Translating a Chord

About three weeks ago I discovered a simple system for producing chords with the same chord voicing/formula on different string sets. Think of it as a similar system to the CAGED system that we previously looked at, but instead of finding similar chords (different voicings) of the same root horizontally we try to find chords with the same voicing vertically but with different roots.


First however, I should go through some basics about string sets and how the standard tuning works.
A string set is a group of strings, normally three adjacent strings. The smallest chord is a triad (three notes) and two notes is a special case called an interval. So a natural way of grouping strings in string sets are (downwards from 1:st string (low E) to the 6:th (high E)):

1. {1,2,3}: E-A-D
2. {2,3,4}: A-D-G
3. {3,4,5}: D-G-B
4. {4,5,6}: G-B-E

The four basic triad string sets (right handed).

The four basic triad string sets (left handed).

So a triad on the first string set could be a C-major with fingerings 8-7-5 corresponding to the notes C-E-G.

A C-major triad on the 1st string set (right handed).

A C-major triad on the 1st string set (left handed).

Now, there is nothing that limits us to have string sets of more than 3 strings. We could use string sets of arbitrary size to give us richer chords (and more flexibility). Say we want to play a C9 chord. Then it could be played on the string set {2,3,4,5,6} which means it would be based on an A-shape (see the CAGED and chained for more information about chord shapes):

A chord played on a general string set (left handed).

A chord played on a general string set (right handed).

Now, the thing about the standard tuning. I'm not an expert on tuning systems and frankly, I stick to this tuning since I'm a little afraid of other tunings unless they are really called for. What I have realized about it though is that if you traverse vertically downwards from low E to high E, you will walk by fourths, but if you traverse vertically upwards then you will walk notes by fifths. Well, mostly. There is a special case as you probably have noticed, something happens at the step from the G-string to the B-string. This IMO ruins this otherwise so uniform and nice tuning. Why not EADGCF from low to high? Well, I really don't know, but a guess is that the idea behind it is to get as many root notes (open if possible) but maintaining a roughly regular fourths/fifths tuning. A nice thing about it though is that it avoids sharps and flats.
If you have ever played an octave interval between strings {1,3}, {2,4}, {3,5} or {4,6} (as made famous by Wes Montgomery by what he referred to as "the octave thing") then you have probably discovered this feature yourself.

CAGED and chained

What I'm about to reveal is a system that is very important to grasp for every guitarist!
I dare to say that today's lesson is something that should be learned at some point in any guitarist's career.

What is CAGED then? Well, it is a system based upon the basic open chords that you learned when you first started playing the guitar. An open chord is a chord with at least one open string and with an open string we mean that it is a string that is included in the chord that is plucked without fretting it. If you don't know all of them yet, then I encourage you to do this as soon as possible.
We will refer to these chords as chord shapes in this context. A chord shape is as the name implies the shape of a particular open chord. So a C-shape chord is just a C chord in the open position but it can be transposed anywhere, however it will still only be a C-shape chord. It is the fingering that is important here.

Now you may think: "but I can work with barre chords using only shape A and shape E chords". Well, this is true of course, but this will limit you to only two particular chord voicings, which is pretty limiting, although they will give you a lot of chords to play with.

The neat thing about the CAGED system is that you can line up the chords so they connect to each other. This way, you can play the same chord at different positions without having to do any barre at all!. However I still think you should practice barre chords. They are just as important as CAGED IMO.
The big difference here is that CAGED chords represents chord shapes that can be chained up with one another so that you can traverse along the neck and find different shapes for the same chord (but different voicing), whilst barre chords enable you to easily transpose a given shape along the neck (but only a single voicing).

The CAGED chords can be seen as connecting to each other in chains. For instance, instead of playing an open G-chord you can play it like an E-shape chord but transposing it to the 3:rd fret. These chords will share the same root position but the sound will be different. Then the second octave in the E-shape G-chord i.e. the 4:th string on the 5:th fret (which is also a G-note) can further be the root for a D-shape G-chord (since the root is now located on the D-string). The D-shape chord then lines up with the C-shape G-chord with the root on the 10:th fret which in turn leads the way to the A-shape G-chord on the same fret. Finally the A-shape chord leads you to the G-shape chord again and the circle is completed.
Here is an illustration (the darker spots are root notes):

 And here is one for you lefties ;)

This forms a chain or ring (depending on how you look at it) with chords that interconnect.
Interestingly, if you look at the chord names in the figures, they form the abbreviation CAGED. For you lefties it will be DEGAC.

Here is an excellent web page that is dedicated solely to the CAGED system and probably explains it better than me: http://www.cagedguitarsystem.net/

And yes, the illustrations do use a Gibson SG. ;)

Christmas Carols

Today I had me last concert for the year. Now I can finally relax. It was a great xmas concert and the overall impression was awesome. Even on a personal level I'm a slightly satisfied with my contribution, which is pretty unusual.
Something that struck me was that there is a great difference between knowing the song in your spinal cord and being able to sing it perfectly from the note file. It is a small difference but the implications are enormous. It is very easy to forget this.

Now over to a more delicate subject that is more or less taboo but is indeed good spill out.
I cannot admit that I practice singing (regularly), since I almost never do it unless I will sing a solo. (Oops there, I said it). Somehow I manage mostly pretty well anyways (this however doesn't mean it is ok to do so). Everyone is different of course but I'm pretty weak textually. I can however migrate a song much closer to the backbone simply by sitting down for a while with it and recite every measure of text until I know it at least pretty ok. I realized that it is more often than not that little effort is needed to make a song sit well. I find it rare that you actually need to put in several hours of work every week, although it is not a bad thing if you have the temporal resources to accomplish this.

On a side note, sitting alone with your piano or guitar or whatever at the same time as you sing a song will immensely help you nail the melody if this happen to be your weakness.

As of tonight, this was one of those moments when I truly felt that most people (me including) had it in their backbones and you get a different kind of interaction with the conductor (at least what I have noticed in other choirs). At least he will smile more at you! The choir resonates, and don't sink as easily (although this choir really is tonally very stable so I noticed very little difference). You can feel the beautiful overtones and it feels so sweet and lovely. When you get into this state you really feel the now and you can truly live in the moment, for it is in the moment that we actually create music, it is not when our minds are occupied with what the score says or what happens around you. It is you, your mates and your conductor. Nothing else exists. Together you live in harmony (pun intended).

Note to self (mostly):
If you don't do your homework well enough too often, then I think it could be easy to forget how this feels. These moments are exactly the reason why I still stay active in the choiring. This is what drives me. If you know what I'm talking about, then please use this reason as your primary motivation to study your repertoire. The social part is important too but without the music making it is just a social club. Social pressure helps too, but it is not good enough I think. I hope this is not too much of a slap in your face, but... Rely on yourself as much as you can. Do your homework until you are satisfied and then just enjoy the moment!

Harmonizing the Diatonic Scale

Some people refer to it as "harmonizing the major scale" but I don't want to be too specific since we can harmonize any mode of the diatonic scale.

So what does it mean to harmonize you may ask. Well, it sounds a little complicated but it is just so amazingly simple. But first I have to introduce the concept of triads. A triad (or trichord) is a three note chord that can be stacked in thirds. This means that you start with the root, for example C. Then the next note above the root will be a major or a minor third, for example E which is a major third to C. The next note would be a minor third to E, which is a G. The note G is also what we call the fifth to the C. This is the C-major triad C-E-G. A C-minor triad would thus be C-Eb-G where Eb is a minor third from C and G is a major third from Eb, but G is still a fifth above C.
Interestingly if you take two minor thirds in a row you will get a diminished triad, e.g. C-Eb-Gb, and if you take two major thirds in a row you will get a augmented triad, e.g. C-E-G#.

These are the four basic triads:

Name         Interval steps   Formula   Example
Major        3-m3             R-3-5     C-E-G
Minor        m3-3             R-m3-5    C-Eb-G
Diminished   m3-m3            R-m3-d5   C-Eb-Gb
Augmented    3-3              R-3-a5    C-E-G#


Where "3" is a major third, "m3" is a minor third, "d5" is a diminished fifth (flattened fifth) and "a5" is an augmented fifth (sharpened fifth).


Furthermore, the names minor and major triads derive their names from the third and the diminished and the augmented triads derive their names from the fifth as can be clearly seen in the Formula column.


Understanding these triads are crucial! If you develop an ear for these triads then you will much more easily be able to distinguish colorations of these chords, e.g. dominant (7:th) chords, 9:th chords, 11:th chords etc. This is how chords normally are structured.


Now, I will extend these triads to include another third to construct another tertian or ladder of thirds with one extra note. Since the chord contains four notes it is generally referred to as a tetrad. Here I show the four tertian tetrads that you can construct:


Name             Interval steps  Formula    Example    Example name
Dominant 7:th    3-m3-m3         R-3-5-b7   C-E-G-Bb   C7
Major 7:th       3-m3-3          R-3-5-7    C-E-G-B    Cmaj7
Minor 7:th       m3-3-m3         R-m3-5-b7  C-Eb-G-Bb  Cm7
Half diminished  m3-m3-m3        R-m3-d5-b7 C-Eb-Gb-Bb Cø7 or Cm7b5

As you see, at this point the naming convention is a bit illogical. This was very frustrating to me but after a while I came to accept the convention. For me it is like the convention of the direction of current in electrical circuits, it is not logical that the current goes in the opposite way as the electrons wander but it just happened to be like that. Maybe there is a reason behind it but it is currently beyond me. When it comes to a major 7:th it is the 7:th that is "major" but when it is a minor 7:th it is the 3rd that is "minor". I don't have a better suggestion for naming though so this will have to do. :)

Furthermore, if you would construct the other four combinations of stacked thirds you would get the following tetrads:

• m3-m3-3 = R-m3-d5-7 = m/maj7 add♭5. (♭5 = d5. A very dissonant chord).
• m3-3-3 = R-m3-5-7 = m/maj7 (nice when used properly. I.e. Cm-Cm/maj7-Cm7).
• 3-3-m3 = R-3-a5-7 = 7♯5 (a nice jazz chord to "land on").
• 3-3-3 = R-3-a5-R = augmented triad.

Nuff said. The four triad colorations above have a very interesting property as you will see now. I will give you a task to solve! Hurray! Please don't cheat by looking further down in the blog post.

Task 1: Take the C-ionian mode ("C-major scale") C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C and chose only every other note, and only chose 4 notes. Write the 4 notes down (e.g. C-E-G-B) and move on to the next note D. Do the same with D and chose notes from the next octave in the mode when appropriate. Write down all chords for each corresponding note in the C-ionian mode listed above.

Task 2: For every chord you wrote down you should analyze what kind of chord it is. Is it a major 7:th? A half diminished perhaps? Write the name of the chord for every such chord (e.g. Cmaj7).

I hope you didn't cheat. :)

You should end up with the chords:

Name     Notes    

Cmaj7    C-E-G-B

Dm7      D-F-A-C

Em7      E-G-B-D

Fmaj7    F-A-C-E

G7       G-B-D-F

Am7      A-C-E-G

Bø7      B-D-F-A


Wow! Ain't this cool?
See the beautiful patterns? The notes lining up vertically in such a lovely way.
This is the harmonization of the C-ionian mode.

What is more interesting is that you can harmonize the D-dorian, the E-phrygian, the F-lydian, the G-mixolydian, the A-aeolian and the B-locrian in the exact same way (or in any key for that matter). It is just a matter of starting the progression above in another position!

I encourage you to play these chords on your instrument to hear the harmonization at work.

What is really cool about knowing all this is that you can very easily harmonize just about any song you listen to (if it is a simple pop song, jazz songs involve a little more work. Note that this theory is not applicable to atonal/"12-tone" music). Simply start with the tonic chord. Decide what key the song is in (I will explain a method for this in a later article). Then identify what mode it is. Is it major or is it minor (or is it phrygian? dorian? etc). Then just harmonize it and you will see that the chords will fit. There is only one thing more you need to know, and it is the concept of progressions. I will talk about this later. But for now, if you hear a song in C-major, then try play the first chord (Cmaj7) then the fourth chord (Fmaj7) and then the fifth chord (G7). Or simplify them by playing C, F, G7. At least now you know where the chords stem from!

Good luck!

Den här bloggposten innehåller nötkräm

”Det pågår en tyst katastrof. En katastrof som varje dag dödar 21 000 barn under fem års ålder. De flesta barnen dör av näringsbrist, diarré eller andra sjukdomar. De dör av orsaker som med enkla medel skulle kunna förebyggas. Det som saknas är vaccin, medicin, rent vatten och näringsriktig mat. Saker som UNICEF kan leverera. Saker som vi tillsammans kan leverera.

Den här bloggposten är mitt sätt bidra. För i och med att jag publicerar den här bloggposten blir inte bara fler uppmärksammade på den tysta katastrofen utan dessutom innebär det att re:member skänker sex påsar av den nötkräm som UNICEF använder vid behandling av undernärda barn. Tre påsar nötkräm om dagen är allt som krävs för att ett barn som lider av undernäring ska kunna överleva.

Har du också en blogg och vill göra något viktigt i jul? Hämta bloggmaterial här! Tillsammans räddar vi barns liv.

Ps. Vill du köpa fältprodukterna som räddar barns liv, besök UNICEFs gåvoshop. Du kan välja ett snyggt gåvobevis designat av bland annat Tove Styrke eller Elsa Billgren att ge bort i julklapp.

Incomplete Tonic Parallel Naming

One day I was thinking to myself. Why do we only speak of major and minor keys? Why not appreciate that there are 7 different modes and call them by their names when using a particular key signature?

Earlier we discussed the meaning of modus and outlined the different diatonic modes. A tonic parallel means that a song that goes in Eb-major uses the same notes (i.e. has the same key signature) as C-minor.

But I also explained that ionian is what we usually refer to as major and aeolian is usually referred to as minor. This is further complicated by the fact that out from the 7 modes there are 3 modes with major character and 3 modes with minor character and there is one with diminished character. But right now, lets major and minor be synonymous with the first and the sixth mode respectively.

So, say we have 2 sharps in our key signature. Then you either say it is a D-major (the tonic) or a B-minor (the submediant). So why not say it is a song in E-dorian, F#-phrygian, G-lydian, A-mixolydian or C#-locrian? These are valid modes as well. They will all use the same notes without having to explicitly flatten or sharpen a note. Maybe it is too complicated? But what if I really want to indicate that this song is in fact a flamenco style song in F#-phrygian? In fact most flamenco songs are based upon the phrygian mode. Then you would find that the song uses F# as a root (or tonic, however it is not exactly the same thing) instead of a B even though the song still sound "sad".

I think it would be a start towards a more flexible tonal system, or at least a better description of the meaning of the given key. I just don't like it when you only use two of the modes instead of only one or all of them. In my eyes this is annoyingly inconsistent!

Diatonicism, Pentatonicism, Chromaticism

You might have heard about the concept "playing diatonically" and wondered what that is. Well, diatonically means to play along the diatonic scale in any key. It applies to modal music as well (changing the key and playing in two more keys than one at the same time).

When I say scale I mean a given interval sequence. An interval is a distance between two notes. Therefore, given a start note (i.e. key) the intervals in the scale tells us how to traverse it to the end of the scale. Mostly they are octave repeating (i.e. they end an octave above the start).

But what is the diatonic scale then? Well, the word is greek (διατονικός = "diatonikos") and means "progressing through tones" [1]. More specifically, it means it is an heptatonic scale (7-note scale) that is octave repeating and where the tones are as equally spaced as possible. This means that we try to take 7 notes out of the 12 available from the chromatic scale (i.e. a scale with all notes) but we chose them so that the scale is as "smooth" as possible. This gives us 5 whole steps and 2 half steps. These two half steps (semi tone or minor second intervals) must therefore be separated by two and three whole steps.

This is disturbingly similar to how the white keys are layed out on a piano, and in fact, it is. Therefore the diatonic scale is often called the white note scale. So there are actually 7 modes of the diatonic scale since there are 7 notes. A mode is simply a displacement of the scale. It means you start the scale somewhere else. Two scale modes sound very differently to our ears. In fact, the first mode has a major character and the second mode has a minor character. Here are the diatonic modes (examples in C-major (i.e C-ionian)):

Name             Formula          Example        
Ionian: W-W-H-W-W-W-H             C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
Dorian:   W-H-W-W-W-H-W           D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D
Phrygian:   H-W-W-W-H-W-W         E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E
Lydian:       W-W-W-H-W-W-H       F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F
Mixolydian:     W-W-H-W-W-H-W     G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G
Aeolian:          W-H-W-W-H-W-W   A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
Locrian:            H-W-W-H-W-W-W B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B


Where W means whole step and H means half step.
For instance, the C ionian mode comprises of the tonal sequence C-D-E-F-G-A-B-(C) and the A aeolian mode comprises of the tonal sequence A-B-C-D-E-F-G-(A). Try to play these notes on your instrument and you will here the difference. The former will sound major and the latter will sound minor. The A aeolian simply is the C ionian where you instead start with the A-note. In fact, these particular modes constitutes the so called tonic parallels. The main meaning of this, I think, is that if you look at a given key signature, it could be either a major key or a minor key. For instance; a key signature without any sharps/flats would be either C-major or A-minor. If the key signature has one flat, then it must be a song that goes in either F-major or D-minor and so on. Just listen to the characteristics of the music and you can easily tell which is the one.

So what about the black notes? Well, they have a name too of course. Not only the black note scale but it is more famously known as the pentatonic scale. This is simply because it has 5 notes, just like the diatonic scale has 7 notes. The two scales are disjunct, meaning they have no tones in common. You either play on the black piano keys, or you play on the white ones. If you play on all of them, then it is the chromatic scale. You can think of it like 7+5=12, or diatonic + pentatonic = chromatic.


You can easily hear pentatonicism in blues-based muisc. Diatonicism however, is more predominant in classical music. I will of course go into more detail with all of these scales. This is just a primer.

References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_scale

Only 12 Notes

The more I read about music theory and try to understand how chords and intervals are related to each other it really blows my mind how 12 unique notes (not taking into account the octaves) can give rise to such complex theories. If we walk past the domain of equal temperament (I will discuss this later) then it is even more complex.

Sticking to equal temperament for a while, I have noticed how much there is to learn by heart in order to be able to speak the language of music more fluently and to become a good player and/or singer. The music notation system is very systematic and has been developed for centuries. Some of the things you need to know are:

• The circle of fourths/fifths and the tonic parallel for every key. 
• At least the major scales in every key, both the names of the notes and the patterns on your instrument (the sixth note will give you the tonic parallel). 
• The corresponding sharps/flats in every key (at least the number of them. E.g. Eb major is 3 flats). 
• All the notes on your instrument.
• The four basic triads major, minor, augmented, diminished. All shapes in all keys on your instrument.
• If this is not enough you should also be aware of the different diatonic modes as well as the different pentatonic modes. 
• Etc... the list goes on...

This is a lot to learn and there are tools and theoretical constructs that can help you on the way. I will try my best to guide you trough all this stuff.

So what can you do with all this? Well, if you understand the theory you can harmonize a given key, you can read music sheets better (even if you sing you will benefit from this since it will help you to relate the tones to each other and easier find the right pitch for each note).

Ok, I'm a singer, why do I need to know the instrument specific theory?
Well, it is mainly twofold: Having an instrument at your side when singing after notes is a great help. It helps you find the right pitch for the notes. The other thing is that it makes you more aware of how the harmony works in the music you sing. How the voices interact so that you can more easily understand your voice and thus find it quicker. Writing out the chords in your choir notes is not a bad idea at all. We will look more closely on the matter further on. Thirdly, there is a synergy effect where you will both improve your skills on your instrument and your voice.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!
I have dedicated a little more than the last three years to really delve into the music theory. I realize I have only scratched the surface, but the more I scratch the more intrigued I get. But first things first. Let's rewind and start from the beginning...

Who am I then? Well, I started with music early in my life.
When I was about 4 I started by baning on pans and pots in the kitchen until my  parents got crazy enough. So they decided to buy me drums so I could do something useful with my restless drumming on everything. I early discovered the vast variations of rythms and I really saw myself becoming a great drummer. I took classes in my church for a few years until I got to my early teens.

I don't know why and how but somehow it was natural for me to become a trumpeter since my dad and my sis both played in the brass band. I started brassing off with the cornet and played in the mini band for a while and then in the real brass band which was pretty cool. I become the 3rd/2nd cornet. We even competed in Brighton and won!!! (in our division of course), but it was a mighty feeling to even win against the brits. It is not a bad feat, and it is something I still remember with pride. We also made a record.

About the time I played the cornet I started to discover the guitar and after a few years in my late teens I was in a band in my church and played some covers to christian pop songs. I realized how amazing the guitar is and how much better it is compared to the cornet. I even had the dilusion it would never require me to warm up as a brass instrument would. Boy was I wrong! But the guitar gives me a lot more versatility that the brass instrument can't give me. Fast forwarding a little, I went to the University and it took a lot of attention from the music and I only played intensively in periods until just 3 years ago when I suddenly decided that I really want to become a semiprofessional guitarist. Since then I have practiced practically everyday. At weekends as much as 6 hours a day. What drives me is the feeling of expressing my inner music on an instrument. And the more I play the more I can express and the happier I get. I would go as far as to claim that playing an instrument or sing is the best antidepressive you can get. It makes you focus on the now and it keeps you centered.

About five years ago, my mom thought I should use my voice more (well, there are a lot of girls so I saw the benefit from it). However, even though I sung in choirs before I have considered it to be silly. I did as my mother said though good a son as I am and got into a huge gospel choir. Wow!!! It blew my mind totally! It was so much fun, and I learned a lot of singing techniques and fundamental choir signs etc. A good foundation for a newbe as I was. After a while I took this very seriously and attended singing classes. I learned to breathe correctly, vocalization, tone quality, articulation and posture etc... all at the same time. It is not at all as easy as it sounds. I still have to work with those details. All was well for some time but after one concert with drums banging just at the side of my ear I got tinnitus so I switched to something calmer. I got into a university based choir with a mixed reportoir with much variation where I'm still a member. I have also started in another choir which is a challenge, but I really want to be in both choirs and I like a good challenge. We will see what will happen.

Anyways... in my musical carreer I have learned a few things that I feel I want to share with everyone. It is my hope that you will benefit from the information.

Thank you for reading this far. =)