Blues in A

Here is a blues in A. The basic form is executed with ninth and 13th chords, interspersed with bass runs outlining the 1st 3rd and 5th of each chord, with a chromatic run from 3rd to 5th. The solo style is constructed around each chord, using bends on the b3rd, and adding 2nd’s, 6th’s, 4ths and major thirds. There are minor pentatonic sequences, myxolidian sequences, and chord sequences. I tried to give extra attention to phrasing in this piece, climaxing in the second last chorus, with a sequence beyond the 12th fret, before a final chorus to recuperate in the 5th position.

Open Days at Samford and The Gap

Come along to my open days on Friday 28th January at Samford and Monday January 31st at The Gap. Book in for a trial lesson, free of charge. Say hello, and lets have a bit of a jam! All levels from beginner to veteran’s welcome! All ages welcome!

Teaching term will commence on Monday 31st January! I have openings in Samford and The Gap.

This is a piece with the help of my looper pedal. The first layer is a bass riff using the E minor pentatonic scale. Next comes some E9th chords. A third layer is 12th fre harmonics on the top three strings, which are an E minor chord. The total harmonic effect is of #9 and 9 juxtaposed – very bluesy. Then follows some soloing using the open position E minor pentatonic scale. A fourth layer is looped in with some funky Em7 chord, using a fifth fret shape. Then some more soloing up arround the 12th fret, still the E minor pentatonic scale!

Solo Piece: A damp afternoon.

Here is a solo guitar piece in A major, I have entitled “A damp afternoon”. In it I seek to evoke a strange combination of ennui and mild rapture resulting from the enforced idleness of a damp afternoon contemplating the beauty of drizzle and grey skies. The composition is built around the major scale harmonised in sixths, or inverted thirds. After repetition of an A and B phrases, the same melody is largely repeated a fourth higher, in the key of D, with the final section replaced by desending sixths to the dominant chord, E, before repeating the melody again. In the second repeat of the melody, the defending sixths are replaced by ascending sixths finishing on the root an octave above. A middle eight follows of desending chords, starting on the fourth, which becomes minor, and moving through various shapes to a dominant chord, E. The first theme is repeated again, and concludes with descending sixths over an E pedal tone, before resolving to A major to end..

The music score is available for purchase from Sheet Music Direct

Soloing over Scarborough Fair

The subject if this post is how to solo over the traditional tune Scarborough Fair. My arrangement of the melody puts it into the Dorian Mode of the G major scale. That is the key is A minor with a major sixth (F#) instead of the usual minor sixth (F). Note that the G is not sharpened by an accidental as it would be in the A harmonic minor scale. A simple way to think of it is as the notes of the G major scale, but with a root note of A instead of G. The tune finishes on its root of A.

The approach is simple: play using the notes of the G major scale throughout! If you are familiar with the arpeggios for the chords used (Am, G, D, and C) your solo will sound more convincing if you outline the changing chords with notes from their arpeggios. Otherwise, use your ear to pick out the notes that go with each change of chord. Use phrasing and plenty of space.

Here is my chart of the arrangement. One of the differences between written music in classical style and the jazz tradition is that classical music is meant to be played exactly as written on the printed page. However in Jazz, the solo performer often takes a lot of leeway with the written tune, adjusting the timing and feel, and even adding or subtracting notes in order to convey their artistic vision of the tune. You can observe this with the simple chart – if played exactly as written, many of the nice nuances of the original folk song will be missed. However the chart in this case gives enough of the tune for you to interpret it in your own style.

An interesting feature of the arrangement is that the tune is 19 bars long: a 4 bar phrase followed by 3 five bar phrases,  which contributes to it’s haunting quality.

Here is a practice track to hone your skills. The melody is played at the beginning and the end, with 4 repeats in between for you to practice your solo.

Scarborough Fair Rhythm Track

Here is the rhythm track again with my solo:

Scarborough Fair

Enjoy!

Practice Track: F major ii-V-I

This practice track is done in a light rock style, and is great for practicing soloing using the F major scale. The chords are

||:F                |Gm               |C7                 |F            :||

Other approaches to soloing (besides the F major scale) you can use are (i) F major (D minor) pentatonic scale (ii) F major pentatonic for the F chord, followed by G minor Pentatonic for the G minor and C7 chords, (iii) A minor pentatonic for the F chord followed by G minor pentatonic for the Gm and C7, (iv) F major, G minor and C7 Arpeggios with passing notes from the F major scale. Any combination of the preceding of course will also work!

All the above approaches are really just using the F major scale, but give different selections of notes which help create different sounds. Using the pentatonic scales is cool because it allows you to make use of a well known scale, and get maximum value from fingering and scale shapes that you might already know well.

So download the practice track below, and start having some fun!

Free Mp3 Download: F major II-V-I practice track.

 

Practice Track: Indie Rock

Here is a practice track which I have done in an Indie Rock style, to show that simple things can be very effective. It is suitable for guitarists and bass players of beginning to intermediate level. The chord progression is a very common one in lots of songs, involving the chords C, G, Am and F:To solo over the progression, first recognize that the progression is in the key of C major. So use the notes from the C major scale. One concept that you can use is to hit the first beat of every two bar group with a sustained note from the chord. That way you accentuate the harmony and sound “in control” of the progression. C chord: C, E, or G. G chord: G, B, or D. Am chord: A, C, or E. F chord: F, A, or C. To add interest, follow the strong note with some linking scale tones that lead to the next strong chordal note at the change of chord. Add interest by hitting the chordal note more than once, in different rhythms, to more strongly emphasize it. Interest and emphasis can also be added by first hitting the tone above or below the chord note, and quickly moving to the chord note. Another idea is to follow the first chord tone by another chord tone, thus doubly emphasizing the harmony.All these ideas can be heard in the following track including my solo (try to play along with me):

C_G_Am_F_lead

To practice your own solo, here is the track without the lead guitar:

C_G_Am_F

Have fun!