Triads
The next logical subject to touch on is Triads. You may
be thinking "what does this have to do with solos". Well as you might see later,
quite a bit.
Triads are simply the most basic of chords. They are
called Triads because they consist of 3 intervals and these intervals are a 3rd
apart. There are actually 4 different possible triads:
- Major: Root(1), 3, 5
- Minor: Root, b3, 5
- Diminished: Root, b3, b5
- Augmented: Root, 3, #5
*Remember the numbers
above are Intervals based on the Major Scale*
If you were to start on C and build a major triad, the
second note in the Triad, E, would be a 3rd higher than the root note of C. The
third note of the triad, G, would be a b3rd higher than the second note, E. This
is called stacking 3rds and it is pretty important that you understand this.
Triads are the basis for *almost* all other chords. Sus
chords are the only exception but we won't be covering that right now. So no
matter the chord, you'll always be able to find a triad within it.
one last thing on the subject of triads. I have found
If you want to get a fuller sounding chord just double one or more of the notes.
Triad Inversions
Now we will briefly check out Triad Inversions.
A triad is inverted when any note other than the root
note is used as the lowest note.
the 3 possible Triad Inversions:
- Root Position: Root is Lowest Note
- 1st Inversion: The 3rd of the chord is the lowest note
- 2nd Inversion: The 5th of the chord is lowest note.
I highly recommend you try this out. This can seriously
give you that certain edge you might be looking for.
Harmonized Major Scale
(Hopefully now you will begin to see how this is
starting to relate to solos and where I am going with this)
OK now we will touch on the Harmonized Major Scale.
The Harmonized Major Scale is simply a formula for
making chord progressions. This formula shows what chords are in a particular
key.
OK, so if we take all of the notes that make up the C
major Scale:
C D E F G A B C
And build a Triad off of every note of the C Maj. Scale
this is what we get:
I C
E G -C Major
1 3 5
ii
D F A
-D minor
1 b3 5
iii
E G B
-E minor
1 b3 5
IV
F A C
-F Major
1 3 5
V G
B D -G Major
1 3 5
vi
A C E
-A minor
1 b3 5
vii
B D F
-B diminished
1 b3 b5
VIII
C E G
-C Major
1 3 5
Let me break down
the above chart into sections to help you understand what it means.
Notice the roman
numerals to the left of each chord. We use these roman numerals to talk about
chord progressions without having to specify any certain key.
The three notes to
the right of the numerals are the notes that make up a particular chord. The
chord name is to the right of the three notes.
The numbers below
each of the 3 notes show it's FORMULA. They are simply the
root,
the 3rd
and the 5th
for major chords. For minor chords they are the
root,
the flattened 3rd or b3
and the 5th.
For the diminished chord it is the root
the flat 3rd (b3)
and the flat 5th (b5).
So hopefully you
understand that this formula as I mentioned above will actually tell you what
the correct chords are for each key...i.e. minor, diminished, or major.
Here is the sweet
part: As long as we follow the major scale the chord pattern of Major, Minor,
Minor, Major, Major, Minor, Diminished and Major are always the same no matter
what key you are in. So what that means is all you have to do is remember which
Roman Numeral represents which chord type and you are set! Are you getting
excited yet?
Here's another lay
out to help you associate the numeral with the chord type:
I
ii iii
IV V
vi vii
VIII
maj min
min maj maj
min dim maj
Notice the upper
case numerals represent the Major chords and the lower cased numerals represent
the minor and diminished chords. This is to make it easier to remember the chord
types.
Pentatonic Scales
Real quick we are going to touch on the
Major and Minor Pentatonic scales. Since I am willing to bet you already know
them I would like to take a second since we are finally geared more towards
solos and show you how we can finally put some of this together.
Updated: Also
check this out as I am positive it will help when it comes to solos and the
minor pentatonic.
If you don't know the major and minor
pentatonic scales go here for a quick look.
The major pentatonic scale is built from
these intervals:
R 2 3 5
6 - In the Key of C that = C
D E G A
The minor Pentatonic scale is built from
these intervals:
R b3 4 5
b7 - In the key of C that = C Eb
F G Bb
Let's put some of this newly learned
knowledge to good use.
Going back to the harmonized major scale
(the chord formula) the major pentatonic works well over major chord-based
progressions. Play the major pentatonic scale over I
iv IV V I or
V IV I V
chord progressions. Play it in
any key and stick with the formula.
The minor pentatonic
works best over, you guessed it, progressions based mainly upon minor chords.
Try playing the minor pentatonic over - ii
iii IV ii
or
iv
ii iii iv -
once again play it in any key with the same formula.
What about power
chords you say? Well that's got to be the easiest of 'em all. Basically just
pick these out by ear. If the minor pentatonic doesn't sound right the major
pentatonic more than likely will. In some cases I have noticed that both work
pretty interchangeably so you can mix them in those cases.
So hopefully all of this is falling
into place and you can now see how all this chord junk can actually play a big
role in soloing.
Modes
Lastly We are going to go into MODES. Ah,
did I just sense the look of despair run down your face? Well if it did it
should not have. Modes are one of the most widely talked about aspects of guitar
and at the same time one of the least understood. Rest assured if you have made
it this far this is going to be a real piece of cake.
So what are modes? Simply put modes are
just a way of manipulating notes of a scale to get a wider array of sound - That
actually sounds a little misleading, let me explain. You see I have noticed MANY
guitar teaching sites say that second line above and it leads one to think that
you get the modal sounds by simply playing the certain arrangement of notes and
BLAM! you got your mode sound. That is completely and utterly FALSE! It is the
other notes, more precisely the defined notes that you can clearly hear in the
backing arrangement that define the mode. Just playing an arrangement of notes
on your guitar with no other music backing you up will not give you what you are
looking for. More on this later on.
Let me lay this out for you in a little
bit easier to understand way:
Take the C major scale in which the notes
are - C D E F G A B C but, what if we started on G
and ended on G like this: G A B C D E
F G - Notice
that we didn't change the notes of the scale, they are ALL still from the C
Major scale. We simply made it seem as if G was the root
note. Take this basic idea and read further--- If you play a solo comprised of
(some of) the
notes of the C major scale, in any arrangement, then play the G (no chord needed) as a
repeated backing note you will start to notice the change in the mood as
compared to playing C as the background note. This is what I was talking about
earlier.
Also, do not think of modes as
scales, think of them as other keys such as the key of G and the key of A.
Thinking this way will help you out and get you started off in the right
direction with modes.
So using the second
note in a scale as 'root' (which is essentially what we were doing above) is called Dorian Mode. There are
actually 7 modes, 1 for each of the 7 notes in the major scale (remember the 8th
is just the octave). Infact if you know the major scale you already knew a mode.
The major scale is called Ionian mode. See, you're already one step ahead of
yourself.
Each mode also has it's own formula making
it much easier than just starting and stopping on a different note in a given
scale. This way you can just play a mode with the root note you need instead
of searching for it. Hopefully that made sense. It should be easy now
that you know what Intervals are.
Here are the modes (parallel) in their respective
order from 1(Ionian Mode) thru 7(Locrian Mode) with their formulas.
Ionian (major Scale)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8
Dorian
1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 8
Phrygian
1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8
Lydian
1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 8
Mixolydian
1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 8
Aeolian (Minor Scale)
1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8
Locrian
1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 8
Note: In order for the intervals to line
up right (in the above way-parallel) when comparing them to the major scale you will have to consider the
following:
C D E F
G A B C are the notes for C major
scale. If we played in Dorian mode the notes would then be
D E F G
A B C D so we would have to
compare this with the D major scale NOT the C major scale because our root is
now D.
Example: D major scale = D E F# G A B Db.
D Dorian = D E F G A B C. so we can conclude that the 3rd note in Dorian mode
as compared to the D major scale has been flatted (b3) as well as the 7th note
(b7). Look above at the formula and you'll see Dorian = 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 8.
Get the idea?
There is also another way to look at modes
(like we did at the beginning) other than parallel, known as relative. The
relative way of looking at modes shows how they relate to the scale you are
playing in. Go HERE to check out both Parallel and
Relative Modes.
Well now that you know Modes along with
the Harmonized Major Scale (Chord Scale), how to build basic triads and intervals, I
think you are well on your way to not only great solos but great songs as well.
To Dave and everyone else out there: I have held up my end of
the deal, but it is up to you to actually do some good with this stuff. I
recommend picking up your guitar and getting a feel for it. It is also a great
idea to work some of this stuff out on paper and actually see the inner workings
of everything. What you really want is to know this stuff so well, when you pick
up your guitar you don't just see the fret board. You see a wide music-scape
with an endless possibility of tones and moods. I suspect with the
knowledge you now have you can write a great solo/song with a little effort. I
honestly hope that this has helped you out even the slightest bit. Feel free to
e-mail me with your feedback at
general@fret-master.com
Oh and just a quick reminder: Be sure to check your spam and
junk mail filters for any replies I may have sent you if you have
requested a
lesson.
Until Next Time,
-JM Brown - Instructor/Admin
