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Musician thread

usndocjaysin said:
When you say "voicings" what do you mean?
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When you play a chord, certain notes in the chord have different functions. We refer to the various notes in a chord by their numeric position in the scale that would underlie the chord. For example, let's look at the notes in the C major scale to keep it simple, as there are no sharps or flats:


C D E F G A B C

You can number the scale steps from 1 to 8:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

If we spell out a C major chord, the notes will be:

C, E, G

The C is the 1, E is the 3 and G is the 5.

In a chord, the 1 is the tonic or root of the chord. The 5 is the dominant and while it helps you orient to the key it does not provide any information as to whether the chord is a major or a minor, as this note would be the same either way.

The 3rd is known as a "guide tone," which does give you information about whether the chord is major or minor. If you play the third as we've spelled it here, the chord is a major chord. If you drop the third a half-step, in this case the E becomes an E flat, you'd hear a minor chord.

Now that you know the above, a voicing is an arrangement of a chord that may repeat some notes and leave other notes out. One obvious case is what we call power chords, which have only the 1 and the 5.

In this case, we're leaving out the 3, and the chord becomes ambiguous, being neither major, nor minor. In our current example, if someone is playing a C power chord, you could play the C major scale or the C minor scale over it and it would sound fine.

Voicings may also repeat chord tones. The classic power chord grip on guitar plays the 1, 5 and 1, or in our example, the C, G and C. The repeated 1 is an octave higher than the first one. The chord functions the same within the music, meaning the same scales will works with it, but the sound is a bit richer.

Another possible voicing is one that leaves out the 5. This would leave you playing the 1 and 3, which gives enough musical information to at least imply to the listener that it's a C major chord. A C major scale would sound good over this, but if you played a C minor scale, that flatted 3rd (Eb) would sound like a clam.

The bigger the chord, (meaning the more notes it has, e.g., 7th, 9th) the more numerous the chord voicing possibilities. The rules get a little more complicated in bigger chords as to which specific notes you can leave out and still preserve the quality of the chord, but the underlying concept is the same.
 
Ah, pull up a chair, class is in session! :p

Q for Andy: Modes are basically nothing more than scales beginning from different root notes, yes?
 
usndocjaysin said:
You want some monies for the education:laughing Geez man I either need to download your music brain parts or take some sort of music class. :hail
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same reason why I suck, I don't know crap about notes,forms, chord arrangements etc. I know what I need to learn in order to become a better player but I don't do it, I don't want to learn by reading a book I'd much rather be walked through it in person.
 
Hooli said:
Q for Andy: Modes are basically nothing more than scales beginning from different root notes, yes?
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Yes. Fundamentally that's it completely.

To elaborate a little bit, if we play an 8 note scale starting from middle C on the piano, staying on the white keys (no sharps or flats), we get a C major (or ionian) scale:

C D E F G A B C

If you play from D to D on the white keys, you get a D dorian scale. So, in this example, you're not only starting on a different root note (D), you're utilizing exactly the same notes as if you had been playing the C major scale:

D E F G A B C D

This is different than playing a D major scale, which would be:

D E F# G A B C# D

As you see, the D major scale does not use all of the same notes the C major scale does; it has an F# instead of an F and a C# instead of a C.

What gives modes their specific sound is the sequence of whole steps (W) and half steps (H) in the scale. A major scale in any key will have the following sequence:

W W H W W W H

IOW, as you step through the notes of the C major scale:

C to D = whole step
D to E = whole step
E to F = half step
F to G = whole step
G to A = whole step
A to B = whole step
B to C = half step

The Dorian mode in any key, has the sequence:

W H W W W H W

Or, for D dorian: <---edited an error

D to E = whole step
E to F = half step
F to G = whole step
G to A = whole step
A to B = whole step
B to C = half step
C to D = whole step

But back to your original statement, you can hear the modes by sitting down at the piano and sticking to the white keys. Play the following scales:

C D E F G A B C = Ionian
D E F G A B C D = Dorian
E F G A B C D E = Phrygian
F G A B C D E F = Lydian
G A B C D E F G = Mixolydian
A B C D E F G A = Aeolian
B C D E F G A B = Locrian

This is one of those concepts that's pretty simple, but there are a lot of ways to describe it. The more words I write, the more complicated it sounds, but it's really not. What gets a little weirder is figuring out how to use modes in actual music.
 
You're a man of many talents, Andy. :thumbup

Maybe when it's warmer we can have a music theory get-together, munch on BBQ outdoors and pluck/strum/pick our guitars.
 
masameet said:
You're a man of many talents, Andy. :thumbup

Maybe when it's warmer we can have a music theory get-together, munch on BBQ outdoors and pluck/strum/pick our guitars.
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:blush Thanks!

It would be fun to get together with whomever would be interested. It can be a nerdy subject, but it does raise people's game when it comes to playing.
 
good info on theory, my weakness too.
 
tzrider said:
:blush Thanks!

It would be fun to get together with whomever would be interested. It can be a nerdy subject, but it does raise people's game when it comes to playing.
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How about a whirl with . . .

how do you "use" the circle of fifths?
 
I'm going to let Andy give an elaborate response here, but as a note to all:

Learn the Circle of Fifths. It makes writing music, as well as sightreading much more enjoyable :)
 
Mr. you sound like you have some knowledge there. I, however have guitars, callouses on my fingertips, and very little knowledge. I switch between 10 different acoustics just to keep from getting discouraged and quitting. You see, I can't give up, because I then wouldn't have a semi-logical reason for keeping them. I have never played in front of another person, except one woman friend of mine that plays a little.
I wish there were some place to go to just watch acoustic players in the East Bay.
I have very little interest in listening to garage bands anymore. An acoustic just makes sweeeter sounds to my ear.
And I think the idea of a bar-b with theory talk would be way cool, nerdy as it sounds.
 
Bluehot said:
I wish there were some place to go to just watch acoustic players in the East Bay.
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Beckett's and the Starry Plough in Berkeley usually have some good acoustic music. Jupiter and Blake's can be hit or miss. Check their calendars for acoustic and folk nights. Don't know about the rest of the east bay.
 
Berkeley's 5th String (across from the Ashby BART station) hosts bluegrass jams on Thursday nights.

And of course Freight & Salvage sometimes hosts an open mike.

Tonight I'm heading to Napa for some free pizza and maybe a chance to sing a song or two and even pretend to wrest a melody from my ancient German fiddle.
 
Any of you learn a new song simply by listening to it over and over again?

I remember reading about some famous guitarist, how he learned to play as a youngster by wearing out his favorite records on his phonograph and then picking out the song on his guitar. Now with computers and software that can slow down a song's tempo as well change its pitch, it seems something so much easier for any musician to do.

What I like about learning songs via the computer/iTunes is the fiddle tunes I learn tend to stay in my head and fingers, no matter how much time passes between learning and playing it again. I can still sight read but I want to move away from that in playing Old Time and Bluegrass. As it helps when I jam, to be able to concentrate on the melody and then mess around with it during my solo break. For when I read music, I can't seem to commit it to memory. Well, actually that's not quite true. :laughing I do remember most of it. Just not all of it. Oh well.

Funny thing about aural memory. I like it but don't quite understand it.

Also it is really neat to hear a melody and recapitulate it on one's instrument. Don't even have to think about the key either.

I think there's nothing finer in life than to be a musician, to be able to feel and hear music, to be stirred by sound, and to please others with one's music.
 
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