Go Outside From Within: S E S S I O N S

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Go Outside fromWithin B Y

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F I S H E R

STARTING AN IMPROVISED PHRASE from a chord tone produces a very traditional, “inside” sound. That’s useful in many situations, but did you know you can use chord tones to generate rather radical ideas? Here’s the concept: Compose short, interesting melodic ideas, and launch them from different chord tones. With this technique, you’ll come up with phrases that are inside enough to sound intentional, but outside enough to intrigue listeners. How it works. By beginning your phrase on a chord tone, you establish a connection with the harmony of the moment. The phrase’s re-

maining notes carry you out of the chord—often entirely out of the key. You control the degree of tonal disintegration by the structure of your original melodic idea. The more chord tones you include, the more “inside” the sound. The more notes you use from other tonalities, the more “outside” the sound. Hands on. Let’s try this technique over an E7#9, as in Ex. 1, where we launch the same rhythmic and intervallic pattern from each chord tone. Notice how we always wind up a fourth higher than our starting note. Play Ex. 2 over Gm7. This pattern ends up

a fifth above each chord tone and takes us well beyond the blues box. Ex. 3 illustrates what happens when you

# 3 ö bö 3 44 ö ö b ö ö ö ö b ö n ö # ö n ö ö n ö ö ö3 n# öööö 3 ö ============================ & ö ö bö ö = ö (n)ö ö b ö (n)ö # ö n ö ö n ö b ö ö 3 3 ³ ³ ² ³ ³ ²

Ex. 1

E7 9 1

4

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1 1 2 3 4

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etc.

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8 11 8 7

8 7 10 7 6

8 6 9 6 5

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7

7 10 7 6

7

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1

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10 7 6

1

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4 7 4 3

3 3 4 6 7

0

circled notes = target chord tones

Ex. 2

Gm7

ö ö 3 bö 3 öö 44 ö ö b ö ö b ö ö ö ö ö ö b ö n ö b ö ö ö ö ö n ö b ö b ö ö b ö ö ö () ö ö ö ö ö ö b ö n öb n öö = ============================ & 3 3 3 ³ ³ ² ³ ³ ² 3 4

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etc.

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Ex. 3

8 11 8 7

10

6 9 6 5

8

7 10 7 6

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8 11 8 7

5 8 5 4

7 8 11 8 7

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5 8 5 4

ö ö 3 ö 3 44 3 ö # ö ö ö ö ö # ö ö (n)ö ö (n)ö ö #ö ö ö öö ö ö = ======================= & ö ö ö 3 3 3 Fmaj7

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the #5 tension. Ex. 5 encircles Am7 chord tones in an ear-tweaking way. Finally, be sparing with techniques that generate outside sounds. Remember to play such ideas with confidence and authority so your dissonances don’t simply sound like mistakes. g

launch a major triad shape from each Fmaj7 chord tone. Not the stereotypical arpeggiated maj7 sound! In Ex. 4, we start an augmented chord shape from G7b5 chord tones, and alternate ascending and descending patterns. Even though we’re thinking in terms of a dominant 7b5, this example also produces

Jody Fisher is an associate director for the National Guitar Workshop’s California and Nashville campuses. His Thirty-Day Workout for Guitarists is published by Alfred. For info on Fisher’s CD Old Songs, New Licks, write to Ear Fruit, Box 1602, Redlands, CA 92373.

b ö ö ö ö bö ö ö ö ö 44 bö ö #ö ö ö ö ö ö b ö ö ö # ö ö ö ö ö ö b ööö ö ö ö = ========================== &

Ex. 4

G7 5

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Ex. 5Am7

ö ö ö ö ö #ö ö ö nö #ö ö ö ö # ö ö ö ö ö ö (n)ö ö ö ö ö 44 #ö n ö # ö ö ö ööö = ========================== & 2

8 T A B

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Lenny Breau’s Comping Workout ing on D. “To get the most out of this exercise, you should begin on other scale tones as well,” suggested Breau. “Depending on which note you start with, some of the resulting chords may sound dissonant—F, for instance, as the upper voice of Cmaj7. Keep the melody chromatic, and simply alter the harmony as needed to make the sequence flow more smoothly.” For instance, if you prefer to avoid such unsettling chords as Cmaj7 with G# in the melody, simply change the harmony to E7. Just keep in mind that in doing so, you’ve changed the progression from I-VI-II-V to III-VI-II-V. g

IN MAY ’84, MAS T E R fingerstylist Lenny Breau offered this insight into his harmonic wizardry: “The more command you have over chord voicings and their inversions, the more you’ll be able to implement your musical ideas in situations ranging from spontaneous comping to meticulous arranging. This exercise is designed to help you gain better control of the voicings you already know.” The chord sequence is based on I-VI-II-V root motion, a very common progression in jazz and pop. Each chord is modified to accommodate the melody line—an ascending chromatic scale, start-

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Cmaj9

A7 5

X2 1 4 3 X

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Dm9

G7 5 9

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Em9

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G13

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bú n úú # úú nú b úúú (n ) ú 44 úú bb úúú # b úúú (n ) ú ú ( n )( )ú b úú = ú ú úú ú ============================ & úú ú ú ú ú ú ú b

Em7 5

A13

X2 X3 4 1 VI

1 X2 3 4 4 V

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bb

Dm7

G13 5 9

Cmaj13

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b úú ú ( n )w b úú n úú b (n ) w n ú # ( ) ú w ú # úú (n ) ú ú w ú ú ============================ & ú = ú w ú 1 5 2 GUITAR PLAYER OCTOBER 1998

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F O U R CHARLES CHAPMAN, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR at Berklee’s guitar department, is our October Lickster. “If you need a hip turnaround for a swing tune or shuffle blues,

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this lick will do it every time. My students find it useful, no matter what style they play. Play with a swing feel, and keep the four-on-the-floor bass nice and steady.” g

C7

A7

D7

G7

4 ä öj Î ä # ööj Î ä #(n)ööj Î ä n ööj Î =================== & 4 { ö bö bö b ö ={ ö bö ö ö bö 3 2

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Send us your candidate for Lick of the Month (preferably notated and on cassette), along with a brief explanation of why it’s cool and how to play it. If we select your offering, you’ll get a funky custom T-shirt that’s available only to Lick of the Month club members. Mail your entry

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to Lick of the Month, Guitar Player, 411 Borel Ave. #100, San Mateo, CA 94402. Include your name, address, and phone number. Materials won’t be returned, and please don’t call the office to check the status of your submission. You’ll get your shirt if your lick is chosen. g

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G U I T A R

A Trip to Hawaii B Y S TA C Y P H I L L I P S

STEEL GUITAR PLAYS A PROMINENT role in country and bluegrass, but it was originally called Hawaiian guitar, in honor of its birthplace. The technique of using a piece of metal to fret a guitar was solidified (and perhaps invented) by native Hawaiian Joseph Kekuku in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Here is a short list of moves identified with the original slide sound from the “Land of the Hula.” All examples use high open-G tuning (G, B, D, G, B, D), and are intended for lapstyle guitar. Hula picks. One signature bit of phrasing is called the hula pick. This involves approaching a melody note by first playing a staccato note of lower pitch—typically located a sixth

or third below. The hula pick usually occurs on a different string from the melody note, but you can use the open first string if it fits in the key. The result resembles the voice break of a yodel. In Ex. 1, the first three notes played on the third string are hula picks. The melodic moves in this line are prototypically Hawaiian. A slow, wide vibrato is a must. Hawaiian hiccups. On uptempo tunes, steelers often transform the open-string hula picks into series of very staccato notes that serve as rhythmic interjections in the melody. When they are fast and short enough, they become Hawaiian hiccups, as illustrated in Ex. 2. This is an excerpt from a hula number called “Tomi

Tomi,” and is based on the playing of the first steel-guitar superstar, Sol Hoopii, who rose to prominence in the late ’20s. Crying and sliding. A right-hand effect that became synonymous with Hawaiian music is the steel guitar’s version of tremolo. This involves quickly alternating notes on two (usually adjacent) strings. This alternation usually has a triplet rhythm, but the rate can vary. When you add a dollop of lazy, wide vibrato, and let each pair of strings ring together, the individual pitches become murky and morph into a crying, warbling sound. As you try Ex. 3, sync your vibrato to your picking: Slide up when you pick the higher string and down when you pluck the lower string. This is hot stuff in some circles. The amen turnaround. Another Hawaiian music trademark is a one- or two-measure turnaround that’s tacked to the end of an eightor 16-measure stanza. These turnarounds are similar to the “amen” response of a church congregation, and usually involve a I-V-I or V7-I cadence. Ex. 4 shows the latter. g

Ex. 1

ö

C7

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ö. ö. öööö ö J 4 ö J ö ö ö ö ö ö w J b 4 ====================== & 3 = 84

w/slide

D B G T D A B B G

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Stacy Phillips is the author of The Art of Hawaiian Steel Guitar and The Complete Dobro Player (both distributed by Mel Bay). His most recent album, Stacy Phillips/Paul Howard [Malahat Mountain] is a duet with vocalist/guitarist Howard.

Ex. 2 = 112

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ö . ö ö ö bb C Î ö ö ö ö ö. ö. Jö. Jö =============== & = 3 B

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Ex. 3

ö

Ex. 4

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ö ö ö ö ú 44 Î ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ================ & = 3 3 3 3 w/slide

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slant bar - - - - - - - - - -

1 5 4 GUITAR PLAYER OCTOBER 1998

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w # 4 ö ö ö# ö ö n ö ö ö ============== & 4 w/slide

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Upper-Register Chords

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BY PINO MARRONE WHEN COMPING IN A MODERN jazz setting, it’s important to create color and contrast. One way to accomplish this is to change registers. Typically, the guitar’s low and mid registers are where most of the action takes place. While used by pianists, the high register is often neglected by guitarists. For some it’s a bit uncomfortable to reach voicings above the 12th fret, while others can’t seem to find rich-sounding voicings way up there. Ex. 1 contains beautiful upper-register voicings. Play through them slowly, and try singing the roots to help focus your ears on their sound. Take your time. Ex. 2 illustrates how you can use these chords in a standard progression. Practice with a metronome clicking on beats two and

Ex. 1

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E9 5 X2 1 3 4

F 7 5 9

X1 1 1 2 4 XI

four at around 85 bpm. Go for rhythmic sparseness and space, and try playing these voicings with a bass player. Suggested listening. To get a feel for this approach, listen to anything by Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert with saxophonist

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Amaj13

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A Ted Greene alumnus, Pino Marrone has also studied and performed extensively with Joe Diorio. A former instructor at G.I.T. and Grove School of Music, Marrone has played and recorded with Joe Farrell, Alphonso Johnson, Kenny Kirkland, Dianne Reeves, Abraham Laboriel, and Herb Alpert.

Amaj13

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Paul Desmond, as well as any music by guitar genius Ted Greene. Also check out how pianist Bill Evans comped behind the bass solo on “Beautiful Love” on his album Explorations. This magic cut really illustrates the point. g

X3 4 2 1 1 XII

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Ex. 2

Em7 5

A7 5 9

Dm/maj9

A 13

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Gm11

XX3 2 2 4

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4 . . ä ä . ================================== &4 = ð ð C13 b 9 Fmaj13 A13 # 5 b 9 Dm/maj9 X 12 2 2 4 XIII

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ä . ä . Î ================================== & = ð

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TheFingertip String Quartet

BY MORRIS ACEVEDO THE SECRET TO PLAYING SMOOTH chord changes lies in voice-leading. Simply put, this means paying attention to how each note in a chord moves to the next chord’s notes. To get a feel for voiceleading, let’s try several variations on the same progression: Am7 - D7 - Gmaj7 Cmaj7-F#m7b5-B7-Em7. Notice how Examples 1 and 2 stay on the inside four strings, while Examples 3 and 4 descend and ascend on a split string set: six, four, three, and two. By using in-

versions, we can creep along on the same string set throughout an example. As you move from chord to chord, imagine each string is a separate instrument or voice. Listen for common tones and stepwise (half- or whole-step) motion within each line. Now try to hear the progression as a set of four independent lines moving up or down the fretboard. Hey— you have a string quartet at your fingertips! Once you’ve played these examples, transpose the progression to different keys.

# b Em7 úú úú # 4 úúú úúú úú úú ww ú ú ú 4 ú w ú ú =================== & ú ú # úú = ( n )w

Ex. 1

T A B

Am7

D7

Gmaj7

Cmaj7

F m7 5 B7

10 9 10 10

10 7 10 9

8 7 9 9

8 5 9 7

7 5 7 7

7 4 7 6

5 4 5 5

# b Em7 ww ú ú #4 ú úú úú úúú ú n # ú w ú ( ) ú úú w ú ú =================== & 4 úúú úú ú = Ex. 2

T A B

Am7

D7

Gmaj7

Cmaj7

F m7 5 B7

5 2 5 3

7 5 7 5

7 4 5 5

8 5 9 7

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Finally, try voice-leading other common progressions—Imaj7-VIm7-IIm7-V7, for instance, or a backcycled series of IIm7-V7Imaj7 cadences. Some pointers: • Be careful how you use major 7th chords in the 3rd inversion, such as Ex. 1’s Gmaj7. In some contexts, this voicing sounds too dissonant; in other situations, it’s totally cool. • Stay on one string set for the entire progression. Doing so will force you to hunt for new voicings—that’s good. • Use the lowest note in each chord as your focus point. • Keep traveling in one direction along the fretboard, until you run out of room, or your ear tells you it’s time to change direction. • Wherever possible, build each line from common tones and stepwise motion. Once you’ve explored the single-

string-set concept, experiment with changing string sets in the middle of the progression, and try voice-leading the changes to your favorite tunes. Skillful use of inversions and voice leading makes for colorful comping. g

# b Em7 úú úúú # 4 úúú úúú úúú # úúú w ( n )w ú w =================== & 4 ú = ú ú ú ú ú w

Ex. 3

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Am7

D7

Gmaj7

Cmaj7

F m7 5 B7

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8 11 9

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# b Em7 ww #4 ú úú úúú úúú úúú ú ú ( n )w ú ú ú =================== & 4 ú w = ú ú #ú ú ú ú

Ex. 4

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North Texas State and Berklee alum Morris Acevedo lectures on jazz improv at U.C. Berkeley, directs the Berkeley Jazz Guitar Ensemble, and teaches at the Blue Bear School of American Music in San Francisco.

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October ’98 Guitar Player lessons: 1665 - Go Outside from Within, BY JODY FISHER 1666 - Comping Workout,

BY LENNY BREAU

1667 - A Trip to Hawaii, BY STACY PHILLIPS 1668 - Upper-Register Chords, BY PINO MARRONE 1669 - The Fingertip String Quartet, BY MORRIS ACEVEDO 1670 - Lick of the Month: FOUR ON THE FLOOR 1671 - 7-String lesson,

BY JOE GORE

Try GP’s Sessions sampler with 11 grooving lessons for only five bucks. Such a deal! Call 1-800-222-5544. Net-heads: For the lowdown on GP’s music notation symbols— and to hear Sessions sound samples—visit www.guitarplayer.com.

ACCESSING NOTES ON CALL To sample or record any lesson in this month’s Sessions, call 1-900-3700020 and enter the appropriate fourdigit code. It costs 75¢ per minute. You’ll need a touch-tone phone and parental permission if you’re under 18. To better control your phone time, use these touch-tone commands: 7 = forward ten seconds; 8 = rewind ten seconds; 9 = pause ten seconds; # = skip to end; * = repeat lesson. This month’s lessons are also available on CD for only $6.95 (plus $3.95 s/h). For credit card orders call 1-800-222-5544, or send check or money order to Notes On Call, October ’98 Lessons, 146 2nd St. N., Ste. 201, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

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