familiar patterns

8/11/2019 Familiar Patterns

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JEFF MCERLAIN SHOWED HISimprov class an intriguing way to splash ahint of outside color onto a minor blues.This doesnt require new scales or pat-terns, he said. Its right under your finger-tips. The secret, he explained, is to focuson the min7 b5 arpeggio thats buried withina blues scale.

Take a closer look: The formula for ablues scale is 1, b3, 4, b5, n5, b7. In, say, A ,thats A , C n , D , E b , E n , and G n . Within thisscale lurks an Am7 b 5 arpeggio A , C n , E b ,G n (or 1, b3, b5, b7). Heres whats really hip,

said McErlain. When you leave out just twonotes, you suddenly have this other soundfrom your basic scale. You wont hear B.B.King outline a min7 b5 in his solos, butRobben Ford would.

E x . 1 shows how easily you can slip thistart flavor into an otherwise standard blueslick. To hear this in its proper context,record a funky Am7 vamp as a backing track. Ex . 2 puts the b5 in two octaves, dou-bling the pleasure.

For more chromatic interest, add then5 to a min7 b5 line, said McErlain, playing

R O A D S C H O L A R

TAB

44Am7= 104

3

1

13

4

4

2

1

55 5

5

58

87 7

6

Ex. 2

TAB

Funky minor blues

44

5 8 5 7 5

Am7

11

14 2 3

= 72

4

7

Ex. 1

TAB

= 104

44 3

33

3

41

1

1

4

3 1

Am7

8 5 558 8 5

7 75

5 7

4

8

Ex. 3

TAB

Freely

44

2

13

3

3

12

114

4

11

2

G dominant pentatonic

332 5

534 5

33 37

6 6 35 4

5 35 3 2

3 31

Ex. 4

Familiar Patterns,

Fresh Pathways Jeff McErlain (left) explains the dominant pentatonic scale.


2/9

o far in our Road Schol-ar series, weve taken

you on vicarious visits toHollywoods famed G.I.T. (May 97) and Bostons renownedBerklee College of Music (Aug.97). This third installment findsus at the National Guitar Work-shopa summer camp for 6-string enthusiasts of all ages.Here in the small town of New Milford, Connecticut, nestled inthe tranquil, green New Englandcountryside, I spent a week at-tending guitar classes, refiningmy chops, making new friends,and gathering a years worth of fretboard study material.

Shouldering a DAT recorder,camera, and well-worn G&L ASAT, I attended workshops ona wide variety of topics that in-cluded folk fingerpicking, blue-grass flatpicking, modal rock,and altered-scale improvisation.I learned how to craft jazzchord-melody arrangementsand reharmonize blues progres-sions. I watched students wrestle

with novel concepts, banter withinstructors, and help each other

reach new musical heights. Sit-ting among fellow classmates, Idug into rhythm grooves,swapped solos, and even led afunk class jam.

CAMP VERSUS COLLEGELearning guitar in a summer

camp environment is radically

S

B Y A N D Y E L L I S

Jammin at theNational GuitarWorkshop

E x . 3. Here weve got the b5 and n5 rubbing shoulders. Cool!

McErlain had another trick up hissleeve, this time for dominant chords.Were used to playing a minor pentatonicacross a dominant 7say, G minor penta-tonic over G7 . We hear the B b -B n clash asbluesy. But sometimes thats not what you want. Try raising the scales b3 to a n3, butkeep everything else the same. This yieldsa dominant pentatonic. Amazing! You can

change one note of your pentatonic scaleand get a whole new sound. To compareminor and dominant pentatonic formulas

and scales, refer to the chart below.The beauty of McErlains system is that

youre likely quite familiar with minor pen-tatonic scale patterns. Rather than learning a new scale, you need only adjust one note.Try E x . 4a G dominant pentatonic scaleusing McErlains favorite fingering.

Record E x . 5s funky rhythm figure andimprovise over it using G dominant pen-tatonic (think Grateful Dead or Blind Mel-on). Youll find patterns all over the neck:

Simply play G minor pentatonic licks, and whenever you encounter B b , bump it upa fret to B n . g

TAB

Funky

= 76

44 G7

3

2 2

3

3 3

3 3

3

3

2

2

Ex. 5

MCERLAINS FORMULAS

minor p en taton ic f ormula : 1 b3 4 5 b7

G minor pentatonic scale: G B b C D F

dominant p entat onic for mula: 1 n3 4 5 b7

G dominant pentatonic scale: G B n C D F


3/9


IN SUSAN MAZERS FINGER-picking workshop, we explored a fistfulof alternating bass patterns, including the dozen 4/4 patterns shown in thechart. Each column represents aneighth-note, and each row shows thesequence of strings for a particularpattern.

These patterns make good warm-up exercises, said Mazer. Try them with a variety of chords and progres-sions. For instance, Ex. 1 features thesecond pattern (5-1-4-3-5-2-4-3).

You can also modify the one-string-per-eighth-note rhythm. To convertany of these patterns into a Travis-stylerhythm, Mazer explained, simply play the first two notes together, sus-tain them for a quarter-note, and thenproceed with the rest of the pattern.E x . 2 illustrates the process.

Ex . 3 shows another useful varia-tion on the original straight-eighthrhythm. Drop the last note, said Maz-er, and let beat four sustain for a quar-ter-note. Think of this as a reverseTravis pattern.

Mazer offered some final tips: If youre accompanying someone, youmay not want to be too busy. If youreaccompanying yourself, you might want to fill it up a bit more. Patternsare like vocabulary words. Select one you like, and start using it. It will be-come a part of your repertoire. I prob-ably have 20 that I draw from. BecauseI know them well, I can intuitively findthe right one for a song. g

44

TAB

( )

2

3 11

32

23 1

ppm i i

ppm

simile

Flowing E/B F 7add4/C Aadd2/E E/B

22

0

1

22

01

44

0

3

44

03

77

00

6

77

6

22

0

1

22

01

let ringthroughout

Ex. 1

44

44

TAB

F 7add4/C

23

1

mp

pp

p ii m

0

44

3

44

30

TAB

F 7add4/C

23

1

pp

ppm mi

44

44

00

3

let ringthroughout

let ringthroughout

Ex. 2 Ex. 3

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

5 2 4 3 5 1 4 35 1 4 3 5 2 4 35 3 4 2 5 3 4 15 2 4 3 5 2 4 16 2 4 3 6 1 4 36 1 4 3 6 2 4 36 3 4 2 6 3 4 16 2 4 3 6 2 4 16 2 4 3 5 1 4 36 1 4 3 5 2 4 3

6 3 4 2 5 3 4 16 2 4 3 5 2 4 1

Eighth-Notes:

12 ALTERNATING BASS PATTERNS

String Sequence:

A Pickers Dozen

Susan Mazer (left) conducts a fingerpicking workshop.


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different from going to musicschool. Schools demand a ma-jor commitmentboth in timeand tuition. Depending on theinstitution, youll spend fromone to four years studying. A

years tuition can exceed$10,000 and thats not in-cluding room and board. For some, this is ideal: Move away from home, get serious about guitar, and earn a degree or diploma. For most of us, how-ever, job and family responsibil-ities preclude music school.

This is where NGW comesin. For the cost of a brief vaca-

tion in Maui, you can spendtwo weeks soaking up as muchfretboard lore as you can han-dle. Every teacher is an expert in his or her field, and playsfor a living. I found the quality of instruction extremely highon par with that of the best schoolsand the enthusiasticteachers are tapped intocurrent music. (Many areGP Sessions contributors, includingMatt Smith, Jody Fisher, Jeff

McErlain, Erik Halbig, WayneRiker, and David Hamburger.)Overall, NGWs non-competi-tive, laid-back atmosphere isconducive to learning. Goodtimes, good music.

In addition to the main New Milford campus, NGW conductsclasses in Seattle, Orlando,Nashville, Austin, Toronto, andClaremont, California, as wellas Bath, England, and Freiburg,Germany. Sessions last fromone to six weeks, depending onthe location. All instruction oc-curs on college or prep-schoolgrounds, and each campushosts about 200 students a

week. Average class size is six to eight pupils. Guitarists attendclass for about five hours a day.

This isnt Club Med, howev-

IN LEO MALLACES FUNK workshop, everybody got to play.Hed show one student a rhythm or

riff, and gradually have the otherspick interlocking parts above or be-low. Soon a sophisticated, churning groove would fill the room.

One such jam was based on theGm7 and C7sus4 voicings in E x. 1.See how theres only a half-stepdifference between these chords?asked Mallace. Funk rhythm partstypically feature common tonesand minimum movement.

Put these voicings into actionin E x. 2s IIm7-V7 move. Mallacepointed out how the rhythm

parts two-beat rest leaves plenty of room for an answering riff.Call-and-response is essential tofunk, he said. Guitar 2s riff startson the and of 2right after Guitar

1s chords cease.Guitar 2 has a cool b5 in beat

three of each bar. Hammer thefirst b5 up to 5, and pull the otheroff to 4. The sly B b quarter-bends

add a bluesy touch.Record Guitar 1, overdub Gui-

tar 2, and then try improvising overboth parts using G Dorian (1, 2, b3,4, 5, 6, b7, or G , A , B b , C , D , E , F ).g

T

AB

TAB

44

44 = 76-92 Gm7 C7sus4

3

33

63

33

63

33

63

33

63

33

53

33

53

33

53

33

5

1 13 321

12

4 1

3 33

55

54

3 354

63

B1/4 B1/4

3

Gtr. 2

Gtr. 1

Ex. 2

Funk TimeLeo Mallace leads a jam on Herbie Hancocks Chameleon riff.

IIIX X 41 1 1

4 7 3 5

C7sus4

IIIX X 1 1 14

7 3 7 R

Gm7

Ex. 1


5/9


TAB

Em7

121212

12

12 1212 12

10 10121212

12

12 99

10

0

let ring - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

3

2

1

4

42

1

3

Em9Baug7B7Em7

0087

7

80

1210

911

1212

12

TAB

Slowly,freely

44 Em7 Am7 Em7

33

3

2

3 1

1

12

1

1

1

1

4 1

121212

12

12 1212 12

10 10121212

12

12 99

10

5

55

5

5 58 8 10 1012

1212

12

1299

10

Ex. 5

TAB

44 Cmaj7(I)

Am7(VIm)

Dm7(IIm)

G7(V)

Cmaj7(I)

Fmaj7(I)

Dm7(VIm)

Gm7(IIm7)

C7(V)

Fmaj7(I)

9

98

12

1210

10

1010

10

109

9

98

9

78

10

1010

10

108

9

88

9

78

Slowly

VIII

X

VIII

1

R 7 3 R 7 3

VIII

R 7 3 R 3 7 R 3 7 R 3 7

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X3 4 21 3 332 2 1 3 32 1 3 1 4

Cmaj7 C7 Cm7 Cmaj7 C7 Cm7

Ex. 1 Ex. 2

HOW DO YOU CRAFT A CHORD-melody arrangement? Start with really simple voicings, Adam Levynow GP s Associate Editortold a group of bud-

ding jazzbos. This will leave room onthe fretboard for the melody. Besides,big, fat chords are harder to mani-pulate.

Playing the voicings in E x. 1, Levy elaborated: When I went to musicschool, one of my teachers called thesekernel chords. For now, just the root,

Idiots Guide to

Chord-Melody

Ex. 3

Ex. 4


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er. Segregated by gender andage, students bunk in Spartancollege or prep-school dormito-ries, where drugs and alcoholare strictly prohibited. (So muchfor night life!) You also wont find muchhaute cuisine at campus cafeterias, but well-heeled adult students can al-

ways opt for a motel and off-siteeateries. But, hey, NGW is allabout guitarafter hours youcan jam with friends, attendevening concerts, and, of course, practice.

Now in its fifteenth year,NGW offers instruction in many flavors of rock, blues, folk, and

jazz, along with courses in gui-tar repair, songwriting, sight-reading, recording, sound rein-forcement, and digital technol-ogy. Special seminars featurepros such as Ronnie Earl, John

Jorgenson, John Scofield, TalFarlow, Benjamin Verdery,Manuel Barrueco, Pierre Bensu-san, David Bromberg, AdrianLegg, and Alex Skolnick. Guest artists scheduled for 98 includeLaurence Juber, Martin Simp-son, Preston Reed, John Ren-bourn, Ed Gerhard, Mike Stern,

John Abercrombie, Scott Hen-derson, Rodney Jones, DukeRobillard, Gary Hoey, Mike Ke-neally, Ray Flacke, David Gris-som, Vinnie Moore, Carlos Bar-bosa-Lima, and Sergio andOdair Assad.

7, and 3 give you all the harmony you need. Commence with major7, dominant 7, and minor 7 shapes with the root in the bottom voice. When the root is on the six thstring, the 7 and 3 are on the fourthand third strings, respectively. Lo-cating the root on the fifth string puts the 3 on the fourth string andthe 7 on the third string ( E x . 2). Tomake this really useful, learn each

set of three kernel chords in 12keys. And how do we do that? Welluse the circle of fourths ( E x. 3).

Levy then played E x . 4. Im us-ing only kernel chords to voice a I- VIm-IIm-V7-I progression, first inthe key of C , then in the key of F , afourth away. Notice how the chordroots alternate between the sixthand fifth strings. Keep moving counterclockwise around the circleto play through the remaining tenkeys: B b (B b maj7 , Gm7 , Cm7 , F7 ,B b maj7 ), E b (E b maj7 , Cm7 , Fm7 ,

B b 7 , E b maj7 ), and so on. Nameeach chord as you play it, Levy ad-vised. Youll learn faster.

Once you can cycle a I-VIm-IIm-V7-I progression in fourths us-ing kernel chords, Levy told theclass, youre ready to arrange achord melody. Some tips:

When working from a leadsheet or songbook, move themelody up an octave so it falls on

the top two strings. Dont feel you have to harmo-

nize every melody note or play achord on every beat.

Because stripped-down ker-nel voicings dont contain a 5, ig-

nore this note when you encounterchords with altered 5s. For in-stance, play a Cm7 b 5 as a Cm7 , ora G7 # 5 as a G7 .

Similarly, ignore extensions.If the chord has a 9, 11, or 13, sim-ply play the root, 3, and 7.

Chord-melody arranging means learning the melody. Play through the melody by itself to getit under your fingers.

Strive to sustain the harmony,but preserve the melody above all.If this means cutting a chord shortor dropping it altogether, so be it.

Dont necessarily settle for asongs original key. You may want

to move down a few steps to takeadvantage of the guitars rich tim-bres, or transpose to allow openstrings.

Inspired by Levys ideas, Itrekked back to my quarters todraft a basic chord-melody arrangement for MotherlessChild ( E x. 5), based on kernelvoicings and simple triads. Try it youll see the system works. g

If you play only simplechords con-taining theroot, 3, and7, youll stillget paid forthe gig.

ADAM LEVY

Amanda Monaco (left)leads an improv class withintern Jessie Murphy.


7/9


TAB

= 60-88

44 B 13(I7) B aug7(I7) E 9(IV7) 3 3 1 1 14 3 2

3

3 1 1 3

31

77 5

58

7 56

88 6

69

9 77 5

22

Ex. 6

TAB

= 58-80

44 E 9(IV7) B 13(I7)

2 1 34 1

2 3 34 23

5 54 7 78 85 56 6 8 89 9

7 8

Ex. 5

B whole-half scale

w h w h w h w

Ex. 4

TAB

= 63-96

44 C7 9(V7) Fmaj7(I)

11

24

42

21

114 2

3 41

1

3

8 89 9

9911

11 911

8 9

118

81010

Ex. 3

TAB

= 116-152

44 1

24

42 1

3

C7 9(V7) Fmaj7(I)

8 8911 9

9 811 10

Ex. 2

C altered dominant scale

1 9 9 3 5 5 7

Ex. 1

Lets Go Out Tonight

HERES A LICK THATcompletely changed my life,Mark Dziuba told his improvisa-tion class. Its based on the C al-tered-dominant scale ( E x. 1), which fits over C7 because it con-tains the chords root, 3, and b7.The altered tones b9, #9, b5, and#5add tension. The altered-

dominant scale never soundedmusical to me until I discoveredthis lick ( E x. 2). Were going fromC7 # 9 to Fmaj7 a V7-I cadence.Theres always the risk that youllplay this lick for the rest of your

life when you go to C altered, butlearn it anyway, because it really opens up doors.

What other things can youdo to keep the altered-dominantfrom sounding like a scale?asked a student.

See the C augmented triadinside the scale? replied Dziuba.

Try hitting Caug chord tones onthe downbeats, like this ( E x. 3).Once set into motion, the patternchanges only on the last D # theone note that nails the C7 # 9 sound. I have to apologize,

Anything thatsmusical comes from you , not yourfingers, says Mark Dziuba (far left).


8/9

Guitar summer camp is agreat way to jump-start inspi-ration. Back home, you cancontinue honing new-foundskills with private lessons. In myopinion, this educational one-two punch is ideal for the ma-jority of us. Its affordable andlogistically feasible. And dont think youre too old for camp: Isaw white-haired grandpasand middle-aged business pro-fessionals mixing with 14-year-olds. Age and background dif-ferences tend to melt away inan environment where every-one digs guitar.

THERES ALWAYS MOREFuture Road Scholar adven-

tures lie ahead (periodically subbing for Sessions). Well visitmusic schools, workshops, andcamps around the country, andcram as much of the experienceas possible into these pages. If

youre planning to attend musicschool, Road Scholar can help

you make an appropriate selec-tion. And if youre not heading

down the academic highway,no problemwell distill thebest ideas we find and deliver them to your music stand.

For now, grab your guitar,tape recorder, and metronome,settle back with a cup of cof-fee, and get ready to stretch

your boundaries with fivelessons from the NationalGuitar Workshop. g

Dziuba said. This is a lick. But youneed to get the ball rolling. Your ears will expand when you start explor-ing these sounds.

The whole-half scale is anothertool for adding color to a solo, hecontinued. This scale consists of alternating whole- and half-steps.In B b , it looks like this [draws Ex . 4on the chalkboard]. Try this whole-half blues lick, which goes from E b 9 to B b 13 a IV7-I7 change. I heardStan Getz do this over a IV chord,and it knocked me out [plays E x . 5].

If you know where you want toland, you can simply set up a sym-metrical pattern that brings you tothat note on the right beat. For ex-ample, heres a I7-IV7 lick in B b ,based on melodic fourths that alter-nately descend and ascend ( E x. 6).Each time you play a fourth, dropdown a whole-step. This is a coolpattern because its going in, out, in,outtension and resolution. Its afleeting moment you can throw intothe fourth bar of a blues, heading into the IV chord. This one-bar lick

is full of outside notes, but look where we landon G , the 3 of E b 9 .Cant get more inside than that.

Know your destination, Dziubareiterated. I can play chromatically because I know where I want to land. You guys are really good at knowing where to start. But where do you want to end? You need to think about that more. And be behind what you play sing it! Really, thatsthe bottom line. If you sing along with what youre playing, youllsound a lot more musical. g

CONTINUING ED.For more info, write NationalGuitar Workshop, 407 BantamRd., Unit A, Litchfield, CT06759, email an inquiry tongs [email protected], or callMichael Allain at 1-860-567-8529. NGWs Web address is w ww .guitar w orkshop.com.

ACCESSING NOTES ON CALLTo sample or record any lesson

in this months Road Scholar sec-tion, call 1-90 0-370- 0020 and enterthe appropriate four-digit code. Itcosts 75 per minute. Youll needa touch-tone phone and parentalpermission if youre under 18. Tobetter control your phone time, usethese touch-tone commands: 7 =forward ten seconds; 8 = rewindten seconds; 9 = pause ten seconds;# = skip to end; *= repeat lesson.

This months lessons are alsoavailable on CD for only $6.95 (plus$3.95 s/h). For credit card orderscall 1-800-222-5544, or send check or money order to Notes On Call,June 98 Lessons, 146 2nd St. N.,Ste. 201, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

Learn something new every day! For $5.00less than a set of stringsyou can getGP s sampler CD with 11 way-cool lessons. Call 1-800-222-5544.

Net-heads: For the lowdown onGP s music notation symbolsand to hear lesson sound samplesvisit w w w.guitarplayer.com.

N O T E S O N C A L L

June 98Guitar Player Road Scholar lessons:1633 - Familiar Patterns, Fresh Pathways1634 - A Pickers Dozen1635 - Funk Time1636 - Idiots Guide to Chord-Melody1637 - Lets Go Out Tonight

Feature music lesson:

1638 & 1639 -Stealing Thunder , BY JESSE GRESS


9/9

132 GUITAR PLAYER XXXX 19XX

familiar patterns

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