The advancing guitarist pdf free download

This is because of the fact that the 3rd interval between those strings as opposed to the perfect 4th intervalthat occurs between allthe other sets ol adjacent strings changes things around quite a bit. I'm sure by now you can see the vastness of this project called position playing.

For example, let's take the major scate. The first approacrr wouto be td ke;p ihe major scare the same, and change the position ii. The second approach woutd'be to t. Thereasonforthisisthatthehigherth6position,ihectosertogeiner are the f rets. Thus, a higher position would-be physicaily J nit easier, p",ii.

However, don,t lorget the names of the notes. And oon't torgdt t ne 'aejrei6 otthe note retative to the root of the scare or arpeggio. The same appfieJto crrords. Lfings " '. There is no direct relationship between how wellyou krnw position playing and how well you can improvise. Ptay through any or all Jazzstandard s keeping entirely in one position while you're improvising.

Remember: anything you want is there, somewhere! Play through things like Rhythm Changes and Blues Changes all in one position. Or change the position and keep the key the same. When working with scales and especially modes , as soon as you "know the fingerings," slarl improvising. Explore interval leaps - patterns, anything you can think of ancvor hear. This is one of the biggest problems that beginning and intermediate guitarists have with improvising. They just play scales up and down and play arpeggios up and down.

That's barely enough to get you "in the near vicinity of the ballpark"! Optional: Learn fingerings for alltwelve major scales in the position of your choice. Get three minute cassette tapes. Record two 1S-minute roots on each side. That would be four roots per cassette. Three cassettes would be enough lor all twelve roots. Combination Playing: "The Realm of the Electric lce-skating Rink" combination playing is what guitarists do the most when they play.

They don,t just ptay on one string; they don't just play in a position. They mix it all up; they move around. Hopefully, they lollow the music, which takes them wherever it needs to be taken. I think it should be fairly clear by now that a lot of playing up and down the individual strings combinedwith a lot of playing in positions woutd add upto the targest possible preparation lor combination playing.

What we are looking lor as improvisers is the greatest possible feeling of lreedom with respect to whatever area of the fingerboard the mulic happens to take us. Thus, "The Realm of the Electric lce-skating Rink.

Let'stake ourold friend, the C major scale, out for a walk: 1. Play the C scale only using two notes per string: 1 6th I 1 1 1 1 J 2 J 2 4 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st Znd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Notice that with this fingering, you move downlhe neck as the scale goes up; and that you move upthe neck as the scale goes downt lsnt that interesting?

What do you think? Play the C scale starting on anynole low E string and play three notes on every string. You'll notice that these lingerings look just like position playing until you get to theBstring. This kind of fingering would come in handy il you wanted to play the lollowing: J So, from this exarnple we can see that rhythmical groupings are an important mnsideralion.

Three notes per string makes sense lortriplets, sextuplets, etc. Also, reseethatarticulationcanbeimportant. So, to review: 1. Notes per string:two, three, four, five, six 2. Notes perposition: two, three, four,five, six 3. Shift positions by half steps or anyinlewal,lorthat matter!

Rhythmical considerations: triplets, 1 6ths, etc. And put on yourfinger-skates, because to I 1st To Do: Experimentwith allpossible scales, modes ard arpeggios using the entire lingerboard. The Straight Path lmprovise on modes of C major scale using the entire f ingerboard. You'll probably want to use 'the Straight Path" sections. E changes to Eb for melodic minor. A changes to Ab for harmonic minor. You might also work with other seven- note scales.

Our approach has been irnrily derivative so lar. The modes were derivedfrom C major scale, C melodic minor, harnpnic minor, etc. That means: allthe modes lrom ihe same 0L You might choose to pick C as the root since you probably know that key fairly well rluv. Personally, lthink it might be even betterlo pick either E or A. These notes are ctwo lowest open strings. The idea here is that it would be very convenient to have a r,open-string root in going through the parallel approach.

This is particularlytrue ol prrpnic material, since you'll have eitherfour orlive ol the higher strings to playthe ifrqs, as well as the low, open-string root to sound against any voicing you want. That ificome in very handy. Transpose it to the other 17 7-note rnodes. Transpose to the 17 other seven-note modes. C:o back to playing up and down a single string, using allthe material, then play ihe dherfivestrings.

Thenlivesetsof twoadjacentstrings. Thenalltheabovematerial ln open position. Then in one position. Then take a break! Explore counterpoint and harmonic materiallrom all above modes and scales lor at least 20 years. Next "What Next? I'm not one for schedules, particularly, but a lew interesting numericiicoincilences migill be worth mentioning at this point: Time Musical Material 7 days in a week 7 modes of major, melodic and harmonic minor 4weeks 4 triads; in a month 4lamilies of 7th chords 4 seasons in a year 12 months in a year etc.

You get the idea. Do you understand why the bar lines are placed where they are? How aboutthe double bar lines? Can you explain the relationship of line 2 to line 1? Other interval combinations have been omitted. To what extent does your harmonic and contrapuntal skilldepend on knowing these intervals? Have you suddenly decided to become a short-order cook?

These four are E resun of combining major and minor 3rd intervals. Move each triad to the next with the leasl 'can urnt of rnovement. To do this, we: look for common tone s , which is a note that is contained in two different triads. Vertical lines are omitted for clarity. Read alltriads verticatly. Now, go back to the "triad row" and voice-lead through the entire progression.

Start with a different inversion of the very lirst chord and go through the sequence again. Play it backwards. Start the sequence with a spread triad voicing and go through the whole sequence again. Guess what now? Can you see otherthings to do? That'S a great thing to do. This way, if you lose your place or something else weird happens, you've got it down on paper. But as soon as you can, it's really good to go through these sequences just from the chord symbols. You may come across some voicings for part of the progression that you really like.

When this happens, write them down immediately. Don't just write the chord symbols. Take the time to write the exact voicings, because inversions can really change the sound of a progression. Observations 1. Augmented triads are tricky because the inversions on a given set of strings are all the same.

Diminished triads are tricky because the inversions on a given set of strings are all different. This approach to triads is somewhat'dry" and a bit too theoreticallor some people. Other people lind it interesting because they understand that they are dealing with all of a large but finite number of possible units with almost inf inite possible combinations. There is a lot more to triadic harmony than many people would suspect. When we get to the harmonic material derived f rom major, melodic minor, and harnrxrnic minor scales, I suspect that you'll be glad you've worked with this approach to triads first.

All these AI these AI these Al these t progressions progressions progressions progressions can can can can be be be be done done done done with with with with any any any any ol the four types ol triads.

Could other cadences occur in other modes? Maybe you had almost lorgotten, too? Aemate cycles contain two alternating intervals. For example, alternate cycle 3 ilerndes between major and minor3rd. The remaining voicings that are rower higher need to be rearned and r.

Quartal Harmony fourlh voicings See page PIay and identify alltriads and cycles. This note is enharmonicaily the same as 3. Consequenily, the mode built on the 7th degree b lurns ouilo be 87 altered: 1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7. Functionally, the altered scaleiswritten: 1b2 23 4 5b7 b9 9 11 b13 b5 1, 3, b7 b9 9 b5 You can think: 3 chord tones 4 tensions 11 and 5 b13 This super Locrian scale is used against a dominant 7th chord, not a minor 7 b5.

Even though the diatonic 7th chord is B-7 b5 , the ,,aftered,'in att. No 9; no 5. This is known as an altesred dominant scale. The Super Locrian or aftered dominant scale is also called the diminished whole tone scale, because it starts out tike a diminished scale B Eb;half step wholestep- half step and ends tikeawhotetone scale ien G A B;ailwhote steps. This is not to say that they can't be used at atl. The sound of the major Ord seems to add a nice quatity of lntervals, Triads, 7th Chords, Others Harmonic Minor Scale Let's take a closer look at the C harmonic minor scale.

This augmented 2nd interval is really what gives the harmonic minor scale its very distinctive "color". The construction of the major scale and the melodic minor scale involved only hall steps and whole steps. See the hybrid four-part voicings, pages 59 to Notice that 8"7 has a bl 1. Enharmonically 3. SincetheBoTatreadyhasbbT 6 ,this means you get b13, 13, and no 7th!

Kind of weird, isn't it? Atthough Lydian augmented third mode of melodic minor has the same thing, it also has 4, which seems to redeem it somehow. Ab Weird! These give very interesting colorsthatwe haven't seen before. Allof this helps to explain why I suggested that only four harmonic minor nrodes were really useful. From 1, 4, 5, 6. From the 2nd degree seems to spoil the sound of the V7 b9 prematurely. However, this is just my own personalopinion. As always, you must decide for yourself.

Eb Ab B Eb F B turns out to be an Ab minortriad However, since the harmonic minor scale is so interesting harmonically, lthink it bestto let each person decide what does ordoesn't sound good. Eb Do G C- Diatanic 4-part Chords: Part IV ln these sets there is no succint 7th chord terminology syslem, so the sole system is triads over bass notes.

I'lajor hybrid 11th G EGA. Most of the time, there's some truth to what anyone might tell you. However, you need to watch out for any tendency to think that 'ihere must be oneway that's the best. Any sytem of chord-scale relationships is bound to have certain advantages as well as certain disadvantages.

Consequently, I'd advise anyone to find out as much as possible about many diff erent approaches. Derivative hasthe advantage of relying on relativelylew "masterscales,,,which would include the major scale, the real melodic minor scale,ihe harmonic minor scale, the symetrbal diminished scale, the whole tone scale, the pentatonic scale, etc. The complexity of this approach involves the lact that you need to learn many different relationships of how the "master scale" relates to ihe chord type.

Examfles: chord symbol is F Lydian. Think major scale built on the f ifth degree c major scate. Chord symbol is G7 altered. Think melodic minor scale built from b9 Ab melodic minor scale. Chord symbol is A7 b9 b Think harmonic minor scale built lrom the root ol where this dominant chord would tend to resolve D harmonic minor scale.

The Parallel approach starts out with allthe complexity because in the beginning you have to learn seven different modes f rom the major scale, seven modes from the metooic minor, seven modes from the harmonic minor, etc. As diff icult as this may seem, it does have the distinct advantage of a consistent understanding of note relationships lrom the roots ol the chords.

Consequently, this approach parallel is usually understood to be especially important and usefulfor musicians who play chords. This way,we know not only the notes that are available, but also their relationship to the chord type in terms of chordtones and tensions.

For instance, if the chord symbol is Gb Lydian, derivative thinking might be too slow: "what is the major scale ol which Gb is the 4th degree? Let's see, oo t go up a fifth or down a f ifth? Whereis, if'you knowthat Lydian,means a major scale with the 4th degree raised a half step, you can get to the notesrightaway. So,inthissituation,itwouldappearthatparallelthinkingiiquickerthan derivative. Derivative thinking would be much f aster: "Minor 7 b5 is Locrian. Major scale up a half step.

Ohl lt's the notes of a B major scale f rom the 7th degree, A! Probablythe mostwell-known of alternaiive chord-slde relationships would be the Lydian Chromatic Concept. One less apppealing leature is that it can tend to be conlusing to someone who doesnt already have a strong background in both derivative and parallel thinking. Like any other approach, the L. You do need to learn particular scales, in different relationships lo chord-types, but the "parent scales" are somewhat diflerent than in normalderivative thinking.

But lhe f act that someone could look this way is quile valuable, :1iic. There are examples of L. You'llf ind I s;r. To my knowledge there has been nc organized approach or hod to this kind of thinking, even though many players use it lrom time to time. As , :,r rnight guess, it has to do with c,ommon tones.

And what charges? For purposes of derncnstration, let's take a couple ol ;:cgressions and show alllourways of chord-scale thinking followed by a theme that has :-een moved around to f it each of the lour approaches. No,1 Derivative Ab Maj. Eb major F melodic min. Parallel C lonian Bb Lyd. Ab Lyd. C Aeolian maj. C Mixo. But I think that if you played thiough the progreision a number of times using each of the lour approaches, you would come up with oiff:erent r.

Observations for Example No. And what changes? C Lydian A7 aft. F mel. D Locrian Ab mel. Lydian Chromatic Db Lyd. You might experiment with themes of ress than seven notes or more. Afterthoughts: Again, no singre approach is 'the best. Each is valuabte. Each is worthwhile explorinf. After deciding to demonstrate how the Malor 7th, Maj. I came up with six possible uses: 1. D7 sus 4 9,13 3. D in Dorian only 4. A-7 6. B7sus4 5 , b9 Then I f igured it would be a good idea to show the use of C Major 7th lor each of the six chords in progressions where the chords occurred in context.

So I wrote six progressions of three orlour chords. Then, lwrote several more versions of each of the six functions using different voicings of the C maj. The progressions were usually 1 V I or some variation of it. I compiled allthe material and wrote it out on paper which follows.

Then I wondered if it would be possible to string these small harmonic fragments together to make a larger progression. The trickwould be to use each and everyfiagment, but only once! After much experimenting, I f inally f igured out a way to do it.

I admit I did take some "artistic liberties" when I needed, but that's okay to do. Then lwrote it out on paper which lollows. Then, I simplif ied it to write the progression the changes which follows.

D7 Sus4 G Lyd. D7 Sus 4 A-7 C7 Alt. F Lyd. G-7 bs C Alt. G Maj. G Lyd. Harmonic Continuity D7 Alt. E7 Alt. Chord Progression D7 A7 Alt. C Lyd. A7 Ait. D-7 B7 b9 B7 be G7 Alt. E Lyd. C Maj. B-9 D7 Alt. Go7 E- C Maj.

B-7 bs G-7 bs C7 Alt. G-7 C7 A1t. D-7 b5 G7 Alt. D7 Sus 4 All D7 Alt. Ohservations of the ;:: J cr't use the D Dorian voicings because jul ,.. A7 Alt. Ab7 Alt. Db Maj. Step 1 Step 2. Step 4. Step Sus 4 b9 F -7 bs Bb7 Alt. D7 Alt. Use the three voicings above for the three variations or use others, if you pref er. Write a melody. Write out changes and begin improvising. Question: Can you find six different Major b5 chords in the previous harmonic conrinuity?

G13 Uses of Aug. Vil ; and 87 sus4 b9,13 ; and that, in ' f act, all lf these chords are somewhat interchangable! A7 as as D13 11 Ab7 A1t. F -7 bs B7 sus. F' These 30 structures f all into three convenient types: 1. Obvious 7th chords B 2. Less obvious 7th chords 7 3. Donl forget that you could try to voice these chords with the triad spread position as ,.

It's also very possible to arrive at other structures by putting the bass note above the triad or in the middle somewhere. All 30 structures could be arpeggiated in countlessways. Three-part 4th voicings could also work over bass notes! Triads Over Bass Nofes; II next few pages include some examples of a different way to use triads over bass -e -'s.

We aren't concerned with figuring out all the possible uses lor each chord. We :';te a particular structure and move it through either three-or lour-nole tonic systems.

A ::ree-note tonic system would be an augmented triad; a 4 note system would be a : r:Lnished 7th chord. Be sure to voice-lead the upper structures very carefully.

These :. B- F- Ab- B- D. B- Ab- Ab F- D. B- D- F- B. Eb- G- Eb- G- B. G- Eb- G- B. G- B- Eb- B- G. Db- F. D- F- B- D. Bb- Db- E- Bb. D-7 bs F-7 E-7 bs f -u -e. D-7 b5 C oj Eb7Sus. F -7 b5 r G-7 Bb-7 C7 F Maj. E Maj. C6,9 from majorpentatonic scale 3.

G13 C ;Flyd. Four-part perfect 4th voicing Ab13 9 dim. C7 alt. Ao A- Bb 6. C7 with 3 andsus 4 B A- CM7b5 D B. A-M7 11 ; D7 11 F -7 b5,e ; Abalt.

Ab C7 9 from dim. A also alt. Ao or C-6,9 D D E C7 b9 11 symmetricaldim. Therefore, any f ive-note scale could be called pentatonic. The major pentatonic scale works in allthe places a major scale could work. The minor pentatonic siale works in allthe places a melodic minor scale could work. Also, since the C minor pentatonic scale is contained in the Bb major scale, it would wok lor some major modes.

Dispositionally on the guitar, the major pentatonic scate "fails happity. The minor pentatonic is more dilficult or a bit less accessible. But work with it, since it's so useful. Another approach that you might keep in mind is the following: since the "problem areas" in the minor pentatonic scale are the minor 3rd interval between 6 and 1, and especially the major 3rd interval between h3 and 5, sometimes it's advisable to add the 4th degree to get a six-note scale.

This "falls more happily" on the guitar and is just about as useful as the f ive note scale. From G melodic min. C-6 D7sus4 b9 F7 A-7 b5 B7alt. From C mel. From Bb maj. I almost forgotto mention something very obvious and very important: C major pentatonicworks realwellfor Blues in A!

How many of us started with this?! Suggestions ' check out fingerings major pentatonic scare in positions one through twerve. Also, open Position. Easy positions are two, rive, ,ru. Especiaily, positions two, five, seven, ten, and twerve. C Eb Eb Maj. D-7 F -7 b5 87 alt. Bb- Ab Maj. C Major Pentatonic 1 Ex. Consequently, 1[sixth position] which inctudes both 4 and 5 contains the combined possibilities of 2 [fifth position] and 3 [seventh positionl, plus a lot more that cant be done in either 2 or 3.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs over a perfect 4th interval are now possible. This would make two-measure patterns 16x Example: T4. You could rewrite the whole series of 16 one-measure examples using other intervals besides 3rds 4ths, sths, 6ths, etc.

You could make a living by writing books of exercises using this material! Finger Math: ' ' These 96 patterns could be played on one string, or in positions across all six strings. Study the relationship between lhe 24patterns of Finger Math and the material in "Fragments Mosaics. I constructed lines by connecting each of the 24 foui-note patterns in descending minor 3rds. Consequently moJt, if not all, of this materialworks nicely on a symmetrical diminished scale.

Then, I arrived at three other variations of the za lines by omitting the first note, the f irst two notes and the f irst three notes of the lirst measure. That makes 96 possibilities. The first measure of each of the g6lines follows. Also, realize that these four- note patterns could be connected at olherintervals besides nrinor3rds.

Notonlythat,butyoucouldmovelromanyfour-notepatterntoanyother four-note pattern at any intervar, ascending or descending! Can you harmonize the scale three ways with closed triads?

Can you harmonize the scale three ways with spread triads? Since the diminished scale doesn't have any convenient "handles" on it major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor scales do have ihandles,'! A Picture is worth a Thousand words 1. Play this: - a Taste, a Thousand pictures. Can you skip around from any one of the 16 measures to any other?

Oan you transpose this theme to any other mode? Allofher modes? Can you memorize this theme and playwith eyes ctosed? Can you transpose this theme and play with your eyes closed? Do you understand why that,s the tiile? Arso, how vast are its possibirities. This way, we can curtivate patience and stop worrying because we think we aren't learning fast enough To really'know tnetuitar iasto take a lot ol time.

Why be in such a hurry? Limit yoursell to onlytwo notes on one string. Limit yourself to only three notes on one string. Limit yourself to onlytwo notes on two adjacent strings. Limit yourserf to onrythree orfour notes on two adjacent strings. Playwith one note one string. Playwith two notes one string. Play with three notes one string. Playwith two notes two strings. Play with three orfour notes two strings. Contemporary Harmony Let's face it: compared to any keyboard instrument, the guitar is a rather limited harmonic instrument.

Stiil, there's a. These areas would include: '. Anything and everything having to do with quarter harmony fourth harmony. Triads over bass notes sometimes called ,,slash chords,,. Structures from the symmetricaldiminished scale. Structures with b9 intervals included in them. Also, keep in mind that,it's not just how many voicing you know; it,s much more a question of how many uses you know for. Most guitarists are stiil decades o'enino pianists,narmon[arry speaking. My personal opinion is that the full harmonic potential bt tne gritu, c.

But regardless of whetheryou. So what are you waiting for? About Tuning and Tuners: when electronic tuners first out, I was sort of ,,against,,them. After a white, I got one ,Tor,, 9aT. Even though you use a tuner, you can still have intonation problems if each string is not in tune with itself.

That's why some guitars have bridges wifr moveaute saddles for each string' l hope your guitar has onet; You need to g6t a smail ro.

That i9, want to pray in tune. Arso, if possibre, get a set vo. Tune-o-matic 2. Screwdriver or allen wrench 3. Electronictuner 4. Fine tuners Harmonics and Overtane Influence This topic is one of the nrcst interesting aspects ol the guitar. One might almost say that it conslitutes another instrument entirely--one that is suf,erimposed ovir the guitar.

The f requency of the resultant partial is'inversely proportional to the division -8; of the string length. Hatf the string tength twice the trequency. Dividing the string into three parts gives two nodes 7th.

Dividing the string into fdur parts gives three nodes sth, 1ah and 24th frets. However, since one of the iodes the l zth iret has already been used for a lower harmonic, only the 5th and 24th frets would produce the proper f requency.

This occurs with any division of the string into a numbei ol parts that can be divided by a smailer number i. Consequently, divisions oI five-and seven produce the greatest numberof functioning niod.

As a result, we can see that there are a great number of available nodes that produce a variety of different pitches with certain iepetitions. Allof this occurs on a single string. Remember, we have six strings altogether, don,t we? This may not seem to be very important, but keep this point in mind with what lollows There are two distinctly different uses ol the overtone series: one positive, the other negative. An example of the negative aspect would be if you plucked the string exacily at the nodL point.

Then, the exact opposite would happen. The node lrequency woutd be eliminated and the other partiai ' lrequencies would be reinforcedl Therefore, whether you know it or not, your right hand is juggling partials much ol the timel To explore tnis subject in depth wltt, it notfring etse, explain why timbre varies with the placement ol the righi hand. I ieet I must stop iritint'"t this point; it's like explaining how to tie a necktie to someone over the phone. Feeling "Stale"?

Things to try when you feel ,,stale', about your playing or music : ' ' ' '. Play on the tunes that you are currenily playing, but at least twice as slow. And no double time! Ask yourself : "ls there anything really important in music that I've lorgotten about?

Go for a long walk. Stop playing the guitar, but listen to a lot of music for 1, 2, g,4, 5, 6 or 7 days. Change the strings on your guitar and polish it.

Silence is Golden As players, we are allguilty at least sometimes ol playing too much. Sometimes it seems that the worse we think it sounds, the more notes we play in orderto make up lor it. Usually, things get even worse. We need to remind ourselves over and over again that quite often, "less is trxcre". We need to think: "Don't playten notes when one willdo. Many of you are probably doing exactly that right now!

But knowing when, how, why, and forwhat length of time we should play, silence is not as easy. For purposes of demonstration, l've gone to the trouble ol transcribing a number of examplesof 'theeffectiveuseof space.

Of course, you must develop yourown unique way of using space, so these examples shouldnt be taken too literally. Still, lthought it might be usefulto include them. Examples of "Effective Use Of Space". Observations ' '. Just because something is funny, it doesn't mean that it's not important. Just because something is important, it doesn't mean that il's not f unny. One of the few things worth taking seriously is humor.

On Being Self-Critical Students tend to think that eventually, after they learn whatever it is that they think they need to know or they can do whatever it is they think they need to be able to do , they won't leel insecure anymore.

This thinking amounts to wishing that you didn't dislike your playing so much. Being self-criticalactually has a lot to be said lor it. People who are self-criticaltend to improve in music because they always seem to see so many things to work on. They tend not to get involved in overly developed egos. They tend to be much less critical of everyone else.

Often, they are compassionate. Being self-critical also seems to involve a lot of attention paid to detail. I think you can see that this sort of thing is very important in music. That's a tough path to go because too much attention paid to detail can be stiff ling in music, especially improvised music.

Other things are important, too. Sometimestheseotherthingshavenothingatalltodowithpayingattentionto detail; in fact, they might even appearto be exacilythe opposite of it. The order is rnt important although you can see some sensible relationships. Evgry time I look at this page I usually see something I hadn'l thought about before. Examples: lmprovised piece based on slides and bending. No One Knows What's Next -rere ' is a wonderful and very useful attitude toward improvising that can be cultivated.

No one who is listening to you has any idea what you're going to play next. Also,you - ght f igure out why some people never Stop lor very long! The lirst time a person becomes aware that "no one knows what's next," rrt :an be pretty lrightening.

Attirst, it seems like the sting ol a bee, but it can become sweet as honey ,e::r on. When will I play it? What kind of tone qualitywill it have? What am ltrying to convey bythis note? Am I going somewhere with this note or am I arriving lrom somewhere with this note, or is it just there by itself? Get a blank minute casselte tape. Starring at the beginning of the tape, make a recording of yourself improvising a short piece no longer than two minules When you've tirutsned, turn off ti're tape ietoroer.

Do not listen to the piece! Do not tisten to the new piece. Continue ihis procedure until boih sides ol the tape are filled with these short pieces. This process shoutd take about a month. This way, each piece will sound fresh sinc'e you'll have forgotten what you played. Hopefully, out set aside a coupte of hours ro tisren ro an onhe pieces ol 30 two-minute improvisations, there should be at least a lew of them that will obviously be better than the oihers.

These pieces, or parts of them, can be used as ideas for compositions or tunes. For instance, you might catch yourself nodding off after aboui 15 or 20 minutes, and iimight occur to ytu thatthe pieces lack dynamic contrast, lor example. Here are some suggestions: a' Play random notes from any scale or arpeggio, with a short pause between each note. Try to keep the chords compreiery unrerated, i.

This may oe tricriy at tiist, bur eventuaiiy a person could develop this to an almost unbelievable extent. I tried to contuse nlm with the weirdest voicings and progressions that I could think of, allto no avail.

Then one day, in the middle ol a long series of upper-structure triads overbass notes alternating with altered dominant 4lh voicings over both the. Tth in the bass, I ptiyed a G7 going to c. Since there are only twelve notes, your chances of hitting a right note by luck are And when you oo hit a wrong note, assuming you can discern a wrong note! Prerecord a melody;then tryto improvise chords to it! Time-Rhythm l' Use a metronome. Be sure to play thing s at att settings available on the metronome.

Don't just have three tempos: ballad, miium, as,ast as possible. Use allthe tempos. There are certain things about'time"that you. Learn to use accents. Accents give "life" ,Uefinition,,to and music. Keep in mind that slurring has accents ,built in. As lar as,,swing,'goes, this is okay up to a point. Tempo affects it a rot. At medium-up to very iasiiempos, z to 1 starts sounding "stiff" and eventually becomes impossible. J'azzillhnotes tend to become even Bth notes. It would be usefulto become familiarwith the loltowing ratios: Obvbusly Rhythmical groupings: let's take the numbers 1 through 8.

We all know 1 ,2,3,4,6, and 8 note groupings. Most of us are much lesslamiliarwith 5 and 7 note groupings. They are really very lascinating, once you get used to them. To digress lor just a moment: take the numbers 1, 2, and 3; all other numbers can be arrived at by combining 1 , 2, and 3. The 5's and 7's are very interesting because of the ways they "permute". There are two distinctly different ways ol using them: f irstly, they can be superimposed over other, more familiar, grouPings: ZZ 68 etc.

Secondly, they can be grouped using common rhythmical units. Not all musicians play chords. Not all musicians play melodies. Drummers specialize in rhythms and time. Talk to them. Listen to what they play. Both ol themwere written by drummers! Yes Great! No You'd better get one! How many tempos are there on your metronome? What is an "octave ol time"? Does it follow lrom this, that when we play music, we are manipulating factors that come lrom different levels of vibrational ranges superimposed over each other or contained within each other, or co-existing with each other?

How about: Can a galaxy contain a solar system containing a planet, one hemisphere ol which contains a continent in which a country contains a stale, a particular city of which contains a street on which there is a building having a particular apartment on a particular lloor in which there is a room containing a wet sponge saturated with coff ee, which, in turn, is saturated with honey made up ol certain molecules containing atoms containing electrons and so on into the night How would you Say it?

Have we gotten sidetracked? Maybe so! But it was lun! Have you ever heardthe Bach Chaccone? I Horv would a person find out? At anytempo? At all tempos? Did you just spiil yourcoffee?

Do you have a sponge? Some people have said that if you play with a metronome your'time willget stiff. You know, putting things insidethemoutsideoflhemselvesorseeingthingsthatway But maybe l'm projecting! Could be. But what am I projecting?

Thenyoupluckthestringwithapickoraright-handfinger orthumb. Even after it's clear. Experiment with left-hand linger by gradually relaxing the pressure untilthe note begins lobuzza little. The otherthing that needs to be considered is the coordinated balance of the two hands.

Once you start to examine this in detail. This kind ol energy waste is very "hidden. Continue lessening the pressure untilthe note actually ceases to be a clear pitch at all and is just a muffled attack with no sustain.

You place it right below the 5th lret very close to thefret. Whenever you play anything on the guitar. Then gradually increase the pressure back through allthe "buzz" stages untilthe note rings clear again. Many guitarists use more energy with the.

How can you tell? The note is clear. Technique includes everything involved in the way s you play the instrument phyiicaily. Most ol us use far too much energy in our left hand. Good lechnique is like that. Sometimes this is very difficult for people to see in themselves for two reasons. Think of focusing - a lens on a movie projector.

But technique really involves much more f than that. Technique is touch.