Understanding Chords ( part 1 - the triad )

To understand chords and how they function within songs and music lets look at a simple C major scale and get to know some of the process of why it works and sounds good to our ears..

Key of C 

( a key is just simply notes that sound good together )

1     2     3    4     5     6    7     8

C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C

Basic major and minor chords are made up of 3 notes that are each,  in musical terms, a 'third' apart from each other - meaning if your first note is C then your next note of the chord would be an E and the next note would be a G. These 3 notes would make up a simple C major chord. 

Here are some examples with the notes of each chord highlighted in red.

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a C major chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a D minor chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        an E minor chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a F major chord

        C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C        a G major chord 

Notice that each chord only contains notes from the C scale and that they are all the same distance apart alphabetically. What actually makes them Major or Minor is the difference in the amount of semi-tones (or guitar frets) between the 1st note of the chord and the 2nd note of the chord. 

A three note chord like this is called a TRIAD and can really set the foundation of harmony in rock, pop, blues, and jazz guitar styles. 

The confusion on the guitar sometimes stems from the fact that we play these 3 note triads on 6 strings and that chords can have many different shapes and a variety of combinations of these 3 notes.

Let's look at one of these puzzles and check out whats going on.

If we look at the G major chord to the right and number the

strings from left to right as 6 5 4 3 2 1,  the notes of the chord

would be G on the 6th, B on the 5th, D on the 4th, G on the 3rd,

B on the 2nd, and G on the 1st.

You can see that for this G major chord on the guitar we use 

3 G notes, 2 B notes and one D. If we exhausted this method

of combining G-B-D note combinations over the whole fretboard

we could come up with dozens of different looking G chords. 

Next time we will look at putting together these major and minor chords into progressions we can use in songs and begin to see and hear there basic functions.

PEDALS - TOOLS OR TOYS? ( part 3 )

I will try to get away for the philosophical and moral rantings of part one and two of my posts on "TOOLS OR TOYS", and try to give you a few practical ways to get more out of your TOOLS or to turn your TOYS INTO TOOLS. 

With the equipment I use for playing, recording and performing music I try to use each pedal or effect for more than one purpose. Sometimes pedals are only used for one part of one song on a whole album of music or set list in a concert: other than a brief moment the pedal collects dust and is unused. It's very common to come up with crazy effect combinations in the studio that need certain pedals to pull off in the live situations, and sometimes it's just a pedal or two that you wouldn't use for anything else. As much as possible I try to think of ways to mimic specialized sounds just with the small amount of pedals I have in my rig.

Some examples of this are making a delay sound like a reverb by dialling in a real short delay time or adjusting the reverb's pre delay time to sound like a delay. I can make a clean boost pedal sound like an overdrive by adjusting the volume to hit the amp harder and breaking up the sound. I can run overdrive pedals in tandem to create a distortion pedal effect. I can adjust parameters in a chorus pedal that hints at a flanger or tremolo sound. I can use my delay as a chorus song with a super short delay time on a tape echo patch. A wah pedal can act as a filter pedal or just create a cutting solo sound for edgier songs.

Fiddling around with each pedal in your pedalboard chain can produce some useable sounds and make more use of the stuff you have to create interesting tone combinations and distinct sonic moods and nuances. I will even sometimes change the order of the pedals in the chain to create new sounds or dynamics. The possibilities can be encouraging and surprising.

Some of the more specialized pedals that really do only one thing are harder to multitask with but try to work your pedals and effects the best you can into the composition of the song. Look for ways to both contrast and simulate the other instruments in the band. Look for ways to make your effect choices musical, dynamic, organic and touch sensitive so they produce less of a synthesized sound.

The guitarist Oz Noy is fantastic at this and he really makes the pedals he uses a cohesive kind of mosaic within the context of the composition and arrangement of the song. His effects can get really weird but they always have an uncanny connection with the traditional ways of playing the guitar.

Here's Oz Noy:

PEDALS - TOOLS OR TOYS? ( part 2 )

When you compare the needs of guitarists playing and touring with international recording artists and guitarist playing in local churches, clubs and pubs there is a vast difference in the quantity and quality of equipment needed to perform the task.

When you compare the wants of those same guitarist you will probably tighten or erase that gap quickly and easily: if the budget is not an issue.

I see 2 problems with this:

The first problem is a western societal problem of having what too much stuff than we need: the majority of people in my neighbourhood no longer park there cars in their garages because the garages are filled with STUFF.

The second problem is that a tool (guitar, pedal or amp) for a professional guitarist, who has already honed their skill to a high level becomes the toy of the recreational guitarist who sometimes avoids improving skill in favour of stomping on little pedals that make beautiful sounds almost all on their own.

This of course is a generalization and not a universal truth or rule, but it's worthy of discussion and serious thought as you walk down the isle of your local music store to buy a pedal that will make you sound like Jimi Hendrix or John Mayer if you buy it.

I am not saying that buying something or trying to improve your sound via lots of gear is wrong but simply said, to merely just "buy and play with toys" is infantile and to "use tools to build" is a sign of creativity and growing up. If this seems like a harsh statement it can at least start a conversation and hopefully get us thinking about the choices we make or whether we are wise or impulsive in those choices.

“It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you have!” ― Sheryl Crow, C'Mon, C'Mon

PEDALS - TOOLS OR TOYS ( part 1 )

In building up my pedalboard over the last few years I have often ask myself, "when is enough, enough?" Do I really need 10 Overdrives, 7 Delays, 4 Boosts, 3 Compressors, 8 Modulators, Midi-switching, and a host of other gadgets like tuners, volume pedals, expression pedals, noise suppressors, buffers, loopers, ... and the list goes on ... and on.

I have mostly answered the question by keeping my pedals and stuff to the maximiun amount of effects that can comfortably fit on my 12 by 17 inch homemade pedalboard, that can then fit in my 13 by 18 inch anvil briefcase. That is enough for me to get a good variety of sounds for studio and live applications and also be easy and hassle-free to travel with.

To make this work, I am forced to make sure each pedal is essential (tool) and that if I'm not using something enough (toy), it's time to get rid of it. So the essentials really end up being 2 boost pedals, 3 overdrives, and a reverb and a delay pedal. This really fits for me playing mostly in pop, rock and worship genres.

This is the process I personally go through to keep my pedalboard small but useful. I tend to use less pedals but I do steer towards higher quality components that might have a a variety of uses within one pedal. My boosts can be used for boosting solos, colouring the tone, or as a light overdrive. My overdrives can be used singularly or in tandem to create tonnes of gain. My reverb and delay have modulation, filtering, shimmer, and looping options to really give me a creative modern pallet of sounds to choose from.

I would suggest this kind of method to any guitarist on a budget or in need of keeping things in a smaller package for travelling or just to be more temperate in ones materialistic spending. I also think that the less I have to play with ( pedals and effects ), the more I have to be sharper and creative in my playing and the more subtle my finger-work needs to be to squeeze out good tone.

Stay tuned for more...

Careers for Guitarist

With the modern diminishing population of working musicians and the lack of imagination and soul in popular music, the possibilities of a meaningful and sustained career as a guitar player are becoming harder to find. In my opinion, the music business will soon face a crisis it could never have imagined at the time the Beatles surfaced on the scene over 50 years ago.

Career Options:

Guitar Teacher

As a succesful guitar teacher I see the trend towards teaching becoming either a part-time job or something to augment other income you make. Student numbers in the last 10 years are dwindling due to technology, lack of community support for the arts, economics, and the guitars absence from popular radio. It would be very hard to impossible to build a full studio of student in present times.

Recording Artist (Solo or Band)

We all (guitarists) dream of being a famous rock star and that our music would be the next big thing in the world of entertainment. The truth is that it is more like winning the lottery than anything else. The music industry is a corporate monster that can chew your dreams up like an over-ripe banana in it's "make money first" and "entertain at any cost" attitude. I really like the idea of a musician striving to be successful and to "make it" in the music industry, I just don't think it promotes a healthy and balanced life and existence for the individual guitarist or for those (wife, husband, children) that depend on them. It's a dream that can be pursued but with limits related of time, finances and integrity.

Studio Guitarist

The studio guitarist is specialist of sorts and needs the health of the music industry to sustain his/her craft and income. It's very difficult in smaller towns and cities and getting harder in the bigger music enters to make a living even remotely equivalent to 20 years ago. My studio musician friends all have other types of work they do to scratch out a living and keep their passion for playing alive.

Live Guitarist

I keep on hearing that all the gigs are disappearing to cheap DJ's, canned music, and disappearing live music venues. The live guitarist has dwindling options and in many cases very low pay to sustain any sort of consistent career.

YouTube star Guitarist

This is a possibility for virtuosos and big personalities to cash in on the growing population of Youtube watchers and subscribers.

Online Guitar Education

One can sell anything if there are interested buyers online. A guitarist can have some success in online lessons and media related streams but you have to have good business sense and cutting edge ideas and enough content (free and purchasable) to make a descent living.

SUMMARY

I am very skeptical of the possibilities for me personally and for students of mine of having steady work in the music industry in the present and future. Everything seems to point towards the corporate model of a few 'haves' and a tonne of 'have-nots'. We are in the societal business of creating "idols, stars, and viral entities at the expense of nurturing arts within our communities and sustaining a vehicle for musical development over time. There are too few to care for the 'soul of music' and too many who would use music as a material thing only to be crumpled and wasted.

Learning the Fretboard

Learning the fretboard is often a challenge untaken by guitarist in a mostly TAB driven world; and with the guitar being an instrument that tends to thinks of chords and scales as numbers, shapes and patterns rather than notes of melody and harmony it's no surprise that the fretboard remains a mystery to many modern players.

Here's list of good reasons to start memorizing the guitar fretboard.

- It connects you (in language) to other musician such as piano players, string and horn players,   educated bassist and drummers, composers and producers.

- It gives you another musical perspective in thinking about and creating with chords and scales.

- It means you won't be the only illiterate musician in the room. (a joke!  - I think))

- it will help you find those cool target tones other guitarist find in their solos and riffs.

- it helps breaks the barrier between hearing and seeing and of the abstract and reality: bridging the gap between the exterior package and the interior soul of music.

- it's a tool that will expand your overall knowledge on the guitar.

- it's recommended by top guitarist all around the world to get the most out of guitar playing.

If all you want out of the guitar is strumming a few of your favourite songs and enjoyment of the guitar at the ground floor level, you can exempt yourself from this sort of project, but if you want the most out of your guitar playing adventure, learning the fretboard should be on your list of things to work on over the next little while.

My advice is to start with one string and memorize the notes forwards and backwards (up and down) the neck of the guitar. Once you have achieved that, begin to master the rest of the guitar and try to connect the tab your playing with the name of the notes and the dissect the chords your playing into group of notes that make up the harmony of the songs your playing.

HAPPY PLAYING!

10 top new-guitarists to listen to...

As classic rock guitar playing loses it's pre-eminence in our contemporary music scene to synthesized radio-musicola, sloppy folk, and endless inane and whiney vocal music, our general connection with the next generation of inspiring guitarists seems to fades into a faint pulse. It's not that we can't see the forest for the tress, it's that all that once was forest is now paved over by a great grey mass of unimaginative music seeking only an audience of teenaged girls and depressed and disillusioned young adults.

Let's just plainly say it, "Rock and Roll is not dead: it's just plain inconvenient, and modern society worships convenience. Rock music is richer, more complex. diversified, and is not passive music like today's radio pop. As adults we can pass along the richness of this music to our children and as children we can develop taste for classic rock that will make modern pop unlistenable.

Here's a list of some great new and semi-new guitarist (in no specific order) to inspire and get you back on track with the instrument that has really defined modern music since Elvis and the Beatles to the present.

1. Simon McBride - blues/rock
2. Joe Bonamassa - modern blues
3. Guthrie Govan - fusion/rock
4. Eric Gales - blues/rock
6. Oz Noy - Jazz/blues/funk
7. Jack White - alternative
8. J.D. Simo - blues/rock
9. Michael Gungor - alternative
10. Derek Trucks - rock/blues/slide

Don't waste you time on fast-food music when great players
and great music can easily be found.

“Popular culture is a place where pity is called compassion, flattery is called love, propaganda is called knowledge, tension is called peace, gossip is called news, and auto-tune is called singing.” 
― Criss Jami, Killosophy