Playing Guitar and Antarctica

Q: As my sightreading reaches more acceptable levels I look to consider comping on cruiseships in a ‘Jay Leno’ style pit band. Although it is not a first choice, it will at least be something professional top put on my CV, as well as a chance to play something beyond party tunes, and to further improve reading skills and save. How well respected are people who have done cruise gigs? Will it open any doors on my return? I’m 25 now and I feel like if I don’t do something it will be too late. I can’t think of any other options at the moment. Some wisdom from someone of your experience and calibre would be fantastic.

A: I'm not sure that a boat gig (as we call it in musician circles), in itself commands any real respect. What does command respect is a musician who consistently works, be it a boat gig, plus anything else for that matter. A good friend of mine just went on a boat gig, he is a year younger than you and a very fine guitarist. He asked me what I thought about the job offer on the boat. Some other musician who was there at the time gave his two cents, which I thought was a load of crap. He said that a boat gig does nothing for one's career and should be avoided. I told him this: that it doesn't matter what the gig is and a gig is a gig and should not be turned down unless you are sure that there is something better on the way and the boat gig would ruin your chances. You see, it is a privilege to get paid to play a guitar. Think about it, it is a piece of wood with some steel strings attached and when you hit them with a little piece of plastic, somebody gives you money and you can get babes too. What a concept, it seems to good to be true! Some people even give me money to show them how to pick at the strings with the plastic thing so they can get paid too. So when you start wondering if a boat gig will pay well or commands respect, the answer is that any job you can do with a guitar in hand commands respect and any amount of money is overpayment for such a fun thing. And I'll tell you when he emailed me a photo of Antarctica, i really thought so. How many people get to go to Antarctica? And how many of them get paid to go? And how many of them get paid to go to Antarctica by hitting some steel strings on a piece of wood with a plastic thing? Pretty amazing if you ask me. I suppose that there are better paying gigs but so what? Hopefully it is just one gig in a series of gigs that will stretch on and on. Plus, you never know who is on the gig. One of the guys on the gig could go on to a real big gig one day and take you with him. If you can get yourself on a boat gig, pat yourself on the back my friend and welcome to a very exclusive club, the club of professional musicians.

3rds and 4ths together in chords

Q: Why is it that major 3rds and 4ths in the same chord is prohibited? In your book (p.49) You say that simultaneous presence of a major 3rd and perfect 4th in the same chord is undesirable – so, why exactly? Because it’s said to be cacophonous? And that’s all? Hmm… Maybe there are some reasons which are more objective? "Cacophonous" is too subjective to my mind (especially regarding modern music)… As I understand it, any two notes a min2nd (or min 9th) apart never should present in the same chord simultaneously. But later in "The Infinite Guitar" while regarding different modes You give a lot of examples of chords with simultaneous presence of one and even two pairs of notes min 2nd (or min 9th) apart. How could You explain all this?

A: 3rds and 4th together in the same chord is not prohibited, just not a great sound. Sometimes minor 2nds together in a chord sound better than others, like between the 7th and root in a maj7 chord or between the #11 and 5th in a maj7#11 chord. Even between the 3rd and #9 in a 7#9 chord. So why not in a sus chord? Because:

1. It throws the nature of the chord into question. In a maj7 chord the B and C notes are important to the nature of the chord (the chord sounds crappy with the 7th as the bass note but eliminating either, would change it from what it is), same with the #11 and 5 in a maj7#11 chord. A 7#9 chord without both the major 3rd and #9th would turn the chord into something else. But the 3rd and 4th in a dominant chord are conflicting to the nature of the chord. It makes the ear wonder if something is wrong and confuses us.
2. It isn’t necessary. The 4th is way more important in a sus chord and there are better notes to add to the chord than a 3rd.

By the way, theory is just common practices to specific genres and, although sometimes based on laws of nature, is not musical law. You can add a third and there are some interesting voicings. Like a IV–V in G (C–D). Play an open position C chord and slide it up a whole step leaving the 3rd and 1st string open. Nice sound as long as you are arpeggiating and not bashing the chord (look at the chord up on top of this post).

Q: C-E-G-B-D-F-A (maj13 chord) = also impossible? Why? For the same reason, the 3rd and 4th can't be included together in the same chord? But is the 11th note is necessary for the 13th chord?

A: No, theoretically the only notes that must be included in a 13 chord (major or minor) is the 1-3-5-7 and 13. 9ths and 11ths are options. But the general rule is that the 11th, if you were to include it should be raised, as in C-E-G-B-D-F#-A. But once again, they are options and regardless, you couldn’t play a 7 note chord on the guitar. If you were playing with a bassist, you could technically just play the 3rd, 7th and 13th.

Links:

• Chord Construction Formulas
• Chords and Their Symbols
• The Infinite Guitar Instructional Book

Easier Voicings

Q: I was looking through some of your lessons (which, by the way, are all very well written), and wondered something. I was checking out the "Thinking out of the Cage" lesson and thought to myself that there are a lot of easier voicings than the ones you have. Is there any reason for the difficult voicings? Wouldn't it be quicker and easier just to play the standard voicings rather than struggle with the ones you have as examples?

A: Yes it would be quicker and easier to play the garden variety voicings that everyone plays. It just depends on whether or not you want to play chords like everyone else or not. Guitar players always give me a good crack up because, at least regarding chords, we only want to play what is easy, even if the voicing sounds goofy. And the rational is that it if it can't be learned in a few minutes, it isn't worth working on. Think about it for a second: how long did it take you to learn the F chord? The answer is usually a month or two. How come guitarists seem to think that the F chord is the right of passage and no other chord should take that long? When I was learning guitar, I thought that all chords were supposed to take weeks or months to be able to hold down so I worked on them for long periods of time and that is why I can play big hairy chords that very few other guitarists can, even though my hands are relatively small. I will concede that it is better to play simple in certain situations, but I personally believe that showing an interest in, and learning interesting voicings is important unless harmonic mediocrity is something you can be satisfied with. Listen to Herbie Hancock play chords and tell me you wouldn't want to sound like that.

Lessons:

• Thinking out of the Cage
• Chords and their Symbols pt.1
• Chords and their Symbols pt.2
  
• Chord Construction Formulas

triads and the half/whole diminished scale

Q: look at the ii-V-I that I attached, the key is C Major. What is going on over the V chord, G13? I see two arpegios, E major and the other of Db major Why?

A: Yes, this is a trick for the half/whole diminished scale. Actually four triads placed minor 3rds from the root of the dominant chord work well. For example, a G7 chord: G, Bb, Db and E placed over the G7 chord are all good choices for arpeggios. Obviously G placed over G7 would just be the root, 3rd and 5th of the chord. Bb would be the #9th, 5th and b7th. Db would be the b5th, b7th and b9 and E would be the 13th, b9th and 3rd. These are pretty common arpeggios to play over the G7 chord. The sound is from the diminished scale creating a 13b9 and 13#9 tonality. Check here: diminished scale

Phrygian over ii-Vs

Q: I'm learning jazz from a book by Mark Levine called The Jazz Piano Book and where I can't understand the book, I use your website and it has been really useful so far. But now I'm kinda stuck at a point about Phrygian chords. Mark Levine says that you can combine an E-7 and A7, a II-V in the key of D, into an A Phrygian chord (For example in Victor Young's "Stella By Starlight"). I can't get my mind to it why you can combine those two chords into an A Phygian chord. On your site I can't find an answer, so maybe you can help me.

A: I would have to assume that it is not a Emin7 but Emin7b5, and that would also be the right progression for "Stella." It makes pretty good sense:

You see, A phrygian = F major, and F major = E locrian. So that scale is a good match for Emin7b5 right? And the A phrygian is a pretty good match for the A7, especially as the A7 chord, like in stella, is a A7b9 chord. A phrygian = A-Bb-C-D-E-F-G = 1-b9-#9-4-5-b6-b7. I don't think these are the best scale choices for the progression but it will work. Better would be G melodic minor for the Emin7b5 chord (E locrian#2), and Bb MM for the A7 chord (A altered). The A phrygian mode would work better for a A7b9sus4 chord.

The Phrygian Mode >>>

Mics and Goofy Engineers

This post didn't start with a question but because of some goofy recording engineers. I went in the studio for a session yesterday, set up my head on a cab that they had there and went out for a coffee while they got their mics set up. When I came back, there was 12 mics on and around the amp. Needless to say, this gave me a good crack-up. I've never seen so many mics on one amp. Anyways, they had me play an improvised solo for a minute and they recorded 12 separate tracks (one for each of the mics). Then they had me listen, without knowing what was what, to each one and pick the mics I liked the best. As usual, the Shure '57 won. The SM57 is about the cheapest mic there is (about 80 bucks) and always sounds great on Celestion speakers. Coming in second was the Sennheiser e906, going for about $180.00. It is supposedly designed specifically for guitar amps. It seems to have a little bit more high end compared to the '57, while the '57 offers nice midrange. For the ambient mic, I picked the AKG C414 B-XLS/ST, which is about a two-thousand dollar mic. I actually liked these three mics in combination, panning the '57 and e906 slightly left and right. They later mixed the track with reverb on the ambient track and stereo delay on the two close mic tracks. Pretty fat sound:

Min(maj7) chords

Q: I have a question about the min(maj7) chord. its supposed to be the strongest resolve to the melodic minor and harmonic minor scales. but when i play it on the guitar, it just sounds wrong like it needs to be resolve itself. Is there a common progression for the melodic minor using the min(maj7) that works? i remember you saying in one of your articles that when you first encountered some of these chords, that you ears just hadn't been 'opened' yet. but i've listened to a lot of the jazz guys, to know what sounds properly resolved. so why is this one chord a problem?? Thanks for your time sir.

A: The i chord in MM takes some getting used to and is not as common as you would imagine. It doesn't need to be resolved and usually functions as a resolved i chord. It just has to be in context and voiced the right way. By context, I mean in the right genre. Jazz is the only real place it gets used as a resolved i chord. The other way it gets used is in a progression that goes:

min - min(maj7) - min7 - min6. You see the root keeps moving down in half steps:

Amin: XX7555, Amin(maj7): XX6555, Amin7: XX5555, Amin6: XX4555. Add in your open 5th string if you want to hear the A bass note underneath.

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As a resolved i chord, it usually shows up in a iio - V(alt) - i : Emin7b5: X7878X, A7#5: 5X566X, Dmin9(maj7): X5365X. See the way the #5 in the A7#5 stays on as the maj7 in the min9(maj7) chord? Good voice leading utilizing common tones helps. It is not the easiest chord to use.

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Chris this answer really hits home with me. i enjoyed reading this explanation. I do have a couple of questions just to make sure that i understand how to use these "awkward" chords from now on, especially with voice leading, resolving etc.

Question 1: Would an easy way to learn chord voicings be to memorize five shapes of each chord type? or learn the intervals of the scale 'solid' and build the chords that way? (easiest most efficient way?)

A: I would say, learn the chords inside the scales. You can usually achieve good voice leading by staying inside one scale for most of the chords. If the chords are unrelated, you can still get similar results by staying in the same position. I think it is important to learn your chords both ways, from shapes and by being able to understand the intervals and being able to manipulate them.

Question 2: Would it be correct to say that voice leading is a more elaborate way of phrasing, a non-diatonic approach, and as long as there is a common tone you can connect just about any neighboring chord?

A: I'm not sure if phrasing is the right word but I think you can make unrelated chords blend together by using voice leading, such as keeping common tones. There has to be a thread running through the progression. This thread could be common tones or some kind of motif. Slash chords are a good example. For example Amin7-Dbmaj. This would seem like a very difficult progression to make work as the chords are completely unrelated. But they have one common tone, a C note. And, they can both be though of as slash chords, a C/A and a Ab/Db. The two triads one after another, is a sort of motif.

Question 3: Your example: Amin - Amin(maj7) - Amin7 - Amin6: This is in my opinion kind of like a "pitch-axis" scenario. changing key, but keep the same tonal center. If you were to go back into a diatonic progression after this "series", how would you go about doing that...(give me another example, please).

A: The Amin - Amin(maj7) - Amin7 - Amin6 thing is not changing keys. It is a very common thing for any i chord that you would do if you have enough time to do it. Like two measures, or even a slow tempo number with the four chords played as quarter notes. This works for jazz, Latin and even rock to some extent

Question 4: I would like to hear a bit more on resolving. knowing which chord naturally leads to another, and why theory makes it that way. for example, i have a theory book that tells that the I chord can lead to any chord, the ii leads to IV and vi, the iii leads to V or viio, etc, just as examples. is there a reason behind this? tones going up major/minor thirds, or tonic note resolving up and down perfect 4ths and 5ths ? is there really a 'systematic' way of approaching this sort of thing, or is it based off entirely chord voice leading?? Thanks so much for your time.There is no other source i've found better than yours! Good solid answers.

A: It has a lot to do with intervals of 4ths and tritones. That is why a V chord likes to go to a I chord. The B and F tritone in the G7 want to resolve to C and E, the root and 3rd of the C chord. The root likes to move up a 4th to C, the root of the chord. 4ths are very strong, play a progression using the diatonic chords in C starting on the ii chord moving up in 4ths and you'll hear it: Dmin - G -C - F - Bdim - Emin - Amin.