Swing Guitar: Part Four

This is the fourth installment of my series on Swing Guitar comping.  As I've mentioned before, this is my prep work for an upcoming workshop that I will be teaching for the Folk Alliance's winter conference.  Check them out for more information. I hope to see you there!

This lesson will focus on a tool that musicians of every level and genre use: The Circle of Fifths.

I talked a little in previous lessons about how this was used in terms of dominant cycles.  This will be just a brief explanation of how to use the Circle of Fifths as a comping tool and as a reference tool.  There are so many different uses of the Circle that I won't be able to cover all of them here, but I do hope to give you a good working explanation as well as how to use it in Swing Guitar.

What's a Fifth

When we say a fifth, we are talking about an interval between two notes.  In this case, a root (or tonic) note and the fifth degree (or note) on a scale.

To find that fifth, we count the root as one and work our way up the scale.  In the key of C, the fifth note is G.  To build our circle, we keep doing this until we come back to C natural.  In all, there are twelve notes (just like there are twelve positions on a clock; weird!).


The Circle

As a cool little mathematical (read: magic) result, by moving through the twelve notes around in fifths, when we reverse it, we are working in fourths!  Notice that "F" is the fourth degree of the C major scale.

Minor chords

As a reference, many people who use the Circle tend to group the relative minors of each key/chord with the majors already listed.  To find a relative minor, we simply count up six notes on the major scale.  Notice that would be "A" on the C major scale so we use Am.

Below is the circle with the relative minors written in for you.

Dominant Cycle Exercises


Learning to use the Circle as a practice tool can making learning new chords shapes, progressions, scales, arpeggios, licks, or any other melodic or rhythmic device a lot more fun.   Here are some ideas on how to use dominant cycles for practice:

Scales
- Choose a scale such as a mode of the major scale
- Use one fingering to play the scale in C
- Move a fifth to play the scale in G
- Keep moving in fifths around the circle
- Do the same as above moving in fourths

Chord Progressions
- Pick a progression in C keeping chords within two or three frets
- Move a fifth to G and play it again
- Keep moving until you have gone around the circle
- Do this again moving in fourths

Chord Shapes
- Pick a chord shape you are trying to master
- Play the C version of the shape
- Move a fifth to G and play it again
- Keep moving until you have gone around the circle
- Do this again moving in fourths

Again, working in dominant cycles in a great way to learn the relationships of different chords and notes.  And by playing though exercises using the circle, you will inevitably learn the fretboard as well.

Backcycling

Last but not least, I wanted to share something that makes the circle really useful in jazz.  Backcycling is  method of following the chords of a particular key backwards.  Let's look at the C major scale notes again and then harmonize them.

C - D - E - F - G - A - B

Now Harmonized (make them chords)

Cmaj7 - Dm7 - Em7 - Fmaj7 - G7 - Am7 - Bm7b5

Now, let's put them in order with the circle.  Note that the if we look at C and move around the circle in fifths until we run out of notes on the C major scale, we end with B.  So, that is where we will start.

Bm7b5 - Em7 - Am7 - Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 - Fmaj7

Now let's look at the numbers for those chords:

vii - iii - vi - ii - V - I - IV

Here is a look at it with all that on the circle.

 

Notice the ii - V - I in there???  In fact, some tunes you will see this cycle work through from start to finish!  This means that if you can master this harmonization of the circle in all keys you have the bare bones to learn a lot of the jazz and swing repertoire that is out there!

Take a look at all this and have fun with it.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to help explain!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Three

This week is the third part of my series on swing guitar comping.  We will be learning our first tune!

Before we get started, there is a bit of confusion to alleviate.  Copyrights are difficult.  Getting your own stuff copyrighted and then knowing how not to infringe on the copyrights of others.  It can get really confusing!  Without getting too technical, the copyright on music here in the U.S. lasts as long as 120 years.  This means, the only music that you can count on being public domain is something that was written 1893 or before (it's 2013 today).  Since most swing music came out of the 20s and 30s, it presents a problem.

Like the tune "Bye Bye Blackbird" which I want to use for this lesson.  Written in 1926, it won't be public domain until 2046.  So, since guitarists are so clever, those of us not wanting to tempt fate will either use the chord progression (always a derivative) and use a clever pseudonym.  For our use, I'm calling this piece that I just wrote "Goodbye, Dark Grey Bird". (I'm hilarious!)

Moving On...

First, the chord chart (and an explanation):

Created Using iRealB

For the most part this isn't just totally hard to understand.  But, there is some symbology that may need to be interpreted. (In the final outline of this class for the conference, I'll probably have already covered it...)

First, the chord symbols are a bit different.  Here is the guide:
G^7 => Gmaj7*
A-7 => Am7

These are very common jazz chord notations.  Get used to seeing them because they are used a lot in swing repertoire.

Also, you see the "%" symbol being used in a measure with no chords.  This symbol means to repeat the previous measure the same way it was played.  Again, just a common short hand that we use.

A couple of other things to point:  This song is a variation on what is know as AABA song form.  It doesn't follow it strictly, but it does follow the sense of that form.  Song forms are similar to rhyme form only in regards to melody and harmony.  Think of it as a "Verse, Verse, Chorus, Verse" form which is common in rock and folk styles.

A key difference in the AABA form of this song from others like it is that usually the A sections are the same (give or take a turnaround or ending).  That's just a good thing to note here.

Now, let's look at the chords we are using:

As I said in the previous lesson, some of our chords do not have a root or tonic note in them.  This is alright as many times we play with a bass player and we can rely on him/her to play that note.  Even solo, we can still play this chord in context and it sounds real good!

How to Practice Tunes

I'm going to assume that you are a beginner level player.  If you aren't, then learning tunes should be easy and you can skip ahead if you like.

The best way I know to practice a tune is to break it up into sections.  For this tune, we have already stated that it is an AABA form. So, take the first A section a few times and play through the chords out of rhythm.  Just strum them to get the movement under you fingers. 

If there are any chords you are having trouble fingering, then go back and forth to them from others until the movement is easy and natural.  This may take some time, but you should concentrate on building that muscle memory.

After you have one section, move to the next doing the same thing until you can easily change chords without much space between.

Now, it is time to start up your rhythm again.  Remember the four-to-the-bar rhythm?  Use that!  Set yourself an easy pace, say 80bpm or so at first.  Play through it making sure to stay at that pace. (USE A METRONOME!)  Once you can go through it easily, up the it by five or ten bpm and keep practicing until you can play it faster than you need to live.

Here is an example of what it should sound like:

Goodbye Dark Grey Bird (Soundcloud)

When you follow that link, notice that Soundcloud does a spectrum thingy (technical jargon) to display a visual of the sound.  In a straight four-to-the-bar comp style, that looks like spikes or fence posts evenly spaced. This was an unintended side effect of recording it on Soundcloud.

Melody

In the workshop, there won't be much talk about working melody and solos, but I figure I should at least give you something. 

My tune doesn't have a melody line listed, but I'm betting you could use the melody to Bye Bye Blackbird here if you wanted.

The first step to soloing is not scales. At least not in swing.  Later, those can be really cool.  In swing, the first step is being able to play the melody in time.  Once you can do that, you can build solos off of the melody using scales, arpeggios, or any other melodic device you want.  But first, LEARN the MELODY!

That's all for this week, let me know if you have any questions!


Foot notes
* The delta symbol is hard for me to type. I can't quite get it.  For now, assume that '^' is the same as a delta triangle.
** Because we rarely play the verses in swing, the A sections are actually choruses and the B is the bridge.

Swing Guitar: Part Two

This is the second in a series of posts about beginning swing guitar comping.  This is also the basic outline of what is to come for a workshop at the Folk Alliance winter music camp here in Kansas City.  If you haven't already, make sure to check the Folk Alliance out and get registered for the camp.  It will be extremely worth it!

In the last post, we talked about our first set of chords.  These were a minor seven, dominant seven, major seven, and sixth chord.  In this lesson, we are going to look at the same chord qualities, only in a different fingering.

Here is the handout of this part of the lesson:

Again, memorize these shapes.  They are extremely useful.

Along with the new chords (top line), I'm also discussing the four possible inversions of the chord and the fact that the root is not always present or on the 6th string.

Inversions are an extremely important part of swing and jazz guitar.  In this genre, we don't learn on shape for every occurrence of a particular chord (like in rock you might always play G the same way).  Instead, we learn certain arrangements of chords and their inversions that we can mover around the neck of the guitar.

Inversions just means a different order of the same notes of the chord.  In the type of chords that we are looking at here, Drop 3 chords, we keep a bass note on the 6th string and play two more chord tones on strings 4 and 3. There are many other chord groups out there that use different arrangements of the strings.

For these chords, since we are using four notes (root, third, fifth, seventh) there are four different inversions.  On the handout, I show you each of the inversions which are used for each of the beginning bass notes (again: root, third, fifth, seventh).

So, why have the inversions at all?  There are really two reasons.  First, we can use inversions to keep chord close together.  This is a technique called voice leading, but can also just be thought of as economy (meaning, not having to move really far for a chord).  Second, when we get to a point of wanting to move a bass line around, knowing your inversions is the first step.

Practice

As I said last lesson, the best way to practice any new progression or new set of chords like this is to use the fifths.  I called it using the Circle of Fifths last time.  More formally, this is known as dominant cycles.  (Moving either in fourths or fifths.)

I don't want to glaze over dominant cycles (especially since it will lead us to one of our tunes in this series), so I will leave a better explanation for another day.

In the mean time, I went a step beyond this week.  Here is a Noteflight document of the chords played using a dominant cycle in four to the bar comping.

ii-V-I Dominant Cycles Drop 3 #2

Okay, if you have any questions on the lesson or any input, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you!

~Danny

Swing Guitar Comping Part One

I got a cool surprise last week when the Folk Alliance asked me to teach a couple of swing guitar workshops.  They are holding their conference and Winter Camp in February of this coming year and, lucky for me, like to use local musicians for teaching whenever possible.  After some showing off on my part at their store in the River Market here in balmy Kansas City, I got an email the other day asking if I would teach to which I obviously said: Yes!

Now, I'm needing to work through the workshop and create all the handouts and tunes info.  So, guess what, viewers.  I'm using you to experiment on!

Both of the workshops will be on beginner swing guitar technique, mostly rhythm (the biggest part of swing is the rhythm).  That said, basic prerequisites will apply:  Guitarists need to be familiar with basic 12 bar blues progressions, be able to play most bar chords, and understand the very basics of the major scale.

Okay, now that we are all on the same page, here we go with the first set of chords from the handout:

Take a look at that and memorize those chords shapes in the second line.  When I play swing guitar, this is my bread and butter.  It's used more often that you'd think.

I did a lot of explaining on the sheet, but there are a few extra little things you should hear to make this really make sense.

First, swing guitar usually exists in a four to the bar rhythm.  So, instead of a more complicated rock rhythm where we would use various sets of quarter notes and eighth notes. we use instead four quarter note strums for each bar.  The strums should be short and not really connected.  Think more like the hit of a snare drum rather than the hit of a cymbal.  The snare is short, the cymbal rings.  We want short.

Also, note that you are not using large six note voicings.  These smaller three note voicings are create a much tighter tone.  The strings "x's" on the chord shape should be muted with your fingers so they do not ring.  However, you do want a little bit of the percussive sound from the pick hitting the string itself.

Here is a short video of what I'm talking about in the four to the bar and muting the strings.

As for practicing, do this progressions in as many keys as you can.  I listed out the notes of the bottom two strings for you, but you should really memorize this so that you can quickly reference it in your head as you play.

Here is a good order for practicing the progression (I'm using the circle of fifths as a guide):

Am7 - D7 - Gmaj7 - G6
Em7 - A7 - Dmaj7 - D6
Bm7 - E7 - Amaj7 - A6
F#m7 - B7 - Emaj7 - E6 <-- This is best done at the twelfth fret
C#m7 - F#7 - Bmaj7 - B6
Abm7 - Db7 - Gbmaj7 - Gb6
Ebm7 - Ab7 - Dbmaj7 - Db6
Bbm7 - Eb7 - Abmaj7 - Ab6
Fm7 - Bb7 - Ebmaj7 - Eb6
Cm7 - F7 - Bbmaj7 - Bb6
Gm7 - C7 - Fmaj7 - F6
Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 - C6

As I noted above, when you get low enough on the fretboard that the shapes used require open strings, jump up an octave (12 frets) and work the shapes there.  This will actually make it easier to play in this style.

If you have any questions on this lesson, make sure to either email me or post a comment.  I'd be happy to answer anything you got.  Also, look for the next part of this series of lessons to be coming soon.

~Danny

P.S.: This occurred to me while recording the video.  We go from the Maj7 to the 6th chord during the four bars of comping as a way of keeping the movement going.  There is a more complicated explanation I could give, but this will due for now.

Clothes to Make the Guitarist

As a part of my recent mission to finally get off my fanny and play the music I love in more places, I've started to invest in clothing to fit the part.  Nothing too fancy, just a handful of short sleeve (for guitarist reasons) dress shirts, one new tie, and a pair of suspenders that have yet to be purchased.  Basically, I'm going for a 1930s-ish look to match the songs that dominate my set list.

Today, after my happy hour set at Headrush Roasters, I came home and put away my clothes (shirt in the hamper, tie on the hook, pants back on the hanger) and stepped back to look at my closet.

The shirts I've been getting are colorful prints that fit the era.  For me, my wife has been the eye of decision at the department store.  I had the idea of what I wanted, but she is far better a judge on what palette fits me.

Hung on their hangers (not the one I wore tonight, remember, it is in the hamper), the shirts make my closet look colorful in a way that old t-shirts and jeans just can't pull off.  It's a cool sight.

What I'm learning is this:  As a musician grows, they take on a style not just in their music, but in their person.  It's a part, a bit, a character.  It is reflected in the way we present ourselves.  In a small way, I'm finally seeing that form for me. 

~Danny

Vintage Archtop Market

If you are at all like me, then you love the music of the 1920s and 1930s. And as a guitarist, I'm also all about vintage archtops. With all of the great guitars that are out there, it is easy for me to find lots of eye candy. Gibson and Epiphones from the '20s and '30s mixed in with the Kay and Harmony models from the '50s. Lots to love.

About two years ago (2012ish) I started first watching the market on vintage archtops.  Back then, you could get a Harmony or Kay archtop for around $100 if you were patient and knew where to look.

About three months ago, I noticed a jump.  The same guitars are now starting bids at $400.  In most cases, these are showing higher than their blue book values. Sounds like vintage may be a great investment.

The thing is, I've noticed that little or none of these guitars are selling!  Even in a few cases where bids are going up (even into the $5,000 range on one Epiphone I've watched through four separate auctions by the same seller), they aren't hitting their reserve prices.

Then, two weeks ago, a buddy showed me this article:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/08/hot-jazz-new-york

(Let's not even get into the author implying that New York is solely responsible for this rise in swing music. I have other thoughts there...)

My guess is that some collectors or even resalers noticed a small increase in demand and started raising the prices.  I'm not necessarily against costs rising to meet demand.  I did marry the daughter of an economist...  But, I keep going back to a simple belief that items are only worth what an individual would pay for them. So, if no one is buying these things, then the artificially high prices are wrong.

Okay, so this post is simply a rant.  I don't have any solution for what is essentially a free market occurrence.  I'm just annoyed with it.  Personally, I found a nice old National Archtop that I'm kind of falling in love with and I got it for cheaper than I believe it is worth. 

So, yeah... I'm just venting.

Warming Up

Recently, a guitarist I admire a lot put me in my place.  Not in a bad way, but he reminded me that I need to follow my own advice and not be big headed about what fundamentals I should be working on.  He did this with one of the easiest technique building exercises out there.  One that I had been prescribing to students for years.

I'm going to refer to it the same way he does:

The Warm Up

Simply put, the Warm Up is an exercise that is mostly non-diatonic (so it doesn't follow a regular scale) and is more about developing good left and right hand technique and less about music theory.  In fact, I'm pretty sure we can ignore music theory for a minute on this one.

We will start at the lowest string (E for guitar, G for ukulele*) with our index finger. Number off your fingers from index to pinky as one two three four.  This should correspond to the first four frets of the instrument.  So, first finger, first fret and so on. Now play the tab below:

Notice that we are moving ascending chromatically up each string four notes regardless of any music relation.

The point here is not to make music, although you can do it in a rhythmic way.  The point is to develop our left hand fingers' touch and the tone we get on the instrument.  Also, we can either pick or finger pick the strings and work on our right hand technique as well.

Now, once we have done this up to this point, we need to move back down the strings again. Before we do this, we slide up one one fret. Then, play your way down in the following fashion:

Dave: Wait, why don't you descend chromatically on each string as you come back down.

That was actually a question I got.  Like how I did that?

You can do that if you want.  But, by following the pattern above, you are breaking your fingers up from thinking going-down-a-string-is-always-descending.

Now, once you have gotten to the highest point you are comfortable playing (something like twelve or fifteen frets; maybe ten if you are on a soprano ukulele) we need to come back down the neck.  We'll do this in a similar fashion, only this time we will descend on each string. So, it will look like this:

This time, we are descending.  As you guess it, we will work our way back up the strings again in a descending chromatic manner.

The Good Part

So, this is a good exercise and I encourage you to do it slowly and thoughtfully at first trying to get your fingers doing things right rather than fast.  Once you can work your way up and down without any mistakes, you then want to get out our good friend Mr. Metronome.

The examples I have for you above are in eighth notes.  Playing at a slow speed, say 60 bpm to start, work through the exercise up and down without stopping.  Once you can do this in time at whatever speed you started at, move up a few clicks (like say 63 in our example) and try it there.

The goal with developing speed is starting slow.  You need time working something slowly to get the muscles in your hands working together and using their memory (muscle memory) first before you can speed up.

Bonus

Four bonus for today:

1) After going up and down, take a moment to stretch out the muscles in your fingers and hands.  Think like you are a soccer player.  You would end up with a major injury if you walked out of your locker room and started playing a game without a warmup and stretch.

2) Do this every day to build it up.  You don't always have to start slow.  You will know where to start as you get more proficient, but always start at a slower speed than you are wanting to work up to.

3) To work on your swing rhythm, try using the metronome as if it is only clicking on beats 2 and 4.  So if you are wanting to go 100 bpm, you need to set it at 50 bpm.  Then count 1, click, 3, click to get yourself moving. This will be hard and suck at first, but it will payoff loads later.

4) Finally, the patterns of up and down that I gave you above are a starting point.  You can, if you feel up to it, work on alternating fingers in inventive ways.  For instance, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4 try 1, 3, 2, 4 going up and then 4, 2, 3, 1 going down.  Mix it up and make those fingers start to think for themselves!

* Yes, I know that re-entrant tuning that would not be the highest string.  Let's imagine that you have a low G tuning for a minute.  Also, ignore the possibility that you own a baritone uke.