Li Xiao'an

Practical Principles: Major Chords and Major Scale Fingering

2006-05-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

This article will cover all basic major chord shapes and their fingering, the major scale and one possible method of playing it through two octaves, and a song study, Ode to Joy, which should be played by fingers, not by picking.

These are diagrams of your hands. The numbers will be used to signify fingers of the left hand, and the letters P I M A and CH will be used to signify fingers of the right hand.

This chart explains the symbols on the chord diagrams below. The numbers on each diagram indicate the fingers of the left hand that are to be used to press the strings.

All Basic Major Chord Shapes.

The fingers 2, 3, 4 may be used to replace 1, 2, 3 respectively, though each case has its own benefits and detriments in terms of chord switching. Which fingering you use depends on personal preference.

The line signifies a barre, which means that you will have to use your first finger(as indicated) to cover all required strings. Barring is a difficult technique, but it is not impossible.

The optional note on the high e string may be pressed with finger 4 to get a richer, brighter sound by adding a high perfect fifth.
The optional note on the low E string may be pressed with finger 3, while pressing the note on the third fret of the A string with finger 4. This gives the chord a more powerful, thick sound, by adding a low perfect fifth.
It is not possible to press both.

This chord is easy to remember because of its characteristic V shape.

Fingers 1, 2, 3 may be substituted with 2, 3, 4. This once again depends on personal preference and the situation. For example, it would be easier to add another note to this chord with a free finger 4, but having a free finger 1 would make it easier to change from this chord to an F chord for example.

This shape is exactly the same as an E major chord, but with a barre on the first fret, which raises every note in the E major chord by one semitone, making the chord an F major chord, since F is one semitone above E.

The optional note may be pressed with finger 3 to add a perfect fifth to the chord. This optional note is popular in country music and makes the chord sound simpler to the ear.

Below is the C major scale and its fingering.
The numbers in circles denote the string to use.
The numbers not in circles denote the left hand fingers to use.
The tab above is to help if reading is really too difficult.

There are, of course other fingerings, but this is the most practical movable fingering.
It is movable because if we were to shift it upwards by 1 semitone and start at the 4th fret instead of the 3rd fret, we would have the major scale in the key of Db major, and similarly, all other keys may be explored in this manner by ascending the fretboard.

Play this scale ascending and descending, don't worry about tempo yet, and say the name of each note before you play it. Take your time, but try to remember, and each time you do it, try to remember more quickly.

To master the rest of the fretboard, move the scale up to Db major and repeat the process of note naming and playing. After this, move the scale up to D major and so on, and if you cover all keys, you will have memorised the notes of the fretboard.
This is not fun, but it helps alot.

When you get bored of these exercises, you can play this:

This exercise is based on Beethoven's Ode to Joy. It is easy to play and will help with chord transitions from C to G.

The Basics of Melody and Chord Construction - What is a Key?

2006-05-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

When one plays with other musicians or figures out a song or constructs a solo or a melody or basically does anything that requires melodic thinking, it is very important to know what key you are in. This lesson will help with key identification and important concepts in musicianship.

If we were to be presented with a musical score that has to be played on the spot, the first 2 things that we would look out for would be the key signature, and the time signature.

The key signature is the series of # and b signs that appear directly after a treble clef. The absence of these signs would mean that the piece is in the key of C.

This example is in the key of C

This example is in the key of E

If we were to look only at the written notes with no thought to the key signature, the two examples would sound exactly the same. However, it is quite obvious that they are not the same at all, and would hence sound very different from each other.

Some technical knowledge:

Semitone
- Half a tone. One semitone would be the division between A and A#(sharp). This is equivalent to shifting one fret on the guitar fretboard.

Sharp #
- A semitonal shift to a higher pitch

Flat b
- A semitonal shift to a lower pitch

Accidentals
- # or b signs appear

Therefore, if we were to look at the examples again, we would see that the melody in the key of C would comprise of the notes, E F F E D G B C.

The melody in the key of E, however, would comprise of the notes E F# F# E D# G# B C#.

Give it a go on your guitar. They sound quite different don't they?

Therefore, if you don't know the concept of keys, chances are that if you play from a score in a key other than C you'd get a sound that doesn't fit. This is why it's of utmost importance.

First, we'll look at how to identify a key signature.

The sharps on this staff denote the key of E major. How do we know this?

A quick way to ascertain the key of a piece would be to observe the # sign that is furthest from the treble clef. That note would be the Leading note of the key of the piece. The leading note of the key is always one semitone below the root, or tonic note of the key.

In this case, the leading note is D#. One semitone above D# is E. E is therefore the key.

Therefore, Key = One semitone above the last sharp.

What if we were to look at a key with flats instead of sharps?

The flats on this staff denote the key of A flat major, how do we know this?

The fastest way to determine the key with a signature of flats would be to look at the b sign before the last b sign in the staff. In this case, the b sign falls on the A note, telling us that we are in the key of Ab major.

Therefore Key = The second last flat

This only applies for major keys. If we wanted to find the minor key by looking at the key signature, we could find it by subtracting 3 semitones from the major key that it denotes.

The minor key of the above example in E major could also be seen as E - D# - D - C#.

Also, we could simply take the submediant(VI) degree of the major key, and that would give us the minor key.

E F# G# A B C# D# E

The submediant degree, as evident here, is C#, and we can see here that whichever method we use, we will get the same note.

The minor key can also be considered the relative minor of the major key.

Therefore, Minor Key = Submediant(VI) Degree of Major Key

_________________________________________

So how exactly do we derive the key signatures in the first place? And why do we need to have them if we can just write the sharps and flats next to the notes?

I will answer the second question first.

This melody looks clean and less intimidating on paper.

This exact same melody without the proper key signature looks messy and is much more difficult to read.

Having the proper key signature also spares the composer, who is thinking in a certain key, from having to write accidentals everywhere. It is a faster and more efficient way of writing tonal music, in addition to being easier to read and interpret.

______________________________________________________

We may derive keys through what is known as the circle of fifths. In order to understand this concept, we must once again call to mind the degrees of a scale.

I - Tonic
II - Supertonic
III- Mediant
IV - Subdominant
V - Dominant
VI - Submediant
VII - Leading
VIII - Tonic (Octave)

The IV and V degrees of the scale are the most important degrees we must keep in mind in key derivation.

Moving in the direction of the fifths help us determine how many sharps there are in the key signature

Moving in the direction of the fourths help us determine how many flats there are in the key signature

The circle of fifths is illustrated below:

If we start from C and move in a clockwise direction, what we will have is the circle of fifths. This is because every successive key note in this direction is a V, or perfect fifth, or dominant degree of the previous note.

Every successive key will have one sharp more than the previous key.

To find out which notes in a key are sharp, take all previous sharps before this key, and add the leading note of the key.

For example, in the key of C, there are no sharps.

To find out the the sharps in the key of G, we take several steps.:

1. Add all previous sharps (none)
2. Find the leading note of G (one semitone below G)
3. The leading note is found to be F#
4. Draw the # sign at the line denoting F to signify an F#.

We will end up with something like this.

The key signature of G major.

Hence, for all other keys, if the steps are repeated likewise, we will have the keys of:

D, A, E, B, F#, and C#

However, it is quite evident that from this point onward, it would be quite a mess if we were to add any more sharp signs. So what are we going to do?

For all the other keys, we will have to derive them using the circle of fourths, as shown below.

When read anti-clockwise, the circle of fifths becomes the circle of fourths, because the harmonic distance between successive notes is that of a perfect fourth. Each note is to the previous note, its Subdominant (IV) degree.

So how do we use this to derive the keys?

We will start from a movement from the key of F to the key of Bb.

Some things you have to remember:

- The key of F has one flat. That flat is a B flat. The little b appears in the middle line of the staff. Just remember this.

These are the steps we take to obtain the key signature of Eb Major:

1. Retain all previous flats (Bb in this case)

2. The new flat in the new key is the key note of the key after it in the circle of fourths.

3. In other words, the new flat is a perfect fourth above the new root note.

4. The perfect fourth above Eb would be Ab in this case.

Our new key signature looks like this:

The key signature of Eb Major.

Hence, for all successive keys, we can repeat the steps to get these keys:

Ab, Db, Gb

It is also worthwhile to note that the keys of Db and Gb major are enharmonic keys to C# and F# major.

Enharmonic - Written differently but having the same pitch.

Gb is the same as F#, and Db is the same as C#

In other words, (#)one semitone above F is the same as (b)one semitone below G and so on.

______________________________________________

Here is an exercise to familiarise yourself with reading the musical score.

The Basics of Melody and Chord Construction - The Major Scale

2006-05-07T01:39:00.001-07:00

The first concept that we will be exploring will be the fundamental basis for all tuned instruments - The Major Scale.

In order for any of the notes to be understood, first one should learn the notes on the musical staff for the Treble Clef, otherwise known as a G Clef, which is usually the only stave read by guitarists, unless you play bass guitar.

There are only 7 letters in the musical alphabet: A B C D E F G

The lines on the staff represent a rising sequence of pitches. The pitch of a sound can be broadly defined as how high, or how low, it sounds. If something sounds high, like a shriek, it can be classified as high pitched. When something sounds low, like a growl, it can be classified as low pitched.

The lowest line on the staff represents an E above middle C. The space above it is an F. The line above that F is a G. This carries on, through A, B, C, D, and E in the last space before the highest line on the staff, where the cycle repeats itself again.

Hence, one can remember the notes on the staff easily by remembering that the spaces from bottom to top follow the sequence F, A, C, E. The lines from bottom to top follow the sequence E, G, B, D, F. It will appear a little clearer once you are able to put the sound of the note to its name.

For convenience's sake, we will start with the major scale in the key of C.

note: A scale is a sequence of notes ranging from 5 to 12 notes that can be repeated succesively, going higher and higher, or lower and lower. It is from these scales that we derive melodies, or tunes, or construct chords to accompany the existing melody.

This is the Major Scale in the key of C, both ascending and descending. Notice there are no #(Sharp) or b(flat) signs on the staff. We will go into further detail about this later, but for now just accept that a staff without sharps or flats means that we are in the key of C, for simplicity's sake. The notes are : C D E F G A B C

Some of you may be familiar with the sound of this Scale. Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do.

Some technical terms here to accompany the roman numerals above each note, which denote the degrees of the scale, don't be too intimidated:

I - Tonic (Root)
II - Supertonic (Major Second)
III- Mediant (Major Third)
IV - Subdominant (Perfect Fourth)
V- Dominant (Perfect Fifth)
VI- Submediant (Major Sixth)
VII- Leading (Major Seventh)

The bracketed terms are the names of those notes relative to the first note. This will be further explored when we discuss harmony.

The non-bracketed terms are the names of the notes relative to the Key. For example, as the notes in the scale are C D E F G A B C , the notes of the scale could be classified as below.

C - Tonic (Root)
D - Supertonic (Major Second)
E- Mediant (Major Third)
F - Subdominant (Perfect Fourth)
G- Dominant (Perfect Fifth)
A- Submediant (Major Sixth)
B- Leading (Major Seventh)
C- Tonic (Octave)

As you probably noticed, there is an extra note in this chart. That note would be the C that is accompanied by a bracketed "Octave". Octaves are not notes. Octaves are relationships between notes. So if I were to say, the Octave of C, i would mean, either the 8th degree of the scale, or the note 12 semitones above root C.

Okay, that's enough information for today, you'll probably forget most of it, but not to worry, if you refer back to this article now and then, it'll sink in and become second nature.

These concepts can be applied onto guitar, and so i'll leave you with an exercise to concretize this information and give it form. What is most important is that you can hear the difference, rather than only know it on paper.

This is a fretboard diagram:

Eventually you will have to memorise all of these notes. It is like learning what note is what on a keyboard. No more, no less, apart from the fact that you can probably play the same note on 3 different places in the fretboard.

For now, refer to this diagram and play the major scale up and down, saying the letter-name of each note before you play it. Don't try to do it fast, the point of the exercise is knowing how to play the major scale and recognising the sound, and most importantly, being able to recognise when a mistake is made and correct it.

Play each note for an equal period of time, take your time, and if you want to, you can try this one on for size:

I usually discourage the use of tabs, so try to find out where these notes are on your own. Change the rhythm, play around, have fun.

LOVE,
XIAO AN

Hi Everyone

2006-05-07T01:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, i'm Xiao' an, this is my new blog. I initially thought of starting a blog for guitar lessons, then I wondered whether it would be presumptious to think that anyone could have anything to learn from me. After all, it's only been 2 years and 5 months since i picked up the instrument. Then i remembered that my friends in SJI, most of them anyway, didn't know anything anyway, yet in their own ways managed to propel my musical growth to bring me to where i am today.

I don't believe in keeping secrets. I want to go to a music university, preferably Berklee College of Music in Boston, America, to learn jazz, because my final goal is to be a teacher, and i guess now's as good a time as any to start. For those of you who know of this blog, please feel free to share your tips on anything to do with guitar playing, whatever style you hail from. They will be posted and accredited. I will start from the basics, and will try to be as beginner-friendly as possible. Also, if anyody knows any jazz guitarists, please tell me, i've been searching quite desperately but to no avail. I need a teacher.