ALTAR MUSIK: All About Chords

[NC11-AM] How does this sound: instead of sitting down with a bunch of boring theory textbooks, you can use *music* to understand how harmony and chords work on the guitar. Does that sound like a cool way to learn about guitar harmony?

If you think so, then that's how we'll start our exploration of chords: with a tune. Actually, a chunk from a tune. Let's check it out.

Strum each of these chords twice, anywhere on the fretboard.

C, Am, F, G7, C

Now, let's work backwards to understand just how this musical phrase *works*, in terms of the chords that we find in it.

G7 to C

Look at the last chord change: G7 to C. Why do we play this? Why not play an Eb7b9 or an F#13b5? Or even something simple like an F major? What's so great about a G7? Well, play those other chords with C, and listen to what your ear says about each. That will give you the best answer.

The most satisfying chord to play before the C is the G7. What the heck does that mean: "satisfying?" It partially means what we *expect* to hear, what we are accustomed to hearing, and what we've heard in a billion other phrases and tunes.

So, what is it about the G7 that makes playing it before C so satisfying? A few things. Let's talk about 'em:

- The sweet note of the G7: B

- The no-no interval, or tritone

- The movement of a perfect 4th up from G to C

Let's look at each of these under our musical magnifying glass.

The sweet note

The sweet note of a chord is its third: In G7, that's a B. Play a G7 without a B and you'll see why B is sweet.

The G7 sounds pretty drab without that B, doesn't it? It's like putting up a Christmas tree but not decorating it. Let's put that B back in before things get out of hand.

The B is what gives the G7 its peppy, optimistic sound. And there's another reason why B is important in helping G7 to C sound satisfying.

B is just a wee little bitty bit shy, one half-step shy to be exact, from C. This closeness of B to C causes tension. It's like that box of chocolate Pop Tarts way up on the top shelf that the little kid can almost but not quite reach. We like to have this tension and resolution combo, and the B helps provide it.

Understanding the role the sweet note plays can improve your entire sound. Learn more about the third and the other ingredients that go into chords by reading Guitar Chords. Check it out here:

The no-no interval, or tritone

There's another reason why the G7 moves so satisfyingly to the C. It's called the tritone interval. This interval will make your straight hair curly, your milk go sour, and will propel the G7 smack into the C with cataclysmic force. (That last sentence sounds great if you pretend you're Charlton Heston.)

The tritone is an *interval*, which means it's two notes: B and F. Play a B and an F, listening to how unusual they sound together and how much tension they produce. In fact, play this tab:

|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|
|-4-4-|-5-5-|
|-3-3-|-2-2-|
|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|
Tritone to minor 6th

This movement of the unstable tritone to the stable minor 6th (the C and E notes) is another reason why G7 to C sounds good.

By the way, there's an interesting newsgroup message that relates some of the beliefs that Ancient Greeks and others had about the tritone. To read this message, surf to this subdomain: groups.google.com. When you're there, click Advanced Groups Search. Then, enter this text in the box that reads "Message ID": cornell.791886334@michigan

Up a fourth

What's the last reason why G7 to C will put a smile in your step and a twang in your Tang? What's the root of the G7? The G. What's the root of the C chord? The C. What's the interval between these two roots, G and C? A perfect fourth. *Chord movement by an ascending perfect fourth generally sounds good.*

We can even take that a bit further by saying that a huge number of chord movements in most types of songs use ascending perfect fourths (or a descending perfect 5th).

Listen to some examples of this interval: play a D note followed by a G note. Just play notes now, not chords. Then, play a G followed by a C note, and an A followed by a D. Now, let's flesh this idea out by playing a chord progression that moves only in fourths. Play this:

C, F, B dim, Em, Am, Dm, G7, C

Notice I said "fourths" and not perfect fourths. Almost all of the movements here are ascending perfect fourths. One movement, from F to B, is not a perfect fourth, but our furry friend the tritone.

How does this progression in all fourths sound to you? Personally, I think it's pretty cool. Ya got tension from the B dim and G7, ya got a mix of all the chord types in the major scale: minor, diminished, major, and you're moving by one of your ear's favorite intervals: the ascending perfect fourth. All is well with the universe. Go in peace.

What can you do with it?

What can we use this all fourths progression for? For one thing, use it to write tunes. Let's say you've come up with a melody and you don't know what chords to put to it. No problem. Assuming the melody is in C major, sing the melody while strumming the all fourths progression given a little while ago. Play it slowly; listen carefully; feel the Force...whoa, sorry. Wrong movie.

Chances are, your melody will sound pretty good over those chords for at least some of the notes. Wherever it doesn't sound so good, either change the melody, or swap out the chord.

How to practice

The V7-I progression is pretty important, so you want to practice it in as many keys as you can manage. The progression we did in this section is in C. Let's transpose the progression to other common keys.

Keep in mind that you can play the following chords anywhere on the fretboard — at least at first. Don't worry about playing a particular voicing, playing all over the neck, or playing on just a certain string or strings. Just play the form of the chord you feel most comfy with.

Let's do V7-I in these keys: F, G, A, E, D and for extra credit, Gb.

Here are the chords:

Key F: C7, F
Key G: D7, G
Key A: E7, A
Key E: B7, E
Key D: A7, D
Key Gb: Db7, Gb

Now, that shows *what* to practice. But, *how* do you practice 'em? That breaks down into where to practice 'em, then how often, and other questions.

First, as said a short while ago, play the above progressions in each key wherever you feel most comfortable playing them. This would likely mean open position chords if you're a beginner.

Practice the V7-I progressions until you can play them in time with a metronome. Start with 90 BPM, and play a phrase like this:

| V7 V7 | I I | V7 V7 | I I |

In other words, strum the V7 twice, then the one twice, and repeat that sequence. Then, go on to the next key. This might be more fun if you had a playalong partner to do it with. So, here's a Powertab file you can use for that:

http://www278.pair.com/dkoltow/FiveOne5keys.ptb

This file has all the V7-I progressions in the list above. Load them into Powertab and play along with them. If the tempo is too fast, change the tempo marker, which you can do under the Music Symbols menu.

If you haven't downloaded the super cool and free Powertab yet, here's where to get it:

http://powertab.guitarnetwork.org/information.htm

Once you get good at playing these progressions, you'll want to keep playing *while you switch keys*. In other words, if you're strumming along to G7 and C, you'd want to have a buddy or a computer program call out the next key at random. "Key A!" "Key E!" and so on. It's your job and your joy to play through without missing a beat.

In the next installment of All About Chords, we'll look at why chords are built in thirds, the progression every guitarist must know, how to practice it, and the many uses of regurgitated cat hairballs.

In the last lesson, we looked at this progression: the I, vi, IV, V7, I. In C major, that's C, Am, F, G7, C.

We worked backwards from there to explore the V7-I "mini" progression in detail. We're gonna pick up from there and change our progression just a wee bit to a related progression: the I, vi, ii, V7, I. Here it is in C major. Strum this a couple of times:

C, Am, Dm, G7, C

You see that we changed the F chord (IV) from the I, vi, IV, V7, I progression to a Dm, which is the ii in C major. It's not a big change in sound, but it's an important change. The progression we're playing now isn't a 16451, it's a 16251. (Please excuse the change to Arabic numbers from Roman. I'm part Syrian, so it's in the blood.)

Why the change? What's wrong with the '451 you ask? "Gee, I was getting to like the '451!" You can play with the '451 later. First, eat your vegetables.

We're switching to the 251 for a few reasons: first, check around the web, the curriculums in the big music schools, and with jazz professors and good teachers. They'll tell you to practice the 251, not the 451. That's reason one: the experts dig the ii-V7-I.

Reason B is as follows: Dm to G7 offers you more sonic variety than F to G7. Both F and G7 are based on major triads, correct? Not so with Dm, G7. Dm is minor and G7 is major. Major, minor offers your ear more variety than F, G7. In the same way, the term "Teeter Totter" is more appealing to the ears than "Totter totter." And I call it a Seesaw, anyway.

Keep in mind this replacement of the F major with the D minor is a preference, not a law, no matter how many music professors prefer the ii-V7-I.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Dm is a *substitute* for F, and F can sub for Dm. We'll go more into chord substitutions, harmonization, *re*harmonization, and 10 things you should never say to people who look like their pets, in a near future lesson.

Now that we've replaced the 451 with the 251, let's *play* it!

The ii-V7

In C major, the ii, V7 mini progression is Dm, G7. Play this on your guitar and *listen* to it.

| Dm Dm | G7 G7 | Dm Dm | G7 G7 |

You're not allowed to cheat on this by following the G7 with a C. I want you to feel the musical tension you're building up by playing this.

Hey, you know what? I just realized we have the beginnings of a George Harrison tune on our hands: My Sweet Lord (To be fair, George actually stole this tune from another group.) Let's do a Powertab on this. Here's the link: George Harrison's My Sweet Lord

Okay, we gotta do a reminder with this: the music in the Power Tab file is my interpretation of a song. It is taken from my own mind, and not copied from any authoritative source. It is to be used *only* for scholarly porpoises. Gosh those dolphins are getting smarter every year aren't they?

If you haven't downloaded the super cool and free Powertab yet, here's where to get it:

http://www.power-tab.net/

The purpose of the ii-V-I

Once you can play the ii-V progression smoothly, your ear should be crying out to hear the C. That's the purpose of the ii-V7: to build momentum to slam into the C.

How does it build this momentum? What is it about the ii-V7 that makes our ears want to hear the C?

Here are two important parts of Dm-G7: movement by a fourth, and the sweet note of Dm. Before we look at these reasons, keep this in mind: the job of the ii, V7 mini progression is to build tension, and *not* to provide the same sense of satisfaction that the V7, I provides.

Let's take a closer look at these reasons. Then, let's get our fingers and ears intimate with this important mini-progression.

Movement by a fourth

Think back a bit to the V7-I mini progression. Do you remember how the root of the V7 moved to the root of the I? It moved by an ascending perfect fourth. And we know from the last lesson and lesson how important, common and satisfying the perfect fourth is to our ears.

In other words, if you're not sure what chord comes next after the one you're currently playing, there's a good chance the root of the next chord will be a perfect fourth up from the root of the current chord. And even if a notated, "official" piece of music doesn't use a perfect fourth root movement between two particular chords, using a p4 root movement anyway still stands an excellent chance of sounding good.

Let's get back to the ii-V7 (Dm-G7). As with the G7 to C, the Dm to G7 moves by an ascending p4 or descending perfect 5. And sneaking a peak one step further back in our 16251 progression, how does the root movement from Am to Dm happen? Surprise, surprise: another perfect 4. Do you see how frequent this interval is?

The sweet note

Let's not forget the other reason for the characteristic sound of the ii-V7: the D minor's sweet note, or its third. As described in more detail in the publication Guitar Chords (http://www.maximummusician.com/gc.asp?ak2), the interval between the root and the third of the minor chord is a minor third. This minor third is responsible for the wistful sound you hear when you play the Dm.

Let's watch -- and listen -- closely to how the minor third of the Dm becomes another interval as we move from Dm to G7. The following tab strips the Dm-G7 down to its bare essence. If you're under 18, please close your eyes.

|-----|----|----|-----|
|-----|----|----|-----|
|-----|----|----|-----|
|-3-3-|-5-5|-3-3|-5-5-|
|-5-5-|-5-5|-5-5|-5-5-|
|-----|----|----|-----|
Dm to G7

Compare this movement to the essential parts of the G7 to C movement.

|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-4-4-|-5-5-|-4-4-|-5-5-|
|-5-5-|-5-5-|-5-5-|-5-5-|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|-----|-----|-----|-----|
G7 to C

Do you hear how much more satisfying the B note moving to the C note is in the V7-I movement, compared to the F moving to the G in the ii-V7?

Some people, especially those crazy jazz musicians, dig making that minor third in the ii chord a major third. Try that to see how you like it. Play this slightly changed version of our lesson's progression. Strum each chord twice.

C, Am, D7, G7, C

Sounds a bit different, doesn't it? Different can be good. Remember that the next time you forget to shave one side of your face or leave the house wearing two different socks.

Why chords are built in thirds

Before we move on to practicing the ii-V7, let's get a question out of the way. Keep in mind that making music involves lots of choices, and being aware of those choices will make you a better musician.

While it's great to have all these choices and options, our minds can focus on only one thing at a time, despite the ability some people seem to have to drive, chew gum, hold a conversation and groom themselves all at the same time.

I mention this because I want you to be aware of how chords are normally constructed, and of *alternative options* to that structure.

Triad construction

A triad in root position has the root in the bass. The next note is a third above that. The third note, called "the fifth," is a third above the third.

This structure is just one of many options. In other words, *you're not obligated to build chords using only thirds.* You can use seconds, fourths, or other intervals.

If you want to get more info on building chords using intervals other than thirds, there are lots of resources to help you do that. One place to start is this hip article at WholeNote, called Quartal Harmony

Staying with thirds

Now that we know there are choices we can make for building chords, why are we choosing to build 'em in thirds instead of fourths, or some other interval?

The main reason is because of simple conditioning, socialization, programming or whatever else you want to call the repeated exposure to something. In short, I grew up digging music based mostly on chords built in thirds. Chances are, you got the same wonderful brainwashing. And, most of the tunes you hear on the radio -- including jazz tunes -- will feature chords built mostly in thirds.

Tertial chords aren't better than quartal chords. We just got greater exposure to them. At least now we have an awareness of other possibilities for building chords. Now, onto practicing the ii-V7.

Practicing the ii-V7 change

All this talk about the ii-V7 change is just a lot of hoo- hah unless we can actually use it to produce music, right? We want to have this important mini progression under our fingertips in many ways, ready to play at a moment's notice, because we know how important it is.

And we know that we can practice the ii-V7 in many ways that are *fun*, darnit, because we've learned how to practice similar progressions in ways that are fun.

Do you remember how we approached practice for the V7-I? We played V7-I in several keys, the ones we play lots of tunes in. We're gonna do the same thing with the ii-V7.

And as with the V7-I change, we're not going to worry about exactly where to play the chords on the fretboard. Play 'em in open position if that's what you're comfy with. Play 'em with barre chords around the 5th fret. Play 'em in the bathroom and at your weekly mahjong parties for your great Aunt Vivian, who really needs to trim those nose hairs. Man, just play 'em!

Here are the changes in F, G, A, E, D and for extra credit, Gb.

Key F: Gm, C7 Key G: Am, D7 Key A: Bm, E7 Key E: F#m, B7 Key D: Em, A7 Key Gb: Abm, Db7

If you do the Extra credit progression, Abm, Db7, you get a Gold Star, and a chance to win a Les Paul...endorsed roll of toilet paper.

To help you play these progressions -- to *practice* 'em -- download the Power Tab file for them here:

I recommend singing the names of the chords as you play 'em so they don't run together into one big chord glob. Or, instead of singing the chord names, sing the key center you're working toward. For example, sing "F" while playing Gm to C7.

Treat this Power Tab file as a kind of metronome, or even better, a computerized teacher: play the tab in Power Tab, and play your guitar along with it until your playing and the computer's playing sound like one guitar. Then, increase the tempo a wee bit.

After you play through these and get 'em smooth, play them again, but with the dominant ii. In other words, instead of playing Gm, C7, play G7, C7. To remember why we're doing this, skip back a few paragraphs. Playing the dominant ii is going to give you more interesting options for your own playing. Also, it will help you recognize this change when you hear other people play it. "It's not just for jazz anymore!"

In the next installment of All About Chords, arpeggios: Highly hip chord components.

Before we get back into the nitty gritty chord ditties, we need to take a brief diversion to learn about an important right hand technique. You'll need to use this technique to play the chord melody tabs in this lesson. *Strumming will not work.*

Necessary diversion: The right hand

You can call this technique the "Pick fingerpick," because it combines both normal picking and fingerpicking. Here's how to do it: hold the pick as you probably already are doing: between the thumb and the first finger. Now, loosen up fingers 3, 4 and 5 -- you're gonna put 'em to work! No more Freddie Freeloader for those guys.

Now, look at this tab carefully:

This tab shows you where to put each finger to play an open position C major chord using the Pick Fingerpick technique. Notice we have no more fingers left to cover the E note on the D string. This is one drawback to an otherwise cool technique. Possible solutions: just ignore that note. You won't need it in most situations. Or, nix the pick completely, and go totally fingerstyle. Or, neglect another string instead, like this:

I know this technique might feel unusual and uncomfortable to you at first. That's okay. You'll grow into it -- and it's worth taking the time to grow into it, because the Pick Fingerpick lets you play arrangements, notes and chords in a way you can't with strumming. In other words, you're getting more music from your guitar with the Pick Fingerpick.

Now back to chords.

A quick review

In the last two installments of All About Chords we looked at -- and played, of course -- two important progressions: the 16451 and the 16251. We saw how the chords generally move from one to another with an ascending perfect 4 or a descending perfect 5.

We looked closely at the ii-V7-I progression, breaking it down into the V7-I and the ii-V7, and even the II7-V7, where the ii chord is a dominant 7 instead of minor.

We also addressed the question of why chords are built in thirds. One Guitar Study reader send me a letter about this, which I'd like to share with you.

Why chords are build in thirds, update

Darrin, I enjoy your articles! I just wanted to add a comment to the part where you explain why most chords are built with thirds.

I was always curious about this, so I started to search for some kind of mathematical connection between the frequencies of each chord. And there definitely is a connection! Major chords are built with root, 3rd and 5th notes of a major scale. If we look into the frequencies involved, we find that this translates into fundamental (root), 5th harmonic (3rd note) and 3rd harmonic (5th note).

These are the closest odd harmonics to the root note. So, rather than brainwashing being the reason for chords usually being built in thirds, what we have here is a physical reason. In other words, tertiary chords, those built in thirds, seem to be the easiest to hear, even for people not trained as musicians.

When we use distortion on an electric guitar and play a single note, what we actually hear is the note we played *and* all its odd harmonics. That's why it's very difficult to do chords with a distorted guitar. However, power fifths sound good with distortion. That's because the 5th is consonant with the 3rd harmonic of the root.

You can find more about this in an article I posted on Truefire.com: Where did notes and scales come from? I hope this is useful to you. Regards, Eric Jacobs."

Thank you, Eric, for helping us understand why those tertiary chords are so much fun to play and hear.

Before we get back to our tertiary chords, you might want to have a look at comping with quartal chords, which are based on fourths instead of thirds. There's an excellent article on Guitar Noise called Comping with Fourths. Check it out here: http://www.guitarnoise.com/guitar/jazz/20020907.html

We're gonna continue with tertiary chords in this lesson.

Arpeggios

"Hey!" you say. "I want my money back! This lesson is supposed to be about chords and you're talking about arpeggios, which are not chords!"

There's just no pleasing some people, even after you tell them that arpeggios *are* chords -- sort of. They're busted up chords, played one note at a time.

Why is it important to learn arpeggios? Not everyone wants to learn them. But, if you're used to strumming chords and singing along (which I hope you are doing), you may want to expand your skills with single-note soloing. Arpeggios are the *ideal* way to do this.

And since all this blabbing is getting in the way of the music, let's get some music in here to show you what I mean. This is the arpeggiated version of our 16251 song chunk:

*Set your font to Courier New to read this*

4/4
  H       H            H     H
  |       |            |     |
  /       /            /     /
  E E E E E E E E    E E E E E E E E
|------------------|-----------------|
|---------1--------|-------1-3-1-----|
|-----0-2---2-0----|-----2-------2---|
|---2-----------2--|-0-3-----------3-|
|-3----------------|-----------------|
|------------------|-----------------|
   C                  Dm

    H     H           H     H
    |     |           |     |
    /     /           /     /

  E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E
|-----------------|---------0--------*|
|-------0-3-0-----|-------1---1------*|
|-----0-------0---|---0-2-------2-0--*|
|-0-3-----------3-|-2----------------*|
|-----------------|------------------*|
|-----------------|------------------*|
   G7                C

This is music for two guitars. The first guitar plays the melody, which is notated in the tablature. The second guitar plays the chords written under the tab -- the C, Dm, G7, and C.

If you only happen to have two arms, and don't have a buddy around to play the second guitar part, play along with the Power Tab file.

If you don't have Power Tab yet, I highly recommend getting it. It's free, and it's an excellent tool for writing your own music and for learning music. Here's where you can get it:

http://power-tab.net/

Instead of playing along with Power Tab, you can also tape the accompaniment chords on a tape recorder, MP3 or wav file. Then, play back the recording while playing the melody.

How arpeggios help you solo

How does this exercise help you solo? What is soloing, anyway? To simplify things, it's playing a melody other than the song's original one. Yeah, soloing is a lot more than that, but it's a good definition to work from and practice with.

So if a solo is just another cool sounding melody, how do you make such a melody, and how can the preceding tab help you make one?

It all comes down to chords. In general, a melody will sound good if it uses the same notes that the accompanying chords have -- especially on the strong beats.

All you need for a decent, usable melody line, including a solo, is to use arpeggio notes from the chords that you're playing the melody over. Is that simple or what? In the preceding tab, this means that if the melody uses notes C, E, and G over the C chord in the first and last measure, it will sound like a real melody.

If you want to get a jazzier, more mellow sound for a melody, you'll choose notes that don't belong to the basic chord, but do belong to the chord with *extension notes*. For C major, these extension notes are the D, F, A, and B. And watch out when playing that F note over a C chord: the dissonance can ruin that fine China that grandma gave you, especially if you play it on a cranked up electric.

Quick recap

Let's recap the how and why questions: why are we studying arpeggios, and how does the tab in this lesson help you understand arpeggios and soloing.

We're studying arpeggios because we want to understand harmony on the guitar. Arpeggios are chord tones, so they're included in the topic of harmony.

We study arpeggios because they help us understand melodies better. They help us figure out what melody notes will sound good over particular chords. And understanding melodies better makes us better soloists -- including improvising soloists.

Where to play arpeggios

The arpeggios we played in the above tab were near our open position chords on the fretboard. I want you to clearly see how these arpeggio patterns are connected to the chord patterns. Why? Because if you miss seeing the connection between chords and arpeggios, when you need to change from playing one to the other, you'll have to *think* about it. We're not thinkers here: we're guitarists. We play, man.

So, here's a tab to show you the connection between the patterns for open position chords and the patterns for their arpeggios. This is a simple *chord melody* arrangement. It's for one guitar, which plays both the arpeggio melody and chords. Take this one slowly if you've never played a chord melody arrangement before.

Q=40

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|------------------|-----------------|
|---------1--------|-------1-3-1-----|
|-----0-2-0-2-0----|-----2---2---2---|
|---2-----2-----2--|-0-3-----3-----3-|
|-3-------3--------|-0---------------|
|-3----------------|-----------------|

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-----------------|---------0--------*|
|-------0-3-0-----|-------1-1-1------*|
|-----0---0---0---|---0-2---0---2-0--*|
|-0-3-----0-----3-|-2-------2--------*|
|-2-------2-------|-3-------3--------*|
|-3-------3-------|-3----------------*|

The Q=40 means set the metronome to 40 beats per minute (BPM). The Es atop the tab are the lyrics. I was inspired by watching some monkeys at a local zoo. Actually, the E means eighth note.

That extra note

Take a look back at the tablature in this lesson. And remember what I said about arpeggios being chord tones. In fact, focus on the first bar in the tab just shown. The chord you play is C major, right? So, if we're playing just arpeggio notes of good 'ol C major, we should be playing only notes C, E, and G, correct?

But, we're playing more than that. Did you notice the A note in there, G string, fret 2? That's not part of the C chord. Or, is it?

Okay, okay, enough with the mystery shtick. The note A is not part of the chord called "C major." But it is a part of the chord called C major 6. A C major 6 has notes C, E, G, and A.

"How come we're throwing in an extra note, Dar?" you ask. "I thought we were just playing regular 3 note chords. You know, triads."

We could have chosen that. We could do a progression with 3 note chords -- triads -- and it would sound...okay. I chose four-note chords instead because I like the sound of 'em. They give more color to the chord. Take a look now at the other chords in the progression to check these "colors" out. There's an extra note in the Dm: a C. There's no extra note with the G7; it already has 4 notes: G, B, D and F.

These extra notes in the C and Dm tell you that we're not playing a strict C, Dm, G7, C progression. We're playing a C6, Dm7, G7, C6. Again, it's just a preference thing: I dig four note chords, and I hope you learn to dig 'em too. They'll enrich your playing, expand your sonic palette, and get the world's richest, most eligible people of the gender you prefer to ask you for dates.

A Dm7 is a kind of Dm

One more point on four note chords. It's kind of an important point. When you see "C6," "C major 6," "C major 7," or "C 6/9," on sheet music for a song, you can substitute a plain old, 3-note C major chord for that chord. As long as the notes in the chord come from the C major scale, and the basic C, E, G triad is there, you can simplify the chord to C major.

This substitution is a big help when you're reading the chord diagrams on a new song, and see a "C6/9" for the first time in your life. Now, instead of saying "What the heck is a C 6/9?" you'll say, "Oh, yeah. I learned in the Guitar Study newsletter that I can play a regular C major in there, until I decide to learn this C 6/9 shape."

The same basic guideline applies to the Dm and Dm7: You can replace a Dm6, a Dm7, a Dm9, and Dm11 with plain ol' Dm. You can do this because all of those 4-note chords have the basic Dm triad inside of them: notes D, F, and A, *and* that fourth note is present in the C major scale.

Keep in mind that you can't always do these substitutions in chord melody arrangements -- when one guitar plays both the accompanying chords and melody. For example, if the melody note is D and the chord calls for C 6/9, you can't substitute a regular C major chord for 6/9, because it doesn't have a D note in it.

How to practice arpeggios

By now, I bet you already have a pretty good idea of how to practice arpeggios. You know they need to be in a 251 or similar progression. This makes sure you're making *music" with your arpeggios, and not just random notes or meaningless shapes for your fingers.

*And* as mentioned a short while ago, you want to practice the arpeggios together with chords. Why? So you can see, feel and hear the connection between melody and harmony. When you practice chords together with arpeggios, your fingers and ears come to know what melody notes go well with what chords, and what chords work with certain melody notes.

Once you get comfortable with playing chords and melody together, you can donate your pillow and mattress to the Salvation Army, because you'll be having so much fun playing, and digging your total understanding of your playing, that you won't want to take time away from playing to sleep.

Another thing you'll want to do in practicing arpeggios is change the way you play them; once you can play one pattern smoothly, make a new pattern.

Where do you get ideas for patterns?

Start with the basic "stair step" pattern that you see in the previous tab. Here's the C major arpeggio repeated for your convenience.

E E E E E E E E
|------------------
|---------1--------
|-----0-2-0-2-0----
|---2-----2-----2--
|-3-------3--------
|-3----------------

(Remember that you need to practice this as part of the 251 progression shown previously.)

Do you see how we go up and then down with the C major arpeggio? Once you can play the pattern smoothly, you'll want to change the pattern, maybe to something like the one in the tab labeled Pattern 2 in the Power Tab file. Here's the ascii tab for it:

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|------------------|-----------------|
|-1----------------|-1---------------|
|-0-2-0-------0-2--|-2-2-----------2-|
|-2-----2---2------|-3---3-0---0-3-3-|
|-3-------3--------|---------3-0-----|
|---------3--------|-----------------|

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|------------------|------------------*|
|-0----------------|------------------*|
|-0-0-----------0--|-2-0-----------0--*|
|-3---3-0---0-3----|-2---2-------2----*|
|---------2--------|-3-----3-0-3-3----*|
|-0-------3--------|------------------*|

And after you can play Pattern 2 smoothly, you might want to change the starting note: instead of starting the arpeggio on note C, you'll start it on E, as Pattern 3 shows:

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|---------0-------|---------1-------|
|-------1-1-1-----|-----1-3-3-3-1---|
|---0-2---0---2-0-|---2-----2-----2-|
|-2-------2-------|-3---------------|
|-3-------3-------|-3---------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-------1-3-1------|-----0-3-5-3-0----*|
|---0-3---0---3-0--|---1-----5-----1--*|
|-0-------0--------|-2-------5--------*|
|-3-------3--------|-2----------------*|
|------------------|-3----------------*|
|-3----------------|------------------*|

In the next installment of All About Chords, we're gonna do something pretty hip; we're already learning to practice important stuff in a musical context. Now, we're going to make that musical context into a *Bluesey* musical context.

In this installment of All About Chords, we continue exploring the great chord connection. I have no idea what that means. But I do know we're going to continue with our All About Chords lesson. This is part 4. And hang on to your hankies, because we're going to explore the Blues Injection.

A Bit o' Review

Up to now in the All About Chords series of lessons, we've learned how important it is to play chords as *music*. That generally means playing chords within a chord progression. The chord progression we've been using is the ii-V7-I, because it's so popular that we instantly recognize we're making music when we play the ii-V7-I.

We explored arpeggios, too, including how to practice them: again, in our 251 progression, and together with chords. Do you remember why we play chords and melody together? We do this so we can know which melody notes go with which chords, and which chords go with which melody notes. This builds super human music ability, and guess what: it ain't all that hard. Heck, it's even fun. Man, all of life should be as much fun as making music and playing guitar.

The Blues Injection

I want to do something that's gonna make practicing our chords even more fun. The 251 chord melody progression we've been playing in open position sounds good. It sounds like music. Let's go beyond good. Let's make it sound *great.* How? I'm not gonna tell you...yet. I want you to *hear* how we're gonna turn good sounds into a great feeling.

Here's the tab for this souped-up, double-dipped, extra-spicy, batter-fried, finger-lickin, flat-pickin' -- aw, just dig the tab:

E E Q E E Q E E Q E E Q
|--------------|----0-------------|
|----------1---|-4----1-----------|
|------0-2-----|---------2--0-----|
|-1--2---------|------------------|
|-3------------|---------3--3-----|
|-3------------|------------------|
C C

Q E E E E Q Q E Q E Q
|----------------|-1--------------|
|--------1-3-----|-1--3-1---------|
|----1-2---------|---------1-2----|
|-3--------------|----------------|
|-3--------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|
F or Dm F or Dm

Q E E E E Q Q Q E E Q
|----------1-----|-3--1---------|
|------0-3-------|-3----3---0---|
|-0--3-----------|-4------3-----|
|-0--------------|-3------------|
|----------------|--------------|
|----------------|--------------|
G7 G7

E E E E E E E E E Q H E
|------------------|--------------*|
|-------1-----1----|-4-3-1--------*|
|-2-0-2---0-2---2--|-----0--------*|
|------------------|-----2--------*|
|-3----------------|-----3--------*|
|------------------|--------------*|
C C

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th

Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number they represent the duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now that you have the tab, I should remind you how to *play* it. Remember from the last lesson the introduction to the Pick Fingerpick right-hand technique? You'll need to use it because strumming won't work with this tab.

To get acquainted or reacquainted with the Pick Fingerpick technique, go here:

http://www.maximummusician.com/pickfingerpick.htm

Let's talk about this tab. How the heck does it work? All this tab does is put our 251 chord-plus-melody ("chord melody") exercise through a Blues filter, to come out with something that's still pretty close to the original exercise. So you can compare the original 251 chord melody exercise with this one, here it is again, from the last lesson:

Don't worry that the Blues 251 tab is twice as long as the original. It's longer because we're playing two bars of each chord instead of one. But the same, simple pattern, where the melody goes up and then comes down, is happening in both tabs.

How we made the Blues tab

How did we create this Bluesified version of the 251 exercise? We did it with only two changes. One change is to the 3rd of the chord, which is also called the "sweet note," and one change is to the rhythm, to make it shuffle. (You don't see a change in the tab to reflect the rhythm change. You need to listen to the Power Tab or MIDI file to hear this.)

I want to make sure you get this Bluesification process, so let's look at one wee bit of the tab: the C major chord and its arpeggios. Here are the chord and arpeggio for just the starting bar of our regular, non-Blues, 251 mini progression:

E E E E E E E E
|---------0-------|
|-------1-1-1-----|
|---0-2---0---2-0-|
|-2-------2-------|
|-3-------3-------|
|-----------------|

Now, here's the Bluesified version of that first bar. I'll put an asterisk under the melody notes that are different:

E E Q E E Q E E Q E E Q
|--------------|----0-------------
|----------1---|-4----1-----------
|------0-2-----|---------2--0-----
|-1--2---------|------------------
|-3------------|---------3--3-----
|-3------------|------------------
* *

The two asterisks mean we only changed the melody in two places. That's all it takes to create a Blues feeling.

Here's the guideline used to create that feeling for the C major chord -- or any major chord. To Bluesify any major chord, add a flat 7 to make a dom 7 chord. Or, play with the major third of the chord by making it minor (and then making it major again).

How did we Bluesify the C major chord using this guideline? We could have added the b7, which is the Bb. Or, we could have messed around with the major 3rd, changing the E to Eb. This is what we did. We could also have messed around with both the b7 and the third.

Playing with the third of the chord is especially powerful for communicating the Blues feeling. Dig this mini tab to see what I mean:

E E E E E E E E Q Q Q Q
|---0-3---0-3---0-|-3-0------|
|-4-----4-1---4---|-0-0-1----|
|-0---------------|-----3-3--|
|-----------------|-----2----|
|-----------------|-----3----|
|-----------------|----------|

Pay special attention to the first bar. Do you see how we're playing with the 3rd there? That playing with the third delivers the Blues to your ears.

I don't want to get too far away from the subject of harmony and chords, so let's just say that you want to make your chord and arpeggio practicing more fun by injecting the Blues into your exercises.

Breaking out of open position

Okay, prepare for blastoff. We are leaving the solar system, heading for Alpha Centauri: we're moving from the open position chords to learn chord forms you can *move*. This includes bar chords and other movable forms.

You might feel you're not ready yet to move to another position and learn new chord forms. Heck, you might be content to play open position for the rest of your life. That's fine. For those who want to explore other parts of the fretboard, this section will be a breath of fresh air.

First, let's put open position in perspective by relating it to other positions. Open position chords and patterns only *seem* easier than patterns in other parts of the fretboard, for a number of reasons. One is that those other parts of the fretboard represent for you the Great Unknown. And we know how scary and intimidating that can be.

The fact is, if you had started learning bar chords the very first day you started playing guitar, then they'd seem as natural to you as stink is to my laundry. So, if you're concerned about leaving the comfort of the open position chords for the *temporary* discomfort of learning the new, cool bar chords and moveable chords, recognize that the discomfort *is* only temporary.

Shoot, don't you remember how awkward it was to play *anything* on the guitar the first time you picked it up? And now you're probably playing a whole bunch of songs well enough to make you and others smile.

Intro to CAGED

Okay, enough pep talk. Let's move out of open position into moveable chord forms to play the essential 16251 progression. To do this we're going to create the moveable chord forms using the CAGED system.

"CAGED?" you say. "What's that?" Rather than explain it, let's *do* it. Make the C major chord in open position. You know, good 'ol C major. It looks like this:

Now, slide your fingers up, holding the same exact shape, so your first finger is on the fifth fret. You'll have this:

-------|
--5----| Finger 1
--0----| (Open, no finger)
--6----| Finger 2
--7----| Finger 3
-------|

Go ahead and play that. It's a real chord, and sounds kind of Bluesey, but the sound isn't quite right for our basic 16251. Why not? Well, look at the notes you're hitting: E, G, G#, and B. These are the notes for the E major chord, plus, a G note from the open G string. Let's get rid of that G note so we can have a regular E major chord.

Before we get rid of the G, first notice the fingers you're using. Look at the previous tab. Now, play the same exact notes, but with these fingers:

-------|
--5----| Finger 2
--0----| (Open, no finger)
--6----| Finger 3
--7----| Finger 4
-------|

Feels kind of funky, working in that pinky, doesn't it? Don't worry, funky is good, even if it's not the hippest word around anymore.

You're almost done forming the E major chord. Add one more finger, like this:

-------|
--5----| Finger 2
--4----| Finger 1
--6----| Finger 3
--7----| Finger 4
-------|

Play this. How does it sound? Are all the notes ringing clearly? If not, you might need to get your thumb further down, so each finger can hit its note without blocking the other notes. Remember, the awkwardness will pass.

Although the actual chord you just played is an E major, the moveable chord *form* is one we can call CAGED form 1 or the C Caged form. We call it the C CAGED shape or form, because we used the open position C major chord to create it. All we did to make the movable shape from the open position one was to change the fingering a bit, and add one more finger.

You can move this shape *anywhere* on the fretboard to get a major chord. It's pretty nifty. Move the shape so your first finger lies on the second fret. That's a D major chord. Move the shape so your first finger sits on the seventh fret. That's G major. All these chords are from one movable shape. And, that moveable shape comes from an open position, immovable one: C major.

More CAGED shapes

We want to start making music with this new chord shape, but we're not quite ready yet. We want to make enough movable forms to play our favorite, workhorse progression, the 16251. We have our I chord, the E major. Let's make a ii chord in the key of E major now, an F# minor, from a moveable form, using the CAGED system. Which open position chord will we use to build the moveable form? We're going to use an open position D minor.

First, let's start with the end we want: the F# minor:

-------|
--7----| Finger 4
--6----| Finger 2
--7----| Finger 3
-------| (Mute)
--5----| Finger 1

Now, how the heck does this come from an open position D minor form? Let's see. Make this shape in open position

-------|
--3----| Finger 4
--2----| Finger 2
--3----| Finger 3
--0----|
-------|

This is an open position D minor chord. So, the movable shape we make from it, by adding the F note and taking away the open A...

-------|
--3----| Finger 4
--2----| Finger 2
--3----| Finger 3
-------|
--1----|

...is called the D CAGED form.

Let's make our vi chord, which is a C# minor in the key of E major. We're actually going to do a C# minor 7. But, remember from last lesson that C# minor 7 is just another "flavor" of the C# minor chord. One can substitute for the other. Here's the full fingering for it:

|----|
|-5--| Finger 2
|-4--| Finger 1
|-6--| Finger 3
|-4--| Finger 1
|----|

You make this shape by making a bar with your first finger across the 4th fret. This is the minor version of the A CAGED form, because you create it by sliding up the open position A minor form.

Now we have the I chord (E major), the vi chord (C# minor), and the ii chord (F# minor). What's missing? Yup, the V7 chord, which is a B7 in the key of E major. Here it is:

|---|
|-4-| Finger 1
|-4-| Finger 1
|-7-| Finger 4
|-6-| Finger 3
|---|

Here, the first finger makes a kind of mini-bar across the B and G strings.

Which CAGED form is this? This is the dominant 7 version of the open position G form. To see this, make this shape:

|---|
|-0-| (no finger)
|-0-| (no finger)
|-3-| Finger 4
|-2-| Finger 3
|---|

It's not the fingering you usually use for the G7, but it *is* a G7. We just turned it into a movable shape by adding our first finger.

We now have four different movable shapes, which come from the C, A, G, and D open position forms.

We're going to use these movable shapes in our 16251 progression in E major. Here it is:

||---------|-------|-------|-------||
||o--5--5--|-5--5--|-7--7--|-4--4-o||
||---4--4--|-4--4--|-6--6--|-4--4--||
||---6--6--|-6--6--|-7--7--|-7--7--||
||o--7--7--|-4--4--|-------|-6--6-o||
||---------|-------|-5--5--|-------||

In the next lesson, we'll bring in the E caged form to do a 16451 progression, and we'll explore other chord stuff around the 5th fret.

In this lesson we continue working with movable CAGED forms, which we introduced last lesson. Here's a reminder of what CAGED is: it's a system for making the open position chords C, A, G, E, and D into movable chord forms that you can use anywhere on the fretboard. We covered forms C, A, G, and D last lesson. This lesson we're gonna do E.

Before we make the E open position chord movable, do you remember how me made the C major open position chord movable? Slide the C major open position chord up one fret, and then add fingers, change fingers and do whatever else you have to, to turn the open G string into a G#. The point is to create a pattern you can use anywhere on the fretboard. If this quick example is confusing, don't worry. We'll explain the conversion of E major in more detail.

Shapes we've made
Last lesson, we made moveable CAGED forms from these open position shapes: D minor, C major, G7 and A minor. There are lots of other open position chords we could convert to moveable forms, but we're just gonna convert one more for right now, because it's the Big Daddy of moveable chord forms. (In other words, it's super common. It shows up everywhere.) It's the E major CAGED form. Let's create it now, step by step, from the open position E.

Make the E major open position shape. Use the fingering shown, or I'll turn your pick into a slice of pepperoni. The fingers you use are in the right column, and the left column shows the frets you put those fingers on.

* Fingering *
|-0-| |-0-|
|-0-| |-0-|
|-1-| |-1-|
|-2-| |-3-|
|-2-| |-2-|
|-0-| |-0-|

Now, switch the fingering to this:

* Fingering *
|-0-| |-0-|
|-0-| |-0-|
|-1-| |-2-|
|-2-| |-4-|
|-2-| |-3-|
|-0-| |-0-|

Now, slide this shape up so your second finger is on fret 6:

* Fingering *
|-0-| |-0-|
|-0-| |-0-|
|-6-| |-2-|
|-7-| |-4-|
|-7-| |-3-|
|-0-| |-0-|

Now, add the bar with your first finger.

* Fingering *
|-5-| |-1-|
|-5-| |-1-|
|-6-| |-2-|
|-7-| |-4-|
|-7-| |-3-|
|-5-| |-1-|

We now have an A major bar chord, made from the open position E major chord. If you've never made this shape before, or if you're not totally comfortable with making it, give your hand a rest after holding this shape. It can get tiring.

Let's make some music with the A major chord, because we don't practice *anything* new unless we can make music with it, right? Here's the A major in a 16451 in E major:

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q W
|-------|-------|-------|-------|----|
|-5--5--|-5--5--|-5--5--|-7--7--|-5--|
|-4--4--|-4--4--|-6--6--|-4--4--|-4--|
|-6--6--|-6--6--|-7--7--|-7--7--|-6--|
|-7--7--|-4--4--|-7--7--|-6--6--|-7--|
|-------|-------|-5--5--|-------|----|

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number they represent the duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This tab we just played shows what to do with your left hand. What do you do with your right hand? You could strum the chords, or you could use the Pick Fingerpick technique. Read about the Pick Fingerpick here:

http://www.maximummusician.com/pickfingerpick.htm

Play along with the Power Tab on this until you can play it smoothly. Remember that you can change the playback tempo in Power Tab if it's too fast or too slow. Use the Music Symbols->Tempo Marker menu option for this.

Once you feel confident in making the chord changes, you can move on to the next part: arpeggios

Arpeggios around the fifth fret

Let's take a look at playing some arpeggios in the same area we just played the previous progression. We're going to play these arpeggios in a 16251 progression, not the 16451.

Here we go:

   H        H         H       H
   |        |         |       |   <== Gtr II (rhythm)
   /        /         /       /

   E  E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E   <== Gtr I (lead)
|--7--4-----------4-|-5----------------|
|-------5-------5---|---7-5-------5-7--|
|---------6-4-6-----|-------6---6------|
|-------------------|---------7--------|
|-------------------|------------------|
|-------------------|------------------|
     E                F#m

  H       H         H       H
  |       |         |       |
  /       /         /       /

  E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E
|-5---------------|-4------------------|
|---7-4-------4-7-|---5-----------5----|
|-------4---4-----|-----6-4---4-6------|
|---------7-------|---------6----------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
  B7/D#             E

Use the Power Tab and MIDI files mentioned above to hear and play this example. This example is for two guitars, so get a buddy to play along, or play with the Power Tab file or the MIDI file.

Remember from a previous lesson that once you can play one pattern smoothly, you want to vary the pattern. With arpeggios, change the pattern so it starts on a different chord degree.

In the example I just gave, we're starting on the 5th degree and descending. You'll want to play a pattern that *ascends*, goes up, from the 5th degree. Then, cover the other chord degrees, 1, 3, and 7, in the same way: ascend and descend. Make a checklist and check off the degrees as you finish 'em.

Aside: why fret 5?

Why are we practicing at fret 5 and not fret 3 or fret 9? What's so special about 5? Well, the most important thing is that we're not playing open position. So, anywhere *but* open position is an improvement, because we want to break out of our open position comfort zone. But, why fret 5?

I chose fret 5 to work these CAGED chords and their arpeggios because it's comfortable for your hands and eyes: if you move too much higher up on the neck, your fingers are getting squashed as you try to fit them into the smaller frets. If you're playing too close to open position, your wrist isn't happy, and your eyes have a tougher time seeing that your fingers get to where they're supposed to -- which is a hard enough task at *any* position. So, we stick with fret 5.

But keep in mind that we can apply all the stuff we're learning at fret 5 to any position. For example, to play the previous one or two tabs in Eb major instead of E major, just slide all the patterns down one fret. If you want to play in D major, slide the patterns down two frets.

How to practice these movable CAGED forms

We know from a previous All About Chords lesson that practicing arpeggios and chords together in what we call *chord melody* tunes and arrangements is an excellent idea, because it teaches our ears and our fingers to see what chords go well with a particular melody note, and what melody notes go well with a particular chord.

Let's dive into a chord melody arrangement for the movable CAGED material we just learned. Take this one slow. There may be some fingerings and movements in here that *seem* new to you. But, after we play this piece and go into an explanation of how it works, you'll recognize a connection to chord forms and patterns you already know. For the following tab, I included a fingering diagram for each set of two bars. So, the first two bars on the left are the frets you play, and the right two bars are the fingers you play those frets with.

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q ** FINGERING **
|----------|-----------| |----------|-----------||
|----------|--5--------| |----------|--2--------||
|-----4--6-|--4-6-4----| |-----1--3-|--1-3-1----||
|---6------|--6------6-| |---2------|--3------3-||
|-7--------|-----------| |-4--------|-----------||
|-7--------|-----------| |-3--------|-----------||

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q ** FINGERING **
|---------|-------------| |---------|-------------|
|-------5-|-7---5-------| |-------2-|-4---2-------|
|-----6---|-6------6----| |-----3---|-2------3----|
|-4-7-----|-7--------7--| |-1-4-----|-3--------4--|
|-4-------|-------------| |-1-------|-------------|
|-5-------|-------------| |-2-------|-------------|

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q ** FINGERING **
|---------|-----------| |---------|-----------|
|-------4-|-7-4-------| |-------1-|-4-1-------|
|-----4---|-4---4-----| |-----1---|-1---1-----|
|-4-7-----|-7------7--| |-1-4-----|-3------4--|
|-6-------|-6---------| |-3-------|-2---------|
|-5-------|-----------| |-2-------|-----------|

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q ** FINGERING **
|-----------|-4----------| |-----------|-1----------|
|--------5--|-5-5--------| |--------1--|-2-2--------|
|---4-6-----|-4----6--4--| |---1-3-----|-1----3--1--|
|-6---------|------------| |-2---------|------------|
|-7---------|------------| |-4---------|------------|
|-7---------|------------| |-4---------|------------|

Take a look at the first bar. What's happening there? Remember our goal: to combine chords and melody into one, smooth piece of music. "I don't see any chords in bar 1" you say. Hang on. There's a *piece* of a chord in there.

Suggesting a chord
Bar 1 shows an E major 6 arpeggio that starts from E and goes up: E, G#, B, C#. You also see another note in there, tucked under the E on beat 1. What's that? That note is B, and it's helping us form the chord in this bar. Since we're starting on that low E note, string 5, fret 7, it's impossible to fit a whole chord with that note as the top melody.

But we can *suggest* a chord. The chord we want to suggest is basically the E major: notes E, G#, and B. We have the E note on string 5. We want to play another note from the E chord on string 6. Which note are you gonna choose, G# or B?

You could go with the G# on string 6, fret 4. But, most chords sound best, most of the time, with either their root or their fifth in the bass. For the E major, that would mean either the B or the E. We already have the E in the melody, so we pick the B to play on the E string.

As you play this chord melody arrangement, you might come across other bits of chords. As strange as these chord fragments or their fingerings seem to you, they *will* make sense if you keep in mind "The Big Picture." The big picture is simply to play a 16251 progression using both arpeggios and chords. We play the chords on the strong beats; wherever we can't fit a complete chord in, we use the most important parts -- the guts -- of the intended chord.

More on practicing
The example progression we just played through is a good start for practicing chords and arps around the fifth fret. Once you can play through the tab smoothly, remember to vary the melodic pattern: start on a different chord degree, and alternate between ascending and descending.

Guitar Chords
That's the end of this All About Chords lesson. In the next lesson, we may explore other CAGED positions, and some Blues chord melody stuff based on this lesson we just did. Man, I gotta tell you what a kick it is to write these lessons. If you're having half as much fun as me with these lessons, I'm having twice as much as you. Plus, we're all gonna need tranquilizers if we keep learning All About Chords.

You don't have to wait to learn more about chords. There are many great lessons all over the Net for learning harmony. One place is at the Guitar Chords page:

http://www.MaximumMusician.com/chordbook.htm

In GC we harmonize melodies, play some Blues, and learn how harmony works on the guitar. We do chord substitution, evolution, revolution and noise pollution. Well, we really don't do the noise pollution thing, but we do have fun learning about guitar harmony. So, get your fun quota filled by reading Guitar Chords.

In this segment of All About Chords we're going to continue getting intimate with the CAGED chord forms, because they make understanding chords and *all guitar patterns* super easy.

Learning the CAGED system also lets us transition without too much pain from the familiar open position chords to the soon-to-be familiar movable chords.

We covered the CAGED 1 form in a previous lesson, and today we're gonna work through the A CAGED form, also known as CAGED #2, also known as Ooframawash-Kabal Klep. Really.

Are we going to practice the new chord shapes we create by playing them in any random order, over and over like a robot? Heck no. We're gonna make *music* with these babies. Do you remember how we do that? You got it: we put each new chord we learn into our Supreme and supremely musical ii-V-I progression. If God didn't invent the ii-V-I, you can bet your bodega that he plays the frets off of it, wherever he/she/it is.

Just as we did in the previous lesson, we want to work out the CAGED 2 form around the 5th fret, because we dig how easy it is to play chords there, once our hands get used to making the bar chords and other movable forms.

CAGED 2 refers to the set of open position chords with A as their root, because it's letter number 2 in C-A-G-E-D. Let's translate the A major open position chord to its movable form. Here's good ol' A major with the fingering shown in the right column.

Amaj *Fingering*
|---|   |---|
|-2-|   |-1-|
|-2-|   |-1-|
|-2-|   |-1-|
|-0-|   |-0-|
|---|   |---|

Is this fingering a surprise to you? Were you expecting something with 3 fingers instead of one? However you play the open A major is fine, as long as it has notes A, C#, and E. If you've never seen the one finger A, give it a shot. It's great for rock and roll.

Now, we need to slide the open A up toward the middle of the fretboard, fret 5. It's going to become a D major. Here's the D major:

Dmaj  *Fingering*
|---|   |---|
|-7-|   |-3-|
|-7-|   |-3-|
|-7-|   |-3-|
|-5-|   |-1-|
|---|   |---|

Remember to give your hands a break when you make this bar chord. If you've never played this shape before, your hand *will* get tired, especially if you're playing a steel string acoustic.

Do you see how the E, A, and C# slid up from the second fret to become the A, D and F# at the seventh fret? We just changed the finger we used to fret those notes: instead of using the first finger, we used the third finger.

And we top off (actually "bottom off," with a bass note) the whole pattern with the first finger on the root, D. This is on the 5th string, fret 5.

Building the ii

We now have our One chord, the D major. What other chords do we need? Remember we're doing a 16251 progression, as we've done in previous installments of All About Chords. So, if we have D as our One, what's our vi? B minor. What's our ii? E minor. We're gonna create movable chord shapes for both of these, but out of order. First we'll look at creating the E minor movable form.

Making the E minor

Making a movable chord shape for the E minor gets us into an interesting sub-project. We want to build our movable E minor form up around the fifth fret. The question is, what open position chord do we use to make this E minor form?

Take a look at the "parent" of our D major movable form: the open A major chord. It's time for a little musical math. Don't worry, it won't hurt unless you have silver fillings in your teeth. What's the musical distance we take to descend from D to A? A descending perfect fourth, correct? Why do we need to know this? What's it got to do with creating a movable E minor form? Hang on. We're getting to that.

We descend a perfect fourth to get from D back to its open position parent, chord A. Here's the key question: what chord do we get if we descend a p4 from the E minor chord we need to create a pattern for? Answer: B minor. Is there such a creature as an open position B minor? Dig this form with its fingering:

Bm7  *Fingering*
|---|  |---|
|-0-|  |-0-|
|-2-|  |-3-|
|-0-|  |-0-|
|-2-|  |-2-|
|---|  |---|

I bet you probably never learned this open position chord. I never did when I first started playing. It's a super simple chord, though, and a piece of cake to translate into a movable form, as you'll see in a second.

First, notice that this isn't a pure B minor. It's a B minor 7. Recall from one of the previous lessons in this series (Part 3, Flavors of Dm) that a minor 7 chord is just another flavor of a minor chord: wherever you see "minor 7" notated, you can generally play a simple minor chord instead, and vice versa.

We're gonna use this min7 form, not the regular minor, to make a movable form. Why? Because we like the "mellow tone" that extra note (the flat 7) gives us. And because it's easier to finger a Bmin7 than it is a Bm.

Let's make that Bm7 movable now. We start by changing the fingering on the open position Bm. We then slide the form up, adding the first finger as we do this. Here we go:

First we change fingers:

Bm7  *Fingering*
|---|  |---|
|-0-|  |-0-|
|-2-|  |-4-|
|-0-|  |-0-|
|-2-|  |-3-|
|---|  |---|

Then we slide up to make the E minor 7 movable form:

Em7  *Fingering*
|---|   |---|
|-5-|   |-1-|
|-7-|   |-4-|
|-5-|   |-1-|
|-7-|   |-3-|
|---|   |---|

We now have an Em7, our ii chord for the 16251 progression in D major.

Recap

Let's summarize that process we just took to create the Em7. I look back and see I threw a lot of words at you. I want to make sure I didn't muddy your view of the big picture. Here's what we just did, and why we did it.

Our goal was to create an E minor chord around the fifth fret.

Why fret five? Because that's where we're playing our One chord, the D major.

Why an E minor chord? Because that's a ii (Two) in D major, and we're building a 16251 progression.

We discovered a way of making the E minor form by remembering how we made the D major movable form: we made D major from the A major open position form.

We noticed that A is a perfect fourth down from D.

We asked, "What chord root is a perfect fourth down from E?" Answer: B.

We looked around for an open position B minor chord, and found a super easy, two-finger form.

We then moved that B minor form up from open position, changing the fingers we fret it with, and adding the first finger, too. We slid this form up until it became the E min 7 chord.

Is this the *only* way of learning a new, movable chord shape? Heck no. It's just one approach. Instead of using this approach, you could have found a cool, movable E minor shape by starting with an E minor triad with top note at string 2, fret 5:

Em
|---|
|-5-|
|-4-|
|-5-|
|---|
|---|

From there, you'd look at your D string and ask, "What note in E minor or E minor 7 can I play on this string? Answer, G. Do the same thing with string 5: "What note in E minor 7 can I reach on the A string?" Answer: E.

This last approach using triads goes much smoother, obviously, if you know your triads, including all their inversions. A fun way of learning those triads is the Blues Triad Mastery lesson, which you may already have worked through.

The vi chord

Let's build the vi now. Remember that we're working in D major, so our vi is a B minor. To create the B minor movable form, we're gonna borrow from the A major bar chord we used last lesson. Here's the A major:

Amaj *Fingering*
|-5-|   |-1-|
|-5-|   |-1-|
|-6-|   |-2-|
|-7-|   |-4-|
|-7-|   |-3-|
|-5-|   |-1-|

Here's what happens if we slide this baby up two frets, and make the major third into a minor third: We get this B minor chord

Bmin  *Fingering*
|-7-|    |-1-|
|-7-|    |-1-|
|-7-|    |-1-|
|-9-|    |-4-|
|-9-|    |-3-|
|-7-|    |-1-|

Add one more change to this form to make it even easier to play. Dig this one finger form:

Bmin7 *Fingering*
|-7-|   |-1-|
|-7-|   |-1-|
|-7-|   |-1-|
|-7-|   |-1-|
|---|   |-1-| <==Put your finger here,
|-7-|   |-1-|    but don't play this note.

Note: see how we're skipping the E note on the fifth string here? You *could* play it to get a more mellow sound; you'd be playing a Bm11. But you also want to know how *not* to hit that E note: don't strum it. Use the Pick Fingerpick technique. Read about that here:

http://www.maximummusician.com/pickfingerpick.htm

We now have the 1, the 6, and the 2 from the 16251 progression. What's left? The 5. That's A7 in the key of D major, correct? We already know this form: it's just the A major bar chord minus the fourth finger:

  A7 *Fingering*
|-5-|  |-1-|
|-5-|  |-1-|
|-6-|  |-2-|
|-5-|  |-1-|
|-7-|  |-3-|
|-5-|  |-1-|

We now have all our movable chord forms for the 16251 progression. Let's play the progression.

|---------|-------|-------|--------|
|o--7--7--|-7--7--|-5--5--|-5--5--o|
|---7--7--|-7--7--|-7--7--|-6--6---|
|---7--7--|-7--7--|-5--5--|-5--5---|
|o--5--5--|-------|-7--7--|-------o|
|---------|-7--7--|-------|-5--5---|

Here's where we're going this lesson: CAGED 2 (CAGED A) Arpeggios, including Blues arpeggios. All I can say is ouch.

In the last lesson we learned how to play a basic chord accompaniment using the 16251 progression in D major around the fifth fret, using only CAGED movable chords. As we worked toward building that progression we learned more about how to turn open position chords into movable chords. That's the purpose of the CAGED system: to connect what you know well, the open position chords, with what you want to know well, the movable chords. The CAGED system makes seeing chord and scale shapes on the guitar easy.

In this lesson we need to go beyond the plain 16251 progression for CAGED 2; we need to go beyond just strumming the chords to get arpeggios under our fingers. And we need to Bluesify our CAGED 2 arpeggios so we can feel relentless, unstoppable enthusiasm for playing them.

It's a lot of playing to work through, so let's begin!

First, here's our plain but lovable 16251 progression based on the CAGED 2 chord, for us to play around the 5th fret. This is a quickie review of last lesson's main progression:

Now let's make some arpeggios.

Remember that once we can smoothly play one arpeggio pattern, we want to make another pattern and another. We do this because we want to know how to play melodies starting at many different points. If we don't do this, we'll tend to start our solos from the same spot every time, and bore everyone who listens to us, including ourselves, to tears. Here's one pattern:

Q=80, 4/4

      D                Em7
  H       H         H       H
  |       |         |       |  <== Gtr II
  /       /         /       /

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-7-5-----------5-|-7---------------|
|-----7-------7---|---8-5-------5-8-|
|-------7-4-7-----|-------7-4-7-----| <== Gtr I
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

      A7                D
  H       H         H       H
  |       |         |       |
  /       /         /       /

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-5---------------|-5---------------|
|---8-5-------5-8-|---7-----------7-|
|-------6---6-----|-----7-4---4-7---|
|---------7-------|---------7-------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duration Legend
---------------
W-whole; H-half; Q-quarter; E-8th; S-16th; T-32nd

+ - note tied to previous
. - note dotted
.. - note double dotted

A different progression

This exercise doesn't use the 16251 progression, but a 1251 progression. What happened to the 16251? Why change from the 16251, which we played in our basic chord accompaniment exercise, to a 1251 for arpeggios? Here's why: we'd get bored if we played arpeggios over the 16251 instead of the 1251. Let's explain that.

In the 16251 progression in D major, the first two chords are D major and Bm7, correct? Well, these two different chords *can use the same arpeggio notes.* They don't have to, but we're keeping things simple.

Those arpeggio notes are as follows: D, F#, A, and B. If you were to reassemble those notes back into chords, you'd likely come up with the names of two different chords: D major 6 and B minor 7.

How the heck can one set of notes make two different chords? Answer: the bass note. Generally, a chord is named by what's in its bass. If we play this:

|---|
|-7-|
|-7-|
|-7-|
|---|
|-7-|

...which has a B in the bass, it's a Bm7. If we play this,

|---|
|-7-|
|-4-|
|-4-|
|-5-|
|---|

...which has a D in the bass, we're lookin' at a Dmaj6. Same note *names* plus different bass notes equals different chords. *Yet*, we can use the *same arpeggio* over both of them. This brings us back to our point that playing arpeggios over the one-six progression would be boring. If we had gone with the 1625(1) instead of the 1251, here's what the first two measures would have looked like:

|-7-5-----------5-|-7-5-----------5----|
|-----7-------7---|-----7-------7------|
|-------7-4-7-----|-------7-4-7--------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
|-----------------|--------------------|
Dmaj6 Bm7

If you look in a dictionary under the term "boring," you might see a picture of this tab. I chose the 1251 to practice our arpeggios with instead of the 16251 because playing the same arpeggio twice is just not interesting. It would hurt our motivation to practice arpeggios.

Vary the pattern

In keeping with the goal of changing an arpeggio pattern once you can play that pattern smoothly, here's a variation on the pattern just given. The first pattern we did started on the 6th degree of D major, note B, and went down. This next pattern starts on degree 3, note F# in D major, and goes up. Why choose these notes to start the exercise? Cosmic rays, indigestion, or a butterfly flexing its wings in China made me do it. In other words, it was totally a random decision.

Here's the 2nd pattern. Make sure you can play it smoothly before moving on to other patterns:

Q=80, 4/4

      D                Em7
  H       H         H       H
  |       |         |       |
  /       /         /       /

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-----------------|-----------------|
|---------7-------|-------5-8-5-----|
|-----4-7---7-4---|---4-7-------7-4-|
|-4-7-----------7-|-5---------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

       A7                D
   H       H         H       H
   |       |         |       |
   /       /         /       /

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|---------5-------|-------5-7-5-----|
|-----5-8---8-5---|-----7-------7---|
|---6-----------6-|-4-7-----------7-|
|-7---------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

Here's a checklist of all the degrees and directions you want to cover as you practice your arpeggios:

Chord degree | Ascending  | Descending
-------------| ---------  | ----------
     1       |            |
     3       |     X      |
     5       |            |
     6       |            |      X

Notice the patterns we did are checked off. Checklists aren't super exciting to read about, but when you use them to see the work you've done and the work still remaining, they *are* exciting. And they get *more* exciting when you reward yourself after finishing a set of checklists -- such as a set containing arpeggio exercises for all the CAGED chords.

Time for some Blues

Okay, we've paid our dues with the regular arpeggio exercise. Now, let's make practicing even more fun with a Blues injection. Before you dive into this tab, I recommend listening to the MIDI file first, and then reading the first paragraph following the tab for an important note about the rhythm notation used here.

Here's the tab:

4/4

  Q=40 (16=s16) (This means "Blues feel")
           D
  Q     Q     Q     Q
  |     |     |     |
  /     /     /     /

E S S S S E S S E S S E
|-------------------------|
|-------------6-7---------|
|-----5-4-7-------7-4-----|
|-4-7-----------------7---|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|

          Em7
  Q     Q     Q       Q
  |     |     |       |
  /     /     /       /

E S S S S E S S S S S S E
|---------------------------|
|---------5---8-6-5---------|
|---3-4-7-----------7---3-4-|
|-5-------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|

             A7
    Q     Q     Q       Q
    |     |     |       |
    /     /     /       /

E S S S S E S S S S S S E
|-------------5-------------|
|-------5-8-----8-7-5-------|
|---5-6-----------------5-6-|
|-7-------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|

               D
   Q       Q       Q       Q
   |       |       |       |
   /       /       /       /

S S +E S S S S S S S S S S +E
|----------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|
|-4-5-(5)-4------------------------|
|-----------7---3-4---3-4----------|
|-------------------5-----5-3-(3)--|
|----------------------------------|

Don't pick the notes shown in parentheses; these are sustained from the previous note. You can find this tab in the same Power Tab and MIDI files mentioned previously.

About the rhythm: unless you're a wiz at reading durations and rhythmic values, don't try to read them in this exercise; you'll hurt yourself. I've been reading for some time, and notating this sucker almost made me think understanding Mideast politics was comparatively easy. (Man, how could something so simple and beautiful as the Blues be so hard to notate!)

Learn this exercise by ignoring the duration values of the notes as you *see* them. Pick off just the string and fret locations, and then *listen* to the MIDI or Power Tab files to hear how this piece should go.

Here's a tip on the fingering you can use to work through this exercise: Basically, do what works. I don't mean to be flip. But the usual D major bar fingering is probably going to break down if you get into higher speeds with this baby. In particular, have a look at beats 3 and 4 of measure one, and an easy fingering for them:

       *Tab*              *Fingering*
     S S E S S E          S S E S S E
... -------------|       -------------|
    -6-7---------|       -1-3---------|
... -----7-4-----|       -----2-1-----|
    ---------7---|       ---------4---|
... -------------|       -------------|
    -------------|       -------------|

(Again, this just shows beats 3 and 4 of the first measure. The first two beats are deleted for clarity. That's what the "..." are for.)

Let's walk through that fingering step by step. You'll pick that first note with your first finger on fret 6. This obviously throws you out of the CAGED 2 position, which is fine.

Now look at the next note: it's a hammer onto fret 7 with your third finger -- not your second finger, as you will be tempted to do. Why hammer with finger 3 instead of finger 2? Take a look at the third note.

We need finger 2 to fret the D on string 3, fret 7. That's why we can't use that finger to hammer onto the F# on string 2.

Following the D on string 3, fret 7 is another position buster: we're moving our hand back to the CAGED 2 position again, to fret the B on string 3, fret 4 with our first finger.

If this description of the fingering is tough to follow, don't worry: your desire to play this tab, combined with a little bit of playing around, will make your fingers do what you want.

It's time to wrap up this edition of All About Chords. In the next lesson we'll get into the chord melody of CAGED 2, which may include a Blues chord melody.

We're continuing to work through CAGED 2 in this segment of All About Chords. We've been working with a common chord progression in D major using only movable chord forms. And, we're doing this around the fifth fret.

We know how important it is to make music with our chord practicing, so the progression we play is one that's found in a *lot* of music: the ii-V-I, which I'll notate as "251." The 251 "flavor" we'll use in this lesson is the 1251. In D major, the 1251 translates to D, Em, A7, D.

In the last installment of All About Chords we covered arpeggios, including Blues arpeggios, which produced so much fun that the fire marshal had to be called in. The focus of this lesson is to serve up a *chord melody arrangement* of the 1251 progression.

Without further shampoo, let's dig into the exercise. We'll then go into the details of how it works and how to work the finger shapes for it afterwards. In making music, we play first and ask questions later. Here's the chord melody:

4/4
Gtr I
Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
|-----5--7-|---------------|
|---7------|---------------|
|-7--------|-7--4----------|
|-4--------|-4-----7--4----|
|-5--------|-5-------------|
|----------|---------------|

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
|-----------|---------------|
|-----------|-5-------------|
|------4--7-|-4--7--4-------|
|---5-------|-5--------5----|
|-7---------|---------------|
|-7---------|---------------|

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
|---------|--------------|
|---------|-5------------|
|-------6-|-6-6----------|
|-2-5-7---|-5----7--5----|
|-4-------|--------------|
|-3-------|-5------------|

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
|------------|-------------|
|------------|-7-----------|
|-------4--7-|-7--7--4-----|
|-4--7-------|-7--------7--|
|-5----------|-------------|
|-5----------|-------------|

Duration Legend
---------------
W-whole; H-half; Q-quarter; E-8th; S-16th; T-32nd

+ - note tied to previous
. - note dotted
.. - note double dotted

Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number they represent the duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Get the Power Tab file for this progression here:
http://power-tab.net/

Right hand stuff

Now that I've unloaded this exercise on you, I ought to mention that you won't be able to use strumming here. You'll use the Pick Fingerpick technique. Remember good ol' Pick? Get re-acquainted with him here: http://www.maximummusician.com/pickfingerpick.htm.

Special ending

Before we get into explaining and exploring this puppy, notice that I've written a second, special ending for the exercise. Here's the second ending.

[The first 6 bars are the same as above]

Q Q E E Q E E E E E E E E
|----------------|-----------------------------|
|----------------|-----------------------------|
|-----------4----|------4--6--7----------------|
|-4---4--7-----7-|-7-------------7--4----------|
|-5--------------|-5-------------5-----5--7----|
|-5--------------|-----------------------------|

Q Q Q Q Q Q H
|-----------9----|------------|
|--------6-------|--6---------|
|-----6--7-------|--5-5--5----|
|-3------8-------|--7-7--7----|
|-5------8-------|--8-8--8----|
|-6------6-------|------------|

The Power Tab and MIDI files are the same as those mentioned previously.

Thank you, Sergei Prokofiev, for providing the source of this special ending.

Exploring the CAGED 2 Chord Melody

Let's take a look at the first two bars of this exercise, especially the fingering used, and the choice of notes.

Keep in mind our main goal and lesser goals as you read this stuff: we're out to make music in a 1251 progression. And we're doing it with movable chord forms. We're mixing the arpeggios with the chords, so we can see how melody works with harmony. But we're really playing chords and melody together so we can create a complete arrangement of a tune for one guitar, so you can sound great without needing other people to play along.

Take a look at the D major chord form we're using in bars 1 and 2. Let's see it again, with a guide to what fingers to use.

|---
|---
|-7- finger 4
|-4- finger 1
|-5- finger 2
|---

This chord is not a full chord. What's missing? The fifth, A. Guess what: we don't need it. Our goal is to play something that *sounds* like a D major. If that something has a D in the bass, and an F# somewhere above it, and nothing else on top, it will sound like a D major.

Where the heck did we come up with this chord form? It's based on the standard CAGED 2 form:

|---
|-7-
|-7-
|-7-
|-5-
|---

This form has an F# as the melody note, or the top note, but our simple arpeggio melody told us to put a D on top instead. For a clearer view of that melody, take a look at it without the chords:

|-----5--7---------------|
|---7--------------------|
|-7--------7--4----------|
|----------------7--4----|
|------------------------|
|------------------------|

(We do an octave switch in here, which I'll explain in a bit.)

To play a chord with a D on top we could have stayed with this form:

|---
|---
|-7-
|-7-
|-5-
|---

How does that sound to your ears? The F#, the sweet note, is missing. Because of that missing third, the chord is not a D major, but a power chord. It might be appropriate for playing rock, but we want to hear the sweet note, F#. So that means twisting the form to work the F# in.

The Octave jump

Now, about the octave jump. This occurs between the last note of bar 1 and first note of bar 2. We're still moving from note B to note D, but we're doing it without having to move our fretting hand higher up the neck. That's the point of switching octaves, in this exercise: to keep your fretting hand positioned around the fifth fret. We do this so we can focus on getting familiar with one CAGED position at a time. If we're playing at different points on the fretboard, we don't get this kind of concentrated learning.

But, at some point you will want to carry the melodic line to the higher frets. If you want to do that now, rather than hold you back, I'll give you the first two bars of an exercise that gets you to those higher frets:

|-----5--7--|--10---7--5-----|
|---7-------|--10---------7--|
|-7---------|--11------------|
|-4---------|----------------|
|-5---------|----------------|
|-----------|----------------|

After you see the fingering for that D major on the 10th fret, you might wish I had not given you this tab excerpt! But, here it is:

tab  fingering
10      3
10      3
11      4
--      --
--      --
--      --

This is what works for me, but you might prefer to use the first and second fingers. If your fingers don't take to this shape right away, go slowly, and work into it.

Fingering for Em

Let's look at bars three and four, with the Em. Are there any unusual chord shapes there? Are there even any *chords* in there? Yes, there's a triad in measure 4. Before that, on the first beat of measure 3, is this:

tab   fingering
---     ---
---     ---
---     ---
---     ---
-7-     -4-
-7-     -3-

Chord Hints

Do you remember this from the CAGED 1 lesson? It's not a full chord, but it implies an E chord. There's no third in it, though. But since we're playing in D major, when you hear the E and B notes right after the D major chord, your mind fills in the blanks and says "Oh. An E minor chord."

Also, look at the melody following that E-B interval; there's a G in there, which is in an E minor chord. So, we can get away with playing notes E and B to hint at E minor. You might call this keeping only the essential notes "economizing with chords."

But, that's not what you did with the D major!

I have a sneaking suspicion you may look back on the "chord hint" we created in the D major, with the chord hint we're doing in the Em bars, and say, "Wait a second! We created a whole new shape for D major just so we could play its third. But, in the E minor bars, we're not including the third. Also, you said we could leave out the fifth in the D major. So, how come we have it in the E minor?"

These are good questions. Let's answer 'em with these guidelines:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A chord ought to have its sweet note -- its third -- *if you can squeeze it in*.

The third ought *not* to be the bass note, but somewhere above it.

A chord ought to have its root in the bass.

If you can't get the root in the bass, the next best bass note is the fifth of the chord.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Remember, these are guidelines, not laws.

With the D major, our top melody note, D, happened to fall on the third string. This gave us the chance to work in the sweet note below that *and* still have a D, the root of the chord, in the bass.

Things are a bit different with the E minor. Look at where the melody note falls: on string 5. That means that if we're determined to play that E note on string 5, we only have one other string, string 6, to help us create our chord hint. What note are you gonna choose to hint at that E minor? Choosing from among the E, G, and B notes in E minor, you see we already have E, so that leaves B or G for the 6th string. What's it gonna be?

Look back at the guidelines. Your ears will be better able to recognize an E minor chord if you pick the B for the bass. That's the fifth of the chord. If you put a G in the bass, your ear will think something like, "Hmm: that's a kind of G chord." Would it sound *bad*? No. But it won't sound like an *E minor* chord.

Okay, on to the other chords in the exercise.

The E minor in bar 4 is pretty normal: it's an E minor triad. The fingering is what you might expect:

tab  fingering
--     --
-5     3
-4     1
-5     2
--     --
--     --

Let's have a look at A7 in bars in five and six.

---
---
---
-2- Finger 1
-4- Finger 3
-3- Finger 2

This one might need some explaining. The top note, E, is dictated by the melody, but how did we come up with the C# and G notes below it? Why not include the A or open E?

This was a judgement call. I encourage you to experiment and explore hinting at A7 by using different notes on strings 5 and 6. The notes I chose for the A7 go outside the guidelines for chord hinting given above: neither the root, A, nor the fifth, E, is in the bass.

But, the sweet note, C#, is on string 5. And most important, the interval that makes you say, "Ah! An A7" is in here: the tritone interval of C# and G. That's why I chose these notes for us to play. Remember to experiment and go with the sounds *you* dig.

The remaining chord shapes and fingerings are pretty clear and standard. But, if you find your fingers are twisted into pretzels after working through the tab, drop me a line and I'll help you untangle them.

A note about practicing

The exercise we explored is only one chord melody arrangment out of infinite arrangements for learning the CAGED 2 form. Once you can play the exercise smoothly, *change the arrangement*, including changing the melody, rhythm and other aspects. Most of all, make your arrangements fun to listen to and play.

The Big Picture

We're beginning to wind down the All About Chords series, because we don't want it too grow large. If it does, then you start to lose the Big Picture. And the big picture is just this: we are *making music*, instead of making meaningless and joyless shapes and sounds just to keep our fingers busy while our mind wanders. We're here to make music.

How do we make music? We've been doing it by thinking of music as a progression of chords. When we play a chord progression that's heard in a lot of music, we recognize we're making music. The ii-V-I is an example of such a common progression. It shows up everywhere. Go look in your closet; there's probably a ii-V-I buried under that sock you really believe you'll find a match for one day.

So, we make music by playing the ii-V-I. How do we play that ii-V-I? Where on the fretboard do we play it? Answer: we use the CAGED system, which translates the open position chords we're so familiar with, to the movable chord shapes we are becoming familiar with, using a bit o' practice. *Musical* practice, correct?

Once you learn the ii-V-I through all the CAGED forms, with arpeggios, chord melody and chord scales, not only will you be pretty proficient in making music with the guitar; you'll also be a much happier musician, because the very process of playing ii-V-I has you making *music*.

When you walk away from the All About Chords lessons, if you remember nothing else about it, remember this: "two five one, two five one, two five one." When you play a ii-V-I, you're making music.

Blues Chord Melody

We played a basic chord melody arrangement in the last lesson to work out the A CAGED form. But we didn't get to any Blues, so let's fix that right now. We'll play a chord melody arrangement that works out the arpeggios and chords of the A CAGED form, *and* that has the Blues to make it even more fun to practice.

Q=80(8=s8)
4/4
Q E E Q Q Q Q Q E E
|--------5--7-|----------------|
|----6-7------|----------------|
|--7----------|-7--4-----------|
|--4----------|-4-----7-3-4----|
|--5----------|-5--------------|
|-------------|----------------|

Q Q E E Q Q Q E E Q
|------------|----------------|
|------------|-5--------------|
|-----3-4--7-|-4--7-3-4-------|
|---5--------|-5---------5----|
|-7----------|----------------|
|-7----------|----------------|

Q Q Q E E Q E E Q Q
|-----------|----------------|
|-----------|-5--------------|
|-------5-6-|-6-5-6----------|
|-2-5-7-----|-5------7--5----|
|-4---------|----------------|
|-3---------|-5--------------|

  E E Q  Q  Q   E E  Q  Q  Q
|-------------|------------------*|
|-------------|-6-7--------------*|
|--------4--7-|-6-7--7--4--------*|
|-3-4-7-------|-6S7--------7-----*|
|-5-----------|------------------*|
|-5-----------|------------------*|
                 ^
                 |
                 | This is a slide
                   with your third
                   finger.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Duration Legend
---------------
W-whole; H-half; Q-quarter; E-8th; S-16th; T-32nd

+ - note tied to previous
. - note dotted
.. - note double dotted

S - shift slide

Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number they represent the duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Creating that Blues feeling

This Blues tab is real close to the chord melody tab we played last lesson, as far as melody goes. The harmonies are the same, matching the I-ii-V-I in D major: D, Bm, A7, D. (Remember that sometimes I notate the I-ii-V-I as 1251.)

The tab in this lesson is like a "Bluesification" of last lesson's tab. You can do this Bluesification process yourself. We covered some guidelines for Bluesifying in part 4,

Let's summarize the steps to Bluesify a melody. Knock the third and seventh of any major chord down a half step. Add the half-step back and take it away again in a way that suits your own feeling.

We won't go through how we Bluesified each bar of last lesson's tab to produce this lesson's tab, but let's look at one or two bars.

In bar 1, we have a D major chord. Here it is before the Blues and after the Blues, or ("B.B." and "A.B."). It only has the melody, no chords:

Before Blues    After Blues
|-----5--7-  |-------5-- 7
|---7------  |---6-7-----  <-- Play frets six and
|-7--------  |-7---------      seven as 8th notes
|----------  |-----------
|----------  |-----------
|----------  |-----------

Do you hear how much difference one little note can make? No matter what you're playing, you're never too far from the Blues. This means you're never too far from turning a dull exercise into an exciting one. You only need to be aware of *how* to Bluesify a melody, and that's what we just showed.

About the E minor

There's something interesting about Bluesifying the 2nd chord in our I-ii-V-I progression, the Eminor. Since it's a minor chord, its third and seven are already flatted: G is a minor third from the root, E, and D is a minor seventh from E. So, how do you Bluesify a minor chord? Could we flat the already flatted notes? Or, would that make them too flat? A good question.

The answer is, you *could* double flat the third and seventh for the heck of it -- but you won't be creating a Blues sound. The Blues sound comes from messing with the third and seventh of *major* chords. Yet, play those two E minor bars again, and listen closely: you *do* get a Blues feeling there. How did we create it?

Pretending to be major

Again, we didn't mess with the third or seventh of the E minor. We *did* pretend that E minor was a major chord, a G major chord, to be exact.

"Hey!" you say. "You can't do that! Cats will start living with dogs, people will age in reverse, and God will turn off gravity!" (Isn't music powerful?)

Yes, we can pretend that the E minor (really an E minor 7 in our tab) is a G major, because the two chords are pretty close to one another. Look at the notes:

E minor 7: E, G, B, D
G major: G, B, D

And if you add a 6 to G major, the E note, you get this cozy alignment:

E minor 7: E, G, B, D
G major: E, G, B, D

"Cool: they're the same chord," you say. And I say, "Careful! Ancient Klingon proverb say, 'Same notes do not mean same chord'" If you need more explanation of why this is so, peek back at the last lesson. The last lesson tells us that the chord names, *plus* the note in the bass, determines the name and overall *feeling* of the harmony.

But back to our main point: you now see how close G major is to Eminor7. That means we can pretend we're playing with a G major instead of an Eminor7. And *that* means we can now apply our Bluesification process to "G major." We turn the major third of G major, the B, into a minor third, a Bb. Here's another before and after snapshot illustrating this. Again, we show just the melody so the Bluesifying process is clearer:

Before Blues     After Blues
|-----------    |------------
|-----------    |------------
|------4--7-    |-----3-4--7-
|---5-------    |---5--------
|-7---------    |-7----------
|-----------    |------------

Now we know how to Bluesify a minor chord: pretend it's major.

Do you see how important your point-of-view is to understanding music and chords? If we had looked at just the notation or just the notes and seen only an E minor 7, we would have sighed and said, "Ah, well. I guess I can't make E minor sound Bluesey because it's not a major chord." Use this example to see other "hidden" chords and musical possibilities.

Music is not about rules, it's about options. Who would have thought only 12 different "colors" could produce unlimited masterpieces? Eat your heart out, Picasso.

Implying a minor key

Okay, enough philosophy. Let's take one more peek at the Eminor as we ask this question: "We Bluesified the B of G major, making it a Bb. Just out of curiosity, what degrees in Eminor are B and Bb?" Answer: the B is the fifth of Eminor, so the Bb is the flatted fifth.

Do you know what sound you're making, -- what *feeling* you're hinting at -- when you flat the five of a minor chord? Play this next tab slowly, and you'll see what I'm getting at.

H H H H W
|------|-----|------|
|-5-5--|-5-6-|------|
|-4-3--|-6-6-|-7----|
|-5-5--|-5-5-|-7----|
|------|-----|-8----|
|------|-5-5-|------|

Wow. That was a ii-V-I in D *minor*, not major. That's dark stuff, huh? I wanted you to hear that so you could get another perspective on what you're playing when you flat the five of a minor chord.

It's tempting to go into the minor ii-V-I here, but I think it's a bit much to add on top of our plate, which is already filled with the major ii-V-I. When you're ready to pursue work in the minor ii-V-I, just remember that the basic structure of the progression is the same: the scale degrees you'll be working with are still ii, V and I.

The ii will have a flatted five, the V could have a whole slew of delicious alterations to it, but b9 or #5 will get you started; and the I will of course be minor instead of major.

Next lesson

In the next installment of the All About Chords series, which is the last, we'll list some of the topics not covered in the series. And we'll get into a couple of ideas for making your chord practicing more meaningful for you.

Halaman

Jumat, 27 Mei 2011

All About Chords

G7 to C

The sweet note

The no-no interval, or tritone

Up a fourth

What can you do with it?

How to practice

The ii-V7

The purpose of the ii-V-I

Movement by a fourth

The sweet note

Why chords are built in thirds

Triad construction

Staying with thirds

Practicing the ii-V7 change

Necessary diversion: The right hand

A quick review

Why chords are build in thirds, update

Arpeggios

How arpeggios help you solo

Quick recap

Where to play arpeggios

That extra note

A Dm7 is a kind of Dm

How to practice arpeggios

A Bit o' Review

The Blues Injection

How we made the Blues tab

Breaking out of open position

Intro to CAGED

More CAGED shapes

Building the ii

Making the E minor

Recap

The vi chord

A different progression

Vary the pattern

Time for some Blues

Right hand stuff

Special ending

Exploring the CAGED 2 Chord Melody

The Octave jump

Fingering for Em

Chord Hints

But, that's not what you did with the D major!

A note about practicing

The Big Picture

Blues Chord Melody

Creating that Blues feeling

About the E minor

Pretending to be major

Implying a minor key

Next lesson

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