This is a response video to the previous video/blog. This is to explain and demonstrate the application of “Tetrachords” a bit further.
Here, I will add the video examples in Tab/Notation:
RECAP= What are Tetrachords:
“Tetrachords” are 4 note groupings to connect harmony/lines together for improvisation [and composition]
When mastered they can be broken up into musical phrasing/punctuation:
Broken up/Shifted: Thus creating an upbeat
Notes chopped off in the bar: Creating space and rhythmic interest.
Breaking up the tetrachords like this helps to create smooth syncopations, anticipations or go the other way and play on the beat:
Now, let’s follow this through to a short extension of the phrase
Counting Time
As always it’s essential to count the time when doing this so that you know where you are in the phrase.
Alternate Picking Guitar Technique:
In this video and for these examples I am employing strict alternate picking starting on a “Down Stroke”. Down Up Down Up etc.
TETRACHORD EXERCISES EXAMPLES
Practicing ii V7 I’s and iii Vi ii V7 I’s in various guises will really help you connect and nail the changes with your alternate picking: Below is an example with II V7 I:
Connecting the “HARMONY”
Now, let’s connect the harmony/chords together via tetrachords: This first example is in the style of John McLaughlin.
Notice, how smoothly the pentatonic 4 note groupings connect together
This time we will take a more basic approach with very simple fretting/fingering:
In Conclusion:
So, even through these basic examples it’s easy to see how to exploit these 4 note groupings to nail the changes and then break them up into musical phrasing/punctuation: As a further resource I would recommend John McLaughlin excellent DVD called “This is the way I do it”
Today, one last look at “Intervallic string skipping” for a contrapuntal-esque picking style.
The first thing to do is take one position on the guitar fingerboard and find the “Harmony” embedded within that position.
I have taken the A Major position [F#m Relative]
Now, let’s make an A Major basic arpeggio from the 1st string and the 6th string.
Straight away, you will notice that the notes on the 1st string and the notes on 6th string are the same but in different octaves. This gives us an easy and excellent way to exploit the High to Low or Low to High counterpoint effect.
Now let’s do the same with a piece of scale: [Starting on an “Upstroke”]
Again, the octave makes this flow and connect easily from the low to high.
The next point is to take a chord sequence and use this “String skipping/intervallic” effect: Here we have Vi ii V7 I
HARMONY
Th next essential point is to acknowledge the harmony in this position:
We will do this by exploiting the Cycle of 4ths in this simple 5 fret position.
Here you can see that we have a huge amount of harmony available to us right under our fingertips. These chords don’t have to be Major, they can beminor, diminished, augmented etc. This gives us even more material to work with.
If we move down a fret [Semitone] then we have another set of harmony in 4ths awaiting us.
Along, with this we have chord inversions and all of the inversions of A Major:
So, as you can see there is a huge amount of harmony right in front of us even in this one position that we can exploit and create lots of music from.
Lastly, let’s create another “String skipping intervallic” example:
I’m going to create a phrase outlining a D Maj#11 chord.
To make this sequence quite quick I am going to add some scale from high to low:
