Chet June 15th, 2007
While I’m working up a big series of posts on virtual lessons I’ll offer on the site I thought I’d share a recording of my old band playing live for U-92’s Morgantown Sound.
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I have a ton or live and studio stuff we’ve done in the past on my hard drive. This particular performance was recorded about 5 years ago. I wrote the song, “Forbidden Fruit Jam”, towards the end of my real woodshedding years. BONUS: It’s an instrumental so you won’t hear me trying to sing!
Listening to this is like taking a ride in a time machine. I was living with my band mates at this point in my life, probably still had a pony tail(a rock and roll requirement), and I probably had a mid-term the next morning. My guitar is panned hard left and my good friend Ez is blazing through the right speaker. You can hear I was having a problem with my input jack towards the middle of the song as I was always too cheap to replace them right away 
I dropped a few notes here and there but over all I’m still pretty happy with the way I was playing.(especially between 3:10 and 3:25)
The point to all of this is to encourage everyone to record themselves or their band as much as possible. It’s always nice to listen backwards once in a while, even if it occasionally makes you cringe!
Chet June 12th, 2007
Utilizing an odd time signature is a good way to add some variety into your playing. It can give that riff you’ve been working on a little extra uniqueness. The key to doing it effectively is to make it sound natural. No calculators or Star Wars action figures are necessary. Just a little thought and a little more practice
If an idea comes to you and it isn’t quite fitting into 4/4, or you notice that your foot (because you tap your foot when you practice) is in the air instead of hitting the ground at the end of the riff, then it’s probably in an odd time. Get to know how it works first and then count it out. The riff below is one example of how to use an odd time somewhat naturally. When you listen to it, you may or may not notice that it’s in 7/4.
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The descending notes on the 2nd string are optional. After the D on the 3rd fret I play a C on the 1st fret and then a C# on the second fret (to make an A major). I’m also using pull-offs wherever I can.
Try to come up with a few different ideas in odd time-signatures. You can start by adding or subtracting a beat from something you already know. If you do in fact want to get nerdy about it, try playing it against something that’s in 4/4 time. You’ll notice that it syncs up at the LCM of beats between the two different time signatures. 3/4 and 4/4 will sync up in 12 beats(LCM of 3 and 4) which is 3 measures of 4/4 and 4 measures of 3/4.
Chet May 11th, 2007
Scales modes were first categorized by the Greeks in the time of … ancient Greece. While they can be a source of confusion for guitarists both in their use and pronunciation they’re essentially simple variations of a major scale. For example if you take a C major scale with the notes C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C, the Ionian mode can be played by using those notes in the same order starting from C. When you start on the 2nd note in the scale “D” and play D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D you are playing the Dorian mode in C major. For each note in a major scale there is a corresponding mode that goes with it. Each mode mode has a distinct tonality and can add variety to your improvisation.
Describing the characteristics of each mode is beyond the scope of this post so we will instead focus on a mode created from the 4th note of a major scale, the Lydian mode. I first became interested in the Lydian mode after learning the philosopher Plato suggested that in order to create a perfect state the Lydian mode should be outlawed. Here’s what he had to say in Republic:
… so we may now banish the
mixed Lydian harmonies, which are the harmonies of lamentation; and as our
citizens are to be temperate, we may also banish convivial harmonies, such as the Ionian and pure Lydian.
Interesting.
Below is a chord progression for which the G and C Lydian modes are suitable tools for improvisation. Try G Lydian over the first two bars and C Lydian over the next. If the scales seem familiar its probably because you can use scale shapes you (should) already know. Since a G Lydian is built off of the 4th note in the D major scale, you can use a C Shape D major in 2nd position. Likewise a G major E shape will give you a C Lydian scale if you start on a C. Pay attention to the C# in the first two bars and the F# in the second two, those are the notes that make your improvising sound distinctly “Lydian”.
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Chet May 1st, 2007
Anyone remember that awesome solo by Guy Awesome in CoolSong # 3? You know the one where he plays an Am scale from bottom to top and then stops?
Exactly.
Playing a scale from bottom to top is a good way to practice but it generally makes for an unmemorable solo. While the lick below doesn’t promise instant memorableness it is a much better way to get to know the Am scale. Plus you might actually be able to use the thing when you’re improvising.
Try the scale below with alternate or economy picking and pay attention to the position shifts on the 5th and 4th string. The root of this scale is an A on the 6th string 5th fret. Try playing it in a few other keys by moving the whole thing to different places on the neck. Once you can do it with a little speed try making up your own patterns.
“What’s a pattern?”, you ask. Well do you know how Am pentatonic sounds when you play each note three times before moving on? How about playing only the notes on odd numbered strings? Left handed? The point being you need make yourself think about the scales you know in different ways. Get to work. I hear Guy Awesome’s band is looking for a replacement.
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Chet April 16th, 2007
This is the last shape in the CAGED scale system. The form below represents a C major scale with roots on the 4th string 10th fret and the 2nd string 13th fret. The scale is predominantly played in 10th position but shifts back to 9th position to play notes on the 3rd and 4th string.
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Chet April 16th, 2007
Here’s another shape from the CAGED system. To play a C major with this shape, use your 4th finger on the 8th fret of the 6th string. You can also get the root of the scale on the 5th fret of the 2nd string as well as the 8th fret of the 1st string. Note that you will shift your fingers back one fret to play the notes on the 3rd string. Once you get to the 2nd string you will resume the normal 5th position fingerings.
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Chet April 16th, 2007
Here is the C Shape for a major scale. The root is played on the 5th string with the 4th finger and on the 2nd string with the 2nd finger. Like the other shapes listed this is a movable shape as well. Whevever you place your 4th finger on the 5th string is the root. Playing the C Shape with the root on the 5th fret of the 5th string will get you a D major scale. Moving the root up a whole step to the 7th fret will result in an E major scale.
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Chet April 13th, 2007
This scale is played in second postition and is the second shape in the C-A-G-E-D scale system. Remember that the name of the shape describes the fingering and the name of the scale (in this case C Major) is the actual scale that you you play when you apply the shape fingering in second position. If you were to move the shape up a whole step or two frets you would then be able to play an A Shape D major scale.
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Chet April 12th, 2007
So I occasionally enjoy a book, and I liked his books. Here’s a quote from A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY:
Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell Stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
I remember a Joe Satriani song, Ice 9, that I liked a lot when I was younger. Years later I learned that it was inspired by the substance at the center of another Vonnegut book, Cat’s Cradle. Have a listen and see if you can figure out how to duplicate the sound of the “ice chords” (hints: treble, chorus).
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p.s. Joe if you want me to take the song down, just call me. Same number.
Chet April 6th, 2007
This is one of the easier scale forms from the CAGED scale system. The root of this scale is played on the 6th string with the second finger. Playing the form below in 7th position (meaning your 2nd finger covers notes played on the 8th fret) would make this a C Major scale since the note “C” is located on the 8th fret of the 6th string. Learn all of the note names for all of the frets on the 6th string and move the form accordingly by placing your 2nd finger on whatever major scale you’d like to play. So there you go, a shape that you can use to play a major scale in all 12 keys.
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