The Basics Chapter One -Review of Open Chord Forms -Review of Barre Chord Forms -Key Concepts -Introduction to Chord Theory -Blues Chord Progressions -Chord Theory and Barre Chords Review of Open Chord Forms The chart below shows all the basic open chords laid out all nice and neat and should look familiar to you as the chords you learned as a beginner. All these chords contain at least one open string in them, hence the name open chord. "Open.gif" These chords can be broken down into five different chord forms, or families: the C, A, G, E, and D chord families. Each family for now has three members: the major, seventh, and minor chord types. Just as people are identified by their first and last name, chords are identified by their first and last names. Their last name is their family name, and their first name is which member they are. This is like saying my name is John Smith; I am from the Smith family and am the member called John. The trick is that each chord family has the same member names, sort of like generic family names such as mother, father, son, cousin, etc. So to accurately name a chord, you need to specify the family name as well as the member name, for example C major, G seventh, E minor, etc. This ensures that each chord has a unique identity. This may seem like a lot of superfluous hot air, but is merely to put a set of seemingly random chord shapes into an organized pattern in order to better see the big picture. The open chord forms are presented mainly as a visual aid, and hopefully are nothing radically new to you as a guitar player. Perhaps now though you may have a different perspective on them. Review of Barre Chord Forms The chart below illustrates the closed, or barre chord forms, so called because your index finger is used to bar the strings at some fret much like a capo. Unlike the open chords, barre chords have NO open strings in them. barre.gif Barre chords can be broken down much like the open chords into five moveable shapes, or forms: the C, A, G, E, and D barre chord forms, named after the respective open chord shapes. These five forms can also be broken down into similar chord types, such as the major, seventh, and minor chord types. Compare the five barre chord forms in the illustration to the open chord forms in the previous illustration, they are exactly the same. Think of your index finger as a moveable nut, and you are simply making the open position chords as usual, only now you would finger the open chord shape with your second, third, and fourth fingers since your index finger is now busy making the bar. Actually, the open chords are nothing more special cases of the general barre chord scheme, that is you can use the nut as a built in bar. Chord Form vs Chord Name A distinction I wish to make here is the difference between a chord form and a chord name. A chord form is simply a shape that can be moved around on the fretboard, the shape will not change with respect to fretboard position., a C shape is a C shape, no matter at which fret it is barred . A chord name, on the other hand, IS dependent on fretboard position, i.e. a C shape at the 4th fret is not the same chord as a C shape at the 9th fret. Naming Barre Chords To accurately name a barre chord, you must have two pieces of information: the chord form and the barre position (the fret your index finger is on). Think of a math equation x+y=Z, where x is the barre chord form, y is the barre position and Z is the chord name. In other words, the chord name is a function of the chord form AND the barre position. So let's name a few chords now. Let's say we were playing an E form major chord barred at the 7th fret and wanted to know what its name is. Really what you've done is taken an open E major chord and moved it up 7 frets. The scale at the top of the barre chords illustration represents moving up or down the fretboard in one fret intervals, i.e. the interval between erach successive note is one fret. This scale is commonly referred to as the chromatic scale. So start on the note E, which is the open chord form used, and count up seven frets on the chromatic scale since each note in the scale is equivalent to one fret. (E-F(1)F#(2)G(3)G#(4)A(5)A#(6)B(7)) Thus an E form major chord barred at the 7th fret (x+y) is named B major (Z). A few other examples: An A form seventh chord barred at the 5th fret is D7, G form major at 8th fret is D#major, etc. Key Concepts At the heart of understanding music theory is the concept of a key. The key defines which notes are to be used in a piece of music. Imagine you had a large pile of assorted parts on the floor and were asked to build a toy using only those parts. If you were a creative thinker, you might be able to build the toy on your own with no outside help. Although this is certainly possible, the probability of successfully building the toy is very low. This requires not only a creative imagination, but also an innate natural ability to understand how and why things work and interact together. If, however, you had a set of instructions on how to build the toy, you would know which parts to use and how to put them together. With a little practice, building the toy would be a relatively easy task to perform. Think of a key as being the set of instructions on how to build a specific toy, with different keys representing different sets of instructions on how to build different toys from similar parts. A song's key dictates which notes to use, and indirectly, which chords to use. Put simply, a key is nothing more than a group of eight notes, which are represented by the first seven letters of the alphabet: ABCDEFG. Each key has its own unique key signature, which defines which notes are to be sharped (#) or flatted (b). Because each key has a unique key signature, every key is unique in that it will contain at least one note different from another. For example, the notes within the key of C major are CDEFGABC, and the notes within the key of G major are GABCDEF#G. The key of G major contains the note F# (F sharp), which is different than the note F (F natural) in the key of C major. This distinction is what makes the two keys different. Whether writing or performing a piece of music, the key signature tells you not only which notes to play (scales), but also which chords to play. This is because the key signature defines the notes which will be used to construct the individual chord triads for all the chords within the key. Introduction to Chord Theory Chords Within a Key As soon as you were able to play the 15 open chords, you probably noticed that certain chords sound better together than others. In any key, there is a set of chords which appear in virtually every chord progression. These chords are what I will refer to as the chords within a key. They will always sound good together regardless of the order you play them in, or what key you play them in. Music theory uses Roman numerals to designate the chords within a key. Each chord is named according to its position in the key. Scale Degree Chord Name I tonic II supertonic III mediant IV subdominant V dominant VI relative minor VII leading tone VIII (I) tonic The following section requires that you know what chord triads are. If you don't know, I suggest you read the section on chord triads now, and then come back. The chord triad built off of the first note of a major key is called the I chord, and is always major. Similarly, chord triads built off of the fourth and fifth notes of the key are called the IV and V chords respectively, and also are always major. These three chords are called the primary, or principal chords. These three chords represent the building blocks of all composition. Notice that the chord built off the sixth note, or the VI chord, is called the relative minor. Simply put, the VI chord, a minor chord, is the relative minor to the I chord., which is a major chord. The idea to grasp here is that every major chord has a corresponding relative minor, and can be found by counting up 6 from the major. If you do this correctly, you will see that the II and III chords are the relative minors to the IV and V chords respectively. These three chords are called the secondary chords, and are simply the respective minors of the three primary chords. I am going to use lower case Roman numerals to denote minor chords and upper case to denote major chords. Within any key, the three primary chords are : I , IV, and V, and are major. The relative minors, or secondary chords, are: vi, ii, and iii, and are minor. You can determine the chords within a key simply by looking at the notes within the key. For example, let's look at the key of C major. The notes in the key of C major are CDEFGABC. These are the same notes as in the chromatic scale used to name barre chords, only minus the sharps and flats (the key of C major has no sharps or flats). Now lets apply what we've learned. The chords within the key of C major are: "Cchords.gif" I C IV F V G vi Am ii Dm iii Em Again, the upper case Roman numerals refer to major chords, lower case Roman numerals refer to minor chords, i.e. I,IV, and V are major and ii, iii, and vi are minor. The idea behind learning this bit of chord theory is that this is what everyone uses to write music. Chords in a song were not picked out by random choice, rather they were picked because they all fit within the key of the song. When you want to figure out the chords in a song, you now can narrow the choices down to six, if you know what key it's in, instead of getting frustrated while using the hunt and peck method. No pun intended, but the key to understanding all of this is figuring out in what key a song is written. This is the vital piece of information which unlocks all the mysteries of music. Blues chord progressions Blues is a musical form based almost entirely on three chord theory (I, IV, V). Although this form was not analyzed by its creators , it formula has survived the test of time and has provided the structure of popular music, the accepted roots of jazz, and the heart of rock. The most common blues pattern is what is referred to as "12 bar blues", so called because it is a repeating chord sequence which lasts 12 measures, or bars. The last measure is called the turnaround, as it turns the sequence back around to start all over again. The pattern is as follows: 4 measures of I chord (for example: E major), 2 measures of the IV chord (A major), 2 measures of the I chord (E major), 1 measure of the V chord (B major), 1 measure of the IV chord (A major), 1 measure of the I chord (E major), and 1 measure of the V chord (B major) as the turnaround. EXAMPLES After 12 bars, repeat the progression from the beginning. There are lots of different variations on the 12 bar blues, I have only shown some of the more popular ones used. E E E E7 A A7 E E7 B7 A7 E B7 E A7 E E7 A A7 E E7 B7 A7 E B7 E B A E7 A A7 E E7 B B E B7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Chord Theory and Barre Chords Now let's look at barre chords and see if we can find a pattern we can use to locate the chords within a key. Let's use the key of C major as an example since there are no sharps or flats. Let's also use an E and A form barre chord for reference. I C vi Am IV F ii Dm V G iii Em using an "E" form as the I chord: Chord Form Fret Generic Chord Form Fret Generic (form,fret) (form,fret) I-C E 8 (E,X) vi-Am Em 5 (Em,X-3) IV-F A 8 (A,X) ii-Dm Em 10 (Em,X+2) V-G A 10 (A,X+2) iii-Em Am 7 (Am,X-1) using an "A" form as the I chord: Chord Form Fret Generic Chord Form Fret Generic (form,fret) I-C A 3 (A,X) vi-Am Em 5 (Em,X+2) IV-F E 1 (E,X-2) ii-Dm Am 5 (Am,X+2) V-G E 3 (E,X) iii-Em Em 0 (Em,X-3) I realize that the idea of a form at some fret X may seem confusing, but this is simply an attempt to look for patterns, and then be able to put those patterns to use by means of moveable forms.Even though the names of the barre chords changed with position, we were able to look at them as simply movable shapes or "forms" which did not change. You can learn the above the same way using my system, it just takes time and patience. Remember, practice make perfect! The CAGED System Chapter Two -Barre Chords and the CAGED System -Why is CAGED Important? Barre Chords and the CAGED Form Sequence It should be fairly obvious that you can use each of the barre chord forms to play the same name chord. For example, all the chord forms in the diagram below are all different ways to play a C major chord. Each form gives the same chord at different fretboard locations. Since each form has its own unique voice, you can use the different forms to play the same chord with sublty different voicings. A closer look at how the forms are laid out on the guitar reveals that the chord forms repeat themselves in sequence. This sequence is C form, A form, G form, E form, D form, C form, A form etc., or CAGED for short. This repeated sequence results from the standard EADGBE tuning. This answers the age old question as to why we use "standard" tuning, and where it came from. If you tuned your guitar differenly, this system goes right out the window, but in standard EADGBE tuning it works like a charm. Let's look at the illustration below. Start with an open C chord, or a C form open position. The next form which will give you a C chord is an A form 3rd position. Notice that the end of the C form, your ring finger on the 5th string in this case, is coincidental with the beginning, or barre position, of the A form. This is shown in the illustration by similarly colored dots. "CAGED.gif" The next form to give you a C chord is the G form 5th position. Again the end of the A form, your ring finger barre across the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings, is coincidental with the beginning, or barre position, of the G form. The next form to give you a C chord is the E form 8th position. Again, the end of the G form, your ring finger and pinky on the 6th and 1st strings respectively, is coincidental with the beginning, or barre position, of the E form. The next form to give you a C chord is now the D form 10th position, and again the end of the E form, your ring finger and pinky on the 5th and 4th strings respectively, is coincidental with the beginning, or barre position, of the D form. Now the sequence comes full circle and repeats itself. The end of the D form, your middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the 3rd, 1st, and 2nd strings respectively, is coincidental with the beginning of the next C form at the 12 fret. The illustration on the far right is what all the chord forms look like all laid out on the guitar fretboard, with the ends of the forms overlapping. You should now be able to see the pervasive and repetitive nature of the CAGED sequence. It does not matter where you start in the sequence or which form you start with, only that an A form always follows a C form and is alway followed by an G form etc. I simply chose a C chord to illustrate the CAGED sequence. You should try starting with any open chord and work your way through the sequence for yourself. Why is CAGED important? The CAGED sequence is important because it allows you to instanly find any chord in any position easily , and more importantly, instanly find the same chord in all positions easily. To find any barre chord, all you do is find the open chord, determine which form it is ,and then go through the sequence to find all the other barre positions. The only limitation is how much neck you have access to on your guitar. The main thing is you can play the same chord anywhere from open position to you run out of neck, and most importantly, you have covered every inch of neck in between. Another added bonus is you don't need to know the names of any of the notes on any of the strings. The CAGED sequence is a very powerful tool and can unlock many mysteries of the guitar. Scales:Unveiling the Mystery Everything you wanted to know about scales (but were afraid to ask) Chapter Three -What is a scale? -Comparison of the different scales -Major Scales and CAGED OK, imagine the following scenario: you're playing with your friends, jamming like mad, and suddenly they look to you and say...TAKE IT!. Suddenly, your body goes numb, you break out in a cold sweat, your central nervous system goes haywire, and your fingers fumble around as you desperately rack your brain trying to figure out what to play. Sound all too familiar? Well this no longer has to be you. This chapter focuses on an applied methodology for playing great guitar leads. Yes, that's right, an organized, systematic, and best of all repeatable methodology that can be put into use quickly and easily. What is a scale? A scale is any consecutive series of notes that forms a progression between one note and its octave. A scale can go either up one octave or down one octave. The word scale is from the Latin scala, meaning ladder and this is exactly what a scale is - a way of ascending or descending an octave, with each rung of the ladder representing one of the notes in between. There are many different scales, and the history of their development is complex. However, any one scale can be distinguished from another by its step pattern; that is , by the way its notes divide up the distance represented by one octave. The most important scales, in Western music at least, are the diatonic major scale and the three relative minor scales. The characteristic sound of any scale is determined by its number of steps, by the order in which they occur, and by their "size" - in other words, whether each step is a half-step or a whole-step. If this pattern remains consistent, the scale will retain the same characteristic sound regardless of the starting note. Western music divides an octave into twelve steps, each one half-step apart. The resulting scale is called a chromatic scale.This is the grand-daddy of all other scales. "chromatic.gif" On the guitar fingerboard, one octave is divided into twelve frets - one for each note. This means that the interval between one fret is one half-step, the interval between two frets is two half-steps, or a whole-step. Comparing the different scales The diatonic major scale is divided up into only eight notes. This would be the same as playing the C chromatic scale, only leaving out the accidental notes (this is also the same as playing from C to C using only the white keys on a piano). "major.gif" Going back to the concept of a scale being a ladder, we see that there are eight rungs (notes), requiring seven steps (intervals) to climb from the first rung to the eighth. In a major scale, the size of each of the steps is as follows: whole-step (1-2), whole-step (2-3), half-step (3-4), whole-step (4-5), whole-step (5-6), whole-step (6-7), half-step (7-8). In other words, there are whole-steps between all the notes, except between 3-4 and 7-8, which are half-steps. There are three different minor scales: the natural minor, the harmonic minor, and the melodic minor. Each minor scale has a different scale step pattern, thereby giving each its own characteristic sound. The natural minor results from playing a diatonic major scale beginning from the sixth tone while still maintaining the major scale step pattern . For example, an A natural minor scale, going from A to octave A, is the same as playing a C major scale from A to octave A using only the notes of a C major scale (A is the sixth note of a C major scale). Such scales are sometimes referred to as relative minors since the notes shared between the major and relative minor are identical. "natminor.gif" The resulting step pattern for the natural minor is similar to the diatonic major, only now the half-steps are between 2-3 and 5-6. I have used flats instead of sharps to denote that those particular notes have been lowered relative to the diatonic major intervals. The harmonic minor is simply a natural minor scale with a raised seventh. "harminor.gif" The step pattern is similar to that of the natural minor, only now there is a half-step between 7-8 as well. The melodic minor is simply a diatonic major scale with a lowered third. "melminor.gif" The step pattern is now almost identical to that of the diatonic major scale, except that now there is a half-step between 2-3 and 7-8, and a whole step between 3-4. The most commonly used scale in popular music is a synthetic scale referred to as the pentatonic scale. As the name implies, it is made up of only five notes. A major pentatonic scale can be created by leaving out the 4th and 7th notes of a major scale, or similarly by leaving out the 2nd and 6th notes of a natural minor scale to form a minor pentatonic scale. "penmajor.gif" The step pattern of these scales is somewhat erratic, and was derived more for ease of playability than for step symmetry. Major Scales and CAGED So now that we know what the different scales are, the question remains how do you actually play them on the guitar, right? Well, I'm glad you asked because that's precisely what I am about to show you. The next section requires an understanding of the CAGED chord sequence. Read the section now on The CAGED System Below is a diagram of the major scale fingering patterns, or forms, with each scale form corresponding to its respective barre chord form. The black notes are simply the notes of the barre chord itself, or the chord tones. The grey notes are the non-chord tones, and the white notes are the 4th and 7th tones. To play a diatonic major scale, play all of the notes. To play a major pentatonic scale, simply leave out the white notes. "CAGEDmaj.gif" The idea now is to connect scales and chords. If you look at the scales and outline the chords within them, you should see that in every case the notes of the scale are spread out evenly about the chord, or put another way, the chord lays right smack in the middle of the scale pattern. Using this philosophy, if you can locate a chord on the fretboard, you are in position to play the scale as well. To play a major scale in any position, simply use the scale form which has the same name as the barre chord form you're using. For example, try playing a G major scale. Q: Where are all the places you can play a G major chord? A: G form open (G,O), E form 3rd fret (E, 3), (D, 5), (C, 7), (A, 10), (G, 12), etc Q: So where do I play a G major scale? A: use the G form major scale in the open position, E form major scale 3rd fret, i.e. same scale form at same chord form postion. Notice the nice thing about this system is that it does not require that you know the name of any of the notes on any of the strings. This is not to say that learning the names of the notes is superfluous information, only that is not absolutely critical in order to become a proficient lead player. It does not matter where you start, when you play a C form major scale in the same position as a C form barre chord, you will play the correct major scale. This system also allows you to easily play the same scale in all positions, actually just repetitions through the CAGED sequence. This is an easy way (well, easy after a bit of practice) to jump from one position to another on the fretboard. A good exercise is to work through the CAGED system using chords and the corresponding major scale simultaneously. Minor Scales and CAGED Chapter Four -The Minor Scales -Minor Scales and CAGED The Minor Scales Below is a diagram showing the finger patterns for the natural, harmonic, and melodic minors respectively. I have shown only two barre chord forms, the "Em" and Am, because these are the most common minor barre chord forms used in actual practice. "CAGEDmin.gif" This however presents us with a problem, how to play the minor scale in any position? So far we only have two positions, separated by a gap on the fretboard, in which to play a minor scale, whereas with the major scale we had five positions, with no gaps in between. The problem is with our thinking. You should not think of the natural minor scale as a completely separate scale, yet only a different way of looking at the relative major scale. Remember, the natural minor scale is the relative minor to a corresponding relative major scale containing the same notes. The natural minor scale is created by starting the relative major scale on its sixth note, yet keeping the same notes as the relative major. For example, a C major scale contains the notes CDEFGABC. The sixth note of C major is A. Therefore, an A natural minor scale contains the notes ABCDEFGA, the same notes as C major, only starting on the sixth note. Am is called the relative minor of C major. Now, if you can think this way, to play any minor scale, simply figure out what its relative major is, or which major scale the minor scale is the relative minor. MinorScales and CAGED (minor scales made easy) Here is a quick and dirty way of finding the correct relative major when playing minor scales. To play a minor scale in any position: From an E; or A form barre chord form, move one scale form back in the CAGED sequence and play that major scale form in the same position as the barre. This automatically switches you to the relative minor scale. For example, start with an E form barre chord. From that barre chord position, move one scale form back in the CAGED sequence and play a G form major scale. For example, an E form barre chord at the 5th fret is an A major chord. If you were to play a G form major scale at the 5th fret, this would be a C major scale (G form barre chord at the 5th fret is a C major chord). Am is the relative minor of C major, meaning both scales contain the same notes. Since you are now playing a minor scale, which is in reality a major scale in disguise, you can once again work your way through the CAGED sequence to play the minor scale in all positions. From Scales to Modes Chapter Five -What is a mode? -Where did they come from? -From Modes to Scales -How are they used? -Making life easier -The Bottom line on modes You have taken the first step into lead playing by learning to play scales. This is important and must be understood if you want to be a proficient lead player. So far we have looked at how to play the two most commonly used scales: the diatonic major and the natural minor. A sound basis in these two scales will prove to be invaluable in trying to understand and use the concept of modes. Many people become discouraged at having to memorize many different patterns for both the diatonic major and natural minor scales, and the addition of new scales with weird names makes the prospect of having to memorize even more patterns very bleak. Just as you would not want to sit down and memorize 10 different phone numbers for each of your friends, you would not want to sit down and have to memorize 10 or so scale patterns for each chord form. Too much information to have to keep straight while you are trying to play. This chapter focuses on explaining the concept behind modes, how they are derived, and most importantly, how to put them into terms you can understand and put to use. What is a mode? Put simply, a mode is a series of notes, like scales, in which there is a principal note to which all the others are related. The first and last note of the octave is always the principal note in any mode. It is this principal note which establishes the tonality of the mode, and it is the step pattern of half-steps and whole-steps that establishes the modality of the mode. Where did they come from? The ancient Greeks are credited with having the earliest form of scales. These scales were named after their most important tribes - the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian, etc. They all contained eight notes (including the octave) which were equivalent to the notes on the white keys of a keyboard (i.e. no sharps or flats, these came later). In the Middle Ages these same scales were adopted by musicians in the Christian church. These musicians took it upon themselves to introduce some changes - renaming some of the Greek scales, and most importantly substituted the term mode for scale, i.e. the Greek Dorian scale was now the Dorian mode. This meant that there were now seven modes - one for each of the white notes. We have already seen that the characteristic sound of any scale or series of notes is determined by its step pattern of half-step or whole-step intervals. Since each mode has its own unique step pattern, each mode has its own unique sound. From Modes to Scale In the Middle Ages, this modal system was the source of monophonic (one voice) melody (think of Gregorian chants). However by the 16th century the increasing complexities of polyphony, or music containing two or more harmonized melody lines, was leading to the eventual breakdown of the modal system. By the 17th century, a new harmonic language was developed. The idea of tonality was expanded to include a key system: all music was written with a key signature which identified the first, or root, note of the scale as the key-center. The intervals between notes were fixed by their distance from this root note, or key-center. At the heart of this key system lay the concept of diatonic major and minor scales. A diatonic; scale contains the notes proper of a key. Today's diatonic major and minor scales have the same step patterns as the medieval Ionian and Aeolian modes. The resemblance, however, is one of structure, not usage. How Are Modes Used? The sound characteristic to each mode can be translated into any key so long as the original step pattern is not altered. In effect, this produces five new scales within a key - not seven, since the Ionian and Aeolian modes have the same step patterns as the diatonic major and natural minor scales respectively. These five new scales represent an alternative to the melodic and harmonic structure of the diatonic scales. You can think of scales and modes as serving two different roles - scales determine harmony, the building block of all music, while modes express melodic variation. You can determine if a mode is major or minor simply by looking at the interval between the first and third degrees of the mode. It turns out that there are three major modes (I, IV, V), three minor modes, (II, III, VI) and one oddball, a diminished (VII) mode. Do the respective modalities of these modes seem familar to you? Compare them to the modalities of the chords within a key. Playing diatonic scales over the chords within their respective keys results in very conservative music; it works, but can become boring after awhile because there is no tension. In other words, the scales and chords both contain exactly the same notes. Think of playing within a mode as altering one or more notes of a major scale to produce some tension or dissonance between the notes of the scale and the notes used to make up the chords. It is this tension or dissonance that produces the aural differences between different styles of music. This is why Country and Western music sounds different from Blues, which sounds nothing like Jazz, which sounds nothing like Heavy Metal, etc. Each style, in general, pulls from a particular mode, and since each mode has its own unique step pattern, each mode will produce its own unique sound, thereby creating different styles of music. By learning to distinguish the difference between one style and another, and learning which mode generally is used in that style, you can now expand your capability as a guitar player to play more than one style of music, instead of being a one trick pony. Making Life Easier (connecting scales and modes) Now let's make a quantum leap to connect major scale forms with modes. Looking at the diagram below, notice that each of the modes shown contain exactly the same identical notes, an important observation. In other words, a D Dorian scale (DEFGABCD) contains the same notes as F Lydian (FGABCDEF), which contains the same notes as G Mixolydian (GABCDEFG), they all simply have different starting notes. "diamodes.gif" If you look closely at these three scales, you will notice that also only contain notes from the key of C major, or a major scale in which C is the first note. You already know how to play major scales using the CAGED scale forms. By learning the relation of the mode to the key in which you want to play, you can use the five CAGED patterns you already know to play any of the seven modes without having to learn a bunch of different scale patterns. EXAMPLE:chords you want to solo over are based on key of G major: I G vi Em IV C ii Am V D iii Bm Modes at your disposal: modes notes contained parent major relation to (same note as) parent major G Ionian GABCDEF#G G major G is I G Dorian GABbCDEFG F major G is II G Phyrigian GAbBbCDEbFG Eb major G is III G Lydian GABC#DEF# D major G is IV G Mixolydian GABCDEF C major G is V G Aeolian GABbCDEbFG Bb major G is VI G Locrian GAbBbCDbEbF Ab major G is VII Again, the Ionian and Aeolian modes are identical in strucure to the diatonic major and minor scales (same step patterns, therefore same major scale fingering patterns) which you already know. Now let's do the same with the remaining five modes; that is convert something you don't know into some form you are familiar with and can understand. This leads us to ... The Bottom Line on Modes Here is a quick and dirty way of thinking of modes, and how to play each from an E form and A form barre chord home base, in which that chord is the I chord of the song key. EXAMPLE: use E form barre chord at 3rd fret (G major chord), root note is 6th string 3rd fret mode parent major use this pattern generic formula scale at this fret (scale from, fret) (same note as) G Ionian G major E form 3rd fret (E, X) G Dorian F major D form 3rd fret (D, X) G Phyrigian Eb major C form 3rd fret (C, X) G Lydian D major C form 2nd fret (C, X-1) G Mixolydian C major A form 3rd fret (A, X) G Aeolian Bb major G form 3rd fret (G, X) G Locrian Ab major E form 4th fret (E, X+1) OR use A form barre chord at 10th fret (G major chord), root note is fifth string 10th fret. mode parent major use this pattern generic formula scale at this fret (scale from, fret) (same note as) G Ionian G major A form 10th fret (A, X) G Dorian F major G form 10th fret (G, X) G Phyrigian Eb major E form 11th fret (G, X-1) G Lydian D major E form 10th fret (E, X) G Mixolydian C major D form 10th fret (D, X) G Aeolian Bb major C form 10th fret (C, X) G Locrian Ab major A form 11th fret (A, X+1) Again, each mode will go from G to G, but is easier to look at them in terms of an equivalent parent major scale which contains exactly the same notes. Now that you can think of which mode fits which major scale form, can you now play that same scale in all positions by shifting through the CAGED sequence? YOU BET!! Using only the five major scale patterns, you can play not only major and minor scales in any position, but also any of the five remaining modal scales as well! If you can assimilate and understand this idea, then with practice you can put these ideas to work for you. Think of yourself as an artist with thousands of colors with which to paint; you are no longer limited to just a small selection of colors. It is the ability to be able to select these other colors that separates the great guitarists from the good ones. When to Use Modes Chapter Six -Establishing the Tonality -Modes as Altered Major Scales -Determining the Mode -Audio Examples At this point, let's back up and assess what we are trying to do. We want to know, for a given song, what scale or mode do we want to use to solo over the chord changes? This is the most common situation most guitar players are faced with; you know the chords, but what scale do you use? The answer is actually very easy. Remember that scales and chords are very much linked together. The idea is to figure out what scale contains the notes used to make up the chords. If this is confusing, see Introduction to Chord Theory or Chord Theory and Triads. Establishing the Tonality The first step is to establish the tonality, or what is the pricipal, or root note of the key. An easy way to figure this out is to decide which chord in the song is the chord built from the root note in the key, or the I chord. This can be tricky, but as a general rule the I chord is the chord that the music comes back to frequently, ends sections with, or if the song ends on a chord, 99% of the time this chord will be the I chord. Lets say for example a song ends on a C major chord. Then the tonality will be C, i.e. the song is in the key of C something, where the something is called the modality; is it major, minor, mixolydian, dorian, etc. It is the last part, figuring out the modality that we are after. Modes as Altered Major Scales Remember in the section on How Modes are Used, I said that modes can be thought of as a way to create tension, dissonance, or harmonic interest by altering the notes of a major scale. When you do this, you now have one or more notes in the scale which were not used in chord constuction for that major key; this is what creates the tension. So let's look at each mode and describe them relative to an unaltered major scale. I am going to represent the notes of a major scale using numbers to represent the interval between the first, or root note (1),and the respective scale degree. The intervals in a scale are (1 half-step = one fret): interval symbol # 1/2steps interval symbol # 1/2steps minor second m2, b2 1 perfect fifth 5 7 major second M2, 2 2 minor sixth m6, b6 8 minor third m3, b3 3 major sixth M6, 6 9 major third M3, 3 4 minor seventh m7, b7 10 perfect fourth 4 5 major seventh M7, 7 11 tritone, dim 5th TT, b5 6 octave 8 12 If you went up a chromatic scale one note at a time (i.e. in half-step increments, where 1 half-step=one fret), you would go through each of the above intervals successively. An unaltered major scale would be represented by (1 2 3 4 5 6 7), and an unaltered natural minor would be (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7). Now let's do the same for each of the modes, that is describe them relative to an unaltered major scale, referring to the diagram below. "diamodes.gif" mode as compared to an unaltered major scale Ionian 1234567 Dorian 12b3456b7 Phrygian 1b2b345b6b7 Lydian 123#4567 Mixolydian 123456b7 Aeolian 12b345b6b7 Locrian 1b2b34b5b6b7 Notice that the Ionian and Aeolian Modes have the same step pattern as the Diatonic Major and Natural Minor Scales. Determining the Mode Now comes the fun part, putting it all to work. This is easiest done by using some songs as examples. What I am going to do is this: (1) list the song title, (2) list the names of the chords in the song, (3) list the song's tonality, (4) compare with chords from n unaltered major scale, (5) determine the modality. Here again are the step patterns for the modes: Ionian Mode (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) Dorian Mode (1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 ) Phrygian Mode (1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) Lydian Mode (1 2 3 #4 5 6 7) Mixolydian Mode (1 2 3 4 5 6 b7) Aeolian Mode (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7) Locrian Mode (1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7) The underscored spaces below just refer to notes you don't have information for. Examples : Song Title: "Let It Be" by the Beatles Chords: C, Am, F, G Tonality: C Major scale with C as 1: CDEFGABC Scale you want with C as 1: C_ _ FGA _C same as unaltered C major scale Modality: Ionian (use C diatonic major scale) "letitbe.wav" an audio example of major scales "rman.wav" an audio example of harmonized major scales Song Title: "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix Chords: Em, G, Am, Bm, C, D Tonality: E Major scale with E as 1: EF#G#ABC#D#E Scale you want with E as 1: E _ G A B C D E same as E major with b3, b6, and b7 Modality: Aeolian, actually natural minor (use E natural minor scale) "littlewing.wav" an audio example of natural minor scales Song Title: "Reeling in the Years" by Steely Dan Chords: A, G, D, Bm, F#m Tonality: A Major scale with A as 1: ABC#DEF#G#A Scale you want with A as 1: A B _ D _ F# G A same as A major scale with b7 Modality: Mixolydian(use A mixolydian scales) "reelin8.wav" an audio example of Mixolydian mode Song: typical Mississippi or Chicago style blues (SRV, Clapton, ZZ Top, etc) Chords: G, C7, D7, Bb, Eb, F Tonality: G Major scale with G as 1: GABCDEF#G Scale you want with G as 1: G_ Bb C D Eb F G same as G major with b3, b6, b7 Modality: Aeolian (use G Aeolian scales) "blues.wav" an audio example of Aeolian mode Song: "Mr. Soul" by Neil Young Chords: D, C, F, G, Am, E Tonality: D Major scale with D as 1: DEF#GABC#D Scale you want with D as 1: D E F G A _ C D same as D major with b3 and b7 Modality: Dorian (use D dorian scales) "dorian.wav" an audio example of Dorian mode "phrygian.wav" an audio example of Phyrgian mode The idea I'm trying to get across is that this is not a difficult thing to do. It just takes a little practice, some patience, and some experimentation. Chord Theory I - Triads Chapter Seven -Chord Formations -Triads -Chords Within a Key Chord formation What is a chord? Technically, a chord is three or more notes played simultaneously. One note is called a single note, two notes played simultaneously are called a double stop, and three or more played simultaneously are called a chord. Naming them properly can be difficult at times, however is most commonly done by analyzing the intervals betwwen the respective notes making up the chord. Western Music is based on a tertian system, that is all chords are based on intervals of thirds. In English, this means using every other note in a scale, e.g. in a C major scale (CDEFGABC) CEG, or DFA, or ACE, etc. Let's look at the intervals again. Remember an interval is simply the difference in pitch, or the pitch distance, between any two notes. The intervals are: interval symbol # 1/2steps interval symbol # 1/2steps minor second m2, b2 1 perfect fifth 5 7 major second M2, 2 2 minor sixth m6, b6 8 minor third m3, b3 3 major sixth M6, 6 9 major third M3, 3 4 minor seventh m7, b7 10 perfect fourth 4 5 major seventh M7, 7 11 tritone, dim 5th TT, b5 6 octave 8 12 You can think of intervals in terms of how many half-steps (1/2step), the smallest interval (equal to one fret on the guitar) are between one note and the next. For example, on the guitar, the sixth string open is E, and the sixth string 3rd fret is G. The interval between them is 3 frets, which is equivalent to 3 half-steps, or a minor third (m3). Triads What is a triad? A triad is simply a chord made up of only three notes, and is usually understood to mean a chord consisting of two stacked thirds. There are four kinds of triads: a major triad, a minor triad, an augmented triad, and a diminished triad. Each has its own unique construction. In the diagram below is a graphic illustrating the four different triads: "4triads.gif" Remember that in the diagram, the notes on the bottom are lower in pitch, and as you go up the diagram, the notes also go up in pitch. The thing to note here is the order of the stacked intervals. If the interval between the lowest note and the middle note is a major third (M3), and the interval between the middle and upper note is a minor third (m3), or in other words a minor third interval stacked on top of a major third interval, the resulting chord is called a major chord. Similarly, if the interval between the lowest and middle note is a minor third, and the interval between the middle and upper is a major third, or in other words a major third stacked on top of a minor third, the resulting chord is called a minor chord. Two stacked major thirds is called an augmented chord, and two stacked minor thirds is called a diminished chord. Another way to think of the different types of triads is to use chord formulas, or a generic formula which will give you a desired chord. The chord formula for each chord is shown above next to the chord name. In this repsect, building chords is very much like math, there is a systematic methodology and a definite order to how things work. At this point some clarification is due. Traids are built from notes within a scale, and the first note in the chord is called the root, i.e. the root of an Am chord is A, the root of a D major chord is D, etc. In terms of chord formulas, the root is commonly referred to as 1, not to be confused with the first note in the actual scale. All other notes in the triad are referenced relative to the root, i.e. 3 and 5 refer to notes a major 3 (M3) away from the root and a perfect fifth (P5) away from the root respectively, NOT to the third and fith notes of the scale. For a major chord, the chord formula is (135). That is it consists of a root note (1) and two notes above it; one a note a major third (4 frets) above it in pitch (3), and another a perfect fifth ( 7 frets) above it (5), which is also a minor third above the middle. The chord formula for a minor chord is (1b35); that is a root note (1) with two note above in pitch; one a minor third (3 frets) above (b3) and one a perfect fifth (7 frets) above (5), which in this case is a major third above the middle. The chord formula for an augmented chord is (13#5), and the formula for a dimished chord is (1b3b5). Chords Within a Key Now, let's apply what we've learned. Using just the seven notes from the key of Cmajor, what chords can be formed? I refer to this as the chords within a key, meaning only the notes from the key itself are to be used in constructing the chord triads. This will give us seven different chords, each built from the seven possible root notes in the key. First, the notes in the key of C major are (each block repesents one half-step, or one fret on the guitar): "Cscale.gif" Let's set a working order for things here. I am going to use a generic numbering system to name the chords. I am going to name each chord according to which note of the key is the root, i.e. a chord using the first note of the key will be called the I chord, a chord using the fifth note as the root will be called the V chord, the chord using the seventh note as the root will be called the VII chord, etc. This Roman numeral naming system is also presented in the section on the Basics Let's start with the I chord which has the note C as the root. The chord triad built of stacked thirds will be (CEG), which is every other note starting with C. Now, look at the intervals between the notes. From C to E is 4 half-steps, or a major 3 (M3), and from E to G is 3 half-steps, or a minor third (m3). This gives you a m3 stacked on top of a M3, which is defined as a major chord. Or, in terms of chord formulas, E is a M3 above C, and G is a P5 above C, so the formula must be (135), a major chord. Either way, you have just labored to discover that the I chord in the the key of C major is C major. Now let's look at the chord built form the second note, D. The triad would be (DFA), again every other note starting on D. The interval from D to F is a m3, and from F to A is a M3; a M3 stacked on top of a m3, a minor chord. Similarly, F is a m3 above D, and A is a P5 above D, giving (1b35), a minor chord. Therefore, the II chord of C major is Dm. The graphic below shows the triads built from each note in the key. "triads.gif" The thing to note here is that in any major key, there will always be three major chords, the I, IV, and V chords, and are usually referred to as the primary, or principal chords. There will also always be three minor chords, the ii, iii, and vi chords, and referred to as the secondary, or relative minor chords. I am using upper case to denote major chords and lower case to denote minor chords. This leaves one chord, the VII chord, a diminished chord, as the odd man out, and as such is not heard much in popular music. If you are trying to learn a song, you can use the concept of chords within a key to limit the choices of what chords should appear in the song. This is how people are able to figure out songs purely by ear, that is by knowing what key the songs is in, and therefore which chords to expect. This covered again in the section on the Basics Chord Theory II - Sevenths Chapter Eight -What are the seventh chords? -What are the different kinds? -Seventh Chord diagrams What are seventh chords? In the previous section, I discussed triads, or chords built from three notes, usually two stacked thirds. If this makes no sense to you, check out the section on triads. Sevenths are four note chords, and get their name from the interval between the root and the top fourth note, which again is usually a third above the highest triad note. A seventh is simply a chord built using every other note in a key, ie (1357). Maybe triads should be referred to as "fifths" to be more compatible with the term sevenths. What are the different kinds? Just as there are different types of triads, there are different types of sevenths, again named on the basis of the intervals between the repspective notes in the chord. Below is a graphic illustrating the different seventh chords. Also shown after the chord name is the chord formula. Below are the names of the individual notes making up the chord. The triads are shown at the top to aid in seeing the added stacked thirds. "7ths.gif" The thing to note here is that four of the sevenths chords are simply a previous triad plus a minor seventh above the root. In other words, a dominant seventh chord (7) is simply a major triad with a minor seventh above the root. A minor seventh chord (m7) is simply a minor triad plus a minor seventh above the root. Ditto the augmented seventh (+7) chord. The last is the half-diminished chord, also called a minor seventh flat five (m7b5), which is just a diminshed triad with a minor seventh above the root. This leaves two sevenths, the major seventh (maj7), and the diminished seventh (o7). A major seventh is a major triad with a major seventh above the root, and the diminished seventh is a diminished triad with a double flatted seventh above the root. A double flatted seventh is the same as a M6 interval (9 half-steps above the root). It is the double flat which distinguishes a diminished seventh (o7) from a half-diminished, or minor seven flat five (m7b5). Here are the chord formulas all laid out nice and neat: chord name symbol formula major seventh maj7 1357 dominant seventh dom7, 7 135b7 minor seventh min7, m7 1b35b7 half-diminshed seventh m7b5 1/2 o 1b3b5b7 diminshed seventh dim7, o7 1b3b5bb7 augmented seventh aug7, +7 13#5b7 Seventh chord diagrams Here are some useful chord diagrams to show you common barre chord shapes for the seventh chords. These shapes are in keeping with the CAGED system presented in the CAGED Sequence section. A good exercise is to try to name the notes of the chord in relation to its formula, ie which notes are the 1,3,5, b7, etc. There is a typo below in the chord formula for an augmented chord. Should be 13#5, not 1#3#5. "7chords.gif" Chord Theory III - Altered Chords Chapter Nine Basically, I am referring to any chord that doesn't fall into the category of either a triad or a seventh as an altered chord. This is WRONG in the srtict sense, but makes it easier for me to separate them for our purposes. Let's look at a major scale continued through two octaves. This would be 14 notes, so let's number them as such with repsect to the root, note 1. This gives you: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Now, remebering that notes 8, 10, 12, and 14 are the same as 1, 3, 5, and 7 only an octave higher and make up our base chord, this leaves us with notes 2, 4, 6, to add within our base chord, and notes 9, 11 and 13 to add on top of our base chord. It is the addition of these notes in some form or fashion that leads to very colorful chords that make music so interesting. Jazz players especially like to add these notes in to add color in the form of 9th chords, 7#9, m7b9, maj7add11, 13th chords, etc. Remember, these chords aren't really altered in the true sense of the word, rather they are simply triads or sevenths with color notes added in. Altered chord diagrams Below are chord diagrams for some of the more common altered chords. Again, these are referenced to the CAGED system. "altered.gif"