Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Andrew,
I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to convey. Are all the fingerings starting on the root on 6th string like Pattern 1? When you say “diatonic”, are they different modes of 1 scale (eg. ionian,dorian,phrygian,etc) or the 7 fingerings for the same scale? If you could label them in terms of what’s going by displaying the intervals (eg. 1,3,5,7), it would be easier to understand the concept and how they relate to each other. Otherwise there is lots of room for misinterpretation.
Thanks!Richie
Hi Andrew,
This is not a typo! It is supposed to be played that way. If you play the 3rd on the 6th string you would have to play 4 notes on it when playing the scale: 1, b2, #2, and 3. This is pretty unconventional and not very practical for most players, unless of course you are Allan Holdsworth who does this. However, for bebop which relies on more of a vertical approach to improv, you’ll find that this is not practical. On the other hand, if you want to play the 3rd on the 6th string when playing the arpeggio only, that is fine! I do that myself occasionally but for the sake of consistency I didn’t want to teach 2 different fingerings in the book. Again, I suggest this in some videos when playing a Pattern 1 altered arpeggio.
Most fingerings derived from the melodic minor scale, such as the Super Locrian, sometimes require a different fretboard placement (occasionally moving out of position to avoid playing more than 3 scale notes per string) than those derived from the Ionian or major scale (mixolydian, dorian etc.). Let me know if this is clear or if you have any more questions regarding these fingerings.
Hi Miguel,
It’s #7 on page 74 in the workbook. What’s going on is that here it’s just ascending whereas in the summary I’ve consolidated every exercise to be descending and ascending.
Here’s a response I gave to another member recently regarding this confusion with the Calisthenics summaries:
“In the video I played all the exercises first descending for the 3 current patterns being used, and later on ascending. In the workbook summary it says to play each exercise both descending and ascending. It amounts to the same thing.
“After experimenting with doing all of them first descending and then ascending, I found it more productive, quicker and easier to do each exercise descending and immediately ascending. So if I had separate instructions for descending and ascending, I was able to consolidate all of them into one set of instructions. This means that if I had 20 exercises in the video, I now only have 10 in the summary. This was an afterthought after the video was done. I was only able to adopt this approach for calisthenics featured in later modules.
When you practice the calisthenics, the video is supposed to be used only initially to orient you and give you details as to proper fingering use and other issues which you may encounter when trying to do a specific exercise. Once you have watched the video, please practice from the corresponding summary in the workbook.”
As a result, I will add a note at the beginning of the Calisthenics videos to not try to view the summaries together with the videos but instead to consider them a stand alone set of instructions.
Hi Michael,
The downloads page has been moved and now is included in the downloads pages for each module. I’m about to put a notice on the initial dashboard “news” section.
Sorry about the inconvenience!Ken,
You are absolutely right! Thanks for pointing that out, I will correct it and re-upload it…
Richie
Navdeep,
They probably are impossible to play. The clusters are not guitar voicings. I was just making a theoretical point about when to play or not to play upper extensions in the lowest voice…
Matt,
Clusters work great if they are played in a higher register, usually above middle C. There is an implied bass because of the overtone series in the voicing you mentioned. Drop voicings which are the most used chords by guitarists due to the limitations imposed by our tuning system, don’t work…try changing the root for a 9 or a 5th for a 13 on the lowest note of a drop voicing and you’ll see what I mean.When extensions are nested within the same 8ve between chord tones as in clusters, they work great! For example in the following dom7 from bottom to top: 9, 3 , 5, b7 or 13, b7, 9, 3
In a drop voicing they don’t. For example in the following dom 7 from bottom to top: 13, 1, 3, b7 (originally 5, 1, 3, b7 ) or 9, 5, b7, 3 (originally 1, 5, b7, 3)
However, thanks for asking this question as I now realize I need to clarify this in the proper section! Did I mention this on one of the “Chord Studies” videos?
I just never intended this course to be about chord construction, rather about linear improv, so I haven’t gone into the detail it deserves. And there are so many details!!!
The last module covers Maj7 chords. Also, the summaries in the workbook are designed to be used beyond the contents of this course…
PS. Ken, please kindly write the actual question on the title of your post instead of “question” for easier reference, both for me and other readers. Also, if a question is directed especially at me you can put “Richie, bla bla” when starting your text and not on the title. Thx!
Navdeep, I agree with you regarding the term “chord melody”,yet if I don’t use that term to describe what I am doing, the “denizens of the jazz guitar” world whom my course would be exclusively directed to, might not know what it is about and “sales would plummet”. I don’t want to get all bent out of shape about nomenclature, but the term “chord melody” has become widely used to the extent that guitar instructors at major universities including Berklee, use it among their students and even in the description of the courses they teach.
I used to hate tab…I’m still not fond of it, but if i hadn’t adapted to using it in the last decade I would have lost half of my students. It makes guitarists appear as 2nd rate citizens among musicians because they can’t read regular notation. I come from an older generation where there was no tab and no one used the term “chord melody”. It used to irritate the sh-t out of me for years when it first started to crop up. However I had to adapt in order to communicate with new generations of guitarists.
Michael,
I would start practicing the exercise first one at a time and then mix and match. When you get further into this module you will encounter a series of rhythmic cell exercises. These will combine all the different syncopation figures into 2 beat cells. These exercises gradually mix and match all the concepts presented here and are the ones to devote most of your time to, once you understand the initial one.
Yes…downbeats and upbeats sound like a heartbeat as long as you don’t suffer from arrhythmia 🙂
Shay,
By rhythm guitar I assume you mean the use and development of “chords” on the guitar. The guitar oriented books that come to mind dealing with this subject are, “Chord Chemistry” by Ted Greene, “The Advancing Guitarist” by Mick Goodrick and a book by Dennis Sandole called “Guitar Lore”. I truly don’t know if they will fulfill your needs as the information in all of them takes a lot for granted. That said, I will be releasing a course online exclusively devoted to chord melody and the development of harmony on the guitar. It probably won’t happen for another 6 months as I will be busy in the next months finishing VOL 2 of the Bebop Series.
Hi Andrew,
No problem, but kindly please send your request to: bebopguitar@richiezellon.com with your registration info.
Thanks,
Richie
