analysis – Modern Music Theory Improvisation and Application

“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” Guitar Chords & FREE Lead Sheet PDF

Posted on September 24, 2026 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat: Chords

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” Fake-book lead sheet.

2 LEAD SHEET EXAMPLES

From Book:

Melody/Guitar Chords:

Image displaying Goodbye Porkpie Hat: Guitar Chords: Melody lead sheet

CHORDAL GUITAR VOICING’S

Here, are the chords for a quick chord melody version that I did in the video above.

These, are quite simple and easy to play guitar voicing’s.

Here, are the chords for the first part that come to rest on a B7b5:

Next, we have the following chord voicing’s:

Notice the “Barring” with the 9th on top and then the wide finger stretch for the 11th:

From here, we carry on with more melodic chords outlining the compositions melody.

To vary this a bit, and add some power I added octaves just here,

This, follows through with some more simple chord to melody note approach:

Finally, we finish on our Fm9 chord.

In Conclusion

To conclude, this was just a quick guitar harmonisation for this classic tune. There are a million ways to do this, but, it is always best to keep to a simple harmonisation, that way it is easier to remember as well as play.

On another note: For accompanying a singer, it can work well with big/rich fully barred chords in the chord melody [or melodic implication] style. But, for a band setting is is best to cut all of the chords down to a 2 or 3 note voiced setting.

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD:

Goodbye Patreon PDF Download

PATREON GPPH_Fm Download

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Jazz Fusion Alternate Picking Guitar Exercise Analysis

Posted on July 8, 2024July 8, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Hi Guys

As requested, here are the two youtube shorts [uploaded horizontal] with the Tab/Notation. [Sorry, some notation is a bit messy]

VIDEO OF THE EXERCISE:

Alternate Picking guitar exercise. Jazz Fusion music mid tempo. Lesson/How to:

EXERCISE ANALYSIS:

PLEASE NOTE: These are only exercises to connect and get familiar with the jazz tools of improvisation in regards to alternate picking:

This exercise starts on a down stroke with strict alternate picking around 130-140 Bpm:

The point of the exercise is to “Connect” lots of jazz improvisation concepts together.

The first being barring 4ths and 3rds with the little finger [or pinkie]. This breaks up the monotony of the scale sound and creates a melodic inflection. It also makes it easy to play quickly as two notes are fretted with the same finger.

alternate-picking-guitar-jazz-fusion-lesson

This exercise is also good for exploiting phrasing on one string:

It’s also good for triad implications or sus 4-3 to lengthen the line.

Lastly, another tool that works really well for both the alternate picking right hand and the sound of the phrase is to employ an arpeggio. In this exercise we have also manipulated the open string to set up the next fragment of scale on the same string.

FULL EXERCISE:

DESCENDING ALTERNATE PICKING EXERCISE:

Alternate Picking mid tempo guitar exercise

This exercise starts on a downstroke once again, but, this time we descend:

The same improvisational tools are applied.

We start the line with some 4ths barred with the little finger into a bit of broken scale.

This leads us nicely into the employment of two arpeggios. These arpeggios create melodic colour over the A7 Dominant chord.

Next we exploit the alternate picking on the same string for two beats over the D Major 7 chord:

As with the previous exercise we exploit the Major 3rd and perfect 4th intervals, which means that we can alternate pick two notes quickly without having to change our fretting fingers.

Finally, we employ the chromatic scale starting on the #5 [Bb] of D7augmented chord:

IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion it’s through exploiting these improvisational devices that we can alternate pick and create long quick fluid lines lines that make improvisational sense.

In terms of jazz fusion this means that we can play smoothly through ambiguous harmony as well as standard chord changes at a quick tempo.

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Exploring Messiaen’s Mode 1: Musical Concepts and Colorful Creations

Posted on May 25, 2024June 11, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Unlocking Messiaen’s Mode 1: Guitar Explorations

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today a look at Messiaen’s first mode of limited transposition:

MODE 1

This is the Whole tone scale and has two transpositions and one mode. It is a “Hexatonic” scale that has a dreamy, enigmatic air to it due to lack of resolution as all of the tones are the same distance apart.

Creating an Etude from Messiaen’s Mode 1

The goal of this blog post is to create something interesting out of this scale.

So, here is my little Etude: I am basing this on the style of Robert Fripp [Plectrum guitar technique] and Olivier Messiaen’s compositional approach.

Here is the first bar: This employs a Fripp-esque repetitive picking “Riff”

exploring-messiaen-mode-one-Fripp-guitar-style

From here, let’s make a smooth transition with an ascending whole tone scale:

Now, let’s employ some 20c Classical Messiaen style “Intervallic” movement to complete the phrase:

exploring-messiaen-mode-one-intervallic-guitar

From here, we will descend with the whole tone scale and connect it to the augmented arpeggio:

Let’s now return to and exploit our intervallic movement as we ascend the guitar fingerboard:

Finally, let’s finish with some string skipping whole tone scale and a couple of plucks up high:

exploring-messiaen-mode-one-string-skipping-guitar

IN CONCLUSION

This was just an example of playing around with musical concepts and creating something colourful and interesting from Messiaen’s Mode 1.

Although, this is only a six note scale it has plenty to offer due to it’s non resolving/non diatonic nature. It works really well for riffs, motifs and hooks and really draws the listeners ear in. Even when used sparingly it can really add colour and texture to a composition [or part of] .

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD:

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For more Blogs on Messiaen’s modes CLICK below: