guitar – Page 22 – Modern Music Theory Improvisation and Application

Creating “Scales” from Scales Tetrachords [C melodic minor]

Posted on April 15, 2023April 19, 2023 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Creating “Scales” from Scales Tetrachords [C melodic minor]

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS:

Hi Guys,

The key to making scales from scales wether they be Triadic, Tetrachord, Pentatonic or Hexatonic is to highlight the key notes that give that scale its unique flavour/sound:

Below we can see this in the C melodic minor scale.

The crucial Eb note and B natural note against the C root note tells us that this is not major and that it has a specific vibe/atmosphere to it.

In this first example we will employ 3 notes and 2 notes for highlighting: This employs alternate picking starting on an upstroke:

This next example starts on a “Downstroke” and is even simpler. This is a simple 2 note fingering into a 2 note scale.

Now let’s create an ascending line:

HARMONIC MINOR

Next we will add an Ab and make 2 Tetrachord scales from C Harmonic minor and create a little run:

how-to-create-scales-tetrachords-example

This time we will ascend with the C Harmonic minor scale:

LASTLY

It’s also a good idea to play the key chord of a scale and then pluck the key note or notes that give that scale it’s unique flavour.

For example below is an F Maj7#11 chord that when you pluck the B natural it really stands out as Lydian:

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Alternate Picking John Mclaughlin Style v7 1 EXERCISE.

Posted on April 6, 2023April 11, 2023 by Modern Music Theory and Application

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Alternate Picking John Mclaughlin Style

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS:

Hi Guys,

Today we will look at a ii V7 extension in the improvisational style of jazz/fusion guitarist John McLaughlin.

HARMONY/CHORD SEQ

This is a cadential ii V7 I, but before the chord I resolution there is an added chord. This is chord Vii as a Dominant 7th. In this case this is B7:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-improvisation-technique

So, this is the chord sequence/cadence that we will improvise over.

I start this with an up-beat employing strict alternate picking.

I start the phrase on an “Upstroke” so that when I start on the 1st beat of the 1st bar I can start on a “Downstroke”for familiarity.

The first bar is basic pentatonic scale movement. But, notice that the 2nd half of the bar encapsulates the classic McLaughlin guitar fingering signature phrase.

The next part employs pentatonic movement again. The key is in shifting positions in the second half of the bar.

john-mclaughlin-guitar-jazz-improvisation-technique

Lastly, we have the B7 chord. We start with a second inversion F#9 outline and then we establish the 7th with the A natural. We finally cadence by landing on the note G natural the 5th of CMaj7.

FULL LICK:

PDF DOWNLOAD:

mcl-ap Mclaughlin Download

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String Skipping/Intervallic Guitar Part 3-HARMONY

Posted on April 4, 2023April 6, 2023 by Modern Music Theory and Application

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String Skipping/Intervallic Guitar Part 2-HARMONY

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS:

Hi Guys,

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 be minor, 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.