An Organized Approach
By: Tony Beltran
First Edition: Last Revised 10/15/95
Copyright (c) 1995 by Tony Beltran
Permission is granted to make copies of this paper for private use.
DAILY EXCERCISE REGIMEN (cont'd)
Suggested daily practice forms for exercise 6:
Suggested daily practice forms for exercise 6 (cont’d):
Several things to notice here...
Closing comments to this section:
FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CAGED SYSTEM
A SHORTHAND NOTATION SYSTEM FOR FAKEBOOK ARRANGING
A PRACTICAL CHORD-MELODY LIBRARY OF FORMS:
CHORDS DERIVED FROM THE BASIC 'C' FORM:
The 'C' form Pentatonic (blues scale):
CHORDS DERIVED FROM THE BASIC 'A' FORM:
The 'A' form Pentatonic (blues scale):
CHORDS DERIVED FROM THE BASIC 'G' FORM:
The 'G' form Pentatonic (blues scale):
CHORDS DERIVED FROM THE BASIC 'E' FORM:
The 'E' form Pentatonic (blues scale):
CHORDS DERIVED FROM THE BASIC 'D' FORM:
The 'D' form Pentatonic (blues scale):
MUST-HAVES FOR THE JOURNEY (DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM):
NICE TO HAVE ONCE YOU ARE VERY COMFORTABLE WITH THE BASIC CONCEPTS:
SUGGESTED FAKEBOOKS TO WORK FROM:
PREPARED CHORD-MELODY ARRANGEMENTS FOR STUDY:
Learning to play a specific style on the guitar is a daunting task.
There are two primary reasons for this. The first is that there is
so much information to be digested with regard to music and playing
a musical instrument. It is difficult to know ahead of time what
pieces of information are immediately important to your particular
goals. This sifting process has been the reason a lot of people
get forever sidetracked from their initial vision. It takes a person
who has already made the journey to where you want to be to filter
all the available information and feed to you in bite-sized pieces
that you can comprehend. Unfortunately, by the time such a person
has made this journey, they will have probably forgotten how confusing
the initial steps were. You will learn from such a person,
but you may have that nagging feeling that you are not really going
in the direction you had hoped for.
This paper is really a chronicle of the author's own journey written
in such a way as to allow other people to follow the same path. The
information in this paper can be considered as a set of markers similar
to those that hikers may place along a trail so they can find their
way back again. In this case, the author kept a running account so
he could be sure he was not going in circles and getting lost in the
wealth of information. To this end, only that information regarding
music theory that seems appropriate for the focus of this paper is
presented. Also, such information is presented as a set of heuristics
for building scales and chords. All the information discussed in this
paper is available in greater detail elsewhere. The value added by
this paper is simply the distillation of the available information
into a practical guideline to get guitarists started with chord-melody
arranging and playing.
Originally, I thought that it would be both fun and profitable to
write a computer program for teaching this material. As I got farther
along, I changed my mind. The material presented here is really
"head" stuff (memorizing by repetition and understand by doing).
I truly feel that the fewer distractions that come between the guitarist
and this information, the better. If a person were to simply sit
down with their guitar and the information contained in this paper
every day for six months and honestly work through the material, they
would gain a solid foundation for that most fascinating pursuit -
chord-melody playing. By eliminating all the keyboarding and mouse
clicking and distractions that accompany the computer, the guitarist
can focus on the important issues.
I am not opposed to computer technology, having made my living as a
software engineer for the past 15 years. However, I do not subscribe
to the idea that computers can do everything. It was a result of
working through this material that I changed my mind about writing a
computer program to present this material. One part of me would love
to do it. But, the guitarist in me says that would be too much clutter.
In any case, I hope this material is helpful for getting you started
playing decent chord-melody arrangements of your own making.
The material presented here is very focused on the chord-melody style
of arranging and playing. If you thoroughly learn this material, you
will have a solid basis for picking and choosing what you want to
study next. With the wealth of material available (and the inherent
lack of organization of this material), this added benefit will be
very valuable.
The chord-melody style of playing the guitar refers to a way of
playing that includes the melody, harmony, and (if played solo) the
bass line all being played simultaneously on one instrument. This
style is considered by many to be the most challenging and satisfying
for guitarists. Any song or tune with a strong melody can be played
this way. It has been the author's experience that people tend to
listen to and enjoy arrangements of songs they know. This style lends
itself well for those of us who choose not to sing.
Music has often been referred to as a language. Like languages for
speech, different areas and disciplines of music have evolved their
own vocabulary. The information presented here focuses on that
music vocabulary peculiar to the discipline of chord-melody playing
on the guitar. This paper will focus on the construction and use
of chords for harmonizing melodies. The small amount of music
theory presented here is intended solely to support the information
regarding the construction of chords on the guitar fretboard. It
is strongly advised that this information be approached in much the
same manner as one would attend to learning a new language.
First, you would start with building a foundational vocabulary. On top
of this foundation, you would add knowledge of sentence construction.
>From there, you would study modes of expression and variances on
common usage. Eventually, you would want to reach a point of fluency
such that you would not be required to carry a dictionary or grammar
book with you to translate from your native tongue to the new language
and back again. The new language would become as fluent for you as
your native tongue. Such should be the case with this material. You
can utilize the chord dictionary presented later in this paper to
simply grab chords that fit your immediate need. Or, better still,
you can make the chord dictionary available as a tool in a learning
process that you may at a later point discard as the elements of this
language become fluent for you as you speak the language of music.
Having only six strings to work with, it becomes readily apparent
that there is quite a difference between straight music theory regarding
chord construction
and how this information applies to the guitar in real
application. To this end, the paper will present both the formal list of
chord spelling and a set of guidelines for applying these spellings to
the guitar fretboard. These guidelines were gleaned from studying hundreds
of chord forms and noting what could be construed as common practice for
arriving at such forms.
This material takes the well-known CAGED system of approaching guitar
chords and expands it into a large library of chord forms specific to
the solo chord-melody style of guitar playing used by Johnny Smith,
sections presented here, you will arrive at the chord library with a
good understanding of how the forms in it were constructed. You will
have a systematic approach to fingerboard harmony that will help you
to continue to grow as a musician far beyond what is presented here.
Thoroughly understanding the CAGED system and systematically building
the knowledge as a foundation for understanding the chord form library
cannot be stressed enough. It is very important to acquire this
knowledge and have it well in hand BEFORE utilizing the chord form
library. If you do not do this, you will be simply going through the
motions of mechanically selecting chord forms to fit melody notes.
This process without the knowledge will gain you nothing in the long
run.
If you really understand the underpinnings of how the chord forms
were
arrived at, you will be constantly seeing new ways to apply the
forms
because you will view differently than one who does not possess
the
requisite knowledge. Beyond this, you will (through this process)
begin to acquire your
own unique style as you find new ways to voice
the
chords. There is no easy, quick way to get to this place. If there
was,
everybody would be able to do it. All the journey requires is a
method
and determination to stick with it. This paper provides the method,
but you have to provide the determination.
Fretboard harmony is a very rich and satisfying field of study with
lots of room for experimentation and development of individual style.
This is evidenced by the differences in the sounds created by the
previously mentioned artists using the same six strings and fretboard.
If you wish to maximize your learning and progress, it is worthwhile
to develop a daily regimen to make sure you get to know the basics
of this system so well as to become second nature. To this end, a
daily practice program is presented that is very efficient for mastering
the fundamentals of the CAGED system. This program will take less and
less time to go through as you become proficient at it. The knowledge
gained from faithfully working through the program every day will open
the world of fretboard harmony to you.
Note that The daily regimen presented will require you to work through
two sets of chord forms. The first is the basic CAGED form set. The
second is a set of four note chords that include either the major 7
or the dominant 7 (don't worry about these terms right now -- they
will be explained later). The second set of forms grow out of the
CAGED forms and provide a solid basis from which all the forms in
the chord library (presented at the end of the paper) are derived.
If you practice (and ultimately memorize) these forms using the method
described for the daily regimen, you will soon be able to form the
chords in the chord library without the use of this paper.
This set of exercises is not just busy work for mindless practice.
You should be mentally active in your daily practice. When not at
the guitar, practice visualizing the various components of these
practice sessions. Athletes have long known and benefited from
visualization. The purpose of the library of chord forms is to get
you (in addition to the daily practice regimen) quickly into arranging
chord-melody solos. It is only through practical application that you
will get a good grasp on these forms. Therefore, the way to work this
program is relatively simple:
1. Spend the first weeks (or months - depending on how much background
you already have) getting VERY familiar with the practice regimen.
2. Progress to the chord form library and use it to create LOTS of
chord-melody solos. This whole thing should become second-nature
like speaking English to communicate with others. Music is, after
all, a language we need to learn to speak it fluently to express
ourselves.
3. Look to expanding your knowledge by studying other people's arrange-
ments, method books, and recorded songs. All the while, continue
practicing your daily regimen (it should take less than 10-15
minutes per day by now) and arranging new songs. By learning LOTS
of new songs, you will get a natural feel for how chords progress.
4. At some point, you may want to learn to play and arrange by ear.
To do this, become familiar with the major scales for each form.
Each day, pick a song at random (start with simple nursery
rhymes) and pick out the melody on the guitar. At first, this may
be difficult. In time, as with everything else, it gets easier.
By now, you already have a good feel for (if not memorized)
the use of the chord forms in the library to create chord-melody
arrangements. Use this knowledge to harmonize the melodies you
pick out by ear.
All 6 steps should be practiced every day. At first, this will take
a while (30 minutes - 1 hour). But, as you become familiar with the
territory (which is the whole idea), these will take less and less
time. With time, these can be completed within 10 minutes. These
exercises encapsulate the entire subject matter presented in this
paper. Becoming completely familiar and comfortable with the material
through these exercises will make the journey as painless as possible.
1. Pick any note at random (or, move through the cycle of
fifths, taking one of these each day).
2. Find each occurrence of this note along each string, going
up all strings, then back down.
3. Use this note as the root of today's chord to find
the basic CAGED forms going up and down the neck. With
each chord form, identify it's "nucleus" root, third, and
fifth.
4. For each chord found in step 3, play its Pentatonic and
major scale forms. [NOTE: plug this step into your daily
exercise regimen when you feel the need to do so -- and
will thus be motivated to do it].
5. For each of the chord forms identified in step 3, treat
that chord as the I chord and find it's nearest ii and
V7 chords (example: for a I chord of 'A', find the
Bmi(7) and E7 chords that are closest to the 'A' chord). Use the
chord form library to find these chord forms.
[NOTE:] Now is a good time to start becoming familiar with the
Pentatonic forms by playing each of these chord form's Pentatonic
scale. [SEE EXAMPLE ON NEXT PAGE]
6. Use the note selected in Step 1 as the melody note to be harmonized.
Find and play all the chords that would use that note as the 1, 3,
5, and 7th as the melody on the first and second strings. Start
with basic chord forms and expand to include minor chords, 6ths,
9ths, suspended, etc. Use the chord form library to find these
forms. See the section "A PRACTICAL CHORD-MELODY LIBRARY OF FORMS",
particularly showing how to "morph" from a basic CAGED form to one
of the library forms.
Use the following table as a hint to help you get started:
[If needed, see the section "SUGGESTED DAILY PRACTICE FORMS FOR
EXCERCISE 6"]
Melody
on Basic
String Melody Note Chord Form
------ ----------- ----------
1 root E form
1 third D form
1 fifth C form
1 seventh G form
-------------------------------
2 root C form
2 third A form
2 fifth E form
2 seventh D form
Example of chord location for exercise 5 of daily exercise:
B minor E major A major
----------- 4th fret ----------- 4th fret ----------- 5th fret
| | * * * | | | | * | * * | | | * *
----------- ----------- -----------
| * | | | | | | | | * | | | | * | |
----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | * | | | | * * | | |
----------- ----------- -----------
* | | | | | | * | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- -----------
G form C form E form
(with flat 3rd)
This E major chord is really
a dominant 7 (V7) chord
(see discussions on this
elsewhere in this paper)
E7
----------- 4th fret
| | | | | |
-----------
| | | | * |
-----------
| | * | | |
-----------
| * | * | |
-----------
As you become comfortable with this exercise, feel free to modify
the basic forms to create more interesting chords and expand, in a
systematic way, your understanding of how these forms can be modified
and extended from the basic forms. Feel free to look through the
chord library to find these chords.
7. This is an optional step (for "extra credit" for those who are
particularly motivated). Play the harmonized scale using forms
that are as close to each other as possible picked from the chord
form library. You can start with simple major and minor forms and
expand to using altered and extended forms later. The harmonized
scale will be built diatonically:
I ii iii IV V7 vi vii
A capital Roman numeral represents a major chord. A small Roman
numeral represents a minor chord (except for the vii, which is a
half-diminished chord). The root of the chord is the melody in
each case. The note picked in step one is the Root note for this
scale (which also determines the key).
These forms, though presented in the library, are singled out here as
a valuable and efficient way to work daily on getting the mechanics
of harmonizing melodies from the CAGED forms into your head and
fingers. Later in this paper, there will be discussion regarding
the use of these forms and why melodies are played on the first and
second strings.
By the time you have these memorized, you will not need to have them
memorized. This may seem like a contradiction, but by working at
memorizing them, you will come to understand how they are built.
Root as melody on the first string (E form):
----------- ----------- ----6------ ----------- ----6------
| | | | 5 R | |b7 | 5 R | | | | 5 R | |b7b3 5 R | | |b3 5 R
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | 7 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Third as melody on the first string (D form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | R | | | | | R | | | | | R | 6 | | | R | | | | | R | 6 |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | |b7 | | | | | | | | | | |b7b3 | | | | |b3
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | 5 7 3 | | | 5 | 3 | | | 5 | 3 | | | 5 | | | | | 5 | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Fifth as melody on the first string (C form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | R | | | | | R | | | | | R | | |b3 | R | | |b3 | R |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | 3 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | 5 | | |b7 | 5 | | | | | 5 | | |b7 | 5 | | | | | 5
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Seventh (and sixth) as melody on the first string (G form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |b3 | | | | |b3 |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | 5 R 3 | | | 5 R 3 | | | 5 R 3 6 | | 5 R | | | | 5 R | 6
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | |b7 | | | | | | | | | | |b7 | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Root as melody on the second string (C form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | 5 | | | | | 5 | | | 6 | 5 | | | | | 5 | | | 6 | 5 | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | R | |b7 | | R | | | | | R | |b7b3 | R | | |b3 | R |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| 7 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Third as melody on the second string (A form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| R | | | | | R |b7 | | | R | | | | | R |b7 | | | R | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |b3 | | | | |b3 |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | 5 | 3 | | | 5 | 3 | | | 5 | 3 | | | 5 | | | | | 5 | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Fifth as melody on the second string (E form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
R | | | 5 | R |b7 | 5 | R | | | 5 | R |b7b3 5 | R | |b3 5 |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | 7 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
Seventh (and sixth) as melody on the second string (D form):
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | R | | | | | R | | | | | R | 6 | | | R | | | | | R | 6 |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | |b7 | | | | | | | b3 | | |b7 | b3 | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
3 | | 5 7 | 3 | | 5 | | 3 | | 5 | | | | | 5 | | | | | 5 | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
maj7 dom7 maj6 mi7 mi6
There are two relatively simple ideas from music theory that you will
need to know to understand the chord construction material presented
in this paper. These are scale construction and chord spelling, which
is based on scale construction. Music is very logical this way. The
problem is that, rather than being presented in a logical manner, music
is always presented as a very complicated subject that has a mystique
that prevents mere mortals from partaking in it. This is definitely
not the case, as will be shown in this paper.
There are two basic types of scales known as the CHROMATIC and DIATONIC
scales. The chromatic scale simply contains all twelve possible tones,
which serves as the best place to start. The diatonic scale contains
a subset of these twelve tones, which can be understood after the
chromatic scale is explained.
The twelve possible tones are:
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A
Bb Db Eb Gb Ab
There are several things to notice about this information. First of
all, the letters of the alphabet from A to G are used to designate
the notes. Normally at this point, most music texts refer to the
piano to illustrate the various relationships. Since the guitar
fretboard is laid out completely different from the piano, we will
not do this.
There are five tones within the chromatic scale that have two names.
This is what is referred to as ENHARMONIC tones, or, one tone with
two names. The reasoning behind this will become clear when we
discuss the concept of KEYS, which goes with the diatonic scale.
Now, the concept of INTERVALS should be presented. An interval is
the distance between two tones. The smallest distance between two
tones is the HALF STEP. The half step is represented on the guitar
as moving from one fret to the next fret above or below the current
fret on the same string. All other distances, or intervals, are
simply multiples of the half step - and thus, movements of that many
frets on the guitar. For example, the next useful interval is the
whole step, which represents a movement of two frets up or down the
same string on the guitar.
Now, look at the guitar fretboard as we show the locations of all
the notes in the chromatic scale on it. Relate what you see to the
information just presented. Recognize the notes and see how the
movements of half and whole steps relate to the note you both start
and arrive at.
TUNING PEGS
-----------
E A D G B E OPEN STRING TONES
============
F A#D#G#C F
-----------
F#B E A C#F#
-----------
G C F A#D G
-----------
G#C#F#B D#G#
-----------
A D G C E A
-----------
A