Combining Chord Shapes

Almost-Seasons Greetings to you! It’s been a busy month in the Holy City and the holidays are just getting started. This past Saturday I had the privilege to play at the Annual Cold Heart Revival, a festival concert at the Pour House featuring several regional and local bands that fall somewhere in the alt-country vein. In addition to local favorites Lindsay Holler's Western Polaroids, there were great sets from Joel Hamilton & Owen Beverly (The In-laws), Sadler Vaden, and Bill Carson. This concert also always seems to fall on the weekend of the USC-Florida game, which usually ends up more lopsided than it did this year…



Our latest video lesson should start to tie together some of the ideas we’ve previously been working on. By applying the chord fragments we learned in the first lessons, we can start to get a feel for rhythmic comping. We will later learn the major scale in each chord position, and that will open up our lead playing tremendously.

The first real song part in this lesson is from Betty Wright’s “Clean Up Woman.” This a quintessential R & B number when it comes to layered rhythmic guitar parts. In the video we learn the basic rhythm part in the key of G (for continuity from the previous lessons) even though the original song was in the key of F. This is okay because you should learn how to use these chords in all keys anyway! An easy was to start navigating the chord shapes to is remember the “D shape” is always 4 frets (a major 3rd) higher up the neck than the “F shape.” In our example the “F shape” G major chord is on the 3rd fret and the “D shape” G major chord is on the 7th fret.

I hope you enjoy the lesson, next time I will teach you all the parts to ‘Clean Up Woman.” There is another great video lesson on this topic in Jeff “Skunk” Baxter’s (of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fame) video series called “American Guitar.” This is a great, yet humorously dated ("We are in the 90's Ladies and Gentleman!") video series in which Baxter teaches whatever the “American guitar style” encompasses to an apparent Japanese audience. Be sure to check it out, and that’s all until next time. Peace!



Download the Guitar Pro .gp5 or the tab of this lesson here.

Music Ed. on a Budget

Let's face it, most working musicians don't have much much extra cash to burn. We all want to improve our skills, broaden our horizons, and buy the occasional steak (or veggie burger) dinner.
Even if we're fortunate enough to have some regular gigs paying for day-to-day bills with our music revenue can be hard enough; let alone financing further music education and the upkeep of our gear. While you guys are soaking in my last few lessons I will take this time to share a few ideas I had about maximizing some inexpensive resources so you can save your cheddar for your...well, your veggie burger.

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY IS YOUR FRIEND!!
I have recently been expanding my library of jazz recordings. Instead of forking out lots of money for new cds (The Definitive Vince Guaraldi and the new Julian Lage album not withstanding) I have been using the wealth of cds at the Charleston County Library as a FREE way to hear and learn many new things. I did the same thing at the Richland County Library when I lived in Columbia. From Skip James to Joni Mitchell, Drive-By Truckers to Herbie Hancock, there are so many quality albums available it's not even funny. The Charleston Library even has a Lindsay Holler and the Dirty Kids album which is awesome. Except for the occasional late fee you have almost-free access to so much music it would be wrong to not take advantage of this opportunity.

BECOME A REGULAR AT YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY

RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUY!!
If you read my post about Gear Acquisition Syndrome you might have been led to believe that I'm a Harmony Central hater. My point was that you shouldn't obsess about your gear, but if you are ready to buy something for your rig then you should most definitely research before you buy. There is so much information out there about virtually any guitar, amp, or pedal (including product demos on Youtube) that there is no reason these days to buy gear on a whim without learning about it or trying it out before hand. Ebay and Craigslist can also be your friend for value-priced gear as long as you take the right precautions.

DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY!!

Just last week the recto-tube in my VOX AC30 blew out again. I have relied on local amp guru Bill Nance for a few years now for all my amp questions and repairs. Instead of being left amp-less for a weekend gig and a week's worth of rehearsals Bill was generous enough to lend me one of his class-A hand built tube amps while mine was being fixed. My point is being loyal to those in your local music shops can pay dividends when it comes time for repairs and purchases. Mad props to Bill and BILCO AMPS!!ONE OF BILL'S GNARLY COMBO AMPS

These days your dollars have to stretch pretty far. If you've heard the old joke:
Q: How does a guitarist make a million dollars?
A: He starts with two million!

then you know it can be true too often. Try to save your money for when it counts. Hold out on pedals unless that new one is absolutely necessary because they can be a money-pit. Meet people in your music community and develop relationships, and don't forget your library card!

Harmonized Major Scale

Welcome back, hope you guys had a fun and safe Halloween! Today's lesson will pick up where we left off last time with chord fragments. This time we will use familiar chord shapes to harmonize the major scale. This example is also in the key of G but can be easily transposed for use in any key.

Click to download the guitar pro file or the standard tab. If you don't have Guitar Pro yet, be sure to download a demo because this program is a great practice tool! Please leave comments so I can give better lessons and email me any questions. Thanks!

Harmonized Major Scale

Welcome back, hope you guys had a fun and safe Halloween! Today's lesson will pick up where we left off last time with chord fragments. This time we will use familiar chord shapes to harmonize the major scale. This example is also in the key of G but can be easily transposed for use in any key.

Click to download the guitar pro file or the standard tab. If you don't have Guitar Pro yet, be sure to download a demo because this program is a great practice tool! Please leave comments so I can give better lessons and email me any questions. Thanks!

Intro to Chord Fragments

Today's post is...(drum roll).....my first video lesson! I hope you enjoy and there will be several more on the way. Next time I might get fancier (a.k.a. zooming in!) but I included the chord diagrams and picking exercise in a Guitar Pro file as well as a tab file you can view in Microsoft word. I HIGHLY recommend the Guitar Pro software, it is a great learning tool. If you don't already own Guitar Pro, you can download a free demo here.

About today's lesson:
This is an introduction to using major chord shapes up the neck. In the video I show you how to play a G major chord in several positions using mostly the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings. Over the next several lessons we will learn the ins and outs of the major scale: how to harmonize the major scale in chords, other inversions, and major scale positions throughout the CAGED system of chords. If this sounds like mumbo-jumbo, just tune into the video and work your way through these introductory chord shapes for now.

Please give me some feedback as to how I can improve my lessons and cover subject matter that you want to learn! Thanks for tuning in and please spread the word that there will be multiple FREE VIDEO LESSONS here in the months to come. Thanks!

Download the .gp5 or .tab file for this lesson.

Spice It Up Part Deux

Welcome back for part two of our discussion on "spicing" up ordinary chord progressions. Last time we talked about altering the existing chords in a progression. Today is all about chord substitution.

Two ways to begin substituting chords are:
- diatonic substitution
- chromatic substitution

Diatonic substitution means you replace one chord with another chord from the same major scale.
For example in the key of G, the relative minor to G major is E minor. What does this mean?
The notes in G major: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
are the same notes as in the E minor scale: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E

So if the song calls for a Gmaj7 chord, you could substitute that chord for an Emin7.
Or, instead of replacing the chord altogether, if 2 bars of Gmaj7 are written, you could play one bar of Gmaj7 and one bar of Emin7 to break up the monotony.

What if the song calls for 4 bars of Gmaj7? Now you have even more options. You could play: Gmaj7, Emin7, Gmaj7, Emin7.
You could also incorporate a 2-5-1 movement. 2-5-1 refers once again to the scale degrees. In the key of G, the 2 represents Amin, the 5 represents D7, and 1 is the root G. So four bars of your basic Gmaj7 could become Gmaj7, Amin7, D7, Gmaj7. This movement creates interest!!
There are so many other possibilities with substitution; this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What about chromatic substitution? The chromatic scale includes all 12 semitones of Western music. Chromatic substitution can mean raising or lowering a chord tone by a half step.
This progression can be heard in many "romantic" jazz standards. Play one measure of each chord:
Cmin - CminMaj7 - Cmin - Cmin6

Or this famous progression from my man George Harrison's "Something."
C - Cmaj7 - C7 - F

There's a familiarity to that sound of movement that is timeless. How about My Morning Jacket's "Sec Walkin'?"
G - Gmaj7 - G7 - G6

I must stress that this is just a starting point. I don't want to bombard you with examples but in our earlier 2-5-1 progession in the key of G, you could substitute the 5 chord chromatically from a D7 to a D7b9 for a progression of Gmaj7, Amin7, D7b9, Gmaj7. The D7b9 adds so much tension that the resolution to Gmaj7 is extra-pleasing to the ear. Have I lost you or does this make sense?

Over the next month I will be expanding the Jazzmaster Journal to include video lessons so the lessons will be more clear and helpful. Please email me or refer to an online chord finder if you have any questions! Rock out your jazz and jazz up your rock!!

Reversing the Effects of G.A.S.

If you play guitar, it is only a matter of time before you come down with a case of G.A.S. That's right. It's not if, but when. Truly, Gear Acquisition Syndrome affects us all.

A humble practice rig, post-G.A.S.

A bad case of Gear Acquisition Syndrome comes at the worst possible time. Rent is due. Your girlfriend's birthday is coming up. Your electricity was shut off because last month because you prioritized buying a half-stack over paying the utility bill. It's okay, I understand. I am here to say there is hope; I saw this light at the end of the tunnel this morning.

Who's Jonezin' for some new toys??

The only cure I have found for G.A.S. is a difficult and arduous road known as S.G.F.M. It sounds terrible I know but Selling Gear For Money is a plausible solution to your woes. I speak from firsthand experience because this morning I sold my beloved Fender '65 Reissue Deluxe Reverb amp to pay some stupid bills. But what's done is done and now I will rely heavily (and only) upon my AC30 over the next several months. As my friend Brad was on his way over to purchase my Deluxe I started to have seller's remorse. I ran to the living room, plugged in my Strat and coaxed out some of the sweetest, reverby clean-Fendery sounds imaginable. In fact as his car pulled into the driveway I wondered if I would be better off selling my Vox instead, or if I could go through with the deed at all. I came to the conclusion that it would be easier down the road to find a similar replacement for my Fender sound than my Vox. So, after a handshake and exchange of tender I overcame my G.A.S. by actually going through with S.G.F.M.

As Brad drove off I was left with two questions:
1) Did I make the right decision?
2) Which should I get next, a Z-Vex Box of Rock, A Zendrive, or a Danelectro 12-String?

There is another upside to selling pieces of your gear besides the extra cash in your wallet. Simplifying your rig can help you get "back to the basics" and focus on how much your technique affects your tone. When I was younger my dad told me I didn't need new "guitar stuff" every month. The conversation usually continued like this:

"But Dad, you don't understand I can't sound like Jimmy Page without a new _____"
- fill in the blank with one of the following: Marshall Half Stack, Les Paul, Super-Awesomo Skull-Crusher Overdrive 5000

"Son, I'm no guitarist but I know that Jimmy Page on an acoustic guitar still sounds like Jimmy Page."

"You don't get it Dad...I would be 10 times better if you would just forward my allowance!"

Well you get the point. And my dad had a great point. Even if your pedal board is sophisticated enough to launch a successful Moon landing, it will never compensate for sound technique. Part of the reason my Strat sounded good this morning was that it WASN'T plugged through my pedal board. I wasn't distracted by distortions, compressors, and whatever other knobs there were to twiddle. I didn't have two distortion pedals pushing amps in stereo so loud that I was scared to strum a chord. The focus was on playing actual music.

Maybe Charlie Christian would have sounded way better if he was melting faces off through a wall of Marshalls, maybe not. For now I am trying to find comfort in the thought that less is more. One thing is certain, less G.A.S. is less time spent on Harmony Central and watching Youtube gear reviews and more time for playing music you love and living a real life!

Made to Order...Extra Spicy!

To me chord progressions are like Chicken Tikka Masala: I like them extra spicy! There are several ways to spice up your chords, and it doesn't involve chili powder or coriander. Today I will teach you how to start adding complexity and "spice" to your sound. The first way is to add notes or alter the notes in your chords while the second is to substitute the actual chords being played (we'll get to this later).

Let's start with a basic blues progession using 7th chords in the key of G.
The progression will use the I, IV, and V chords in the key of G. If I've lost you already, the Roman numerals refer to the scale degrees for the key of G. Here is the G major scale with the I, IV, and V notes highlighted:
G A B C D E F# G

So to play a I-IV-V blues in G our chords would be: G7, C7, D7. Pretty straightforward, huh? Sounds like your standard blues jam. Maybe you want a "hipper" sound. When the bluesmen migrated from the Mississippi Delta to urban areas like Chicago, they did the same thing. Adding one note to these dominant chords and makes them 9th chords. This refers to the 9th degree of the major scale. But wait aren't there only 8 notes in the scale? The 9th is the second octave of the II note. So, in the key of G the 9th would be the A note in the second octave.

Here are some common 9th chord voicings in relation to their corresponding major chords:

Remember that all these shapes are moveable for use in all 12 keys!
So, back to our blues progression. Our new progression is G9, C9, D9. Hear the difference? There are other extensions we can use besides 9ths. We can add 11ths, 13ths, or make any of these added notes sharp or flat. If you are unfamiliar with these chord voicings there are many resources available. Any decent online chord finder should suffice, and I regularly check out this great jazz site.

Next scenario: say you are playing indie rock and don't want the sound of the blues/jazz idiom. Lets go back to our G major scale and harmonize the scale in 7th chords. The chord-scale would be as follows: Gmaj7 Amin7 Bmin7 Cmaj7 D7 Emin7 F#m7b5 G. Say we were rocking out on a root chord of G. Instead of a G5 power chord you could play a Gmaj7, a G6 or any other color that you deem appropriate. One of my favorite moves is to end a pop tune on a major 6th chord for a very Beatlesesque vibe. Try this progression: Gmaj7, Cmaj7, D7, G6 letting that last chord ring out with this voicing for the G6:

Slightly changing that last chord from a G to a G6 gives the tune's resolution a very different feel. Try to come up with your own variations.

George Benson keeps it spicy!

That will do it today for altering chords. You can find many in-depth lessons on this at this instructional jazz guitar site. In the next lesson-oriented post we'll work through some chord substitutions for a different type of spice!

In other news, if you are in the Charleston area you should try to make it to the Pour House Thursday night for my friends the Red Birds. They sound kind of like a 2-piece version of the National, and are playing a show with local favourites the Explorers Club. On October 9-12 Rocktoberfest will go down at the Awendaw Green with many of the areas' best acts performing. As always, thanks for reading and support your local music scene!

An Introduction

Hello and welcome to my first post for the Jazzmaster Journal. I don't claim to be the master of anything, especially jazz. Instead, my seafoam green Jazzmaster is the namesake for this blog. I will write about all sorts of things that fascinate me in the day-to-day pursuit of guitar music, from new things I learn to stories about the people I play with; quirky guitars and musicians I come across on Craigslist to what it's like finding gigs in Charleston's music scene. I hope to make this music journal an amusing and helpful site for anyone interested in the life of an aspiring musician or the guitar in general.

Pete Townshend wielding a Jazzy

Here's my background in brief:
I am a 25 year-old living in my birth city of Charleston, South Carolina. My formal music education is minimal, consisting of a few years of piano lessons and some guitar lessons here and there. I have learned the guitar mostly by trial and error, emphasis on error! My first band was a power-chord punk band where the journey of learning my way up the fretboard really began. Without knowing much theory other than the major and pentatonic scale shapes, the goal at this point was to remember what single notes and diads sounded ok over a D5 and then wail away as frantically and as fast as possible. Technical prowess to be witnessed indeed!!

Over the next 10 years I learned more harmony and theory from listening to the Beatles than any teacher। Actually, I was lucky that a talented saxophonist taught my friends and me a great deal in my high school jazz band class. The real lesson there was that I didn't have to play every note in every chord in a rapid-changing tune at 160 bpm! In all those developmental experiences (and every day is a "developmental experience"), through the absurdity and unpleasant sounds, there were small nuggets of knowledge to be had. I will try to share them all with you, but know that any lesson I may offer was a lesson I learned the hard way!

Nels Cline = THE MAN!!!

In recent years I have dabbled in alt-country, jazz, more straight-forward rock, and my own "weird music." The highlight of my short career was opening for the legendary Leon Russell last Valentine's Day. More about that another day.

I will also discuss my gear in a later post but here is a picture of my favourite guitar, my Thinskin '62 Jazzmaster Reissue:

Thanks for tuning in to my first post. Now tune up and go play!