On September 22 2011 09:04 LuciferSC wrote:Incredible thread - big thanks to the OP and to all who contributed & participated! Learned a lot from the thread, as a beginner/med level guitar player (used to play acoustic, mostly rhythm strumming) and it has just been about a month since I jumped onto finger picking. Just got my electric guitar yesterday, and totally hyped to get better. Glad to see that most of the stuff I've been doing for finger picking/scale learning is accurate, and definitely picking up a lot of awesome new practice advise. Thank you! If I could actually ask a specific question (wasn't planning on doing so, but popped into my head). I am at the stage where I understand the circle of fifth, and different scales. Been mostly practicing finger picking off music sheet, not tabs. Almost at the point where I can spontaneously read and play simple music. (Feeling comfortable up to 2 sharps so would it be accurate to say I'm almost comfortable playing C, G and D scale?) Now at this point I'm focusing on implementing various finger-picking exercises u've prescribed, as well as continuing to read and play various music sheets (hoping on getting to the point where I feel comfortable spontaneously reading & playing 2 or 3 note harmonic notes. So the first question is, do u think that's a positive direction to head into? and also the second question is how chords are formed. I did try reading up books where they mentioned that u take the root note, and something like taking the 5th and so on... I could memorize that at the face value, but i'm not understanding the rational behind it. If you could please explain that in a manner like the circle of fifth, I would be most grateful. Thank you!! (I wanna ask about major scale/minor scale and what they are, but I'll save that for later  )
I might be able to help out a bit with the second theory question, in an abbreviated form:
1. Music combines Pitches and Rhythms.
2. In terms of Pitch, you can play a single Note, a combination of two Notes AKA a Dyad, a combination of three Notes AKA a Triad, a combination of four Notes AKA a Tetrad, etc. Generally, a Chord is defined as a combination of three or more Notes, although when it comes to guitar playing Dyads are more or less "honorary" Chords.
3. A combo of two Notes has a specific sound, based on the Interval or "space" in between them.
4. In Western music, the smallest Interval in between two different Notes is called a Semitone.
5. If there is an Interval of one Semitone in between two Notes, it is called a Minor 2nd. If there is an Interval of two Semitones in between two Notes, it is called a Major 2nd...three Semitones, Minor 3rd...four Semitones, Major 3rd...five Semitones, Perfect 4th...six Semitones, Augmented 4th AKA Diminished 5th AKA Tritone...seven Semitones, Perfect 5th...eight Semitones, Minor 6th...nine Semitones, Major 6th... ten Semitones, Minor 7th...eleven Semitones, Major 7th...and twelve semitones for an Octave. After an Octave, you more or less start the cycle over and have the same intervals as before, but with an Octave added. The naming changes a bit, e.g., 9ths and 11ths would be 2nds an Octave up and 4ths an Octave up.
6. Generally, there are 7 Notes, NOT including the Octave, in a Western Scale, which is a subset of the total 12 possible of what is called the Chromatic Scale. Other scales like the Pentatonic will be an even smaller subset, in this case a set of 5 Notes, of all the possible Notes you could use.
7. Intervals are named Minor or Major or Perfect based on their Tonality AKA Sound as it functions within a scale, chord, etc. Major Intervals sound and work in a specific way, etc.
8. Just as any combination of two Notes AKA Interval has its own sound, any combination of more than two Notes AKA Chord has its own sound. For example, if you have a Chord with three Notes, the overall sound combines the sounds of the Intervals in between any two Notes within the Chord.
9. Generally, people start off by using pre-defined Chords, i.e., specific combinations of Notes with defined Intervals in between the individual Notes. The Note you are starting off with, which you can think of as the "leader" is called the Root. Then you can build a Chord by adding Notes on top of the Root, at least to start off.
10. The most common types are Major Chords, Minor Chords, Diminished Chords, and Augmented Chords. Each type has its own sound, as well as function within the context of a scale or key.
11. To build a Major Chord, for example, you start with a Root Note as the lowest Note, then add both the Major 3rd and Perfect 5th above it, in that order. A Major Chord has a specific sound, which is determined by the Intervals that make it up. The Intervals are defined with respect to the Root Note. To build a Minor Chord, you can add both the Minor 3rd and the Perfect 5th. That specific combination of Intervals has its own sound as well. Diminished Chords are formed by adding a Minor 3rd and a Flat 5th, i.e., you take the Perfect 5th and subtract a Semitone from it to get the Flat form. Adding a Semitone would give you the Sharp form. In terms of naming, Flattening a Perfect Interval results in a Diminished Interval, while Sharpening a Perfect Interval results in an Augmented Interval. So to build an Augmented Chord, you add the Major 3rd and a Sharp 5th AKA Augmented 5th. It might seem like a lot to memorize, but it may also help to think of it as a way to give a name to the sounds that you are hearing, so that if you hear something or want to achieve a certain sound, you know what it is called and how to build it. To make an analogy, if you want green paint, one way to make it is to know that yellow and blue paint can be combined to make green paint, and that yellow and blue paint can each be made from specific berries or something. Or you can start with the berries, and try out different combinations to see what colors you get. Building Chords can be the same way. If you want to make a Major Chord, one way to make it is to know that you need at least three Notes, and that the specific combination of a Root, Major 3rd, and Perfect 5th makes the final product. Or you can start with the Notes in a Scale, and try out different combinations of Notes AKA Intervals and then different combinations of Intervals.
12. Another way to think of Chords is to think about the Intervals in between consecutive Notes, rather than the Intervals between the Root and each of the other Notes. So an Augmented Chord, when you think about it that way, is two Major 3rd Intervals stacked one on top of another.
13. Even though you define a Chord by its Root and the other Notes in relation to it, you can end up changing the order of notes from lowest to highest. For example, instead of starting with the Root, then going to the 3rd and then to the 5th, you could start with the 3rd, then go to the 5th, and then go to the Root...which is now the highest in pitch in this case, when it was the lowest in pitch in the other case. This is called an Inversion, and if you have a Chord with three Notes, there is the standard Chord with the Root on the bottom and two possible Inversions.
14. You can get even bigger Chord with more Notes, e.g., 6th and 7th Chords, as well as Extended Chords using Intervals past the first Octave and Altered Chords that change up the basic Root, 3rd, and 5th structure of the basic Chords.
Hopefully I didn't make any/many errors with this. Hope this helps!
|
On September 22 2011 16:07 LuciferSC wrote:Wow 13th Marine - thank you for your reply. I have 2 exams tomorrow morning so I won't be able to read the whole thing right now, but I can see the great effort you've put in to the reply, so a big thank you!! I promise you I'll try my best to go thoroughly through your reply & understand its concepts. (might have to shoot u back with some questions though - read some of the top paragraphs, can already tell it's pretty complicated  )
Trying to learn music theory can definitely become a sort of "death trap" if that's the ultimate goal you are seeking, but if you approach it as a way to put a name to the things you are hearing in music or in your mind, it becomes much more approachable and to the point.
I guess I have another question now, regarding ear training: I want to work on my ability to figure out music by ear, whether to just learn it straight away or to tab it for others to learn from as well. But is there any way to guide where on the fretboard in general I should be playing something? Which fingers to use and when? When to change positions versus when to stretch? Sometimes it is a clear cut, but to me it often seems like there are multiple options...and for some reason I always end up choosing a less efficient way of fingering a lick/riff/chord/etc. Maybe there's some way to understand the general rules that a player follows when navigating the fretboard?
Also, in terms of improvisation, I've been trying to make the fretboard become "transparent" so that I can directly translate what I am hearing into what I am playing. Or at least in theory. But I'm not sure what that really means? Should I be able to name any note on the fretboard instantly? To be able to hear it in my head? Same idea for the intervals? Should I have a some scale shapes, e.g., pentatonic or western scales, to use as a skeleton for improvisation, and then fill in other notes if I want to play more "outside"? Or should I know the notes on the fretboard and of the chord in the background, and use the chord tones as the skeleton and fill in the other notes? Or is it a mix?
Last question on improvisation...so I've heard a lot that players like Yngwie will have a huge repertoire of licks or scale patterns that they use quite often when soloing...but I've also heard that some guitarists, like Guthrie, don't really use licks when improvising? How does that work?
Thanks!
|
EPT
