Unit 20: Wish You Were Here

This tune uses Em7,C/G, and D/F# among other chords. It has a very popular riff, and is easy to play. The objective here is that you realize the difference changing one note in a chord can make in the overall sound of the tune- a Pink Floyd trademark.

The main riff switches between Em7 (Say "E minor seven") and G5 (which is a G chord with no third. Just a root and a 5th. Here's Em7:
---3---G (fifth)
---3---D (minor 7)
---0---G (minor 3rd)
---2---E (root)
-------
-------

G5 is the next chord, and we usually play these with the root on the low E or A strings as they have a dense, heavy sound which is perfect for rock music. In this case, we are not using the low strings, and all of the notes are the same as the Em7 chord above except for one.
---3---G (root)
---3---D (fifth)
---0---G (root)
---0---D (fifth)
-------
-------
Notice how in the absence of the E, the chord loses it's tonality. Practice switching between these two chords before we connect them with the notes that make up the riff.

Here's the riff leading up to the first chord (Em7), strum the chord for one measure before going on to the next part:
------------3---
------------3---
------------0---
--------0-2-2---
----0-2---------
--3-------------

Going to the G5 chord:
--------3--
--------3--
--0-----0--
----2-0-0--
-----------
-----------

Put them together and you have the first 5 measures of the tune- Em7, G5, Em7, G5, Em7. The next chord is A7sus4. This chord is an A triad with the 3rd replaced (suspended) with the fourth (D) and with a G (the minor 7th) added. The chord is spelled A,D,E,G (1,4,5,b7). Here it is with it's lead in notes coming from the Em7:

-------------3-
-------------3-
-------------0-
----2-0------2-
--------2-0--0-
---------------

This sequence (Em7 to A7sus4) goes twice making the whole chord progression to the intro and solo section as follows:Em7, G5, Em7, G5, Em7, A7sus4, Em7, A7sus4.
Between the verses, is two measures of a G major chord, which you already know:

--3--
--3--
--0--
--0--
--2--
--3--

Note that throughout the whole progression, the notes on the E,B and G strings do not change.

The chords for the 8 measure verse are as follows:
C/G D/F# Am G D/F# C/G Am G

The only chord you don't know out of these is C/G. It's a C triad with a G in the bass. Easily played like this:

-----
--1--
--0--
--2--
--3--
--3--

Use your third finger on the low E string and your pinky on the A string.

Your assessment on this unit will be to record yourself playing the intro riff and the chords to one of the verses. Good luck!

Unit 19:Add and Sus together

The song "Every Breath You Take" is a cornerstone of rock literature. Not only is the guitar playing by Andy Summers a brilliant example of using chord extensions, but the chord progression is well-written and a variation of the basic I, IV, V we have been playing all year.

The first two chords offer up a world of theory for study, so let's tackle that first. We are in the key of A, so it's no suprise that the first chord is A. Duh. The second chord is F# minor; a chord we haven't learned yet. However, we know something about relative minor from previous songs, so we can build the minor chord off of our major chord. Try this: Play your A chord, and put an F# (2nd fret on the low E string) in the bass with your thumb instead of the open A string (like playing D/F# from Wonderful Tonight) This gives us an A triad with F# in the bass and your ear will hear a minor tonality because we put the 6th scale degree in the bass. Cool right?
-------
---2---C#
---2---A
---2---E
-------
---2---F#

The chord you are actually playing (above)is F# minor7 because you have an E natural in the chord (2nd fret on the D string). If you move this note up a whole step, you are doubling the F# root note, which cleans things up a bit. You should also double the 5th of the chord by playing the C# (4th fret on the A string) to get the full F# minor. It should look like this:

-------
---2---C#
---2---A
---4---F#
---4---C#
---2---F#

This chord shape is similar to the E minor chord you already know. Move the whole voicing down 2 frets (so the 2's showing in the Tab above are open strings, and the 4's are now 2's) and you get the familiar E minor.

Now, onto the alterations used in "Every Breath You Take". Instead of plain 'ol A major (A,C#,E), we use Aadd2 (A,B,C#,E)- see below. Note that the B is the 2nd scale degree in the key of A, and we just added it to the chord, hence the name, Aadd2. Sometimes it's called Aadd9 and usage of these terms is interchangeable. Theoreticaly, it's an add2 when the bass note and the added 2 are a whole step apart, and it should be add9 when there's an octave between the bass note and the added note. I have seen countless examples of published sheet music that use the terms add9 and add2 interchangably. The Hal Leonard version on this tune calls it Aadd2, so we will too.

Here's what it looks like:
-------
---2---C#
---4---B
---2---E
---0---A
-------

The picking pattern that Andy Summers uses on the Aadd2 is this (played twice):
-------------------
----------2--------C#
------4-----4---4--B
----2---2-----2----E
--0----------------A
-------------------

The chord is F#madd2 (Say: F sharp minor add two) and it's similar to the plain F# minor described above, with the added G# on the D string. It's a finger buster! Also played twice:
-------------------
-------------------
----------2--------A
------6-----6---6--G#
----4---4-----4----C#
--2----------------F#

The next two chords are sus2 chords as they do not contain the 3rd. They are the IV chord and the V chord in the key of A making our progression I, Vi, IV, V. Andy Summers plays these chords with the root on the A string on the 5th and 7th frets, but I find this to be too difficult for my acoustic students, and I find it's easier to see the alterations to the chords you already know, so I've become used to playing the chords in the open position here's the Dsus2. Notice it's just like the D chord you already know, but with an open E string instead of the usual 2nd fret on the E string:

-----0-----------
---------3-------
---2--------2---2
-0-----0------0--
-----------------
-----------------

The next chord is Esus2, and I love the way this chord is only one note different from the Aadd2, which it resolves to (just lift your pinky on the B string 5th fret, and you're back to the first chord- Aadd2.

-----2----------
--------5-------
---4--4---4---2-
-2----------2---
----------------
----------------

If you string all of these chords together, you get the whole chord progression for the verses. Your quiz will be on playing the A section, and a written part on spelling sus chords and add2 chords.

Unit 18: Add 9?

We studied the sus chord in "Sweet Home Alabama". To review, A sus is a direction to "suspend" or replace the 3rd in a triad (1,3,5) with the 4th or other scale degree indicated- sometimes the 2nd. To illustrate: a C chord is spelled C,E,G. A Csus4 is spelled C,F,G and a Csus2 is spelled C,D,G. If you ever see something like "Csus" With no number after it, the 4th is understood to be the scale degree replacing the 3rd, So Csus is spelled C,F,G, just like C sus 4

The operative word here is replace. A sus chord removes the 3rd, and replaces it with the 2nd or 4th.

We will now look at a chord extension, "add 9". which means to simply add the 9th scale degree to the existing chord. For example, Cadd9 is spelled: C,E,G,D as D is the ninth. Sometimes this chord is written as Cadd2 because a D is a D no matter what octave it's in. The thing you need to remember is that a chord with add9 attached to it means that there is a third in the chord. A sus means that the third has been replaced.

Let's learn a song that uses this chord. Green Day's ever popular "Time of your Life". The progression for the verse is:G /Cadd9 D/
The Cadd9 is spelled C,E,G,D with the C on the A string (2nd finger, 3rd fret) E on the D string (1st finger, 2nd fret) open G, then D on the B string (3rd finger, 3rd fret). If you look closely, you can see the shape of the C chord you learned long ago with the B string note moved up a whole step.

I'll pass out a chart for this tune in class, and we'll play it together. Your assessment will be making a recording of yourself playing this tune, and a written component where you will need to spell sus chords and add9 chords.

Unit 17: Soloing

It's time to learn about improvisation and playing a guitar solo. The song we'll use to do this is the popular jam tune "Rockin' in the Free World" by Neil Young. If you really want to hear some amazing playing on this song, check out the G3 video with Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. They play this song together at the end of their live DVD. It's incredible.

So here's the chord progression: Em (4 beats),D,C (2 beats each)

As you can tell, it's a relative minor switch again. This tune would be a I, V, IV, in G if instead of Em, Mr. Young opted for the relative major (G). He did have a plan though. The lyrics to each verse describe a rather dark portrait of life in the streets while the Em,D,C chord progression is used.

For the chorus however, he DOES use the G major chord and all of it's brightness to highlight his lyric of hope "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World". All four beats each: (G,D,C, then single notes: C,B,E). Like this:


The transition to get back to the verse is an A chord.

Now that we know the tune, it's time to solo on it. We'll start with the blues scale. The blues scale is made up of the following scale degrees: Root, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7 .

Since the song is in Em, we'll learn the blues scale in Em. Start on the 12th fret of the E string:

-----------------------------------------------------12--15--(Root, b3)
---------------------------------------------12--15----------(5,b7)
--------------------------------12--14--15-------------------(b3,4,b5)
------------------------12-14--------------------------------(b7,Root)
-----------12--13--14----------------------------------------(4,b5,5)
--12--15----------------------------------------------------- (Root, b3)

Learn this scale both ascending and descending, and try it in different keys to get comfortable with it.

To begin improvising, you need to experiment. Yes. Experiment with the way different notes out of this scale sound over the chord progression. You can play along with the Neil Young recording and noodle around to get an idea of the sounds in this scale, or you can record yourself
playing the chord progression a few times, then play it pack and jam along with your own recording. There's a lot of great open source audio recording programs out there for free. Try Audacity.

Now, once you have recorded the chord progression, go through each note of the blues scale one at a time once through the progression. Be rhythmicaly creative. You'll find that some notes sound stable, and other sound unstable. This tension and release is what music is all about. You want your solo to move from places of tension to places of rest. Before you can do that, you need to know how each notes sounds against each chord, so start experimenting.

Once you have gone through the whole scale, start experimenting with notes in pairs. Use the high E string 12th fret and 15th fret to make it through the progression. Like this:

With those same two notes, you can create a lot of color by bending. Let's bend to the G on the 15th fret. Hold down the 14th fret with your third finger. Hit the note and bend it up (towards the ceiling) until the pitch matches the fretted note on the 15th fret. You won't have to bend far as you are only going a half step. It will sound like this:

You can apply this technique to any note. Here's the same concept on the B string:

The main rule in bending is, you must have a target note in mind to bend to. Don't just bend any old note for the sake of bending. Have fun with this assignment!

For you assessment you will need to play all the parts of "Rockin in the Free World", The blues scale in E, and be brave enough to attempt a solo in class.

Have fun with this assignment!

Unit 16: More minor chords

In this lesson we study two new minor chords- A minor and D minor. As discussed in class and in previous lessons, minor chords should be thought of as their major chord counterparts, but with a lowered third scale degree. Here are the two new chords you need to know alongside their parallel major chords:
A Am
----------
--2----1-- (third scale degree lowered one half step)
--2----2-- (Root, no change)
--2----2-- (Fifth, no change)
--0----0-- (Root, no change)
----------


D Dm
--2----1--(third scale degree lowered one half step)
--3----3--(Root, no change)
--2----2--(Fifth, no change)
--0----0--(Root, no change)
-----------

The song we will use to practice these chords is Mr. Jones by Counting Crows. Here's the progression to the verse ( Each chord gets 4 beats) : Am, F, Dm, G, Am, F, G, G

The chorus (The part where they sing "Mr. Jones and me") uses the relative major of Am, which is C, making this a I, IV, V progression.
C,F,G,G (play 4 times, then back to the verse)

The interlude is a lot like the verse, only it goes back to the am chord after each new chord, and the time is stretched out. Am,Am,F,F,Am,Am,G,G, Here's an example:

Your assignment is to learn all three sections of this piece for class and be able to diagram and spell all the new chords. You will also need to be able to find the relative minor of any major chord. Remember the trick from class- put your pinky on the root of the major chord. When you establish one finger per fret, your first finger will be on the relative minor.

Unit 15: Slash Chords

No, it's not about the guitarist from "Guns & Roses". It's about an alternative bass note to a chord you already know. Changing the bass note of a chord can significantly change it's function in a piece, or improve the voice leading to a standard chord progression. Alternate bass notes do not even have to be in the key of the original chord. Here's how one looks:
D/F#
This is pronounced "D with F# in the bass". It's played like this:
---2--
---3--
---2--
---0--
-------
---2-- (Thumb)


This is the D chord you already know, with the thumb coming up over the back of the guitar neck to grab the F# bass note.
Here's another useful chord- C with G in the bass:
C/G
--------
----1---
----0--
----2--
----3---(pinky)
----3---(third finger)


You can see the possibilities. Try coming up with some of your own.

Here's a classic tune that uses a slash chord "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. It's a basic I,V,I,IV progression, but the V chord gets the slash treatment. Here's the progression for the verse Each chord gets 4 beats:
G; D/F#; C; D


Here's the progression for the chorus. Start with single notes on the A string (A,B) and then arpeggiate the chords. C; D; F; G; D/F#; Em; C; D; Then back to the verse.
-----------------------2----------------------------------------------2--
----------1----------3-------------0-------3----------0------1-------3----
---------0---------2-------------0--------2----------0------0-------2-----
--------2--------0-------------0---------0----------2------2------0-------
--0-2-3--------------------------------------------2------3---------------
---------------------------3-----------2----------0------------------------

Your assignment is to play the progression for both sections in time with the recording.
Good Luck!

Unit 13: Relative Minor

We have used only major chords up until this point, and it's time to start using minor chords. In notation, you'll see a small "m" after the root of the chord indicating it's minor tonality like this: Em

Sometimes, you'll see the abbreviation for minor like this:

Emin

Or if you're reading jazz notation, you'll see a dash like this:

E-



What makes a chord minor? A lowered 3rd scale degree. E major (1,3,5) is spelled E, G#, B. E minor (1,b3,5) is spelled E, G, B. If you've been paying attention to where these scale degrees are in the chords you already know, forming minor chords will be very easy. All you have to do is locate the third in any major voicing you know and drop it down a half step. Let's use E to start. Here's E Major with the names of the sounding pitches written in on each string:

---0---E

---0---E

---1---G#

---2---E

---2---B

---0---E



To make this chord minor, we lower the third. In E, the third is G#, so we'll make it G natural. To do this, we'll use the open G string.

---0---E
---0---E
---0---G
---2---E
---2---B
---0---E

Viola! There's E minor.
Here's and E major chord followed by an E minor chord. See if you can hear the difference:


Your written assignment is to do this to 3 other chord forms that we have learned thus far- A, D, and F. Write them out in diagram form in your notes.

The second part of this unit is the relative minor rule. It goes like this:

The vi chord (minor) can extend or replace the I chord (major) in any key. That means in the Key of G major, the vi chord is Eminor and they can be used interchangeably because they share many of the same notes. G major is spelled G,B,D and E minor is spelled E,G,B. This gives us the common I, vi, IV, V progresson that's common in 1950's tunes like "Earth Angel". It's also used in the chorus of one of my favorite Van Morrison tunes "Brown Eyed Girl". Here's the chord progression to the intro and the verse: I, IV, I, V (G,C,G,D).

The chorus uses the relative minor over the lyrics "You my, Brown Eyed Girl" C, D, G, Em.

Your assignment is to play the chord progession in the open position if you are a beginner, and in the 7th position if you are advanced.