The Guitar Study Newsletter for 5/8/2002

By Darrin Koltow

Hello again from MaximumMusician.com. This is Darrin Koltow, webmaster, guitar coach, fret aficionado, all around good guy, bringing you more music making, guitar-playing tips. But first I want to thank you again for signing up for the Guitar Study newsletter at www.MaximumMusician.com. You can unsubscribe at any time using instructions at the end of this email.

And what did I tell you last week about hogging all these cool tips for yourself, hmm? Tell a friend about the Guitar Study newsletter, or I'm going to turn your guitar into a trombone. Get your pals to sign up at www.MaximumMusician.com .

In this issue:

== Inversion Perversions ==
== Triads and 4-note Chords ==
== Easy as ABC ==
=== Right hand stuff ===
== Why chord melody playing ==

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== Inversion Perversions ==

What are inversions and how do they help us? They sound like some kind of meteorological term. "Raining guitar picks. News at 11." How do you spell meteorological? If I play inversions right, can I make it rain?

No, fellow guitar student. Audiences may rain applause upon you if you learn inversions and other concepts well enough, though. What we can do here is learn some basic ideas about inversions, and make practicing them fun.

You all know what a Chord Freak I am. So it's natural that I approach an understanding of inversions through chords. Before we get to some tab that will help with that, what the heck are inversions?

It's like that game that little league players play with the bat, to decide which team gets to be at bat first: someone from team A grabs a bat at the bottom. Someone from team B grabs the bat so the bottom of their hand is sitting on top of the team A guy's hand. Next, the team A guy goes again, his other hand grabbing the bat so that his hand sits on top of the Team B guy's hand. And so on, until there's no more bat left. As the kids do this, they constantly have to take their bottom hand off the bat and move it to the top.

Now, what the heck does this have to do with music? Picture a major triad as the fists, coming off the bottom of the bat, and going to the top. You might think of the tablature staff or standard music notation staff as the bat. You might think I'm a lunatic for describing inversions in this way, but I'm on a roll, here. Bear with me. Let's get to some illustrations, to show each inversion of a major triad.

Set your font to Courier to read this. Remember, these chord illustrations show fret numbers, progressing from the high E string to the low E string.

0-2-2: Root position
5-5-6: First inversion
9-10-9: Second inversion

So, big deal right? What good is this? It *is* a big deal. You played 3 different A chords, and you want to know all of 'em. Why? Let's say you're playing a tune, and you happen to be playing V-I in A at the moment. You're playing a line based on E7, and the last note you hit is a G# on string 1. You want to hit an A chord next, and you want that top melody note on the A chord to flow smoothly from the G#. So, which inversion of A do you use? Play those inversions again, and then give your answer.

The root inversion's top note is an E, which is 4 half-steps away from the G#. The first inversion, however, has A as its top note, which is only 1 half-step away from G#. And you can forget that second inversion. He's way out in la-la land. So, play the first inversion. It's the smoothest. (Sounds like a commercial for one of those cold slushy drinks.)

Okay, now that you have a glimpse into the importance of knowing your inversions for a chord, how do you practice 'em in a way that's fun, darnit? Here's one little ditty:

|-7-10-2-7-|-4-7-10-4-|-5--9-0-5-*|
|-7-12-3-7-|-3-9-12-3-|-5-10-2-5-*|
|-7-11-4-7-|-4-7-13-4-|-6--9-2-6-*|
|----------|----------|----------*|
|----------|----------|----------*|
|----------|----------|----------*|

This is another in my infamous ii-V7-I exercises, which you should all know and love. The first bar is the ii: it's all B minor inversions. The second bar is a substitution for the V7 chord: it's the G# diminished triad. And the last bar is the tonic, the I, the big shot, top dog, big cheese, A major, in all its glorious inversions. The question may arise, "Why did you use a G# dim instead of the E major?" The answer is that we're talking about inversions on a basic, beginner level. Basic triads are thus called for, rather than full, 4-note chords, which is what an E7 is. The G# diminished has the guts of the E7 chord, those unstable sounds that make you beg for resolution to A when you hear them.

This is a good starter exercise for practicing inversions: it's in a ii-V-I framework, so you know you're making music; it works all the inversions of three out of the four fundamental triad types; it takes you from one end of the fretboard to the other. There are lots of variations available to this exercise, and I suggest you devise and play them after your master this exercise in all keys. For one thing, you could apply this exercise to the second string, and then the third string. That is, create inversions whose melody notes fall on strings B and G.

The one fundamental triad type not covered by this exercise is the augmented triad. An example of an augmented triad would be one with the notes C, E, and G#. Augmented triads didn't make it into our ii-V-I example because there are no augmented triads in A major. If you want to create an exercise that works out your chops in a ii-V-I framework, and that has augmented inversions, here's what you might do: just substitute the G# diminished triad for an E+ triad: E G# B#. This sounds really cool, and kind of loopy, coming before A major. Your acne will clear and the mail will be on time when you get this progression under your fingers.

Here's another cool thing: I'm not going to give you the shapes for the E+ inversions on the first string. I'll let you work those out for yourself, and discover something that will make learning these inversions super easy. I will tell you that the notes in E+ are E, G#, and C.

== Triads and 4-note Chords ==

Does everyone know their harmonized major scale? Let's do it with 3 note chords. This is C major, with chords built on each note.

C E G: C major
D F A: D minor
E G B: E minor
F A C: F major
G B D: G major
A C E: A minor
B D F: B diminished

Hey, that's exciting stuff, isn't it? Okay, it's not such a thrill. What *is* thrilling is what you can use this knowledge for. And what's exciting is how to get this knowledge into your fingers so your brain doesn't have to think about it.

Since I'm a pretty simplistic person (not!) and I'm totally in love with the ii-V-I chord progression, I ask my key question: how do I install this harmonized scale business into my ii-V-I, so I can make some music and get to understand this harmonized major scale stuff? Answer: the Super ii-V-I [sound effect: triumphant horns blaring.] Dig this progression: I-IV-vii-iii-vi-ii-V-I. Don't hurt yourself with this, now. Break it into two phrases. Give each chord its own bar. Let's try out this tab, and then throw out some ideas for expanding it.

|-8---8--7--7--|--8--10--7--8--|
|-8--10--6--8--|-10--10--8--8--|
|-9--10--7--9--|--9--10--7--9--|
|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|

Even though there's only one chord shown per beat, I recommend strumming, plucking or bashing each chord twice, to get the sound in your ear.

What we have here is one simple, musical way of turning this "harmonized scale" hoity-toity talk into a practical piece of music that you can practice. If you were to master this phrase, you'd feel much more confident about saying, "Yeah. I know the harmonized major scale."

We'd like to extend this exercise, because it's only hitting on a couple of different melody notes, and a couple of different inversions. We want to hit *all* of C major's notes, and all the inversions of each chord. Sound like fun? If it doesn't, go into the corner and play Louie, Louie 300 times.

To expand the boundaries of this exercise beyond just the two measures listed here, you might choose to walk this exercise up through each note of C major. In the exercise given, we stayed around the note C. If we wanted to adapt the Super ii-V-I to focus on D, you'd start with the same C and F chords as above, since neither contain the note C. Then for B diminished, you'd play it with the D note on top. Continue with the progression, playing E, A, D and so on, staying as close to the note D as you can.

By cycling the Super ii-V-I through each note in this way, you'll build your knowledge of inversions and the harmonized major scale. You'll become more fluent in mixing melodies and chords. You will be a dangerous player. Well, no you won't, but you'll know your chords a heckuvah lot better, and you'll have fun doing it, darn it.

== Easy as ABC ==

We're going to take a bit of a diversion from our usual diversions, so I can tell you about a great, free musical resource. Specifically, it's a music notation system that let's you take ordinary text and turn it into music. It's called ABC notation. With the freeware that uses ABC, you can take something as simple as the following piece of text, give it to an ABC player or converter, and the program will turn the text into MIDI messages to play through your sound card. Here's an example of a simple ABC notated tune.

X: 1
T:World's Greatest Tune
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
K:C
|B d f g b g f d |[E4 G4 c4] z4|

This is a simple V7-I progression written in ABC. The first part of this example, the lines from the one beginning with X: to the line beginning with K:, are called Information fields. These fields contain info about the tune, but not musical notes. I won't go into all of it, but here is a description of some of the fields: M is the meter, which is 4/4 time in this case. L: shows the default duration for a note, Q: sets the tempo, and K: gives the key.

Do you know how long it took me to learn how to use ABC to notate this example? About 1 minute, and I'm not the brightest bulb in the bodega, let me tell you. Not only is it easy to learn as a kind of music programming language, it's easy to read as a musician. Compare learning to read standard music notation to this. Piece of cake! You could take the example I just gave here, copy and paste it directly into a text document, feed it to the freeware ABC-to-MIDI app I'll tell you about in a sec, and oila: music, amigo.

What you can do with ABC is pretty much anything you need to do as a composer. You can do complex rhythms, tied notes, and of course chords. The example given above shows a C major chord in the second bar. It's in first inversion (note C on top). I'm not sure how to do different patches yet, but I know it's possible to do it.

Now to answer the big questions: where can you find out more about ABC, including where to get freeware that lets you compose and play using ABC notation? Your first stop will be here: http://www.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc. This is the ABC notation home page. From this page you can learn about tutorials, freeware and lots of other resources to get you going.

I'll recommend one of the freeware programs I've been using (to create some awesome programs for y'all!). It's called ABC2Midi, and you can get it at http://abc.sourceforge.net/abcMIDI .

I hope you find ABC useful in your musical projects.

=== Right hand stuff (The Claw Pick) ===

(First off, apologies to those who fret the guitar with their right hand and strum or pluck with their left. We're gonna assume most people play by fretting with the left and strumming with the right.) We spend a lot of time talking about chords from the standpoint of how to make them with the left hand. We give patterns for the left, "don't strain your left hand," here's a shape for you to make with your left hand, and so on. The poor right is neglected, which is unfortunate because what the right hand does determines whether you want to dance, groove, shimmy and shake to your playing, or whether you're gonna fall out of your chair into an instant coma from boredom.

Let's intro a couple of important right hand topics. First, there's strumming. Assuming you do strum, instead of plucking or using another technique, do you consciously choose the pattern you strum? Or, do you just kind of fall into a ONE two THREE four, straight pattern? If you find yourself getting into a rut with your playing, or feeling bored and not knowing why, consider changing your strum pattern. Instead of 4 quarter notes per bar, replace a couple of quarter notes with eight notes, or dotted eighth notes. There are *many* alternatives to 4 quarter notes per bar. Explore them to add life to your tunes.

You might need to step back a bit if you're a beginner, and get a primer on rhythm notation and how to count or tap out a rhythm. For example, do you know how to tap out and them strum patterns that mix up quarter, eighth, dotted eight and other rhythmic note values? If you don't, worry not. Check out this friendly and helpful page from player Ron Lukiv: http://web.cuug.ab.ca/~lukivr/RhythNot.html . The page gives you a clear approach to understanding rhythm notation. Ron shows you note values from the whole note to the sixteenth note, how to count 'em, and what they look like on a sheet of music. He also gets into triplets, and swing. Check out Ron's page if you need a primer. Also, keep in mind WholeNote's many excellent articles on rhythm.

I want to intro another right hand topic that I've taken for granted in my playing. It's something you might find useful in yours. I don't know what the proper term for it is, but I call it the Claw Pick. With the Claw Pick you have the option of strumming, because you're still holding the pick as you normally hold it. However, you also have the option of using your pinky, ring and middle fingers (fingers 4, 3, and 2, for those who dig numbers), to pluck out a chord.

Try this now: make a C7 or another favorite chord shape. With your right hand, grab your pick. Now, instead of strumming, lightly wedge fingers 2, 3 and 4 of your right hand between the strings, so that finger 4 is poised to pluck the high E string; finger 2 is ready to pluck the B string, and finger 3 is ready to pluck the G string. Place your pick so it's poised to hit the fifth string (note C). Once you've set up your hand according to these directions, pluck downward with your pick (held between your thumb and index finger), and pluck upward the strings E, B, and G with fingers 2, 3, and 4. Does this sound confusing? If it does, keep in mind the basic idea: you're holding the pick as you normally do, but you're asking yourself, how can I put those lazy fingers 2, 3 and 4 to work? How can I get them to pluck the strings, working together with the pick?

This technique might feel uncomfortable at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it. The result is well worth the time you put in to learn, because you'll gain much greater control over your chord playing. For example, you'll be able to play chords that have muted notes much more easily. Instead of giving your left hand extra work to mute those notes, your right hand will pluck only those notes in the chord. An example of such a chord is the open D chord. Instead of worrying about getting your strumming just right so you don't hit that bottom E string, or using your left thumb to mute that string, use the Claw Pick to just play the D, F, and A notes.

There are more right hand techniques described in Guitar Chords: a Beginner's Guide. We cover flatpicking, fingerpicking, nose picking, flea flicking, balloon sticking, and sheep shearing, and we put these topics in a context that's as fun as frijoles to learn. There's even a nifty little blues fingerpicking number in there that your fingers are probably already itching to play. Get Guitar Chords at http://www.MaximumMusician.com/chordbook.htm.

== Why chord melody playing ==

What the heck is chord melody playing and why should you get into it? Maybe you can play chords now, without a melody. Maybe you could play melodies now, without the chords. Maybe you can't do either. Whatever the case is, I want you to aspire to play chord melody arrangements -- and eventually to create your own. Why?

No, not "why." We're not ready for why yet. We're still on "what." What is chord melody playing? When you play a chord melody arrangement of a tune, you're playing like a piano player: he plays the melody of the song on top of chords. That doesn't mean that every single melody note has a chord played under it. That would sound like too much music somehow. But often the melody notes that occur on the strong beats (ONE two THREE four) will have chords played under them.

Okay, now you can ask "why." Why should we play chord melody arrangements? Here are some reasons: they're enjoyable. They turn your solo playing from a tinny, squeaky, "help me! Help me!" little voice into a full, rich voice that is much more pleasing to the ear.

Also, you'll improve your understanding of harmony by learning chord melody arrangements. You'll get curious about chord types that seem weird to you now. You'll make finger stretches that will astonish you, boosting your pride in your playing. You'll understand why certain chords go with certain melody notes. You'll turn your small toolbox of methods to make your playing interesting into a city-sized hardware store, filled with ways of making old tunes sound new.

I hope that some of this is reaching you. I remember when I was stuck on just playing open position chords, yearning to understand how to use the remaining 9 or so frets -- 75% -- of the fretboard to enjoy my own playing more. When I finally took the plunge, starting with learning a whole bunch of movable chord shapes, I became a much happier camper.

Get yourself started on chord melody playing. Learn movable chord patterns, starting with learning a C major pattern with the C as the top note; then, a C major with the E as the top note; then with a G on top, and so on. Learn major chords, dominant 7 chords and minor chords. Begin reading chord melody articles on WholeNote. Get a chord melody arrangement of a favorite tune, and learn the heck out of it.

Well, guitar gang, you've done it again. You've sucked my brain dry of all its guitar info. I need to soak up more chops, licks, chords, and other goodies for next week. Remember to get some buddies signed up for the Guitar Study Newsletter at www.MaximumMusician.com . Also, treat yourself to a pretty cool book on chords, called Guitar Chords: a Beginner's Guide. You can download it now at http://www.MaximumMusician.com/chordbook.htm .

Remember to relax when you play, and to have fun when you play. Question everything. Think guitar thoughts when your head hits the pillow at night, when you pry the pillow off your head in the morning, and when you're in the supermarket checkout line, where people are staring at you for muttering "ii-V-I in A: B minor, E7, A. ii-V-I in D: E minor, A7, D...."

See you later.