Chord Section

There is a reason for setting up this System with the Chord Section first. In addition, the Chord Section is laid out in a certain fashion for good reason, which you'll understand as we go along.

First we must realize that some fifty to sixty years ago the guitar was used as a rhythm instrument and that it emerged as a solo instrument in the early forties. So it was and will always be considered first a rhythm instrument, second a solo instrument. Developing a good chordal foundation will be necessary in becoming a good rhythm player and providing the basis for the creation of solo playing as well. No matter what type of style you are soloing in, jazz. fusion, rock. pop, etc., you are constantly working in the context of the chordal harmony of the tune.

In order to become a good musician and player, you must first start by developing a good solid chord vocabulary. The Chord Section in this book will help you create and develop this vocabulary.

Important Note: Before moving on and beginning the study program in this book, we feel that we must first define a well-rounded musician and a well-rounded player. They are not necessarily the same. A well-rounded musician is one who can read music, has a good working knowledge of music theory, chords, scales, arpeggios and is able to play all styles of music: rock. jazz. fusion. and classical. In other words, he has to know it all. The well-rounded player can play well, but he doesn't necessarily know what he is doing because of a lack of knowledge of theory. A good player is generally self-taught and does not know how to read music or have a good working knowledge of chords, scales, and arpeggios. He relies on his ability to hear certain chord changes and his natural talent for playing leads that he feels sound correct.

Chord Voicing

CHORD VOICING — The notes that make up a chord are referred to as voicings. For now. the two basic voicings we are interested in are the root or bass note (generally the lowest note in the chord) and the lead or soprano voicing (or the highest note of the chord). These two voicings are important when playing chords because they should be moving in various cycles. (Chromatic Cycle, Cycle of 4ths, Cycle of 5ths, Cycle of flatted 5ths, etc.)

EXAMPLE: chord progression Am7 - D7(b9) - GM7.
The A note in an Am7 Form I chord is the root or bass voicing. The E note in an Am7 Form I chord is the lead or soprano voicing. As this chord progresses to the D7(b9) Form II, the A moves upward in a cycle of 4ths to D, the root in a D7(b9). The E moves chromatically lower to Eb, which is the flat 9th of the D7(b9) chord or the lead voicing. As the D7(b9) progresses to the GM7 chord, Form I, the D in the D7(b9) chord moves in an upward cycle of 4ths to G, the root or bass note of the GM7 chord. The Eb in the D7(b9) chord moves chromatically lower to a D, which is the lead or soprano note of the GM7 chord.

So as you work on the different exercises and tunes thrughout this book or any of the other supplementary material, try to pick out the cycle movement and learn to apply them in your own personal musical situation.

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Scale Section

As you look through this section, you will see many different scales or modes. In order to effectively solo over different chord progressions, first, as we mentioned before, having a good working knowledge of chords is definitely a must for good rhythm accompaniment, lead improvisation, and chord/melody, but second, a good soloist must have a good working knowledge of scales. Scales are used in developing leads, in linking melodic ideas together, and as fill-ins, linking chords and melodies together in chord/melody. The lead player should know which scale to play over a given chord or progression of chords. (This is discussed in the Master Guide to Chord/Scale Relationships on page 106.)

The first page of this section begins with the Major Scales with two basic Forms. Form I works in the Key of A Major, having a sixth string root and five fingerings, and Form II works in the Key of D Major, with a fifth string root and three fingerings.

The reason why we are showing several fingerings for each scale is to help you to familiarize yourself with the entire fingerboard and to enable you, as a good lead player, to move from one scale to another smoothly in any key and in any position on the fingerboard. Having a good knowledge of these scales and fingerings will definitely help to achieve this goal.

When practicing the different scales, unless it is absolutely necessary to change one finger for another, try to stay as close to our fingering patterns as possible.

Important Note: When practicing scales, take your time and don't just memorize the scales by the different patterns alone. Read the notes on the staff. Remember, practice each scale slowly, and get each note clear and clean. Speed will come in time. We suggest practicing scales in short intervals (approximately ten minutes) so you don't strain the muscles in your arm. Sitting and ripping through scales until your arms feel like they are going to fall off is an old practicing theory and a bad one. We use the same theory for practicing chords, sealer and arpeggios as they use in physical fitness programs, don't strain, but train.

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Arpeggio Section

We would like to begin this section by giving a simple definition of an Arpeggio. An arpeggio is built from the tones that make up a chord but are picked as individual notes. They may be used as leads and as fill-ins, linking melodies with chords in chord/melody.

Just like scales, all the fingering patterns must be practiced and memorized in every position and in every key. Again, unless it is ab-solutely necessary to change a finger or two, stay with our fingering patterns, and don't just memorize the fingerings. Read the notes on the staff. The use of arpeggios will be discussed in the Master Guide to Chord/Arpeggio Relationships on page 108.

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Jazz Chord Exercises

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12 Bar Blues & Al Di Meola Tunes

We feel that this section of the System is not only the most interesting and rewarding one, but probably the section you'll enjoy and have the most fun studying. It is in this section that we give you the chance to learn how, when, and where to use the tools of your trade (chords, scales, and arpeggios). We will work with several interesting 12 Bar Blues patterns and some popular tunes written and recorded by Al. We felt that working with this material would be more fun to practice plus give you more of a prac-tical working knowledge than a bunch of boring exercises.

The 12 Bar Blues patterns have two parts, A and B. The A part shows the basic chords to these blues progressions, and the B part gives you the chord substitutions and progressions. It is very important not only to memorize the chord substitutions and progressions in every position, but be able to eventually improvise over these changes.

Each tune has two parts, A and B. Part A lists the basic chord changes. Part B gives you the melody. These parts should be studied and practiced separately. The Roman numerals above each chord represent the chord forms we feel make the fullest sounding rhythm chords and create the best flow-ing cycle progression. However, once you've mastered the chord forms we've provided, we strongly suggest going through each tune and experimenting with other forms.

Remember, once parts A and B have been memorized in each tune, then begin to improvise over the basic chord changes using the scales and arpeggios you've studied. The chord changes of a tune must be memorized in order to really improvise effectively.

A Practice Tip: We suggest using two cassette decks when practicing these tunes. First, record the rhythm accompaniment to the tune, then as the cassette plays back the rhythm chords, use the second recorder to record yourself playing the melody against the chord changes. When you play back that tape, you'll get a better idea of how your timing is and just how well the melody is flowing. You can use this same practicing technique when working on your improvisation. While playing back the second tape deck or the finished product, you'll hear how you're matching the scales or arpeg-gios over the chords. This is an excellent aid in phrasing and correcting mistakes.

Download complete 12 Bar Blues; Ritmo De La Noche; Dinner Music of The Gods; Al Di's Dream Theme; Lady Of Rome, Sister Of Brazil.

Master Guide to Chord/Scale Relationships

Before listing the different chord/scale relationships, we would like to mention a couple of simple things to remember when improvising. First using the Key of C Major as an example, examine the notes of a C Major diatonic scale. Then turn back to your theory book and see how the chords in the Key of C Major are built from the C scale. These chords written in four part harmony would be CM7, Dm7, Em7, FM7, G7, Am7, Bm7(b5). Since these chords are all built from the notes of a C Major Scale, it is only logical that the C Major Scale would sound good played over all of these chords. So take your cassette player and record a simple progression in the Key of C such as CM7, Dm7, Em7, FM7, Em7, Dm7, G7, CM7, four strums each. Then try playing any form of the C Major Scale and see how it sounds. You'll be very surprised.

The second thing we would like to mention is the Chromatic Scale, which is a twelve note scale made up of 1/2 steps. It would seem obvious that since this scale covers every possible note in music, if you start from C low octave and go to high C two octaves higher, this scale would sound good over all the chords in the Key of C Major. There are no bad notes. Overplaying this scale does become boring and tastless though, so be careful how you use it.

Chord/Scale Relationsips

Master Guide to Chord/Arpeggio Relationships

Master Guide to Chord Substitutuions

Major Chords - Maj7, Maj6, Mqj9 may be used carefully, and Maj6/9

Dom7 Chords - Dom9, Dom11, Dom13

Dom9 Chords - Dom7, Dom11, Dom13

Minor Chords - Minor 7, Minor 6, Minor 9 used carefully Minor, Minor/Major 7, Minor 7, Minor 6 progression

Chord Symbols

As you pick up different music books and sheet music, you will see the same chord names abbreviated different ways. It is our intention to list all the different chord name abbreviations. We will use the chord name G for all the examples below:

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