music store should have one for about $40, http://www.metronomeonline.com/ will also provide you one for free at your computer, be careful though – make sure Ims and Email don't distract you.

Intro to Chord Shells

Chord shells are based around the concept of playing the bare minimum amount of notes to get the chord to sound, the concept only really works for four note plus chords.

We'll start with Dominant seven chords, (1, 3, 5, b7) refer back to my earlier post about harmonizing scales.

The most important notes to play in these four note chords for a guitar player are the 3rd and the 7^th, the reason being that the 1 and 5 are strong enough that if you leave one of them out the listener can fill in the blank. Also the bass player will generally cover the 1 and the 5, filling out the chord.

So we're going to play the 3^rd and 7^th on our 3^rd and 4^th strings, notice that no matter which one you put on top gives you the same shape

E---A---D---G---B---E
|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---X---|---|---|
|---|---|---X---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|

Now, alone these shells sound rather bland, so we're going to add either the root OR the fifth on the fifth or sixth string, filling out the sound, we now deal with two shapes.

E---A---D---G---B---E
|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---3---|---|---|
5---R---|---7---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|

E---A---D---G---B---E
|---|---|---|---|---|
R---|---7---|---|---|
|---|---|---3---|---|
|---5---|---|---|---|

Now, provided you can find the root on your fifth or sixth string, you can play and dominant seven chord. Now what do you do if you want a major 7 chord? Simply raise the 7^th, lower the 3^rd for a minor 7^th, lower the 7^th for a 6 chord, etc.

Intro to Modes

What is a mode?

In it's simplest form a mode is a scale that starts and ends on a different note.

A common misconception is that this is all there is to modes. However, if we sing the scale: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. What modes do is change where the 'do' or the root of the scale is, changing the type of sound produced.

Why learn modes?

Music written using modes creates different “feels” then tonal music (music written using the major scale).

What are the seven “church” modes?

These are the seven most common modes, starting and ending on all seven notes of the major scale.

In the key of 'C':

I C – Ionian (same notes as the major scale)

ii D – Dorian
iii E – Phrygian
IV F – Lydian
V G – Mixo-lydian
vi A – Aeolian (same notes as the natural minor scale)
vii B – Locrian

Now let's examine the differences between the modes

Ionian – all major

Dorian - b3, b7
Phrygian - b2, b3, b6, b7
Lydian - #4
Mixo-Lydian - b7
Aeolian - b3, b6, b7
Locrian - b2, b3, b5, b6, b7

This means that to form Dorian off of Ionian you lower the third and the seventh a half-step.

Modal vs. Tonal music:

Most modern rock music is Modal, whether the writer of the song realizes it or not, the difference is how the chords move, Tonal music moves in a way discussed [here]. However, modal music tends to have relatively little chord movement in it's progressions. For example the song “So What” by Miles Davis has two chords across 32 measures: Dm7 and Ebm7.

Let's look at the example of the standard “My Favourite things.” The first 16 measures go as follows.

Em7    | F#m7 | Em7  | F#m7 |     E Dorian
Cmaj7  |  %   |  %   |  %   |     C Lydian
Am7    | D7   |Gmaj7 |Cmaj7 |     Tonal
Gmaj7  |Cmaj7 |Fm7b5 |B7    |     Tonal

Notice how the tune switches back and forth between Modal and Tonal progressions, play through these chords and you can hear how the amount of movement changes, the tune continues to switch between modal and tonal ideas throughout.

Harmonizing Scales

Let’s use the C major scale to keep things simple.

C D E F G A B C

To create a C major chord off this scale, we take the root, third and fifth: C E G. Now let’s move everything up one degree to the second, forth and sixth, D F A, which makes a D minor chord. Continue moving up the scale in this fashion and you get:

C Dm Em F G Am Bdim

I ii iii IV V vi vii

We then give these chords numbers based on what degree of the scale the root is. These are the common triad chords in the key of C major. Now let’s turn them into a chord progression, by moving along the cycle of fourths, meaning we move up in fourths, which will give us each chord once and only once before coming back to C.

C F Bdim Em Am Dm G C

I IV vii iii vi ii V I

This by definition is the strongest chord progression you can form, the chord switches also get stronger as you move towards the right, V-I is the most common progression, and is so strong that when we hear the V chord our ear WANTS to hear the I chord, to the extent that going to any other chord will sound harsh.

Now obviously playing one chord progression all the time will get boring, so here are some simple guidelines to add variation.

I is the strongest chord, so it can go to any other chord and still sound good.

iii and vi can sub for I

ii and IV can interchange

V and vii can interchange

Remember that ALL rules have exceptions, and we’ll examine them later.

The Explanation:

The reason for these substitutes actually comes from the four note chords rather then the triads, let’s examine I, vi and iii

A
C   C
E   E   E
G   G   G
   B   B
       D

Both chords share three notes in common with the chord they can sub for.