A Natural Minor Scale/Chords/Arpeggios:

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A Natural Minor Scale/Arpeggio:Basics

Hi Guys,

Today a quick look at the Chords,Scale and Arpeggios of the A natural minor scale.

To begin with this scale is exactly the same as the C Major scale but starting on the 6th degree:

c-major-chords-of-scale-diagram

a-minor-natural-chords-of-scale-diagram

Next we will play through and exploit and “Colour” the arpeggios of the scale:

a-minor-arpeggio-diagram

b-dim-arpeggio-diagram

c-major-arpeggio-diagram

d-minor-arpeggio-diagram

e-minor-arpeggio-diagram

f-major-arpeggio-diagram

g-major-arpeggio-diagram

We will now descend in broken chords in groups of 4 notes.

arpeggios-c-major-scale

Here are a few examples of playing a different arpeggio over a different chord of the scale:

arpeggios-c-major-scale-superimpositions

Here is a basic way of breaking up the scale by employing triplets:

First we will do this on one string:

a-minor-scale-triplets-example

Now we will cross all 6 strings:

a-minor-scale-triplets-example

This time we will employ 16th’s in 4 note groupings of “Tetrachords” creating a double time smooth pentatonic line.

tetrachords-a-natural-minor-scale-example-pentatonic

We can change the Dominant [minor] chord in the A natural minor scale and make it Major:

With this in mind we realise that the G natural is now a G# and so we can employ the A Harmonic minor scale to play over it.

Here is a simple 2 finger fingering:

a-harmonic-minor-scale-dominat-chord-example

Now, let’s extend this:

a-harmonic-minor-scale-dominat-chord-example

We could also use the E7 Arpeggio:

e7-dominant-arpeggios-example

Finally, we have a lick with an arpeggio [that also implies a triad pair] going to a pentatonic phrase:

E-dominat-chord-guitar-lick

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Al Di Meola Arpeggio Guitar Picking Part

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Al Di Meola Arpeggio Guitar Picking Part 2

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS:

Hi Guys,

Today we will look at Al Di Meola’s approach to picking chordal arpeggios. He terms it “Chordal Picking”.

I have composed a short riff based on “Meeting of the Spirits” performed by the guitar trio.

This is deliberate in order to show how the picking patterns can be the same but interpreted differently.

In this case it is 3/4 :

al-di-meola-arpeggio-guitarpicking-lesson

Or 6/8 [or 12 3 1 2 3]

al-di-meola-arpeggio-guitarpicking-lesson

What remains the same is the picking pattern which is “Down Down Down Up Up Up”

al-di-meola-arpeggio-guitarpicking-lesson

The next part deliberately employs a different time signature of 2/4

This is just to show how easy it is to fit alternate time signatures with these chordal picking patterns:

al-di-meola-arpeggio-guitarpicking-lesson

It might sound or look complex in words and notation, but, in reality it is quite natural to play, compose with and perform.

The next part employs “Dampening”. This is just simply resting my palm on the guitar strings and plucking the rhythm.

In this case the picking pattern is our old friend “Down Down Up”

al-di-meola-arpeggio-guitarpicking-lesson

For the strumming part please watch video at the top of the page as it is easier to show visually than with diagrams or notation.

Lastly, we finish with the “Down Down Up”pattern once again:

al-di-meola-arpeggio-guitarpicking-lesson

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