guitar – Page 35 – Modern Music Theory Improvisation and Application

Syncopation/off beat LESSON for playing the guitar part 1

Posted on May 3, 2022May 8, 2022 by Modern Music Theory and Application

How to Anticipate/syncopate and use anacrusis at the guitar in Music

OFF-BEAT PLAYING

In order to play “Off” the beat you must first establish the “On” beat. This way you can anticipate or push the music/melody/riff or motif along and then return to the established “On” beat.

how, to ,play, on the, off beat, in, music, example — How to play on the beat and off the beat in music with chords.

When beat one is established we can then push any beat from there on. The key is then to return to the “On” beat to start the next phrase or vamp or piece of music.

If you play “Off” the beat continuously the syncopation/anticipation will be lost.

In order to fully comprehend off-beat playing it is an extremely good idea to learn and practice the two most common essential rhythms in every way possible, both in the bar and across the bar line. But, always coming back to the “On” beat for the start of the new phrase.

Rhythm 1

Rhythm 2

You can change the harmonic rhythm or join the rhythms together and create vamps or phrases.

Example:

Mixing Both Rhythms Together:

how, to ,play, off beat, in, music, anticipation, syncopation, rhythms, example — How to play on the beat and off the beat in music with chords.

Now we will add a bass push/anticipation: [Notice the BASS note is “Tied” across the bar line].

In this example we will add a short “Melody” to a chord:

how, to ,play, off beat, in, music, anticipation, syncopation, rhythms, melody, jazz,example — How to play on the beat and off the beat in music with chords/Melody

Here are a set of variations on a chord change:

Variation 1:

Variation 2:

guitar, vamp, set, up, example — On the beat

Variation 3:

IF THIS LESSON WAS OF VALUE TO YOU THEN PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO US ON YOUTUBE BELOW, THANKS!

Shakti “Joy” Alternate Picking guitar raga exercise

Posted on January 29, 2022February 13, 2022 by Modern Music Theory and Application

yt_logo_rgb_light CLICK SUBSCRIBE!

Shakti “Joy” Alternate Picking guitar Raga exercise: Harmonic Minor Groups of 7

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR DETAILED EXPLANATION:

This is an A Harmonic Minor group of of 7 notes in a repeated pattern:

Shakti, Joy, guitar, alternate picking, exercise, John Mclaughlin, tab, music, notation — Shakti “Joy” Alternate Picking guitar Raga exercise: Harmonic Minor Groups of 7

The key to this exercise is to first of all acknowledge the rest:

This is essential in order to get the time: Once you have this it is essential to “Accent” the first note of each grouping.

In order to get the rhythm tight you will need to accent the first note of the 2nd group louder.

Here is the exercise for PDF Download:

joy-shakti-guitar-exercise Shakti guitar exercise pdf Download

Here is the Tab/Notation: Alternate Picking Ascending:

Shakti, Joy, guitar, alternate picking, exercise, John Mclaughlin, tab, harmonic minor, music, notation — Shakti “Joy” Alternate Picking guitar Raga exercise: Harmonic Minor Groups of 7

Alternate Picking Descending:

Shakti, Joy, guitar, alternate picking, exercise, John Mclaughlin, harmonic, minor, scale, tab, music, notation — Shakti “Joy” Alternate Picking guitar Raga exercise: Harmonic Minor Groups of 7

CLASSIC “SHAKTI” ALBUMS:

shakti, classic, album, guitar lesson, cover

ABOUT “SKAKTI”: [Wiki]

Shakti were a fusion band formed by English guitarist John McLaughlin, Indian violin player L. Shankar, percussionists Zakir Hussain (on tabla) and T. H. “Vikku” Vinayakram (on Ghatam)^[1] in 1974. The band played acoustic fusion music which combined Indian music with elements of jazz. The band’s Hindi name means, in English, “creative intelligence, beauty, and power.”^[2]

In addition to fusing American and Indian music, Shakti also represented a fusion of the Hindustani and Carnatic music traditions, since Hussain is from the north region of India while the other Indian members are from the South.

The group came together in 1974, after the dissolution of the first incarnation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and toured fairly extensively during the period 1975-1977; it made only sporadic appearances (with personnel changes) thereafter.

After 1977 the albums which L. Shankar recorded with Z. Hussain and T. H. “Vikku” Vinayakram stayed close to the music made popular by Shakti. Some twenty years later McLaughlin and Hussain put together another band with the same concept, called Remember Shakti, including V. Selvaganesh (son of T. H. “Vikku” Vinayakram ), mandolin player U. Shrinivas and eventually Shankar Mahadevan.

Two concerts at the Montreux Jazz Festival (July 6, 1976 and July 8, 1977) are included among the 17 CDs of the box set Montreux Concerts by John McLaughlin.

IF THIS LESSON WAS OF VALUE TO YOU THEN PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO US ON YOUTUBE BELOW, THANKS!

Messiaen, Fripp, Mclaughlin, Schoenberg, 21st century harmonic concepts

Posted on August 14, 2021October 26, 2021 by Modern Music Theory and Application

yt_logo_rgb_light CLICK SUBSCRIBE!

DETAILED ANALYSIS IN THE VIDEO BELOW:

Messiaen, Fripp, Mclaughlin, Schoenberg, 21st century harmonic concepts

In this blog we will look at improvising over one chord. This will be D minor [D Dorian].

The key is to use chromaticism, tertian harmony, superimposition and outside harmonic content in order to create interesting improvised lines and move away from the cliches of scales and modes to create originality.

For example:

The key for smoothness is to be aware of where the 1/2 steps [Semitones]are in the “Connections”.

If we look below we can see where the 1/2 steps connect and how to play off of the tonic note with this. In this case we play off of the tonic D note resolving straight into the Eb note for Eb melodic minor. We can then resolve down a half step to C#m and back down into D Dorian

Fripp ,Brecker, Mclaughlin chromatic Improvising method for jazz fusion improvisation

Chromatic jazz improvisation Brecker, Mclaughlin and creative Fripp improvising concepts

So as you can see it is easy to weave in and out of the harmony and get back to D Dorian via the 1/2 step.

Below is a line that beautifully weaves in and out of D minor

In this next example we will use tertian harmony and exploit superimposition. We will employ D melodic minor and and keep extending via C melodic minor.