(Page updated February 2020)

CREATIVE MUSICIANSHIP by Bill Kibby-Johnson

This page is under construction, and will aim to provide practical help and information for anyone who does not want their musical performances to depend on reading sheet music. At the moment, most of the text is done, but often talks in terms of a book or chapters, but it won’t always make sense until the illustrations are added. The page mainly refers to popular music and jazz, and talks about the "nuts and bolts" of putting music together. I describe it as…

A Comprehensive Course & Reference Guide to The Melodic, Harmonic, Chordal & Rhythmic Structure of popular music, jazz & rock, etc. with particular emphasis on the creative aspects of the art, such as improvisation, playing by ear, composition, arranging, etc..

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT ALFIE?

It used to be quite commonplace for teachers to be rude and unpleasant to pupils, and I suffered bullying from two particular teachers at school. Over the past half-century, I have come across a shocking number of people who were told by their music teachers that they were useless at music, and they should give it up. Often, this is not a failure of the pupil, it is a failure of the teacher’s elitist attitude, but it can leave people feeling scarred and second-rate throughout their lives. It’s as if the teacher decided to promote the best pupils, and reject anyone who didn’t conform to some unspoken standard. I have had pupils who tried again and succeeded late in life, and were frustrated to find that they could have been enjoying making music quite effectively for all those years, if they had received a more gentle, caring approach from the teacher.

There is a widespread myth that learning music is all about learning to read notes on a page, and playing what is written down. That is not what this course is about. Suppose you wanted to learn to draw, and someone told you that for every picture you want to draw, you must buy a booklet costing several pounds, which tells you exactly what to draw and how to draw it, what shapes, colours and positions - everything! Imagine, you must never pick up a pencil and doodle, you must only do what the booklet tells you! That doesn't sound much like art to me, and it's certainly not CREATIVE art, yet the same type of argument is used all the time for music, and many people seem to think that you can't play “properly” if you don't have music in front of you. You should ask my audiences about that.

How could anyone compose new music if they didn't have the booklet to tell them what to write? Did Mozart buy a booklet which told him how to find his inspiration? No! He learned how music was put together, and used that knowledge to create things himself, from his inspiration. He used paperwork to write it down for others to read, but the music came first, not the paper!

Irving Berlin was the most prolific Russian-born composer, yet he was a terrible pianist, and couldn't read or write a note of music, he just had a natural talent for songwriting. Errol Garner was one of many famous musicians who composed, played and improvised without any bits of paper to guide him. Since he did not write down his music, it was left to other people, and what they wrote was not what he played. (Take for example the key and middle eight for “Misty”.)

I'm not famous, but I was brought up in a family to which making music was as natural as breathing. That doesn't mean it was always good, but it was creative, and nobody ever discussed keys, chord names, or even names of notes. To be part of these family parties (or "jam sessions" as people might call them now) I had to join in and learn as I went along, although I had the advantage that my Dad was the principal musician of the bunch. He didn't teach me much theory because he didn't know much of it himself, he just played lots of different instruments, especially the banjo, at which he excelled. He was one of the few people in the world who could make a banjo a complete solo instrument. The music he played was mainly the popular music that his generation was brought up on, but all the rules of music were in there somewhere, and I found it easy to apply them to learning the current popular music that was around in the fifties, and right through to the new millennium.

I am no expert on hymns, most of the ones I know were learned at school, which ended in 1963, but in a time when live music is rare, churches tend to have more gatherings of musicians than most other places, so I will often refer to hymns and carols in this course.

Over the past forty-odd years, I have worked on trying to write down the rules of music as I see them, and I have put together a course which goes through them in a logical sequence, so that no-one is expected to do things they haven't learnt yet, and one skill is learned at a time, as opposed to the system which expects complete beginners to read music, work out which notes it represents, find them on the keyboard, and play two hands all at once!

There is no quick or easy method, but mine is a CREATIVE one. Being good at music requires a lot of time and effort, and you need to have the type of mind that asks questions and seeks answers. Unfortunately, because most people hear music for years before they start to play, your brain wants to run ahead, and you will have to start by playing things that seem very simple and boring, but you will soon move on to brain-teasers.

I go through a lot of early practical stages that come before the beginnings of normal music lessons, and attempting to deal with reading music. I will also tell you many things that go beyond what a Grade VIII pupil has been taught. If you want to learn to be a CREATIVE musician, I can help!

THE AUTHOR

People who know Bill Kibby as a musician are aware of his unusual mixture of musical talents, extending to many styles of music, and on many different instruments. In this, he is uniquely placed for providing an over-all view of popular music, as can be heard on his pianogen website.

“I just love those wonderfully fluid, liquid sounds that flow from the piano whenever Bill is playing” - Carol

“I never thought I’d hear jazz guitar like that around here!” – Ed

“The sounds that Bill gets from two keyboards are beyond imagination” - Wendy

“Bill’s banjo playing was just perfect for New Orleans Jazz” – Rick.

“I can’t understand why Bill is not famous” - June

“I couldn’t believe Bill could just walk in, front the band at an hour’s notice, and play like that without rehearsal” - John

“I don’t think I could improve on Bill’s guitar playing” – Pete.

“Bill may not be the best drummer in the world, but I’d be happy to have him with me on a gig” - Eric

“Bill’s piano playing is so good, I don’t know why he bothers with all those other instruments” – Rod

“Bill’s singing took me back to Matt Monro” - Edie

“When Bill plays guitar, it’s as if he is making love to it” - Mary

“Bill’s the best musician in town, he’s got it all” – Dave.

“Bill’s playing is verging on genius, he IS the band” – Ian

“There are so many songs I want to sing, but who else but Bill could I ask to accompany them for me?” Laurie

“Music is not the same without Bill” – Jane

“We love Bill’s organ playing, why would he want to play anything else?” – Organ club.

“I am not used to banjo players doing proper intros, or playing proper solos!” – Alan

“The rhythm section swings when Bill is on bass” - Murray

“How many bass players can keep the audience interested when they are soloing for a whole 32 bars?” – Chas

Bill was born into a musical family in 1947, and by the mid-fifties, he was participating in what other people would call "jam sessions", but to the Kibby family, they were just parties, and making live music was what parties were all about, not playing party games or listening to records. Being unwisely encouraged to get a "proper job", Bill headed straight for the music trade instead of music itself, and trained as a piano tuner. As such, he has, since 1963, collected what is probably the world's largest archive of piano history, yet he never lost the desire to put music first, so piano playing became an important aspect of his work, but like Glen Miller, Bill wasn't content to just play one instrument, he wanted to play the whole band! Bill's holistic, eclectic approach to music left him with only three possible ways of achieving this aim, namely (1) multi-track recording, or (2) making the best possible use of both hands and feet by playing a pedalboard and two keyboards (like an organist) or (3) the use of electronics and MIDI technology to arrange his own pre-recorded backings for use with stringed instruments. Bill says...

I remember an organist who received a standing ovation for playing one simple tune on trumpet, but there is a strange division of attitudes about being a multi-instrumentalist. I know people who learn all sorts of related skills such as building, decorating, plumbing, gas fitting, electrics, etc.. Medical practitioners often take a holistic approach to studying the whole subject from many different angles, and vets have to do all that for many different animals, but if I explain that I have spent most of my life learning to play a wide variety of music on several instruments, the phrase "jack of all trades" immediately pops up, with its implication that I must be a "master of none"!

I wouldn't argue against the point that someone who only ever plays guitar might become a better guitarist than I could ever be, but I gain a wider picture of the world of music, and cannot resist picking a particular instrument for a particular style of music. In order to function as a musician, I have to be able to please the audience, whether I agree with their taste or not, and as long as I can mix in some of my favourites, there are few greater thrills for me than the applause of an appreciative audience.

INSIDE A MUSICIAN’S BRAIN

There is a relationship between intelligence and musical ability, and yet it is dangerous to say this to people because so many exceptional musicians are modest, think they are not very clever, or even think they are dim. You only have to look at talent shows like “The X Factor” or “The Voice” to realise that people are the worst judges of their own ability. Many wonderful singers are astonished if they get through. Others think they are God’s gift, and cannot understand why other people can’t hear how “good” they are!

For a long time, I have felt that when people are written off as “clever”, they tend to fall into one of two categories. After many years of wrestling with the problem, I have been unable to identify any significant overlap between the two, or any way of rating the percentage of either aspect in a person’s mind, and most of these individuals can be classified as what (for want of better terms) I describe as either “ACADEMIC” or “CREATIVE”, depending on which side of their brain is used most. The “academic” types have a thirst for information, which they store neatly in their brains, and can regurgitate on demand. They can consume the contents of a whole broadsheet every day, and can recount the smallest trivia and details of something that happened years ago. They make excellent journalists, archivists or quizzers, because they can just tap into their brain just as if it were a huge computer hard-drive. In music, they are those “clever” ones who can remember the written key, the notation, the chord sequence that was there on the paper, and even the lyrics. They make good classical or ragtime musicians or sight-readers, and can often take in knowledge instantaneously, and play an exercise in note-perfect form straight away. They are less capable of producing original thought, logic and creativity, and can be rigid or dogmatic about sticking to a particular way of playing something. Some blues players and singers can take just another simple, repetitive 3-chord blues and in their heads each one is a unique, individual song.

By contrast, the “creative” types are absolutely hopeless at remembering facts such as mathematical formulae, but overcome this by having the logic and the nous to work them out from scratch. Their brains seem to have the puniest of hard-drives for storing known facts and trivia, but have an enormous RAM area for random, spontaneous, creative thought processes, and for inspiration. In music, they often cannot remember the lyrics, and probably don’t care what key they are in, or what chords the original songwriter used, they unashamedly do their own thaing and set out to create their own individual versions, arrangements and improvements. They make good improvisers, jazz players or composers, and can play without the need for paperwork, but are not good at doing what they are told by a piece of paper.

For me, some of the most special people are those who combine logic with creativity, and manage to cope with, and become comfortable with, the apparent conflicts between those two things, without becoming dogmatic. The piano historian in me is the scientist and sceptic, who has to seek definite provable facts, and to learn to be wary of any piece of information that has arrived from an unproven source. There has to be a kind of temporary acceptance of certain things, combined with the realisation that they may later prove to be wrong. In music, I may start off with the way a piece of music is written or heard, but I inevitably go on to seek improvements and embellishments, and give way to inspiration. Any logic about why the changes are correct or acceptable is an afterthought, because initially, I just respond instinctively to the inspiration, and…

Art should never be explained.

I struggle to understand what goes on in my brain sometimes, and I can't really blame it on senility because I think I've always been the same. Music is a spontaneous thing for me: I was brought up in a family where music had no paperwork, and no mention of note-names or keys, so I can do more than most people in that way, throwing things in without prior warning, and coping with sudden musical crises. It has often been said that when I stand in with a band as a “dep” for a single occasion, on one of several instruments, without rehearsal, I do better than the regular guy. However, rehearsing once or twice doesn't seem to be any guarantee that things will improve, it's as if there is a right way to do that song, at that moment, and any attempt to go against that is denied access to my hard-drive. If there is a chord written on the paper, but my brain knows it clashes with the melody, I find it physically impossible to cope with the conflict, and always have to defer to the melody. It's not that I mind if someone changes the melody a little, but the chords MUST be capable of blending with the melody, or I can't cope at all. Anything that comes from notes or notation on a piece of paper is automatically over-ridden by my instinct to respond to a sudden and unexpected change in the melody note, or something that someone else spontaneously throws into the equation. That’s the thrill of playing with jazz musicians.

For me, jazz is a spontaneous conversation between instruments, based on learning the melody, producing enhanced chords that add to the impact of the melody, then improvising new melodies that fit the enhanced chords.

Although I enjoy playing many different types of music, most of the best musicians I know are jazz players.

When it comes to keys, I really don't care what key I play in (within reason) so I can't always remember what key different people play or sing in. Having done a song in several keys with several people over a period of half a century, I often have no clue what key I should be in on this particular occasion, and it is necessary for me to have some logical basis on which to decide on the key, such as the highest and lowest notes. When I am working on my own, I take control by having a fairly standard way of playing each particular song, and fortunately, my own voice conforms to the well-established convention of top notes up to Eb, so that is the logic I use for choosing keys, even if I am not going to sing. However, working on the same song with several different musicians or singers, I can easily lose track of who does it which way. I have an incredible memory for some things (such as over 2000 songs) but my brain throws away certain types of information without consulting me first, and I can't always remember what key a song was played in two days ago, this is the down-side of the spontaneity thing. Furthermore, my brain throws away certain songs that don't conform to some unspoken criteria, yet it remembers some rubbish that seems of little value to me in the real world. Fortunately, this article is not about improving memory.

CONTENTS

Although it is quite in keeping with modern digital technology to number things from zero onwards, it seems a bit weird, even to me, to have a “Chapter Zero”! However, there is a practical, logical reason for numbering the rest of the chapters from one onwards.

Chapter Zero Introduction and background information.

Chapter One Single-note melodies, intervals and scales.

Chapter Two Pairs of notes in harmony.

Chapter Three Triads - Simple three-note chords, and the beginnings of chord sequences.

Chapter Four Sevenths & other four-note chords.

Chapter Five Ninths & other five-note chords.

Chapter Six Elevenths & other chords based on 6 notes.

Chapter Seven Thirteenths & other chords based on 7 notes.

Chapter Eight Advanced Chord Index, Note Index and Chord Charts

Chapter Nine The Rhythm Section.

Don't be afraid to dip into the RHYTHM SECTION whenever you feel like it, it is quite separate, and deals with the rhythm aspects of music, not just for drumming, but also rhythm playing on bass notes and chords.

CAN YOU....?

Before you get started, tick these in pencil if you can do them, assuming that you have the information on paper…

Name all the white notes on a keyboard?

Name all the black notes on a keyboard?

Name all the notes on your instrument?

Play a major scale?

Understand Interval Numbers?

Play a major scale in any key?

Play four types of minor scale in any key?

Embellish a melody with grace notes, trills & slurs?

Add harmony notes to a melody?

Make up counter-melodies?

Write a Round?

Understand Major Triads?

Play at least four types of triad?

Find different inversions of chords?

Write logical chord sequences?

Play all twelve Seventh chords?

Play all twelve Minor Seventh chords?

Play all twelve Augmented chords?

Play all twelve Diminished chords?

Now read on...

LET’S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING

Very often, when people come to me when they have already learnt some music, and they ask me about learning to improve, and use more advanced chords and harmonies.

Before they can do this, they need to understand about building and using simple chords to their best effect.

Before they can do this, they need to be completely at ease with intervals and simple harmony.

Before they can do this, they need to be familiar with note names and some basic note skills which have so often been left out along the way.

All I can say is - start from the beginning, follow the course in the order it is laid out, and only skip over things that you are quite sure you already know thoroughly.

Everything is there for a purpose, and most items are arranged in the most logical and sensible order I can design.

It is not the order used for conventional music teaching of the classical grades, it goes into more detail before what would usually be the earliest stages, and concentrates more on helping you to understand music, instead of just doing what it says on a piece of paper.

In this sense, it also goes on much further than orthodox lessons, and a Grade VIII pupil can still find that they learn a lot from what is contained here.

Use the Contents page or the Indexes to find things when you are stuck.

LITTLE CHILDREN

Children have an amazing thirst for knowledge, and by the time they are four, many of them are quite capable of learning music, computer programming, or just about anything else, provided they can concentrate long enough to learn.

One big problem with music is that they need to use letters, and there may be conflicts between the way schools teach infants letters and the way they need to use them in music.

Quite simply, if you want a small child to get an early start in music, you can teach them the names of the capital letters from A to G, and not try to connect them with the small letters, which they may learn purely as sounds for early reading purposes.

Having said that, it is very useful if they can play around with words made up of those letters, and I use several different word games to develop the use of the letter names for notes, and get beginners used to finding the notes on the keyboard by these names.

These games may appear childish, but they are also very helpful, and surprisingly challenging to adults. Avoid any system which tries to bypass the names of notes, it will leave you at a disadvantage later.

Many people imagine that it is helpful to put labels on the instrument with the names of the notes, but it usually has the opposite effect…

Who needs to learn the names when they are written there?

In fact, the layout of the keyboard is very easy to learn, but if you have an electronic keyboard with the notes printed on it, try to cover them with sticky tape or paper.

WALK DON’T RUN!

However young or old you are, you will have to start with simple tunes, and get them right before you try going on to bigger things.

This may seem childish to a grown-up, but that doesn't mean it will be easy, you will find that a creative approach to music requires a lot of brain-work, even if the resulting sounds are not always impressive.

The thing to understand about adults is that, without even knowing it, they have been learning things about music all their lives, and there are lots of odd bits and pieces of knowledge floating around in their heads, but without a filing system!

Music teaching is partly about putting names to things that pupils already know, so they can file the knowledge away in their heads, and have some hope of retrieving it when they need to.

The important thing is to take it at a pace you can manage, and concentrate on getting each exercise or tune RIGHT, and at a regular, even tempo (speed).

DON'T WORRY if you think you are too slow.

Speed will come in its own good time, with practice, but it's no good trying to be clever and rushing through it, if you are practising wrong notes or playing unevenly.

Remember...

If you practise it right, it will get faster on its own.

If you practise it too fast, it will never get right!

JUST PLAYING THE NOTES:

Many people would be content to think that learning music is about nothing more than "just playing the notes" - the right notes, at the right time, and held for the right length of time.

Work hard at this, and you will eventually learn to play recognisable tunes, in time, with no flair, no feeling, no expression...

NO SOUL!!

That is not what music is about for me, and certainly not what most audiences are hoping to hear.

Most people will appreciate the efforts of anyone who can play music, but you should not assume that audiences don’t know good from bad.

They may not understand how or why it works, but they know when it doesn’t!

I find it difficult to define what I am aiming for in a performance, but when I feel it is going well, and people show appreciation for what I do, the most common words I hear are “liquid” and “fluid”.

Expression is not just about sweet, pretty things, it is attempting to give the feeling of what the song is about, whether it is happy, angry, sad, or whatever.

It applies as much to Punk, Grunge or Rock Blues as it does to beautiful love songs.

I can't tell you everything single thing there is to know about self-expression in music, you have to learn to feel it, but I can try to point you in the right direction, by showing you some of the things you can do with notes to make them more interesting, and to bring your own style to your playing.

ANARCHY

I remember talking to a punk musician in the 1970s, and his approach to music was that if he learned what the rules were, he would never create anything new or fresh, so he didn't want to know about the rules, or be taught anything that might "corrupt" his natural approach to music. Amazingly, Shirley Bassey said much the same about reading music.

As a result, he spent months and years groping around in the dark, trying to create music, but getting nowhere, and all because he had some crazy idea that learning is bad for you! Sometimes, this is a good excuse for not making the effort!

Words like “sometimes”, “usually” or “often” crop up frequently in this book, and they imply that there is no rigid rule. Rules, guidelines and suggestions don't have to cramp your style, they just save you wasting so much time and effort trying things that are not going to work anyway!

An obvious exception would seem to be a pop singer learning to sing in an operatic style, because the singing then becomes far too posh and formal for popular music, which is supposed to be in the language of the ordinary person.

Imagine, for example, a singer with a lovely Detroit accent being told to avoid it and "sing English" in order to conform, at a time when so many British popular singers are trying to sound American!

I could quote a terrible modern version of the old Elvis ballad "I can't help falling in love with you": It's not that I'm against people doing their own arrangements, but if an amateur turns up in front of an audience playing the chords wrong, and then compensates by singing the tune wrong to match, that is just poor workmanship, so why is a famous band allowed to encourage their followers to proliferate the same mess?

WHEN WILL I BE FAMOUS?

There is no way to even guess how long a person will take to learn music, and anyway, no-one should ever close their mind and say "I know it all", because there is never a point where you can say "I have learnt music", in fact it is all the more intriguing because nobody ever knows it all, there is always more to learn. I have been doing it since the fifties, and I still find new things.

I often think in terms of three hundred weekly lessons as a reasonable course to cover everything I can, but everybody is different, and most people give up learning music when they find out how hard it is. There seems to be a growing attitude that teachers should not criticise people because it undermines their confidence. How can anyone learn anything if they are not told where they are going wrong? This must, of course, be tempered by compliments about their good achievements.

Like mixing, and like life in general, music is never perfect, so there is no point in getting in a panic if it isn't, just focus on trying to gradually improve your weakest points, one at a time.

The real trick is in knowing what they are, and that is where a teacher can help, because unlike books, videos and websites, teachers can watch and listen.

It follows, then, that in order to help you improve, a teacher must tell you what you are doing wrong, not to put you down, or make you feel small, but to show you which areas need work.

I have been making music since 1954, and I still find new things to learn - there is no end to it. Everyone who ever hears music is learning too, although not always in such an organised way.

What is important is to know that you are making progress, and getting better at it.

A good way to assess this is by recording yourself on tape, computer, minidisk, mp3, or whatever new technology offers us to record with in the future.

Looking back, you will probably be embarrassed by your earlier efforts, but don't throw them away, because the worse they sound, the better you are probably getting!

Singers, especially, need to go through a period of adjustment to cope with hearing their own voices, and most singers hate to hear their own work.

Musicians need to practise with other musicians, otherwise bad habits may go unnoticed, and will be practised to perfection!

CHOOSING YOUR INSTRUMENT

Very often, the instrument that someone ends up learning is a fairly random choice, perhaps because a teacher or band-leader needs a bass or a tenor horn.

Try to think about what you want from an instrument, and have a go at different ones. If, like me, you are not fond of saliva, you probably won’t want to play a wind instrument!

A MONOPHONIC instrument is one that can only play one note at a time, and there are lots of these.

The human voice is an example of a MONOPHONIC instrument, and whistling is another, although one stage entertainer found fame in the 1950s by whistling a tune while he hummed another at the same time!

MONOPHONIC instruments also include saxophones, recorders, flutes, clarinets, trumpets and other wind instruments, some cheap, small electronic keyboards, plus stylophones, and the older types of synthesizer keyboard introduced in the 1960s, recently enjoying something of a revival with chart bands.

To begin with, we will be just learning to play TUNES or MELODIES one note at a time, so a monophonic instrument is fine for starting off, but you will soon need to think about something that can produce handfuls of notes at a time, and these instruments fall into three main groups...

Keyboards, Fretboards & Button Chords

KEYBOARDS

To many small children, a "KEYBOARD" is one of those plastic instruments with a set of keys that make sounds electronically. These are more correctly known as ELECTRONIC KEYBOARDS, and there are several much older types of keyboard instrument.

Pianos are the most common, and were invented about three hundred years ago, although they have changed a lot over the years.

Their keys are cut from a single wooden board (which is where the term KEYBOARD comes from) and the parts of the keys you see are usually covered in celluloid, plastic, or ebony and ivory.

Harpsichords, spinets and clavichords are even older keyboard instruments.

Organs were invented long before any of those, but they were pipe organs, which produced their sound by blowing air through pipes.

Organs usually have 2 or 3 keyboards or MANUALS, at least one for each hand, plus an extra one for the feet - a PEDALBOARD.

The modern organs which people play in their homes use electronics to make the sounds instead of pipes, and they don't just sound like organs, they can imitate almost any instrument sound, so they are sometimes called "multi-keyboards".

When I ask you to play something on a "keyboard", I mean any keyboard, an organ, piano, harpsichord, clavichord or whatever you have available, and it is well worth the effort of getting some practice on a pedalboard too, to see if you can play bass parts with your feet, because it's like having an extra hand.

After years of organ playing, then a period of a few years during which I didn’t play a pedalboard, it was amazing when my foot just went off and did its own thing again.

The xylophone family also use the same note arrangements as keyboards, so you can learn a lot from playing a xylophone, glockenspiel or vibraphone, provided it has the “black” notes.

The following comments may help you to decide which instrument you would like to learn, but my advice is to learn a fretboard as well as a keyboard, and don't limit yourself with button chords or one-finger backings.

KEYBOARD RESPONSE

You may think that playing one keyboard instrument is just like playing any other, but that is not the case. In particular, the way they feel, and respond to your fingers, can be quite different, and that affects the way you play.

CLAVICHORD is the oldest type of keyboard instrument, its keys are short because it was intended to played only with the fingers – no thumbs. The keys are light and wonderfully responsive because you are pushing a metal tangent directly against the string. You can feel the tension of the string, feel the vibration, and produce a vibrato by wobbling your finger on a key. This means that you have to play very gently, otherwise you can send the note sharp, or even break a string. If you have ever heard a solid guitar played without an amplifier, that will give you some idea how quiet a clavichord is. It’s a very personal instrument, you could practise in the middle of the night, and the neighbours would not know, but it is not suitable for public performance, unless it is amplified electronically.

HARPSICHORD has a very strange touch, and when you press a key, your finger is pushing a quill plectrum to pluck the string. You can feel yourself pushing against the springy resistance until you reach the point where it plucks the string, and the key drops the rest of the way down with no resistance. The way you press a key has no effect whatsoever on the sound, so there is no point in hitting it harder, it simply produces a louder thump. There is no expression in the keyboard, but harpsichords have rather more volume than clavichords. Because of their very brittle, metallic sound, they can often be heard whispering through a small orchestra.

PIPE ORGAN blows air through pipes to produce the notes, and unless you come across a fairground organ or a cinema organ (theatre organ) the most likely place to hear a pipe organ is in a church. One of the things that seems strange to a player used to electronic keyboards is the noticeable delay between pressing the key, and waiting for the air to blow through the tubes and fill the pipes. This is more noticeable on the low notes, and especially on the pedalboard, where the pipes can be up to 32 feet long, and take a huge amount of air to produce the notes. Organs often have as many as 3 or 4 keyboards, known as manuals. Having 3 manuals means you can have 3 different sounds set up, and use any 2 of them at one time. An idea first invented for pianos is a swell pedal, which opens a device like a venetian blind, allowing the sound to escape from a box, and giving some control over volume. Some cinema organs are mechanically linked to other instruments, such as drums, cymbals, xylophones and even pianos. Changes in tone are achieved by pushing STOPS, each of which stops a certain set of pipes sounding.

REED ORGAN also uses air pressure, produced by pumping a bellows with your feet, but instead of pipes, the notes arise from metal reeds like those found in mouth organs and concertinas. In Britain, we tend to call reed organs “Harmoniums”, a French invention, but there is a very similar instrument known as an “American Organ”. Some people call them “Pump Organs”. There are also more modern electric reed organs in which the air is pumped by an electric blower. Reed organs have no expression in the keyboard.

PIANO (pianoforte) was invented around 1700, and provided something of the expression of a clavichord, in the outward form of the harpsichord, but with more power and dynamic range. Technically, in Italian, “piano” does not mean soft, it means “at a level”, implying playing at a normal level. [The decks on an Italian ship are known as piano 1, piano 2, etc..] “Forte” means strong, and “pianoforte” implies that the instrument can be played at the normal level, or more strongly. In the 1700s, there were 2 main types of piano, the grand was based on the wing shape of a harpsichord, the square piano [querpiano] was smaller, like a rectangular table with a keyboard set into the longer side, so it was the same shape as a clavichord. Upright pianos as we know them came later. All pianos have touch response, so that the harder you hit a note, the louder it sounds, but the weight and feel of the keyboard varies from one model to another.

ELECTRONIC ORGAN of the type in popular use in the 1960s has the fastest responding keyboard, because each key is basically just a switch that touches one wire on another, so it can move as quickly as your fingers, allowing very rapid notes to be played. There is no expression in the keyboard, but the electronic version of the swell pedal gives a much better range of continuous control over the dynamics than is available on a pipe organ. The Hammond organ, invented in the 1930s, produces its sounds by combining notes of different pitches, controlled by drawbars, which can produce millions of subtle variations in the sound, rather than a limited number of sounds. Although multiple contacts are made when a key is pressed, it is still a very fast-responding keyboard. Originally, Hammond was a clock company, the organ did not produce its notes electronically, instead it used motorised gear wheels to produce the vibrations, which were picked up by magnetic pickups and amplified electronically. Part of the sound that people associate with a modern Hammond is really coming from the rotating speaker invented by a Mr Leslie while he was working for the Hammond company. He described it as “the pipe voice of an electronic organ”. They did not want to use it, so he went into business on his own, and was so successful that Hammonds ended up having to buy Leslie speakers from him, as did many of the top organ makers.

ELECTRONIC KEYBOARDS are found in most households now, the cheaper ones have no touch response, and no pedal, but they often have automatic rhythms and backing styles operated by the left hand, so they can produce a very full sound, especially if they are played through a good amplifier. Keyboards can offer you much more for your money than organs, which run into thousands of pounds if you buy them new. The keyboard can be made more expressive by adding a swell pedal. Having spent many years using keyboard rhythms to augment my solo performances, I find that although they can give a much fuller sound, the more the instrument controls the notes, the less satisfying it is for me to know that some programmer in Japan can decide how my playing sounds. Don’t limit your playing by only having one keyboard.

MIDI KEYBOARDS revolutionised the music world because they measure the time it takes for a key to move from its rest position to fully down, and this tells the machine how hard you have struck the note. The information is used to adjust the tonal quality and loudness of the note according to the velocity of the key, making it a very expressive instrument, like a piano. There is a very slight delay from striking the note to actually hearing it, but most people are not aware of this at all. A disadvantage of MIDI is that once you have struck a note too hard, you cannot back off, so any continuous sound, such as organ or strings, can be difficult to control unless you have a volume pedal. In order to imitate a pipe organ, harpsichord, or electronic organ accurately, you have to be able to switch off this touch control so that the notes are all of the same volume. To play it just like an electronic organ, you will need a swell pedal as well, otherwise you have no control over the dynamics, something that is essential to modern organists. MIDI allows several instruments to be operated from the same keyboard, and also allows keyboards to be controlled by computers. MIDI recordings do not record the sound itself, but rather the times when each note is pressed or released, and the velocity of each key movement. By using computer software, it is possible to minutely edit the performance afterwards, and alter every aspect of every note. It is a wonderful facility, but some people end up spending months or years re-editing recordings, instead of just playing them again.

SYNTHESIZER can be traced back to the Clavioline of 1940, and the later Univox, but they really got going with the MOOG in the 1950s, and the early versions only produce one note at a time, but can imitate not only any instrument, but almost any sound of any kind. This is achieved by understanding the structure of sounds, and building them up from their component parts, so it is not easy. Whereas a normal keyboard may have a single button marked with an instrument sound such as “trumpet”, a synthesizer has many controls and switches with scientific names, these have to be set in order to shape the sound, so to get the very best out of a synth, you need a thorough knowledge of musical acoustics. A good synth has more expressive capabilities than any other instrument, because it has the facility to imitate anything any instrument can do, and the sound produced by the instrument can be very different according to who is operating it. This means you could imitate a piano, but bend the pitch like a trombone, and add vibrato like a violin, so if you are ever unsure what instrument you are listening to, it is probably a synth. Unfortunately, some keyboards are being described as synthesizers now, just because they can imitate instruments to some extent.

FRETBOARDS

Fretboard instruments (such as guitars) have strings, stretched along a neck that has metal FRETS set into to it. By pressing a string against a fret, the free length of the string is shortened, and it sounds a higher note. They don’t have the pitch flexibility of the violin family, but they give you a very clear, definite position for each note.

Fretboard instruments include various types of guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, (ukelele) bouzouki, and balalaika, as well as various hybrid instruments such as ukulele banjo, (banjolele) guitar banjo, tenor guitar, mando-cello, and mandolin banjo.

If you want to learn a keyboard and a fretboard instrument, it's a good idea to learn both at the same time, and this course will help you to do that, but although the fretboard instrument is optional, it is essential to have some basic knowledge of the keyboard in order to understand the names of notes on any instrument.

Fretboards can't give you as many notes at one time as a keyboard, and the names of the notes seem harder to learn, because they are not arranged in a single line.

You can only play one note at a time on each string, so on a 4-stringed instrument, you can only play up to 4 notes together, but fretboards have other advantages.

There are often choices about where a particular note can be played, whereas a keyboard only has one of each note, and one place to play it. Sometimes, fretboards allow groups of notes to be played which could not be reached with two hands on a keyboard.

When it comes to scales or melody playing, provided you do not use open strings, once you have learned to play a tune in one key, it is easy to move it up to the next key, or any key, whereas scales on a keyboard are all different shapes.

As we will see, Fretboards also allow you to do things with notes that cannot be done on most keyboards.

Why not start with a ukulele, they are cheap to buy, easy to play, and small and convenient to carry around, but beware – some brand new ones cannot play in tune. If you think the instrument is too limited, look on the internet for “ukulele boy” Jake Smiabukuro. He’s amazing!

BUTTON CHORDS

Accordions, melodians, concertinas and some electric organs have rows of buttons that can be used for playing a simple accompaniment or "backing" with the left hand, while the right hand plays the tune on a keyboard. These are known as "6 bass" or "48 bass" etc. depending on how many buttons they have.

Since the most advanced chord playing will require about 70 main types of chord, in 12 different keys, plus 12 bass notes, "852 bass" would be ideal, but unfortunately, they aren't made with that many buttons, and 144 is the best you can hope for!

More modern keyboards often have a one-finger option that does the same kind of thing from the keyboard.

Playing one-finger chords may seem an easy idea, in fact a lot of schools are using them now, as part of the National Curriculum, but they will restrict your learning, and many of the most interesting chords are impossible on these instruments.

Learn to play chords properly, then you can make just the sound you want to, without letting the instrument limit you.

Automatic accompaniments on keyboards can be very useful at times, if they are good enough, and they can produce a very full sound from a single keyboard, based on the chords you play with your left hand.

The problem is that the more the machine chooses notes for you, the less satisfying it becomes. I am especially aware that the bass parts in Yamaha keyboards respond more accurately to what I intend them to do than some other makes.

If you want to use automatic backings, think about buying a really good keyboard, so that you can learn to program it to play the way YOU want it to!

AN EAR FOR MUSIC

I was working on a piano one day, not actually tuning it but going through each note in turn, playing them several times to test them. Young Jamie sat on the floor by the piano, listening, staring wide-eyed, fascinated, as most 5-year-olds would be. Suddenly, he began singing along with the notes I was playing in a soft, almost whispered falsetto voice. I tried to ignore him, but as I went up another semitone, so did he, singing very well in tune for an untrained voice. I wondered how high he could go, and smiled to myself as he suddenly went quiet.

Then, to my surprise, he dropped down an octave, and continued again, still following the notes accurately, but an octave lower. I couldn't control myself any more, I had to stop and talk to him. It was so amazing, what he done. Why? Can't 5-year-olds sing? Well, yes, but this one was a cairn terrier! The owner claimed to be unsurprised by the feat, but it was never repeated on future visits, and most people, quite understandably, don't believe it happened:

IT DID!... I WAS THERE!

Nobody should be surprised to hear that dogs have a good sense of pitch, or the ability to recognise a sound, or use octaves, or even that they can produce a wide range of pitches with their voices.

There are many reports of dogs doing arithmetic and barking the answers, but I have never ever heard of another one that could produce notes on demand.

Most reports of "singing dogs" involve the poor animal howling at a sound it hates!

My old dog, like many others, would sometimes produce notes up and down parts of a scale, like C E G C or something similar. Animals don't think the same way we do, and I often made a complete fool of myself by singing to her, and trying to get her to repeat what she had already sung, but to no avail!

An article that appeared in “The Musical Herald” in 1905 tells of an army horse that had learned all the bugle calls, and when they required any special movements or stops from the horse, he didn't wait for his rider's command, he just responded to the bugler.

Obviously a musician!

DO DO THAT VOODOO!

When we speak, we vary the pitch of our voices to give more meaning to what is said. Rap has no melody, and its mood is based only on rhythm, unless the rapper's rhythm is so good that you listen hard enough to catch the words. Good rap, if it exists, is mainly rhythmic, and any variations in the pitch of the voice cannot be judged in terms of melody. It amazes me that someone like Vanilla Ice can sample just ONE BAR of a Queen song, repeat it as a whole backing, describe it as “my song”, and without singing a note, sell 160 million copies.

If you enjoy vocal rhythms, listen to Sheila Chandra “Speaking in tongues”.

One day, I was playing for a care home, not just old people but a variety of ages with weird and awful mental and physical conditions. There was a woman making a sort of rhythmic animal bleating sound, but when she came closer, I realised that she was actually talking –

"some one is com ing to play the pi an o”!

An old man sat in his wheelchair, nodding his head continuously and not speaking at all except to say one word very loudly "PEEANNA!". A woman sat tapping her hand loudly on the chair at a regular rate and talking rubbish. A young man, whose body was twisted and tortured, had his arms wrapped around his head, but he knew what he wanted - "Elvis"! I sat there wondering what the hell I had got myself into, and as I considered starting the music, a nurse asked if I would mind waiting for a few minutes: "We're bringing people back from the other side" she said. I thought "I'd like to see that!" but she meant the other side of the building. The whole point is that when they assembled there and I played, music reached them, they responded more to music than to anything else. That's the power of music.

One of the tricks a melody plays on our emotions is very simple: When a series of notes go UP, they make the listener feel lifted to a higher, brighter, more excited state of mind, in a way that words alone can't do.

When the notes go DOWN, it has the opposite effect - calmer, but more restful, perhaps melancholy, sad, or even depressed! (As we shall see in later chapters, the same can apply to a series of notes within the chords or accompaniment.)

A good melody can do these things even when it is played on an instrument, without lyrics.

As Harry Plunket-Greene put it in 1934, "There is an implied crescendo in the rising, and an implied decrescendo in the descending note or phrase; this is the first elementary rule on which phrasing is based. Like most other rules, it often pays to break it."

For example, "I could have danced all night" is obviously a joyful subject, but look at the notes: Each little group runs up in a series of quite large steps, then down just a little, followed by more of the same. Although a tune can't keep going up and up, it feels as if it does! "The very thought of you" has a long, gradual build-up, comes down a bit, up, then down a bit, but again, a feeling of hope comes from the tendency for upwards phrases.

"A foggy day" sounds like a depressing subject, but its phrases are mainly upward and hopeful, until the lyrics say "Suddenly I saw you", and then after that, the pitch goes up again as the sun starts "shining", then settles down to a restful end. "On a clear day" should be the opposite to fog, but it has those upward runs of notes to lift you most of the time.

Chris Rhea's "Road to Hell" is a strong melody that tends to be a "downer", both in the lyrics and in the way the notes move, but the middle part just can't help sounding brighter, because whatever the words may say, the tune takes three little upward journeys, before the "This ain't no ..." part brings you down again.

Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on heaven's door" has a very limited range. There are only four notes in the whole song, (some versions) but predictably, like a funeral march, they ALL run down that slope towards death! Why, then, does the song appeal to me? And how can it be a "good melody" with only four notes?

It is difficult to believe that anything new can be done with a simple major scale, but Lutricia McNeal's "Ain't that just the way" plays real mind games, teasing you with a little run up, a step down, then a zigzag up-down-up-up followed by a downward phrase leading into the downward "all it would have taken was some time". The melody almost tells the story!

If you are composing, or improvising, try to put this idea into practise, start with low notes and use upward phrases if you want to lift the mood.

When we speak, we vary the pitch of our voices to give more meaning to what is said. Rap has no melody, and its mood is based only on rhythm. Good rap, if it exists, is mainly rhythmic, and any variations in the pitch of the voice cannot be judged in terms of melody.

If you like vocal rhythms, listen to Sheila Chandra’s “Speaking in tongues”.

One day, I was playing for a care home, not just old people but a variety of ages with strange and terrible mental and physical conditions. There was a woman making a sort of rhythmic animal whimpering sound, but when she came closer, I realised that she was actually talking –

"some one is com ing to play the pi an o”!

An old woman kept saying “idididididi”. An old man sat in his wheelchair, nodding his head continuously and not speaking at all except to say one word very loudly "PEEANNA!". A woman sat tapping her hand loudly on the chair at a regular rate and talking rubbish. A young man, whose body was twisted and tortured, had his arms wrapped around his head, but he knew what he wanted - "Elvis"!

I sat there wondering what the hell I had got myself into, and as I considered starting the music, a nurse asked if I would mind waiting for a few minutes: "We're bringing people back from the other side" she said. I thought "I'd like to see that!" but she meant the other side of the building.

The whole point is that when that unlikely bunch assembled there and I played, music reached them, they responded more to music than to anything else. That's the power it has.

A good melody can do these things even when it is played on an instrument, without lyrics.

Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on heaven's door" has a very limited range. There are only four notes in the whole song, (some versions) but predictably, they ALL run down that slope towards death! Why, then, does the song appeal to me? How can it be a "good melody" with only four notes?

If you are composing, or improvising, try to put this idea into practise, start with low notes and use upward phrases if you want to lift the mood.

Music can have some very strange effects on people, and many of these have not been researched enough to give us a full understanding of how and why they happen:

Some people see colours when they hear notes, others experience real physical pain from certain pieces, while shivers down the spine are a common "complaint". It’s strange that some people are very embarrassed to confess that they feel this shiver down the spine from some music. I find myself listening to the most unlikely songs, such as Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey", and feeling that uncontrollable horripilation (it's a lovely word isn't it) down my back. No doubt the lyrics can add to the effect. Logically, I might say the lyrics are slushy, and the melody is unexciting, but somehow, it hits the spot! If a singer wants to grab my attention, goose-bumps are the way to do it! Cliff Richard says that nothing gets on his albums unless it gives him that shiver.

It is also true that whereas artists tend to be moved by visual images, and sculptors by the sensations of touch, it is sounds that are more important to me.. I don't know how much of it is my DNA, how much my musical upbringing, and how much my training as a piano tuner, but there is very little that moves me, excites me, frightens me or pleases me more than sounds do.

Most things in nature have a resonant frequency, a note that causes more than the expected amount of response to a sound: This applies to parts of the human body, and there are, for example, frequencies which make people vomit.

Very low frequencies, although too low to be heard, will give a feeling of pressure in the ears, and eventually cause stress or mood swings.

Very high frequencies can also cause discomfort in the ears, and extreme pain if too "loud", (although inaudible!) and all that is in addition to the effect that rhythms or words can have on our mood, or the effect of ideas we associate with a particular tune:

Lots of people have special memories about certain tunes: I played "I'll see you in my dreams" on my Dad's banjo at his funeral, and now I can't hear it or play it without thinking of him, but what fascinates me is the way in which that experience is shared by various uncles, aunts and cousins when they hear the song now.

There have been experiments in the use of musical sounds as a therapy for depression and certain physical problems, testing a person's response to each note by dowsing with a pendulum, to detect the notes that have most effect. I would like to develop this idea further, and actually produce therapeutic music for a specific person, but I am still struggling to get the dowsing right!

THE WORD “TONE”

Some people use the word TONE to mean loudness, and may speak of a “strong tone” or a “weak tone”. This is not proper use of the word. “A TONE” is another word for a sound, especially a sound of fixed pitch. It’s the same in German, where “ton” means a sound. More usually, “tone” means tonal quality – the type or quality of a sound, also known by the French word timbre. Unfortunately, the interval or difference in pitch between two notes is often measured in units called tones, or more properly WHOLETONES.

It is more usual to measure these differences in SEMITONES.

The safest thing to do is to avoid using the word tone as much as possible.

CAN’T TELL THE BOTTOM FROM THE TOP?

Many people imagine that they have no musical talent, or are tone deaf because they SAY they can't tell high notes from low notes. I have never met anyone who really can't tell the difference in sound, but a lot of people just haven't learnt the right WORDS!

At this point, I will have to assume that you know which hand is left and which is right. (You probably WRITE with your RIGHT - unless you are left-handed!)

Children who are in any doubt should ask an adult to help them sort that one out. Mind you, some adults aren't very good at it either!

Some beginners think that "HIGH" means the powerful, growling sounds at the left-hand end of a piano, and "LOW" means the soft, tinkling sounds at the right-hand end.

In fact, it is the other way round - the left-hand notes are LOW and the right-hand ones are HIGH, so I expect you can work out from this which way is "DOWN" (left) and which is "UP" (right) on a keyboard. The note at the left-hand end is the BOTTOM note, and the one at the right-hand end is the TOP note.

To understand why they are labelled in this way, it is necessary to think about how the piano produces its sound.

When you press a note, a set of levers causes a hard felt hammer to strike the strings, making them vibrate.

This, in turn, causes the air around them to vibrate, and creates SOUND WAVES in the air, which your ears pick up, and your brain understands as sound.

The lowest note on most pianos vibrates about 27 times per second, which may seem very fast to you, but the highest note vibrates over THREE THOUSAND times per second.

That vast difference is where the terms "LOW" and "HIGH" come from. "High" & "Low" refers to the number of vibrations per second, which is known as the FREQUENCY of a note.

FREQUENCY & PITCH

Frequency can be measured very accurately, and given an exact figure, in fact frequencies have been quoted for over a hundred years, and I would love someone to explain to me how these early ones were measured. Now, we have free phone apps to do it! All the following units are all exactly the same, but the modern trend towards naming units after famous scientists resulted in the "Hertz" becoming the standard modern name for the unit of frequency.

C.P.S. or C/S Cycles Per Second.

V.P.S. Vibrations Per Second.

Hz. Hertz.

When people talk about the PITCH of a note, this is a much more personal thing, and although it still deals with the same subject, it is not a precise science like frequency, it is more of an art, or a personal opinion, so there are no accurate units of measurement. Two sounds may have the same frequency, but if they are very different types of sound, they may seem different in pitch. Our sense of pitch is easily confused by various things, such as other notes played at the same time, or notes of very different loudness or volume. Loud notes seem lower, and if you suddenly turn the radio up loud, the music will seem to go flat.

Frequency is an OBJECTIVE measurement.

Pitch is a SUBJECTIVE impression.

Small changes in pitch are know as "SHARP" if they are upwards, and "FLAT" if they are downwards. These terms arise from the fact that reed instruments, such as mouth-organs, accordions and some organs, are tuned by sharpening or flattening the reeds. Notice that FLAT doesn't just mean out of tune, it means BELOW the intended note.

FREQUENCIES OF NOTES

Assuming that an instrument is tuned to A440, the frequencies of the notes from the A below Middle C to the A above it are as follows:

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The octaves can be calculated by halving the frequency to go down, or doubling to go up an octave.

OVERTONES, HARMONICS AND PARTIALS

Have you wondered what it is that makes one instrument sound different to another? Mainly it is the TONAL QUALITY, or TIMBRE. But what is tonal quality? To understand more, think about one note at a time: What we call “one note” actually has many different notes or frequencies mixed in with it. There is the FUNDAMENTAL note that we recognise most easily, and a series of OVERTONES, which are higher in pitch. These are more accurately known as HARMONICS or PARTIALS.

If you measure exactly halfway along a guitar string, this should be a point above the 12th fret, not between the frets, but above the fret itself. If you touch the string lightly at that point while you pluck the string, it should produce a higher note than the string would normally do, because the string will vibrate in two separate halves. This note is always there, but not usually so obvious, because the main note (fundamental) is normally louder. Touching the string halfway prevents the fundamental sounding, so the harmonic is heard. The fundamental is known as the FIRST HARMONIC, and the higher note is the SECOND HARMONIC, half the string length, vibrating twice as fast. This true for any stringed instrument. In the same way, touching the string at a third of its length produces the THIRD HARMONIC, and so on, although they gradually get harder to produce. Because these higher notes are only part of the whole sound, and only produced by part of the whole string length, they are sometimes known as PARTIALS, but the numbering of partials is different: The 2nd harmonic is the 1st partial, the 3rd harmonic is the 2nd partial, and so on. Confusing!

The traditional type of Hammond electronic organ, invented in the 1930s, produces its millions of different tones by combining harmonics of different pitches on each note, not just octaves, but other notes as well, controlled and balanced by drawbars, which are like volume controls for the different overtones. The effect has been compared to a graphic equalizer on a stereo system, but the difference is that whereas an equalizer only filters out or boosts sounds if they are there, drawbars always produce a definite change to the sound of the notes.

Let’s look at a more precise practical example of frequencies and harmonics.

Find Middle C on a piano, it is usually the C nearest to the middle of the keyboard.

Below that, find a G, then another G below that one. This is our starting note.

The frequency of that G is about 100Hz, so the strings of that note vibrate a hundred times per second.

That note also has a frequency within it that is twice as high, 200Hz. This is the 2nd harmonic, equal to an octave higher, the G above our starting note.

The 3rd harmonic is 300Hz, and this sounds like the next D up… 300Hz.

The 4th harmonic is yet another G, two octaves above the starting note… 400Hz.

The 5th harmonic is a B above that G… 500Hz.

The 6th harmonic is the D above that… 600Hz.

This is double the frequency of the 3rd harmonic, because 6 is twice as much as 3, so we can also think of the 6nd harmonic as the 2nd harmonic of the 3rd harmonic!

So far, all these notes are part of a Major chord – G, B and D.

The 7th and higher odd-number harmonics are regarded as dissonant, because they are less accurately in tune with the scales we know, and are at intervals that would not be pleasant if you played them together. A sound that has a lot of these higher harmonics will always have a certain harshness or unpleasantness to it.

The ratios of the frequencies of the harmonics mean that we can work out the frequencies of other notes.

We know that the 4th harmonic G and the 5th harmonic B are in the ratio 400:500, or 4:5, so this is the ratio of the interval between G and B.

The same principal applies to other intervals.

UPSIDE DOWN YOU’RE TURNING ME!

With keyboards, high and low is fairly easy to follow, but with fretboard instruments, such as guitar, the situation is much more confusing: If the instrument is laid down flat, with the main body on the right, each string is rather like a keyboard, with the low notes produced by stopping the string against one of the frets near the left-hand end. They go up in semitones, just like the black and white notes on a keyboard, but there are no colours to guide you, only occasional spots or markers. Moving to the right makes the note higher, as you shorten the string. Unfortunately, the guitar is not played in that position, it is held against the player's body, with the guitar body lower than its head. To go UP a string for higher notes, you have to move DOWNWARDS towards the body of the guitar!

To make matters worse…

the "BOTTOM" string, the thickest one, which produces the lowest notes, is at the TOP, and…

the "TOP" string is at the bottom!

AAAGH!!

TONE DEAFNESS

I suppose we've all heard people described as "tone deaf" when they don't appreciate music in some way, or if they produce non-musical sounds, but what is tone deafness? The word "tone" is badly chosen here and the idea is that a person who is tone-deaf cannot recognise the pitch of a note, or the change from one note to another. Many scientists and researchers say it doesn't exist, and I would be inclined to agree if I hadn't met my old friend Arthur. He had tried to learn piano tuning in order to develop a better sense of pitch, but it was impossible for him, and although he loved music and dancing, had a good sense of rhythm, and could recognise a tune, he had no idea how to pitch his voice to imitate a note. He couldn't tune a piano string or an electronic note to a given note, because he couldn't tell whether it was higher or lower unless the difference was extreme. He had a good sense of rhythm, and loved dancing, but did he have a sense of pitch? He laughed along with the rest of us when a friend imitated someone who whistled out of tune. He seemed to know when he was wrong too. If it had been important enough to get more attention, perhaps he could have been shown how to make some degree of improvement, but I will never know, because Arthur died some years ago.

PERFECT PITCH

There are various technical terms that are applied to forms of ear for music, and perhaps the most over-used of these is PERFECT PITCH. This can mean one of two quite different things. It is sometimes used to describe a very good sense of the relative pitch of notes, judging one against another. Musicians need to be able to do this, some are better than others. When famous musician / conductor Andre Previn was married to actress Mia Farrow, an interesting fact that emerged was that she had the other kind of “perfect pitch” and he didn’t! When she sang a tune, she automatically sang it in exactly the same key she heard in the first time. This is more accurately described as ABSOLUTE PITCH - the ability to learn to recognise notes and remember their exact pitch. This pitch sense is a natural gift, but the notes still have to be learned, and ideally from an instrument that has been tuned correctly. Even without knowing anything about the theory of music, or the names of notes, Mia could reproduce a tune in the original pitch, but such people are often cursed because they cannot choose to change to a key that suits their voice, they are stuck in the original key although, interestingly, they can sing an octave higher or lower. If such a person wants to be a piano tuner, they can only tune pianos at standard pitch, and many old pianos are not capable of this, quite apart from the need occasionally to tune a piano to something else that is not standard.

Many people setting out to be musicians stumble at the first hurdle, because they cannot adjust to, for example, an old piano that is not kept at the correct pitch. The late June Nottage was a well-known organist, she explained to me that the first instrument she owned was not at standard pitch, and she had years of problems adjusting her brain to playing organs that were at the right pitch.

Another problem is that if two musicians learn the same song from different singers, there is a risk that they are in different keys. For a modern example, when Adele covered Bob Dylan’s “To make you feel my love”, she sang it in Bb instead of Db, so if 2 people with absolute pitch learned the 2 versions, they would not be able to sing it together, because they can only sing it as they learned it, and cannot adapt to a different pitch. Absolute pitch is a gift, but also a curse.

Andre Previn, on the other, can sing a tune in whatever key suits his voice, or indeed play in any key he wants to. Like me, he is unimpaired by Absolute Pitch.

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Most people have some sense of high or low pitch, like this sloping line, which represents low notes on the left, going up to high notes on the right, even if those people don’t know which words to use for high and low.

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The second diagram represents the idea that pitch is divided up into semitones, and a musician needs to be able to start from any given note, and know the pitch of a note which is so-many semitones above or below the first one. This takes knowledge and practice, but some people simply cannot do it. Fortunately, they are a very small portion of the population, perhaps around 1%.

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For people with a sense of absolute pitch, the notes have to be labelled as particular notes, represented by this diagram.

LOOK AFTER YOUR EARS (You'll miss them when they're gone!)

My old dog hated acoustic guitars, and I think all dogs are very uncomfortable with music, and especially loud music. Like small children, they tend to seek out the source of the loudest sound, then sit right up against it, with a pained expression that seems to plead for it to stop! A bass drum attracts a dog like a magnet, and I fear for the safety of young children who stand up against the speakers at a disco. It is certainly true that, for a complete experience, many people like to physically FEEL the music, not just hear it, but although I use amplification, I know that the level of sound is nowhere near those discos with bass notes that thump through my stomach if I get too close!

Isn't that going too far?

Learn to feel the pain when a sound is too loud. Be aware of that feeling, and take action to avoid the problem. New regulations have recently reduced the recommended safe noise level to 85 decibels, although they say that actual pain is experienced at well over 100 decibels. Personally, I doubt that my threshold of pain is as high as that.

The modern world is increasingly filled with loud electronic noises, as well as traffic. Even enjoying a cup of tea in a restaurant is not a quiet experience anymore, the level of noise produced by a simple operation of filling a jug with hot water is excessive, and then there are those sounds like a lorry reversing, loud beeps that are intended to alert staff that something is cooked, although they often ignore it.

Supermarkets regularly have loud electronic alarms going off for long periods, and for no apparent reason.

I attempted to play some relaxing piano in a restaurant where every time the staff went in or out of the kitchen, the door gave a loud, long creak, followed by a loud bang as it closed. The customers were not impressed.

At another gig, while I was trying to create a quiet, relaxed atmosphere for a meal, the kids all gathered next to the piano and played “Hungry Hippo”, a particularly noisy board game.

EAR TESTS for frequency range

If you have a computer with speakers or a sound output, and some form of programming language, such as qbasic or linux, you may be able to write a simple program to produce sounds of varying frequency, and use this to test and compare people's upper range of hearing. For best results, the tests should go upwards from about 6,000 Hz to at least 30,00 Hz, and the subject presses a key as soon as the sound is inaudible.

The test should then be repeated in reverse, coming downwards, so the subject presses a key when the sound is first heard. This should be repeated a few times.

My own results showed my upper limit in 1994, when I was 47 years old, to vary from around 12,585 Hz to 13,540 Hz. (Mean 13,062.)

My daughter, who was 14 at the time, varied from 15,295 Hz to 15,945 Hz. (Mean 15,620.)

As expected, some older people were much more variable and restricted, and a man who worked in the office at a boiler-making firm couldn't hear 3,000 Hz, which is equivalent to the top notes of a piano.

What's really sad is that even some teenagers seemed surprisingly unable to hear the 13,000 Hz range that I could hear: No wonder I worry about playing with loud bands, a musician is nothing without EARS!

Do, PLEASE, be aware of the danger of headphones and earpieces: An mp3 or personal stereo is a lovely idea, giving us all the option of hearing our favourite music anytime anywhere, especially for musicians who are learning new pieces, but the danger is that one's hearing can be severely affected is the volume is turned up too loud.

The government is currently working to make output restrictions a legal requirement, but that won't stop people finding louder headphones, or altering the machines in other ways. After all, just look at the number of people who buy those little boxes marked “SMOKING KILLS”.

LEFT-HANDED?

If you are left-handed, it will probably make a difference to your music, especially on fretboard instruments.

If you pick up a guitar, which way will you hold it?

A right-handed player holds the body of the guitar near the right hand, but if you are a left-handed player, you should consider several possibilities before starting out, otherwise you may have to start again, and learn a different way:

1). You could re-string the guitar the other way round and play it with the body on your left. The big problem with this is that you have to learn to read diagrams back-to-front.

If you have a computer with a scanner, images can easily be flipped horizontally, but it's more work.

2). You could play it with the body on the left, but keep the stringing the same way as a right-handed person would have it.

Some left-handed people practise simple tunes or chords on right-handed guitars, and find it quite easy to play simple stuff on a normal guitar just by turning it round, but the tuning and finger positions are not really designed for this, and it will cause big problems as you progress to more difficult playing.

3). Play right-handed! People don't realise how much work the left hand has to do on a guitar, and some left-handed people get on better by developing a style where the left hand does more of the work.

SMALL-SCALE INSTRUMENTS

Some people feel that small children would do better to learn on small-scale instruments, others say it is best to learn on the "proper" size.

The real problem comes if you learn on a small instrument, then have to make the change and re-learn things because of the different amount of stretch required.

Certainly, I think full-sized people should have full-sized instruments, but when I had muscle problems for some years, I found a lightweight, short-scale guitar a joy to play. Another reason for buying small-scale instruments is portability, and I have a very small guitar, simply because it is lighter and easier to carry around, so I can have music available all the time.

Practice should ideally be done on a little-and-often basis, so having a smaller instrument could be a good idea, especially for keen beginners.

Keyboards are available with narrower keys, such as the Yamaha PSS range, and these are perfectly useable instruments, sometimes with very good sounds, but they are difficult for grown-up fingers to squeeze into.

Guitars and violins are available in the so-called quarter, half, and three-quarter sizes. Low-pitched instruments, such as double bass, do not have the bass response for the bottom string if they are very small.

Another thing that many people do not allow for is the depth of a guitar. If you are very thin, and you play a very thin guitar, you will have some very difficult wrist positions.

If, like me, your stomach area is somewhat convex, you may find a deep guitar difficult, and a round-backed instrument almost impossible. I have given up waiting for makers to produce a guitar with a concave back, I will just have to lose weight!

DIFFERENT TYPES OF GUITAR

The following lists show two main types of acoustic guitar, and there are reasons for their differences, so don't run away with the idea that it's simply a matter of changing the strings!

Many guitars have some features of both, for example steel-strung guitars with round soundholes have become very common since the 1970s.

Steel strings are usually played with a plectrum (pick), nylon strings are intended to be played with the fingers and thumb.

The spacing of the strings is also different on a fingerstyle guitar, to allow the fingers to get between them.

Classical / Spanish / Fingerstyle Steel-strung 'Cello Guitar

Round sound-hole F-shaped sound holes

Flat front or “flat-top”. Carved convex front.

Wider neck and fretboard Narrower neck and convex

gives more space for fingers fretboard for easier stretch

Nylon strings, (traditionally gut) Steel or metal strings.

(softer on the fingers) (more volume)

Also available in different thicknesses.

Slotted head, machine heads with Solid head, machine heads with

fatter rollers for nylon, thinner shafts for wire,

Tuning at the rear. Tuning at the sides.

Strings anchored at the bridge, Strings anchored at

which is glued to the front. tailpiece for greater strength.

Marker dots on side of Marker dots on front of

fretboard fretboard

Twelfth fret at edge of body. Higher notes can be reached. Some guitars have a cutaway shoulder.

GUITAR STRING THICKNESS

One make of nylon guitar strings is about the same thickness as another, but if you are planning to play a steel-strung guitar, the strings are available in a bewildering array of different thickness, so it useful for a beginner to have some kind of starting point.

As a rough guide, people often sum up a set of strings by referring to the thickness of the 1st string by a number, so you can ask the dealer for “a set of tens” or whatever size you choose. The following summary gives some idea of the advantages and disadvantages, but there is also a lot of personal taste involved, so before you decide, ask what other guitarists use, and try their guitars.

For the more advanced guitarist, there are also special sets that vary their gauge more or less than average as you go through the set.

One option is to start by using light strings and work up gradually, Thin strings allow the left hand to play fast runs of notes with very little effort from the right hand, but unless your guitar has a very low action, thin strings will go out of tune while you are pressing them, and bending a note can cause the string to slip out of tune.

8 is about the thinnest string you will find, and not many shops sell them. The strings are easy and soft to press, but the tone is poor, and it is easy to make the string go out of tune, so playing chords in tune is almost impossible, and eights are mainly for single-note rock blues soloing, with electronic effects added.

9 is still very flexible for bending notes in rock blues, and an electric guitar fitted with nines can almost play itself, but you have to play very lightly, and they are not very loud, or heavy acoustic rhythm playing.

10 is a compromise between flexibility and stability, and quite a good general-purpose gauge of string, with a better tone than nines for acoustic guitar, as well as being more stable for tuning. If your style of playing will involve bending notes, you will need a string you can bend up a whole-tone. I find this harder to do with tens. Another change that happens is that the 3^rd string (g) is a covered string instead of plain wire.

11 is starting to get a lot tougher on your fingers, especially for bar chords, but allows louder rhythm playing on an acoustic guitar, useful for buskers with loud voices. Elevens hold in tune better than tens, but forget any ideas about bending notes, or sliding notes around, every note has to be plucked separately.

12 is pain to my fingers, and although they produce a good tone, are very stable for tuning, and loud for acoustic work, I find it very uncomfortable to play for more than a few minutes on twelves.

COMPARING CHORDS ON DIFFERENT FRETBOARD INSTRUMENTS

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FOUR CHORDS ON FIVE FRETBOARDS

NAMES OF THE WHITE NOTES

Whichever instrument you play, wherever you live, the notes are named after the note arrangement on a keyboard. The white notes on a keyboard are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet, that is A B C D E F G.

Many pianos start on A at the left-hand end, so the next note is B, and so on up to G. The eighth white note sounds a bit like the first one, but higher, so it is also called A, and all the letters repeat in this way...

ABCDEFG ABCDEFG ABCDEFG ABCDEFG and so on.

Many electronic keyboards start at C.

Take a look at any keyboard, such as a piano, and you will see that the black notes are arranged in a repeating pattern which has a group of two, then three. This pattern only appears to go wrong when it runs off the ends of a keyboard, and it is this arrangement of the black notes which helps us to know which notes are which.

The three white notes around the two black notes are C, D & E, but this can go wrong at the ends of some keyboards.

The most reliable part of the pattern is that the four white notes around the three black notes are always F, G, A & B.

There is no black note between B & C, or between E & F.

IT’S ONLY WORDS

The white notes on a keyboard are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet, A B C D E F & G, so see how many words you can make up from those seven letters, using each letter as many times as you like, then TRY PLAYING EACH WORD AS IF IT WERE A TUNE, and try to find different ways of arranging the notes so that the word sounds more musical:

For example, EGG has 2 letters the same, so try going from an E up to a G, then down to another G, or down from E to G, then up to another G.

These exercises are very important in helping you to learn the positions and names of notes on your instrument.

Later, if you want to read music, you will need to know these very thoroughly, so that you can do them without thinking, otherwise music reading will be a lot harder to do.

Even if you have no intention of reading music, you will still need to know names of notes in order to discuss music with other musicians, or write down ideas.

BEFORE YOU TURN THE PAGE...

How many words can you make from just those seven letters?

Ten? Twenty? Thirty?

Write them down before you look at the next page!

How many words did you find?

Here are over fifty, but there are lots more if you can find them!

A ABBA ACE ACCEDE AD ADA ADD ADAGE ADDED AGE AGED BABE BAD BADE BAG BAGGAGE BAGGED BBC BE BEAD BEADED BED BEG BEGGED CAB CABBAGE CAD CAFE CD DAB DABBED DAD DAG DEAD DEAF DEBAG DEBAGGED DEED DEFACE DEFACED ED EFFACE EFFACED EGG EGGED FAB FAÇADE FACE FACED FAD FADE FADED FED FEED GAB GAD GADDED GAFF GAG GAGGED GEE

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MUSICAL WORDSEARCH

In this table, there are words containing the letters...

A B C D E F G

Some go straight along a line, or down a column, others are diagonal.

See how many you can find, and then, Try to PLAY the words.

Score one point for each letter of the word, IF you can play it.

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Now have a go at making up tunes from words and letters.

Write down any words that you like the sound of, and then try joining them together to make longer tunes.

BLACK IS BLACK

Before you can learn the names of the black notes, you must be sure that you are quite clear about the white notes.

Each black note has two different names.

The black note to the left of a white note is called a FLAT, and the sign for a flat note is a small b.

This is because the first black note to be added to keyboards, hundreds of years ago, was next to B, so it was shown as a small b. In Germany, they took the next letter of the alphabet, the note was called H, and this can still be found marked on some German instruments, such as reed organs.

The note to the left of G is G FLAT, and this is written as Gb

The black note to the right of a white note is called a SHARP, and the sign for a sharp note is a hash… #.

The black note to the right of G is G SHARP, and this is written as G#

See if you can work out the two names for each black note.

FLAT OR SHARP?

If, like lots of other people, you get confused between flat and sharp, here is a simple idea to help you remember which is which. Touch the fingertips of both hands together, and hold them out flat, with the palms downwards. Now raise the fingertips up to a sharp point.

To make them FLAT you must go down.

To make them SHARP, you must go up.

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KEYBOARD COMPASS (Range)

Pianos have been made with a wide variety of keyboard ranges, but these are the main ones:

Cristofori's original pianos from 1709 had a range of 49 notes C-C.

Many early pianos from the last quarter of the 1700s used the same range as traditional harpsichords - 61 notes F-F. This has remained unchanged in modern harpsichords, and occasionally, a modern piano is produced with only 61 notes, such as the Kemble portable model of the 1970s, and a Knight from the 1960s.

Up to about 1860, many pianos had a range of 73 notes F-F. This short keyboard was revived in the 1920s, and some were still made in the 1970s, purely as space savers, although it costs almost as much to make a 73-note piano as it does an 88-note, so they are relatively expensive.

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From at least 1842 to 1883, many pianos, especially uprights, had a range of 82 notes C-A.

By about 1840, some pianos had a range of 85 notes A-A. This remained the most common keyboard compass in British pianos until the 1970s, although it is often considered strange in the U.S.A., where many owners write to me, thinking that they have acquired something rare and valuable.

By about 1880, some pianos had a range of 88 notes A-C, which is the normal AND the maximum range today, as far as most pianos are concerned. One of the arguments for having a keyboard up to C, with such high notes, and consequently short, stiff strings, is that the other top notes sound better if these are added above them. This is because the top A's strings are further from the end of the bridge, and also further from the edge of the soundboard. As you can judge from the dates mentioned above, most of the "great" or "classical" composers didn't even have these notes, and sheet music which shows them has obviously been rewritten, so it is not as the composer intended.

The Bosendorfer Imperial concert grand has an unusually large range, extending 3 notes lower, with 97 notes C-C. It is very difficult to produce a worthwhile note this low, but it is useful for reinforcing its octave. As far as I know, no-one has produced any "noteable" instruments with more than 97 notes.

COUNTING IN OCTAVES

In the examples above, compass or range has been defined purely in terms of the number of notes, and that is probably the easiest for most people to understand, but it is more usual for musicians to talk in terms of OCTAVES, so what is the difference?

The keyboard is laid out in a repeating pattern, and one of these patterns is known as an octave. If you start at any natural key (white note) and count through the keyboard to the next note of the same name, from the first to the last includes 8 white notes, which is what OCTave means.

More importantly, counting the black notes as well, there are 13 notes in an octave, and that is a figure that works starting from ANY note, including a sharp (black note).

Having said that, to count 2 octaves, say from C upwards, you will pass a second C, and end on another C. The number of notes doesn't add up to twice 13, and to calculate the number of notes in so-many octaves, you must multiply by 12, then add 1 to the total, so

1 octave is (1x12) +1 = 13 notes, and

7 octaves is (7x12) +1 = 85 notes.

That is all very well for WHOLE octaves, but when it comes to odd bits of an octave, there is some confusion about how they should be labelled. A mathematician might say a THIRD is 4 notes, meaning a third of 12 notes.

A musician would say that a third can be 3 or 4 notes, in the sense of the musical intervals of a major or minor third. Is 88 notes seven-and-a-quarter octaves, or seven-and-a-third? Music owes a lot to mathematics, and I'd prefer to go for the mathematical answer, and say

(7x12) + (12/4) +1 =88!

So what do you call 82 notes? I'd say six-and-three-quarter octaves, but some musicians only seem to see the 5 "extra" white notes, and call it six octaves and five eighths!

I give up, I'll stick with quoting the number of notes for a quiet life, because it also has the advantage that there are no fractions to type!

GIVE ME MORE!

So much for the figures, but how much range do we really NEED?

I can offer a logical argument for this in terms of popular songs, because most untrained voices don't work well outside a range of an octave an a half.

(In fact, there is a point of view which says that although trained voices CAN produce a wider range, there are those of us who wish they wouldn't, because that really nice bit in the middle is still rarely more than an octave and a half.)

Furthermore, any popular song that wants to survive and prosper needs to be singable by the general public, and that limits it to about an octave and a half.

For example, “Something’s gotten hold of my heart” has TWO-and-a-half octaves, and although it is a popular record to listen to, many people do not have Gene Pitney’s vocal range, and will not attempt it. “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling” has the same range, but shared by 2 voices.

Having written a song within an octave and a half, in order to be able to play it in any key, another octave is required.

In order to play a simple chord accompaniment, at least another octave is needed, one of each note-name.

In order to add a bass line below the chord, at least another octave is needed. This adds up to four-and-a-half octaves, but if you want to reinforce the melody in octaves, or have an alternative position in which to place the melody, that's another octave.

Similarly with reinforcing the bass line, and so my argument reaches six-and-a-half octaves - not very different to the normal pianos today.

From a purely personal point of view, choosing my own notes for my own arrangements and compositions, I find 5 octaves to be the absolute minimum, and somewhat restricting. It is possible to make good music in 3 octaves, and you can buy a MIDI keyboard with that range.

The total vocal range of a choir, from the lowest bass to the highest soprano, is almost five octaves, from E to C.

HEADS & TAILS

The white notes are thinner at the point where they go between the black notes, and this part is known as the TAIL of the key.

The fatter bit at the front is the HEAD.

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GEOMETRY OF THE KEYBOARD

If you have ever tried drawing an accurate diagram of a keyboard, you will have noticed that the geometry is not as simple as it seems.

At the far ends, the keyboard has 13 notes in an octave.

At the front ends, there are 8 notes per octave.

A simple approximation is this:

Think of the sharps (black notes) as being 8mm wide, and the heads of the naturals (white notes) as being 13mm wide.

The naturals would be 88mm long, and the sharps 56mm.

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That gives you a rough layout for the top and bottom of the diagram, but it is difficult to line up the points where the sharps meet the naturals.

In reality, key makers cheat a little bit, by making the area from C to E equally spaced, and the area from F to B equally spaced, so many pianos have two different sizes of sharp key.

DIATONIC INSTRUMENTS

Some instruments only have the equivalent of the white notes, forming a useful scale for playing some tunes in one key, but without the ”black notes”.

These instruments are known as diatonic instruments, because the differences between the notes fall into two varieties, semitones and wholetones.

Diatonic instruments include Autoharp, Concertina, Harmonica or mouth organ, Melodeon, Penny Whistle and Flageolet, some Xylophones, various toy instruments, etc..

Any of these will allow you to play most of the tunes in this course, but only in one key.

DIATONIC TUNES

In simple terms, a diatonic tune is one which could be played just on the white notes of a keyboard, without using any of the black notes, IF you start on the right note.

There are a great many popular tunes written this way, but it takes practice to spot them, so the following list may be of some interest to beginners who want to look through music sheets or songbooks in search of these.

The songs are listed in year order where possible, and you will probably have to play them in the key of C (or A minor) if you only want to use the white notes.

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Chromatic instruments

A peek inside a piano

If you have the opportunity to look inside a piano, even if it is only by opening the top, try to make a list of at least seven differences between the top and bottom notes, and then read on:

The design requirements for the bottom note (which vibrates about 27 times per second) are quite different to those for the top note, (3,500) and in the course of running through the whole range of the keyboard, most of these differences cannot occur gradually, so they result in changes or BREAKS at certain points. These are also known as TONAL BREAKS, although strictly speaking, it is not always the tonal quality which changes. Almost all instruments, including the human voice, have breaks.

Looking at the bottom note, and comparing it with the top note, you should find that...

The string is longer.

There is one string instead of three.

The wire is much thicker.

The wire is covered with two layers of copper wire wound around it.

There is a soft felt damper which stops the note when the key is released.

The hard felt hammer which strikes the string is much larger and heavier.

The angle of the string is different, and in an overstrung piano, the bottom strings cross over the higher ones.

The angle of the key may differ, to line up with the strings.

A good designer tries to achieve these changes as gradually as possible, and going through the range of the keyboard from left to right, the thickness of the string decreases occasionally, and the length of the string decreases gradually. All the time, the hammers are getting lighter, and there may be different lead weights in the keys to try to compensate for this.

A dozen or so of the bottom notes have only one string, (monochord) and this tends to be double-covered with copper wire. The next set of strings are bichords - two per note, often with only one layer of copper wire. This requires a change in shape of the dampers from a clip which fits around a single string to a wedge which goes between two. At some point, there will be the biggest break of all, a noticeable change of tonal quality where the strings change direction, and transmit their sound to a different bridge, on a different part of the soundboard. This is much more noticeable in an overstrung piano.

Trichords have three strings per note, and are usually plain steel wire, but designers experiment with variations, and there may be covered trichords, or uncovered bichords, to spread the changes as smoothly as possible. Trichords also need flat dampers, to rest against all three strings.

In the top twenty notes or so, there is not much space for dampers, and the sound of these short strings is so short-lived that some people argue that dampers are unnecessary. There have been experimental pianos with dampers all the way through, but these are rare, and most pianos have a certain point in the right-hand range where the notes suddenly start to ring a little because there are no dampers.

Bars in the iron frame can make breaks worse, and some piano makers tried to do away with some of them by replacing cast iron with a barless steel frame, but the idea didn't survive very long, and there are not many barless pianos around.

NAME THE END NOTES

Here's a little test to see how much you have learned about the layout of a keyboard:

Can you work out the names of the bottom and top notes on these little keyboards?

Perhaps you might like to write them each side in pencil.

Hint: Wherever there are 3 black notes together, the white notes around them are always F G A B.

Sharp or flat?

Funnel follow

Enharmonics

Enharmonic Keyboards

Up and down a Guitar string

The idea here is to start by playing the open 6th string,

then stop it at the 1st fret with your index finger, then…

2nd fret, middle finger

3rd fret, ring finger

4th fret, little finger

Then work backwards: Don’t do the same note again, go back to

3rd fret, ring finger

2nd fret, middle finger

1st fret, index finger

then back to the open string.

Chromatic scale on a Guitar

Now do a similar thing again, but this time, go up the 6th string, then up the 5th string, and so on across the guitar.

When you get up to the 4th fret on the 1st string, go backwards again, moving down each string, to end on the open 6th string, where you started.

This is known as a chromatic scale.

Chromatic scale on a Keyboard

The idea of a chromatic scale is to play all the notes on the instrument from lowest to highest, or from highest to lowest. On a keyboard instrument, such as piano, this means playing all the black notes as well as the white ones.

The important thing is to use the correct fingering: For this exercise, all black notes should be played only by the middle finger.

Use the thumb for a white note, and bring in the index finger where there are two white notes together.

When you do this, make sure you don't cross the finger and thumb, use them in the order they are on your hand:

On the left hand, the thumb stays on the right of the index finger.

On the right hand, the thumb stays on the left of the index finger.

As with any fingering exercise, take it slowly, so that you can program your brain to work the correct fingers.

Don't hurry, but concentrate on doing the scale evenly and smoothly. Speed will come naturally with practice, but hurrying will only encourage bad habits and wrong fingering.

Interesting, although we all have muscles, there are none in a hand, and learning to move your fingers independently has little to do with muscles, it is a matter of training the brain to send out the right signals.

Whole Tones

When you play a chromatic scale, using all the notes on the instrument, the difference in pitch between any note and the next is called a SEMITONE:

Chromatic scales go up or down by a semitone at at time. Semitones are not notes, they are intervals BETWEEN notes. Two semitones make a WHOLE TONE, so let's look at these: Start from the bottom note of the keyboard, and go up not one semitone (as you did in the chromatic scale) but two.

For example, going upwards from C,

Miss the C# and play D.

Miss the D# and play E.

Miss the F and play F#.

Miss the G and play G#.

Miss the A and play A#.

Miss the B and play C.

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Going upwards from C#,

Miss the D and play D#.

Miss the E and play F.

Miss the F# and play G.

Miss the G# and play A.

Miss the A# and play B.

Miss the C and play C#.

Having identified these two sets of notes, practise them all through the range, and experiment with different fingering, to see what is most comfortable.

Keyboard Finger Exercise

Here is a finger exercise to be played on the black notes only, first of all by the right hand:

Place the thumb on an Eb somewhere near the middle of the keyboard.

Place each finger on a different black note, F# Ab Bb Db.

Play the thumb note, then a finger note, and work through all the fingers:

Play the notes in this order:

Thumb Index

Thumb Middle

Thumb Ring

Thumb Little

Then come back in the opposite direction:

Thumb Ring

Thumb Middle

Thumb Index

Thumb

Now reach over your thumb with your Index finger, and play the Db,

then start again.

Keep repeating this slowly and evenly.

When you are happy about this, try it back-to-front with your left hand, using Db as the Thumb note.

Then do both hands at once!

Plectrum & Finger Work

If you are planning to play guitar, or any other fretboard instrument, you will need to decide whether you are going to pluck the strings with your fingers and thumb, or use a plectrum (pick). It’s a bit like choosing between a mitten or a glove, having your whole hand in one lump, or having the use of individual fingers. Some players can achieve very clever things by skilful movement of the plectrum, others prefer to use fingers and thumb. The ideal is to practise both methods, and choose which you use for a particular tune or style of playing.

Plectrum provides a solid, clear note, and allows a note to be repeated very quickly, which is especially useful on banjo or mandolin.

One of the disadvantages of a plectrum is that you can so easily drop it in the middle of a number, so I have Velcro on mine, which gives more grip, and I can attach several plectrums to the instrument, in convenient places where I can grab them quickly. Plectrums have an infamous ability to disguise themselves by landing on a patch of the floor that exactly matches their colour and shape!

A compromise is to use finger picks, which fit over the fingers and thumb, but there is some skill in fitting them properly, a skill I have failed miserably. I either find them too loose, so they fall off, or too tight, so that they hurt my fingers. A friend was quite excited for a while that he had rediscovered finger picks, but he has gone very quiet on the subject now. Some players like to use just a thumb pick, to accent the bass notes, leaving the fingers to play the other notes.

Some jazz guitarists like to use 4 fingers together to play 4 strings together, but retaining the individual control of each string.

One of the worst things is strumming chords with the thumb. Because of the thumbnail, the up-strokes are of a completely different tonal quality, and are accented far too much, producing a very amateurish sound. Thumbs are also quite clumsy for strumming rhythms, and many bass players struggle with this.

Instead, try using your index finger as if it were a plectrum. By getting the nail cut just right, you can have the strength of a plectrum sound, but with the option of a different sound on up-strokes. On electric guitar, the pad can touch the string lightly after the nail plucks it, and this can give some interesting effects. You can use nail hardener to vary your sound, and to protect the nail from breakage.

On the other hand

Both Sides Now

Semitones

Tuning & Pitch

Tuning a Guitar

It is no good sitting down to practice on a stringed instrument without first of all tuning it. If you practice listening to the wrong sounds, you may all too easily come to accept them as right! Unfortunately, tuning is a major hurdle for some people, almost enough to put them off playing at all. Electronic tuners are now available in many varieties to make this easier, but they are not without their problems.

Before you try to tune a guitar, make sure the bridge is in the right place - some aren't! Touch the bottom string lightly, halfway along its length, over the 12th fret, and pluck the string. It should sound a harmonic. Now play the 12th fret normally, and the two notes should be the same. If they aren't, the bridge will need to be adjusted or moved. Try it on each string.

Most guitarists, when playing on their own, will start by assuming that one of the strings is in tune, and then tune the others to it. Usually, this will start with the "bottom" E string which, of course, is at the top!

The bottom E is taken as the starting point, and then stopped at the 5th fret to give the note for the next string. This process is repeated for each string, until you have tuned the 4th (G) string.

Then, the 3rd string is tuned to the 4th fret of the 4th string.

Finally, tune the top E to the 5th fret of the 2nd string.

The tuning pegs on a guitar are known as machine heads or machines. The trouble is, if you have accidentally knocked the machine head of the bottom E, you'll end up tuning the whole guitar wrong, so the ideal is to have some sort of fixed standard for at least one of the notes.

Traditionally, tuning was done with pitch pipes, which have a pipe for each string, and produce their notes by blowing reeds like those in a harmonica. The problem with these is that, in the same way that a harmonica can easily be blown out of tune, the pipes are only a very rough guide to pitch.

A tuning fork gives a very accurate frequency for just one note, but the ones most often found in music shops are for A440, which is the A on the 5th fret of the top E string. This means that if you tune to this type of tuning fork, you will need to tune the rest of the guitar from the top string, whereas most people work the other way. It is possible to obtain a tuning fork for bottom E, but they are expensive.

The best, and simplest, way to tune a guitar is with an electronic tuner. One simple version of these is the E tuner, which seems a good idea, and simply stays on the guitar all the time, to give you accurate tuning of the E strings.

However, these are just as expensive as a "proper" tuner. Some multi-effects pedals for electric guitars now have built-in tuners, which also allow almost silent tuning of electric guitars, without inflicting those horrible sounds on the audience.

One of the problems about some electronic tuners is that it is possible to tune a string precisely to the wrong note. I was working with a guitarist once, and pointed out that he was playing minor chords instead of major, and he realised that he had tuned the 3rd string perfectly - to the wrong note.

Tuning by television

If you have an ordinary television set, you can use it to set the pitch of the bottom E quite accurately, provided it is done regularly, so the string does not go too far out. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to work with digital TV, so it might be worth keeping an old set.

Switch on the TV, and turn the sound off.

Hold the guitar in front of the screen, with the neck vertical, and twist it until you can see the bottom E string against the screen.

Stop the string at the 3rd fret, which is the lowest G on the guitar.

This should, ideally, vibrate about 49 times a second, but if you settle for 50, the difference is so slight that it won't make much difference.

The TV makes 50 complete pictures per second, scanning them rapidly from top to bottom.

Pluck the string, and you'll see a sort of wave moving along the string as you look at it against the background of the screen.

Tune the string very slowly until the wave stops moving. Going up means the note is too high. Going down means it is too low.

Once the bottom string is tuned in this way, the others can be tuned to it.

Tuning by beats

When two strings are almost, but not quite, in tune with each other, a kind of pulsation occurs in the sound of the note, as the two strings move in and out off step with each other. This is known scientifically as HETERODYNING, but the more common name is a BEAT. Piano tuners and organ tuners use beats all the time as a very accurate way of tuning. If you go into the subject more deeply, there are set beat rates for different combinations of notes, but we are concerned here with tuning a guitar.

Starting from the bottom E, stop it at the 5th fret, as before, and play it with the next string.

If they are close to the correct notes, there will be a beat in the sound they produce together, a sort of "wah-wah-wah" effect.

Tune the 5th string until the beat slows down, and stops, which tells you that it is in tune.

Then move across the strings in the usual way, but using beats as a more accurate way of tuning two strings together.

When you have finished, you can do all sorts of checks with beats.

For example any pair of strings that were 5 frets apart in their tuning should be played together, and tuned so that there is no noticeable beat.

This will not work with the 4th and 3rd strings, which must have a few beats per second.

Now look for any two notes anywhere on the guitar which have the same note name, and tune out any beats.

Remember though, beats are extremely accurate, whereas guitars are imperfect, and you could drive yourself mad trying to get every note on every string perfectly in tune.

Mental attitudes

Whole tones

The Circle

This diagram shows all the twelve notes of one octave, arranged around a circle like a clock face, but not in their usual order. Instead, they are laid out in intervals of 4ths or 5ths, depending on which way you go around the circle. This circle is known by several names, including...

The Circle of Fifths,

The Chord Clock,

The Cycle of Fourths,

or simply "The Circle".

The Circle has many important uses in understanding and writing music, and you should get to know it thoroughly.

It may help you to learn it if you notice that, either side of F#, the word BEAD is spelt upwards on the left, and (ignoring

the flats) downwards on the right. F# is used (rather than Gb) because the note is more likely to be encountered in connection with sharp keys and chords such as B or A.

The Circle of Keys

The Circle is also very handy for working out key signatures, that is the number of sharps or flats in any given major scale: C (at the top) has no sharps or flats, but going clockwise, there are progressively more flats: F has one, Bb has 2, and so on. Conversely, going anti-clockwise from C, there are progressively more sharps: G has one, D has 2, and so on.

This makes the keys at the bottom of the circle very unpopular with musicians who read music!

Pick up the Tab

Tab for Guitar

Tab for Bass Guitar

SONGS

Many people feel that poems don't have to rhyme or have a METER or rhythm, but those are the two things which (to me) make it a poem, so how else is it to be defined?

Even if the writer intends a rhythm, the question is whether the reader can immediately feel it in the words.

If the lyrical idea is good, rhythmic problems may sometimes be overcome with a bit of negotiation, I've just done that with a friend's poem, found a variation on the words which is acceptable to him, but doesn't break up the rhythm. When I say that, I mean also that the English language depends on inflections, stressing certain syllables. “Mysterious girl” is an obvious example of one that is not right.

To me, a song can only express me if I can speak it. Try a Hal David lyric like "Alfie" as a good example of one that works but is not rhythmic.

To use repetitive tunes that are accessible to the general audience, the verses must all have a similar rhythm. My feeling is that you shouldn't plan the song, concentrate on the poem! I feel that usually, I write better songs if I am not involved at all in the lyrics beforehand. Also, I wrote a couple of songs about certain events which, in order to tell the story, were so long that audiences could get bored.

In the end, you might not like my songs, they may not be what you aiming for in music. That's alright, lots of people do like them.

I love some little bits of Beethoven, but don't want to wade all through a symphony just to get to the bit I like. Popular music is condensed, and the best bits are repeated, so they can be enjoyed more.

Although repetition is a vital part of popular music, I like to do short versions and play more different tunes in a night, especially when there is no vocal to help put over the meaning.

Instrumentals free the mind of constraints, and a dark, sombre song like "Road to hell" can become a bright up-tempo jazz number.

My worst "fault" in music is probably my love of slow expressive things, that some kinds of audience would say aren't lively enough, so I have to limit how many I play. The plus side is that it is good for relaxing listening music.

SOUND ADVICE

I have worked in studios that lavished thousands of pounds on equipment and fittings, but very often, the people who ran them had little or no musicianship, and little idea of the basic principles of acoustics and stereo sound.

If you put a single sound into a single amplifier, with a single speaker, that is a MONOPHONIC system. The speaker cone vibrates in and out hundreds of times per second, and causes the air to vibrate in the same way. Logically, we could not possibly know in which direction the cone is moving at any given moment.

But what if you connect two identical speakers to the same amplifier? Immediately, PHASE is a new problem you may have to sort out: If the two speakers are wired correctly, and are also facing in exactly the same direction, they are IN PHASE and the cones move as if they were one unit. If you place one each side of the stage, and feed exactly the same sound to each, the sound will be recognized by your brain as the same sound, and you will not hear a speaker on the left, and a speaker on the right. Instead, you will hear the sound as if it is coming from a point midway between the two speakers. If you think about this, it seems strange, because there is no speaker there.

If, instead, you place the two speakers facing each other, they will be OUT OF PHASE, and you may be surprised to hear that a lot of the sound is cancelled out by the two speakers working in opposite directions. Phase is not about what you hear, it exists even if you are not in the room, but when you listen, your brain (amazingly) can detect that the two cones are not vibrating in time with each other, and your brain decides that they are separate sounds, from separate sources, so you will hear what seem like very similar sounds, but coming quite separately from the two speakers. If you play notes near the top end of the piano, the strings vibrate more than three thousand times per second, so if the speakers are out of phase, they might be less than a six-thousandth of a second out of time with each other, but your brain still detects it.

Being in phase allows a sound to seem to come from a point between the speakers, and that’s what STEREO is all about. Let’s suppose you want to record a piano, bass and drums. Recording equipment allows you to feed the sound of the piano equally to both speakers. Then, you could send the bass instrument to the left speaker, and the drums to the right speaker. What you hear in the finished recording is a piano in the middle, with bass and drums on opposite sides of the stage.

Stereo recording equipment has PAN controls to allow us to adjust the left/right balance of a particular sound, and I feel satisfied that if I record a larger number of instruments, in my mind, it is worth panning them to slightly different positions, so that each instrument is heard in a different position. However, back in the sixties, scientific research established that although most listeners will recognize a sound as being near the centre, or far left, or far right, any others will only be described as “left of centre” or “right of centre”. These five points are known as the STEREO SPECTRUM, and for practical purposes, these are the most important positions for placing sounds.

Stereo guitar

Rotary speaker

FRETBOARD DIAGRAMS

For guitars and other fretboard instruments, there is a simple system of diagrams to show where the fingers should be placed. Imagine the head of the instrument at the top, the vertical lines represent the strings, while the horizontal lines are frets. Working in this way allows anyone to see how to play a chord, without knowing anything at all about music, or even name of notes.

//////////////////////

In this example, the thickness of the strings is graduated, to make it clearer which way round the diagram is. The spacing between the frets is also graduated, as it would be on the real fretboard.

///////////////////////

Here is a cruder diagram, but the information is the same. If you are left-handed, you will have to make decisions about whether you are going to reverse all your diagrams.

KIBBY KEYBOARD SHORTHAND

People have said many times over the years that it would be nice to have a simple method of showing keyboard chords, like the system used for fretboard instruments. The following idea is my own, and I have used it very effectively in teaching for over forty years. It is even easier to draw than fretboard diagrams, and has extra uses.

A keyboard is made by repeating two shapes - the notes C to E, and the notes F-B. The pattern only appears to change when it runs off the ends of the keyboard.

If we draw lines joining the points where fingers would be placed to play the notes, the result is this.

If this pattern of lines is taken away and drawn on its own, it provides a simple, yet very effective framework on which to draw dots to represent notes.

These simple squiggles can be repeated to show chords and other notes on a whole keyboard, or even the two keyboards and pedalboard of an organ.

A horizontal line at the end of a keyboard is used to show an extra white note, such as top C.

A special bass note can be shown by drawing a line downwards from the note.

An important high note such as a melody note can be marked by an upward line.

In this example, the notes C, E and A form an A minor chord, with a bass note D, and a melody note B. The diagram is easy to draw, but tells us something quite complicated.

Microphone Technique

If you are singing, especially into a microphone, then you need to develop a good understanding of DYNAMICS: By that, I mean the way that the music varies in volume or loudness. The human voice is, of course, capable of whispering so quietly that the person next to you cannot hear, and yet the dynamic range of a voice can be pushed to extremes, and heard at great distances. Electronics cannot begin to cope with that kind of dynamic range, that's why if you're watching a television programme, you'll find that they have to turn the whispers up louder, (as if you were leaning closer to listen) and hold back on loud noises. Even so, people often complain that the volume varies too much! If you sing into a microphone, whether it's for recording or amplification, you need to be aware of this problem, especially at the lower end of your range. Singing softly, very close to the microphone, you can exaggerate the little, intimate sounds of the mouth that make the song seem personal and friendly, or loving, like whispering into someone's ear. Singing to a mike gives you that very valuable option, but you need to realize that you cannot just stay close to the mike all the time if you plan to sing at great volume. There are five main ways to deal with this:

1: Get someone to try to track your every note, and adjust the volume control constantly. Even experienced professionals find this almost impossible!

2: Try to control your voice so that it does not produce such a wide range of dynamics as you would use normally without a microphone.

3: You could hold the mike so that you can move it away for the louder notes, but you will have to avoid causing noise as you touch and handle the mike.

4: Put the mike on a stand, and move your mouth away from it when necessary: Headsets don't allow this option

5: An electronic device called a "compressor-limiter" will "compress" the loudest notes down to something like the volume of the others. Almost all recorded or broadcast sound is compressed.

ONE NOTE AT A TIME

I used to know a drum teacher who maintained that before you learn to play the whole drum kit, you should try to learn everything there is to know about playing just ONE drum!

This sums up my attitude towards teaching people music on any instrument.

There is so much that can be done in the early stages of learning that can make things easier for you later on, and there are few things worse than trying to teach someone advanced playing with whole groups of notes in both hands, only to discover that they have never learned the simple, basic skills of playing just a single-note melody well.

In many cases, I blame the teachers, or the curriculum, but having said that, I know for a fact that some pupils have given up and left me after a few lessons, gone on to a more conventional teacher, and taken several years to realise the benefits of what I was trying to get them to do! Obviously, I failed to make them understand about my approach to CREATIVE MUSICIANSHIP.

Melody is everything, it is the foundation upon which all the other notes are built, and a change in just one note of the melody will sometimes require quite radical alterations to the harmonies, bass and chords. Give me a good melody, and I can show you simple, logical guidelines which you can apply to it, to add harmonies, counter-melodies, chords, bass lines, rhythms, etc.

I can even program a computer to do these things, and in particular, given a good program which defines the rules, the computer's random capability can compose some highly original chord sequences - I've done it!

How can a melody have notes, and yet seem tuneless? Unfortunately, the secret of a good melody seems impossible to define, except that it is one which allows a good range of chords and harmonies. I'm inclined to say that it is very much a matter of personal taste, but if that were true, there would be no old "standard" songs that survive for a hundred years or more, and are still loved by many audiences. There seems to be no logic or science to a good tune, it's pure art, and I have never (yet) heard a good melody composed by a computer…

… but I’m working on it!

NEW MELODY?

It’s almost impossible to create a NEW melody. In television for example, to what extent was the Crimewatch theme inspired by the Quincy theme?

Or to what extent was the Jesse Harris song “Don’t know why” inspired by “Sale of the century” or “Pearl’s a singer”?

If you enjoy the Norah Jones version, you probably don’t care, but people do make these comments, without understanding how impossible a task it is to create “new” music. The News of the World newspaper ran a competition many years ago, asking people to write just four bars of original music. Nobody managed it.

I was recently asked to play “You raise me up”, so I pointed out that although I like the song, I have trouble remembering it because it seems like bits of 4 or 5 different well-known songs joined together. This brought a round of applause. A woman in the audience sang me what she thought was the first line, but it was actually from “When a child is born”. Later, a man said he would play it, but he used the first line of “How great thou art”. I think the first line of “You’re my best friend” is nearer, but there also bits of “Danny boy” in there, and perhaps even “Wind beneath my wings” and others.

If you enjoy George Harrison’s “My sweet Lord”, and think it is an original tune, you probably haven’t heard the Chiffons’ “He’s so fine”.

I wrote a song, and was reasonably happy with the melody until Randy Newman came along, years after, on an identical opening tune, with slightly similar lyrics - “Some day I’ll fly away”. She didn’t steal it from me, it just happened, and it made money - I didn’t! On another occasion, I had to change a song of mine when “Don’t cry for me Argentina” came out.

Another was accused of copying the “Coronation Street” theme, and although the first few notes were similar, the rest was not, and the tempo and feel were quite different. Yet another had the audacity to go downwards on a scale, and was compared to “I only wanna be with you” although it was not in any way similar, to a musician’s ears.

Anyone who plans to write songs must be prepared for this type of criticism from people who do not understand music at all.

DON’T GO CHANGING?

As you learn more and more about being a creative musician, you will be finding out how to change the music to give it your own style. Inevitably, this means that the melody will sometimes change, so it's important to realise the impact this can have.

Used wisely and sparingly, your new-found knowledge about the effect of melody will be able to help you "improve" the melody, and make it more interesting, perhaps just by timing, or by actually changing notes.

Of course, it is for every individual to decide how far to take it, but the more you do this, the more you risk criticism from the more pedantic listeners, who want their music played note-for-note as it is on the CD or sheet music.

It’s important to realise that there will be some parts of a melody that give the song its individual character and individuality, so be careful what you change.

One of the worst sources of narrow, rigid, uncreative thinking is a modern one - karaoke. People who may nothing about music go up in front of an audience and try to sing well-known songs exactly as they were on the record.

Bearing in mind that this will often be an inexperienced amateur, singing in the wrong key for their voice, and often with a second-rate backing arrangement found free on the internet, I have reservations about how good it can ever be!

The overriding problem with many karaoke singers is that they need every bit of the backing to be exactly as it was on record, and they have no means of coping with a live musician, or a different sound.

Most professional singers and musicians don't want to copy other people, they accept that this will always produce a second-rate imitation. The way to be accepted for yourself is to give the song some new slant, or perhaps a different rhythm. To use that well-worn phrase, ”make it your own”.

Above all, the key must be chosen to suit the voice of the person who has to sing it, and too many singing guitarists don't even think about playing in keys that suit their voices.

WON’T YOU PLAY A SIMPLE MELODY?

It would be very difficult to make a tune with just one or two notes, and the simplest tunes normally have at least THREE: Try playing the notes below, and counting one beat for each, plus one beat for each DOT between them: As always, DON'T rush it, play slowly enough to get it right, always practise evenness and accuracy, and speed will eventually come along on its own. This is part of an old French tune called "Au Clair De La Lune", also used in a Springfields song called "Say I won't be there" in 1963.

C C C D E . D .

C E D D C . . .

Repeat the tune a few times, and practise playing it in two different ways:

STACCATO means making all the notes as short as possible, with spaces between them, and leaving a silent beat for each dot. This makes the tune sound rather jerky. If you like, imagine that the keys are very hot, and you don't want to touch then any longer than you have to. Try it at different places on the instrument, and listen to the effect - it doesn't have to be loud, staccato playing can be very effective when it's soft.

LEGATO means holding each note longer, until the next one starts, even when there is a dot there. The dots are still important for timing, but the whole thing should sound much smoother when played legato, so that the notes almost join together, but without overlapping.

It is a good idea to practise every tune in both ways, although LEGATO is much better for most purposes.

MORE DIFFICULT TIMING

The following exercises stay on just one note, but the dots between the notes should show you how long to hold each note, so that the timing is right. Remember, each note and each dot is meant to show the same length of time. If you like, play a silent note in the air for each dot, or tap on something.

Practice slowly,

get the timing right,

don't rush!!

Let's Go!

A . A . A A A .

A A A A . A A .

How's Your Father?

B . . . B . . B

B . B . B . . .

B . . B B . B .

. . B . B . . .

HEY! BOSSA NOVA!

What the Bossa Nova rhythm does is to try to space out 5 notes equally through 16 beats, but they don't quite fit, so one space between the notes has to be longer.

C . . C . . C .

. . C . . C . .

If you have a keyboard or a drum machine with a Bossa Nova beat on it, you could start it at a slow speed, and try following it, playing the exercise with the drum beat:

Gradually speed it up, to see how fast you can play it.

Some versions play the second line first, so it doesn't start on the first beat, like this...

. . C . . C . .

C . . C . . C .

INTERVAL NUMBERS

Musicians use a system of numbering the notes of a scale, which can be applied in any key, so instead of the notes of a scale being described with names like...

DO RE MI, or longer names like

TONIC SUPERTONIC MEDIANT,

the notes are simply called 1 2 3.

These numbers are known as INTERVAL NUMBERS, and I want you to try to get used to this idea, because it has many useful applications.

Recently, I heard a song on television, and wanted to write down how the middle part went. Interval numbers meant that just typing…

5342534253425

was enough to remind me, so that I could learn it. As you will see later, the names of chords often rely on the use of these numbers, which can also be used to explain some chord sequences, for example, on a television interview, songwriter Neil Sedaka described one of his songs as a…

1 6 2 5

Some simple teaching systems use numbers which are not the same, and so the music written for a particular instrument may be in a system which only works for that instrument.

Examples include toy wind instruments, toy pianos, stylophones, miniature electronic pianos, and even some larger keyboard instruments. Learning those systems will not help you in any way with other music, but interval numbers can be applied to playing any instrument, in any key.

APPLYING NUMBERS TO A TUNE

To find the three notes on a keyboard for the following tunes, you need to look at the furthest end of each key, where the widths are all the same. Start by playing any note, black or white, miss a note, play the next note, miss a note, and play another. Now, with the tune in numbers instead of note names, you can learn to play it in any key.

Say I Won't Be There

1 1 1 2 3 . 2 .

1 3 2 2 1 . . .

Here’s another 3-note tune...

Merrily We Roll Along

3 2 1 2 3 3 3 .

2 2 2 . 3 3 3 .

3 2 1 2 3 3 3 .

2 2 3 2 1 . . .

Three positions for interval numbers on a guitar…

Notice that each position allows you to play all 8 notes of a scale with one finger per fret, so you do not need to move your whole hand.

MORE THREE-NOTE TUNES

Jesamine

3 . 1 . 1 . . 2

3 . 1 . 1 . 1 2

3 . 1 . 1 . . 2

1 . . . . . . .

Jack Be Nimble

1 . 2 3 . 3

1 . 2 3 . .

1 . 2 3 2 1

2 . 2 1 . .

PLAYING IN OTHER KEYS

When we talk about "playing in the key of C" or "playing in C" it means using group of notes in which note number 1 is C.

Whatever note is number 1, that is the KEY NOTE.

In Chapter 0, you learned the names of the notes.

Practise all the 3-note tunes from any starting note:

Playing the tune is the easy bit, what you have to think about is finding the three notes that you need to make the tune sound right.

THE TETRACHORD

When it comes 4-note tunes, finding the 4th note is not really difficult, but the catch is that it is the very next note after the 3rd, so there is no note missed out between the 3rd and 4th.

These 4 notes together are known as a TETRACHORD and it is very important to learn them thoroughly before moving on to the next stage - SCALES.

In C, for example, the first 3 notes are C, D, and E: The 4th note is F, and there is no black note between E and F.

The same applies if you start on G, there is no black note between B & C, but what about in F?

Try to work out all 12 of the tetrachords in the following way:

Start from G, and find the 4 notes:

Play one, miss one, play one, miss one, play one, and play the next.

You should end up on C, so the next thing to do is find the 4 notes you would use if you start on C. Play the tetrachord.

You should end up on F, so the next thing to do is find the 4 notes you would use if you start on F.

Keep on going like this, starting each new tetrachord on the 4th note of the previous one, until you get back to G.

THE CIRCLE

At this point, we need to look briefly at something that will have many uses as you progress through the course, and it concerns the order in which you have just found the notes in the previous exercise.

Starting on any note, find the 4th note of its tetrachord. Then start from that note, and find the 4th note of its tetrachord.

Continuing in this way, you will eventually go around all twelve of the starting notes, in a kind of circle, which returns to the original starting note.

This is known as

THE CIRCLE OF FOURTHS, or...

THE CYCLE OF FIFTHS

(if you go the other way) or

THE CHORD CLOCK

because of its resemblance to a clock face, and its many important uses in writing chord sequences, which we will look at in Chapter 3.

Because it has so many uses, I will refer to it simply as...

"THE CIRCLE".

A FOUR-NOTE TUNE

By now, you should have found the 12 sets of 4 notes which would let you start on any note and play a tetrachord, so it would be nice to use these to play some 4-note tunes.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any popular tunes which just use the 4 notes of a tetrachord, so I made this one up!

Use this tune as an exercise for your brain, and try to play it starting from any note.

Get someone to test you by picking different starting notes for you, or go around the circle.

Fourth Write

1 2 3 4 3 2

3 2 1 2 . .

4 3 2 3 2 1

2 3 2 1 . .

Three positions for interval numbers on a guitar…

Notice that each position allows you to play the whole scale with one finger per fret, so you do not need to move your whole hand.

Joining Two Tetrachords

Once you have mastered all of the tetrachords, you can soon learn how to do something that many experienced musicians cannot do - finding all the notes of a Major Scale in any key!

A Major Scale consists of two tetrachords, with a note missed between them, so the second tetrachord doesn’t start on the same note, or the one above, but the next.

For example, in C, the first tetrachord would be...

C D E F

Missing the note above that, (F#) move on to the next note to start the new tetrachord...

G A B C

Those 2 tetrachords together form the 8 notes you need to play a C Major Scale.

Go around the circle, starting each new scale at the fourth note of the previous set, and find all the major scales, in F, Bb, Eb, etc.

As you do each one, think about the best and most comfortable fingering with which to play the notes of that scale.

Usually, the thumb will only be useful for naturals ( white notes).

Practise going through the 8 notes of a scale, and get used to the numbers as you play them.

Without donations, I will be fine, but our collection may not survive for future generations, and it may all end up on a bonfire. If every visitor to this site made a small donation, we would have better displays for our museum building, and much-improved facilities for research within our own archives. UK cheques must be made out to Bill Kibby-Johnson. Foreign cheques are subject to high bank charges, so if you are posting a donation, bills are easier to change without any of your money disappearing on charges.

STARTING NOTES

A useful way of practicing pitching the notes by ear is to make a list of tunes that you know, and work out what the interval is between the first 2 notes.

Then, you can use the tunes to remind you what the intervals sound like.

1. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are the same. (If you need it!)

2. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are a 2nd apart – a wholetone.

3. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are a 3rd apart.

4. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are a 4th apart.

5. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are a 5th apart.

6. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are a 6th apart.

7. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are a 7th apart.

8. Find a tune in which the first 2 notes are an octave apart.

TWELVE MAJOR SCALES

The aim of this page is to look at each scale in turn, and try to write something that summarises what notes it contains, not by listing every single note, but by finding a shorter description:

C scale is made up only of white notes.

F scale

Bb scale

Eb scale

Ab scale

Db scale

F# scale has all the black notes plus B & F.

B scale

E scale

A scale

D scale

G scale uses F# instead of F

FULL LISTS OF NOTES IN EACH SCALE

Keys In Detail

[]

describe each scale

KEY SIGNATURES

Looking at all the notes on a piano, if you are playing by ear, or improvising, it seems a mind-boggling task to decide which notes to play, and various techniques are employed to simplify that task, by ignoring certain notes. Perhaps the simplest on a keyboard is to ignore the black notes, and only play white notes.

When you start reading music, you will find that at the beginning of each piece, there is a key signature, designed to tell you which set of notes you can use to play all (or most) of the piece. The key signature consists of a number of sharps or flats, lined up with particular notes. If there are none, the piece is just using naturals (white notes) so it is based on the scale of C Major.

If there is just one flat sign, placed against the note B, it means that all Bs should be flattened to Bb, as they are in the key of F major.

[]

On this view of the circle, I have marked the number of flats or sharps for each key or scale. For example, one flat indicates that the tune is in the key of F.

If you are playing a keyboard, you can use this diagram as a guide for practice purposes, and play a tune first in the key of C, being all on white notes. Then, move down one side of the circle, trying the same tune in each key in turn. In this way, successive keys involve more flats or sharps, depending on which side you use, so the exercise gradually gets harder.

Simpler tunes will stay within the confines of the specified key or scale, and are known as “Tonal”, in the sense of the TONIC or KEY-NOTE. These are also known as DIATONIC TUNES.

Many hymns, popular and traditional tunes can be played just on one scale, but if, for example, you tried to play Bach’s “Air on the G string” on just one fixed scale, it simply wouldn’t work!

This course depends very much of the fact that it is possible to build up a repertoire of songs which stay on the scale, before branching out to those which stray to more varied scales and chords.

In later chapters, we will look at the way that the number of chords a song uses can provide a very effective guide to the complexity of the song.

ACCIDENTALS

It is important to realize that many tunes do not stay entirely on one scale or set of notes, and an early example is “Greensleeves”, allegedly composed by King Henry VIII in the 16th century.

To write this tune in normal notation, it is necessary to use accidentals – sharps or flats written on some notes, conflicting with the general key signature.

The major scale was well-established by that time, but that does not mean that every tune fits neatly into it.

It’s a fairly Victorian idea to introduce just one accidental for variety in the middle section of a song. Often, this takes you back one space on the circle, so a song in Bb might spend a little time in the key of F, perhaps on the end bars of the middle section. In terms of melody notes, this often involves raising the fourth note of the scale.

Another simple variation is the very occasional use of the flattened sixth.

Playing by interval numbers, as we are often doing here, is tremendously useful to you in learning how music is put together, but it does not work out very well with notes between the scales, although there are lots of tunes that can be played purely on a major scale. These are known as Diatonic tunes.

The whole idea of creating music is a daunting one if your piano has up to 88 notes, and there is a need to simplify the task so that you can start trying to make musical sounds by ignoring some notes. On a keyboard, there is an obvious distinction between black and white notes, so you could ignore the black notes for a while, and concentrate on playing diatonic tunes only with white notes, playing only within the range you can reach by spreading 2 hands in the middle area.

PENTATONIC SCALES

An even simpler idea is the pentatonic scale, which we will look at again later, with only 5 notes per octave, based on the layout of the black notes. This is somewhat limiting if applied strictly to melodies, but it will be extremely useful to you for improvisation, or just having fun with music. Perhaps the easiest way to remember the notes is to sing the opening line of Don McLean’s “Vincent” (1972) – “Starry starry night”.

Many modern pop songs are based on people playing a chord and singing bits of pentatonic scales to it. This even applies to some top “bands” and many of the very elaborate and clever runs sung by Mariah Carey. I used to know a young jazz saxophonist who only played pentatonic scales. If they didn’t fit the song, he just didn’t play that song! The effect was impressive if you didn’t know the theory. Pentatonic scales are a great start to your musical experimentation, but they are not a complete basis for all music.

One of the oldest well-known tunes around today is the traditional Irish tune “Slane”, which dates all the way back to the eighth century, and was used much later for the non-Christian hymn “Be thou my vision” praising God, and also “Lord of all hopefulness”. While King Alfred was burning the cakes, over in Ireland, someone wrote “Slane”. It is still being played and sung today. Almost every note of it fits within the pentatonic scale.

PENTATONIC SCALE: THE THEORY!

The Pentatonic Scale is very badly named, and the name is confusing to many people, yet this scale is tremendously important in all kinds of music from very simple folk songs or popular tunes to great orchestral works or rock guitar breaks.

What's more, it has less notes than a normal scale, so it is easier to work with!

"The Pentatonic Scale of C" is actually all the notes that are NOT used in the scale of C major, in other words, all the black notes.

These have nothing whatsoever to do with the key of C major, and far more to do with F# major (or Eb minor) so it is logical to call it the F# Pentatonic, or the Eb minor Pentatonic, and although these are the "wrong" names, many musicians feel that they make more sense.

"Pentatonic" means the scale has 5 notes, and even that could be said to be wrong, because although each one has 5 note-names, most scales start from the first note, and end on its octave, and if you include an octave, the "Pentatonic Scale" has 6 notes, not 5!

So much for the theory, or lack of it, but what is the practical use of the pentatonic scale?

USING THE PENTATONIC SCALE

By now, you should have no trouble finding the notes of an F# major scale on a keyboard, so play the following notes:

1 2 3 5 6 5 3 2 1

Try it, and you will find that they are all the black notes.

This set of notes, in any key, is tremendously useful as a simple framework for improvising, or making up tunes. Even if you end up adding some other notes, experiment first with these 5 notes and their octaves, and see if you can find any well-known tunes that use them.

Irving Berlin was the most prolific Russian-born composer, and wrote hundreds of songs, often with very good melodies, but he played piano badly, and mainly used the black notes. This style of playing used to keep my Gran amused for hours, bashing away at the black notes with an oom-pah-pah left hand on songs like "After the ball", "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" and the like, and a definite shortage of chords, but I don't know what the neighbours thought of it!

When Irving Berlin wrote a tune that needed a key-change, he used a special transposing piano, with a lever to shift the keys! It's difficult to imagine how he could have played like that, they are quite difficult to move, and are normally set up in a particular key, and left there for the whole piece of music. In spite of all that, he wrote many great hit songs, including "Blue Skies", "They say it's wonderful", "White Christmas", "Always", & "Puttin' on the Ritz" - a cracker of a song!

As for those 5 notes, You'll find them in big orchestral arrangements for cowboy films, or traditional scottish songs like the “Skye Boat Song”, or “My Bonnie is over the ocean”. “Loch Lomond” was written about the battle of Culloden, 1749, and only has one note which is not part of the pentatonic scale.

Dvorak used lots of pentatonics in his New World Symphony, Sibelius was not averse to pentatonics, and parts of his Karelia Suite (1893) could be very effective if it was picked on bluegrass banjo! A lot of Chinese music is based on pentatonics, and even very modern Chinese and Japanese music makes great use of them. Try moving around the black notes with two fingers, playing pairs of notes with one left out between the two you play, and you will hear the oriental kind of sound I'm talking about.

It causes a lot of 4ths and 5ths to come into the harmony, and that is part of the character of the Beatles' music too. Many rock guitarists haven't heard of pentatonic scales by name, but they still rely on them for a large proportion of their guitar breaks, especially in minor keys. A very simple, catchy tune that is completely pentatonic is “First there is a mountain”.

Remember the keyboard finger exercise using the black notes? That was pentatonic, in the key of Eb minor (or D# minor).

To summarise...

The Major Pentatonic (like the black notes from F#) has...

1st 2nd 3rd 5th 6th

and the Minor Pentatonic (like the black notes from Eb) has...

1st minor 3rd 4th 5th minor 7th.

BEWARE when using the pentatonic scale as a clue to which key, chord, or major scale to use, because there isn't enough information in 5 notes: The notes CDEGA might suggest a C major scale, but they also appear in the major scales of F and G. In the same way, the C major scale includes 3 different pentatonics, CDEGA, FGACD, & GABDE.

For this reason, you can experiment with improvisation on pentatonics either side of the main one on the circle: In the key of A, an E pentatonic can have its uses, as well as a D pentatonic.

Pentatonic Scales

Actual Keys Actual Notes Bb Instrument Eb Instrument

Major Minor Keyboard / Guitar such as Tenor Sax such as Alto

Sax

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

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

Bb Gm Bb C D F G C D E G A G A B D E

Eb Cm Eb F G Bb C F G A C D C D E G A

Ab Fm Ab Bb C Eb F Bb C D F G F G A C D

Db Bbm Db Eb F Ab Bb Eb F G Bb C Bb C D F G

F# D#m F# G# A# C# D# Ab Bb C Eb F Eb F G Bb C

B G#m B C# D# F# G# Db Eb F Ab Bb Ab Bb C Eb F

E C#m E F# G# B C# F# G# A# C# D# Db Eb F Ab Bb

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

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

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

DIATONIC TUNES

What follows is a chronological list of some old diatonic tunes: There are many more, and you can easily see that although it is a very old idea, it continues to produce well-loved melodies. Predictably, many of the earlier ones are hymns or carols, but some of these were borrowed from existing popular or traditional melodies of the period.

All of these tunes could be played purely on the white notes of a keyboard, provided they are played in a suitable key. This does not mean that the chords and harmonies could all be played on the white notes, we are only looking at melody notes in this chapter. The years given here are the earliest known references to the songs, often the date of publication of the individual song, or of an album containing it.

1551 All people that on earth do dwell

1600 Ding dong merrily on high

1710 Holly and the ivy

1740 O come all ye faithful

1743 God save the king

1749 Loch Lomond

1760 My lodging is in the cold cold ground

1768 Ach du lieber Augustin

1770 The Keel row

1776 Rock of ages

1780 Deck the halls

1784 March of the Men of Harlech

1790 Auld lang syne

1806 The Star

1818 Silent night

1819 Blest are the pure in heart

1820 Shenandoah

1826 Holy holy holy

1833 I saw three ships

1835 Santa Lucia

1840 D'ye ken John Peel

1840 Rakes of mallow

1840 Wearing of the green

1843 Marble Halls

1846 O Susanna

1849 Clementine

1851 Old folks at home

1853 Once in royal David's city

1855 Home sweet home

1856 Ash grove

1856 Cockles & mussels

1856 Land of my fathers

1856 What can the matter be

1857 One horse open sleigh

1857 We three kings of orient are

1859 Comin' through the Rye (polka)

1859 Poor black Joe

1861 Jimmy crack corn

1861 Skip to my Lou

1862 Camptown races

1862 I wish I was in Dixie

1862 My bonnie is over the ocean

1862 Turkey in the straw

1863 Battle Hymn of the Republic

1865 D' ye ken John Peel

1865 Drink to me only with thine eyes

1865 Early one morning

1865 Floral dance

1865 Oh! No John No!

1865 Scotland the brave

1865 Wearing of the green

1868 O little town of Bethlehem

1869 Little brown jug

1870 What a friend we have in Jesus

1874 I vow to thee my country

1874 In the bleak midwinter

1875 Away in a manger

1876 Grandfather's clock

1877 The king of love my shepherd is

1884 Love's old sweet song (just a song at twilight)

1887 Dear lord and father of mankind

1888 Skye Boat Song

1889 Ask a policeman

1890 What shall we do with the drunken sailor

1893 Daisy Bell

1893 Dvorak’s Largo

1895 She was one of the early birds

1897 Sons of the sea (bobbing)

1899 O Tannenbaum (O Christmas tree)

1899 Whistling Rufus

1900 Goodbye Dolly Gray

5: HALFWAY UP THE STAIRS

Now that you have joined two tetrachords together, you can play tunes with up to 8 notes, but let's start with just 5.

The number before the title tells you how many notes of the scale the tune will use. With up to 5 notes, you could place your hand on the keyboard in such a way that every note is covered by a particular finger or thumb.

5 1 2 3 4 . 3 1

2 . 2 3 1 . . 5

5 1 2 3 5 4 4 3

2 . 3 . 1 . . 5

5 . 4 3 3 2 . 3

4 . 3 2 1 . . 2

3 . 1 2 3 . 1 2

3 . 2 . 1 . . .

5: CHRISTMAS IS A TIME TO REMEMBER

By Bill Kibby

1 . 3 . 5 . 2 4 . 3 . 2 1 . 2 .

1 . 3 . 5 . 2 4 . 3 . 1 2 . . .

1 . 3 . 5 . 2 4 . 3 . 2 1 . 2 .

4 . 3 2 1 . 2 . 3 . . . . . . .

Try playing this tune just as it is, in C, and when you are happy with it, try it in the following way: When the tune finishes, on the 3rd note of the scale, change to a scale a wholetone higher, so that the new scale starts on what was the 2nd note of the previous scale.

For example, if you start on C, you will finish on E, then change up to start the tune again, but this time, note number 1 is D.

Change key like this every time you play, and you should go through 6 different keys, ending up in the original key, but an octave higher.

Next, play the whole thing again, but this time starting in one of the keys you have not used yet, to go through the other 6 keys!

6: THE STAR

The poem commonly known as “Twinkle twinkle little star” was written by Jane Taylor in 1806, and was called “The Star”.

The number 6 means that you will have to use the notes 1-6 for this tune, so it will immediately become obvious that with only five digits on one hand, you will need to move about a bit.

A lot of this is common sense, for example, it is easier to reach over the thumb with the fingers, but not easy to take the thumb over the top of your fingers.

Also, where sharps or flats are involved, the thumb is often more comfortable staying on the naturals (white notes).

1 1 5 5 6 6 5 .

4 4 3 3 2 2 1 .

5 5 4 4 3 3 2 .

1 1 5 5 6 6 5 .

4 4 3 3 2 2 1 .

HOW IMPORTANT IS FINGERING?

People often say that a note will sound just the same whichever finger it is played with, so what is the point of learning special fingering?

The answer is that although it is true that a different finger will not usually have any effect on the sound of an individual note, as your playing gets better, you will need to find ways to move quickly and smoothly from one note to another, and this is where some finger movements are better than others, because they do affect the over-all smoothness of the music.

A lot of it is common sense: If you think about it, it is much easier to reach your fingers over your thumb than it is to move your thumb over your fingers.

When you are learning a tune, think about this, and try to plan out the movements so that you can see them in your mind.

Practise them in your mind, even when the instrument isn't there.

Some musicians spend hours planning how best to move their fingers in order to play the music the best way they can.

4 6 3 4 2 3 1 0

In this exercise, you have 6 different notes to play, and if you use the little finger of your right hand for the highest note, (6) you will probably end up having to reach over your thumb with your index finger to play the zero note. Try to find a way that your thumb can remain free to deal with the lowest note, by using one of your fingers for 2 different notes.

TRANSFERRED FINGERING

Transferred fingering is a useful technique on a keyboard if you get stuck, and you can't work out how to reach the next note without tripping over yourself. The idea is to press the note with one finger, then hold it down while you place another finger on the same note, leaving the original finger free to move to another note. To do this, you may need to think of it as if you were playing the note a second time, so that you remember the finger movement.

The same sort of idea works if a note has to be repeated - don't just play it with the same finger, think ahead, think about how a change of fingering might help you to reach the next few notes.

Moving from a sharp, up or down to a natural can often be done by just sliding the same finger, so practise doing this smoothly.

Later, you may be able to use the same technique for whole groups of notes, or longer runs and slurs.

Try working out a way of playing all the notes from C up to G, using only the 5 digits of one hand, and sliding of the flats.

6. CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Many of the popular Christmas Carols happen to go up to the 6th note of the scale.

6. Blowin’ in the wind

5.556.665.321..5

5.556.545.......

5.556.665.321..5

5.554.332......5

The third part is similar to the first.

5.556.665.321..5

5.556.545......3

4.432..233321..1

4.4322101.......

6: Michael Row The Boat Ashore

1 . 3 .

5 . . 5 5 . 6 .

5 . . . 3 . 5 .

6 . . . . . . .

5 . . . 3 . 5 .

5 . . 5 4 . 3 .

2 . . . 1 . 2 .

3 . . . 2 . . .

1 . . . .

Playing By Dice

Now that you have played up to the 6th note in a scale, try using several dice to make up tunes:

Throw the dice and see if you can play the numbers as a tune.

Write down any sets of numbers that sound good, and try them in all the different keys.

8: Pop Goes The Weasel

This tune uses all 8 notes of the major scale.

Try it in every key.

1 . 3 2 . 4 3 5 3 1 . .

1 . 3 2 . 4 3 . . 1 . .

1 . 3 2 . 4 3 . 5 1 . .

6 . . 2 . 4 3 . . 1 . .

8 . 7 6 . 8 7 . 6 5 . .

8 . 7 6 7 8 7 . . 5 . .

4 . 3 4 . 5 6 . 7 8 . .

6 . . 2 . 4 3 . . 1 . .

8: Three Blind Mice

3 . . 2 . . 1 . . . . .

5 . . 4 . 4 3 . . . . .

5 . . 4 . 4 3 . . . . 5

8 . 8 7 6 7 8 . 5 5 . 5

8 8 8 7 6 7 8 . 5 5 5 5

8 . 8 7 6 7 8 5 5 5 . 4

3 . . 2 . . 1 . . . . .

8: Chariots of fire

14.565...3......

14.565... .......

14.565...3......

34.311.........

(Twice)

8.7.657. .56. .45.

8.7.657. . . . . . . . .

8.7.657. .56. .45.

.34.311. . . . . . . .

8: Oh! Susanna

123 .5.5.6.5.3.1.

123 .3.2.1.2.....

123 .5.5.6.5.3.1.

123 .3.2.2.1.......

4...4...6.6...6.

5.5.3.1.2.....

123 .5.5.6.5.3.1.

123 .3.2.2.1....

8: Wooden heart

1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

4 . 4 3 2 . 5 . 3

. . . . . 1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

4 . 4 3 2 . 3 .

1 . . . . . . 1 3

2 . . 3 4 . 2 .

3 . 4 . 5 . 5 5

6 . 6 . 8 . 7 6

5 . . . . . 1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

4 . 4 5 6 . 7 .

8 . . . . . . .

1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

then play

4 . 4 3 2 . 5 . 3

play first block then 4 . 4 3 2 . 3 .

1 . . . . . . 1 3

2 . . 3 4 . 2 .

3 . 4 . 5 . 5 5

6 . 6 . 8 . 7 6

5 . . . . . 1 2

Play first block then 4 . 4 5 6 . 7 . 8 . . . . . . .

THE NINTH NOTE

It is often useful, with interval numbers, to use the 9th note of the scale. This is an octave above the 2nd, and so it has the same note name as the 2nd.

For example, in the key of C, the 2nd note is D, and the 9th is the next D up.

The "Zero" Note

Now that you know the notes 1 to 9, wouldn't it be handy to have a "zero" note, so you could play ANY number as a tune?

Strangely enough, there are some tunes that go just one step below the keynote, a semitone lower in fact.

If you think of this note as number 0, you can use any kind of long number as an exercise.

Try using telephone numbers, house numbers, times or dates as notes.

Write down any groups of numbers which sound good, then see if you can make a longer tune by repeating them, or joining them together.

You can also develop a code by using notes on a scale to represent messages.

One practical use for this is in computer programming, and if you know how to use a basic programming language, you can get your computer to make sounds which tell you all sorts of things by using notes to represent numbers.

This is especially effective if it is plugged into a MIDI keyboard.

8: To Be A Pilgrim

This well-known hymn tune uses the "zero" note: The first section is played twice.

1 . . 2 3 . 1 .

3 4 5 . 6 . . .

5 . . . 5 . 1 .

0 . 1 . . . . .

(Twice)

5 . . . 8 . 6 .

7 . 8 7 6 . . .

. . 5 . 3 2 1 .

3 . 4 . 5 . . .

. . 8 . 5 . . 5

6 5 4 3 2 . 6 .

5 . 1 . 0 . 1 .

. . . . . . . .

8: Call Of The Flowers

This tune uses a note which is an octave below the 6th, known as a “lower 6th” and shown by underlining the 6.

For harmony purposes, hold the 3rd note of the scale as a harmony above the first phrase, (10106) which includes a lower 6th. Try the rest in 3rds. It may help to play the keynote as a bass with the first beat of the tune

..10106. 234.

..3434 565432

121212 0.....

..10106. 234.

..3434 565432

121212 0...5.

Play the next section as a single major chord, moving down the inversions, and up again

6..... .41614

8.....6.....

Now play the same section again, but this time, flatten the 6th and lower 6th notes, then the keynote major chord

5.... .31513

8..... 5..336

6..... .31613

6..... 5.....

10: Dvorak's Largo

Once the note numbers get into double figures, it is a little more difficult to know if “1 2” is a twelve, or two separate notes. Here, the double figure 10 is in brackets to try to make it clearer.

3..55...3..21...

2..35..32.......

3..55...3..21...

2.3.2..11.......

6..88...7.5.6...

6.8.7.5.6.......

6..88...7.5.6...

6.8.7.5.6.......

3..55...3..21...

2..35..32.......

3..55...8..9 (10)...

9..89.6.8.......

then play the same tune an octave lower

9..89.6.8.......

11: Silent Night

5 . . 6 5 . 3 . . . . .

9 . . . 9 . 7 . . . . .

8 . . . 8 . 5 . . . . .

6 . . . 6 . 8 . . 7 6 .

5 . . 6 5 . 3 . . . . .

6 . . . 6 . 8 . . 7 6 .

5 . . 6 5 . 3 . . . . .

9 . . . 9 . (11) . . 9 7 .

8 . . . . . (10) . . . . .

8 . 5 . 3 . 5 . . 4 2 .

1 . . . . . . . . . . .

Remember that the 10th and 11th notes in brackets, near the bottom of the page are not single numbers like 1 0 or 1 1.

The Lower Fifth

Quite a few tunes could be written quite easily in interval numbers, if only they could go down an octave below the fifth sometimes.

For example, a tune in C, with C as the number 1 note, will sometimes need to go down to a G, but no numbers are available.

One solution is to underline the note 5, to show that it is to be played an octave lower.

Examples:####################################

This is alright if the tune doesn't ever use any other notes below the "zero" note, but in most cases, the only safe way to write it is by starting at note 8 instead of note 1, and using higher numbers, so that you can go down to 4, 5, 6, etc..

MORE CHRISTMAS CAROLS

As I said before, there are a lot of Christmas Carols that go up to the 6th note, but some of them also have the same bottom note, which is the “lower 5th”.

10: Danny Boy

Uses an octave below the 6th, underlined here.

0123..23653216..

1345..653132....

0123..23653216..

0123..432121....

5678..77656531..

5678..776532....

555 (10) ..99868531..

012365321601....

In the line before last, there is a TEN!

6: Groovy Kind Of Love

(Written with a lower 6th note)

1 2 3 4 5 . . .

4 3 2 1 0 . . 0

1 . 6 0 1 . . .

2 1 0 1 2 . . .

2 3 4 5 6 . . .

5 4 3 2 5 . 5 .

4 3 2 3 5 . 5 .

4 . 3 . 2 . . .

1 2 3 4 5 . . .

4 3 2 1 0 . 0 0

1 0 6 0 1 . . .

. . . . . 1 1 1

1 0 6 0 1 . . .

11: Tipperary

345.5..5678. (10) ...

(10) 98.6...8.5.....

345.5..5678. (10) ...

789.6.7.8.9.......

5.5...678. (10) .....

(11) . (11) .8.9. (10) .....

89(10) . (10) . (10) 8986...

5.8.(10) 8...9.8...

12. I vow to thee

356..875898.

7.676.5.3...

356..87589 (10.10.)

(10) 98.9.8...

532.2.132.2.

532.2.356...67

8.7.6.5.8.3.

2..1235...

14. Santa Lucia

In this tune, the red 5 must be flattened, and any harmony must be flattened as well. Notes in brackets are double figures.

5 . 5 . . 8 8 7 7 . . .

4 . 4 . . 6 6 5 5 . . .

3 . 6 . . 5 5 4 4 . . .

4 . 3 . 2 . 6 5 5 . . .

(Twice)

(10) . 9 . 8 . 7 6 9 . . .

9 . 8 . 6 . 5 5 8 . . .

(10) 8 8 5 5 3 4 9 9 . . .

9 . (10) . . 9 9 8 8 . . .

5 6 7 8 9 (10 10 .11 . . .)

(14 13 10 11 14 13 13 .12 ...)

6 7 8 9 (10 11 11 10 13.. 12)

8 7 (10 . .) 9 8 . . . . .

The green 3 or 10 notes can also be treated as if they were flattened 4 or 11 when you are working out harmonies later.

Embellishments

Embellishments are a kind of "decoration" which can be added to any tune, to make it more interesting, and perhaps add something of your own style to it.

Grace Notes:

The technical name for grace notes is APPOGGIATURA, but most people don't know how to spell it or pronounce it, so the term "Grace Note" is easier to understand, not that grace notes are always "graceful", they just add a bit of style to a melody.

The idea is choose a note just below the one you really want in a tune, play it very short, and quickly move onto the melody note. When grace notes are printed on music, they are much smaller than the other notes, and no time is allowed for playing them.

A grace note is usually below the melody note, often a semitone below it, but sometimes one step along whichever scale is in use at the time. (That, of course, will be either a semitone or a wholetone.) Sometimes, it is difficult to know whether the two notes overlap, or whether the first one ends as the second begins, but if there IS an overlap, don't make it too long, unless you are aiming for a comic effect. The only grace notes that always work quite well with an overlap are octaves, and it is more likely that you would play the octave below the intended note, then jump up an octave. This gives very little choice of fingering!

As well as decoration, Grace Notes can also be used to mislead the listener into thinking you are going to play one note (perhaps one you played recently) then slide onto another one. You might play a few notes, then play them again, but fool people by using the last note as a grace note played very briefly before changing to a new note.

Ideas like that can catch the listener's attention, and make the music more interesting.

FLATS RATHER THAN SHARPS

Grace notes are also a convenient excuse for moving hastily off a wrong note, and if you ever hit a note that sounds bad, (as you probably will) it is usually fairly safe to slide it up a semitone. Some people call this the "First Rule Of Jazz".

Of course, it doesn't just apply to jazz, or any one type of music.

This is something that comes up again and again with music, and for many purposes, it is safer to think of the notes between a scale as flats, (rather than sharps) and connect them in your mind to the notes above them.

Often, Mozart's music sticks very carefully to a major scale, and then uses a note between the scale for contrast, but quickly moves it up a semitone, to a "safer" note, and the same sort of thing happens in all kinds of music.

We will return to this idea of "flats rather than sharps" again later, when we look at harmony and chords: To harmonise with a note between the scale, you will normally have to think of it as a flat.

In chords, even if a note is sharpened, or raised a semitone, to resolve any tension it causes in the music, you will often need to treat it as a flat, and raise it up another semitone.

In interval numbers, the easiest way to describe notes between the scale is as flats, or with minus signs:

-5 or b5 means flattened 5th.

Tremolo playing

Instruments which produce notes by plucking or striking strings cannot hold a note for more than a few seconds, so when a longer note is needed, especially if you are playing something which is normally sung, the nearest effect to a long note is what is known as "TREMOLO" playing, repeating the note many times, very quickly. Fingerstyle guitarists can achieve this effect using several fingers.

Banjoists and guitarists, using a plectrum going backwards and forwards across the string, can almost make the note seem continuous, a bit like a drum roll. Mandolins are played like this most of the time, and they have double strings to make the tremolo even smoother. Some instruments even have triple strings. Tremolo playing is difficult to do with single notes on a keyboard, so the usual way around it is to play two notes an octave apart, shaking your hand left and right between thumb and little finger. This means there is little or no choice about fingering!

Some electric guitars have a lever called a TREMOLO ARM, but this is for an entirely different use, to slacken the strings, and "bend" the pitch of the notes, especially downwards. In the 1950s, when guitar amplifiers were something very new, the only sound effect they had was also called TREMOLO, which causes the notes to keep going loud and soft very quickly.

Just for a Trill

No Slurs?

NOTE MEMORY

There is something that happens in music, but nobody seems to talk about it, and I have been unable to find an existing name for it, so I refer to it as “note memory”.

It works like this: if you are singing a note, then stop, but do not sing another note, the note doesn’t stop in people’s heads, they still hear it until it is changed.

The effect of this in practical music is that you still have to proceed as if that last note was continuing, and this will affect you more and more, as you advance to harmonies, and especially chords.

When there is a space in the singing of a song, the last note still continues in your head for some time, so it affects the notes you can play, and may clash with some notes.

For example “There’s a kind of hush” is the first few words of the song, then the chord changes in a way that clashes with the note which the singer may still be holding. The answer is to hold off changing the chord for a couple of beats, or cut short the note. It is not written down like that, but it makes the music much better.

You don’t need to do anything much about it at this stage of your learning, but try to remember it when you get on to playing more notes.

PHRASING

If you sing a song as a soloist, rather than in a choir, phrasing is a technique that helps you to bring the meaning and emotion of the words more clearly to the audience.

It can also be applied to choirs or groups of singers, but only if it is pre-arranged, so that they all agree how the song will be sung, whereas a solo singer can make changes without any prior notice, provided they don't clash with the accompaniment. Phrasing is a creative tool, and as such, requires you to make changes to the song, so it is important to understand that if you are singing a well-known song, the people in the audience may also be singing along with it in their heads, so certain types of change will clash with what they hear in their minds, and this can make them uncomfortable, or irritated by what you do. Even with an unknown song, they will often try to anticipate the next note in a similar way.

It is not a good idea to change too many of the notes, but occasional subtle changes or embellishments will just create a little surprise, a moment of tension that grabs the audience's attention. Ideally, these new notes should be far enough away from the original ones so that they don't clash if played or sung together with the originals. In the English language, we accent certain words or syllables more heavily than others. These "inflections" are the most difficult things for a foreigner to learn, and they can completely change the meaning of a line.

Just as an actor has to practise lines in order to find the correct inflections, so it is with singing, but even if you are playing the notes on an instrument, the same kind of technique can be used, especially if you know the words. Timing of the notes is the most important way of improving the phrasing, and creating the correct inflections, but don't be ahead of the note the listeners expect, it can irritate and annoy them. If anything, be late with the note, so that they hear it in their heads, then notice that you haven't sung it yet.

Having grabbed their attention again, sing the words in such a way that the pauses in the sentences make sense, and improve the understanding of what the song is about. Being late with a note, you will then need to sing the following notes more quickly, in order to catch up, and this is the main message:-

Fall behind, then catch up.

A simple idea to play about with is - at the very moment when you should be starting the first word, start taking in a good lungful of air, then come in late, savour the notes as much as time allows, then hurry to catch up.

Breathe In!

Whether you sing, or play a wind instrument, you need to think about it: We all have to breathe all the time, we don’t think about it, it just happens, so it seems strange to talk about learning how to breathe properly, but I recall a man with bronchial asthma who had managed to reach the age of 70 without learning. I thought he was practising some special technique, as he raised his shoulders and threw out his chest to try to breathe, but after years of this, a doctor finally showed him how to breathe properly, and it changed his life so dramatically that he wanted to tell everyone about it.

Ask anyone to take in a deep breath, and you will probably see them do the same - as if shoulders were a necessary part of it. They may even pull in their stomach. Your lungs are quite long, and stretch from the bottom of the rib-cage right up into the shoulders, but at that point, they are surrounded by bones, so their capacity to swell is limited, and breathing with your upper chest will not fill your lungs properly. I have known many singers who TALK about using the diaphragm, but haven’t got a clue how they should be doing it.

When your body needs a sudden rush of oxygen for a yawn or a sneeze, it instinctively does it right: The diaphragm pushed your tummy out quite visibly, and your waist measurement may expand by several inches.

Hold your upper chest and shoulders still, and work on breathing in the lower part of your lungs, where the most expansion is possible. Measure how much your waist expands, and try to improve this.

I realise that this is no excuse for an ordinary pot belly, but do take notice of the shape of opera singers in general!

Another point about breathing is that normally, there should be a balance between the sound coming out of your mouth and your nose. If you close your throat, the sound may only come out through your nose, and it will sound NASAL!

Practice singing with your nostrils held shut, and see what you learn from the experience.

CAFFEINE OVERLOAD

Count time at a steady speed, using the numbers one and two:

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

Now do the same, but instead of one and two, use the word COFFEE.

Co ffee Co ffee Co ffee Co ffee

Now try it again with the word TEA, but make it last as long as the two beats of COFFEE.

TEA TEA TEA TEA

Combine the two, but COFFEE still takes the same length of time as TEA.

TEA COFFEE TEA COFFEE

Now add a new drink - COCA-COLA: This has four syllables, and has to be spoken quicker, so that it takes the same time as TEA or COFFEE.

Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee

Coffee Tea Coffee Tea

Coca-Cola Coffee Coca-Cola Coffee

Coffee Tea Coffee Tea

Can you work out what tune might fit the rhythm of these words? Try writing tunes you know in this way, so that you can show the rhythm by using these words. What has all this to do with printed music?

TEA represents a note two beats long, known as a minim, and shown as a circle with a stem.

COFFEE represents two separate beats, each known as a crotchet, and shown as a filled-in circle with a stem.

COCA-COLA represents four half-beats or quavers, each of which is represented by a filled-in circle with a stem and a tail. These tails can be separate sloping ones, or they can join two or more quavers together.

Now try the printed music

Playing in minor keys

Relative Minors

The chart below shows the 12 Major keys, and their Relative Minors.

To find the relative minor of a major scale, go anti-clockwise 3 places around the circle.

(Or down 3 semitones.)

To find the relative major of a minor scale, go clockwise 3

places around the circle.

(Or up 3 semitones.)

??????????????????????????????

Other Minor Scales

Melodic Minor Scales use different notes according to whether you are going up or down.

The Ascending Melodic Minor Scale only flattens the 3rd, the rest remain the same as a major scale.

The Descending Melodic Minor Scale is the relative minor scale, which follows exactly the same notes as its relative major, so A minor uses the same notes as C major.

Try playing up an A major scale, but flattening the 3rd to C, then come downwards just on the white notes. Something about it sounds right, changing the scale according to which way you are going.

The Harmonic Minor Scale is a stranger scale associated with Middle Eastern music. This uses a flattened 3rd and a flattened 6th, which produces an unusually large interval of 3 semitones between the 6th and 7th. Try running up and down it, and you should hear that distinctive sound of the harmonic minor, often associated with Jewish music, such as “Hava Nagila”.

There is another scale, for which I have been unable to find a name, which also raises the 4th, so there are 3 semitones between the flattened 3rd and raised 4th, then there are 3 consecutive semitones for 4th, 5th and flattened 6th. This is a very interesting scale for improvisation, which also appears in some Jewish music, I like using it on mandolin or especially bouzouki. It almost turns up in “Big noise from Winnetka”.

A word about Modes

Many complicated explanations have been given for modes in music books, and some pupils are put off by them, but they really are quite simple: Once you are familiar with the idea of playing on a major scale, you may try making other scales from it, simply by starting from a different note of the scale.

For example, the C major scale uses all the white notes, but try the effect of doing an 8-note scale starting from D through to the next D. This has the sound of a minor scale, and is known as The Dorian Mode.

Try playing a Spanish guitar style, but using a melody from the notes of the C scale, with accompaniment based around the E chord.

Most of the other modes have very little practical value, and I don't think you will need to worry about learning their names, because when it comes down to it, a "mode" is just another major scale, but started from a different note!

Pick up the Tab

Tablature ("Tab" for short) is a simple diagram for use on fretboard instruments, which uses a line across the page to represent each string, so there will be 6 lines for a guitar. Think of the guitar as if it is lying down in front of you, with the body on your right, and the thickest strings nearest to you. To make this clearer, I will use lines of varying thickness like the strings, but tab is not usually done like that.

The Need For Notation

Elton John's "Sorry seems to be the hardest word" provides a perfect example of how messy and difficult some timing is to show in simple interval numbers and dots, even with just 3 notes:

. . . . . . 3 3 3 3 . 3 3 . . . . 1 3 . . 1 .

3 . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . 2 2 2 2 . 2 2 . . . . 1 3 . 2

1 . . 1 . . . . . . . . . .

Even if you can follow the timing, it would be very difficult to play it at quickly from this notation, and what is needed is some way of showing more difficult timing, with more types of symbols.

Conventional music notation does this, and is very useful, as long as you don't expect it to be perfect! It has been around for over five hundred years, and is unlikely to disappear, but there are other ways to write music down, and we will be looking at several which will be useful in different ways, for different purposes.

Before you can read music properly, with timing, you will need to look at how the notes are arranged on the page. This is done by first of all considering the white notes (naturals). Music notation is always based on scales of 8 notes, ignoring the notes between until they are needed, and the simplest tunes are written in the key of C, using only white notes.

The Great Stave

A few hundred years ago, music was written on a series of eleven lines, each line or space representing a natural (white note). The middle line was C, so it came to be known as "Middle C", although it is not usually in the middle of a keyboard.

G is a note above the top line, F is a note on the top line etc..

THE GREAT STAVE

F __________________________________________________________

D __________________________________________________________

B __________________________________________________________

G __________________________________________________________

E __________________________________________________________

Middle C _______________________________________________________

A __________________________________________________________

F __________________________________________________________

D __________________________________________________________

Normal music notation

Creative music reading

Midi notemaps

Klavar notation

PEDAL EXERCISES

C D E F G A B C

The brown pedals are the NATURALS, equivalent to the white notes on a keyboard, and most home organs have only 13 pedals like this.

Try this exercise, playing it slowly and evenly, repeating it until you can do it smoothly. The second C is the top note.

C E D F E G F A G B

A C B G A F G E F D

The black pedals are sharps or flats, like the black notes on the keyboard. Try repeating this in the same way:

C D# F# A C

B G# F D

C# E G A#

BLUES SCALE

So far, we have thought mainly in terms of choosing notes that go together well: Forget all that, this is the BLUES!

The blues scale is a minor pentatonic, (like Eb minor on the black notes) but with an extra note (A) added. This comes between the 4th and 5th, so the whole scale is made up of...

1st minor 3rd 4th flattened 5th 5th minor 7th

These don't quite line up with ANY normal scale, but don't worry about it - the blues scale works by staying on the same set of notes while the chords change just about anywhere you want them to! Choose a key, find the notes of the blues scale, and play them with a simple chord sequence that starts and ends in the right key. Notice how the notes combine almost randomly with the chords, and provided the chord sequence is well constructed, the blues scale will usually work, if you grit your teeth and keep going!

Don't get the idea that the blues can only be played with a blues scale, or that a blues scale can only be played with the blues. As you learn to create more complex sequences of chords, keep on trying the blues scale with them.

A BETTER BLUES SCALE

In order to make the blues scale more complete, and give more opportunity to vary it, 2 other notes can be added, the 2nd and 6th.

In D on a keyboard, this means all the white notes, plus G#. Try running up and down this 9-note scale from D to D.

Now try keeping your right thumb on the lower D, and swapping between that thumb note and each of the others.

If you want a more conventional scale of 8 notes, you could simply ignore the 6th, but it has its uses.

BLUES GUITAR

On guitar, the extended form of the blues scales is best practised in E first, with the bottom E then stopping it at F# & G. Move on to the 5th string, play the open A then stop it at Bb & B. Play the open D, then stop it at E. Open G, then A, Bb. Open B, then Db, D. Open E, then F#, G.

Play the same notes backwards and forwards, using the lowest E and the highest G only once each time, before turning back in the opposite direction. This makes a convenient round figure of 32 notes.

Now look for some patterns that will help you remember the positions of these notes on each string, and remember three other things:

Don't try to go fast, try to do it RIGHT!

Use a different finger for each fret.

Practise with alternate down and up strokes on the plectrum or finger.

SPANISH STYLE

An unusual use of the major scale occurs in some Spanish guitar music, where an E chord is used with the notes of the C scale. The chord may also slide up a semitone, (F) and perhaps another to (G), sometimes leaving the open B & E strings sounding as well.

In terms of modes, this type of melody can be described as ///////////////////

Plutarch was a philosopher in ancient Greek, and he said that

"In order to create harmony, music must investigate discord."

The word "HARMONY" simply means putting notes together in a way that is pleasant to listen to.

DISCORD is the opposite - notes that don't go together very well, and sound unpleasant.

Notice that the word DISCORD doesn't have an H in it - it has nothing directly to do with CHORDS, and there is no such thing as "A DISCHORD". To put it another way, what Plutarch was saying was that in order to find the good sounds, we have to be prepared to try putting all sorts of notes together, and experimenting to find out which ones sound good:

On the way, this will involve making some horrible noises too, but it's the only way to learn! Fortunately, people have been making music for a long time, and we can learn a lot by listening to music, or reading books about music, provided those books actually tell you anything about the music itself. Sometimes, you may actually want music to sound unpleasant, if it is a song about an unpleasant subject, or a background for a play or film where something bad is happening, but even that is quite difficult to do, and it is useful to experiment with different sets of notes, to learn more about the effects you can produce.

Certain parts of a melody may have simple, standard harmonies that are tried and tested, for example if the melody goes up the scale…

1 2 3 4

try starting your harmony on exactly the same note, or an octave above or below it, and as the melody goes up the scale, make the harmony go down in semitones.

The same works for the other tetrachord, the notes

5 6 7 8

There will be lots of occasions when a tune goes up the scale like this, so practise this idea, with the harmony moving below the melody, or in the octave above it.

There will be other situations where one part goes along the scale, while the other moves in semitones. It sometimes works for 2 3 4 5 or 4 5 6 7.

UNISON

Suppose two people want to sing the same song together, they could just sing exactly the same notes: This is called singing in UNISON (literally "one sound"). Most of the notes on a piano have three strings, all tuned in unison, so that they make a stronger, fuller sound than just one string. Mandolins and bouzoukis have double strings, tuned in unison.

It is actually almost impossible for two people to sing exactly in tune, but slight errors can make the sound fuller and more interesting, especially in a large group of singers or instruments. This "CHORUS" effect is often imitated by electronic effects, and an electric guitar or keyboard can be also plugged into a chorus pedal to get the effect of two or more instruments playing in unison.

Any musical sound that can be converted into an electrical signal and fed along a wire can be altered in many ways, by effects pedals, octave change, graphic equalizers, echo, chorus, reverberation, distortion, etc..

OCTAVES

The problem with singing in unison is that not everyone can reach the same notes, so one way around this problem is to sing in OCTAVES: In other words, the two people sing the same note NAMES, but one may be in a higher or lower octave. Many men's voices are an octave lower than many women's, so singing in octaves is very useful.

For example, if one person sings an A, the other sings a higher or lower A.

The same can apply when two different instruments play the same tune together.

Some instruments (including accordions, harpsichords, organs and electronic keyboards) can be made to produce built-in octave playing by producing two notes on each key, one an octave higher than the other. 12-string guitars and bouzoukis have some of their pairs of strings tuned an octave apart.

Octave pedals are made to add this effect to guitars, microphones and other electric instruments, but more often, these add an octave lower, and some don't work if more than one note is played at a time. Some are also out of tune!

DRONE

Another idea for using two notes is a drone: Usually, this is the keynote, held or repeated all through the tune.

Try playing a simple tune from Chapter 1 on a keyboard, with a single note “1” held continuously in the left hand, or played repeatedly. On a guitar, this can be a lot more difficult, and the drone will usually need to be an open string.

In an instrument such as organ or bagpipes, which can hold a long note, the drone may be continuous, or in instruments that only produce short notes (such as guitar, sitar or piano) the drone may be played repeatedly, beating time or providing a note to go in time with the melody.

Bagpipes and Aeolian Pipes use a drone, and so does a very old instrument called the Hurdy-Gurdy, which is a stringed instrument, bowed by turning a handle on the end.

The bagpipes often use the 5th note of the scale as a drone.

Drones can have more than one note, often octaves, sometimes 5ths.

The Indian instrument called a Sitar has low-pitched drone strings, and some banjos have a shorter, high G string which is played, but not fingered with the left hand.

It is also possible to buy a device called a banjo capo which alters the drone note.

Bouzoukis are sometimes tuned with drone strings.

SEMITONES

Pop songs are often sung with a harmony note above the melody, but purely for the purpose of working out harmonies that will follow a melody up and down, it is usually best to think of the tune as the "Top Line", and add a lower note. How could you decide which note to use each time?

What would happen if you played a tune on a keyboard, and you wanted to play another note with it? Would a note a semitone lower work? Try it with a simple tune. It sounds so horrible that it is really quite funny, but apart from comic effects, it is not much use for good music!

A slightly different effect involves playing both notes, then immediately releasing the lower semitone, leaving the proper melody note sounding.

Just for fun, try playing a short tune in one hand, and playing exactly the same a semitone lower in the other hand, in a different octave, so if you play F in one hand, play E in the other hand. This is very difficult, but worth practising because people find it so funny. Try “Pop goes the weasel”.

WHOLETONES

Now try playing a tune, and adding a note a wholetone (2 semitones) below it.

Is it better or worse than semitones?

That depends on the tune, and how it is played, but it is not a very nice effect!

THIRDS

As we have seen in Chapter 1, there are two types of 3rd: a Major 3rd is 4 semitones, and a Minor 3rd is 3 semitones.

Try playing a tune with each of these as a harmony below the melody.

Pick a simple tune, and play each note with another note, 3 semitones lower.

Now play it again, with the harmony note 4 semitones lower.

Each type of third will sound alright sometimes, but neither will sound right all the time.

DIATONIC HARMONY

The real answer here is to check every note and decide whether it sounds better with a major or minor third below it.

This sounds complicated, but it is easier than it may seem, because the scales you should already have learned will usually tell you which 3rd to use, so all you have to do is choose harmony notes from whichever scale you are using for the tune.

If the tune is in C, using only white notes, then that will be a good rule to apply to the harmony - a third below the melody, but staying on the same set of notes.

The scale decides for you about which type of 3rd is appropriate for each note.

Practise playing any simple tune in the key of C, adding a 3rd below it as a harmony, in fact go through all the tunes in Chapter 1 in this way.

As an exercise, see if you can use your fingers in pairs:

Place each finger above a note of the scale, then play alternate fingers together…

Thumb and middle finger.

Index and ring finger.

Middle and little finger.

Index and ring finger.

Thumb and middle finger.

Then, try other keys, with sharps or flats.

Don't worry if it doesn't always sound perfect, it is an exercise, a step towards learning harmony.

Some people never progress beyond harmony in 3rds, it is very widely used in pop songs, and often shows a lack of imagination if there is no variation.

The worst thing about it is the finishing note of the tune, which rarely sounds comfortable or complete with a 3rd below it.

THE HORN FIFTH

Harmonising below the melody in 3rds has one very major drawback, because a harmony a 3rd below the 1st or keynote is not normally an acceptable ending. It’s not so bad if the tune starts starts on the keynote, and you can always leave the harmony note off until the melody moves, but most melodies end on the keynote, and this is more of a problem. There is a long-established way of dealing with it, with many examples throughout the history of all kinds of music, and that is to end with a 6th below the melody, so try a few simple tunes in simple keys, finding the 6th interval below, and doing it that way.

The question is, when the melody goes down the scale 3 2 1, how does one change from playing harmony a 3rd below the 3rd, to opening that out to a much wider interval of a 6th below the keynote? The obvious answer would be to choose a harmony note for the 2nd which is at an interval somewhere between the sizes of those two intervals: although a 4th seems possible, a 5th works so well that it has become the standard answer to the puzzle.

This effect is found in many classical pieces, often played by a pair of French horns, and early horns only had a limited number of notes to choose from, so the "Horn Fifth" was born. There are many examples of this type of harmony (which uses a scale of 4 notes plus the octaves) ranging from Beethoven and Dvorak right through to modern popular tunes, as well as hunting horns. Here are the notes, with the melody above the harmony...

E D C with

C G E

In interval numbers,

3 with a 3rd below it.

2 with a 5th below it. - The Horn Fifth!

1 with a 6th below it.

Now play it with 2 hands, on the notes 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 . 1 . 1

Try this on all of the simple 3-note tunes from Chapter 1, and practise getting your fingers around these rather uneven spacings. The whole idea of this type of harmony is to use only four notes of the scale, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th, and their octaves. Practise going up and down this scale, using pairs of notes like these. If you like, use the black notes, but leaving out Eb.

HARMONY IN SIXTHS

Once you are completely comfortable and practised playing in 3rds, try the same type of idea, but a wider spread of notes, using 6ths all through each tune instead of 3rds, still below the melody note, and only using the notes of the scale.

Practise 6ths with all the tunes in Chapter 1, in the key of C.

Now practise them in other keys.

One of the problems you will have to work through is fingering, because whereas you can probably manage to use pairs of fingers to play in 3rds, this is much more difficult with 6ths, try playing a 6th with your thumb and ring finger, then another with your index finger and little finger.

Go backwards and forwards between these two positions.

You may often have to settle for moving your whole hand about, so that the same pair of fingers plays all the 6ths.

USING THIRDS OR SIXTHS

Once you have practised 6ths, and feel comfortable with them, work on tunes, playing about halfway through in 3rds, then finish off by harmonising in 6ths instead. Go through as many tunes as you can, and try to decide when is the best moment to change to 6ths.

MIXING THIRDS AND SIXTHS

Then, try just mixing 3rds and 6ths in a more varied way.

Experiment with changing between 3rds and 6ths as often as you can, but always finishing with 6ths. Aim to end on a 6th.

THREE-PART HARMONY

Once you are comfortable with playing harmony in 3rds or 6ths, you can experiment with the idea of using a 3rd AND a 6th below the melody. It will not work with every part of every tune, but it is a useful tool. Try this…

CATCH A FALLING STAR

3 3 3 3 3 . 4 .

5 5 5 5 5 . 6 .

5 5 5 5 5 . 4 . 3

Now try the tune in the key of C: move a note up and down the white notes, just using your little finger, and add a 4th below it, and a 3rd below that. Then try, a bunch of 4 notes, the melody, the 3rd below it, the note below that, and a 3rd below that.

If you know the first part of the melody for William Walton’s “Crown Imperial” (1937) you can try this: Walton wrote it in the key of C, and for the first section, moved his right hand around in a simple, fixed shape on the white notes, as described above.

Holding a low C bass, add a 4th below the melody, and a 3rd below that.

The intervals are simple, but timing is difficult to show with numbers and dots…

1.112…….1.2.3.2.3.5….4.5..4543

Perhaps a more familiar example is Ivor Novello’s “We’ll gather lilacs”, and in the verse (the part some people don’t play!) the bass stays on the keynote, while the root notes of the chords follow exactly the melody notes. Try it in C, and play

1.23452

but with a chord which has a 4^th and a 6^th below the melody, but still remaining on white notes.

PARALLEL HARMONY

The idea of parallel harmony (chromatic harmony) is to follow the melody up and down, rather like the item on the previous page, except that this time, the notes are at a fixed number of semitones below it, instead of following the scale.

One of the most common uses is with a 3rd and a 6th, but this time, always keeping the notes the same number of semitones apart.

Try this with a melody around the 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th notes of the major scale.

As the melody moves, the harmony notes must always move exactly the same number of semitones.

It can start by choosing a 3rd and 6th from the scale, then moving away from the safety of the scale, then returning to it.

3.4.5.6.5.4.3

As an example, play “Catch a falling star” again, but in this different harmony…

3 3 3 3 3 . 4 .

5 5 5 5 5 . 6 .

5 5 5 5 5 . 4 . 3

For orchestral music, parallel harmony is a relatively modern concept, more associated with the 1900s than the 1800s.

For jazz, such concepts seem to have been unknown until the fifties.

Another use is with 4ths or 5ths, sometimes more than two of them.

Play along the blues scale, but with a 4th below it, and another 4th below that.

It is surprisingly effective with rock guitar sounds, or as a keyboard backing to them, using a rhythmic pedal note.

These parallel harmonies usually only work for certain very short phrases, with a simple bass, rather than a chord backing.

MULTIPLE HARMONIES

When it comes to larger groups of voices, such as choirs, the top line is sung by the soprano, often on the main melody, with an alto voice below it, but this is not the end of the story, so it is not so vital that these two voices are in 3rds or 6ths, and it is quite common to hear 5ths and especially 4ths between them, because we still have the tenor and bass to fill in any missing notes, and make the harmony complete.

Even 3 voices make it much easier for each harmony line to work well, without each part having to be a complete harmony for the melody.

Because the soprano most often ends on the keynote, the alto is often a 4th lower, to fit the chord, so another voice is essential to finish off that chord. (An alternative is to spread the chord by using a 6th, and another below it.)

However, if you find yourself writing duo parts such as two voices, it is much more important to realise that the harmony must sound as complete as possible between just two notes, even without accompaniment.

This limits you almost exclusively to 3rds and 6ths, and you must move on hastily from any brief, tense moments of 4ths and 5ths, or weak moments of unison and octave, back to the safety of a 3rd or 6th.

All these arguments apply equally to instruments playing in harmony.

Another important thing to remember is that if there are a number of singers, the last thing you want to do is have them all singing the same words at the same moments all the way through a song.

Don’t just think about harmonising directly with the melody, make more interesting and varied parts where different voices or groups of voices are interwoven.

At the very least, have a “backing group” that is separate from the main song parts.

One of my pet hates is people doing backing vocal parts such as echoing lines, but with only one voice and no harmony, it sounds so amateurish.

CREATING COUNTER-MELODIES

Once you have established which SCALE or set of notes is being used for a melody, there is a simple little trick which should enable you to compose two counter-melodies to go with the original, using the same timing but different notes.

In this way, a simple tune can be built up into a much bigger arrangement for several instruments.

Let's suppose, for easy writing, that the scale is C major, which consists entirely of white notes, and the melody notes are ABCDECDBC:

Write them down, spaced out slightly, and with room for a blank line above and below:

Now write above each letter the note which is a THIRD above it...

C D E F G E F D E

A B C D E C D B C

In a similar way, write below each note the name of the note which is a 3rd below it.

C D E F G E F D E

A B C D E C D B C

F G A B C A B G A

Remember, the melody is the MIDDLE line, so your task is to find a sequence of notes from the other two lines that will sound acceptable as a tune in its own right. There are two ways you might do this.

The fiddly way is to keep re-writing the list, swapping notes from the top and bottom rows, so that the top row forms the counter-melody. The easier way is to draw lines joining the notes, so that you can follow the path of the counter-melody.

It isn't necessary to follow the melody up or down at all, in fact it is far better to go in the opposite direction sometimes, or stay still on the same note when the melody moves, or move if the melody stays still.

Now practise playing the melody with the right hand, and the counter-melody with the left hand, or swap them around.

If you have an extra hand available, or some means of recording parts, the next job is to line up all the left-over notes, and see if you can make them sound like a reasonable second counter-melody when played on their own, with no big or uncomfortable jumps.

If there are any notes that don't work well, try swapping again with the notes from the first counter-melody, but don't alter the original tune.

PLAYING A ROUND

WRITING A ROUND

INTERVAL NUMBERS

If you have ever watched the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", you may remember the scene where music is being used to communicate with the alien spacecraft. The keyboard player responds to commands about how to change the note up or down, and these instructions are in NUMBERS. Musicians use a system of numbering the notes of a scale, which can be applied in any key, so instead of the notes of a scale being described with names like...

DO RE MI, or longer names like

TONIC SUPERTONIC MEDIANT,

the notes are simply called 1 2 3.

These numbers are known as INTERVAL NUMBERS, and you should try to get used to this idea, because it has many useful applications. For example, I recently heard a song on television, and wanted to write down how the middle part went. Interval numbers meant that just typing…

5342534253425

was enough to remind me, so that I could learn it. If you have trouble remembering how a tune starts, then jotting down a few numbers can be a tremendous help. As you will see later, the names of chords often rely on the use of these same numbers, which can also be used to explain some chord changes, for example, in a television interview, songwriter Neil Sedaka described one of his songs as a…

1 6 2 5

Some simple teaching systems use numbers which are not the same, and so the music written for a particular instrument may be in a system which only works for that instrument. Examples include toy wind instruments, toy pianos, stylophones, miniature electronic pianos, and even some larger keyboard instruments. Learning those systems will not help you in any way with other music, but interval numbers can be applied to playing any instrument, in any key. Like any teaching method, you must start with simple things, and the more you practice them and get them right, the quicker you will progress. Start on a keyboard instrument, such as piano, learn the layout of the notes, and then you can begin to adapt to other instruments when you get the hang of it.

People often think it will be difficult to learn the names of all the notes on a piano, but it is really a matter of alternating between these two very simple patterns. The patterns only go wrong when they run off the ends of the keyboard. Don’t write the names on the keys, or stick labels on them, or you will never learn them. We start by playing one note at a time.

THREE-NOTE TUNES

To find the three notes on a keyboard for the following tunes, you need to look at the “tails” – the furthest end of each key, where the widths are all about the same. Start by playing any note, black or white, miss a note, play the next note, miss a note, and play another. Now, with the tune written in numbers instead of note names, you can learn to play it in any key – starting from any note. In these examples, dots represent a beat on which there is no new note.

AU CLAIRE DE LA LUNE

1 1 1 2 3 . 2 .

1 3 2 2 1 . . .

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

3 2 1 2 3 3 3 .

2 2 2 . 3 3 3 .

3 2 1 2 3 3 3 .

2 2 3 2 1 . . .

JESAMINE

3 . 1 . 1 . . 2

3 . 1 . 1 . 1 2

3 . 1 . 1 . . 2

1 . . . . . . .

JACK BE NIMBLE

1 . 2 3 . 3

1 . 2 3 . .

1 . 2 3 2 1

2 . 2 1 . .

PLAYING IN OTHER KEYS

When we talk about "playing in the key of C" or "playing in C" it means using group of notes in which note number 1 is C. Whatever note is number 1, that is the KEY NOTE.

Practise all the 3-note tunes from any key note:

Playing the tune is the easy bit, what you have to think about is finding the three notes that you need to make the tune sound right.

THE TETRACHORD

When it comes 4-note tunes, finding the 4th note is not really difficult, but the catch is that it is the very next note after the 3rd, so there is no note missed out between the 3rd and 4th. In C, for example, the first 3 notes are C, D, and E: The 4th note is F, and there is no black note between E and F. The same applies if you start on G, there is no black note between B & C, but what about in F?

These 4 notes together are known as a TETRACHORD and it is very important to learn them thoroughly before moving on to the next stage - SCALES.

Try to work out all 12 of the tetrachords in the following way:

Start from G, and find the 4 notes:

Play one, miss one, play one, miss one, play one, and play the next.

You should end up on C, so the next thing to do is find the 4 notes you would use if you start on C. Play the tetrachord.

You should end up on F, so the next thing to do is find the 4 notes you would use if you start on F.

Keep on going like this, starting each new tetrachord on the 4th note of the previous one, until you get back to G.

THE CIRCLE

Starting on any note, find the 4th note of its tetrachord. Then start from that note, and find the 4th note of its tetrachord.

Continuing in this way, you will eventually go around all twelve of the starting notes, in a kind of circle, which returns to the original starting note.

This is known as

THE CIRCLE OF FOURTHS, or...

THE CYCLE OF FIFTHS or

THE CHORD CLOCK

because of its resemblance to a clock face, and because of its many important uses in writing chord sequences, which we will look at in Chapter 3.

Because it has so many uses, I will refer to it simply as...

"THE CIRCLE".

A FOUR-NOTE TUNE

By now, you should have found the 12 sets of 4 notes which would let you start on any note and play a tetrachord, so it would be nice to use these to play some 4-note tunes. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any popular tunes which just use the 4 notes of a tetrachord, so I made this one up! Use this tune as an exercise for your brain, and try to play it starting from any note. Get someone to test you by picking different starting notes for you, or go around the circle.

FOURTH WRITE

1 2 3 4 3 2

3 2 1 2 . .

4 3 2 3 2 1

2 3 2 1 . .

JOINING 2 TETRACHORDS

Once you have mastered all of the tetrachords, you can soon learn how to do something that many experienced musicians cannot do - finding all the notes of a Major Scale in any key!

A Major Scale consists of two tetrachords, with 2 notes missed between them, so the second tetrachord doesn’t start on the same note, or the one above, but the next.

For example, in C, the first tetrachord would be...

C D E F

Missing the note above that, (F#) move on to the next note to start the new tetrachord...

G A B C

Those 2 tetrachords together form the 8 notes you need to play a C Major Scale.

When you have practiced this, go around the circle, starting each new scale at the fourth note of the previous set, and find all the major scales, in F, Bb, Eb, etc.

As you do each one, think about the best and most comfortable fingering with which to play the notes of that scale.

Usually, the thumb will only be useful for naturals ( white notes).

Practise going through the 8 notes of a scale, and get used to the numbers as you play them.

Three positions for interval numbers on a guitar…

Notice that each position allows you to play all 8 notes of a scale with one finger per fret, so you do not need to move your whole hand. The “zero” note and 9th will also be useful later.

TWELVE MAJOR SCALES

Have a look at each scale in turn, and try to write a list that summarises which notes it contains, not by listing every single note, but by finding a shorter description:

C scale is made up only of white notes.

F scale

Bb scale

Eb scale

Ab scale

Db scale

F# scale has all the black notes plus B & F.

B scale

E scale

A scale

D scale

G scale uses F# instead of F

KEY SIGNATURES

If there is just one flat sign, placed against the note B, it means that all Bs should be flattened to Bb, as they are in the key of F.

On this view of the circle, I have marked the number of flats or sharps for each key or scale. For example, 2 flats indicates that the tune is in the key of B flat (Bb).

ACCIDENTALS

Playing by interval numbers, as we are doing here, is tremendously useful to you in learning how music is put together, but it does not work out very well with notes between the scales, although there are lots of tunes that can be played purely on a major scale. If you need to learn fuller music notation, you will find it very much easier to understand if you have already learned intervals.

DIATONIC TUNES

What follows is a chronological list of some old diatonic tunes: There are many more, and although it is a very old idea, it continues to produce well-loved modern melodies. Predictably, many of the earlier ones are hymns or carols, but some of these were borrowed from existing popular or traditional melodies of the period.

800 Slane (Traditional Irish)

1551 All people that on earth do dwell

1600 Ding dong merrily on high

1710 Holly and the ivy

1740 O come all ye faithful

1743 God save the king

1749 Loch Lomond

1760 My lodging is in the cold cold ground

1768 Ach du lieber Augustin

1770 The Keel row

1776 Rock of ages

1780 Deck the halls

1784 March of the Men of Harlech

1790 Auld lang syne

1806 The Star

1818 Silent night

1819 Blest are the pure in heart

1820 Shenandoah

1826 Holy holy holy

1833 I saw three ships

1835 Santa Lucia

1840 D'ye ken John Peel

1840 Rakes of mallow

1840 Wearing of the green

1843 Marble Halls

1846 O Susanna

1849 Clementine

1851 Old folks at home

1853 Once in royal David's city

1855 Home sweet home

1856 Ash grove

1856 Cockles & mussels

1856 Land of my fathers

1856 What can the matter be

1857 One horse open sleigh

1857 We three kings of orient are

1859 Comin' through the Rye (polka)

1859 Poor black Joe

1861 Jimmy crack corn

1861 Skip to my Lou

1862 Camptown races

1862 I wish I was in Dixie

1862 My bonnie is over the ocean

1862 Turkey in the straw

1863 Battle Hymn of the Republic

1865 D' ye ken John Peel

1865 Drink to me only with thine eyes

1865 Early one morning

1865 Floral dance

1865 Oh! No John No!

1865 Scotland the brave

1865 Wearing of the green

1868 O little town of Bethlehem

1869 Little brown jug

1870 What a friend we have in Jesus

1874 I vow to thee my country

1874 In the bleak midwinter

1875 Away in a manger

1876 Grandfather's clock

1877 The king of love my shepherd is

1884 Love's old sweet song (just a song at twilight)

1887 Dear lord and father of mankind

1888 Skye Boat Song

1889 Ask a policeman

1890 What shall we do with the drunken sailor

1893 Daisy Bell

1893 Dvorak’s Largo

1895 She was one of the early birds

1897 Sons of the sea (bobbing)

1899 O Tannenbaum (O Christmas tree)

1899 Whistling Rufus

1900 Goodbye Dolly Gray

Now that you have joined two tetrachords together, you can play tunes with up to 8 notes, but let's start with just 5. The number before the title tells you how many notes of the scale the tune will use. With up to 5 notes, you may be able to place your hand on the keyboard in such a way that every note is covered by a particular finger or thumb.

5: HALFWAY UP THE STAIRS

5 1 2 3 4 . 3 1

2 . 2 3 1 . . 5

5 1 2 3 5 4 4 3

2 . 3 . 1 . . 5

5 . 4 3 3 2 . 3

4 . 3 2 1 . . 2

3 . 1 2 3 . 1 2

3 . 2 . 1 . . .

5: CHRISTMAS IS A TIME TO REMEMBER

By Bill Kibby

1 . 3 . 5 . 2 4 . 3 . 2 1 . 2 .

1 . 3 . 5 . 2 4 . 3 . 1 2 . . .

1 . 3 . 5 . 2 4 . 3 . 2 1 . 2 .

4 . 3 2 1 . 2 . 3 . . . . . . .

For example, if you start on C, you will finish on E, then change up to start the tune again, but this time, note number 1 is D.

Change key like this every time you play, and you should go through 6 different keys, ending up in the original key, but an octave higher.

Next, play the whole thing again, but this time starting in one of the keys you have not used yet, to go through the other 6 keys!

6: THE STAR

The poem commonly known as “Twinkle twinkle little star” was written by Jane Taylor in 1806, and was called “The Star”, although the popular tune was added later. The number 6 above means that you will have to use the notes 1-6 for this tune, so it will immediately become obvious that with only five digits on one hand, you will need to move about a bit.

1 1 5 5 6 6 5 .

4 4 3 3 2 2 1 .

5 5 4 4 3 3 2 .

1 1 5 5 6 6 5 .

4 4 3 3 2 2 1 .

HOW IMPORTANT IS FINGERING?

People often say that a note will sound just the same whichever finger it is played with, so what is the point of learning special fingering?

A lot of it is common sense: If you think about it, it is much easier to reach your fingers over your thumb than it is to move your thumb over your fingers.

Also, where sharps or flats are involved, the thumb is often more comfortable staying on the naturals (white notes).

When you are learning a tune, think about this, and try to plan out the movements so that you can see them in your mind.

Practise them in your mind, even when the instrument isn't there.

Some musicians spend hours planning how best to move their fingers in order to play the music the best way they can.

4 6 3 4 2 3 1 0

TRANSFERRED FINGERING

The same sort of idea works if a note has to be repeated - don't just play it with the same finger, think ahead, think about how a change of fingering might help you to reach the next few notes.

Moving from a sharp, up or down to a natural can often be done by just sliding the same finger, so practise doing this smoothly.

Later, you may be able to use the same technique for whole groups of notes, or longer runs and slurs.

Try working out a way of playing all the notes from C up to G, using only the 5 digits of one hand, and sliding off the flats.

Many of the popular Christmas Carols happen to go up to the 6th note of the scale.

6. Blowin’ in the wind

5 . 5 5 6 . 6 6 5 . 3 2 1 . . 5

5 . 5 5 6 . 5 4 5 . . . . . . .

5 . 5 5 6 . 6 6 5 . 3 2 1 . . 5

5 . 5 5 4 . 3 3 2 . . . . . . 5

The third part is similar to the first, but ends differently.

5 .5 5 6 . 6 6 5 . 3 2 1 . . 5

5 . 5 5 6 . 5 4 5 . . . . . . 3

4 . 4 3 2 . . 2 3 3 3 2 1 . . 1

4 . 4 3 2 2 1 0 1 . . . . . . .

6: Michael Row The Boat Ashore

1 . 3 .

5 . . 5 5 . 6 .

5 . . . 3 . 5 .

6 . . . . . . .

5 . . . 3 . 5 .

5 . . 5 4 . 3 .

2 . . . 1 . 2 .

3 . . . 2 . . .

1 . . . .

Playing By Dice

Now that you have played up to the 6th note in a scale, try using several dice to make up tunes. Throw the dice and see if you can play the numbers as a tune. Write down any sets of numbers that sound good, and try them in all the different keys.

8: Pop Goes The Weasel

This tune uses all 8 notes of the major scale. Try it in every key.

1 . 3 2 . 4 3 5 3 1 . .

1 . 3 2 . 4 3 . . 1 . .

1 . 3 2 . 4 3 . 5 1 . .

6 . . 2 . 4 3 . . 1 . .

8 . 7 6 . 8 7 . 6 5 . .

8 . 7 6 7 8 7 . . 5 . .

4 . 3 4 . 5 6 . 7 8 . .

6 . . 2 . 4 3 . . 1 . .

8: Three Blind Mice

3 . . 2 . . 1 . . . . .

5 . . 4 . 4 3 . . . . .

5 . . 4 . 4 3 . . . . 5

8 . 8 7 6 7 8 . 5 5 . 5

8 8 8 7 6 7 8 . 5 5 5 5

8 . 8 7 6 7 8 5 5 5 . 4

3 . . 2 . . 1 . . . . .

8: Chariots of fire

1 4 . 5 6 5 . . . 3 . . . . . .

1 4 . 5 6 5 . . . . . . . . . .

1 4 . 5 6 5 . . . 3 . . . . . .

3 4 . 3 1 1 . . . . . . . . .

(Twice)

8 . 7 . 6 5 7 . . 5 6 . . 4 5 .

8 . 7 . 6 5 7 . . . . . . . . .

8 . 7 . 6 5 7 . . 5 6 . . 4 5 .

. 3 4 . 3 1 1 . . . . . . . .

8: Oh! Susanna

1 2 3 . 5 . 5 . 6 . 5 . 3 . 1 .

1 2 3 . 3 . 2 . 1 . 2 . . . . .

1 2 3 . 5 . 5 . 6 . 5 . 3 . 1 .

1 2 3 . 3 . 2 . 2 . 1 . . . . . . .

4 . . . 4 . . . 6 . 6 . . . 6 .

5 . 5 . 3 . 1 . 2 . . . . .

1 2 3 . 5 . 5 . 6 . 5 . 3 . 1 .

1 2 3 . 3 . 2 . 2 . 1 . . . .

8: Wooden heart

This seems a simple little tune, but it is quite complicated to write down.

1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

4 . 4 3 2 . 5 . 3

. . . . . 1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

4 . 4 3 2 . 3 .

1 . . . . . . 1 3

2 . . 3 4 . 2 .

3 . 4 . 5 . 5 5

6 . 6 . 8 . 7 6

5 . . . . . 1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

4 . 4 5 6 . 7 .

8 . . . . . . .

1 2

3 . 3 5 4 . 4 6

5 6 5 4 3 . . .

5 6 5 4 3 . 3 5

then play

4 . 4 3 2 . 5 . 3

play first block then 4 . 4 3 2 . 3 .

1 . . . . . . 1 3

2 . . 3 4 . 2 .

3 . 4 . 5 . 5 5

6 . 6 . 8 . 7 6

5 . . . . . 1 2

Play first block then 4 . 4 5 6 . 7 . 8 . . . . . . .

THE NINTH NOTE

It is often useful, with interval numbers, to use the 9th note of the scale. This is an octave above the 2nd, and so it has the same note name as the 2nd. For example, in the key of C, the 2nd note is D, and the 9th is the next D up.

The "Zero" Note

Now that you know the notes 1 to 9, wouldn't it be handy to have a "zero" note, so you could play ANY number as a tune? Strangely enough, there are some tunes that go just one step below the keynote, a semitone lower in fact. If you think of this note as number 0, you can use any kind of long number as an exercise. Try using telephone numbers, house numbers, times or dates as notes. Write down any groups of numbers that sound good, then see if you can make a longer tune by repeating them, or joining them together.

8: To Be A Pilgrim

This well-known hymn tune uses the "zero" note: The first section is played twice.

1 . . 2 3 . 1 .

3 4 5 . 6 . . .

5 . . . 5 . 1 .

0 . 1 . . . . .

(Twice)

5 . . . 8 . 6 .

7 . 8 7 6 . . .

. . 5 . 3 2 1 .

3 . 4 . 5 . . .

. . 8 . 5 . . 5

6 5 4 3 2 . 6 .

5 . 1 . 0 . 1 .

10: Dvorak's Largo

3 . . 5 5 . . . 3 . . 2 1 . . .

2 . . 3 5 . . 3 2 . . . . . . .

3 . . 5 5 . . . 3 . . 2 1 . . .

2 . 3 . 2 . . 1 1 . . . . . . .

6 . . 8 8 . . . 7 . 5 . 6 . . .

6 . 8 . 7 . 5 . 6 . . . . . . .

6 . . 8 8 . . . 7 . 5 . 6 . . .

6 . 8 . 7 . 5 . 6 . . . . . . .

3 . . 5 5 . . . 3 . . 2 1 . . .

2 . . 3 5 . . 3 2 . . . . . . .

3 . . 5 5 . . . 8 . . 9 (10) . . .

9 . . 8 9 . 6 . 8 . . . . . . .

then play the same line an octave lower

9 . . 8 9 . 6 . 8 . . . . . . .

10. I vow to thee

3 5 6 . . 8 7 5 8 9 8 .

7 . 6 7 6 . 5 . 3 . . .

3 5 6 . . 8 7 5 8 9 (10 . 10 .)

(10) 9 8 . 9 . 8 . . .

5 3 2 . 2 . 1 3 2 . 2 .

5 3 2 . 2 . 3 5 6 . . . 6 7

8 . 7 . 6 . 5 . 8 . 3 .

2 . . 1 2 3 5 . . .

11: Tipperary

3 4 5 . 5 . . 5 6 7 8 . (10) . . .

(10) 9 8 . 6 . . . 8 . 5 . . . . .

3 4 5 . 5 . . 5 6 7 8 . (10) . . .

7 8 9 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . . . . . . .

5 . 5 . . . 6 7 8 . (10) . . . . .

(11) . (11) . 8 . 9 . (10) . . . . .

8 9 (10) . (10) . (10) 8 9 8 6 . . .

5 . 8 . (10) 8 . . . 9 . 8 . . .

11: Silent Night

5 . . 6 5 . 3 . . . . .

9 . . . 9 . 7 . . . . .

8 . . . 8 . 5 . . . . .

6 . . . 6 . 8 . . 7 6 .

5 . . 6 5 . 3 . . . . .

6 . . . 6 . 8 . . 7 6 .

5 . . 6 5 . 3 . . . . .

9 . . . 9 . (11) . . 9 7 .

8 . . . . . (10) . . . . .

8 . 5 . 3 . 5 . . 4 2 .

1 . . . . . . . . . . .

Remember that the 10th and 11th notes in brackets are not single numbers like 1 0 or 1 1.

The Lower Fifth

Quite a few tunes could be written quite easily in interval numbers, if only they could go down an octave below the fifth sometimes. This often happens in Christmas carols.

For example, a tune in C, with C as the number 1 note, will sometimes need to go down to a G, but no obvious numbers are available.

One solution is to underline the note 5, to show that it is to be played an octave lower.

Another way to write it is by starting at note 8 instead of note 1, and using higher numbers, so that you can go down to 5, 6, etc..

10: Danny Boy

This song uses the lower 6th, an octave below the 6th, underlined here.

0 1 2 3 . . 2 3 6 5 3 2 1 6 . .

1 3 4 5 . . 6 5 3 1 3 2 . . . .

0 1 2 3 . . 2 3 6 5 3 2 1 6 . .

0 1 2 3 . . 4 3 2 1 2 1 . . . .

5 6 7 8 . . 7 7 6 5 6 5 3 1 . .

5 6 7 8 . . 7 7 6 5 3 2 . . . .

5 5 5 (10) . . 9 9 8 6 8 5 3 1 . .

0 1 2 3 6 5 3 2 1 6 0 1 . . . .

In the line before last, there is a TEN!

6: Groovy Kind Of Love

(Written with a lower 6th note)

1 2 3 4 5 . . .

4 3 2 1 0 . . 0

1 0 6 0 1 . . .

2 1 0 1 2 . . .

2 3 4 5 6 . . .

5 4 3 2 5 . 5 .

4 3 2 3 5 . 5 .

4 . 3 . 2 . . .

1 2 3 4 5 . . .

4 3 2 1 0 . 0 0

1 0 6 0 1 . . .

. . . . . 1 1 1

1 0 6 0 1 . . .

KEY DETERMINED BY VOCAL RANGE

Different keys are not usually a major problem to me, (although I am not so keen on B, F#, Db or Ab) but for my own vocals, I follow the typical range where Eb is about as high as I want to go for the top note, in the interests of health and safety. Last year, I played and sang for an organ club, and a group of non-musicians in the audience were discussing the fact that I played in what they described as "their key", so they asked me what key it was. Sadly, life is not that simple, and it is necessary to examine each song in turn, and find out its range of notes. There used to be a very simple convention among publishers of song sheets, that the melody should go no higher than an Eb. I have found this to be such a good rule, not only for my own singing, and for the majority of men and women I have accompanied over the past half-century, but especially for situations where the audience wants to sing along. Now, I aim to apply it to everything I play, and when I accompany hymns or Christmas carols, audiences feel obliged to comment that they are surprised to find that they can sing in the keys I play in. This Christmas, as usual, I attended several carol services where everything was pitched predictably high to suit the sopranos, instead of giving the altos the melody, with the result that large numbers of people were either straining to reach the notes, or singing in their boots, or just shaking their heads and giving up. Why is this acceptable when the solution is so simple? People go to carol concerts to sing!

If you are going to sing a song, it is very important to think about your choice of key before you start. Far too many musicians seem to ignore the needs of the singer, and put songs into keys that are unsuitable for the individual voice.

In a similar way, there are far too many singing guitarists who play the song in the original key, or an easy guitar key, even though they cannot sing at their best in that key. Practising quietly in your front room is very different to projecting your voice for an audience, and many people find that their voices need to go up 3 or 4 semitones in order to project the voice for a public performance. Guitarists can easily solve this by buying a capo, but it is not so easy on a piano.

Traditionally, popular music is printed in keys which suit average male voices, and the main factor is the highest note. It turns out that these are also a good key for many female voices, because they sing about an octave higher.

Quite simply, the convention has for many years been to adjust the key so that the highest note in the tune is no higher than Eb. I have also found it quite a good general rule that many voices do not like to go below A, so cross-check whether the song can be played in a key where it fulfils both of these rules. Think about this with each tune you play, and practise choosing a key on this basis.

For example, Parry’s “Jerusalem” (And did those feet) was written in D, but most amateur singers struggle to reach the top E, so it could be taken down a semitone to Db, but a more popular choice would be to go down another semitone to C.

Of course, there are other factors, like what vowel sounds you need to make, or where the note comes in the song. “Blue Moon”, for example, begins almost at the top of its range, and many singers panic at having to go straight in at such a high note. “September in the rain” only gives you a couple of notes to lead up to its highest. Many other songs surprise you right near the end!

Go through the whole tune, and find the highest note, then work out how much higher or lower you need to start in order to make that note Eb. Having done this, if you find yourself in a key that you really hate, go down a semitone.

Of course, like any rule, this can go wrong, and the perfect example was during the early years of The Beatles, whose songs were written down for them by George Martin. He followed tradition, and because Paul McCartney sang a 4th higher than most men, George changed the keys to suit more usual voices, so we have situations like “She loves you” being written down in the key of Eb: It is impossible to play the important guitar parts for this song in Eb, yet very difficult for most people to sing it well in the original key, G.

Of course, it is possible to divide a song into sections and place each one in a different key, but most people opt for setting the whole song in one key at a time. “I’ll stand by you” is an unusual case where after the first verse, the song changes down a tone. This has the effect of keeping the voice near the top of its range for each section.

In this chapter, I usually start the heading for each tune with the interval number of the highest note of the scale which is required for the tune.

The following list suggests the highest key you should try according to that note.

The notes on the right are an octave higher than those on the left, so they use the same keys.

3rd B 10th

4th Bb 11th

5th Ab 12th

6th F# 13th Applies to a lot of songs and Christmas Carols.

7th F 14th

8th Eb 15th

9th Db 16th

As before, if you find these keys too difficult, try going down a semitone, so if, for example, the song goes up to the 6th, F# is the highest key you are likely to use, but you may prefer to play it in F.

The smaller the range of the song, the more you can risk going down in key.

Many tunes also go down to an octave below the 5th, and this means that D is usually the lowest key that will suit most people.

Triads covered in this chapter include Major, Minor, Augmented, Minor Augmented, Diminished, and Suspended Fourth.

CHORD 'BLIGE ME!

Most chord books do not deal in any depth with the subject of how chords are designed, or how they can be used, they simply show which notes to play.

Before you work on advanced chord sequences, you need to understand the simple chords, how they are constructed, how they are used, how they change, how they relate to melody and harmony, and what they are called.

Only then can you expect to move on, to use better and more interesting chords.

Remember, when you are learning chords, you will get used to hearing them on their own, but to people who don't understand music, strumming chords is meaningless without a tune, so don't be surprised if people don't really want to listen to chords on their own. The same applies to playing bass on its own, perhaps even more so.

The Kibby Keyboard Shorthand that I introduced to you in Chapter 1 is very useful for jotting down keyboard ideas for yourself, as long as you remember that most other people will not understand it yet, unless it has become internationally renowned overnight!

Numbers have many uses in music, and even using the interval numbers you have learned already, we could talk about “the 3rd note of a major 7th chord rooted on the 4th note of the scale”, but when the chord symbols become more involved, and include MORE numbers, it can get very confusing.

In these situations, it is quite normal to use the long names for notes of a scale, especially dominant and sub-dominant.

In this way, we can talk about something like a “dominant minor 7th” rather than a rather clumsy phrase like “minor 7th rooted on the 5th note of the scale”, but it’s all a bit “heavy” for beginners.

Interval numbers will also be used to show the notes of chords without being restricted to a particular key.

WHAT IS A CHORD?

Dictionaries sometimes define a chord as "two or more notes played together", but as we have seen in the previous chapter, a pair of notes is not strictly speaking a chord, it is known as an INTERVAL. An idea used in guitar music sometimes is called a “5” but it is just a note played together with the 5th above it, not a type of chord at all.

A5 means A played with the 5th above it – E.

For all practical purposes, a CHORD is a group of THREE or more notes played together, so the simplest chords have 3 notes, although you might sometimes get away with missing out one of the notes for a short time. A chord with only 3 notes is called a TRIAD - nothing to do with secret Chinese organisations. This chapter just deals with triads. Saying that a chord has 3 notes doesn't mean you can only play 3, because you may decide to play several of the same note-name.

For example, if a triad has the 3 notes C, E & G, using a keyboard, you could play the notes…

C C G C E G

or some other combination. On a guitar, you might play a 6-string E chord with the notes...

E B E G# B E

but it is still classed as a triad, because there are only 3 different note-names. Most chords are made up from the odd-number notes of a scale, so the scales and interval numbers that you have seen in previous chapters are essential to your understanding of chords. Different kinds of triad may be made from the notes of different types of scale, but most use the 1st, 3rd and 5th of whatever scale it is. The 1st or root note is essential, but the 3rd identifies the type of chord, which does not sound complete without a 3rd, although at a pinch, it is useable without a 5th.

One of the things that has always intrigued me about chords is the way that the whole character of a note seems to change when it is used with other notes, to form different chords, and singers are often amazed at the difference an unexpected chord can make to the note they are singing. Having worked on developing this effect, I have often been accused of producing “a lovely tone” or having “a lovely touch”, when it is not really about tone or touch, it is about the combination of notes. Pianists have no other way of producing the effect of different tones without varying the volume, and although scientific measurements can detect hundreds of different levels of playing velocity, the pianist cannot purposely, consistently select any one of these levels at will.

If you look through a microscope at a forest, you won’t see any trees.

WHAT ARE CHORD SYMBOLS?

Imagine that you are listening to an orchestra playing a piece of music: if you could stop the music midstream, and go around to each musician, writing down a list of the names of all the notes they were all playing at that moment, these groups of notes would usually fall into simple patterns, which have standard names.

For example, if some were playing a C, others an E, and the rest a G, the notes C, E, and G form a “C chord”, which (as we will see later) is more correctly known as a C Major Triad. In chord symbols, this is written simply as the letter C, so if you were reading chord symbols and you came across C, you would have to learn that this means a C Major Triad, and you would play the notes C, E & G.

This would not be exactly the same as the orchestra, because you might play the notes on a single instrument, or in a different order, but it would serve as a rough outline of what the orchestra was playing, to use as an accompaniment to a melody.

What chord symbols do, then, is to provide a kind of shorthand version of the whole sound, which the player then has to interpret in his or her own way.

Reading chords is easier than reading the score, and it gives the player more choice about how the notes should be played, but the player is lumbered with the responsibility of deciding how best to use those notes to imitate the original.

To make matters worse, many famous songwriters' works are poorly written down, and the chords printed on paper often do not provide the best representation of the songs.

George Gershwin, who was quite capable of producing wonderful orchestrations, doesn’t seem to have taken his songs as seriously as we do now, and these are often printed with chords that really do not do justice to his great talent.

If you read the chords to Errol Garner’s “Misty” (1960) you will not be playing what he played, he used many rapid and difficult chord changes in it, which very few people would be able to play, in fact I doubt if many people in the world could even follow them by ear to write them down. Although it is understandable that the music is simplified for the average player, by leaving out some of those, it is widely known among musicians that the surviving written chords for the middle section do not gel, and cry out for improvement. He didn’t play it in the “written key” either!

In printed music, chord symbols are usually shown above the stave, and although it seems somewhat illogical to place a chord above a melody, it is the normal way of doing it, and unlikely to change, so we have to get used to it.

Some old popular song-sheets have tiny fretboard diagrams for guitar or ukulele, printed above the stave, instead of chord symbols.

ENGLISH & AMERICAN CHORD CHARTS

When musicians play jazz and popular music, the people who are playing chord instruments, such as guitar, banjo or keyboards, read what we call “charts” rather than the “dots” – sheet music. I grew up on the English system of chord symbols and chord charts, and sometimes find it hard to cope with the American charts which proliferate on the internet now. I am used to the sensible idea of one line of chords representing one line of a song, usually 4 bars, and it frazzles my brain when people put random numbers of bars on a line. It makes the charts so much more difficult to picture as music, or see the layout of the song. Not only that, there are many long-estabished rules which are there for real, practical purposes, but they are ignored or broken in the American system, which also uses cryptic symbols like triangles instead of plain English. A chord symbol comprises two things, the root note (which may include a flat or sharp symbol) and the type of chord, which may also have notes taken from between the scale. We always regard these as flattened (rather than sharp) notes, and in order to avoid confusion with the flat in the root note, a flattened note in a chord is represented by a minus sign or hyphen. However, the American system uses this symbol to mean “minor”.

MAJOR TRIADS

The most common triads are Major Triads, which consist of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of a major scale, and we will look at these, and their many uses, in some detail before going on to other triads.

For Country & Western, you can probably survive without going any further!

The C Major Triad is made up of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the C major scale –

C, E & G.

It is often known simply as a "C chord".

Here are the Major Triads on keyboard for C, F & G.

Using the interval numbers 1, 3 & 5, work out and try Major Triads for all 12 scales.

On guitar, because of the tuning, the easiest major triads are E, A, D, and G.

Notice that on the A chord, there is an X above the 6th string to show that ideally, it should not be played. On the D chord, a similar thing happens, but this time, the X is on the 2nd fret, to show that if you can’t avoid hitting that string, you will need to stop it at the 2nd fret, probably with your thumb.

Before moving on to other types of triads, let's look in more detail at some of the practical uses of major triads.

WRITING CHORD SYMBOLS

This example shows the way that chord symbols can be written in bars to tell a chord-player what to do for a simple song. Many musicians work from chord sheets like this, with no actual music notation. The chords can be written on proper manuscript paper with bar lines added, but the lined staves are not essential, simple boxes or bar lines will do just as good a job. Chords are often only shown where there is a change of chord, in which case the following bars keep the same chord until a new one is announced. Some versions have little lines to represent extra beats on the chord, so C/// means “play C, then 3 more times”.

Like many musicians and singers, I feel that because lines of songs are usually 4 bars in length, the printed music should follow the same pattern, and show a 4-bar line of the song on each line of the page, like the above example, to make it easier to follow. There is a visible pattern to a song when it is laid out in this way, and it would open up music reading to a much wider audience, but sheet music is often much more hit-and-miss, and seems to randomly print however many bars will fit on a line. This is very confusing for many readers. I compare it to a poem in which all the lines have been run into each other, and it is difficult to separate one line from another. Looking at a page like this, I often find it hard to see where I am in a tune.

C F G C

Even the bar lines are not essential if enough space is allowed to separate the bars, but it is important to arrange the chords in bars, rather than just lining them up with the lyrics, otherwise people who do not know the song will not be able to follow them. After all, the whole point of writing things down is so that people can play songs they don’t already know. All sorts of extra "frills" can be added to give more information, and we will look at some of them later, but the basic idea is still there, a sort of shorthand way of writing down a much more complicated set of information.

The modern American system of chord symbols has become widely adopted in recent decades, because their publishers have bigger budgets, but as I will explain, to those of us who have been reading and playing chords for half a century, it is irritating in its occasional lack of clarity or logic, and failure to observe certain basic rules.

INVERSIONS

Once you have learned how to build up a chord from its root note, you will be tempted (especially on a keyboard) to play the notes in that same order all the time, that is

1st 3rd 5th, the so-called "Root Position", because it is easier to find on a keyboard: it is also BORING! The notes are very close together, and that is not always the best way to hear them. Experiment with starting from one of the other notes, and play the notes of the chord in lots of different places on your instrument. These INVERSIONS can give a very effect to a chord, so they help to create variety.

For example, the C Major Triad is made up of the notes C, E & G, but think of it repeating like this...

C E G C E G C E G C E G

and play any 3 different note-names anywhere from this list, such as E G C, or G C E.

FIRST INVERSION

Being close together, the root position (CEG) is the least inspiring inversion, and its first inversion (E G C) is a bit better. This is arrived at by moving the bottom note to the top. Repeating this process, we find…

SECOND INVERSION

In many situations, I prefer the second inversion - (G C E) because it sounds fuller. In later chapters, we will look at chords with more notes, and these have more possibilities for different inversions.

So much for the system of numbering inversions, I suggest you ignore it, and just experiment with all kinds of combinations of the notes of any chord, even if they don't fit conveniently into the numbered inversions.

INVERSIONS WITHIN AN OCTAVE

Inversions become more and more important as you advance, and you want to change smoothly from one chord to another. A good way to practise inversions on a keyboard is to take all of the notes of a chord, and rearrange them so that they all fall within an octave, between F and E in the middle of the keyboard. In this way, you can form useful chord shapes that allow you to move smoothly between them, but like everything, it takes practice to get to know these inversions. Most people would think a keyboard with only 12 notes was pointless, so it’s fascinating to realise that we could play a proper, full chord accompaniment on just 12 notes.

GUITAR INVERSIONS

Never under-estimate the importance of inversions on fretboard instruments, there are a lot of interesting effects that you can produce by playing a guitar or banjo chord, then playing it again in a different position, then another, and so on. By now, you should know where the notes are on your instrument, and once you know which notes are needed for a particular chord, you can experiment with different permutations of those notes. Try to learn all the positions of each chord you use, especially on the top four strings.

Avoid having notes too close in pitch on the bottom two strings of a guitar. I would advise you not to play any interval smaller than a 5th between the bottom strings.

SPREADING CHORDS

The idea of spreading chords is to separate the notes, making them further apart than normal inversions, and producing a fuller sound, over a wider range.

On a keyboard, where all the notes are conveniently arranged in logical order, spreading is often done by taking alternate notes of a chord, and playing a note then missing a note.

For example, if you think of G major as being the notes...

G B D G B D G B D

repeated through the range, try just playing

G - D - B - G

Spreading gives each note a more separate identity, as if they were played on several instruments, so it is useful for writing orchestral parts, or for imitating orchestral sounds on a keyboard.

Dvorak produced some wonderfully full, rich orchestral sounds by this simple little trick, and the notes are quite easy to find on a keyboard.

[I can’t hear the name of Dvorak without thinking of the young librarian who asked me “is that the name of the band that did the song?”]

With some guitar chords, the same sort of thing can happen accidentally, just because those might be the only notes you can reach.

On the other hand, it is quite difficult to purposely spread larger chords on a guitar, because some combinations of notes are difficult or impossible to reach, so if you are looking at a type of guitar chord, it will sound better in some keys than in others.

A spread inversion of the A chord could use the open 5th (A) string, E on the 2nd fret, 4th string, and C# on the 3rd string, 6th fret.

Sometimes, a guitar has the advantage that if you play a chord in a position high up the fretboard, the open strings can provide notes that you would not be able to reach otherwise.

ROOT, BASS & TONIC

In talking about chords, it is important at times to clearly understand the difference between these three terms.

ROOT means the note after which the chord is named.

For example, a G chord has the root G, and a Bb chord has the root Bb.

A chord symbol always starts with the root note, which may include a flat or sharp.

BASS is the lowest note of the chord being played.

It is often the ROOT, but not always.

Even when you play chords quite high up the range, the lowest note you play in that chord has a certain power to influence the way we perceive the chord, by enforcing a particular identity for it.

My Dad played G Banjo in jazz bands and banjo bands in the twenties and thirties, when it was normal to mainly play the chords on the top 3 strings, because the thicker bottom string has a very different sound, which tends to be too prominent in some instances, and imply a bass note. It is sometimes quite tricky to create a 3-note inversion of a larger chord. Because of the drum-head arrangement, banjos have a tendency to “bark” the low notes. That’s why 6-string guitar banjos don’t really work as substitutes for banjos. The problem of tonal changes caused by varying string thickness is worse for tenor banjos and mandolins, which are tuned wider apart, in 5ths, and I have been tempted to change the tenor banjo stringing so that it has a higher string instead of the lowest one.

TONIC is the key-note.

It is sometimes the name of the scale being used to make the notes of the chord.

It is always the note in whose key we are playing.

For example, the definition of a song in the key of C is that it mainly uses the notes of the C scale, and almost always ends on a melody note C, with some kind of C chord, and a C bass. That may sound boring and predictable, but it works so well, it is almost universal. It’s as if you go on a journey, which ends by coming home.

To find out what key the song is in, you can usually just look at the last note or chord.

PLATFORM CHORDS

Not to be confused with the chords played by buskers on railway platforms!

Sometimes, it is very difficult to give a simple name or symbol to a chord that has an unusual bass, so if the bass note is not the obvious root note, and some special note is required, a more familiar chord symbol may be underlined, with the bass note written under it, like a fraction.

These are sometimes described as “Platform Chords”, and can provide alternative methods of describing some of the more complex chords.

See the Chord Chart in Chapter 8.

If you are typing such sequences, it is easier to use a slash, (such as C/E) but sitting the chord on its little “platform” with the bass underneath is often clearer.

Try the following example without bass notes, then try it again with the bass notes.

C C F D G

E F#

On guitar, you might need a thumb for the F#.

F C Bb G C

E D B

When you work out your own bass lines, try to treat them as if they were tunes in themselves, and make them move in small, comfortable steps that would be easy to sing.

The underlining or “platform” can also be used without a chord above it, as if to tell the bass player…

"Never mind what the chord is, I want you to play THIS bass note!".

For an occasional one, the slash is quite effective, or coloured ink is another idea.

THE POWER OF BASS

Anyone who ever considers being a bass player will need to have a clear understanding of several important things:

1) Bass players should hardly ever play the melody note when providing backing for other musicians. The melody is not usually a suitable note for the bass, in fact bass is often at the opposite end of the chord. Ideally though, for slow-moving music, try to be a 6th or a 10th away from the melody when you can, especially when the melody lands on the root note of the chord.

2) The bass is a vital part of the rhythm section, so its playing must be rhythmic, and therefore IN TIME! One of the more obvious problems that often spoils the time-keeping of bass guitarists is the fact that some are fixed on the idea of playing everything with the thumb. Thumbs are not easy to control, and are quite clumsy when it comes to rhythms.

3) Most of the time, the bass needs to play the root note of the chord on the first beat of the bar, unless it’s reggae!

4) Most of all, the bass player has to have the musicianship to understand the fact that, simply by changing a bass note, all the chord player's efforts can be destroyed in a moment!

By playing the wrong note of the chord, the bass can also imply that a change is about to occur, when it isn't!

More to the point, the whole identity of a chord may be changed when the bass note is wrong, even if it’s not a very low note.

For example, if the chosen chord is C major, and the bass plays an A, suddenly, the chord isn't C major anymore, it's A minor 7th, something we will look at in Chapter 4, and there is absolutely nothing the chord player can do about it!

Many people find it difficult trying to follow chords by ear if the bass is wrong.

Bass parts can be very simple and still remain effective, but they must be correct, and in time, otherwise they will certainly destroy everything that the other musicians are trying to achieve.

Bass players hardly ever need to play more than one note at a time, so bass parts are relatively easy to read from music notation or tab.

BLOCK HARMONY

In Chapter 2, we mainly looked at harmony in terms of following the melody up and down in 3rds or 6ths. Block harmony is a block of notes that stays in time with the melody in the same way, but doesn’t always move quite as smoothly as 3rds or 6ths, although most will have 3rds or 6ths in them.

The two simplest form of Block Harmony can be based on the scale, or the chords:

BLOCK HARMONY BASED ON THE SCALE

By identifying the scale on which the melody is played, you can then use chords that are made up from the notes of the same scale to provide a block of notes that can be played below the melody note. The scale dictates which chords are used, to suit the melody.

This means that the melody tells you which scale to use, and the individual melody note dictates which chords are available at any given moment for block harmony, because you can only use chords that contain the melody note.

Taking the obvious keyboard example of the C major scale on the white notes, play up and down the scale is if it were a melody. Look at the melody note, and find any chords containing that note, but made up only of notes of the scale. The simple option is major triads, and we have a choice between C, F & G, the only major triads whose notes are all white notes.

Let's go through the notes, and see which chords could be suitable for each melody note. For example, a melody on D requires a G chord. Three of these notes have alternative chords written underneath.

Melody C D E F G A B C

Chord C G C F C F G C

Or F G F

For keyboard beginnings, C is a good key to practise in, so pick a simple tune and see how it suggests chords, then try other keys and scales. Some people go on for years playing with just this simple method, and it is certainly worth spending a lot of time on it. For players of the melodeon it is almost the only option. Concertinas and harmonicas only have two sets of notes – blow and suck.

Autoharps are another type of instrument that can produce harmony in this way, provided the song only has simple chords. Remember, though, that it is not perfect, and simply going for the easy block harmony is not always the best way, but it’s a very good start, so spend a lot of time practising the idea.

Show a little restraint, because sometimes, a busy melody can create too many chord changes. Some hymns suffer from this problem, and although it is often easier to move blocks of notes on a keyboard instrument rather than a fretboard, too much chord changing makes the music “blocky” and stilted.

Somewhere at the other end of the spectrum, Gary Barlow’s “Run for your life” screams out to me for more chords to accompany the changes of melody note in the chorus, to give this powerful song more emotion.

BLOCK HARMONY BASED ON THE CHORD

For a slightly cruder method of creating block harmony, you can just look at a chord that is being used to accompany the melody, and use notes of that chord below the melody. The block harmony does not move as smoothly, it is just playing part of the chord, but in time with the melody.

Some electronic organs and other keyboards provide automatic harmony that does this by reading your left-hand chord. Probably the first was the Lowrey organ, with AOC – “Automatic Orchestra Control”.

Sometimes, you need to simplify by trying to find a chord that will sound right if it remains unchanged with several consecutive melody notes. I heard an extreme application of this back-pedalling one Christmas, when “Unto us a child is born” was played with all the block harmony on just one chord.

Here is a useful trick if you want backing vocals based on the chord: Imagine that each voice is one string of a guitar, and only uses a range of 4 or 5 notes on that string. The E string, for example, will only use a note that is no higher than about G or G#, and this simplifies the choice of notes.

Even if you don’t understand guitars, you can pitch guide-notes at intervals of about a 4th apart, using each one as the lowest note for a certain voice.

Block Harmony is also an important technique to work on for solo guitar playing, often with the melody on the top string. For this, you may need to choose a key that allows the melody to stay as far as possible on the top string, so ideally going no lower than E, and no higher than the highest note you can reach on the fretboard. A guitar with a cutaway shoulder gives you more scope. Playing on the long neck of a bouzouki gives you more range than most songs need, so you have more choice of keys.

Here is “Good morning to you” (1893) in tablature for the guitar. You may know it by another name. One advantage of tab is that you can learn to play more advanced harmonies by rote, without having to know their names or theory. Ignorance is bliss?

This example uses some of each type of block harmony, sometimes choosing a different chord for each note, sometimes, staying with the same chord while the melody moves.

Practise any of the simple tunes in Chapter 1, with block harmony, and begin by using only the 3 major triads that can be made from notes of the C major scale.

Try the same with every tune you know, and add something extra to your block harmony by playing the bass note of each chord you use.

This is not the end of block harmony, it is a simple beginning. As you learn more chords, they will give you more options.

NOTE MEMORY

In Chapter 1, I referred to something that happens in music, but nobody seems to talk about it, and I have been unable to find an existing name for it, so I refer to it as “note memory” and it works like this.

If you are singing a note, then you stop, but do not sing another note, the note doesn’t stop in people’s heads, they still hear it for a few seconds, or until it is changed.

The effect of this in practical music is that you still have to proceed as if that last note was continuing, and this will affect you more and more, as you advance with harmonies, and especially chords.

It means that when you are deciding what chord to use in a given bar, you may have to allow for a note that was sung in a previous bar, even though it is not visible in the current bar.

CHORD CHANGES

We have seen chords changing to fit the melody, but the chords can have a major effect upon the choice of notes for the melody, so if you are having trouble following a difficult tune, take a closer look at the chords. A surprisingly challenging example is Burt Bacharach’s “What’s new pussycat” (1965). The simple but unusual scale-and-chord changes (A C Bb) produce a melody that many singers to find difficult to pitch correctly, perhaps because as the melody goes up, the chord goes down. As we go through many songs, discussing the chords and sequences, it is important to understand that there are many versions of well-known songs out there. When we talk about a song being played “wrongly”, it is wise to remember that many performers are doing their own songs differently within months of writing them. Sometimes, a song is composed, recorded, and written down, then developed differently, especially when an artist or band goes on tour with a new album. Sometimes, a key that suits in the studio is not high enough on stage. Of course, there are people whose thinking is so rigid, they suggest that live music is a bad thing because it is not the same as the original recording. Surely that’s the whole buzz about hearing it live? If we kill off live music, there will be no proper musicians left to record the CDs.

What is more, even the same song may be printed with different chords in different books, or even in different keys. An old, well-known song becomes so widely sung that people develop even more variations on how it is sung, and some of these, by popularity, come to be regarded as correct, or normal, although they are not the same as the original. “Amazing grace” has been changed quite a bit, and a 16-bar middle has been added to some arrangements. Most people learn songs by listening, not by reading music. These changes of melody notes may affect the choice of chord, and lead to discussions and arguments about whether the chords should be played as they are written, or "improved".

“Get happy” (1930) is a good example. Bb may be the logical choice of keys, but well-known versions exist in F and Eb, so forget playing it in “the written key” or “the right key”. The middle 8 is in the same key, and if we look at it in F, the chords run through F and Eb, and many people would expect it to go down another wholetone to Db, but it makes an interesting and unexpected change via G to C. Later jazz and pop versions changed this to the more mundane, predictable Eb. This unusual change is an important part of the character of the song, but the melody also works well with F Ab G C. Stan Getz even changed the whole of “get happy” into a decidedly unhappy minor key for effect. Perhaps you can begin to see that “as written” is not always how the songwriter intended it! I also dispute the idea that a songwriter is necessarily the person best qualified to produce the best arrangement of chords and harmonies. Some good songwriters are terrible musicians. It’s also nice to provide interest by adding some “moments of tension” into insipid chords, which are then resolved to more relaxed chords. This adds more flavour to a tune that is being played instrumentally, without the benefit of having the words, and in this situation, using the same note with a different chord seems to transform the tonal quality of the instrument.

WRITING A WRONG

There are people who will describe something as “their arrangement” of a song, or even try to call it “jazz”, when all they are doing really is playing it WRONG! Words that should tell a story, lyrics become nonsense, and popular well-loved songs are mutilated by people with no interest in the fact these songs become people like the combination of words and melody.

It’s a difficult area, and I often produce my own arrangements, using chords that are (hopefully) more interesting, and give the (correct) melody more impact.

That’s what the audiences often say anyway, and at times when I feel it is going well, people often use words like “fluid” or “liquid”.

My pet hate is people who play the wrong chords, then sing the tune wrongly to fit the wrong chords. Eva Cassidy produced some beautiful tracks, but some are very uncomfortable for people who already knew the songs in their original form, and seem to be based on the principle that it doesn’t matter if you sing the tune wrongly, as long as the lyrics are right.

Nina Simone can “make a song her own” as Jools Holland tactfully put it, by ignoring the original entirely, and singing a new melody to fit the wrong chords. Most younger people would not recognise the original melody for “My baby just cares for me”.

Boyzone’s version of the Bee Gees’ “Words” misses out a whole section, and destroys the sense of the song.

Melody is important.

If people don’t like a melody as it stands, why use it?

Part of the trouble arises when people go into a studio and do the first thing that comes into their head, without bothering to learn it thoroughly first.

This is all very well if it’s your own song, but if you want to put prawns into a fish pie, you need to find a new title for it.

If you are recording a track, remember that whatever you put down first can have a tremendous influence on the end result.

SECTIONS OF A SEQUENCE

Most popular songs have a number of sections or themes, with different melodies, and different chord sequences. Unfortunately, musicians and singers often do not agree on what the names should be for these various sections, and this leads to a great deal of confusion, and quite a few giggles. I would love to be able to tell you that there is a right way, or a “most common” way, but there isn’t. Some people duck out of the argument very effectively by naming the sections with letters or numbers, as if we didn’t already have too many meanings for numbers in music. Common sense would also suggest that any use of letters should avoid the first seven letters of the alphabet, because they can confuse things again by suggesting notes, but that is not the case. I recently played at a jam session where chord sheets were marked A and B for the sections of the song, but the musicians complained that they appeared to be suggesting notes, chords or keys. Let’s suppose, then, that you have a song in three sections, and you call them “1 2 3” or “A B C”. What happens if you find a song with a similar layout, but it has another section BEFORE the others? Do you shift all the letters or numbers so that the new beginning now has what was the number or letter of the original first part? If the song layout is described as AABA, it means that whatever the first theme is, it occurs twice, then there is a different section, then the first one comes again. If you then put a different type of section in front of this, it would have to be labelled ABBCB, which looks like something completely different. An alternative is CAABA. It is much better to use names for the types of section, but these are not at all standard, and although one musician will insist on one set of names, another will say that is wrong, and use something else. It is possible to describe a group of 8 bars quite correctly as an OCTAD, but that is not a term that you are likely to hear anyone use. I wish they did! Yet another option is the term STANZA commonly used for a group of 4 or more lines from a song or poem.

CHORUS

Traditionally, a chorus is the part of a song in which everybody joins in, often with the same tune and words each time. In a comic song, it is often the punch-line.

REFRAIN

After the chorus, most of the people refrain from singing, leaving a soloist to sing alone. The “refrain” may have the same tune as the chorus, especially in hymns and traditional folk songs.

VERSE

This refrain can also be called a VERSE, as it is in poetry. A typical folk song might have the chorus repeating after every octad, sometimes with the same tune, sometimes different. A typical popular song of the 1900s would have two octads or stanzas on a similar theme, then a middle section, then another octad, each section being 8 bars in length, making a total of 32 bars. The first octad might be modified to end with a note that is not the key-note, suggesting that it has not finished, and providing the clue that there will be another octad. The second octad probably ends on the key-note. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” has a different melody and chords for the second half of each of the 3 octads, but some singers can’t be bothered to learn them properly, and that makes it hard for the accompanist to choose suitable chords.

MIDDLE EIGHT

The middle section is usually 8 bars in length, so a logical and popular name for it is the “MIDDLE EIGHT”. Some, however, do not have 8 bars!

BRIDGE

One popular and effective answer to this problem is to call it the BRIDGE, on the basis that it bridges the gap between the other octads. Someone recently described the middle 8 to me as “the verse”!

TURN-AROUND

“Turn-around” is a term used for different things by different people: often, it refers to a chord sequence that takes you from the end of a song to repeat it from the beginning. Sometimes, it is difficult to know what is meant by it, and if I ask people “what do you mean by turn-around?” they may not be able to explain the term, although they use it.

So far so good, we have names for some of the most widely-used sections of songs, and wouldn’t it be nice and easy if that was the end of it, but there are many deviations from this ideal. “Refrain” is defined in many different ways, and may, for example, be the whole song, or the chorus, which seems to have the absolute opposite meaning!

VERSE

A common practise in songwriting from Victorian times through to the sixties, rarely used now, is a short section before the first octad, introducing the mood and subject matter of the song, but having its own unique melody, which is often not heard again in the song. Here lies a problem, because this is known almost universally as “THE VERSE”, so if you use that term for other things it can get very confusing! As a result, we need to have a different name for the 8-bar tune that recurs 3 times during the song, and a lot of people opt for calling it the CHORUS. If only they’d called it a “zebra” or some other name that was not already in use, like STANZA. OCTAD is looking like a very attractive option, but since it is like a repeating theme, perhaps THEME is another. Then again, some people call the WHOLE song a chorus, and if they want to do it all through 3 times, they will describe this as “3 choruses”!

I am tempted to refer to parts of a typical song as Verse, Refrain and Middle. That way, the initial letters do not look anything like notes, so a song structure can be described as something like RRMR or VRRMR.

Good luck with all that!

CONVENIENCE

Music publishers like to have sections of a song that repeat, and use “traffic signs” to jump around the page, rather than print the whole song in sequence. Musicians also like sections that repeat, because they are easier to learn, but “Little things mean a lot” (1953) is a good example of a Charles Stutz song that is all the more interesting and challenging because it does not conform. The first octad ends on the 2^nd note of the scale, then repeats, but ends conventionally on the keynote, suggesting quite rightly that we are about to start a new section. Then comes what appears to be a middle 8, but don’t be fooled into thinking life is going to be easy, because it is followed by ANOTHER 8-bar section only vaguely similar to the original, with a completely different melody. Breathing a sigh of relief, we are finally onto the last octad, and its first 4 bars are pretty much as we expect, but the last 4 bars are completely different!

CHORD STRUCTURE

Imagine a lorry-load of scaffold poles. They don't look like scaffolding because they haven't been put together yet, so they have no structure. Once the poles are connected together, they form an understandable structure, with a particular size, shape and function. It's the same with chords.

Also, a group of words in random order may not form a sentence, so they may have no meaning. In the same way that words form a sentence, and need to go in a particular order for them to make sense, so it is with chord sequences.

A single, solitary chord means very little on its own, however nice it may be.

You may create a chord structure or pattern in a random way, but it is only justified by being repeated, so that the listener gets used to the pattern, and comes to expect it to go on repeating.

The words "fail banana cutting pile" mean nothing at all as a phrase, but your brain sees them and cannot resist trying to find a meaning: However, if you keep repeating them like a mantra, your brain switches off from trying to understand, and settles into repeating the phrase over and over again.

It's a bit like the idea in improvisation that if you make a mistake, the way to make it seem more acceptable is by repeating it, creating the impression that you really intended to play it!

The same could be said of some of the horrible, slightly-off electronic beats that are sometimes written on computers by non-musicians. They must be repeated over and over again in an attempt to make them become comfortable.

LOOP THE LOOP

A simple, modern chord structure may be a series of 4 chords, chosen at random, and then repeated in the same pattern all through a song, or just in one part of a song. Try doing it with your favourite 4 chords in any order.

Sometimes, the order of the chords makes no sense, because it is not planned, it is just repeated mindlessly, whether it works well or not. The idea has become more and more common in popular songs since the eighties, a great success for Simply Red, and seems commonplace with amateur songwriters at jam sessions now. This is why many recent pop songs have no actual melody, they are just random notes improvised on a chord sequence, mainly on the pentatonic scale.

Such short repeated sequences used to be known as a “groove” but recently they are more likely to be described as a loop, and there are special electronic looping machines to enable a piece of music to be built up live in front of an audience. You can find some on Youtube, but they do tend to be these very short loops, often 4 bars.

JLS “Take a chance” (2011) works on the same sort of principal.

ONE-CHORD WONDERS

Some chords almost demand a hasty move onto some other chord, but a simple Major Triad is a lazybones, sleeping in the sun, it isn’t in a hurry to go anywhere at all, so it won’t complain if you go on with it for several bars at a time.

Some of the earliest types of blues did not have a sequence at all, they were played on just one chord, usually E if it was on a guitar with normal tuning.

A lot of Indian, Turkish, Greek and Irish music remains on a single chord or drone throughout, and depends entirely on the melody for its structure.

Peggy Lee’s “Fever” (1958) hardly shows any sign of a chord, but there is just one implied throughout the whole record, although chord changes can easily be added to the song. Bo Diddley was one of several performers from the fifties who used the single chord to great effect on his square guitar for songs like "Bo Diddley" or "Mocking Bird", relying more on the lyrics and rhythm than chord changes.

"Who do you love", revived in the 1970s, is one of Bo's numbers.

"Swamp Thing" (1994) was a rare opportunity for a banjo to top the charts, and the melody has similar rhythm to Bo Diddley, as does “Mama do the hump” (2011).

"Baby please don't go" was recorded by a group called THEM, and was in the charts for 9 weeks in 1965. When I did it at a jam session once, someone said "What are the chords?" and I replied "Let me see, there's E... well, that's about it really!".

When I began working on this course, years ago, there were very few examples of one-chord songs, but they are sadly becoming more and more common, as digital technology allows less-able musicians to create and record their own songs at home.

All too often, a wonderful singing voice is wasted on some trite and aimless song that does not do justice to their talent, although a better backing might help.

Words are not enough!

A singer-songwriter needs a mixture of several talents, and most will have strengths in some areas, and weaknesses in others. The chances of a single person producing good music, good lyrcs, good singing and good playing are remote.

Some more recent chart hits have no sense of a chord at all, and often leave some doubt as to which chord would be suitable.

Ideally, there should always be enough notes played at any given moment to tell us what chord is intended, otherwise it sounds like an instrument or a note is missing.

SETS OF CHORDS

Very often, people use a few simple chords and improvise a song over them. Even if they don’t understand keyboards, they often end up using chords that are only made up of the white notes, such as…

C Dm Em F G Am

The problem is that these chords all use that same set of notes, so there is not feeling or sense of what chord might come next, and they are often chosen completely at random. This is all the more difficult to jam with if there are only 3 chords anyway, and no sense of which way they are heading. No sequence, and no sense of emotion in a song.

Emotion = Changes of scale

CHORD SEQUENCES

The best way to understand sequences is to learn how songs and sequences are put together, and what I will aim for here is to give you some understanding of the way chords change most naturally and comfortably, and the way they suggest the chords that are likely to follow.

A sequence must ideally have at least 3 chords, and counting the number of different chords in a song can give you a good indication of how difficult it might be.

The most important rule about chord changes is THE CIRCLE...

FOUR RANDOM CHORDS

In more modern times, mainly since the eighties, huge numbers of punk, rock, pop and disco songs have been made by combining four chords from some close area around the circle, but in random order. These structures, involving such chords as

A D G C

on an overdrive guitar sound, or a techno keyboard sound, should have made music more interesting, but although they are great fun for improvisation, they often seem quite aimless to me, (Oh! Oh! I’m in trouble!) and do not flow in any comfortable way.

There is a geometry about the positions of these 4 notes on a guitar or bass which makes them so easy to do that they are used over and over again, ad nauseam, in slight variations, often done with quavers in 5ths on the bottom strings of a guitar.

Every time I hear another young band start up one of these I feel a wave of disappointment that they couldn’t think of something more original. Who was it who said…

“I wanted to play Nirvana, but I couldn’t get the hang of playing 2 strings at once!”?

And who wants to re-tune for different songs? Many of Simply Red's hit songs have been working with group of chords like this for a quarter of a century, just 4 bars, repeated to form what is known as a "groove", and the whole song is improvised over them.

Sister Sledge’s “We are family” (1979) is another example, and the chords bear no relationship to the melody, although they could easily be improved.

Fontella Bass “Rescue me” is another example. Bob Dylan’s “All along the watchtower” is 3 chords, then the second one again, over and over.

Some variations on this idea only use three chords, and return to the first one, such as Rod Stewart’s “Stay with me” (1971), or Robbie Williams’ “Let me entertain you”.

Kaysha’s “One love” has half a bar of Fsus, (a type of chord covered later in this chapter) half a bar of C, and a bar of F. This 2-bar pattern repeats throughout the whole song, although coloured by backing vocals etc.. Fsus is almost never followed by C, so you could say this was original or innovative, but there is a reason why nobody else uses it.

THE CIRCLE

The diagram above shows all the twelve notes of an octave, arranged around a circle like a clock face, but not in the obvious order.

Instead, they are laid out in intervals of 4ths or 5ths, depending on which way you go around the circle.

This circle is known by several names, including...

The Circle of Fifths, The Cycle of Fourths, The Chord Clock,

or simply "The Circle". It is also important to piano and organ tuners.

In conventional music lessons and theory books, the circle is often shown the other way round, but this doesn't affect its usefulness, and I prefer the version which, clockwise, shows the most likely changes in a chord sequence, hence the name "Chord Clock".

If you start from C at the top of the circle, and move to F, that could be upwards by an interval of a 4th, or downwards by a 5th.

Either way, it is fair to say that almost any kind of C chord is most likely to be followed by some kind of F chord.

The circle does not tell us the exact type of chord, simply the position of its root note on the circle.

This simple rule can be applied to finding the most likely chord to follow any given chord, simply by going one step clockwise around the circle. This is not just for popular music, it was already of major importance in the music of Bach, such as his Prelude No.1, better known as the accompaniment to Gounod’s “Ave Maria”.

Of course, if this were the only rule then music would be very predictable and boring, and every sequence would be the same.

Fortunately, it doesn’t dictate the type of chord, and we will look at many other suggestions about chord changes, but one shouldn't rule out the possibility of a chord chosen completely at random.

It is in this area that experienced musicians must always be prepared to learn from amateurs who are not restricted by any knowledge of the rules!

Or for that matter, there is often a logic other than the circle.

However, the circle is ALWAYS the most likely way to go, even for people who don't know what they are doing, or why.

The circle diagrams we will look at are not intended for you to read as a type of music notation, they are more like footprints in the snow, they track where the chord changes have been in a song. This has many practical uses.

Piano accordions use button chords and bass notes for the left hand, and each row is arranged in the same order as the notes of the circle, with the result that many chord sequences run logically along the row, but the catch is that even the biggest accordions have a very limited number of types of chord.

TWO-CHORD SEQUENCES

Robbie Williams’ “Millenium” simply takes two chords and a riff pinched from the intro to “You only live twice” and repeats them throughout. Beethoven's "Emperor" suite has large sections based on just two chords, usually next to each other on the circle. In 1931, the dance called the Rhumba came to Britain, in the form of "The Peanut Vendor": Although faster and livelier than the modern type of rhumba that Rosemary Ford fans might have seen on "Come Dancing", it was a great success, and consisted of only two chords. In 1952, Jo Stafford reached number 11 in the charts with "Jambalaya", revived in 1962 by Fats Domino and, later, The Carpenters. "Jambalaya" normally has just two chords, although many jazz musicians have taken this simple framework and added all sorts of variations, sometimes changing chords on every two beats.

In 1972, America’s hit “Horse with no name” was based on just 2 chords.

In 1992, "Achey breaky heart" was a number 3 hit for Billy Ray Cyrus, and only had two chords.

In 1998, The Mavericks had a big hit with "Dance the night away", and the lyrics are quite good, the melody is fine, but it is amazing that they manage to keep the energy going throughout, with exactly the same 2-chord sequence as "The Peanut Vendor". In most of these cases, if played in the key of C the chords were the same two, which would be C and G. On the circle, you can choose a key-note, and go back (anti-clockwise) one place to find the other chord. In the key of G, the repeating chord sequences would be...

Peanut Vendor G D

Dance The Night Away G D

Rakes of mallow G G D D G G D G

Jambalaya G G D D D D G G

Big bad handsome man Gm Gm Gm D D D D Gm

You never can tell (C’est la vie) G G D D D D G G

Livin’ on Tulsa time G G G D D D D G

Achey Breaky Heart G G G D D D D G

Count 4 beats on each chord, and repeat the pattern all through the song.

“Eriskay Love Lilt” (1908) can also be played with 2 chords, although 3 is better, in fact all these songs become much more satisfying if you use more chords.

MINOR TRIADS

The next type of 3-note chord we need to look at is the minor triad.

Predictably, this uses the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of a minor scale, which makes it similar to a major triad, but the 3rd is flattened a semitone, so having created a major triad, you can turn it into a minor triad simply by flattening the 3rd by one semitone.

The most common description of minor chords is that they sound sad, depressing, or even dramatic. “Interesting” is another word that comes up a lot.

Creating chord sequences with minor chords is exactly the same process as with major chords. An easy minor triad on guitar is Em, which uses one or two fingers to stop the 4th and 5th strings at the 2nd fret.

Am is another one, Dm is perhaps a little more awkward for beginners.

A 3-chord song may involve more than one minor chord, there are four options, and the way to understand them is by looking at the kind of minor scale that is formed when all the notes of all three chords are lined up together.

This will give you some clue about which notes to use for improvised solos.

In the key of A minor...

The notes of Am D E together form an Ascending Melodic Minor scale.

A B C D E F# G# A

The notes of Am Dm Em together form a Descending Melodic Minor scale.

A B C D E F G A

The notes of Am Dm E together form a Harmonic Minor scale.

A B C D E F G# A

The notes of Am D Em together form a Dorian Minor scale.

A B C D E F# G A

This is easier to see on a keyboard, where all the notes can be held, but you can hear it on any instrument by making a list of all the notes of all the chords and playing each note in turn.

TIERCE DE PICARDY

Tierce is a little-used musical term for an interval of two octaves and a major third. It is also the name of an organ stop that adds a note of that pitch to the main note, although such pipe organ stops are more often described in terms of the lengths of the pipes.

An old idea used with tunes in a minor key was to end with a major chord, to create more of a feeling of stability and finality. This is known as a “Tierce de Picardy”.

An example familiar to many people is an old favourite from the proms, “The Arethusah”, which dates back to the mid-1700s, and continues on a minor scale until the last couple of beats.

A rather more modern song that does the same is “Sealed with a kiss”.

When you play a tune in a minor key, try ending it on a major chord for effect.

NOWT AS QUEER AS FOLK!

I really love the logical kind of chord sequences, not just for their logic, but because the chords sound as if they are going somewhere, and have a definite direction, a natural sense of following on from each other:

To put it another way, they are in SEQUENCE!

Putting any old chords one after another could still be described as a "sequence", but it doesn't make it a GOOD sequence!

Some of my friends enjoy playing certain types of Irish folk songs and tunes, many of which seem to fall into 2 main categories:

Firstly, there are the two-chord sequences which are exactly like "What shall we do with the drunken sailor", but in various keys and tempos.

The sequence, if written in A minor, goes like this...

Am Am G G

Am Am G Am

Then there are those which have 3 or 4 simple chords, thrown together in completely random order, and changing rapidly, with no rules or logic to help a poor logical soul like me predict what is coming next without learning them bar by bar.

What seems to happen in a lot of Irish folk music is that most of the instruments are only producing the melody, and the guitarist is free to throw almost anything in, as long as it is rhythmic.

This works well for the type of person who remembers a sequence by rote, and doesn’t need logic or common sense.

I suspect that a closer examination of the melody might often allow a more effective chord sequence to be written for many of them, but who asked me?

THREE-CHORD TRICK

Traditionally, the three-chord trick has been based on the chords either side of the keynote on the circle, and quite apart from many traditional songs, a huge proportion of popular music from the fifties onwards uses just these three chords.

In this diagram, the red lines show the three root notes G, C & F as being used, but it is not difficult to imagine moving this little group to a different point around the circle.

A song in A would use E and D as well.

A song in Eb would use Bb and Ab as well.

Older examples include

1870 “What a friend we have in Jesus”

1884 “A hundred pipers”

1905 “Mine eyes have seen the glory”

1908 “Eriskay love lilt”

1909 “Swing low, sweet chariot”

1910 “Put your arms around me”

1916 “La cumparsita”.

1928 “Black eyes” (better known now as “Dark eyes”).

As always, it is important to remember that people produce different arrangements of songs, some are dumbed down to 3 chords, but many are made more elaborate.

One of the simple 3-chord tricks is in the form…

C F G or 1 4 5

with an optional change back to F. Examples include…

"Twist and shout"

"La bamba"

"Conversations"

"Guantanamera"

“Wild thing”

“The game of love”

1978 "Summer nights"

1978 Blondie's "Denise Denise" uses the C chord for a whole bar, then half a bar for F and G.

More modern 3-chord songs still tend to choose 3 chords from the same area of the circle, but not necessarily either side of the keynote, so similar groups of chords are used, but in different ways.

For example, “Tainted love” uses G C F C.

When more chords are needed, they are usually added to the anti-clockwise side of the key-note, so in the key of C, that would be D, A, E, etc..

As we will see later, it’s a fairly modern idea to go the other way, and use Bb or Eb.

TWELVE BAR BLUES

Each line of a song is often 4 bars in length, and a lot of blues uses a particular type of 3-chord trick in which the first line of the song is repeated with different chords, then a rhyming line follows, so the three lines add up to 12 bars. An early but well-known 12-bar is part of “St. Louis blues” (1914). “Frankie & Johnny” is another. In order to compare simple sequences regardless of key, I will refer to the root notes of the chords by interval numbers: Perhaps the simplest 12-bar blues chord sequence takes the form…

1…1…1…1…4…4…1…1…5…4…1…1…

A variation with a minor chord, often used in New Orleans jazz is…

1…4…1…1…4…4(minor)…1…1…5…5…1…1…

More common versions include

1…4…1…1…4…4…1...1…5…4…1…1…

but there are many other combinations with the 3 chords, as well as more advanced version with more and bigger chords. Some old blues and rock’n’roll use this one, which also appears in “Little red rooster”…

4…4…1…1…4…4…1…1…5…4…1…1…

TWELVE BAR VARIATIONS

The Beatles’ version of "Roll Over Beethoven" had the last 5 and 4 in reverse order, an interesting variation, although this does not seem to be the original sequence.

1…1…1…1…4…4…1…1…4…5…1…1…

"Stuck in the middle" uses a chord rooted on the flattened 7th instead of the last 5th...

1…1…1…1…4…4…1…1…7…4…1…1…

"Sorrow" (1965) uses the first 8 bars three times in some arrangements, making 28 bars.

1…1…1…1…4…4…1…1…

5…4…1…1…

“Sweet child of mine” is a slightly-disguised version of a similar sequence, with a fourth chord added here and there, rooted on the flattened 7th…

1…1…7…7…4…4…1…1…

5…7…1…1…

SIXTEEN BAR BLUES

Sometimes, a 12-bar blues is extended by adding an extra 4 bars at the beginning, often with stops for each line. This may happen on every verse, or just certain ones.

"Blue Suede Shoes" is an early, popular example of this.

"Jailhouse Rock" is another Elvis example.

Parts of "Walkin' the dog" (1963) work like that.

24-BAR BLUES

Occasionally, the structure of a 12-bar blues is extended, just by holding each chord for twice as many bars. For example, Humphrey Lyttleton’s “Bad penny blues” (1955) just doubles the length of each chord to make a total of 24 bars. Similar things occur in some rock’n’roll of the fifties, and country blues. “Mystery train” (1955) is difficult to pin down, it seems to have different numbers of bars in different verses, and in different versions, almost as if the whole band just waits for the vocalist to decide when to start the next line.

"Mustang Sally" works on the 24-bar principle, but some versions reduce the long pauses between vocals by having only 22 bars to the main pattern.

“Pink Cadillac” starts like this, but is a slightly more complicated 3-chorder.

LAYERING ONE SEQUENCE ONTO ANOTHER

Another little trick for spicing up something simple like a 12-bar is to design a very short sequence of just a few chords, then move that whole sequence around in the manner of a 12-bar. It was a popular idea in the sixties.

For example, “Green onions” takes this group of chords…

E E G A

one chord per beat, and then moves it around like a 12-bar:

E E G A E E G A E E G A E E G A

A A C D A A C D E E G A E E G A

B B D E A A C D E E G A E E G A

A more common idea since the rock’n’roll era moves a bass phrase around in a similar way, instead of changing the whole chord.

PERMUTATIONS OF THREE-CHORD TRICKS

When complete, these will be listed in alphanumerical order, and in the form of major triads represented by the interval numbers of their root notes.

CCCCCCGGCCFFCGCC

CCCCFFCCGGCC

CCCGGGGCCCCFFCGC

CCFFGGCC

CFCC FFCC GFCC

CCCCFFCCGGCC

CFCCFFCCGFCC

CCCCFFCCFGCC

CCCCFFCCCCCCFFCCGFCC

------------------------------------

HOME SEQUENCES

A chord rooted on the tonic or key-note is regarded as a "home chord". Home sequences are ones which aim to head for home, so a home sequence in the key of C heads for C, travelling clockwise on the circle.

A home sequence in the key of F# travels clockwise until it reaches F#.

Eric Idle’s “Harry” illustrates one of the simplest home sequences, with two bars per chord: starting in the key of D, it moves to E, which leads around the circle to A, and then back to D. Eric seems to trivialise his own song by playing it very fast, but if you slow it right down to 110bpm, it makes a delightful thirties-style jazz guitar number, although sadly with only that same 8 bars, repeated.

Many old standards of the 1900s use home sequences as a basis, so a song in the key of C might jump from C to some chord on the left of the circle, apparently chosen at random.

The only real logic for the choice is the number of chord changes it will take to get back to C.

For example, a song might have a sequence like

C A D G C or

C E A D G C

Just by knowing the second chord of the sequence, we can begin to guess at the whole sequence, because it will probably go clockwise around the circle from there, until it gets "home".

The choice of second chord also helps to determine the number of chords that the song is likely to use in total, and this is also a useful guide to how difficult it may be to play.

Of course, songs often start on the home chord, but things are not always quite so simple or obvious if the song starts somewhere else.

If you are playing guitar chords, and having trouble with bar chords, the area of the circle between E and C is the only area where you do not need bar chords. If a song needs just 5 root notes, see if you can change it to another key so that it only uses E, A, D, G & C.

The furthest that such a sequence is likely to go from the home chord in the key of C is B - a semitone below the key-note.

C B E A D G C

This has the advantage of a quite smooth change from C down to B, but although a change like C to B is used in some old songs, it doesn’t usually go on around the circle, it returns to C. Let’s not run away with the idea that these things only apply to popular music. Stravinsky’s randomness was almost anarchy, Dvorak often favoured chords that stayed within the notes of a scale, but Tchaikovsky made great use of the circle sometimes, and used the sequence above in his “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy”, although it was in the less convenient key of Db. Even if you don’t know how it goes, you would recognise the tune if you heard it. The types of chord are more advanced than we have used so far, but in C, after an initial change from C to G and back, root notes and bass notes would go down a semitone to B, then follow the circle.

The nearest popular example I can recall is “Red roses for a blue lady” (1949).

Here is that sequence, marked on the circle. It starts at C, then jumps to B, and most of the changes are circle changes. Extending the idea, I wrote a tune in C, which started on Db and continued with a home sequence from there, all the way back to C. The tune was unremarkable, but the idea was interesting.

Have a look at some more home sequences on a circle diagram. This one shows the progress of the root notes for “Five foot two” (1924) in C, and it is little more than a home sequence repeated.

“Who’s sorry now” (1923) is similar, but also adds an F.

A home sequence in the key of Eb, on the right of the circle, will jump to some point in the top half of the circle, then proceed clockwise until it gets "home" to Eb.

A home sequence in the key of A, on the left of the circle, would jump to some point in the bottom half of the circle, then proceed clockwise until it gets "home" to A.

However, these lower areas of the circle are unpopular, and guitar players are more likely to use the area from B7 or E onwards.

CHORDS ON A SCALE

It is often quite useful to look at a sequence in terms of chords made up only of the notes of a major scale.

In the version of the circle shown here, the notes of the C scale are represented by interval numbers.

If you play a chord rooted on the 7th note of a scale, (such as B in the key of C) the circle dictates that the most likely sequence would follow it with chords rooted on the notes

3 6 2 5 1 4

It is, however, interesting to look at circle sequences using triads made up only of notes from a major scale, because this gives the sequence the feeling of belonging to that key, while at the same time following the circle.

For keyboards, we turn to the obvious, easy white notes of C major.

Try to find all the triads you can make from the white notes, then place them in alphabetical order.

You should have…

Am Bdim C Dm Em F G

Don’t worry if you don’t know what Bdim is yet.

The same chords in circle order are…

Bdim Em Am Dm G C F

The B diminished triad is not very useful as it stands, so we’ll put that aside for the moment, and come back to it later.

Try to become very familiar with this remaining group of 6 chords, and experiment with making sequences from them.

TWO FIVE ONE

In modern times, several courses have been written which obsess endlessly about the term “2 5 1”: this refers to the fact that if the root note of a chord is on the 2nd note of a scale, it is most likely to move to a chord rooted on the 5th note of the scale, then a chord on the 1st note of the scale.

There is nothing new or revolutionary about this concept, it could more accurately be called “7 3 6 2 5 1 4” because it is just a home circle sequence, described in relation to the intervals of a particular scale.

The circle exists regardless of what key you are in, or which scale you are using.

“2 5 1” only describes the fact that a small part of a certain song moves in that way, provided it stays on notes of the scale.

AWAY SEQUENCES

Away sequences still move in a clockwise direction, but they start at "home" and move away from it, ending at some point that often requires a fairly random jump to get back to the home chord.

As whole songs, or as the main sequences in songs, these are a relatively modern invention, although the very term "invention" is perhaps misleading in that it implies that somebody knew what they were doing!

The disadvantage is the feeling they give that they have arrived almost accidentally at some remote point on the circle, and have no neat and convenient way to get back, so they often just jump.

Away sequences appear in some very crude punk songs, some techno numbers, and all sorts of tracks from the eighties onwards.

An earlier example is the Beach Boys' "California girls". Having hovered around chords either side of the home key, E in this diagram, it goes away around the circle as far as F, then very neatly drops down a semitone to get home again.

E A D G C F E

These semitone drops are perhaps one of the smoothest ways to duck out of a sequence that seems to be getting lost. If you insert a semitone drop at some point earlier in a sequence like this, it may lead to a further section of circle changes to get back to the original chord. A useful way of extending a chord sequence.

HOME AND AWAY

There are many songs that combine the two types of chord sequence, by moving clockwise away from home, and then jumping to a point where they can follow the circle clockwise, back to home. (Technically, it is “Away and Home”)

Where else can we turn for a simple but well-known example but the theme to television's "Magic Roundabout"!

C F Bb G

Having moved away from C, it makes an apparently random jump to G, the only logic being the opportunity to move clockwise from G back to C.

As part of a song, we find "Home and Away" sequences as early as the fifties, but many much older songs have taken the middle part one step around the circle, then gone down 3 semitones to lead to a home sequence, such as a song in C going to F D G.

Here we see Buddy Holly's "Every day" (1957) mainly on 3 chords, E, A and B, but it moves into an Away sequence for the middle.

In the key of E, the main part is a 3-chord trick E, A, and B, but the middle 8 is...

A A D D G G C B

This also uses the same idea of dropping down a semitone - from C, which provides a pleasant route to B, and will then lead us conveniently back to the key of E.

“A windmill in old Amsterdam” (1965) starts with a simple Away sequence - F Bb Eb Ab Db - then drops down a semitone to C7, to lead back to F.

The theme for TV’s “Coronation Street” (1960) goes around the circle from Ab to E, (arguably Fb!) then drops to Eb.

Ab Db F# B E Eb

These semitones drops can be slipped into all sorts of places, and not just to end a sequence. Often, what could have been a simple set of chords is suddenly transformed and extended by a series of circle changes to get back. If, for example, you are putting together a simple 3-chord trick with G, C and D, the act of changing from C to B or B7 can lead to E and A, before getting back to the original chords.

Stevie Wonder is often more adventurous than most modern songwriters when it comes to chords, and many musicians struggle to play the first line of “My cherie amour” by ear, yet it is only a 3-chord away sequence, followed by a short home sequence. It is the unusual melody notes that disguise the chords and cause them to be a little surprising.

The main part of Herb Alpert's "Spanish flea" starts as a simple home sequence, shown here starting from F to A, then runs away around the circle, but it goes UP a semitone near the end, from F# to G minor, not such a comfortable change.

Most of the movement is around the circle. 1 beat per chord...

F F Bb Eb Ab Ab Db Gb Gm Gm Gm Gm C C C C F

The middle is arranged in a similar way to the examples above. No matter what you think of the tune, it is a challenging exercise to squeeze all these changes in at so fast a tempo!

"The happening" is another similar example, quite busy for a fairly modern-style pop sequence. Having started in the guise of a short three-chord trick, it soon plunges into a rapid Away Sequence. (2 beats per chord.)

The following examples end with one or two steps around the circle to get back to the home key.

C F G C

C F Bb Eb Ab Db Dm G

Here are some other examples of sequences which use the semitone drop to break out of the circle sequence, and change from away to home.

Try them.

Eb Ab Db F# B Bb Eb

Eb Ab Db F# F Bb Eb

Eb Ab Db C F Bb Eb

Eb Ab G C F Bb Eb

Eb D G C F Bb Eb

REPEATING CHORD PATTERNS

Often, a short circle sequence may use a series of 2 or 4 chords, then play a similar sequence again, but transposed down or (occasionally) up.

Sometimes, the first changes can take you away from the home key, and the next set can lead you home again.

A simple example used in many bridges (middle eights) is…

1…1…4…4…

2…2…5…5…

These ideas can be made much longer, but the idea is often to lengthen a sequence, without taking it too far from its original key.

All too often, old jazz standards do it like this, the second set of chords being 3 semitones lower, or a minor 3rd.

For this reason, it has become quite common to run down in semitones on the last 2 beats of the F chord, leading to the D chord.

Such downward runs are often done in 7th chords, which we will meet in Chapter 4.

MORE ADVANCED SEQUENCES

The circle diagrams show us the root notes of the chords, not the types of chord.

As we will see, many old standards which seem to have very complicated chord sequences are actually just using little bits of the circle sequence, and then jumping to other places on the circle.

By looking at the number of root notes of a chord sequence on the circle, and how they change, we can get a good idea about how difficult it is likely to be to play.

For example, many people shy away from attempting Jerome Kern’s “All the things you are” (1941): it uses all the 12 root notes, an indication that it will not be easy, but as you can probably see from the red lines in this diagram, it is mainly made up of bits of sequence around the outer edge of the circle, although occasionally dodging across in an apparently random way here and there.

Looking at the concentrations of notes on the circle, changing the key one or two places anti-clockwise might make it slightly more comfortable for some people, but most people have enough trouble playing it at all, so they tend to stick to the written key.

If placed in the same key, F, Cat Stevens’ “Wild world” (1970) begins in an identical way.

“Come rain or come shine” (1946) is a lovely song, but is certainly the hardest chord sequence I have ever learned, not so much because of the 9 root notes involved, but more for the random jumps which often defy explanation, and which only exist to justify the beautiful but unusual melody.

Circle diagrams are laid out in circle order, but a lot of this song’s sequence does not go round the outside of the circle, so the changes appear to be random. Bear in mind that, as part of the randomness of chord changes, a circle change is occasionally abandoned, and re-started from the keynote, or some other note.

Most sequences will pair up each chord with at least 1 more that justifies their existence by being neighbours on the circle.

Another one which uses all 12 root notes is “Have you met Miss Jones”, and in spite of the fact that most of the changes are circle changes, the circle chart above looks a complete mess!

Dusty Springfield’s “In the middle of nowhere” is baffling to some people. For one thing, each stanza has 16 bars, so in simple terms, the first 16 repeats, then leads into the middle 16, then the first 16 again. The first stanza starts as a simple home sequence …

A Dm G C F

then changes down a semitone and does another home sequence

E A Dm G C

then slips down to B & E to lead back, and do it all again, this time it slips into

C# F# B E A

then oddly jumps to B & E to lead back to the beginning.

CHANGING BASSES

If I play a chord, and you play a note that is not part of my chord, you are changing my chord, and there is nothing I can do about it. The most powerful form of this is the changing of a bass note.

Sometimes, you may feel that you need a change of chord, yet there doesn’t seem to be one that suits the occasion. Some of the most interesting variations in the use of simple chords can be obtained simply by choosing a less obvious bass note from one of the other notes in the chord, instead of the root note. Since this chapter only deals with triads, your only options with them so far will be the 3rd or 5th.

The effect is surprisingly effective, and moving the bass note to the 3rd usually reinforces the likelihood that the next move will be a circle change:

For example, if D major is played with a D bass, then again with an F# bass, (thumb work for a guitarist) this leads naturally to a step up the scale - a G chord with a G bass. The change of bass suggests to the listener's ear that the next chord might be one place around the circle, and at the same time, the bass line smooths the chord change.

This change is also reversible: A G chord with a conventional G bass could be followed by a D chord with an F# bass. The next step would probably require the bass to move downwards again, either chromatically to F, or down the scale to E.

What if the bass is on the 5th instead? If a C chord is played with a G bass, it suggests a change backwards around the circle, to some kind of G chord, probably G major.

Now start again with a C chord and C bass. This will work on guitar as well as keyboard, play the bass note then the rest of the chord.

Change to a C chord with a G bass,

then drop the bass down a semitone to Gb (F#) and play a D chord with it.

Follow that with a G chord and G bass.

Then a G chord with the bass on its 3rd, B.

End on a C chord with a C bass.

It is sometimes difficult to believe that what you are hearing is the same chord, but it may have an alternative name when the bass note has changed.

More information about the effects of changing basses can be found with the Chord Chart in Chapter 8, but Handel had worked out most of it by 1759. In popular songs, changing basses downwards in small steps provides one of the most important opportunities to give the music a feeling of direction.

BASS AND CHORD EXERCISE

The following keyboard exercise is related to block harmony on keyboards, but also to bass lines, and will use only the 3 major triads that can be made from white notes - the C major scale, as described above.

Each note can only stay still, or move downwards, never upwards, and the whole thing is guided by the bass note, which goes down the scale at almost every step. This is often harder to do on a fretboard.

The exercise is illustrated in full on its third page, but for now, here it is, line by line.

Start as near as you can to the top of the keyboard.

Find the notes of a C chord, namely C, E and G in that order left to right, the root position of the chord.

Play another C an octave lower with your left hand, as the bass note. (Bass notes don't always have to be very low, as long as they are the lowest note being played.)

Change down to a B bass, and find the chord which has a B in it - the G chord: the new chord will be a different shape or inversion, and the chord will now be made up of the notes B, D & G, in that order left to right.

Now change to an A bass, and an F chord, the notes A, C & F.

With a G bass, you have the option of a C chord or a G chord, use C first.

Now play a G chord with the same bass.

F bass with F chord.

E bass with C chord.

D bass with G chord.

C bass with F chord.

Stay on C bass, but with C chord.

This is identical to the first chord, but an octave lower.

Repeat the whole thing, using the same 3 chords, C G & F, but always changing the notes downwards, if they change at all, until the notes are so low that they sound horrible and messy.

THE PREVIOUS EXERCISE IN ONE SHEET

Without the interruption of the text, you can see the bass note moving to the left, and the chords following it.

PEDALPOINT

Pedalpoint is to chords what a drone is to melody, keeping a single bass note going while the chord moves around. The name arises from organists playing the bass on a pedal keyboard, and in early organs, the pedals were not capable of any fast movement, so they were often held on one note for long periods, while notes on the keyboards changed.

Some grand pianos have a third pedal (the middle one) that provides a way of sustaining a bass note while subsequent notes can change over it.

Pedalpoint is now used in all kinds of music, and since our interest here is mainly popular, here are some examples of open strings on guitars being used as pedal notes:

The Beatles' "Eight Days A Week" (1964) starts with pedalpoint which, if played in the key of A, would involve playing the open A string on guitar through 4-string chords which changed...

A B D A

As we have seen, when the bass note is not the root, it should be written under each chord, like this...

A B D A

A A D

The Who used pedalpoint on the introduction and chorus to "Substitute" (1966): in this instance the D string was repeated through chords played on the top 3 strings...

D A G D

D D

Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" (1972) used several pieces of pedalpoint.

With the increased use of bass-and-chord accompaniments on pianos and other keyboards in popular music from the 1970s, following on from the Beatles, Elton John and the Moody Blues, etc., pedalpoint has been used a lot as a simple left-hand bass part, often staying the same through various chord changes. People like Howard Jones made great use of it.

Phil Collins' version of "Groovy Kind Of Love" used it to great effect by holding the keynote in the bass while the chords changed. “In the air tonight” did the same. Some of his other pedalpoint is less comfortable to me.

The intro to Elton John’s “Your song” is a 3-chord trick with pedalpoint.

Similarly, Bryan Adams' big hit "Everything I do" starts by changing through three chords with a repeated pedalpoint bass on the keynote.

The first part of Celine Dion's hit song "My heart will go on" from the Titanic film is a simple 3-chord sequence, made more interesting by pedalpoint, then changing basses: watch out for the unusual key change.

Many modern dance tracks use pedalpoint, with either a sustained keynote, or bass notes jumping octaves, or a simple bass phrase repeating around the keynote, while the chords move away from the keynote then come back to it.

Some keyboards allow two or more sounds to be combined or layered, so that the bass can have a sustained sound, plus one which is more percussive, to allow the rhythm to be clearer.

A typical sequence in this type of number, beating time on the bass note, would be

Am G F G

or perhaps

A C D C

Around 1994, there were several chart songs which would fit to the sequence...

Em Em C D

and could also work as pedalpoint with an E bass. These included "Absolutely Fabulous", "Get Away", "No Good", & "Mr Vain". With very little alteration, (except to put them into the same key) they can be played as a medley, with a similar backing throughout.

In folk bands, a didgeridoo is sometimes used like a pedalpoint bass, and some players don’t think of it as a note, but it is, and a lot depends on the pitch of the instrument, so try to choose one that is tuned to something useful like E or D. There’s nothing worse than a didgeridoo bass on an unsuitable note.

Sometimes, pedalpoint is not on a note of the main chord, and this can affect the identity or the chord. For more information, see the Chord Chart in Chapter 8.

A little sequence used in many songs moves chords down the D major scale from A …

A G F#m Em

Try it with pedalpoint – an A bass repeated through the whole sequence, using the 5th string if you do it on guitar.

If you play guitar, there is a lot to play with in pedalpoint, and it is nice to have the lowest bass note possible – the bottom E. However, this doesn’t always work so well with the open A string, so a better selection of chords is available for pedalpoint if you tune the bottom string down to D. Try this with some or all of the following chords…

D E A D G C F Bb C D F E Eb D

For the moment, just enjoy experimenting with these, and don’t attempt to understand what the unchanging bass does to the identities of the chords.

Another idea is to use a particular type of capo, which allows you to raise the pitch of the top 5 strings, and leave the open E unchanged, playing these same chord shapes, but pitched a tone higher by the capo.

AN EIGHT-BAR SEQUENCE OR TWO

Two particular songs come to mind that are in minor keys, and share something of the same feel of the mood, lyric metre and melody notes as each other.

“House of the rising sun” (1935) is not as modern as many people think, although most people tend to quote the Animals’ 1964 version, featuring Alan Price’s organ solo.

He claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song “The Rake” about a Soho brothel. It has been banned from some jam sessions because even after all these years, too many guitarists still want to do it. (Much the same can be said of “Stairway to heaven”.) Unfortunately, their original key A is far too high for most singers.

"St. James Infirmary Blues" is also a very old song, based on an 18th century traditional English folk song called “The unfortunate rake”, put into print at least as early as 1906, and in the same 8-bar sort of feel as “rising sun”, which some people say was also based on The Rake.

In fact, you could sing one to the other’s backing and some people wouldn’t think anything of it, there are so many versions of the melodies.

Sounds like a cue for a medley, or a dual-purpose chord sheet, or even a pre-recorded backing.

Throw away your inhibitions and have a go at the following sequence for both songs. The F7 should really be F9b12… !

Em G A C7 Em G F#m7 F7

Em G A C7 Em B7 Em

It works very well in a driving rock 8-beat rhythm.

DIMINISHED TRIADS

The idea of a diminished triad is that it starts off like a major triad, then the chord is “closed in” so that all the intervals from the root note to the other notes are diminished (made smaller) by one semitone.

Play a major triad in root position on a keyboard with your right hand, with the thumb on the root note, then pull the fingers towards the thumb.

For example, a C major triad includes the notes C, E & G but a C diminished triad has C, Eb & Gb.

Another way of arriving at the notes of the diminished triad is to take a minor triad and flatten the 5th.

The main application for a diminished triad on its own is just briefly to provide harmony and tension before resolving it back to the major triad. This idea dates back to Mozart and beyond.

Anyway, this type of diminished chord is really not of much practical use, the large interval from Gb to the C above cries out for another note, and after Mozart, most diminished chords will (as we will see in Chapter 4) benefit from that.

REVERSE CIRCLE SEQUENCES

A grumpy musician once told me that Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" displayed a complete lack of respect for the rules of music, playing chords the wrong way around the circle, and using uneven numbers of bars.

So what? She produced a quite haunting effect, whether she knew the rules or not, and she probably made more money than he ever did, so if it works, there should be no rules to prevent you doing whatever sounds good!

Going backwards around the circle is quite unusual, because it doesn't seem to sound natural, but it is an effect, and who can dispute the success of the song?

For my inspiration, I turn to that infamous den of anarchy, Playschool: - "Clap, clap, clap if you feel you want to"!

Rules in music are useful, but nothing is set in stone, and if, in your opinion, it works, then everything else is irrelevant. Other people may have different opinions.

Having said that, if you want to learn how to come up with something reasonably musical, it is much easier if you know the rules first.

Then again, if you want to be a revolutionary, how can you break the rules if you don't know what they are?

BLIND ALLEY

Some Victorian and Edwardian songs make a brief reverse turn from the dominant chord (5) to the supertonic (2), then back again, almost implying that a key change is about to happen, then cancelling it…

“I think I’ll… no I won’t!”

This “blind alley” idea dates back much further - three centuries to Charpentier and others.

C G D G

1914 “I’ll take you home again Kathleen”.

1919 “How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm”.

“Never smile at a crocodile” uses a similar idea, but it is applied differently, to bring the middle back to the original key.

As for reverse or anti-clockwise circle changes, they are not common, although they are becoming more popular since the 1970s, and that in itself is interesting.

For example, Bryan Adams' "Everything I do" has 7 chords in a row, all reverse circle changes. Can you find them?

Noel Gallagher’s “Wonderwall” starts on E minor, then goes to G, D A, although holding to G on the top string in a rather Dylan-ish way.

The first section of “Mad world” (1982) also starts on Em then goes to G, and back through the circle to D and A.

Green Day “Boulevard of broken dreams” uses the same sequence.

An older example is Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe", which repeatedly uses the chords

C G D A E

A complete song based on reverse changes on the circle. Short sequences like Arethra Franklin’s “Save me”, or "Gloria" or "Ghostbusters" use just 3 chords adjacent to each other on the circle, but (in a similar way) working anticlockwise...

E E D A leading anticlockwise back to E

"Fly away" by Lenny Kravitz does a similar thing, but shorter. "Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on heaven's door" does this in 2 smaller groups of chords...

G D Am

G D and then C (leading anticlockwise to G)

“Rise” is similar, and a lot of “Easy like Sunday morning” can be played that way too.

"Time warp" from the Rocky Horror Show uses reverse circle changes for the line "Let's do the time warp again".

F C G D A

TV’s “The Sweeney” uses a clever little trick where each 8-bar sequence is in a different key, moving backwards around the circle, so it starts off in the unusual choice of Eb minor, and ends up in G minor. No fun for guitarists, and a lot of people might prefer to start in C minor, and end on E minor.

SUGAR AND SPICE

“NICE” can be a good word, or it can be a very weak, over-used word, and if you set out to produce “nice” sounds in all of your music, there is a very real danger that it becomes TOO nice!

“Nice” means being easy, relaxing and comfortable, and… predictable, so the best way to achieve this is to choose a set of notes, which constrict not only the melody, but every single note that is played anywhere. Chords and harmonies must not stray from the same set of notes. Accidentals are banned. Sequences must change in a relaxed, predictable way, so there is no tension, nothing to surprise the listener. Some circle sequences are possible, or chords stepping up or down the scale.

Relaxing music which doesn’t surprise or excite.

In other words, country and western?

Or do it along a minor scale, and you have the typical model for a relaxation CD.

Music needs a bit of spice sometimes, so how do we achieve it?

Stravinsky is perhaps a good example of the other end of the spectrum, where huge tracts of random notes seem to be aimed at shocking the listener, and clashing with each other on purpose. Try reaching out to a keyboard, and grabbing a couple of handfuls of notes at random. I have known two musicians who used this technique to find sounds, then write down the ones they like. This, of course, is subjective, and the whole approach is based on the idea that a chord is important in itself, whereas many musicians would argue that a chord only has value if it leads well to another chord.

On a more reasonable level, Oscar Peterson talked of “moments of tension” in music, where the listener’s ear is suddenly surprised, and attention is drawn to what may seem like a mistake, or may not lead where we think it should.

Throwing in an unexpected (and slightly uncomfortable) chord can have that effect, and it does catch the listener’s attention, even if they have no knowledge of the theory behind it. Then, it is important to resolve the problem, so that it seems to make sense after all, and soon leads logically to somewhere more comfortable.

Without these moments of tension, music can all too easily become predictable, boring and expressionless, but a decision has to be made about how much of this tension is right for you.

Stravinsky? Or Country & Western? Or somewhere in between?

RELATIVES ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!

The scales used with A minor are often identical to those of C major, and their relationship is so close that they are known as RELATIVES. More specifically,

A minor is the RELATIVE MINOR of C, and

C major is the RELATIVE MAJOR of A minor.

In printed music, the key signatures are usually the same.

Chromatically, the root notes of relatives are 3 semitones apart.

On the circle, their roots are 3 places apart.

Because those chords (and other similar pairs) are so alike, they are often used in chord changes, in one of two ways:

by replacing one with the other, or

by changing from one to the other.

You could insert an Am in front of the C in any sequence, adding an extra change, but allowing it to continue on as it would have done before. If you replace a C major chord with an A minor chord, or move from C to Am, this allows the chord sequence to move on easily to some kind of D chord. This is especially useful with endings: when the melody reaches what should be the final key-note, play the relative minor chord instead of the usual major. This leads easily to a further circle sequence to get back to the end again. The process is often used twice.

If a melody is on the root note of the major chord, a softer effect can often be achieved by substituting the relative minor chord instead. For example, a G note with a G chord may feel softer if Em is used instead, so the bass is not the same as the melody note. Conversely, if an E melody is used by an Em chord, it may be worth considering a G bass, or a G chord.

EXERCISE:

Make a circle change to a major triad.

Change down to its relative minor.

Repeat until you get back to the original chord.

Then, move up a semitone and repeat.

RELATIVES OF THE 3-CHORD TRICK

We have seen that a 3-chord trick consists of major triads that are adjacent to each other on the circle.

Another feature of this little set of chords is the fact that they are the only 3 major triads that can be found in the notes of one major scale.

The obvious example on keyboard is the white notes for a C major scale, and the only major triads in there are C, F & G.

If we add the option of minor triads formed from white notes, they are Am, Dm and Em.

These are also the relative minors of the major triads on that scale, so we have a useful set of 6 chords that work well together.

Placing them in alphabetical order, we have...

Am C Dm Em F G

They are more useful in circle order…

Em Am Dm G C F

You can change almost anywhere in this group, but try making some home sequences with them. It's a kind of 6-chord trick, giving you all sorts of options for more interesting sequence without straying from the major scale, because all the chords use notes of the same major scale.

Here is the same set of chords for guitar, and although they are listed here in circle order, you can experiment with playing them in any order.

These 6 chords are extremely useful, you can construct Home and/or Away sequences with them, and although they will work reasonably well in almost any order, you should start by experimenting with circle sequences that only use this part of the circle, with these particular chords.

The obvious, well-used one is known as a “1 6 2 5” because of the positions of the root notes in the scale…

C Am Dm G

or there is the “Heart and soul” option, using F instead of Dm, “1 6 4 5”…

C Am F G

Another popular one is like “If I had a hammer”, “1 3 4 5”…

C Em F G

This set of chords is the basis of endless pop and country songs from the fifties and sixties.

Other examples which include this type of sequence...

1957 Paul Anka's "Diana".

1962 Neil Sedaka's "Breakin' up is hard to do".

1978 "Don't it make my brown eyes blue"

1979 "Y.M.C.A."

1984 "Last Christmas".

1985 "Saving all my love" Whitney Houston.

1988 "Beautiful South's "Sail this ship alone”.

1992 “I will always love you" - Dolly Parton's song that provided a hit for

Whitney Houston.

As an exercise, try to think of a convenient way of getting from F back to Em.

You could just change straight to it, by going down a semitone, or perhaps you can find a more interesting route. Now, you can play the whole set of 6 chords endlessly.

Em Am Dm G

C F Em Am

Dm G C F etc.

Now, look at using this set of chords to provide block harmony. It gives you another set of options in any simple tune that stays on the scale.

What sometimes happens is that a circle sequence suddenly drops three semitones, leading to a further 3 steps around the circle to get back to where it was. This is a useful way of extending a circle sequence to make it longer and more interesting, and as described above, it is often done by going from a major to its relative minor: a G chord, instead of leading to C, goes to Em, then A, D, then back to G.

AUGMENTED TRIADS

Augmented triads, written down as a root note followed by a plus sign, are like Major triads, except that the 5th is raised a semitone, so the interval from the 1st to the 5th is augmented - made larger. The 3rd remains unchanged.

Technically, the interval from the root note to the new note could be described as a minor 6^th, but for this chord, we regard it as an augmented 5th.

The tension in an augmented chord is most often resolved by a circle change, and it is very useful for creating the feeling that the chord is going to change around the circle, especially if the melody hovers around the 7^th note of the major scale.

An interesting by-product of the arrangement of the notes is that they are all equally spaced, in the sense that the interval between any note of the chord and the next is the same. Such chords are known as SYMMETRICAL CHORDS, and augmented triads have all the notes spaced 4 semitones apart, so the whole chord is made up of major 3rds, even if you repeat it all through the range of an instrument.

Try that series of notes on your instrument. It takes a lot of thought on a fretboard.

A further effect of the symmetry is that just by changing the bass to another note of the chord, you can completely change the identity of the chord, a sort of musical hyperdrive. In terms of chord sequences, this means that by changing the bass note, you can imply that the chord will go to a different part of the circle.

For example, G+ is made up of the notes G, B and D#.

The chord G+ suggests a change to some kind of C chord.

By changing the bass to B, the G+ chord becomes B+, and suggests a change to some kind of E chord, so it can take you to E minor.

By changing the bass to Eb, the chord becomes Eb+, and suggests a change to some kind of Ab chord, a possible route for going up a semitone from G to G# or Ab, although it is rarely used.

The only normal scale that fits an augment triad is the Harmonic Minor scale, but the notes of the chord will be found at the 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of the scale. For this reason, G+ will lead easily to C minor, but it is only a slight change of just one note, and without the bass notes, it is not a strong change.

Did an augmented 5th happen in Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou", or did I imagine it? I auditioned for a band in the sixties, they played the song: I added an augmented 5th, and they liked it so much, I got the gig!

The instrumental section of Randy Crawford's "One day I'll fly away" creates a variation by augmenting the second chord.

Augmented chords often go well with wholetone scales, so try to create these rare opportunities for improvising bits of melody that run up and down in wholetones.

Two important uses for augmented triads are really the same, but in reverse:

Play a C major triad, then raise the 5th a semitone so that it becomes a C+. Now raise the same note another semitone so it becomes an inversion of A minor. Rimsky Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” used this a long time ago.

Now try the other way, starting on A minor, then flattening the A in the chord to Ab, making it Ab+, then again to G, making it a C major.

The next step is to take the note down again, to the minor 6th, which we will look at in chapter 4.

Old standards in minor keys, such as Irving Berlin's "Blue skies", are often improved by the idea, although Berlin himself would not have been capable of playing it like that!

This sequence is so popular, it has become the favourite thing to do when a minor chord goes on too long, and needs to be made more interesting, whether it's in jazz or popular songs. Of course, one can have too much of a good thing!

Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to heaven" begins with this little trick.

"My funny valentine" thrives on it.

You can also join the two ideas together...

C C+ Am C+ C

Or keep going up, to a 4-note chord - the 7th.

C C+ Am C7

Examples include

Buddy Holly's "Rainin' in my heart"

The Dave Clark Five's "Because"

The Spice Girls' "Too much".

A more unusual way of achieving an augmented triad is to start from a major triad, then flatten the 1st and 3rd notes, leaving the 5th where it is. As we will see in Chapter 5, this provides a useful lead-in to a 9th chord.

MINOR AUGMENTED

It is perfectly possible to augment the 5th on a minor triad as well, and although they are not commonly mentioned or written down in that way, they do occur.

Strictly speaking, raising the 5th of a minor triad creates an inversion of a Major triad, rooted on the new note. For example, Am+ is really F major with an A bass.

Frankie Laine’s “Make me a child again” (1959) begins with a sequence that alternates between minor and minor augmented, almost sounding like the Death March.

In this keyboard diagram, we see a Cm chord, then it is augmented, then the same note goes up another semitone to produce a minor 6th chord (see Chapter 4) then back again.

This is much the same process we used in the previous page with an augment major triad.

Before Michael Buble’s strange version, “Cry me a river” used a minor, then augmented it, then raised the same note again (making a minor 6th).

This guitar tab in E minor shows that is the basis of the backing for the James Bond Theme. Genrally, the note can be raised again (minor 7th). These chords will be explained in Chapter 4.

SUSPENDED FOURTH (sus4 or s4 or simply sus)

The idea of a suspended note is that it creates tension, by hanging or dangling in an uncomfortable position, waiting to be resolved by moving the note (usually downwards) to create a more stable chord.

The suspended 4th is created in an unusual way, by moving the 3rd of a chord upwards to the position of the 4th, removing the 3rd from the chord.

It doesn’t matter if the chord was major or minor, it is now a sus4.

This is an unusual chord, it doesn’t have an interval of a 3rd at the bottom end.

The tension is resolved by simply moving the 4th back to a 3rd…

D Dsus4 D Dus4 D or

Dm Dsus4 Dm Dsus4 Dm

Although I can’t recall it being used, this could also provide a way of going from major to minor, or minor to major…

D Dsus4 Dm Dsus4 D

Dm Dsus4 D Dsus4 Dm

Experiment by making up any sequence of major and minor triads.

Then, start each bar with a sus4 before turning it into the major or minor triad.

The best way to approach this is to find the most comfortable sus4 chords on your instrument.

Perhaps one of the most familiar modern uses of sus4 is the intro to Michael Jackson’s “Black or white”, and if you play this in D on a guitar, the usual open D chord is modified by playing on the 3rd fret of the 1st string, instead of the usual 2nd fret. The intro continues by going back to the D chord, then removing the finger from the 1st string, so it it plays an open E. Then go back to the D chord. The in-between chord is neither major nor minor, and as we will see in Chapter 4, it could be described as a simplified form of Dsus2, which we will look at in Chapter 4.

Similar things can be done with the A chord on guitar, by moving around the 2nd string, and these changes have featured in several records around the sixties, including “Needles and pins”, “Things”, and “When my little girl is smiling”.

INHERENT KEY CHANGES

Some songs are designed in such a way that they include a key change, so if you repeat them you can easily find yourself wandering from one key to another. Songs like that are a very interesting subject for practice, but need care and attention when played in public. Another interesting aspect of these is that in stating the key, there is an argument about whether it is the starting key or the finishing key!

For example, “Unforgettable” (1951) lives up to its title for anyone who plays by ear, because it ends a 4th higher than the starting key, so Nat King Cole’s version starts off being in F, but ends in Bb. Unless you create some means of changing back to the original key, every repeat will be in a different key, impossible for singers. Some of the written chords are also terrible!

“Laura” (1945) is not only a face in the misty night, she is inclined to lead you into a different key. If you start it in G, you will find yourself ending up in C.

“How high the moon” (1949) uses similar changes, but is cleverly engineered to return to its original key. “Call me” (1966) does something very similar.

ANCHOR NOTES

An anchor note is one that remains the same when the chord changes, so it is part of both chords, and with a bit of luck, you may be able to keep a finger ANCHORED on that note, and pivot the hand around it, to help you feel your way onto the next chord. The Hammond Organ Company produced a whole series of tuition books based on anchor notes, but this was not a new idea, and it applies to guitars and other instruments as well as keyboards. Some chord changes have more than one note in common, and if you can find the right inversions, anchor notes also make the music flow more smoothly, because you don't have to let go of every note when you change.

Some of John Williams’ film themes make great use of anchor notes, “Can you read my mind” for example, from “Superman”.

Have you ever played a word game where you start with a word, then change just one letter to make a new word, and so on? As an exercise, try doing a similar thing with chords, changing one note at a time, by one semitone, to make a new chord.

The anchor note is often the melody as well, so the melody note continues through a change of chord, in fact one simple way of designing a different chord change is to go to a chord which contains at least one anchor note from the previous chord, ideally the melody note. A useful exercise is to start with a major triad, and change to another which has one note in common. For example, if you start with C, it had 3 notes, so choose which note you want to keep, then change the other 2 to form a new major triad. For each anchor note, there are 2 new chords you could decide on. C could change to F or Ab. Each of these could go to one of 2 chords, and so on.

For each starting triad, there are 3 notes that you could choose to keep, so in a C major triad (CEG) you could keep the C and change to F or Ab. Or you could keep the E and change to E or A. Or keep the G and change to G or Eb. That results in 6 different chords you could end up on, just in one change…

C A

C Ab

C E

C Eb

C F

C G

That’s 36 possible routes in 2 changes…

C A C

C A D

C A Db

C A E

C A F

C A F#

C Ab B

C Ab C

C Ab Db

C Ab E

C Ab Eb

C Ab F

C E A

C E Ab

C E B

C E C

C E Db

C E G

C Eb Ab

C Eb B

C Eb Bb

C Eb C

C Eb F#

C F A

C F Ab

C F Bb

C F C

C F D

C F Db

C G B

C G Bb

C G C

C G D

C G E

C G Eb

…or 216 in 3 changes. Of course, a lot of the ending chords will be the same, but arrived at by different routes.

If you want a challenging exercise in music reading, look at the left-hand chords of Chopin’s Prelude No.4 in E minor. (The inspiration for Jobim’s “How insensitive”.) After the initial E minor chord in the first inversion, (G B E like the top strings of a guitar) flatten the G, then the E, then keep the Eb while the Gb and B become F and A. Then Eb down to D. A down to Ab. F down to E. Ab down to G. D down to Db. And so on!

Here is the first part, written in terms of lists of notes, followed by chord symbols:

G B E = Em

Gb B E = Bsus4

Gb B Eb = B

F A Eb = F7

F A D = Dm

F Ab D = Fm6

E Ab D = E7

E G D = Em7

E G Db = Edim

The right-hand melody contributes to the chords, some of which are more advanced than we are dealing with in this chapter.

One of Chopin’s nocturnes uses a simple idea which can be repeated as an exercise in anchor notes. Play any major triad with a bass note on the root, and the 5^th as the melody. Take the melody up a semitone, and change the chord to one rooted on the new melody note. Move the bass as well. Now keep the melody note, but do a circle change for the chord and bass.

Take the melody up a semitone again, and change the chord to one rooted on the new melody note. Move the bass as well. Now keep the melody note, but do a circle change for the chord and bass. Repeat until you get back to the original chord for the second time.

C Ab Db A D Bb Eb B E C F Db Gb D G Eb Ab E A F Bb Gb B C

ANCHOR NOTES FOR KEY CHANGE

Anchor notes are also useful when you are changing key. Suppose you are playing a song in C, and want to just use major triads. The song ends on a C chord, which also has an E and a G in it. Most songs end on the key-note.

There are two other major triads with a C in them, namely F and Ab. Using one of these after the C chord can lead you easily onto Bb or Db.

Going back to the C chord, there are two other major triads with an E in them, E and A. These can lead to A or D.

Going back to the C chord, there are two other major triads with a G in them, G and Eb. These can lead to back C or onwards to Ab.

=====

Looking at this diagram, we see that Anchor notes can provide very convenient changes from C to E, A, G, F, Eb, or Ab.

By changing in this way, from C through a second chord to one of those six major chords, you can keep a finger on an anchor note, and yet produce an interesting chord change.

Practise all these changes, putting in root notes as the basses, then try again with different bass notes in smaller steps, to try to smooth the changes over.

Next, start on your new major chord, and work out which six chords you can change to, rotating the diagram as a guide.

For example, here we see anchor changes from Eb, which can lead to G, C, Bb, Ab, F# or B. Imagine you have just come to Eb from C. This means that doing just 2 consecutive changes with anchor notes can take you to anywhere you want to go on the circle. Think of any two major triads, and work out how you can change from one to the other within two steps, using an anchor note each time.

Try to put together a sequence of eight major triads, with a different anchor note at each change, ending on the chord you started on. Experiment with anchor notes on other types of triad, and see how many interesting changes you can find.

Write another sequence of eight triads, but try to keep each anchor note going for as many changes as possible. Examples of interesting key changes based on anchor notes can be found in many popular songs, as well as great orchestral works, for example...

Bernstein's "Tonight" from West Side Story uses anchor notes to create key changes.

"On my own" from Les Miserables uses anchor notes to create key changes.

When you are accompanying singers or melody instruments, it is always a challenge to find some interesting chords to play while the final note is held. The ending note of Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen" ties together a sequence of major chords that go up and down in semitones, with the melody note modifying them by staying the same.

As an exercise, play a major triad. Move up a semitone to a minor triad, so the 3rd stays the same, and provides an anchor note. Change it to a Major triad, and repeat.

On guitar, this is easier with bar chords.

These anchor notes can also be used in exactly the same way to mislead the listener into thinking the key has changed, or is going to change. If a section of a song in the key of C ends on the note B, the obvious choice is a G chord, but sometimes an E chord is used instead, to give the impression of a key change, before ignoring that chord and going back to a C chord.

ANCHOR EXERCISES

Practise the following chord changes:

Try to find the anchor notes.

Carefully choose inversions that help you to keep the anchor notes going for as long as possible.

C F Db

C F A

C F D

C F Ab

C F Bb F#

C F Bb Eb

C F Bb D

C F Bb G

C F Bb Db F#

C F Bb Db F

C F Bb Db E

C F Bb Db Ab

C F Bb Db A F

C F Bb Db A D

C F Bb Db A F#

C F Bb Db A C

C F Bb Db A E C

C F Bb Db A E Db

C F Bb Db A E Ab

C F Bb Db A E B

C F Bb Db A E G Eb

C F Bb Db A E G C

C F Bb Db A E G D

C F Bb Db A E G Bb

C F Bb Db A E G B

PASSING CHORDS

Passing chords are little sequences, usually 4 chords used to smooth over long gaps in melodies, especially between the end of the song and a return to repeat it from the beginning.

In that situation, they may be known as a “turn-around” although some people use that term differently.

There are often 4 chords, 2 beats each. Often, they are related to home sequences on the circle, and will want to lead towards the starting chord of the song, or the next part of the song.

A typical set of 4 passing chords in the key of to C might well start with C, so the bass is likely to leap from C to a point on the circle from which 3 steps will lead back to C.

In other words, the most common and predictable root notes, or bass line, would be

C A D G

and the most common sequences of chords would be

C A D G

C Am D G

C Am Dm G

C A Dm G

As you progress through this course, you will find more candidates for passing chords.

If a melody note is being held through these changes, you must bear it in mind, and choose a chord that does not clash with the melody.

It will affect your options, and you may end up with a completely different sequence, by using the melody as an anchor note.

THE CIRCLE OF INSTRUMENTS

Another use for the circle is to show the most convenient keys for various types of instrument:

Having said that, more complex songs can go through so many chords and scales that it doesn’t matter so much what key you start in.

Keyboard instruments (such as piano) are laid out in the key of C, and for simple music, the area near the top of the circle (G, C & F) is easiest and most comfortable for them.

Flutes and recorders also prefer the same keys, as do the xylophone family.

Although some fiddle

Brass and woodwind

players will not admit

instruments are so-

to having easy keys,

called “transposing

or favourite keys,

instruments”, often

guitars and most

designed to be

stringed instruments

played most

are tuned to notes

conveniently in flat

found on the left of

keys such as

the circle, and prefer

Bb, Eb or Ab:

scales and chords

They have their

such as E, A, D and

music written down

G, the sharp keys.

as if that key is C.

Younger musicians

Older musicians are

are often more used

often more used to

to sharp keys.

flat keys.

Beginners on saxophone are taught where to find the note called “C”, and often have to learn at a later date that it is different to other people’s C!

Brass and saxes tend to prefer flat keys, on the right of the circle, but music from the big band era often seems to like to go back to a convenient piano key at the top, such as G or C, for the bridge, before making its way back around the circle to the original key.

It’s as if the bridge was always intended to be played on piano.

Listening to various versions of "Dream a little dream of me", (1931) the old ones like Ella, Satchmo, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, do it the other way around.

If played in G, they change to Bb7, leading into a midde 8 in Eb, and end the middle 8 by going down a semitone to D7, which leads back to G.

The more modern versions by Mama Cass or Beautiful South have done something very strange, they take the whole middle 8 up a semitone higher than it should be.

This results in a change that is much more like conventional standards, but it is technically wrong.

They have to compensate by ending the middle with 2 steps down in semitones.

It should be fairly obvious that when guitarists get together with brass and woodwind players, someone has to play in awkward keys, and they often compromise by going for the keyboard area around C, at the top of the circle.

The keys at the bottom of the circle are unpopular with almost everybody, and mainly used for the so-called "pub pianist" style, which is based on the black notes, and which earned Irving Berlin a great deal of money.

There are, of course, many good musicians playing in pubs!

USING THE CIRCLE FOR TRANSPOSING

If you want to use the notes of a melody in a different key, this can be done by inspecting every note, and changing it up or down a certain number of semitones.

In the case of chord symbols, you don't need to work out all the individual notes to write it down, just change the root notes.

The circle provides an alternative way of transposing, by moving around the circle a certain number of steps, clockwise or anti-clockwise.

This is often easier to picture, and at the same time, having an image of where the chords are placed in relation to each other on the circle gives you some idea how difficult the sequence is likely to be.

This technique can be used to find a key that allows all the chords to be played as far away as possible from the bottom of the circle.

If you are a guitarist, you may, instead, want to find a set of chords on the left of the circle.

Brass and saxes can use the same technique to stay away from the left-hand side.

CHORDS ALONG THE MAJOR SCALE

One of the obvious ways of finding chords is by listening out for the key-note or the scale, because that tells us the most likely set of notes for the chords.

Using only the notes that exist in a major scale, it is possible to make useful chord sequences, simply by moving the chords along the scale.

This, again, will be mainly based on the 3-chord trick and its relative minors.

“The folk singer” moves upwards from the tonic major, so in C, it begins

C Dm Em Dm

The Beatles’ “Here, there and everywhere” uses a similar effect…

C Dm Em F

Cher’s “All I really want to do” goes downwards repeatedly…

F Em Dm C

Georgie Fames’ “Sweet thing” uses the same chords, starting in a different place…

C F Em Dm

This sequence appears in many big band swing arrangements and spirituals.

Jazz players often use this route to get from C to Em, then go around the circle.

C F Em Am Dm G C

Some of these ideas work very well with pedalpoint, by holding the bass on a C or G.

There are many other ways of using the same chords, so experiment with them.

BASS GOING DOWN THE SCALE

Another idea is to move the bass down the scale, starting from the key-note, and use notes of the scale to make a chord to fit between the bass and the melody. The bass notes give clues as to which chord might be suitable at any given moment. The second chord is likely to be the dominant major triad. The chord has to fit in with the bass line as well as the melody.

This simple little trick for building a chord sequence dates back at least as far as J.S. Bach, whose "Air on the G string", originally written around 1750, was arranged in 1871 as a piece in its own right. It was adapted for jazz piano by Jacques Loussier in the 1960s, and is better known as the Hamlet advert, or more recently the backing for "Everything's gonna be alright". Procol Harum's "Whiter shade of pale" seems to try to imitate it. My ears still hurt when I think back to tuning their piano in mid-rehearsal!

Pachelbell’s Canon does the same kind of changes, with the addition of the 10th above the bass line, so try this: Play a C bass on a keyboard, with an E melody note an octave and a 3rd higher. Now move them both slowly down the scale, one step at a time.

“God gave rock’n’roll to us” (Kiss, 1992) mainly copies Pachelbell but deviates at the end of the sequence. Most of the chords can be quite simple, staying within a major scale, and they depend on the fact that the bass starts on the keynote, and then goes down the scale one step at a time. I've lost count of the number of popular songs that have used this as a starting point, and even though some of them don't play the bass in that way, they still follow the same sequence.

In 1996 alone, for example, "Give me a little more time", "Lemon tree" and "Nobody knows" were big hits which all used it, and are very similar sequences, in fact they would almost blend into one backing, but for the rhythm and tempo differences.

“Don’t look back in anger” is such a strong song that many more advanced-chord versions have appeared, but the Oasis original uses a bass line going down the scale. See how many more examples you can find, and “I'll see you when you get there”!

Can't help falling in love with you

As I love you

I'll never fall in love again

Let it be

Let it be me

Whiter shade of pale

You were always on my mind

Let it be me

I’ll see you when you get there

1980 "The winner takes it all" by ABBA.

1982 "Where everybody knows your name" - the "Cheers theme uses the first part of the same sequence.

1986 "I dreamed a dream" from "Les Miserables".

1988 "Somewhere along the road" by Rick Kemp, recorded by Maddy Prior.

1992 “God gave rock’n’roll to us”

1996 "Give me a little more time"

1996 "Lemon tree"

1996 "Nobody knows"

“Don’t look back in anger”

“Wake me up when September comes”

2011 “Take a chance” (JLS) uses just 4 bars on a similar principle.

BASS LINE DOWN IN SEMITONES

Another idea for constructing chord sequences is to take the bass line down in semitones.

C G Gm A

C B Bb A

“Rainy days and Mondays”

C B+ Gm A Fm G C

C B Bb A Ab G C

“Too close for comfort”.

Experiment with taking the bass down in semitones, while the melody goes up in semitones, or up the scale.

It will involve some chords we have not dealt with yet!

WALKING BASS

Back in the fifties and sixties, bass players were running up and down the notes of a chord, a simple form of boogie, as they do in blues and rock’n’roll. This is not a walking bass.

Sometimes a bass line has a little tune of its own, then simply moves that tune around to different starting notes as the chord changes. This is not walking bass.

As the name implies, the kind of walking bass that is used in jazz swing will “walk” around in small steps, usually no more than a wholetone, and is almost always associated with 4 beats in the bar, in swing or tied triplets, so the basic form has 4 bass notes in each bar. Although straightforward in rhythm, it requires a lot of thought and practice.

As a simple beginning, play the root note of the chord as the first beat of the bar. Walking bass does not repeat a note, it keeps moving in small steps, often semitones. Here is a very simple example, in which there are 2 chords in each bar,

C A D G

so 2 beats on each chord. In the first bar, play the C bass on the first beat, then use the next note to “walk” towards the root note of the next chord – A. You could use the note B in this specific instance, but let’s look at a more general rule. With so little time, and only one note to work with, you will probably have to choose a note just one semitone away from the A, so either Ab or Bb. Technically, if you go down to the A you should use Bb then A. If you go upwards to the A, you should use Ab then A. However, this is one of those rules that often deserves to be broken.

Then play the A, and use your last note in the bar to walk towards the next chord, D. If you are going up to D, use Db, or if you go down, use Eb. Then play D, and walk towards G, using Gb or Ab as your stepping stone. Finally, choose a note that will lead easily back to C to repeat the whole thing. In terms of note names, there are 8 ways of playing this exercise, namely…

C Ab A Db D Gb G B

C Ab A Db D Gb G Db

C Ab A Eb D Ab G B

C Ab A Eb D Ab G Db

C Bb A Db D Gb G B

C Bb A Db D Gb G Db

C Bb A Eb D Ab G B

C Bb A Eb D Ab G Db

Practise these slowly, one line after another, and then choose lines at random.

Another useful walking bass exercise for bass guitar uses the sequence…

Bb G C F

Start on the higher Bb, the 3^rd fret on the 1^st string.

Next, move to the 4^th string (E) and, having played the open string, go up in semitones to the 3^rd fret G.

Then move to the 3^rd string and do the same.

Move to the 2^nd string and do the same.

Finally, move to the 1^st string and do the same, and when you arrive at Bb, repeat the whole exercise.

WALKING FURTHER

If the chord remains unchanged for the whole bar, then having played the root note, you have 3 beats available for walking bass, and each of these completely ignores the chord you are on now, heading towards the chord that will start the next bar, moving in small steps such as semitones or wholetones, usually along the scale. Circle changes such as C to F are the most common ones you will need to deal with and, as before, you will either walk upwards or downwards.

The most common upward movement simply works in semitones, but not from the first note, you have to think backwards from your target note. For example, going up towards F, you need 3 notes, so use D Eb E. This is very handy because it uses the minor and major third notes, so it works equally well for minor or major chords.

You can apply the same logic going downwards, and play C Ab G Gb F, but it is more common (and more musical) to play C A G Gb F, or C Bb A G F, the most popular option.

Chord changes going down 3 semitones are also very common, such as F to D. The problem here is that there is not enough space to put 3 different notes in, so you may have to opt for F F E Eb D, although repeating notes is not ideal.

Instead of repeating the same F, you could go up or down an octave, and this may help you if your bass is starting to walk off too far in either direction.

Another choice is F E Eb Db D.

Going upwards from F to D means you can use semitones, F B C Db D.

Or, play up the notes of the F chord, F A C then Db D.

Work out the next circle change from D to G, then another from G back to C, and repeat the whole exercise.

Try to find as many different ways of doing it as you can.

WALKING WITH A FLAIR

Playing just four notes in each bar may sound boring, but it gives a solid, reliable beat for other players to bounce off, especially when improvisation wants to play “across” the beat. If you want to work on making your walking bass more interesting and complete in itself, you will need to throw in an occasional upbeat at random. Try just tapping a straight beat with one hand, and occasionally throwing in a beat with the other hand. Jazz drummers often do a similar thing, playing a straight beat on the cymbal, but throwing in occasional upbeats on snare.

On a bass guitar, the beats will usually be downwards but with the occasionally upbeat between. That can be done by taking the previous note up or down an octave, which may help you if the walking bass is walking too high, or so low it is in danger of running out of notes.

On a keyboard, right-handed players may find this very difficult to do in the left hand, I certainly do, and if I am playing walking bass on a keyboard, I prefer to do it with my best hand, and that can get awkward.

TENOR LINES

Sometimes, there is a fairly low-pitched line which is not as low as the bass: this is known as a TENOR LINE. In a choir, anything the tenors sing can be described as a "tenor line" but, here, we are talking about something else. Often, music will include...

1) A "top line" or melody

2) A bass line, and

3) Somewhere in the middle, there may be another important line, often moving slowly in simple steps, which may modify the chord, or emphasise a change in the chord.

This is the TENOR LINE, and when no convenient anchor notes are available, it often provides a way of tying chords together neatly. For example, TLC’s “Waterfalls” in the key of D would have the chords…

D A C G

Although there are fixed anchor notes available, there is also a useful sequence of notes going down in semitones from D, which provide a useful tenor line to smooth out the changes. Guitarists can find these on the 2nd string.

Trombone players in jazz bands are often playing tenor lines, which also occur commonly as an extra decoration in an organist's left hand part, or somewhere between the thumbs in piano chord work.

Tenor lines often move about between the 5th and 9th notes of the scale, or downwards in semitones, but the chord is not always changed, and even if it is, the bass often clings to the root note. Such lines can often be doubled up with a 3^rd or 10^th above them.

We have already seen how augmented chords help us to move between relative major and minor triads, and the changing note, moving in semitones, will often be an important part of the over-all sound, played quite strongly as a tenor line.

Don’t run away with the idea that tenor lines are old-fashioned, for example, Norah Jones’ “Don’t know why” uses one that runs down in semitones from the 7th note of the major scale. A similar, older idea involves a tenor line going down in semitones from the 6th note of the scale. In the key of C, the notes go down from A, and the chords would be…

F Fm C D Dm

This appears with slight variations in “That’s my home”, “Glad rag doll”, “Sleepy time down south” and other old standards.

EXPANDING A CHORD SEQUENCE

There is a process that has several stages, but most people do not go through all these stages.

First, try to find out the chords that were originally used for the song. You may be able to do this by listening to it, or by reading the chords, or following the actual notes on a music sheet.

Next, you will need to study the melody in detail, and check that the chords you have found will not clash with the melody. The most effective way to do this is to play the melody and chord close together on an instrument.

Having satisfied yourself that the chords work with the melody, you may decide to add a little more spice to a song by choosing chords that give more impact to the melody, and perhaps add a little more tension here and there. This is often done by effectively changing the key signature so as to use a different set of notes to accompany the same note, instead of just using the obvious notes of the main scale.

In jazz, or improvisation of any kind, the next step is to create new melodies to fit the expanded chord sequence.

There are many degrees to this process, and it is certainly an area where one man’s meat is another man’s poison. In the jazz world especially, many musicians love to take this to extremes, so that a familiar tune begins to take on some very strange and haunting nuances. Whereas we started by making sure the chords did not clash with the melody, there is now an extreme where clashing is regarded as desirable to some people. I like a little tension here and there, but we all have our limits. This often applies to church organ parts, when the last verse of a hymn or carol suddenly plunges into shocking discords.

Chords are usually paired, so ideally, it should be possible to look at any chord in a sequence and understand either where it came from, or where it is going to, so try to think how you can improve this, especially if the change seems random. Suppose you start off the process with a song that spends several bars on C, then several on F.

One way of making this fuller and more interesting is to think about a chord that might follow the C.

The other is to think of a chord that might precede the F.

Using just what we have learned so far about triads, we might put an augmented chord in, to emphasise the need for a circle change.

C C+ F

This demonstrates the two options in one, following C, and leading to F.

Think about how bass notes might move as well.

Another choice is to move the bass of the C chord up to its 3rd:

C C/E F

We have seen that the C+ chord is identical to the E+ except for its bass, so

C E+ F is an option.

Another way to alter the original change from C to F is to use relatives, not to change from C to F, but rather to change to alternatives.

C Am Dm F

Notice that we still have a circle change, but now it is from Am to Dm.

So how else could you move from C to Am?

With a circle change from C, or a circle change to Am.

As long as they fit the melody, you can use both, even though this means using the original change as the start and/or end of the amended sequence.

Change around the circle from C to F, then use a circle change leading to Am from E or Em.

This means changing down a semitone from F to E.

C F Em Am Dm G C F

Between any of those circle changes, you can add a bass change, or a 7^th, an augmented chord, or a relative.

C C+ F E E+ Am A+

Dm D+ G G+ C C+ F

All this from the original two chords, and you can go on with the process, expanding any one of the changes you have created, but always referring to the melody, to make sure it is comfortable with the new chords.

In fact, if you are composing, what starts as a single change such as the one from C to F can end up as the basis of a whole song!

SPACING OF NOTES

In this chapter, the chords we have looked at have almost all been based on the 1st, 3rd, & 5th notes of various scales, and could be represented by the interval numbers 1 3 5, although this doesn't give the exact spacing of the notes, or define the scale on which they are based.

The notes of these triads can be said to be spaced out in 3rds, and for example, a major triad could be represented in terms of the types of 3rd used…

Root Note + Major 3rd + minor 3rd,

or by the number of semitones between notes -

R + 4 + 3

or you could simply call it a “43”, but although that kind of notation is fine to write down for yourself, there are so many uses of numbers in music that there is a danger of confusion if it is simplified that much when you are writing things down for someone else.

Before you move on to the following chapters, with bigger and better chords, try to get used to understanding triads thoroughly in terms of the types of 3rds that go to make them.

Look at larger chords, and break them up into their component 3^rds, perhaps representing them by the number of semitones, usually 3 or 4.

SUMMARY OF TRIADS

To summarise the possible types of triad, we can look at them in terms of the number of semitones used to build them in 3rds above the root note…

R + 3 + 3 = Augmented triad.

R + 3 + 4 = Minor triad.

R + 4 + 3 = Major triad.

R + 4 + 4 = Augmented triad.

R + 5 + 2 = sus4, which is not made up of 3rds.

The so-called “minor augmented” is only an inversion of a major.

R + 3 + 5

Four-note chords covered in this chapter include sixth, suspended second, seventh, major seventh, minor seventh, seventh augmented, major seventh augmented, minor sixth, minor with suspended second, seventh with suspended fourth, minor seventh with flattened fifth, minor with natural seventh, minor seventh augmented, major seventh with added 13th, and diminished.

Although the term TETRAD could be applied to four-note chords, it is rarely used. It can also mean a group of 4 bars.

As these chapters get noticeably shorter, you may think you are in for an easier ride, but short doesn’t mean easy! There are many complex issues concerning chords and their basses, and you will need to take things slowly if you want to absorb the necessary knowledge.

Don’t just read it continuously, take one sentence at a time, and try to understand what it is trying to tell you.

BUILDING FOUR-NOTE CHORDS

In the previous chapter, most of the chords we have looked at have been based on the 1st, 3rd, & 5th notes of various scales. Many 4-note chords extend this idea simply by adding the next odd-number note of the scale, either using the normal 7th found in the major scale, or flattening the 7th.

Adding some other note may cause tension, the feeling that the chord is tense, hanging in mid-air, waiting to settle down to a more relaxed chord, as we have seen in the previous chapter with sus4.

In that situation, the extra note is said to be “suspended”. Remember not to use a plus sign for added notes, this is already in use for augmented chords, and means that they have a raised 5th. You could use “sus” or “s”.

Often, the melody itself will add an unexpected note to the chord that is being played, and in a sense, if it does not change the effect of the chord at all, it isn’t a big enough event to be described as a chord change, it just adds that extra note for a brief moment.

For example, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” moves the melody onto the 6^th, but don’t just do the obvious and go to the relative minor, it is really corny to have the melody, chord and bass all doing the same. (Sorry Leonard!) Try just leaving the chord and bass where they are, and letting the movement in the melody modify the chord.

This is part of “my arrangement” of the song, or as some people would say “playing it wrong”!

The fact that while a simple major triad is played, the melody moves briefly onto the 6th or 7th note of the scale (as it does in “September in the rain”, or “Walkin’ my baby back home”, or “Are you lonesome tonight”) doesn’t really warrant any great excitement, and it would be better to look elsewhere for a more interesting chord change, such as the dominant 7+, which we will look at later in this chapter.

If, on the other hand, the melody note clashes badly with the chord, or requires a note of the chord to be moved, you must either leave the clashing note out of the chord, or change the chord.

Try playing a chord, and moving any one of its notes by a semitone either up or down.

Try it with lots of different types of chord.

When you are playing chords as an accompaniment to someone else, it is sometimes nice to add an occasional note to the chord you are playing, provided it doesn’t clash with the melody note.

The safe way of doing this is to stick to notes on the scale that the melody uses.

On guitar, it is often possible to add a note to a chord with your little finger, perhaps 2 or 3 frets above the chord, so experiment with doing this to add interest to rhythm playing. You may also be able to the open E or B.

ADDED SIXTH

If the 6th note of the major scale is added to a major triad, it is less tense than most added notes, because the 6th doesn’t clash with the scale, or simple chords, so it is not usually described as “suspended”, in fact, these 6th chords are so common that the figure 6 is just added to the chord symbol.

C major with an added 6th (A) is written C6.

Classical music theory will write something that may seem similar with roman numerals (Cvi) but this is a quite different chord, and means a triad rooted on the 6th note of the C scale – the relative minor. This must not be written as C6.

One of the easiest 6th chords to play on a guitar is D6, which requires a finger on the 3rd string, 2nd fret, and one on the 1st string, also 2nd fret.

Avoid the 6th string.

G6 has a finger on the 6th string, 3rd fret, and another on the 5th string, 2nd fret. It's like a G chord with the top E string left open to provide the 6th note of the G scale.

Another easy one for tough fingers is A6, which has a straight bar across the top 4 strings at the 2nd fret.

The 4-string version of this (without the 5th and 6th strings) is very useful anywhere up the fretboard, when someone else is playing the bass note.

MINOR SIXTH

The catch here is that if the chord is a “minor 6th”, the word "minor" applies to the type of chord, not the type of 6th note, which is always a major 6th.

C minor with an added 6th is written Cm6.

G# minor with an added 6th is written G#m6.

SUSPENDED SECOND

One of the most common examples of a 4-note keyboard chord with a suspended note is the suspended 2nd, written sus2 or add2 or simply s2. You can write Csus2 down as Cs2 or even Cs, but not everyone will understand.

This chord provides a simple way of creating power, interest and tension in an ordinary triad just by adding the 2nd note of the scale, a wholetone above the root note. The tension will be much greater in a minor chord, because the new note is only a semitone away from the 3^rd.

It is a very common way of making a triad into a 4-note chord without changing the chord too drastically, so it is useful for arrangements using monophonic instruments, such as brass and woodwind. It has virtually no effect on a chord sequence.

Provided the root note is played in the bass, the change from normal triad to suspended 2nd can be achieved by moving the root note in the chord up a wholetone, rather than "adding" another note.

For example, a C major triad contains the notes C, E & G. If C is also played as a bass note, the C in the chord can be moved up to a D:

This second note of the C major scale is so close to the E, it adds tension - a feeling that the D is SUSPENDED in mid-air, a problem waiting to be RESOLVED, by settling down to a more comfortable note - C.

A very common phrase in country music works like this: Play the 2nd and 5th notes of the scale together, then hold the 5th while you change the 2nd to a 3rd. Floyd Cramer was a country pianist who seems to have made most of his fame and fortune by slipping this little phrase in at every available opportunity, but it is also popular on guitar, where the 2nd can be bent up a wholetone, rather than actually moving to the 3rd.

A development of this (often heard on pedal steel guitar) involves playing the root note on the top string, somewhere around halfway up the fretboard, together with the 5th note on the 2nd string, same fret, Add to this the 2nd note, which may be found on the 3rd string, but a fret lower.

Play all 3 notes together, and then hold the top 2 while you bend the 3rd string up a wholetone… Ouch!

On a keyboard, try adding a G below a C chord with the right thumb, and swivelling your right hand between it and the other notes of these two chords, Cs2 and a normal C.

This simple device has been used in a number of popular records, including…

The Carpenters' "Close To You"

The original version of Tony Hatch's TV theme for "Neighbours"

Nilsson's "Without You"

Some versions of "What I did for love", from "A Chorus Line".

A version of this idea appears in the intro to "Goin' back".

An almost identical intro phrase to that one, but in a minor key, is used for Simon & Garfunkel's "The sound of silence”.

MINOR WITH SUSPENDED SECOND

Using a sus2 with a minor chord is a very tense effect, because the 2nd is only a semitone away from the 3rd and it almost screams out the need to move on quickly. Sometimes, you may want music to scream! The usual (Shirley Bassey / Tom Jones) intro to "I who have nothing" used this type of chord to great effect, in a similar way to the previous examples.

G minor with a suspended 2nd could be written Gms2, or Gm (sus2).

There are many instances where the melody provides the sus2, and the chord doesn’t have to change.

The original “Cry me a river” is one of several examples from the fifties, where pop songs were influenced by the modern jazz of the times, and its taste for melodies hanging around the 2nd.

There is, in a sense, a third type of sus2, achieved by removing the 3rd note of the scale from the chord, and placing it in the 2nd position. Because the 3rd is missing, the chord is not fully defined, and could be major or minor, but this vagueness is an interesting effect to use sometimes. If you play guitar, try an A chord with open B string, or D with an open E string.

On guitar, Ds2 can be played by leaving the 1st string of the D chord open, but it doesn't give the F or F#, so there is doubt about whether it is minor or major.

As2 is similar, using an open B string.

Cs2 is a little better if the open D string is used, because the top E string confirms that it is a major chord.

Alternatively, you can play a normal C chord and find the 2nd (D) on the 2nd string.

FLATTENED NOTES

For the purpose of building chords, as for harmonies, the notes between the major scale are almost always treated as FLATS - not sharps, so for example, you won’t see a raised 11th – it’s a flattened 12th, written as (b12) or (–12).

Don’t use a hyphen (minus sign) as a flat immediately after a root note, use brackets, or Americans may read it as meaning MINOR (flattened 3rd).

In the same way, don't use a flat or sharp immediately after the root note in a chord symbol unless it's in brackets, because it suggests an alteration to the root note: For example,

Bb-7 can mean Bb minor 7th. Bb(-7) would just be the same as Bb7.

Bb12 suggests some kind of Bb major chord, but gives no explanation of what the 12 means.

B(b12) or B(-12) or Bb (b12) or Bb(-12) are all acceptable chord symbols.

Sometimes, a term like “flattened 9th” may seem strange, after all, if the chord doesn’t have a 9th in it, how can you flatten it?

What it means is that you have to add the extra 9th note in, and then flatten it.

In other words, you are adding a flattened note.

If a note below the 8th (such as the 5th) is flattened, it changes the basic chord, but if a note above the 8th (such as the 12th) is flattened, then it may seem like the same idea, but it leaves the chord below it unaltered.

F(-12) or F(b12) is an F major triad (FAC) with a B added, nearly an octave above the 5th.

If the 5th is flattened instead, it is still a B, but flattening the 5th changes the basic triad to FAB, rather than adding a note above it.

F(-5) or F(b5) is the notes F A B.

F(-12) is FACB

F6 with a flattened 5th can be written as F6-5 or F6b5.

TRIAD PERMUTATIONS

Before we move onto larger chords, within an octave, (technically 12 note-names) how many different triads are possible? Triads are made up from major or minor 3rds, no smaller intervals, so we begin with combinations of 3rds. There are only 2 types of thirds, so 4 permutations in 2 thirds means there appear to be 4 types of triad possible starting from C, ignoring the 4-note (diminished) chord made up entirely of minor 3rds…

C E Ab (augmented)

C E G (major)

C Eb F# (diminished)

C Eb G (minor)

This is not the end of the argument, because each type of triad might seem to have 3 inversions, making 12 permutations of different notes. However, symmetrical chords (augmented and diminished) do not have these options because their intervals are the same. This gives 8 possible triads starting on C.

C E Ab

C E G

C Eb Ab

C F A

C Eb F#

C Eb G

C E A

C F Ab

Next, each chord can be moved up a semitone at a time, until it reaches B.

C E A

C E Ab

C E G

C Eb Ab

C Eb F#

C Eb G

C F A

C F Ab

D F A

D F Ab

D F Bb

D F# Bb

D G B

D G Bb

D Gb A

D Gb B

Db E A

Db E Ab

Db E G

Db F A

Db F Ab

Db F Bb

Db Gb A

Db Gb Bb

E Ab B

E G B

E G Bb

Eb Ab B

Eb G B

Eb G Bb

Eb Gb A

Eb Gb B

Eb Gb Bb

F Ab B

MAJOR SEVENTHS

Once again, the notes are spaced out in thirds, so a Major 7th chord contains the 1st, 3rd, 5th & 7th notes of the major scale. In terms of the intervals between the notes, the Major 7th is

Root + Major 3rd + minor 3rd + Major 3rd.

or in semitones,

R + 4 + 3 + 4

Or just 434

The modern American style of chord symbols uses a triangle to represent a Major triad with a Major 7th note added, so D Major 7th can be written as D followed by a triangle. Unfortunately, you can’t type a triangle.

Otherwise, they are written “Maj7”. There are arguments for using a small ”m” for minor, and a capital “M” for major.

In a way, Major 7th chords have a much more stable, settled feel than the ordinary 7ths we will look at, and do not always prompt a chord change, but you will need to accustom your ears to the interval which occurs in some inversions, when the 1st and 7th notes of the major scale are played together, or the 7th and 8th.

It becomes a matter of confidence to play the chord in spite of the tension it produces, and apart from Erik Satie’s “Gymnopaedie” of 1888, this was virtually unused until the modern jazz influences of the fifties. Inversions will help, otherwise experiment with spreading the chord, or at least placing the root/bass note an octave lower.

Major 7ths work quite well as ending chords, but they are not ideal when the melody is on the root note, (which it usually is at the end of a song) so it is often a good idea to reserve them for the last moment, when the melody has stopped.

An easy 4-string Major 7th on guitar is Dmaj7, which is a straight bar across the top 3 strings at the 2nd fret, but don't play the 6th string and, ideally, avoid the 5th string too. Another is C Maj7, played simply by fingering an open C chord, then removing the finger from the second string to sound the open B string.

Practise playing major 7ths around the circle.

Major 7ths often lead around the circle to a 6th on the same root note, or a circle change to another Major 7th.

As an exercise, play a Major 7th, then change to a 6th on the same root, then move around the circle and repeat the change.

MAJOR SEVENTH AUGMENTED

A Major 7th chord can also be augmented, by raising the 5th a semitone, although it is not used very much, and doesn’t help a lot with sequences.

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In this example, when Cmaj7 becomes Cmaj7+, it is very much like an E major triad, but with a C bass.

This means that it could act like an E chord, and lead around the circle to A or Am, in the same way that C+ could.

However, it resolves quite well by simply going back to a C chord or Cmaj7 or C6.

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Here’s an Amaj7+ on guitar.

SEVENTHS

Some of the most common chords with more than 3 notes are the so-called DOMINANT chords, the 7th, 9th, 11th & 13th. For the purpose of this chapter on 4-note chords, the only dominant chord that interests us is the 7th. These are still based on counting alternate notes along a scale, but there are two ways of looking at them:

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Either use a flattened 7th…

1st 3rd 5th b7th

or count 3rds in the usual way, but not from the root note: Start counting from the 5th note of the scale, or DOMINANT note.

In numerical terms, this chord is R 4 3 3. (Root+4+3+3) or 433

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The easiest way to work out these dominant chords on a keyboard is in the key of C, where the G7 chord will be built up from alternate white notes, but starting on G, so G7 would contain the notes G, B, D, & F.

The importance of the 7th chord lies in the fact that it contains a note from the next scale around the circle, so it leads the listener's ear even more strongly than usual to believe that we should expect a circle change.

Because 7ths lead so well to circle changes, it is vital to realise that they are not really suitable unless there is a circle change following the 7th.

You should know by now that the G major scale has an F# instead of an F: The G7 chord contains the note F, which is not part of the normal G major scale, but rather of the C scale, so changing from a simple G major to the G7 chord leads the listener's ear naturally to expect a C Major scale, or perhaps C minor.

It is not important to have the 7th chord sounding for a long time, the 7th note can be added for the last quaver of the bar, and it still works well. Try playing a major chord and counting…

1 2 3 4 &

where “&” represents the last half-beat of the bar, and the point where you change to a 7th. Then change clockwise around the circle to the next major, and repeat.

So it’s the same old song really, 7ths are strong chords for suggesting a circle change, in fact a song doesn’t really feel finished or settled if it ends on a 7th chord, although that in itself is an effect (through ignorance) that has become common practise in rock blues.

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A simple 7th to play on guitar is E7, which uses all the strings, and requires a finger on the 5th string at the second fret (B) and another on the 3rd string at the first fret (G#) with that all-important space between them, so that the open D string can sound the 7th note freely.

Another is A7, which requires two fingers on the 2nd fret of the 2nd and 4th strings, and ideally should avoid the 6th string. A blues player uses a lot of 7th chords, so playing the notes of a G7 chord on harmonica would require a harmonica tuned in the key of C.

In the same way, a C7 chord contains the note Bb, which suggests the F major scale. If you have a simple chord change like A to D, A7 can be added between them, to fill out the sequence, and give a clue where it is heading. An important use for major 7ths is as a step between a major triad and a 7th. Play any major triad in the root position, and add the top octave of the root note. Next, flatten that top note to a major 7th, forming a major 7th chord. Then, flatten it again, forming a 7th chord.

C Cmaj7 C7 is a good way to lead smoothly to F.

7th chords are commonly used in Home sequences.

KEY CHANGES

One of the most useful applications for 7ths is in leading to a key change.

Suppose you having been playing a tune in A, and you want to play it again, but this time in C. You could just plunge into the new key without warning, and this happens a lot with multiple key changes for dance routines in some of the old musical films, such as “Singing in the rain”, but it is often better to have some means of announcing that a key change is coming. The simplest way to lead the ear into that change is by following the end of the tune with a G7 chord, which contains notes of the C scale, and leads nicely around the circle into C. You will need to make sure that the G7 chord does not clash with the melody, and if there is a problem, you may need to delay the change, or cut the melody note short, or perhaps even alter it briefly.

The same principle works for absolutely any key change at all, and most are quite widely used, but the least common is a change to the opposite key on the circle. For example, if you play a tune in C, then want to move into F#, this is a very strange and uncomfortable change if you plunge straight into the new key without warning, as was done in the "Top gun" film theme. The same kind of change was achieved much more smoothly and effectively in Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release me", by the very unusual method of changing up a semitone to a 7th.

F F#7 B

Most songs end on the keynote, and the singer often holds that last note for a while, so a good key change to try is one where the 7th chord, to which you change, contains the keynote of the key you have just been playing in. The keynote becomes your anchor note, and because a 7th is a 4-note chord, there are 4 options. For example, if you have just played a song in A, then there are four 7th chords which contain an A, so you could hold an A melody and use…

A7 to lead to D

F7 to lead to Bb

D7 to lead to G

B7 to lead to E

Two of these take you to keys that are next to A on the circle – D and E. Another goes 2 steps around the circle, but the most common use is for going up a semitone. This doesn’t often happen within a song, but “It might as well rain until September” uses the same trick twice in the bridge.

KEY CHANGES FOR VARIATION

Listening to some of the early recordings of well-known songs, it is surprising that they may just go once through the whole thing, and take little more than a minute.

Sometimes, a good tune may be so simple and short, the best way to make it last longer is by repeating it, but this can become monotonous.

Adding instrumental sections between the vocals can help, and I also like the old jazz idea of introducing the whole tune before singing the words.

Another useful idea is to change key every time you play or sing the tune.

For example, “Moonlight bay” (1912) is still a very popular tune with older audiences, but it only has 16 bars.

Fortunately, the range is less than an octave, so there is plenty of scope to change the key.

Doris Day’s version does this very effectively, going from D to F, then Db, and these strange changes are big enough to take her into different parts of her vocal range.

“Amazing grace” is a very old hymn, published by John Newton in 1779, although the best-known of many melodies used for it, “New Britain”, was added in 1835, and popularised in a modified form by Judy Collins in 1971, which has become the popular way to sing it.

It has a very short tune, repeated with different words. One way of giving it more impact is to raise the key slightly for each verse.

Semitones work very well, and create a sense of increasing power, but they can plunge you into unfamiliar, uncomfortable keys, so it is unwise to leap until you have looked.

There is nothing wrong with making a list of your favourite keys, and working out key changes to suit the song and the singer.

There are, of course, no such things as “high keys” or “low keys” because if you go far enough in one direction, you arrive at an octave of the starting note.

This means that if your voice can’t go up to the new key, you can go down to it.

SEMITONE CUL-DE-SAC

Some Victorian and Edwardian songs change chords from the subdominant, (the 4th note of the scale) down a semitone to the mediant 7th. (7th rooted on the 3rd.)

C C7 F E7

This might suggest to your ears that a key change is coming but, oddly, it is often a blind alley that leads absolutely nowhere, and the sequence often has to go back to the subdominant – F in this example. There is a circle option if you want it, going through Am7 to Dm7 instead of its relative F.

"Love's old sweet song" (1884 - just a song at twilight) starts with a simple 2-chord change, then a home sequence, then one of those blind alleys, then a basic 3-chord type of sequence to end. Other Blind Alleys:

1900 “Goodbye Dolly Gray”

1912 “It’s a long way to Tipperary”

1916 “What do you wanna make those eyes at me for”.

1917 “For me and my gal”.

1917 “Oh! Johnny Oh!”.

1919 “Let the rest of the world go by”.

1921 “Margie”.

1926 “Running wild”

Some others may go down a semitone from the keynote to a 7th, and this, again, leads nowhere, it just returns to the previous chord.

SOFT AND HARD CHANGES

An aspect of creating interest in a piece of music, mentioned briefly in Chapter 3, involves two types of chord change, which affect the emotions, and the degree of relaxation in a song.

Chord changes that stay within the same set of notes are known as SOFT changes because they do not require any change of scale, so they are relaxed and comfortable.

HARD changes are those that cannot take place without making a change to the current set of notes, so they create a stronger impact on the listener, even if your listener knows nothing about music theory.

A simple example in the key of D is the use of the C chord instead of an A chord, with an E or G melody, followed by that A chord.

This seems to have come to the fore in the fifties, especially with cowboy tunes, but it can be found as far back as 1727 in “Zadok the priest”, and these ideas do not just apply to popular music, for example Benjamin Britten’s neutered arrangement of the national anthem just throws away the power and emotion of the hard changes, and sticks entirely to the notes of a major scale, disappointing when a choir is trying so hard to create expressive, dynamic variations. A modern ballad such as “You raise me up” can lose all its depth if you treat it in this way, and most people put in a few harder changes here and there. I enjoyed playing it recently on a wonderful pipe organ in a local church, and using the power of the instrument, combined with more complex (and less safe) harmonies. You’ll often hear quite adventurous or even uncomfortable chords in hymns on a big organ, that almost seem intended to shock.

For a better example of soft and hard changes, the sequence…

C Am Dm G7

only uses the notes of the C major scale, so they are all soft changes, and could happen in any order, whereas…

C A7 D7 G7

requires a change of scale for every chord change, until G7 leads back to C. In the diagrams, you can easily see the sharps on the middle two chords.

Once you have made a hard change to a 7th chord, or a minor 7th, it will most often be followed by a circle change to another 7th of some kind.

A7 has the note C# in it, and cannot be in the same scale as a C major chord.

D7 requires another change of scale, and so does G7.

G7 is based on notes of the C scale, so it is a soft change back to C.

I think it is a reasonable generalisation to say that before the fifties, most songwriters leaned towards hard changes, especially by using 7ths in circle sequences.

Older standards from the eary 1900s tend to have more of these hard changes, especially long runs of 7ths.

One of the things that modern songwriters get wrong when they are aiming for a twenties feel is that in the twenties, there were many home sequences with 7ths in hard changes, such as…

Charleston

Five foot two

If you’re Irish

Limehouse blues

Ma, he’s making eyes at me

Margie

Nobody’s sweetheart now

Shine

Someday sweetheart

Who’s sorry now

Since the fifties, most pop songs have been composed with soft changes, and if you hear an older standard being played with simple soft changes, it has probably been sanitised, in the way that “Blue moon” most often is. Listen to the harder changes in versions by Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, etc..

If you want to create a relaxed, calm, uneventful sequence, pick a set of notes, and only use chords that can be made from the notes of that set of notes. Think of it like pulling all the black keys out of the piano, and playing on what is left, sometimes known as the “Einaudi effect”!

Mind you, most of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s songs stick very firmly to a simple scale, except when they change key altogether. It doesn’t seem very imaginative, but who can argue with his success and popularity? In the forties, it would be almost unheard-of for the chords of a whole popular song to stick around the same scale, that’s probably why the old musicals have a quite separate fan-base to the modern ones.

This matter of soft and hard changes is not a “yes or no” situation, it is a very flexible one, and the sequence can have some soft changes, and some hard changes.

This gives you the option of adjusting the balance between them to produce the blend that satisfies you. The lyrics may even suggest that at some relaxed points in the song, you might find soft changes more suitable, whereas hard changes will create tension or strength where you need it. The bigger the change in the set of notes, the stronger the effect, but try to have at least one anchor note, otherwise the changes may seem disjointed.

You could also try ignoring all the white keys, and playing only on the black notes – a pentatonic scale. That makes it even easier, but more restrictive, ideal for improvisation, but limited for whole tunes.

When it comes to writing a melody, or improvising one, soft changes are easy, you can just play around with the same set of notes all the way through.

This is know as the MODAL or TONAL form of melody.

If you had a whole paint-box full of colours, would you want to paint in black and white all the time? If you were a card sharp, used to playing the more advanced card games, how would you feel if someone asked you to play snap? That’s how I feel about being stuck in one set of notes all the time.

Hard changes are more of a challenge, because you may need a different set of notes for each new chord, but they offer the possibility of something more original and stirring. In improvisation, it is always useful to think about which scale is being used for a given section of a song, rather than the chord, because scales often stay constant longer than chords, so they require less conscious thought, and you can relax more, and let inspiration be your guide.

SOFT CHANGES WITHIN MODES

In Chapter 1, we touched briefly on the use of modes, in which a familiar scale is used in an unlikely key.

This also affects chord sequences.

Suppose a song is apparently in the key of G, and centred around a G chord, but it uses the notes of a C scale, instead of a G scale. In other words, it has an F natural rather than F#.

This means you may find changes from G to F or Dm, and it can be argued that these are soft changes, because despite deviating from the scale of G, they stay within the set of notes that are being used.

There are many examples like this in Irish and Scottish folk music, in various keys, and popular tunes including

All my trials

Calypso blues

Downtown

Ferry ‘cross the Mersey

On Broadway

Open the door softly

She moved through the fair

Spansill hill

Tequila

Tired of waiting for you

Another modal use of chords involves apparently playing in the key of F, but using the notes of the C scale, with B natural.

This means that a simple little home sequence like

F G C F

can operate without changing the set of notes.

There may also be changes like F to Em, and sequences like...

F Em Am Dm G C F

DESCENDING WITH AUGMENTED

We saw in Chapter 3 that a more unusual way of achieving an augmented triad is to start from a major triad, then flatten the 1st and 3rd notes, leaving the 5th where it is.

Let’s expand on this idea.

Play a major triad in its root position.

Now, keeping the 5th exactly where it is as an anchor note, flatten the other 2 notes.

The new chord is an augmented triad, but the root has gone down a semitone.

Now do the same again, with what was originally a 5th remaining unchanged.

The new chord is a minor triad, with the bass on its 3rd.

It could also be regarded as a quite acceptable 6th chord with the 5th note missed out, and the advantage is that it is easier to write down as a 6th with no special instructions about bass notes.

If you make a similar step again, the chord is a 7th chord although, again, the 5th is missed out.

Another step down gives you a Major 7th chord, again with the 5th note missed out.

The logical end to this is the next step, a Major triad or a 7th chord that wants to lead back to the original chord.

There are many chord sequences like this that have a simple logic other than the circle.

They tend to be composed of hard changes.

SEVENTH AUGMENTED

Some people call this type of chord an “augmented 7th”, but this is slightly misleading, because the 7th note itself is not altered, the note that is augmented is the 5th, so the whole chord is like an augmented triad with the flattened 7th added.

C7+ uses the notes C E G# Bb so by adding the next C, you have a series of 3 notes at wholetone intervals.

On guitar, it is usually a matter of finding a 7th chord in which the 5th note can easily be raised up a fret. The inversion shown here is commonly used, although technically, it leaves an ordinary 5th on the 5th string. On the narrower fretboard of a steel-strung guitar, you can probably spread a finger over the 2nd and 3rd strings.

As for usage, we have seen that a 7th enforces the need to move clockwise around the circle. In the previous chapter, we saw that an augmented triad does the same. Augmenting the 5th in a 7th chord doubles that effect by combining the two.

C C+ F

C C7 F

C C7+ F

FROM AUGMENTED TRIAD TO SEVENTH

Instead of combining the augmented triad with the 7th in this way, it is often very effective to go from either one to the other. This applies especially when the augmented 5th note is the melody, and it drops to the normal 5th.

Play an augmented triad on keyboard, in the root position with the augmented 5th at the top, and also with a root note as the bass.

Then return the 5th to a normal one.

In the same move, flatten the root note a wholetone, to form a 7th chord.

This example shows D+ to D7.

The lower note moves in harmony, a 6th below the higher change.

Harmonies like this add something special to chord changes, so try to find more.

Here’s a 3-string version of this on guitar, with the 1st and 3rd strings moving in 6ths.

Repeat the change until you are comfortable with it, then go around the circle, doing similar changes.

C C E+ E7 A+ A7 D+ D7 G+ G7 C

You may hear a bit of “Mr Sandman” in there.

MINOR SEVENTHS

The minor seventh is just like a normal 7th, but with the 3rd flattened.

To put it another way, it’s a minor triad with the flattened 7th note added.

Changing the bass of a 6th chord to the 6th note turns it into the relative minor 7th on the new root note, so for example, moving the bass of C6 to an A turns it into an Am7 chord. Here, as with the triad relatives, you may want to consider which chord works best, and the simplest rule is to try to make the bass avoid the melody note, so if the C6 has a C melody, try Am7 instead. If the melody is on A, try C6.

An easy minor 7th on guitar is Em7, which can have just one finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret.

Try changing between that and Bm7, which has 3 fingers on the 2nd fret, on the 5th, 3rd and 1st strings. Avoid the 6th string, or touch it so that it doesn't sound.

There is also Am7, 4th string, 2nd fret, and 2nd string, 1st fret.

Minor 7ths are even less stable than ordinary 7ths, and almost always lead to TWO circle changes, for example...

Em7 A7 D

This is because, in this example, Em7 contains notes that belong in the D scale.

The result is that putting a minor 7th chord, such as Em7, into a song almost guarantees that it will be followed by at least 2 circle changes.

Also, if one minor 7th is followed by another, this means that you can reasonably expect another two circle changes.

What does all this do for key changes? If you have time to play 2 chords before a key change, try a minor 7th, then a circle change to a 7th, then you can lead smoothly into the new key.

This means that a change such as C7 F can be expanded to Gm7 C7 F

A useful sequence is…

C Em Gm7 C7 F

Practise going all the way around the circle in minor 7ths.

MINOR SEVENTH AUGMENTED

It is perfectly possible to augment a minor 7th chord by raising the 5th up a semitone.

It’s not something that comes up very often, and when it does, it may just be a momentary melody note that requires the 5th to be raised.

MINOR WITH NATURAL SEVENTH

A minor chord can have a MAJOR 7th note, but it is usually described as a natural 7th.

For example, try playing an Am chord, then adding a G# note at the top.

You can try this on guitar or keyboard.

Ignoring the root note for a moment, the rest of the chord looks like an augmented triad, so you may occasionally come across a major triad in which the 1st and 3rd are flattened to form this type of chord, while the bass stays where it is, so the whole thing is described as a minor with natural seventh.

It often changes back to a major, but as we will see in Chapter 5, it can lead to a 9th.

IF A NOTE OFFENDETH, PLUCK IT OUT!

Years ago, someone wrote to Keyboard magazine, asking what he should do about a problem which occurred when he played "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by music, in the key of C.

When he reached the line "Does your memory stray", the tune had to move backwards and forwards between C and B, while the chord remained on a G7.

The writer was intelligent enough to be aware that the chord contains a B note, which clashed with the Cs, and wanted to know how he could stop it sounding so terrible.

The short answer is to find a better music copy. As so often happens, the music sheet had been simplified to make it easier to play, even though it also made the tune clash with the chords!

This simplification happens more often in tutor books, organ books, or albums of songs, and it makes amateurs sound even more amateur.

The magazine gave no useful advice, but it seems obvious to me that if the tune clashes with the chord, then “something's gotta give”!

There are far too many little moments in poorly-constructed chord sequences where clashes occur between the chords played, and the melody note.

You might skip over and ignore the problems if you sing against the chords, but these glitches become painfully obvious if you play the tune and chord together on an instrument.

If they are played together slowly enough, almost anyone can hear that something is wrong, and the only way people get away with it is by moving on quickly, or by altering the melody to avoid the snag.

Some people instinctively sing the tune differently, to avoid the problem, and don’t even notice that they are doing it.

Perhaps the worst type of mistake occurs when the melody moves a wholetone, and the chord contains the note in between those two. It might be that the melody goes from C to Bb, while the chord has a B in it. The result is a grindingly horrible semitone, which doesn’t get any better when the melody moves to ANOTHER one.

A common form of this occurs by putting the notes Ab and A# against an F chord that contains an A. Or it may be G and A against an F minor chord, which has Gb and C in it. For me, it’s rather like somebody slipping something into the middle of a conversation, which makes you deeply uncomfortable for a moment, then moving on, so you may forget that it happened, but it is never resolved, only ignored.

Some versions of “Only you” and of "Love hurts" have a similar clash between the melody and chord.

This happens doubly in the middle of "Flying without wings" for a brief but uncomfortable beat. A simple change of chord can fix what is otherwise a powerful moment, but Westlife have skilfully adapted the original melody notes instead.

If you are improvising, or writing a song, then the melody will probably be chosen to fit the chords, but in the case of an existing song, you should always treat the melody as the important bit, and if the chord clashes with the tune, it's WRONG!!

The simplest thing to do in the magazine example above is to leave out the note that is giving the trouble, the B in the G7 chord, and leave the tune as it is.

Never mind worrying about what sort of chord that makes it, or what the theory is, that simple rule will get you out of lots of tricky situations, but many of them shouldn't arise in the first place, if people didn't publish such bad arrangements!

The melody is not separate from the chord, it often adds something to it, or modifies it.

Dusty Springfield's "Goin' back" causes a similar problem, because lines like "things I knew so well" and "days when I was young enough" hover rather unpredictably around the 3rd and 4th of the chord, just like the previous example.

Freddie Mercury had the musicianship to solve this very effectively in his version, by keeping the same bass note while changing the chord down a wholetone, but the simple way is to just pluck out the offending note from the chord, and let the moving melody fill in the blanks!

Play any simple chord, and then add a melody note a semitone above or below any one of the notes of that chord.

Imagine that is your melody note, and ask yourself whether it would sound acceptable to you with that chord.

If it doesn’t, try leaving out the note of the chord that is closest to the melody.

Try it with any combination of a semitone above or below any note of any chord.

VERSIONS OR ARRANGEMENTS

People have different ways of doing a song, and if you have access to the internet, Spotify is a wonderful tool for musicians, because you can hear a continuous succession of different versions of a song, and get a more rounded impression of it.

Firstly, of course, tempos will vary, some singers like it to be slower so that they can breathe better, and get more tone and feeling into the lyrics, while others want to speed things up to make them livelier.

Some may change the rhythm or number of beats in a bar.

However, what is especially interesting is the way that most songs have a flaw or two accidentally written into them - problems that have to be addressed urgently by anyone who has a bit of musicianship.

Hearing which parts of a song change from one version to another may help you to identify the problem areas in a song.

If someone changes the melody at a certain point in the song, it may well be because they felt that the original melody clashed with the chords.

They may not even realise what they have done, they may have just reacted instinctively.

Equally, a change in the chord sequence may be done for the same reasons.

For example “Until it’s time for you to go” has that classic type of problem where, just before the last 4 bars of a verse, the melody notes move a wholetone, but still remain at odds with a note of the chord, because it moves from a semitone below that note to a semitone above it. Many musicians want to spice up the chord changes to get more impact here, rather than use soft changes, but if, for example, you sing it in the key of D, you could find yourself singing “and here I’ll” to the notes D E D, while the chord B7 has a D# in it… THREE grinding semitone clashes in a row!

Much as I like to stick to the original melody, some people solve this one by altering it, so that the chord changes can be kept. Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote it in 1965. Francoise Hardy also sings it with the clash, so do Neil Diamond and Glen Campbell. Barbra Streisand glosses over the problem skilfully by altering the phrasing.

Elvis Presley changes the melody, so does Vikki Carr. I find it comforting to know that other people notice these clashes, and one should never under-estimate the control that Elvis himself had over the music!

SEVENTH WITH SUSPENDED FOURTH

We have seen in Chapter 3 that a sus4 chord really has the 3rd raised to a 4th: The same happens with a 7sus4, sometimes just written as 7sus. This has the effect of delaying the circle change we would expect from a 7th chord, so if you find yourself wanting two chords instead of just a 7th, try 7sus4 followed by the ordinary 7th.

It really doesn’t matter what the 3rd would have been – major or minor - it almost always resolves to a 3rd again, making normal 7th or minor 7th, so it gives us a way of leading to either of these, and it is not essential to specify major or minor for a sus4.

Consider a simply change like…

E A

This can be extended to

E E7 A

or even

E E7sus4 E7 A D

But it also works for…

Em E7sus4 Em7 A7 D

On guitar, try any 7th in bar chord form, and then find out where the 3rd note of the scale is, and raise it up to a 4th.

Because the change from 7sus4 to 7 involves a note going down a semitone, one option after this is to take that same note down another semitone and use it in a new 7sus4, this time a wholetone lower than the previous one.

I used this in a song in the early sixties, not that you will have heard it, but the interesting thing is that I didn’t hear anyone else use it until Allanah Miles’ “Black velvet” (1991).

Perhaps this sounds more complicated than it is, so in terms of chord symbols, you could try

B7sus4 B7 A7sus4 A7 G7sus4 G7

Keyboard diagrams…

MINOR SEVENTH WITH SUSPENDED FOURTH

If the same type of sus4 is used with a minor 7th, it still has the effect of delaying the circle change, so

Am7sus4 Am7 D7sus4 D7 G

is a way of expanding the more common change from Am7 to D7, so that it uses twice as many chords.

DIMINISHED CHORDS

When we talk about "a diminished chord", we usually do not mean a diminished triad, but rather, the most commonly-used type of diminished chord, which has 4 notes, all at intervals of a minor 3^rd, or 3 semitones.

The diminished chord may be represented by a small circle like a letter o (don’t ask me why!) or simply by “dim”.

In some books it is described as a diminished 6th, on the basis that it is a diminished triad with the 6th added. However, it is not the 6^th that is diminished.

Sometimes it is described as a diminished 7th, on the rather tenuous basis that it is a 7th chord in which all the intervals to the root are diminished, so all notes except the root note are flattened – pulled in towards the root, with the result that there is no 7th!

The safest description is simply “diminished”.

Unusually, diminished chords are not made up of odd-number notes on a scale.

Instead, the only common scale they fit into is the Harmonic Minor scale, on the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th notes.

Diminished chords are SYMMETRICAL:

This means that all the notes are equally spaced through the instrument. This gives diminished chords some peculiar characteristics.

Like augmented triads, their identities can be changed just by moving the bass to another note of the chord, so although there are 12 different names for diminished chords, there are only 3 sets of notes.

Practise running up and down your instrument in steps of 3 semitones, or minor 3rds.

This is a useful exercise if you have a pedalboard, start from any note.

A lot of people get confused about which diminished is which, but as long as you know the names of notes on your instrument, you can check that the root note is in the chord somewhere, and that always means you have the right one.

On a fretboard, such as a guitar, slide the whole diminished chord up or down until any one of the notes you are playing is the root note you need.

If only we could slide chord shapes about this easily on a keyboard!

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These are 4-string shapes of a diminished chord anywhere along the neck of a guitar.

Having formed one, you can find another inversion by sliding the whole chord up or down 3 frets, or change to the other shape, keeping at least one note the same.

A comical aspect of the use of diminished chords in jazz is the way that, when presented with one, every single musician in the band seems to begin running up and down in minor 3rds.

Later, we will look at other chords that a guitarist can slide around like this.

USING DIMINISHED CHORDS IN SEQUENCES

If you are ever stuck for a chord to fit a note, try a diminished, it will often provide an interesting effect. In chord sequences, diminished chords do not usually move in the obvious way around the circle, and sometimes they can be said to move in the opposite direction. From any one of the 12 major chords, you can go to any one of the 3 sets of notes for diminished chords, although for best effect, you should try to choose a bass note that will move smoothly and easily between the chords.

One way of using diminished chords is that from a given root note, you can go up or down a semitone, or stay on the same root for the diminished. For example, from C, you can go to B diminished, C diminished, or C# diminished.

If you play a major triad, then stay on the same bass note for a diminished, the chord after it will probably return to the original chord. This is very effective with a 7th chord.

C7 Co C7

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Here’s a 4-string example for guitar, D7 changing to Ddim and back.

Alternatively, keep the bass the same for both chords, then move the bass down a semitone to become the 3rd of a new major chord, effectively moving the chord backwards around the circle, such as…

C Co G C

If you make the same change, but move the bass up to the next available note of the diminished chord, this often leads to the bass dropping down a semitone to a minor or minor 7th.

C Ebo Dm7 G7

The same change, but with the bass going down a minor 3rd, may lead to a circle change to a minor or minor 7rh.

C Ao Dm7 G7

The same change, but with the bass moving half an octave, to the flattened 5th, will often return to the original chord, but with the bass now on its 5th.

C Gbo C G7 C

If, instead, you choose a diminished with a note one semitone below the bass you are starting from, it suggests another step down the scale to a minor.

C Bo Am

If the same diminished is used with a bass going up the scale, it suggests a further step up the scale, often to the original chord with a new bass.

C Do C F

This works equally well from a minor start. The other two bass options are less comfortable with this diminished.

The remaining choice is a diminished containing a note one semitone above the original bass. Taking the bass up a semitone suggests another similar step for the bass, to a minor or minor 7th.

C C#o Dm7 G7

Equally, the bass could go up a 3rd although this is less common.

C Eo Dm7 G7

The same change, but with the bass going down a 4th or up a 5th, often leads to a 7th on the same bass.

C Go G7

The remaining option of taking the bass down a wholetone is not used much unless you start from a minor chord.

An important use is that Minor 7th chords can sometimes lead up a semitone to a diminished chord, and perhaps up again to another minor 7th.

C Dm7 D#o Em7

This is reversible, with the result that any two minor 7th chords a wholetone apart can be joined by using the diminished as a stepping stone between them, up or down.

Em7 Ebo Dm7 G7

Diminished chords also have hidden identities, and behave like certain other chords, as we will see in Chapter 5.

HALF-DIMINISHED = MINOR SEVENTH WITH FLATTENED FIFTH

If you take a minor triad, then add a bass a minor 3rd lower, the result is a minor 7th on the new root, but one in which the 5th is flattened. This is easy enough to finger, but it is a difficult chord for some people to understand, so here goes...

It is sometimes described as half-diminished, in the sense that the triad is diminished, but the 7th added to it is a minor one, so m7-5 is a less contentious name for it.

In the same way, changing the bass of a minor 6th chord to the 6th note also turns it into a minor 7th with a flattened 5th, on the new root note.

For example, Dm6 with B bass = Bm7-5 or Bm7b5

Because of the B bass, it will usually change around the circle to an E7,

Dm Bm7b5 E7

but another option is to take the bass down a semitone to Bb, and flatten the D and A, forming a Bbm7.

Dm Bm7b5 Bbm7

Another choice is a move to Bb6.

Dm Bm7b5 Bb6

As an exercise, try playing a minor chord, then take the bass down 3 semitones. From there, take the bass around the circle to form the root of a 7th chord.

Next, another circle change to a minor, and keep repeating the whole process. The m7b5 seems to create a flavour of the fifties ballads like “Autumn leaves”, and minor sequences like “The Perry Mason theme”, “Town without pity” or “Cry me a river”. Often, these take a simple sequence like

C Am Dm G9

and convert it directly to a minor sequence by flattening the 3rd and 6th notes of the scale, so the Ab becomes a flattened ninth, forming

Cm Amb5 Dm7-5 G7-9

FLATTENED NINTH

The flattened ninth chord (-9) is normally used in exactly the same way as a 7^th, leading one step around the circle.

It comprises the 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, flattened 7^th and flattened 9^th. Interestingly, the top notes are all at intervals of a minor 3^rd, so it is like a diminished chord with the bass on the note below one of the others.

DIMINISHED RESPONSIBILITY

When a diminished chord is in use, it limits the likely choice of melody note, mainly to one of the notes of the chord.

If you stray from the safety of the chord, so that one of those notes goes up a semitone, the melody transforms the chord into a minor 6th, or one of its equivalents, so you are no longer playing a simple diminished.

For example, if you use a D diminished chord, and raise the B up to C, the new chord is Fm6 or Dm7-5.

If, on the other hand, you place a melody note just below a note of the chord, this is often workable as an added note, without really changing the chord.

For example, a C diminished chord can be used with a B melody at the top instead of the A. “Stella by starlight” (1944) starts like this in some arrangements.

The interval from C to B screams at you, but that is sometimes a useful effect.

The resulting chord looks very much like a B chord, and you can always stifle that scream by adding a harmony a 6th interval below the B, at D.

This means you have a chord with the notes D, Eb, Gb and B.

This can be resolved by changing back to the ordinary diminished, with the D dropping to C, and the B dropping to A. The moving notes harmonise with each other in 6ths.

LARGER RELATIVES OF THE 3-CHORD TRICK

We have seen that the usual 3-chord trick consists of 3 adjacent chords on the circle, such as G, C & F.

By making 4-note chords, still on the same scale, we produce...

G7 CMaj7 FMaj7

If we add the relative minor 7th chords of these,

Em7 Am7 Dm7

and place them all in circle order, we have...

Em7 Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7

You can construct Home and/or Away sequences with these.

The 4-note chords produce a fuller and more interesting sound than triads.

Em7 Am7 Dm7 G7

Cmaj7 Fmaj7 Em7 Am7

Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 Fmaj7

Experiment to find out which inversions sound best, and which change most smoothly.

HARPSICHORD THEME FOR A LADY GENDARME!

One more 4-note chord can be produced from the C scale, namely Bm7-5.

Suppose you wanted to create a circle sequence of 4-note chords in C, using only the white notes:

First, place all the white notes into circle order –

B E A D G C F

This circle diagram shows the positions of the root notes.

Now give names to the 4-note chords rooted on these notes, using only white notes.

Bm7-5 Em7 Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7

There is a well-used sequence similar to this list, which is often found in harpsichord music, as well as such things as Vavilov’s “Ave Maria”, various French films, and themes for female detectives!

Start from Dm7 and work through to FMaj7.

Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 Fmaj7

At this point, the logical circle step might seem be another circle change to another Major 7th, namely BbMaj7, but that would involved straying from the white notes.

Instead, go to Bm7-5, which is exactly the same group of notes except that the B is not flattened.

Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 Fmaj7 Bm7b5

At this point, we ideally need a compromise, because in order to lead comfortably to Am7, we really need to use a black note for E7, rather than Em7.

The sequence is now...

Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7 Bm7-5 E7 Am7

"Autumn Leaves" (Les feuilles mort) follows this sequence, although occasionally jumping to different points within it.

“Yesterday when I was young” (1961) is almost identical, but there are many other examples, sometimes starting from a different point in the sequence before repeating it.

"In other words" (often wrongly called "fly me to the moon") starts a similar sequence from Am7.

Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7 Bm7-5 E7

The theme for TV's "Cagney & Lacey" is another example, as are the themes for "Juliet Bravo", and "Policewoman".

"I will survive" (1979) uses only a slight variation on that sequence.

Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7 Bm7-5 Es4 E7

Dusty Springfield's "You don't have to say you love me" is often close to it.

Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7 Dm Bm7-5 Esus4 E7

Neil Diamond’s "Love on the rocks" (1981) uses B7 instead of Bm7-5.

Am7 Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7 B7 E7

"Arthur's theme" (1982) uses BbMaj7 instead of Bm7-5, creating a strange change to the opposite point on the circle - E7, then A.

Dm7 G7 CMaj7 FMaj7 BbMaj7 E7 A

"Suicide is painless", the "MASH" film and TV theme, (1980) uses most of the sequence, but with Am7 instead of Bm7-5.

Dm7 G7 CMaj7 Am7 Dm G7 C Asus4 A7

Dm7 G7 CMaj7 Am7 Dm Em F Em Am

“There are worse things I could do” from Grease.

“Still got the blues”.

"All the things you are" is made up partly of the same sequence we have just seen, although it is usually in the key of Ab instead of C.

SUB-RELATIVE & SUPER-RELATIVE?

Often, you may want to change downwards from a Major chord to its Relative Minor, such as C to Am, but what if you want to make a similar change downwards from a minor chord? There is a very close equivalent to this, simply by taking the bass note down a minor 3rd, so Am becomes F#m7b5.

Some people call this a "sub-relative" and it is a useful description, although I have never seen it described in that way in any textbook.

On the other hand, you will often change upwards from a minor chord to its relative major, but what if you want to change upwards from a Major?

The nearest option is to go up a minor 3rd to a simple Major chord, or a 6th, and this occasionally used as a kind of "super-relative". This is less common, because it is less useful.

Some older songs start on the keynote and move down a semitone to a 7th. This is a near equivalent to a diminished chord on the keynote. The sub-relative is a way of adding more chords between the two. Try it on…

“Dream” (when you’re feeling blue).

Bb Gm Em7-5 A7

“Home” (when shadows fall).

Eb Cm Am7-5 D7

Some arrangements of “Stella by starlight” (1944) start with a m7b5 in a similar sub-relative way, although it does not remain a straightforward circle sequence.

“There ain’t no pleasing you”. (The middle of this song also has an interesting mixture of different types of chord change.)

C Am F#m7-5 B7

Peter Skellern’s “You’re a lady” has a somewhat similar change, but using a minor 7th without flattening the 5th.

F Dm Bm7 E7

JUSTIFYING DISCORDANT MELODY NOTES

By now, you should be familiar with the idea of building chords upwards from the root in 3rds.

When a melody note seems to clash with a chord, one way of improving the situation is to add notes in a similar way, but working downwards from the melody in 3rds.

If you're lucky, they might meet up with the chord somewhere, but even if they don't, the existence of one or two 3rds helps to justify the melody note, and give it an excuse for being where it is.

This sort of upside-down chord-building will often work with just a bass note in the left hand.

For example, suppose that a Gb melody is played over a C major triad. The Gb is a flattened 12th from C, but unless you change it into a natural 12th (G) quite quickly, it will sound very uncomfortable, so you need to justify its existence by adding a 3rd below it (D or Db) and perhaps another below that.

Trying the possible alternatives, you might plump for the D and B, with a C bass.

Sometimes, an even better way of justifying a difficult melody note is to play a 3rd and then a 4th below that, like an inversion of a major or minor triad.

This works very well in flattened 12ths, like the above example, with C E G in the left hand, and A D Gb in the right.

An obvious example to try on a keyboard is in F-12, which is F A C in the left hand, and D G B in the right hand.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

There is usually a way of making a logical argument for moving from almost any chord to another, but the worst changes are between opposite points on the circle, which is known traditionally as the “Devil’s interval” – a flattened fifth. A sub-relative would do a better job, if the melody allows it.

To go, for example, from an F chord to a B chord is a very strange sound, because they have no anchor notes, and nothing in common. This haunting effect appears in Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, but was rarely used then, although this type of change is common in John Barry's "James Bond theme", and later Bond themes.

It became more acceptable in the sixties, look for it in "Windmills of your mind" (1969) for example.

When songwriters and composers set out to use a change to an opposite, it is usually softened by using different types of chord, so that there can be anchor notes in common between them. One of the m7-5 chords mentioned in connection with sub-relatives is often a good solution, one way or another.

F to Bm7-5 has notes in common.

F Dm Bm7-5 is another way of getting to that chord.

F F#m7-5 B uses the same type of chord to lead to a more straightforward B.

Another way of smoothing the change to an opposite is to play a chord with root bass, then change the bass note to the 5th, before flattening it to the opposite of the first chord.

G G Db7 Cmaj7

Interestingly, something that comes up occasionally is the use of sustained piano chords such as a high-pitched C major held over with the sustaining pedal, while the hands move down to a F# chord, then down to a C chord, and so on.

The opposite majors are uncomfortable as a chord change, yet they merge together to become a single, interesting chord that is difficult to define by any simple name.

If you have a guitar plugged into a long-lasting delay effect, you can do the same, by playing a major chord high up the fretboard, then playing one 6 frets lower, such as D and Ab.

OPPOSITE SEVENTHS

If you look at the opposite chords on the circle, they are the least likely to be played together, or one after the other, but sevenths have a way of overcoming this. Looking at a 7th chord, try playing it very simply as a root note in the bass, together with just the 3rd and (flattened) 7th, omitting the 5th.

When someone else is responsible for playing the bass, you can play the 7th chord as just these two notes. This is especially useful in giving a hint of the chord during jazz / blues guitar solos, where there is no chord player. If you look at the positions of those two notes on the circle, they are in OPPOSITE positions.

Not only that, but if you find the note opposite the root note on the circle, and use that as a bass, it will still create a 7th chord, but opposite the original one on the circle. For example, from G7 you can change to C#7 just by changing the bass. It’s almost like a symmetrical chord.

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Here are the 2-note keyboard versions of G7 C7 and F7

They could equally be Db7 F#7 and B7

Find them on a guitar, they are often the middle two strings, a fret apart.

These 7ths are so similar that they are often considered to be interchangeable with their opposites in jazz. Django Reinhardt, for example, often slipped in a hint of an opposite, or flattened 5th in his improvisations, and many later jazz players use it more.

It is the most unlikely note you expect to hear against a familiar, comfortable chord, so jazz players use it to unsettle the audience just for a moment, before changing to something more relaxed. Django would often reinforce it by playing it in octaves.

As with relatives, this idea allows you to either substitute one for the other, or change from one to the other.

What does this do for chord sequences?

DESCENDING IN SEMITONES

Consider a circle sequence made up of 7ths:

B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7

Now for each alternate chord, substitute the opposite 7th on the circle.

(Please note: “Alternate” does not mean alternative!)

B7 Bb7 A7 Ab7 G7 Gb7

You can see that they now go down in semitones.

When 7ths are used, and the melody does not clash too badly with the opposite 7th, this offers a useful but controversial alternative to the circle change.

If you want more chord changes, you can play the first chord (B7) then the 7th a semitone above the next one, so

B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 becomes…

B7 F7 E7 Bb7 A7 Eb7 D7 Ab7 G7 Db7 C7

Experiment with playing the original sequence, then swapping one of the notes for its opposite, then moving on through the circle again, repeating the effect. Then again, you might play a 7th chord, go down a semitone, then change around the circle…

B7 Bb7 Eb7 D7 G7 Gb7 B7

It sometimes works with minor 7ths too. The sequence for “All the things you are” is already challenging for some people, but it can be made even more complex by slipping in opposite 7ths at every opportunity. Jazz musicians often like to do this kind of thing to circle sequences, such as “Autumn leaves”.

It is JUST possible to make a sequence mainly from 7ths descending in semitones. Some unusual jazz arrangements of “You’ve changed” try to do this.

DESCENDING DIMINISHED

Sometimes, a diminished chord will descend a semitone at a time, and this is more common when the bass note transforms the chord into a flattened ninth. An early use of this can be found in Tchaikovsky’s “Dane of the sugar plum fairy”.

Play Em, then F#7-9 B7-9 E7-9 A7-9 D7-9 Em

Usually, it only happens for one or two changes.

APPLYING THE m7-5 TO A SEQUENCE

We have seen that if, for example, a sequence has 2 whole bars on G7, this can be made more interesting by changing the first bar into some kind of D chord. Now, we know that descending 7ths can also offer the alternative of preceding G7 by G#7, but the beauty of a m7-5 chord is that it combines some aspects of both. A friend queried my use of it in “Strike up the band”, at the 3rd and 4th bars of the last 8. (In plain English, bars 27 and 28.) I was fascinated to see how much I had soaked up from other people and how much was just me being creative, so I checked several arrangements for those 2 offending bars. Most options stay within the notes of the Eb scale, and are therefore compatible with each other for improvisation purposes.

The basic G7 G7 was used by Anton Kostalanetz, Royal Marines & Stan Getz, and this simplified form is what you will find in many boring chord books.

Charlie Parker and Bob Sharples merged it with a diminished to make 2 bars of G7-9.

Ray Charles, Lesley West Big Band and Manhattan Swing Band used Dm7 G7, involving a different scale. Ray Charles also used G Am / A#o G7 - the bass line that creeps into so many circle changes.

Quincy Jones took the more outlandish Dm7 Dbm7.

Ted Heath used Ab Ab / Ab G7. (Technically the melody makes them Ab6-5, the same as Dm7-5 but with a different bass note.)

The song’s composer, Gershwin, used Ab G7, and also Dm7-5 G7 - the option I prefer, as used by the US Army Brass Band, Ella Fitzgerald, and BBC Orchestra.

Tony Bennett & Count Basie went for Fm G7.

Matt Monro & Nelson Riddle Fm6 G7 (technically the same as Dm7-5 but with a different bass note).

Billy Cotton Bb Ab G7 G7 all squeezed into one bar, then a bar of G7.

Simple chords make it easier for people who are improvising a melody, but jazz screams out for more interesting, challenging chords, which add power and energy to the melody.

INTROS

FILL-INS

Endings

Chord suggested by melody & bass

Chord suggested by melody & key

Chord suggested by key & bass

TETRAD PASSING CHORDS

Don't forget the Chord-and-bass chart in Chapter 8.

Permuttations of Tetrad chords

Listed mainly as being produced by 3rds.

333 diminished

334 m7-5

335 dim(maj7)

343 m7

344 m (maj7)

423 7sus4

433 7

434 Maj7

443 Maj7+

444 +

524 ?

EXPANDING A CHORD SEQUENCE

As soon as you start using 7th chords, you can add them to your armoury, as a useful new tool for expanding a sequence.

Quite apart from the possible insertion of a 7th in almost every circle change, you also have the option of a hyper-leap from a 7th to one on the opposite side of the circle, or to a semitone down.

C F can become C C7 F

Or C F#7 F

Or even C C7 F#7 F

At this point it may be possible to add a further change, which could be to Fm or its more interesting equivalent Bb9, but if the melody is hovering around the 6^th or 7^th, it will clash, so another choice is F#dim. Always defer to the melody.

Then there is the option of 7sus4

C C7sus4 C7 F#7 F

Or diminished to 7th

C Co C7 F

6ths and Major 7ths can give you a change without moving the root…

C Cmaj7 C6

and the major 7th is almost like a minor chord with a different bass, so try substituting that…

C Cmaj7 C6 Em Am

The 6th is like a minor 7th with a different bass, so try substituting that.

C Cmaj7 C6 Am7 Dm F

The diminished triad, which was fairly useless, has now become a 4-note diminished, going off in all sorts of directions, or becoming a minor 7th with flattened 5th, something which leads nicely around the circle to a 7th.

Another thing to mention is the type of change in which, having gone from C, through C7 to F, you may feel the need for another step.

As far as triads are concerned, it may have to be Fm, but another popular choice is a diminished chord.

If you feel the need for a chord to follow the sub-dominant, but you find that the melody will not permit the sub-dominant minor, then going up a semitone to a diminished is worth a try.

This follows a bass line which goes from C to E, with the chord becoming C7, then up a semitone to an F chord, then up again for F#o.

A very similar idea is, starting from C, to keep the bass there for the C7, then go up to a D bass for a Dm (instead of the F) and follow it with D#o (equivalent to F#o).

Always look to the melody for guidance about which of these will work best.

Sometimes though, the melody goes to C, which provides no clue at all, and unless other chords around it help, you may simply have to make a choice based on which sounds best to you.

I have to say that the Fm option is easier, and older, and therefore less exciting.

Five-note chords covered in this chapter include ninth, major ninth, minor ninth, minor ninth with major seventh, seventh with flattened ninth, sixth with suspended ninth, major seventh with added thirteenth, and further aspects of the minor seventh augmented, and diminished chord.

So far, we have looked at chords where the bass note simply duplicates one of the three or four notes that make up the chord, usually the root note.

Once you start to progress beyond 4-note chords, larger chords are normally played as just the top four notes plus a bass note, so the bass note is not necessarily played in the chord, and it becomes more important to stick to the root note for your bass or, at a pinch, use the 5th briefly.

It's easy to see why it is more convenient to play chords like this, rather than try to finger 5 notes in one hand, but they also work better in many ways, and as the chords get larger, the excess notes are not necessary or desirable.

Looking at the chord shapes without the bass notes, you will find them familiar from the previous chapters, and yet confusing because of the new bass notes, and it is sometimes very difficult to spot what chord it actually is.

The deeper you get into chord sequences, the less modern material you will find in these pages, because most modern songwriters lack either the ability or the interest to move on to more complex changes.

I just love to take a modern song and give it some more “bite” by embellishing the chord structure.

What never fails to surprise me is that the audience of non-musicians is aware that something different is happening, and they often comment on how much they like what I have done with the chords.

I’m impressed that they even know what is happening!

Something as gentle and familiar as “Silent night” (1808) can take on great power and emotion if you play the second verse with more chords, and bigger chords, then come back to basic soft changes at the end.

In blues, it’s also great to take a good rock guitar sound and put it onto some lush strings or big band sounds, with apparently straightforward blues melody played to more complex chords.

The strength and flexibility of a rock guitar sound makes a great partner for modern jazz discords.

PERMUTATIONS OF 4-NOTE CHORDS

When it comes to sevenths and other 4-note chords, there are so many ways they can be built up, it has long been a puzzle to me how many permutations of note-names are possible. Unfortunately, simple mathematics is not enough in this process, because there are musical factors. Let’s start with the 4 main triads based on C, and see where we can get to from there, by adding notes. In the process of chord building, we will not use semitones, but wholetones do play a part in these 15 chords, so I may add a wholetone above the top note, but not a semitone. These would only appear in inversions.

C E Ab

C E Ab Bb

C E Ab B

C E G A

C E G Bb

C E G B

C Eb F#

C Eb F# Ab

C Eb F# A

C Eb F# Bb

C Eb F# B

C Eb G

C Eb G A

C Eb G Bb

C Eb G B

Try to work out the chord symbols for these. Some have alternative names. Now, all of these can be moved in semitones, to produce 12 times as many, so that makes 180 4-note chords, but I don’t think I will be typing them all!

NINTHS AND OTHER 5-NOTE CHORDS

Ordinary 9ths are dominant chords, so they continue along the same principal as 7ths, but adding the 9th note of the scale.

9ths often arise simply from a 7th chord when the melody note itself is on the 9th, adding to the chord. This 9^th note could be a 2^nd instead, in fact it could be in any octave, but we still refer to it as a 9^th.

Take alternate odd notes of a scale, the 1st, 3rd, 5th, flattened 7th, and the 9th: G9 would contain the notes G B D F A. This can also happen by accident when somebody is playing G and someone else is playing D minor.

In order to make this easier to play on a keyboard, the bass (G) is often played in the left hand, and the remaining notes are played in any order by the right hand.

The top 4 notes may be used in different inversions, but the bass tends to stay mainly on the G.

The same sort of principle would apply on an organ, or an arrangement for orchestra.

The bass could be played on a pedalboard or a separate bass instrument, and the chord doesn't need to include the bass note, but with this type of chord, the bass note should not stray too often or too long from its "proper" place on the root note, otherwise it may change the character and identity of the chord to something completely different.

This often means that when the chords are more complex, bass parts become simpler to play!

As for their uses, 9ths work in pretty much the same way as 7ths, but add a little more flavour.

They are also more suitable for use when changing between other 5-note chords, so that the number of notes does not change.

This is especially important for groups of voices or monophonic instruments.

Think of each note as if it were being played on a separate instrument.

Having started with a bass and 4-note chord, try to keep to it, rather than using a triad.

It is not so much of a problem increasing the number of notes after a triad, but having done that, try not to go back to less notes.

If you must use a triad, double one of the outside notes with the octave, or try a sus2, to make it seem more like a bass and 4 instruments playing together, rather than one of them suddenly disappearing.

This is C9 on guitar. Ninths can sometimes work quite well going up or down in semitones, a useful technique in jazz guitar rhythms.

Harmonicas (mouth organs) are usually tuned in such a way that blowing air into them produces the notes of a major chord, and sucking produces the notes of its dominant 9th, so sucking a C harmonica produces G9.

LOSING TOUCH WITH THE BASS

The problem with separating the bass from the rest of the chord is that it becomes more difficult to see the relationship to the root or the bass note when it does not appear to be there in the chord.

Unfortunately, the resulting right-hand chord begins to look like all kinds of other things, and you will need to keep reminding yourself what the root note is.

Using G9 as an example, without the bass, the chord is made up of the notes...

B D F A or

D F A B or

F A B D or

A B D F.

Without the G bass, they look like Bm7-5, or Dm6, or F6-5.

(There is no convenient label for the inversion using A at the bottom, because it has no 3rd above the A.)

Looking at these notes in isolation, it is difficult to decide what chord they might be.

One answer to this problem is lots of study and practice, another is the chord chart in chapter 8.

It is often useful to use a chord like Dm6 with the G bass, making it a G9.

For example, in a sequence in the key of A, you might use a change from D to Dm, but if Dm6 is suitable, here is another option, a circle change to G9.

A A7 D G9 A

Another idea that links with 9th chords is that if you play a major triad plus a root bass, then flatten the 1st and 3rd, this briefly forms a minor with natural seventh, but quickly moves on by flattening the same 2 notes again, to form a simplified inversion of a 9th chord.

OTHER IDENTITIES FOR THE NINTH

If you think of a 9th chord without the root / bass note, it looks like a minor 6th, with just 4 notes.

The same chord, with the bass on what was originally the 3rd, becomes the dreaded minor 7th with flattened 5th, which intimidates so many musicians because of its difficult names, the other being “half diminished”.

4-note chords like this, or part chords, are extremely useful for a guitarist when the bass is played by someone else.

Consider the shape shown here. It's 4 notes, a bar across the top three strings, with the 4th string a fret lower. The letter R shows where the root note might be.

If the bar is on the 3rd fret, the note on the top string is G, and the chord might be a Gm6.

If, on the other hand, the bass is placed on a C, it is C9.

If the bass is moved to the 6th, the lowest note fingered, it becomes an E minor 7th with flattened 5th.

If the bass is placed on F#, the chord becomes F#7+b9, as described in the next chapter.

Just by sliding this simple 4-string shape around, it can be used a tremendous amount, by substituting a 9th instead of a 7th, or a minor 6th instead of a minor.

The minor 7th with flattened 5th usually leads around the circle to a 7th of some kind, such as a 7-9.

That change is achieved on the guitar by just flattening the 2nd string, making what is really a diminished chord, and depending on the bass player to give it its identity. It has the same inversions as a diminished chord, simply by sliding up or down 3 frets at a time. All these things can also be done on a keyboard, but they are not so easy to slide around, and they change shape.

NINTH AUGMENTED

It would be slightly misleading to call this an augmented 9th, because the note that is augmented is always the 5th.

An interesting way to follow a 9th is to augment the 5th by raising it up a semitone.

G9 G9+ C6

Now that you have used 9th chords, another option is available for leading from C to F, using a 9th.

C C9 F

A useful extra change for this is by augmenting the 5th.

C C9 C9+ F

However, going from that 5-note chord to a triad is not good practice, so try to use a 5-note F chord, such as F6.

MAJOR NINTHS

Major 9ths are just like ordinary 9ths, except that they use the natural 7th (major 7th).

C Major 9th would comprise E G B D with a C bass, and would often lead to C6 or the relative Am7.

Without its bass, the chord looks like Em7, so it is not surprising it may lead to Am7.

Don’t run away with the idea that this is a modern chord, Handel’s Messiah has an early example of a kind of shorthand version, where a major chord is played against a bass note on its 4th. For example, a G major triad with a C bass is enough notes to suggest a C major 9th.

The Major 9th can be a quite effective ending chord if the melody doesn't clash, or it can easily be resolved by moving the 7th and 9th one step down the scale, to form a 6th chord, as featured repeatedly in Wham’s “Last Christmas”.

Practise this change between 6th and Major 9th, backwards and forwards, it is a useful one when the melody moves between the 8th and 9th notes of the scale, or the 1st and 2nd, or the 6th and 7th.

Another (less exciting) way to resolve it is to move the 7th and 9th up the scale to the 8th and 10th, making a major triad.

An easy major 9th to try on guitar is Cmaj9, which is just one finger, on the 5th string, 3rd fret, but this doesn’t use the bottom E string, and the 9th (Dstring) is a bit close to the C root.

MAJOR SEVENTH WITH FLATTENED NINTH

If you are interested, try to form a major 7th with a flattened 9th, to see what it sounds like with that wholetone in it.

I can't say I have ever heard it used, it is fairly unmusical.

MINOR NINTHS

Minor 9ths have a minor 3rd and minor 7th.

D minor 9th is F A C E with D bass, and would often lead around the circle to G9.

The Animals' version of "House of the rising sun" ends with a minor 9th played on organ by Alan Price.

It's a very tense, "unfinished" sound, crying out for another change, but that is a useful effect.

You'll find minor 9ths in lots of jazz funk and some disco dance tracks, but often, it seems as if someone just thought "that's a nice chord" and stuck to it for long periods without taking it anywhere!

Minor 9ths can be resolved by taking the 7th down to a 6th, and the 9th down to an 8th, which makes the chord a minor 6th.

Often, this will be combined with a circle change on the bass, making the new chord a 9th.

MINOR NINTH WITH NATURAL SEVENTH

AmMaj9 or Am(natural9) is C E G# B with A bass, and would often lead simply to Am6 or D9.

This chord is usually resolved in a similar way to a minor 9th, by bringing the 7th and 9th down the scale to form a minor 6th.

This type of chord provides a very tense ending with a certain mood of the fifties and sixties about it, like the James Bond Theme.

SIXTH WITH SUSPENDED NINTH

A chord which provides an interesting, fuller version of a major is achieved by adding two notes - the 6th and 9th. The 9th is an exact equivalent to a 2nd.

The 6th is a fairly relaxed addition, but the 9th adds tension.

It's all the notes of a pentatonic scale, so you could just hold down 5 consecutive black notes on a keyboard, that's F#6s9.

Another way of arriving at a spread inversion of a 6s9 is to take 5 notes at equal intervals of a 4th, or a 5th, such as

C G D A E or

E A D G C

If all these notes are squeezed into an octave, this type of chord has some interesting properties, a bit like the symmetrical chords, (augmented and diminished) and these are especially useful (and lots of fun too) on guitar, where a 4-note version can be played in two or three useful positions. Imagine that your friends are strumming away on a simple G chord with a G bass.

You play the top two strings on the 3rd fret, and the 3rd and 4th strings on the 2nd fret.

Now, if you have a nice low action and some soft strings, you can slide the whole chord up a 5th, or 7 frets, so it looks a bit like some kind of D chord.

Now go up again (if your guitar permits) to the 15th fret, exactly an octave or 12 frets above the original chord.

While the G chord and bass plod along, you can slide up and down, playing this strange part-chord in 3 different positions. It sounds impressive, but it's fairly easy.

The interesting thing is that if the chord changes from G to C or D, you can find similar shapes for the new chord, sometimes in the same positions as before.

SEVENTH WITH FLATTENED NINTH

We have already looked at a seventh with flattened ninth and augmented fifth.

Flattened ninth notes are mainly used with either 7th or augmented 7th chords.

These can then move on to the normal circle changes or treated just as 7th or 9th chords, with the flattened 9ths just adding extra flavour.

Other flattened 9ths are possible, but they are discordant in the extreme.

If a flattened 9th is added to a normal 7th, the top four notes are all at intervals of minor 3rds, or 3 semitones.

7b9 or 7-9 is like a diminished chord with the bass in an unexpected place, a semitone below one of the notes of the chord.

To dismiss this in a single sentence could easily make you think it is not important, and it is vital to spend time practising changing diminished chords down in semitones, which is easy on guitar, but tricky on keyboards.

Form a 7th chord, (such as C7) then add a flattened 9th (Db) to form a 7th with flattened 9th (C7b9).

Working backwards, play the root note as a bass, and form a diminished chord a semitone above it. C7b9 is like C#o with a C bass.

Now, remove the bass note (C) and the remaining notes form a diminished chord which has absolutely nothing to do with C, yet it can behave very much like a C7 chord.

Similarly, E7b9 is G# B D F with an E bass, and would tend often to lead around the circle to A6, or A6s9.

This is an important guide to understanding many uses of diminished chords in sequences, because their hidden identity is one of the 7b9 chords, with the bass hidden.

Work on changes in which diminished chords go down in semitones.

Then change them to 7b9 chords, where the only notes you finger for the chord are the same as those diminished chords, but with the unexpected bass notes going clockwise around the circle.

Get used to looking at diminished chords as if this other bass note existed, a semitone below one of the 4 notes of the chord.

For example, B D F & Ab form a diminished chord, which could be called B dim, or D dim, or F dim, or Ab dim, and which can behave like any of the following:

Bb7-9, or Db7-9, or E7-9, or G7-9, often leading to a circle change from those hidden identities.

SEVENTH WITH ADDED THIRTEENTH AND FLATTENED SIXTEENTH

I struggle to find any short, reasonable name for this chord, although it is one I love to use.

Here, we have a clash between the 7th note and the 13th note, which could equally be called a 6th.

Here we see C7s6b9 or C7s13b9.

The flattened ninth (which could almost be called a 16th!) needs to be kept well away from the root note, and the 6th or 13th needs to be kept well away from the 7th note.

We make the assumption that if the 5th were played, it would be a normal one.

By flattening the 6th or 13th note, we change it into an augmented 5th, or augmented 12th.

The chord now has a new clash between the normal 5th and the augmented 13th note.

Still, it is a lovely change, and that clash can be removed by simply not playing the 5th in either chord.

The new chord can then be defined as C+7b9…

SEVENTH AUGMENTED WITH FLATTENED NINTH

A rather similar chord to the 9+ is the 7+b9 or +7b9, and it also provides a useful follow-up to the +9.

Try...

G9 G+9 G+7b9 C6

If we now look at F+7b9, it is F A C# Eb Gb.

Look for a similar chord in the beginning of Glen Miller's "Moonlight Serenade", (1939) leading around the circle to a 6th.

Looking at F+7b9 again, ignoring the F bass, the set of notes is identical to a F#m6 or Ebm7b5. It came become either of these, simply by changing the bass. Try these chords to convince yourself about the difference a bass can make.

Not only that, if you use a B bass, it becomes a B9.

These changes of identity are mind-boggling to most human beings, and the chord chart in chapter 8 was originally my attempt to make them clearer to myself.

I hope it will help you too!

So where do we go from F+7b9 ??

The obvious direction is a circle change to some kind of Bb chord, and Bb6 or Bb6s9 are two possibilities.

Thinking of the chord as an equivalent to B9, you could go down from F to some kind of E chord, such as E9.

Thinking of the chord as an equivalent to F#m6, you could change to some kind of B chord, and the most likely one is a simple change of bass to make it B9.

SLIGHTLY OUT OF TUNE?

Changing the bass note of a 7th to its opposite on the circle creates interesting effects, but you will need to get used to the dissonance and tension.

Using these two lists…

E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7

Bb7 A7 Ab7 G7 Gb7 F7

try playing the bass notes from the first list, but with 7th chords from the second list.

Now try it the other way around, the chords from the first list with the bass notes from the second list.

Here, the keyboard scores over the guitar, because if the top 4 strings of a guitar are used for the chord, that only leaves E and A for open-string basses.

All the other combinations will require a lot of working out and finger-stretching.

You can see that a 7th chord can be used with a bass note that is opposite the root on the circle, but what type of chord does this make?

For example, how would you arrive at a name for Ab7 with a D bass? The Gb or F# provides a 3rd to the D bass, the Ab is a flattened 5th, the C is a flat 7th, and the Eb is a flattened 9th.

The resulting chord is a D7 with flattened 5th and flattened 9th - D7b5b9 or D7-5-9.

Jobim's "Desafinado" translates as "slightly out of tune", and uses this chord.

Henry Mancini's "How soon" uses it too, and has the words "everything seems out of tune".

"Laura" is a lovely old standard from the forties, with that same type of chord that you can "never quite recall".

Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' train" uses a similar chord, but with a normal 9th - a 9th with flattened 5th.

MINOR SEVENTH AUGMENTED

These are basically 4-note chords, but sometimes, they are played a little differently on a keyboard, with the root and the 5th in the left hand, and the 7th, 10th, and augmented 12th at the top.

It’s a very tense chord, technically a 5-note chord, with three 4ths in the right hand, and it often arises when the melody is on the keynote, and the chord is a median minor 7th (minor 7th rooted on the 3rd note of the scale).

It goes quite well with another chord, a major 7th with an added 13th…

MAJOR SEVENTH WITH ADDED THIRTEENTH

This, again, can be played with a 5th in the left hand and three 4ths in the right hand, but the relationship between one hand and the other is different.

Try changing backwards and forwards between Em7+ and Fmaj7(add13).

Six-note chords in this chapter include the eleventh, eleventh with flattened ninth, minor eleventh, Major eleventh with a natural 7th, and ninth with flattened twelfth.

If you have noticed that you have 5 digits on one hand, it seems to follow that a 6-note chord requires more than one hand, or more than one musician.

Even a 6-string guitar only has a very slim chance of producing the right combination of notes for the whole chord.

Although 11ths and certain other chords are best understood by going through 6 notes that have the usual odd-number positions in the scale, advanced chord playing rarely uses any more than a bass note and four others, so the 3rd is left out.

This means that problems we have looked at with 9ths, of chords separating from bass notes, are even more difficult to follow with 11ths, and may require a lot of thought.

It separates the people who learn things purely by memory, and those who work things out as they go. I’m not sure who gains most.

The Chord Chart in chapter 8 is designed to help with these problems.

The bass often appears to be a 4th higher than would be expected if the other 4 notes were treated as a chord in themselves, so you may, for example, be looking at what appears to be some kind of A chord, but putting a D bass onto it.

ELEVENTHS

Notice that the 11th chord, by definition, includes a 9th note.

An interval of a flattened 11th is simply a 10th, and a raised 11th note is usually known as a flattened 12th, so the 11th notes are remarkably constant, an octave above the 4th.

The 11th note of C is always F. For this reason, the types of 11th chord depend mainly on the choice of the 7th and 9th notes:

Eleventh chords are made by using the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th & 11th notes of a scale, but in practise, the 3rd is left out, and the chord is most often assumed to be a dominant chord.

This means it is based on the major 3rd and flattened 7th, unless there is a hint of the minor 3rd anywhere, perhaps in the melody.

The old favourite for looking at dominant chords on a keyboard is G, and G11 is a G bass with D F A C above it.

This looks exactly like a Dm7 chord, but with a G bass.

Or it could be an F6 with a G bass.

Even without the D in it, it still sounds like an 11th, so a simpler version of G11 is F with a G bass.

Often, this will be resolved by moving the major triad up a wholetone, so that it aligns with the bass note.

Randy Newman’s “I’ve been wrong before” (1965) does this in the middle section, then moves the whole change down a whole tone…

D11 D C11 C

Another way of looking at an 11th chord is this: if you think of the 11th note as being a 4th, then the 11th chord is to 9ths what the 7sus4 is to 7ths.

It’s like a 9th with a sus4.

Therefore, an 11th can be followed by a 9th on the same root.

It is practically unknown (and unwise) to finger the major 3rd in any 11th chord, because it clashes so badly with the 11th.

This means that, having no 3rd, the 11th chord doesn't usually have to be defined as major or minor, but a minor 11th is possible, if you play the minor 3rd.

If you are playing guitar chords to a sequence that uses E7, A7, D7 and G7, try using these inversions that leave the top 2 strings open, and have the root note as the lowest note. They work especially well if there are 2 bars on each.

Technically, the notes of the open strings change the chords to E7, A9, D9s13, G7s13.

OTHER TYPES OF ELEVENTH:

The best options are a normal (dominant) 11th, or an 11b9, or a minor 11, or Major 11th (with a natural 7th). The Major 11th chord is an unusual and very tense one, desperate to resolve to a major or minor triad.

If a minor 11th is used at all, it will often be produced by several instruments, or by adding a pedal or bass note to two hands on a keyboard, the left hand playing a m7 or m9 chord, while the right plays the top 4 notes, the melody being on the 11th. So the minor 3rd can be included when it is appropriate, but 11ths don't use the major 3rd. I well-know use of minor 11^th is “I’m every woman”, where the melody forms the 11^th above a minor 9^th chord. It provides an interesting and challenging exercise, try playing a minor 9^th (such as D F A C E G) with the F optional, then take the whole chord up a semitone, then another and a fourth one, then go down again.

The easiest 11th chord to play on a guitar is A11, which can be played as the 5 open strings excluding the bottom E.

This often leads to an A chord.

The same goes for a straight bar across 5 strings on any fret, and the root is always on the 5th string.

Another easy one on guitar is D11, which also uses the top 4 or 5 strings, but with one finger on the first fret of the second string.

The root note for this chord is on the 4th string.

Similar shapes can be made on any fret by a bar across 5 strings, with the 2nd string stopped one fret above the bar.

G11 is a G bass with D F A C.

This is like Dm7 with the bass moved up a 4th, or one place clockwise around the circle, so the chord likes to change onto some kind of G chord with the same bass.

C Maj11 is a C bass with G B D F. Looks like G7 with a C bass:

This type of 11th with a natural 7th is very tense, and resolves best by going to a simple major or minor triad on the same bass. It mainly has uses in classical and pseudo-classical styles.

F11-9 is an F bass with C Eb Gb Bb.

Simply by flattening the 11th to A, the chord can resolve itself to an F7-9, and lead on easily to Bb, but a stronger change would also resolve the 11-9 by a circle change to a 7th. F11-9 could also change directly around the circle to Bb.

SIMPLIFYING THE THREE-CHORD TRICK

Often, learning a little more advanced theory of chords will allow you to play things ways which sound more interesting, but are physically easier to play.

Once you can grasp the idea that, in the key of C, G11 can do a lot of the work that would normally be done by the G or F chords, this opens the door to a new approach to 3-chord numbers, because instead of using C, F & G, you can often just use TWO chords, C and G11, provided the melody is not on the 7th – B in this example.

Try lots of simple tunes in C, using only those 2 chords.

NINTH FLATTENED TWELFTH (9b12 or 9-12)

If a flattened 12th is to be played against a simple major triad, it is quite uncomfortable, clashing with the 5th, and needs to be justified by adding one or two 3rds below the melody.

The flattened 5th or flattened 12th of a key is the note opposite the keynote on the circle, so this type of chord often turns up if the melody is held on the root note of a chord when the chord changes to its opposite.

For example, if a D melody is played with a D chord, then the D melody is held while the chord changes to some kind of Ab chord.

The 9th with a flattened 12th is somewhat similar to an 11th chord. Try F9-12, which is an F bass with the notes C Eb G B.

The C and B scream at you until you get used to it, but they have their uses, and sometimes, music should scream!

Sometimes, a major chord changes down a 4th to an augmented chord, but the bass goes up a 4th, and this combination creates a chord which is best described as a 9th (on the root which is the bass note) but with a flattened 12th.

For example, F may change to Bb9 but if the nelody is on E, the result is Bb9b12 (Bb9-12).

Although the change to this root note is a simple circle change, the chord itself seems anything but simple.

Think of the b12 as your melody note, it usually is. In the next chord, that same note will usually be its 5th or 12th.

To look at it another way, if you have a chord with a flattened 12th, a simple way to resolve it would be to “unflatten” the 12th.

Instead, the note remains the same, and the chord moves down a semitone to suit the 12th.

DESCENDING IN SEMITONES

So it is another example of going down in semitones, often to a 7th or 9th. These changes can occur on any notes of the scale, so it is worth going through them all.

In the key of C for example, an F# melody could indicate C9b12, to be followed by a change down to B7 or B9.

B melody could indicate F9b12, change down to E7 or E9.

E melody could indicate Bb9b12, change down to A7 or A9.

A melody could indicate Eb9b12, change down to D7 or D9.

D melody could indicate A9b12, change down to G7 or G9.

G melody could indicate Db9b12, change down to C7 or C9. In the key of C, if this is the end of a song, or part of a song, it may go to a more stable Cmaj7 or Cmaj6s9.

Try the following sequence, and experiment with different inversions:

The 9b12 chords almost always have that b12 note at the top, as the melody, so you could say that the melody, when added to a 9th chord, makes this new chord..

CMaj9 F9-12 Em7 Ebo

Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 Bb9b12

A9 Ab9b12 G7 Db9b12 C

The first change requires the bass to move, and also the E to be flattened.

DIFFERENT RULES FOR CHORD AND BASS

Now, we can get on to some tricky brain-teaser exercises, by allowing the bass and chord to move according to different rules, especially setting circle changes against descending semitones, an advance on what we did earlier with simplified 7ths.

Start with a 7th chord, the root at the top, and the obvious root bass.

Move the whole chord down a semitone, but move the bass note the equivalent of one step clockwise around the circle - that is up a 4th, or down a 5th.

The resulting chord is a 7th with flattened 9th and flattened 12th, otherwise known as 7-9-12 or 7b9b12.

Keep repeating these moves. Every second chord-bass combination is the same type.

If you find it too difficult at first, practise the chords and basses separately, until your fingers get the feel of them, then combine the two.

Now try it the other way, the 7th chord changing its inversion for each circle change, while the bass goes down in semitones.

Next, use a 7-10 or 7s13 going down in semitones, with the bass going around the circle.

Start with G7s13, which is a G bass with F B E.

Move it down a semitone, and move the bass to C.

The new chord is C7-10.

Although jazz players (and some adventurous bluesers) often use short snatches of this type of change, the only actually song that comes to mind is "Spinning wheel", but you might want to modify the lyrics - "bass goes up, chord goes down"!

//////////////////////

On guitar, you could start with the open E as a bass, and play the 3 notes of the E chord at the 6th/7th/8th frets, then slide it down, changing the bass to the open A, then stopping D at the 5th fret, then G at the 3rd fret with each move.

DIFFERENT RULES FOR BASS AND MELODY

In the song "Three little words" (1931) there is an interesting moment at the end of the bridge where the chord and bass are going down in semitones from Bb to G, while the melody is going up in semitones from Ab to B. Let's look at this slowly, step by step:

Play a Bb chord with an Ab melody - this makes a Bb7.

Take the chord down to A, and the melody up to A, this could simply be an A chord, but A7 follows on well from the previous 7th.

Take the chord down to Ab, and the melody up to Bb, this is the 9th note of that chord, so Ab9 works well, but the chord itself could still be called a 7th, with the melody forming its 9th.

Take the chord down to G, and the melody up to B: this could be a simple G chord, but the whole sequence works well with 7ths.

Exercise:

Start with two notes an octave apart: play a bass line that goes down in steps of semitones, while the melody goes up in semitones.

Then, you have to decide which chords to use to fit in between the notes.

Repeat the exercise with the starting melody a semitone different. Then try it with other starting combinations.

Practise playing any bass note with any melody over an octave higher, work out the interval between the two notes, and decide which type of chord works best.

EXPANDING A CHORD SEQUENCE

In the same way that 13th chords are played as the top four notes plus a root note, almost any advanced chords can be represented by a similar combination of four plus bass.

THIRTEENTHS

In order to build a thirteenth chord, it is necessary to count through a scale to find the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th 11th & 13th notes.

Even if it were possible to play all of them at once, this is not the object here, and as in the previous chapter, that series of notes is only used as a means of finding the top four (7th, 9th, 11th & 13th) from any given root note, this time ignoring the 3rd and the 5th.

Being a dominant chord, the simplest 13th to look at on the keyboard is G13, and the series of notes would be alternate white notes - G, B, D, F, A, C, & E, so the G13 chord is a G bass note, with F, A, C and E as the chord.

This seems identical to an F Major 7th, except that the G bass transforms it. The chord chart in Chapter 8 deals with this and many other situations where the bass changes the identity of a chord.

I think it is safe to say that the question of major or minor can be ignored when discussing 13ths.

Notice the 11th note. The American system of chord symbols is often at odds with this, using "13" to represent a 7th chord with added 13th. Although it is a quite acceptable and usable chord, it has its own name. A 13th is a dominant chord, and must, by definition, include the 11th as well.

This problem was a source of frequent arguments between musicians back in the sixties, and the battle continues into the new millennium.

The 13th chord is too important, and too widely used, to be cast aside for this other, lesser chord.

The mistake can often be confirmed by inspecting all the written notes, and if there is a 3rd there, a 13th chord is not the right one for this job!

One reason for this is that, for example, A7s13 will lead easily to D, but A13 won't - it is acting rather like an Em9, and needs something like A9, or A7-9, or A7-9s13 before it can move on comfortably to D.

VARIATIONS ON THIRTEENTHS

There are also 9ths with added 13ths, and some have flattened 9ths.

A seventh augmented chord (7+) can have a flattened ninth (7b9+) and this is an interesting mixture of different chords, quite difficult to take in at first. You have probably heard the main theme from the finale of “Swan lake” (sadly popularised as “Saturday night at the duckpond”!) and if you listen to it carefully, in the key of Am, there is a point where it seems to need an E7 chord, yet the melody swims across the notes of an F minor chord! The answer to this puzzle is an E7+ with a flattened 9th (F) plus a 10th note (G#, equivalent to a 3rd) and an augmented 5th played an octave higher. The notes are…

E G# C D F G#

But for practical purposes, all you need (as usual) is the top four notes, which resemble Fm6 or Dm7b5, and then the E bass, leaving out the 3rd.

Another form of 13th chord can be played with a major 7th note, so C13 (natural 7) or C13 (Maj7) would have a C bass note, with B, D, F & A.

It is a relatively uncommon chord, except perhaps where pedalpoint causes (for example) a C bass to remain while chords change to what is really a G9, before resolving to a C chord.

This is very much a "classical" sound, useful for tense, powerful moments on pipe organ, or orchestral sounds.

13th chords can be used with a flattened 9th, and C13b9 would be a C bass with Bb, Db, F & A.

The interval between the Bb and A almost shrieks at you, and is quite difficult to use smoothly, but it can be a powerful chord when used wisely.

Again, this is like another chord, and at its simplest resembles a Bbm with natural 7th (usually the melody) but a C bass.

A slightly more relaxed version is achieved by flattening the 11th, making it a 10th, but this changes the name of the chord completely, and it becomes a 7th with a flattened 9th, which also has a 13th stuck on the end… 7b9s13.

13ths with raised 11ths can also be very useful occasionally, but I can't recall ever having seen one written anywhere in chord symbols.

They mainly come in to play when the melody is played around the 9th, then the 8th, with a 3rd following below it…

In C, an F9 chord with the melody on D, and a B harmony below the melody.

I would plump for calling it C13(#11).

This seems to break the cardinal rule that notes between the scale are always flats, but in order to call it a flattened 12th, the whole chord would have to be renamed as C7-12s13 or C7-12add13.

Don’t let the technicalities put you off trying this chord.

"FIFTEENTH"

The next step up the scale in odd notes after the 13th is the 15th, which is an octave above the 8th.

There is really no such thing as a 15th chord, but it is a useful (if unconventional) term for a 13th with the melody note above it, on the 15th.

If you take a 13th chord, and add a 15th note to it, it doesn't really change much, because the 15th is a root note, and should be there in the bass anyway.

However, there are moments in some tunes when (if you can find enough fingers) it is best to play the 13th chord and have the melody above it, on the 15th.

As an example, suppose a G13 chord is played with its 15th (G) at the top.

To play this on a keyboard, you will have to reach all these notes and play them together...

G F A C E G

If you can't play the G and F in your left hand, the only way out is to ignore the 7th (F) and play the top 4 notes, but it doesn't have the same impact, the 7th is important.

An augmented on the same root will follow on nicely,

but an even juicier alternative to use is this one, G+7b9, achieved by taking 3 notes down a semitone.

Let’s back-track and look at a simple situation where the melody is on the 8th, and the easy chord is a 7th or augmented.

Make that more interesting by replacing it with a 7th augmented, or 9th augmented.

Then, precede it by a 13th on the same root, but with that melody acting like a 15th.

C C+ F becomes

C C15 C+7 F or

C C15 C+9 F

Now, we could extend it to get more impact, by using an opposite bass on the chord before last, making

C C15 F#9-12 F

MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW!

More advanced sequences

Chord suggested by melody & bass

Intros

Fill-ins

ENDINGS

The vast majority of melodies end on the keynote, and the likelihood is that the singer will finish by holding that note, and leave the musicians to use the keynote as an anchor note, and try to come up with some new and excitingly creative ideas for chords to play in the background.

The possibilities are limited!

Let's suppose the song is in C, you will mainly have to use various combinations of chords that have a C in them, so practise playing a series of chords with a C at the top, or some other note for other keys. You could start with a C major triad with C at the top, and then take the bass down in semitones, and try to create chords that still justify that top C.

B7-9

Bb9

A minor Am7 Ao A7b10

Ab Major Ab6 Ab7 Ab9 Abmaj7

G11 G11b9

F#m7b5 F#o

F major F6 F7 F9 Fmaj7 F minor

E+

Eb6 Ebo

D7 Dm7

Dbmaj7

C major C6 C7 C9 Cmaj7 C minor

BASS LINES FOR ENDINGS

Another way to approach the matter is to design a bass line, then find chords to fit it.

There are two that are used quite commonly, going upwards or downwards from the keynote.

1 . 3 . 4 . -5 . 5 6 7 1

8 . -7 . 6 . -6 . 5 4 3 1

In each case, the notes I have underlined are played faster, as quavers, or tied triplets.

These two can also provide a kind of harmony for each other, if used together, and the chords might be

C C7 F Ab7 G7 C

A bass line descending in semitones is another idea, so knowing that you will end on C, and by working backwards, you should be able to work out that the commonest ones start on Eb or F#.

If you choose Eb, try

Eb6 D7 Dbmaj7 C

Starting on F#, the sequence could be

F#m7-5 Fm7 Em7 Ebo Dm7 Dbmaj7 C

Ths is very effective for jazz and big band swing endings.

DIFFERENT RULES FOR BASS AND MELODY

Let's look at this slowly, step by step:

Play a Bb chord with an Ab melody, which makes it a Bb7.

Take the chord down to A, and the melody up to A, this could simply be an A chord, but A7 follows on well from the previous 7th.

Take the chord down to Ab, and the melody up to Bb, this is the 9th note of that chord, so Ab9 works well, but the chord itself could still be called a 7th, with the melody on its 9th.

Take the chord down to G, and the melody up to B: this could be a simple G chord, but the whole sequence works well with 7ths or 9ths.

It’s an interesting to play this on a guitar, and the most likely way is by doing 4-note inversions on the top strings, and relying on a bass player to fill in the roots.

Why not extend this as an exercise, and keep the bass going down in semitones, while the melody goes up.

What chord would you use if the bass is Gb and the melody is C?

ANOTHER EXERCISE

There are many useful exercises you can create by using one rule for the movement of bass notes, and another for the top note or melody, and these provide important practical experience for working with melodies.

For example, start with a simple chord in the mid-range, with the obvious bass, and its octave as the melody or top line.

Move the bass down a semitone, and the melody up a semitone:

What chord would you choose to fill in between the two notes?

Look at the interval between the two notes, it is a 9th, so some kind of 9th is called for.

Take the bass down another semitone, and the melody up a semitone.

The interval is now a minor 10th, or a flattened 10th, so a minor triad would work, although something like a 7b10 is more interesting.

Another step produces an 11th, so an 11th chord is the obvious answer.

Carry on with the sequence, and try to pick chords that sound like an interesting change from the previous ones.

When you have been through 12 changes, and arrived back at the original bass note, go up a semitone, and try the whole idea again.

Now start with any bass note and melody note, and move the bass around the circle, while the melody stays still.

Another idea is to move the bass around the circle, and the melody along the scale.

CHORD MAP

CHORD AND BASS CHART

Sometimes, it is very difficult to give a simple symbol to a chord with an unusual bass, so if the bass note is not the root, and some special note is required, the chord symbol may be described as a “Platform Chord”.

In the following chart, you can find inversions for many chord and bass combinations, and also see what happens to a chord when you change the bass note.

First, place the keyboard strip onto the chart, lining up the bass note on it below a chord symbol on the chart.

The chart shows you which notes to play for that chord, and also suggests (by colours) which notes may be best or worst for use with the chord you have chosen.

The main notes of the chord are coloured green. They are also darker, in case you are colour-blind.

Amber or orange ones are ones you might play with the chord.

Red notes are the ones that are best avoided.

NOTE INDEX

If you find yourself playing a group of notes, but not knowing what to call it, this index is for you.

Place the note names in alphabetical order, then look them up in the following pages, so that you can find possible names and symbols for most groups of notes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHORD SYMBOLS

The following summary will give you a quick guide to most chord symbols, but a lot of this information will not make much sense until you have learned more about building and using chords.

A chord symbol can have 3 elements, the root note, the type of chord, and any added or flattened notes.

Most notes in a chord are described in terms of intervals along the major scale, regardless of the type of chord.

If the only symbol is the root note, the chord is a major triad, consisting of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of a major scale.

If the root note is followed by a sharp or flat, then that symbol applies to the root note, not the type of chord, so the whole chord is moved up or down a semitone: Any other use of sharps or flats must be in brackets to avoid confusion.

G# means a major chord rooted on the note G#, and containing the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the G# major scale, which are G# C and D#.

m A small letter m (or "min") means a minor chord, in which the 3rd is flattened, but the American system uses the minus sign to mean minor. A capital M or "Maj" is sometimes used for a major chord, especially when it is something more than just a simple major triad.

5 Technically, there is no such thing as a 5th chord! If you see E5 in a guitar book, it means "play E with the 5th above it", sometimes known as a "Power Chord", which is only two notes, and doesn't qualify as a chord at all, it's an interval! When I hear that yet another young guitar band is about to start a number, I pray that it will involve more than the bottom two strings played in quavers. Where is their imagination?

+ The plus sign means that the 5th note of the scale is augmented (raised a semitone). This can be applied to minor chords, but it more usual with major chords. When the 5th is augmented, you should not play a normal 5th anywhere else, they will clash.

o or "dim" means a four-note diminished chord comprising the 1st, flattened 3rd, flattened 5th, and 6th. Some people call this a diminished 6th, because it is a diminished triad with a 6th added. Others call it a diminished 7th, like a 7th in which all the intervals from the root have been flattened. "Diminished" is the simple name.

6 means that the 6th note of the major scale is added to the chord, or sustained with the chord, even if it is a minor chord. Other added notes are written something like (add2) or (sus2). The plus sign is not used for added notes. Some added notes sound as if the chord is very tense, hanging (suspended) and waiting to resolve by dropping back to a more relaxed note. "Sus" really means suspended.

sus4 is a special case, a major chord in which the 3rd has been replaced by a 4th, so it isn't an added note, the 3rd is moved. These are sometimes written just as "sus". It doesn’t matter if it starts as major or minor, the chord is the same.

7 means the flattened 7th is added to a major triad, not the normal 7th on the major scale. This very common chord could be written -7 or b7 but isn't!

Maj7 means the major or natural 7th is added. The American system uses a triangle to represent this chord.

For most purposes, added notes between the notes of the major scale are regarded as flats rather than sharps, and to avoid confusion with flats in the root note, a minus sign can be used instead of a flat, such as -5 or -9, but the minus sign has, in recent times, been used in the American system for MINOR chords, so it is a matter of personal choice which way you write it, and there will always be a danger of misunderstanding, so if you use flats, they must be in brackets.

Flattened notes up to the 7th apply to the basic chord, and change it. Flattened notes above the 8th are in addition to the basic chord, but leave it unchanged.

For example, the b5 changes the basic chord, but b12 adds a flattened 12th note of the same name above the normal chord without changing the 5th.

9 means the flattened 7th and normal 9th are added to a triad.

Maj9 means the major 7th and the 9th are added, usually to a major triad.

11 As well as adding the flattened 7th, the 9th and 11th to the triad, you also have to leave out the 3rd.

Maj11 has the major 7th, 9th, 11th, root bass, and no 3rd.

13 has the flattened 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th, plus root bass. The American use of "13" is quite different, and is more accurately known as a 7th with added 13th (7s13). These conflicts have been around since at least the 1960s, but are never resolved. 13ths must have also the 11th in there!

Maj13 is something you will probably never meet, but it has the major 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th, with root bass.

START LEARNING ABOUT MUSIC!

(Updated February 2014)

One of the stages of my proposed book on CREATIVE MUSICIANSHIP is offered here in return for donations. If we get enough of those, other stages will be added, eventually working up to complex chords and harmonies. Of course, one of the problems in reading things from books, videos or websites is that nobody can hear or see if you are doing it correctly, so it is important to read carefully.

The intention is that you should look up some of the many songs, on paper and on the internet, and learn from your own research. Websites like Youtube and Spotify provide opportunities that were not available to musicians a few years ago, so make good use of them as research tools. However, do not try to rely on finding chords written on the internet, many of them are wrong, they are often written out badly, and the worst thing is that they often line the chords up with the lyrics, which is no use to you if you don’t know the song!

TIMING & MUSICIANSHIP by Bill Kibby

Bill Kibby has been working for years on a complete reference book for creative musicianship, but it seems that there is still a lot more to be written, and this little volume is just about the rhythm aspect of it. If you want to learn drums, or rhythmic playing on any instrument, it is recommended that you work in the order of the following pages, rather than just leaping randomly into the first song that comes along.

People who know Bill Kibby as a musician are aware of his unusual mixture of musical talents, extending to many styles of music, and on many different instruments, in fact..

“More variety of instruments and styles than you’ve ever heard anywhere from just one musician.”

In this, he is uniquely placed for providing an over-all view of music, as can be heard in the music demos on his website…

pianohistory.info

“I just love those wonderfully fluid, liquid sounds that flow from the piano whenever Bill is playing” - Carol

“I never thought I’d hear jazz guitar like that around here!”

– Ed

“The sounds that Bill gets from two keyboards are beyond imagination” - Wendy

“Bill’s banjo playing is just perfect for New Orleans Jazz” – Richard

“I couldn’t believe Bill could just walk in, front the band at an hour’s notice, and play like that without rehearsal” - John

“I don’t think I could improve on Bill’s guitar playing” – Pete

“Bill’s piano playing is so good, I don’t know why he bothers with all those other instruments” – Rod

“Bill’s the best musician in town, he’s got it all” – Dave.

“Bill’s playing is verging on genius, he IS the band” – Ian

“There are so many songs I want to sing, but who else but Bill could I ask to accompany them for me?”

- Laurie

“We love Bill’s organ playing, why would he want to play guitar?” – Organ club

“I am not used to banjo players doing proper intros, or playing proper solos!” – Alan

“How many bass players can keep the audience interested when they are soloing for a whole 32 bars?” – Chas

JAMMIN’

Bill was born into a musical family in 1947, and by the mid-fifties, he was participating in what other people might call "jam sessions", but to the Kibby family, they were just parties, and making live music was what parties were all about, not playing party games or listening to records.

Being unwisely encouraged to get a "proper job", Bill headed straight for the music trade instead of music itself, and trained as a piano tuner.

As such, he has, since 1963, collected what is probably the world's largest archive of piano history information, yet he never lost the desire to put music first, so piano playing became an important aspect of his work, but like Glen Miller, Bill wasn't content to just play one instrument, he wanted to play the whole band!

Bill's holistic, eclectic approach to music left him with only three possible ways of achieving this aim, namely

(1) multi-track recording, or

(2) making the best possible use of both hands and feet by playing a pedalboard and two keyboards (like an organist) or

(3) the use of electronics and MIDI technology to arrange his own pre-recorded backings for use with stringed instruments.

BILL SAYS...

I remember an organist who received a standing ovation for playing one simple tune on trumpet, but there is a strange division of attitudes about being a multi-instrumentalist.

I know people who learn all sorts of related skills such as building, decorating, plumbing, gas fitting, electrics, etc..

Medical practitioners often take a holistic approach to studying the whole subject from many different angles, and vets have to do all that for many different animals, but if I explain that I have spent most of my life learning to play a wide variety of music on several instruments, the phrase "jack of all trades" immediately pops up, with its implication that I must be a "master of none"!

STARTING TO LEARN

When anyone has been playing an instrument by ear for years, they can find it very difficult to start again from scratch, but one particular area where many beginners, amateurs and even some professionals could do with some help is the question of timing and rhythms.

In particular, anyone who uses automatic rhythm backings on electronic keyboards or organs needs to learn some basic rules.

You should look up some of the many songs, on paper and on the internet, and learn from your own research. Facilities like Youtube and especially Spotify provide opportunities that were not available to musicians a few years ago, so make good use of them as research tools.

If it’s drum rhythms you want to practise, you don’t have to wait until you have an instrument, you can practise anytime, anywhere – all you need is hands and feet!

First of all, let's look at the three most important components of rhythm, which are…

BEATS, BARS, and DIVISION OF THE BEAT.

BEATS

Music can be played at many different tempos (speeds) and it is difficult to define in any simple way how long or fast a "beat" (crotchet) should be. It may seem a rather vague definition, but some people say that if it is too fast to count aloud, it is probably not a whole beat, but something faster, like a half-beat (quaver) or quarter-beat (semi-quaver).

In order to play rhythms on drums or other instruments, your first requirement is to be able to beat time with a note or a drum repeatedly, at a smooth, regular rate, and sometimes quite quickly. This may sound easy, but even if you have the natural ability to do it in your head, the physical task of getting your hands or feet to do it may require a surprising amount of practice.

However, you do not need an instrument for this type of practice, so try to get into the habit of thinking about these things even when you are not at the instrument, and tapping your fingers or feet.

There are a few people (maybe 1%) who will never be able to do this at all, but far too many give up much too easily, just because it is a bit more difficult than they thought it would be, so please persevere, give yourself a chance. Some people who have a good sense of rhythm find that it goes out the window when their concentration is divided between playing or singing and reading music. Musicians have to multi-task, and reading is dealt with by the opposite side of the brain to the creativity and improvisation.

As a musician, I have spent many years watching people dance badly, and it is fascinating to me that even if the music makes people leap to their feet, many of them do not have a clue about rhythm, and cannot even step or sway in time with the beat.

If you feel you have achieved the task of tapping a regular beat, try joining with all kinds of rhythmic music, using your best hand to play what drummers call "RIDE". This is simply a matter of tapping time at a regular rate, as a drummer might do on a cymbal. Ride is often quite fast, sometimes faster that you can count aloud. It can be played on a ride cymbal, or a hi-hat cymbal (which has a pedal to vary its sound) but occasionally, ride is played on a floor tom-tom for more power. Ride is more interesting if you vary the strength of each strike randomly, instead of doing them exactly the same. Relaxing your arm is the key. Learning to do Ride is a basic necessity if you want to play drums, but it is not so very different to playing rhythm on a guitar or keyboard. If you plan to play drums, it's also a good idea to practise tapping in time with music, on alternate feet, starting with the right foot if you are right-handed. Like organists, drummers have to practise a lot to achieve co-ordination between two hands and two feet, each of which may be playing a different pattern. A modern organist has to walk miles with the left foot!

In modern times, with the aid of electronic drums and keyboard rhythms, the TEMPO or speed of music is usually measured in Beats Per Minute (BPM) which can also be found marked on some metronomes, but older pre-electronic dance band musicians were brought up on Bars Per Minute, (also written as BPM) which is quite different. We will not be using Bars Per Minute in this book, so if you see BPM written here, it means Beats Per Minute. Tempos rarely go below 50bpm, or above 220bpm, and some of the most popular rhythms are multiples of 60bpm, especially 120 and 180. Suggestions that these are "brain rhythms", hypnotic inventions of Satan that will do us all terrible harm, are not taken too seriously in my house, and many modern Christian hymns are played at 120bpm.

People often complain that musicians do not keep constant tempo, or that drummers speed up. Computer software and electronic rhythms may seem like a perfect solution, they can enable us to keep perfect, controlled time at a predetermined rate of BPM, but it turns out that this dream, impossible to achieve half a century ago, is not necessarily natural or desirable.

I have found that at those moments when a song changes its mood slightly, and the drums do a "fill", it is very effective to increase the tempo by just one beat per minute, and this tiny, almost imperceptible increase gives the music a little lift. Of course, if there are too many such lifts, the tempo ends up racing, so everything must be done in moderation.

Incidentally, whereas percussion is often the driving force for rhythmic music, some traditional Chinese music uses percussion instruments in much the same way that we use notes on other instruments, they are not arranged in rhythm patterns, so they are used a bit like handbells, played individually, although they are not notes on a scale.

CAFFEINE OVERLOAD

Before we start looking at music notation, here is a simple guide that may help you to understand the way that some of the rhythms and timing are shown in printed music.

Count time at a steady speed, using only the numbers one and two:

1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

Now do the same, but instead of “one” and “two”, use the word COFFEE.

Co ffee Co ffee Co ffee Co ffee

Now try it again with the word TEA, but make the word last as long as the two beats of COFFEE.

TEA TEA TEA TEA

Combine the two, but TEA still takes the same length of time as COFFEE.

TEA COFFEE TEA COFFEE

Now add a new drink - COCA-COLA: This has four syllables, and has to be spoken quicker, so that it takes the same time as TEA or COFFEE.

Can you work out which well-known tune might fit the rhythm of these words?...

Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee

Coffee Tea Coffee Tea

Coca-Cola Coffee Coca-Cola Coffee

Coffee Tea Coffee Tea

Try writing tunes you know in this way, so that you can show the rhythm by using these words.

What has all this to do with printed music?

TEA represents a note two beats long, known as a minim, and drawn as a circle with a stem.

COFFEE represents two separate beats, each known as a crotchet, and drawn as a filled-in circle with a stem.

COCA-COLA represents four half-beats or quavers, each of which is represented by a filled-in circle with a stem and a tail.

These tails can be separate sloping ones, or they can join two or more quavers together.

Now try the printed music on the next page.

BARS (MEASURES)

Once you can tap in time, the next step in rhythm is to be able to put beats into groups of a particular number, forming regular patterns. In music, they are known as bars or (less commonly) measures.

Music is usually divided up into bars of so-many beats each. Try listening to music and counting 1 2 3 4 repeatedly. It should work for many popular songs.

Again, it is fascinating to me to see that even among people who can dance in time with the beat of the music, so many do not manage a step that fits the pattern or number of beats per bar. I could not begin to dance in 3/4 when the music is in 4/4 but then, I am no dancer, and ballroom dancing often requires steps that do not fit neatly into the rhythm.

Some rhythms can often be counted in more than one way, and personal taste comes into it, so if, for example, a pattern can be counted as 12 equal beats, it is hard to know if it’s 6 bars of 2, 3 bars of 4, 4 bars of 3, or 2 bars of 6.

Sometimes, at some point in a song, the accents can change, and add to the confusion. Experience is your only guide. Now listen to a fairly rhythmic piece of music and try to work out where the emphasis comes, it may be every 4 beats, or some other number. Try to find a regular pattern of rhythm. In particular, find the fastest-moving notes.

If you can single out the bass notes, or bass drum, this will often help you to find the beginning of a bar… except for reggae!

TIME SIGNATURE

At the beginning of a piece of printed music, there is something called a TIME SIGNATURE, consisting of two numbers, one above the other, like a fraction.

For typing purposes, these time signatures may be shown here with a slash, such as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 12/8 etc...

The top number represents the number of beats in a bar.

The bottom number gives a very rough guide to the speed of these beats:

4 means a normal beat or crotchet , one you could count aloud easily.

8 is twice as quick, or half as long a beat, a half-beat, more properly known as a quaver.

Other numbers are uncommon.

Because it is the most common, 4/4 is known as Common Time, and may be represented just by the letter C.

DIVIDING THE BEAT

The third aspect of rhythm is concerned with notes which are faster or shorter than a normal beat.

Oddly, it is a subject that is rarely discussed or examined by musicians, or by music books.

That doesn't mean people don't use this information, they just don't always think of it consciously, or define it clearly.

A typical popular song with (for example) 4 beats in the bar almost always has faster rhythms within it, something that might only be revealed by an occasional (quicker) melody note between the main beats.

In order to define these it is necessary to look for the fastest-moving notes, even if there are not many of them.

Surprisingly, these fall into one of only two types, and a good understanding of these is vital to your grasp of different rhythms. When it comes to dance music, most dances are intended to move the feet in one of these 2 patterns.

QUAVERS

Each beat or crotchet can simply be divided into 2 equal half-beats (quavers) so a bar of 4 beats has 8 quavers.

You can count it as...

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

If 4/4 is used in this way, it is often referred to by musicians as an "8", or more accurately, "8-beat", meaning that there are 8 quavers in a bar.

It could be written as 8/8 but it isn’t!

More about that later.

A lot of classical music is written in quavers. Most Latin American dances are in 8-beat except for the jive.

TIED TRIPLETS

In this more complex form of division, a single beat is divided into unequal parts in which the first is twice as long as the second, so there is a long note and a short note.

A simple way of writing this is with a crotchet and a quaver, making a total of one-and-a-half beats,

but technically, it would be written down as if there are 3 quavers, grouped together to be played in the time of just 2 - a TRIPLET.

Then, the first two are tied together, to be read as just one longer beat. Try counting threes aloud very quickly, but only tapping the 1 and 3.

Or you can count it as...

1 - a 2 - a 3 - a 4 - a

but that probably doesn't tell you the timing. Now try walking quickly in a relaxed way, but catching your heel on the ground as you swing each foot forward.

Although you could walk in quavers, shuffling your feet in a relaxed way should normally result in what is called a SHUFFLE rhythm, (or swing) which is exactly what we have been talking about - tied triplets.

Writing a whole tune into manuscript using tied triplets is clumsy and unwieldy, so it is sometimes written as 6/8, because that is easier to write and read, using a crotchet and a quaver, as described above.

More often, a little diagram is used at the top of the page, to indicate that what is written as two quavers should actually be played as tied triplets. Sometimes, the diagram is wrong, and suggests that shuffle is made of 4 semi-quavers, the first three tied together. This would not be proper shuffle, or swing, but you can still interpret the written notes in exactly the same way.

The two types of divisions in beats occur in most types of rhythm, and in bars of any length. If you go on breaking down a rhythm into smaller and smaller units, there will often be tied triplets at the end, they seem to be more natural and relaxed than quavers, and there are many examples in the animal world, such as a horse galloping. I once heard a duck walking across a caravan roof in perfect tied triplets!

If you use a relaxed, easy-going song such as “Close to you”, take away the tied triplets and try to do something funky with it, it becomes tense, and you’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’. Happy songs were the norm in the early 1900s, but are relatively uncommon now, although when they turn up, they often have tied triplets.

Most Ballroom dances are in tied triplets, except the Tango.

Sadly, there is a very small minority of people who cannot grasp the difference between quavers and tied triplets, and will probably never get anywhere with rhythm playing. Don't just assume that you are going to turn out to be one of these! Give it a try, and if you really do fail, it doesn't mean you can't make music, so work on slow, non-rhythmic music. You'll be surprised what interesting sounds you can achieve.

Quavers are easier to read from printed sheet music, and some music readers have a tendency to turn tied triplets into simple quavers. Amazingly, some song sheets give no clue whatsoever to the fact that they should be read in tied triplets.

USING ELECTRONIC RHYTHMS

If you are going to use an electronic drum beat, or a complete rhythm section provided by an electronic keyboard, there are several things you need to take into account, mainly because the electronics does not have a brain, or ears, it works to certain pre-programmed rules, often put in there by someone who may not be the best of musicians.

1. Be very careful to choose the correct type of rhythm. Don’t start trying to be clever and alter rhythms until you have learned to play the song in the normal way that people expect to hear it. All too often, the rhythms are not labelled in any useful, sensible way, so use this book to identify the type of rhythm you need for the song. The labels used by keyboard manufacturers often give no clue to what type of rhythm it will be.

2. Before you start playing, check that the tempo is as close as possible to what you want. It is usually indicated by some obvious cue, such as a flashing light, which is a great help until you get used to setting the tempo by numbers.

3. Remember that the automatic rhythm will ONLY start on the first beat of the bar, so if the tune does not do this, you will have to start the rhythm before you start the tune. Not only that, the rhythm pattern often has 4 bars, so you need to get to know how to start the rhythm early where necessary.

4. Above all, you have to understand that although keyboards can provide some wonderful rhythm sections, it is up to YOU to make sure you are at the right point in a bar, and being “in time” is not just about tempo, it is about knowing which beat in the bar you are playing. The backings cannot play correctly if you lose count of the beats in a bar. In particular, the bass parts will not be correct, and this can make the music sound disjointed.

You will probably use the SYNC setting to get the beat to start when you start playing.

Almost all the rhythms work by repeating a pattern of 2 bars or 4 bars, so even if you are just using the drum sounds, it is important to understand that you must press a key on the first beat of the first bar, otherwise the drums will not play correctly, so before you start playing a tune, think about whether the first note is right at the beginning of a bar.

If it is not, you will need to either play a note or notes on the first beat, or press a button to make the rhythm start before the first note.

If you don’t do this, the consequences are messy even just with drums, you will get accents where you don’t want them, and with a whole rhythm section playing on the wrong beat, it could turn into a complete disaster, because the correct bass note is especially important on the first beat of the bar, and the “bass player” is not listening to you!

Whether you use a pre-programmed intro, or play your own, you must start on the first beat of the bar, but your responsibility doesn’t end there!

So many amateur players do not seem to be able to keep the correct number of beats in a bar when they are reading music and using electronic rhythms.

Somewhere inside your head, you have an idea what sort of rhythm you would like to hear coming out of your keyboard, and also what tempo you would like the song to run at, so it is important that the machine is running at that speed.

Before you start using a rhythm, try singing a bit of the song, to help you decide whether the rhythm style you have chosen is suitable for the song. Labelling of these rhythm styles is often vague, and sometimes misleading.

Instead of trying to be clever or different, try to play the song the way people expect to hear it.

Having settled on a style, you still need to decide whether the tempo needs to be adjusted to suit the way you want the song to run.

Too slow, and it will seem to drag. Too fast, and it will run away from you.

Either way, you may easily lose track of where the first beat of the bar is.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF DIVISIONS OF BEATS

Military marches come in 2 forms: one has 2 beats divided into quavers, the other has what is, in effect, 2 beats divided into tied triplets, although it is often written down with the time signature 6/8 – 6 quavers in a bar.

The waltzes used for ballroom dancing usually have quavers, but more modern waltzes often have tied triplets, and may be a little quicker.

Latin American dance rhythms are, by definition, always in quavers, as is the tango. I will never understand how the jive became classified as latin!

Boogie-woogie piano, with bass lines moving up and down in octaves, is available in both versions, although the tenser feel of quavers tends to be more modern.

In the early 1900s, Ragtime music was played in quavers, so if you hear something like Scott Joplin's "The entertainer" played in tied triplets, that is not authentic.

A lot of Henry Hall’s strict tempo arrangements from the thirties preferred quavers too.

In 1914, Harry Fox introduced the foxtrot, at a time when it would have been danced to Ragtime, therefore in quavers. The steps were adapted from the waltz, with 3 beats… “Forward side together”.

Oddly, because the foxtrot was a development of the waltz, its steps do not work in groups of 4 beats, but 6… Slow – slow – quick quick. This means that its steps go in and out of phase with the bars. Here are groups of steps representing two bars per line…

slow - slow - quick quick slow -

slow - quick quick slow - slow -

quick quick slow - slow - quick quick

Later, foxtrots, quicksteps, and especially swing, used tied triplets, which dominated the world of popular music in the thirties and forties.

(Swing is always in tied triplets, at any tempo, whereas ballroom dances have carefully defined tempos, but may use quavers.)

Some jazz players have an irresistible compulsion to turn everything into swing, so a song which begins as a Latin number with quavers can often drop into swing (tied triplets) the second time around.

Early Rock'n'roll remained principally in tied triplets, but with so many unqualified amateur musicians suddenly coming to prominence, there were many ragged recordings in the fifties that couldn't quite decide what they wanted to be.

Jive was a dance from the rock'n'roll era and, as such, was originally tied triplets, but it became corrupted to quavers later, which made it more tense.

Bluebeat is often defined by its shuffling tied triplets, with a strong accent on the offbeat, following on from the shuffle tempos of the fifties. If it has quavers, it will usually be called Ska.

Reggae comes in both varieties, with no simple names or guidelines to help the beginner, although quavers are probably more common.

Now, let's look at the main types of rhythm found in popular music over the past century or two.

Many musicians refer to them by a number, so I will show this at the beginning of each heading, and the following pages are arranged in order of those numbers.

Of course, music is a bit like English, some people bother, others don't.

Experienced musicians and dancers that I know are horrified by the use of inappropriate rhythms in TV shows like "Strictly come dancing", where what passes for a waltz is often something quite different. What passes for a Charleston is sometimes a disco beat, and how ridiculous to dance a jive to the TWIST! It’s the wrong rhythm, the wrong tempo, and the wrong decade. The fact that you can count the right number of beats does not make it the right kind of feel for a particular dance, it is perfectly possible to play a rumba, cha cha and tango at the same tempo, but that doesn’t make them the same. There's a lot more to it than that, and even if “Satisfaction” makes a good tango, it still needs to be played as a tango. The key is to choose songs that will work when played in the way that is required for the particular dance.

2 - QUICKSTEPS, MARCHES & POLKAS

Obviously, a regular pattern must have more than one beat, but it is perfectly possible to write music with only two beats per bar. It might sound silly to call it an "oom-pah" rhythm, but that really is a very good illustration of how it works. Simply repeat...

oom- pah oom- pah oom- pah oom- pah

For a simple 2/4, a drummer might hit the bass drum for one beat, and the snare drum for the next.

The ride cymbal could play every beat.

In this drum notation, the crosses represent cymbal "notes", the lowest notes are for bass drum, and the midway ones are for snare drum. Drum notation is by no means standard, partly because drum kits are not standard.

If you are working on computer with MIDI software such as Cubase, the columns represent time intervals, and the lines represent notes, or drum sounds. The Note-Map only shows the starting point for each percussion sound, which sometimes makes drums easier to read than other instruments, so the notes in the previous example might look something like this, depending on which notes on the keyboard represent the percussion sounds you have chosen.

Being the simplest rhythm, 2/4 is widely used in the traditional folk music of many different countries, although it is often written down as 4/4, or occasionally as 4/8.

Some folk songs and sea shanties have 2/4 grouped in unusual numbers of bars, such as 6 or 7.

Some versions of the Russian / Jewish song “Black eyes” (better known in more modern times as “Dark eyes”) have groups of 3 bars of 2/4, like "When the boat comes in".

A bass-and-chord accompaniment for 2/4 on piano could have the bass note on the first beat, and the chord on the second beat.

Accordions and melodeons have buttons for left-hand chords and bass notes, and 2/4 is the simplest rhythm for them.

Guitarists working on rhythm playing should try to do exactly the same, playing a bass note on the first beat, and the chord on the second beat.

Another version plays a chord on both beats, but the bass note only on the first beat.

If played staccato, this tends to give a twenties feel to jazz.

Guitarists need to learn to spot where the root notes are in the chords.

Also, try using your thumb to pluck the bass note, while your fingers pluck the chord, one string per finger.

A popular and very effective alternative is to change the angle of your strumming so that you emphasise the lower strings, then the higher strings, without picking out single notes.

Strumming all the strings equally is a sign of an amateur!

Polkas were popular dances a century ago, and military marches have always liked 2/4 time, because most soldiers have two feet.

Quicksteps are ballroom dances, usually around 180bpm, or 200bpm for a Mayfair Quickstep, and although they are often written down in 4/4, they still have that "oom-pah" feel of 2/4.

The Samba is a lively, almost funky Latin American dance that has very much the feel of 2/4, but is more complex and energetic, with an accent on every 4^th quaver. Unfortunately, many sources online, on paper and on keyboard rhythms count the bars differently, so the tempo (around 190) is quoted as half as much, although it should be obvious to anyone that it is a fast dance.

The Salsa is a variant of a Samba, but seems to vary in a rather vague way which I find difficult to define in any reliable way. Some resemble the “Bollywood” style of rhythm with an accent on the 4^th quaver of the bar.

Country & Western adopted 2/4 for up-tempo songs, sometimes in quavers, in fact in the sixties, C&W was still largely based on the main ballroom dances - waltz, foxtrot and quickstep, although they often had a double bass beat added, so the bass and/or bass drum played the last quaver or triplet note in the bar, just before the next bar started with another bass beat.

No doubt this was connected with the increasing use of a bass guitar instead of a double bass, which allowed more rapid movement of notes than a double bass, but it remains a source of great irritation for older ballroom dancers.

In the fifties, a form of 2/4 evolved in quavers, much more tense and punchy, and not too different to the feel of the sixties Twist, but faster.

You can count quickly

1 2 & 1 2 1 2 & 1 2

Examples:

1957 Bye bye love

1957 Gonna get along without you now

1961 Wooden heart

1962 Love me do

1962 Oh! Lonesome me

1962 Picture of you

1962 Things

3 - WALTZES

When 3/4 is typed, it looks like a fraction and is sometimes known as “three-quarter time”.

Waltzes come in various styles, and there are also some rhythms that could be counted in threes that are not really waltzes, but the basic beat for a waltz is...

oom- pah- pah oom- pah- pah

Again, that silly sound provides a good illustration of the way the rhythm is played, like the song "Oom-pah-pah" from Lionel Bart's "Oliver".

The first beat is on a bass instrument or bass drum, the second and third are on chord or snare drum.

Cymbals or rhythm instruments might play all 3 beats.

One of the oldest 3/4 dances is the Sarabande, and Handel’s Sarabande demonstrates very well that the accent for a sarabande is on the first 2 beats, with very little activity on the last beat of each bar.

It is also in tied triplets, like an early jazz waltz. Minuets are another early form of 3/4.

The term “Waltz” did not exist in the 1700s, and during a court case at the Old Bailey in 1815, about the copyright of certain waltzes, “the Lord Chancellor enquired respecting the nature of what was called a waltz. Mr Hart said it was one of those things which it was not very easy to define, but perhaps some of his Learned Friends who were with him in this case would shew his Lordship the motions”.

Traditionally, ballroom dancing uses waltzes in which the beats tend to be divided into quavers, so the cymbal or chord could play 2 quavers (half-beats) for every beat, and the tempo would be around 90bpm.

1 & 2 & 3 &

Old time waltzes, including the Valeta and St. Bernard's waltz, are much the same but faster, like the Strauss waltzes, perhaps around 120bpm.

Normal waltzes have their bars arranged in groups of 4 at a time, like most songs, but there are old examples that have unlikely numbers of bars, such as “Praise to the Lord”, which has groups of 6 bars of 3/4.

Occasionally, some faster waltzes such as “We three kings” are written down as 3/8.

Jazz waltzes or swing waltzes divide the beat into tied triplets (shuffle), and are often a little faster than a ballroom waltz, around 110bpm.

This notation might show the spacing of the cymbal beats quite well, but technically they should be written as tied triplets.

This makes it much more difficult to read!

This version shows tied triplets on the middle cymbal beats, but they could be anywhere in the bar, and in modern jazz, they are sometimes placed to give the impression of 4/4 in what is really a waltz.

These swing waltzes are used in country and western songs.

From the sixties onwards, waltzes, like many other rhythms, have tended to have a double bass beat.

In order to show the rhythm between the snare and bass drum, the snare is shown with 2 quavers tied together, while the bass drum completes the triplet.

Although modern waltz songs are rare, they are often swing waltzes, so it is a way of making a waltz sound a little more modern, or different from older waltzes. The chord or cymbal is often simplified to whole beats.

Engelbert Humperdinck's "The last waltz" is a good example of a swing waltz with double bass beat.

A similar, but perhaps more obvious one is the piano intro from the Moody Blues' "Go now", where the left-hand bass line has that double bass beat, while the right-hand chord is on every beat.

Other examples of more modern waltzes include...

1967 There goes my everything

1968 Les bicyclettes de Belsize

1969 Boom-bang-a-bang

1969 All kinds of everything

1971 Grandad

1972 Four in the morning

1972 Until it's time for you to go

1977 You light up my life

1978 Mull of Kintire

1978 Three times a lady

1979 Cavatina (theme from "The Deerhunter").

The waltz seems to have disappeared in the eighties!

4 - FOXTROT, SWING, SHUFFLE, Etc.

The majority of popular songs have 4 beats in a bar, most also have snare drum accents on the 2^nd and 4^th beats of the bar. They are often played in an identical way to 2 bars of the 2/4 we have already seen.

Conversely, tunes which sound like 2/4 are often written down as 4/4, in fact the two are largely interchangeable, although 4/4 is the more usual way of writing.

Something that commonly happens in jazz is that for a few bars, the whole tempo doubles up, although the vocals do not change. It’s a shame the electronic backings don’t provide this option.

A musician may refer to a "two feel" when the 4 beats give the same old feeling of "oom-pah oom-pah", and this bass-chord bass-chord beat was a popular way to play 4/4 in the twenties and thirties.

As a result, some slow numbers left a surprisingly long, chordless gap between the bass note on the 1^st beat and the chord on the 2^nd.

Others played the chord on all the beats, and there are lots of examples of this in early cartoons such as Mickey Mouse or Popeye.

The big band swing of the forties tends to just have a bass accent on the 1st beat in the bar or, more commonly, an equal emphasis on all 4, with a walking bass on every beat.

Snare drum beats and other rhythm accents are usually on the 2nd and 4th beats. Traditionally, G banjo chords were done this way too, especially when there were other banjos in the band.

The foxtrot is a medium-tempo dance in 4/4, around 120bpm, usually with tied triplets.

Ragtime is a type of 4/4 rhythm from the early 1900s onwards, similar to a foxtrot, but with tense quavers instead of fluid tied triplets, so these have 8 divisions in the bar, although they are written down as 4/4.

In the ragtime era of the mid-twenties, the Charleston (originally from Charleston, 1903) was a form of that 4/4 in which the 4th quaver of each bar was emphasised in some parts of a song, sometimes in pauses between lines, as you might hear in “I wonder where my baby is tonight”. Ragtime implies that the whole thing should be in quavers, although modern use of this type of rhythm is often swing or tied triplets. In other styles, the same accent on the 4^th quaver is sometimes referred to as “charleston”, but it also crops up in Bollywood-style music, and some salsas. Above all, remember that the original song is usually played around 170bpm, just a touch slower than a quickstep, because it really needs time to fit in the accent on that 4^th quaver, and suggestions online that it could be as fast as 290bpm are just ridiculous.

Some of the old strict-tempo dances also have the stiff, starchy feel of quavers like ragtime. More modern examples of this type of rhythm are "Happy talk", or the theme from TV's "Van der Valk"... or even "The Birdie Song".

The fifties saw many people trying to soldier on with very old-fashioned foxtrots, while rock'n'roll was going in a different direction altogether.

There were also some wonderful slow ballads like "Blame it on my youth", or "When Sunny gets blue", but slow foxtrots sometimes use quavers.

More modern country-style foxtrots often have a double bass beat. This may mean tied triplets on the bass and bass drum, with straight beats on the cymbal.

When someone describes a rhythm simply as "4", it tends to mean 4/4 with tied triplets, and similarly, any pop backing which has a very simple, crude 4 beats thumping every instrument through the bar, often around 130bpm, but no obvious divisions of the beats, will usually turn out to be tied triplets.

This might only be revealed by an occasional (quicker) melody note between the main beats, or a double bass beat. For example, The Monkees' "Daydream believer" may seem to have nothing quicker than the 4 beats in the bar, but an occasional quicker note reveals that it is really in tied triplets. There were quite a few like that in the sixties and seventies, used for a popular dance called “The Slosh”.

Examples:

1964 Bits and pieces

1964 Have I the right

1964 My guy

1966 Got to get you into my life

1966 Sunny afternoon

1967 Happy together

1967 Hi-ho silver lining

1966 God only knows

1968 This wheel's on fire

1969 Happy together

1970 Everything is beautiful

1971 Coz I luv you

1972 Son of my father

1972 It must be love

1975 Hold me close

1992 Deeply dippy

McFly’s “Little Joanna” (2006) is similar. “Perfect” (1988) is more like an old-fashioned swing foxtrot, and “Never let her slip away” (1992) is leaning that way too. Notice that those 3 are all happy songs… tied triplets.

5 - FIVE FOUR

Sometimes, a regular pattern of beats seems like two bars of different lengths, joined together. The most common of these is 5/4.

There is very little music written for 5 beats in the bar, in which 2 extra beats are added to a waltz.

You can count it as..

1 2 3 1 2

and the whole pattern is 5 beats, often with tied triplets.

Some traditional folk songs use 5/4 in which the count feels more like

1 2 1 2 3

If you go out with a saxophone, someone, somewhere will ask you to play Dave Brubeck's "Take five", a 5/4 jazz standard from the fifties.

The old TV theme for “Mission Impossible” is in 5/4.

Jethro Tull's "Living in the past" is a rare pop song example in 5/4 time.

Sting's albums experiment with various unusual rhythms, including 5/4.

Some of Rick Wakeman's work also ventures into varying bars, including 5/4.

I remember a very effective 5/4 arrangement of the waltz "I feel pretty", sung by Millicent Martin back in the sixties. To change the song from being 3/4, every second bar had to be shortened to 2 beats instead of 3.

I find it amusing to sing the old 4/4 standard "I can't give you anything but love" in 5/4 time, but very few musicians queue up for a chance to join in!

This involves lengthening the first beat of every bar to 2 beats, making 5 instead of the original 4.

6 - SHUFFLE

If a bar has 6 beats, they can act as if they are 2 bars of 3, or 3 bars of 2.

More frequently, a 6/8 shuffle rhythm has 6 quavers, just written in a different way, so the 2nd and 5th quavers are ignored, and it could be counted...

1 - 3 4 - 6

We have seen that a beat can be divided into 3, and it follows that 2 beats can be divided into six. 6/8 is often the most obvious, almost over-emphasised version of a shuffle or tied triplet rhythm, sometimes amusingly referred to as "rumpa-tumpa"! It is also easier to write in manuscript form than tied triplets.

Examples include...

1872 Gounod's "Funeral march of a marionette"

(TV theme for "Alfred Hitchcock presents", 1955).

1907 "Teddy bears'picnic".

I remember one day when I was so bored with the lack of response from an elderly restaurant audience, I saw “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” pop up on my prompt screen, and went for it, in a very hammy, comic way. Suddenly, the whole room erupted in vigorous applause, it’s very strange what turns people on!

Some 6/8 marches show very little division of the beats, and could easily be mistaken for 4/4 or 2/4. Early TV themes used to like the drama of these, for things like "Highway Patrol", "French Foreign Legion", "No hiding place", and "Upstairs, Downstairs", the middle section of which ("What are we gonna do with Uncle Arthur?") goes into a much more blatant music hall 6/8.

In Old-Time dancing, "The Gay Gordons" is a common example of 6/8, danced to "Chase me Charlie" and some arrangements of "Loch Lomond". It is an old-fashioned form of military march, with a quite different feel to 2/4.

Occasionally, a military march will change between the two, such as “Song of the vagabonds” (1927) which begins in 6/8 then the main section is in 2/4.

Many late Victorian or Edwardian songs use 6/8, and there are lots of tunes from around the 1890s (and just into the 1900s) that could arguably be played as either 4/4 or 6/8.

For example, "If you were the only girl in the world" can be sung in an identical way in either, the only difference is that a relaxed 4/4 has the emphasis or bass drum every 2 beats, whereas a stiffer, starchier 6/8 has it twice as often.

If you put "I'm Henery the Eighth I am" into smooth 4/4 it loses the jerky comedy element of 6/8. "The runaway train", written in 1931 and re-hashed in the fifties by Michael Holliday, is an example of 6/8, as is Laurel & Hardy's "Cuckoo song".

In the forties, others included "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts". Wilfred Pickles' "Have a go" is another.

There were still a few new ones around in the fifties, such as the radio theme for "Hancock's Half-Hour", Harry Worth's TV theme, Max Bygraves’ “The dummy song”, Ann Shelton's "Lay down your arms", or The Shadows' "The boys", but 6/8 was dying out by the sixties.

You may have gathered that 6/8 is often used for light-hearted or comic effect.

Examples include

Three blind mice

Pop goes the weasel

Popeye the sailor man

Two little boys

The wibbly-wobbly way

Mr Blobby

Nellie the elephant

Yellow submarine

Lily the pink

March of the mods

Day trip to Bangor

They're coming to take me away

Not exactly the serious musician's repertoire, but it has a place in entertainment. Occasionally, a piece of music may sound as if 6 whole beats are grouped in a bar, such as “All people that on earth do dwell”, but that example is very oddly and unevenly written down, as if it were 4/4.

7 - SEVEN BEATS IN A BAR

7/4 is rarely used at all, and apart from sections of the Beatles' "All you need is love", the only other ones that come to mind are the original TV theme for "The Bill", and Dave Brubeck's "Unsquare dance".

"All you need is love" seems at first like a 4/4, but then the second 4 is cut short, and becomes 3/4, so the whole pattern for a lot of the song is 7 beats.

The theme for "The Bill" does it the other way round, sounding like a bar of 3/4 followed by a bar of 4/4 to make the 7. For reasons which are a mystery to me, this distinctive rhythm was dumped in the sanitised, computerised version of the theme, but hastily brought back after complaints from viewers.

Now, they have replaced it with a much less memorable theme, with a "normal" rhythm.

Who wants to be normal? Does that mean I have to watch football and mess around with cars?

The theme for “Law and order UK” works on a similar principle, but with twice as many beats, so the pattern is a group of 6 beats, followed by a group of 8 beats.

All in all, you could live your musical life without ever touching on 7/4 at all, but I will come back later to my own use of the number 7 as a shorthand label for funk rhythms.

8 - EIGHT-BEAT

The term "8-beat" simply means a form of 4/4 in which each beat is divided into 2 quavers, so it could be written as 8/8, and can be counted as...

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

In the early 1900s, Ragtime music was a branch of jazz which had the beats divided into quavers, with a quite jerky, stiff feel. For example, “Let’s do it” is often played in swing, but ragtime 8-beat gives it an entirely different comic character. Surprisingly, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” is rarely played in ragtime!

With the arrival of the rhumba in 1931, the swing, jazz, quicksteps and foxtrots, which had dominated the popular music scene, all had to start making space for a different feel. As dancers built up their repertoire of Latin American rhythms, like the Cha Cha, Beguine, and Mambo, this division of the bar into 8 gradually achieved a bigger slice of the market.

In the forties, talented people like Hoagy Carmichael were writing some silly "Red Indian" songs in 8-beat, and many old cowboy films used a strong 8-beat tom-tom rhythm for scenes where the “indians” turned up.

The Tango is classified as "Ballroom" but it follows the Latin style of 8-beat rhythm, with that tenseness that plays on the character of the dancers.

You can count it as...

1 2 3 4 & 1 2 3 4 &

Cha cha cha is a driving rhythm that can be tense and jerky - almost comic, around 120bpm, and counted as

1 2 3 & 4 1 2 3 & 4

The modern Rhumba is smooth and gentle, although “the dance of love” is only a little slower than the cha-cha at around 110bpm, and it can be counted, missing the 2nd beat, as

1 & - & 3 & 4 &

With the growth of Rock'n'Roll in the mid-fifties, some bands didn't seem to know or care if they were playing quavers or tied triplets, and many recordings displayed a messy, inconclusive rhythm in which the instruments did not all play the same. For example, Buddy Holly’s “Every day” is quite clearly in quavers until that out-of-time solo on a glockenspiel.

However, by the time The Shadows were topping the charts in the late fifties, there was a definite feeling of 8 divisions in the bar for many of their tunes.

The Beatles followed on with a huge list of 8-beat songs, and this was a vital part of the "Mersey sound" which took hold of the pop charts in the sixties, in fact a survey of hundreds of sixties showed that there were twice as many 8-beat as tied triplet songs in 4/4.

The snare drum on the 2nd and 4th beats is predictable and reliable, but whereas the bass drum had just been beating time before, in the sixties it suddenly became more varied and interesting, but all that went out the window again in the eighties!

Artists like Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Carole King, and many others, wrote almost exclusively in 8-beat, and the trend has continued to hold the majority of popular music well into the 21st century. Incidentally, have you noticed how much X-Factor winner Joe McElderry sounds like Neil Sedaka?

The Beatles’ “Hard day’s night” album had Ringo doing this form of 8-beat on almost every track. It remains a popular and adaptable rhythm for many songs.

The Kinks’ Mick Avory was one of the drummers who pioneered bass drum accents closely related to the timing of the lyrics, and this simple technique gives more of the feeling that the drummer is involved in the song. Many more recent recordings give the impression that the drummer could just as well be a machine thumping away in another room. Sometimes, “he” is.

The Twist was a decidedly 8-beat dance, as was "Let's twist" and "Let's twist again", but oddly, "Twistin' the night away" was in tied triplets! It all went wrong for me when dancers began to twist to tied triplets, and jive to 8-beat.

Traditional Indian music can have many complex (almost random) rhythms, but the modern, popularised Bollywood forms are often based on a disguised 8-beat, ignoring the 2nd beat, and with an accent on the 4th quaver in each bar, almost like a Charleston. I find it difficult to get any consistent definition for the salsa beat, but it often sounds much the same.

1 - & 3 4 1 - & 3 4

The Bossa Nova is a Latin rhythm introduced in the sixties, interesting because it attempts to divide 16 quavers almost into FIVE, by emphasising every 3rd quaver.

1 - & - 4 - 2 - & -

Not an easy thing to count! The other interesting thing is that although the name means "new dance", nobody seems to have a specific dance to go with it, so in dancing situations, it is wise to do it at a tempo suitable for rhumba, cha cha, tango etc..

The pattern is sometimes reversed by swapping the 2 bars.

The timing of the melodies in some older songs are almost like natural bossas, such as "Something's gotta give", "Such a lot of livin' to do" or Glen Miller's "String of pearls". Ella Fitzgerald's early rendition of Jobim's "Desafinado" is done in swing, trying to pretend it is a Bossa Nova. The result is a quite tricky rhythm, swing with tied triplets, yet with five accents in the space of 8 beats. Nowadays, something like 90% of the popular music that comes on the radio or television is 8-beat, which is as popular as a pair of jeans.

8-BEAT GUITAR STRUMMING

In these diagrams, reading left to right, the down-strokes are on the numbered beats that you count, the up-strokes are between them.

9 - NINE EIGHT

Occasionally, you may find something that sounds like a slow 3/4 waltz, but each beat is divided into 3, although not tied triplets, but 3 equal divisions. You can count it as...

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a

Before Gerry Marsden got his hands on "You'll never walk alone" and dragged it out so slowly, it was sometimes written as 4/4, sometimes played as 8-beat (as in Doris Day’s version) but sometimes played as 9/8, which fits the words and melody much better.

An older example is "On top of old smokey", revived in 1951. "The Waltons" TV theme is in much the same vane, and some version of “Amazing grace” use it.

(I have always wondered if "Chariots of fire" was originally intended to be in that style, it fits so well, it starts to sound like Old Smokey: I guess there's no smoke without fire!)

Edith Piaf's "If you go away" (ne me quittez pas) works well in 9/8, although it is often sung in 8-beat.

"The impossible dream" (1985) is another well-known song in 9/8, although some musicians seem incapable of doing it like that.

Occasionally, 9/8 is used in hymns, such as “Blessed assurance” and the much more popular “Morning has broken”.

In the sixties, the "Flipper" TV theme was a slightly more waltz-like 9/8.

Some traditional folk songs use 9/8 with a very strong accent on the 1st and 3rd notes of each 3 quavers, rather like a shuffle waltz.

10/4 AND OUT?

"A man and a woman" ("Un homme et une femme") is the only song I know of where the most regular pattern of beats has a total of 10, being 2 bars of 4/4 followed by a bar of 2/4.

In other respects, it resembles either a Bossa Nova 8-beat, but if you use an electronic rhythm, it will wander in and out of sync with the bars.

The most noticeable effect of this is the bass instrument playing unsuitable notes.

“Bright eyes” has some sections where there are arguably groups of 10 beats, and some of the most interesting songs don’t fit well into mass-produced backing styles.

12 - TWELVE EIGHT or SLOW ROCK

In the rock'n'rolling fifties, when a combination of improvements in amplification and communication allowed many less-able musicians to achieve fame, a new and less subtle form of the slow foxtrot came into popular use, using sticks instead of brushes. It divides a bar of 4/4 very firmly into 12, although it is difficult to say exactly when it began to be used. You can count the cymbal beats as...

1 2 & 3 4 5 6

and some people still refer to it as 6/8, although it has more than 6 regular divisions in the bar.

One of the common characteristics of 12/8 is the use of arpeggios – 6 notes running up and down a 4-note chord. This is often accompanied by 6 high-pitched chords in a bar on piano. Tempo is often around 70bpm. Frankie Laine's 1952 hit "I believe" was written down in 4/4 with almost every note shown as a crotchet, yet the melody on its own is sung in a 6/8 rhythm, in spite of the fact that the rhythm section plays 12/8 time! Unfortunately, 12 divisions in the bar also enables a person's own perception to count it in threes or in fours, and this leads to disagreements as to what it really is. Drummers usually call it 12/8, or occasionally “triplets”, but drum machines and keyboard rhythms often duck out of the argument and label it as "slow rock" or even 6/8. It became the principal way to perform slow ballads in the fifties, and continued to thrive through the sixties, then suddenly disappeared from favour.

Examples include...

1941 “At last” was not 12/8 originally, but is now almost always played that way, because of the success of the later Etta James version, although it lost a lot of the distinctive melody.

1942 "Blues in the night" is the instrumental version of "My momma done told me", but it is best known for later 12/8 recordings, such as Jimmy Smith's jazz organ arrangement of it.

1950 Johnny Mathis' "Mona Lisa" was not originally done in 12/8, but it is now almost always played

in that way.

1952 "It's all in the game" is much more like the birth of 12/8.

1953 Edith Piaf’s “If you love me”.

1953 Frankie Laine's "I believe".

1954 “If I gave my heart to you”.

1955 "Let me go lover".

1956 “Cry me a river”.

1957 Frankie Vaughan's "Garden of Eden".

1958 “Come prima” (More than ever).

1959 "Donna".

1959 Frankie Vaughan's "The heart of a man".

1959 Conway Twitty's "It's only make-believe".

1959 The McGuire Sisters' "May you always".

1959 Elvis Presley's "The wonder of you".

1960 Donny Osmond's "Puppy love".

1960 Theme from "A summer place".

1960 Edith Piaf's "No regrets".

1961 Elvis Presley's "I can't help falling in love with you", which owes so much to Beethoven’s Pathetique, and to "Plaisir d'amour" from the 1760s!

1963 Beach Boys' "In my room".

1963 “End of the world”.

1963 Paul & Paula's "Hey Paula".

1963 “I who have nothing”.

1963 Brenda Lee’s “Losing you”

1964 Elvis Presley's "The wedding".

1964 Cilla Black's "You're my world".

1964 “Someone, someone”.

1964 The Beatles’ “Yes it is”.

1964 Nina Simone’s “Feeling good”, which has enjoyed such a revival in recent times.

1965 “True love ways”.

1966 “Girl talk”.

1966 “Love me with all your heart”.

1966 Percy Sledge’s “When a man loves a woman”.

1966 Dusty Springfield’s “You don’t have to say you love me”.

1967 Charles Chaplin’s “This is my song”.

1968 “What a wonderful world”.

1970 “Julie do you love me”.

12/8 has rarely been used since the 70s, and some of the very few modern examples include…

1981 “Mem’ry”.

1984 Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

2009 Pixi Lott’s “Cry me out”

You don’t own me

16 - SLOW SIXTEEN BEAT

There are 2 important forms of modern rhythm that divide the bar into 16 divisions - semi-quavers. The "slow 16" crept in during the late sixties, and quickly ousted 12/8 as the principal way to write a slow ballad. You can count it quickly as...

1 & then a 2 & then a 3 & then a 4 & then a

but the bass-&-snare accent is often counted slower as

1 & 2 3 & 4

Sometimes, the cymbal part only uses 8 in the bar, although the feel of the song is much the same. Some drummers refer to this as "half tempo". In 1965, The Seekers' "The carnival is over" was perhaps an early example of the slow 16 rhythm, (although with a slight bolero effect) that became the standard for anthems or "scarf songs", often quite uniformly set at 65bpm. The modern slow 16 treatment works well with some older songs, such as…

1618 Caccini’s Ave Maria

1750 Air on the G string

1820 Shenandoah

1826 Holy holy holy

1859 Jeannie with the light brown hair

1875 Carmen

1893 Largo

1911 Catari, Catari

1924 Nessun dorma

1927 One alone

More modern examples include...

1965 Carnival is over.

1965 I'll be there.

1966 Paul McCartney's "My love".

1966 Don't answer me.

1966 My love does it good.

1967 Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe"

gave a more aggressive feel to the slow 16.

1968 “Everlasting love”.

1969 George Harrison's "Something".

1969 “He ain't heavy”.

1969 “Something”.

1970 Cat Stevens' "Father and son", and "Wild world".

1970 Paul McCartney's "Let it be".

1971 Elton John's "Your song".

1971 Hill Street Blues

1972 Elton John's "Rocket man".

1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone again, naturally".

1972 Nillson's "Without you".

1972 Peter Skellern's "You're a lady".

1972 Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone again, naturally”.

1972 David Gates’ “Baby I'm-a-want you”.

1972 “Betcha by golly wow”.

1973 Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on heaven's door".

1973 Elton John's "Daniel"

and "Goodbye yellow brick road".

1973 Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" (slow ballad section).

1973 “Live & let die” slow section.

1974 Elton John's "Candle in the wind".

1975 10CC's "I'm not in love".

1975 Rod Stewart's "Sailing".

1975 “I write the songs”.

1975 “Sailing”.

1976 "All by myself".

1976 Johnny Mathis' "When a child is born".

1976 “Do you know where you're going to”.

1977 “We're all alone”

1979 “You don't bring me flowers”

1980 Randy Crawford's "One day I'll fly away".

1980 “Together we are beautiful”

1981 Stevie Wonder's "Lately".

1981 “Love on the rocks”

1982 “Arthur's Theme”

1982 “Where everybody knows your name” (The "Cheers" TV theme)

1984 Lionel Richie's "Hello".

1985 Jennifer Rush “Power of love”

1985 “The rose”

1986 Randy Crawford “Almaz”

1986 “I dreamed a dream” and “On my own” from “Les Miserables”

1988 “I should be so lucky”

1989 “Wind beneath my wings”

1992 “Everything I do”

1992 Kiss “God gave rock'n'roll to you”

1992 “I will always love you”

1994 “Can you feel the love”

1994 Lisa Loeb “Stay (I missed you)”

1995 Michael Jackson "You are not alone".

1997 “I believe I can fly”

1998 “My heart will go on”

1999 “Flying without wings”

2003 Josh Groban’s “You raise me up”

I’ll see you when you get there!

The list seems endless, and includes most of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's slow songs.

16 - FAST SIXTEEN BEAT (DISCO)

"Don't leave me this way" (1975) was one of the earliest uses of what has become the standard fast disco rhythm, very much like 8-beat, but with two sticks on the hi-hat producing 16 semi-quavers in the bar, whilst the drummer magically manages to fit in snare hits as well. Sometimes, it isn't magic, it's a computer!

Examples...

1965 I’ll be there

1968 Everlasting love

1973 Love’s theme

1975 Don’t leave me this way

1979 I will survive

1986 Phantom of the opera

1990 World in union

1994 Get away

1994 Mr Vain

1994 No good

2005 Crazy frog

I’m bored now.

Oddly, the fast-16 versions of songs will often have a rhythm that is exactly twice the tempo of the slow-16 versions, around 130bpm, but the singing is identical, and the rhythm track of eah can be re-mixed around it to form the other version, so fast dance mixes of slow 16 songs such as "My heart will go on" are done in this way, and it is quite easy to produce slow 16 versions of the fast ones too.

FUNK

The word "funky" has become so over-used in the normal language, it can mean something unusual, or sexy, or off-the-wall, whether it is applied to music or something else. However, musicians tend to use it in a more specific way. A lot of funky rhythms have a definite feel of 16-beat, but when examined under the microscope, they have the 8 quavers subdivided into semi-quaver tied triplets, so it is technically 24 divisions in the bar, although most of them are only implied, and not actually played.

For my own numbered filing system, having very little use for "7" as a rhythm, I use it as a shorthand for something funky which is not quite 8-beat.

Interestingly, all this funky stuff seems to me to have originated from just one little-known track - Booker T's "Comin' home babe", on the "Green onions" album around 1965, which caused every drummer who came into my shop to sit down and try to master what seemed, at the time, a very difficult snare rhythm. Now, with an optional snare roll at the end of the bar, it has become the stock rhythm for so many hip-hop and rap tracks that it has gone beyond being everyday, and moved into the realms of "not that again"!

Examples...

1965 We can work it out

1966 Summer in the city

1966 Working in a coalmine

1968 Lady Madonna

1968 Mighty Quinn

1968 Son of a preacher man

1972 Ain't no sunshine

1972 Goodbye to love

1974 I can't stand the rain

1974 Midnight at the oasis

1975 Angie baby

1975 My eyes adored you

1975 Why did you do it

1977 Pearl's a singer

1978 Brown girl in the ring

1978 Fantasy

1980 Nine to five

1983 Rainy days and Mondays

1998 Never ever

18 - SLOW BLUES

Otherwise, probably the largest number of divisions you will find in a bar is 18. If, by now, you are familiar with 12/8, you will find that an "18" is very similar, and it is quite difficult to detect the difference. Many musicians don't try. Labelling it as 12/8 or 6/8 gives the completely wrong accents, so try to think of the very slow count as…

1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a

with the accents on 1 and 2. Now divide those 6 beats into tied triplets instead of quavers. There are now 18 divisions in the bar, but in the following simple notation, the only visible difference is in the second beat of the cymbal.

[]

Not everybody analyses every beat they play, but any blues musician is going to have some 18 material in his repertoire, and it can often be the slowest tempo anyone plays, around 50bpm. Like 12/8, it is easily written off as a waltz, but it has a much more bluesy feel, almost leaning towards a jazz waltz. In modern jazz, 18 sometimes develops into a very busy jazz waltz as the music builds. Oddly, on “Strictly come dancing”, 18 has become some sort of modern substitute for a Viennese Waltz, although it has a completely different feel. Peter Sarsted's 1969 "Where do you go to" drifts in and out of a French-style accordion waltz, but it is really an 18, and the emphasis is not 3 beats in the bar.

Examples…

1964 The Rolling Stones' "Little red rooster".

1964 Dusty Springfield's "Losing you".

1965 Sonny & Cher's "I got you babe": At times, it seems like a waltz, but that is not how the emphasis goes.

1966 Alan Price's "I put a spell on you".

1967 Burt Bacharach's "Don't make me over" is sometimes played as 12/8, but it has the slow, bluesy feel of an 18.

1967 The Moody Blues' "Nights in white satin".

1967 The Beatles "With a little help from my friends", originally 4/4, was later changed to an 18 by Joe Cocker.

1968 Tom Jones' "Delilah".

1973 “One day at a time” is sometimes played as a straight waltz, but more often as an 18.

UNEQUAL BARS

It would be nice and convenient (especially for dancers) if all songs stayed neatly in bars of the same length, but there is a real danger that people who use electronic rhythm sections will ignore a good song, just because the machine cannot play it unless it has the same number of beats in every bar. Computerised systems can get round these problems with a little effort. Some of the better keyboards provide a button to reset the beat to the first of the bar, but that is not always easy, and is something else to do when your fingers are already quite busy enough just trying to make music. The fifties saw many changes in popular music, and one of them was the sudden trend towards throwing in occasional extra beats or bars. By the sixties, Roy Orbison was doing it, and Burt Bacharach's songs almost always have odd beats slung in at random, partly because of Hal David's lyrics. There are those who say Bacharach should have made the effort to fit the songs into conventional bars. Others argue he allows space for breathing, and for the feeling of the song. Either way, nobody can dispute the success and enduring popularity of Bacharach-David songs. Rolf Harris' hit "Two little boys" was written way back in 1903, and I would be interested to see an original sheet music copy, to find out if Rolf invented those awkward extra beats that are thrown into the 6/8 here and there. They seem entirely unnecessary, and the song loses nothing for me by being played in regular bars, a popular move with old-time dancers. "Suicide is painless", the 1980 "MASH" film and TV theme has an odd 2 beats thrown in occasionally between the 8-beat. I have already mentioned “All people that on earth do dwell”: listening, it has a simple feel of 6 beats in the bar, the accent every 6 beats, and groups of 4 bars at a time, but when written down in 4/4, it has half a bar, then 11 bars, then half a bar again! How ridiculous! This is the “correct” version of course!

UNEQUAL NUMBERS OF BARS

Another thing that happens in some songs is that instead of falling neatly into groups of 4 bars for each of the 4 lines of the song, they can have some other number of lines, or some other number of bars per line.

Lionel Richie's "Hello" tends towards three similar lines instead of four, then a different one.

Cat Stevens' "Father and son" has irregular arrangements of lines.

My own feelings about this are divided, it often makes a song more interesting, but somehow clumsy and less natural, and when Mary Black decides to put 13 bars into a pattern, I have to ask why.

Probably because she was working on instinct and inspiration, rather than analysing it. Sometimes, a song lyric just cries out for an unusual number of bars.

Sequence Dancing is a more staid form of Old Time Dancing, its bars must never vary, and rules must be rigidly adhered to for the benefit of the dancers: An intro is compulsory, in tempo, of exactly 4 bars, beginning precisely on the first beat of the bar, followed by a song of fixed length, usually 32 bars, repeated as required, but always in that exact number of bars. The ending must not be extended or repeated in any way, it just stops, and is followed, after a pause, by a chord. It's more like mathematics than music, and destroys any opportunity for the musicians to express anything soulful through the music. One such dance is the Square Tango, and although many songs can be played in a tango rhythm, these decidedly “square” ones have to have exactly 32 bars, so although 32 bars is a common arrangement, one must carefully avoid songs like "Spanish Harlem", which may seem entirely appropriate to a tango, but they sling in extra bars willy-nilly. Even something as innocuous as "Winchester Cathedral" (1966) may seem to make a very good cha-cha, but the "Middle 8" has 9 bars, so watch out for fussy dancers!

No doubt I would be fitter if I took up line dancing, it seems to have taken over the slot for most old-time dancers these days. It has much of the same rigidity and uniformity, although with marginally more interesting music. Having said that, I think many line dancers would be blissfully happy to have an endless stream of 3-chord 8-beat songs at 130bpm all night long. Springsteen’s “Tougher than the rest” (1988) is an example of a song that regularly has an odd 2 beats shoved in for no apparent reason. Burt Bacharach has written some very successful songs, but many of them were based on Hal David’s lyrics, and these do not usually fit into the conventional arrangement of beats and bars in popular songs. If you try to use electronic rhythms on them they will suddenly go out of step at certain points, for example “The look of love” has an odd 2 bars in there, and that puts the drums (and especially the bass) on the wrong foot. “What the world needs now” is a lovely song, but when you start to analyse it, the middle section has 15 bars instead of the usual 8 or 16. Another oddity is that if you play 2 choruses, a middle and a chorus, you are left in a situation where it doesn’t lead back to the beginning like most popular songs, it leads back into the middle, so you may find yourself stuck in a loop until the final chorus, which has extra bars and is quite different.

FITTING THE BARS TO THE WORDS

Ideally, song lyrics should have a natural pace that fits the language, with accents in the notes at the points where the English demands them. Sometimes, a song will have uncomfortably long vowels, followed by a rush of words, and when this pattern repeats, it is often a sign that the time signature has been altered. One of the most common causes is the modern desire to standardise everything into 4/4 and 8-beat. “The Rose” (1985) is a perfect example, a lovely song, but you can almost doze off waiting for the long note to give way to the more natural pace of the remainder of a line. Try it in 3/4, it fits so much better, and gives a more natural, genuine feeling to the words. Try singing a song, using one crotchet for each syllable, it might suggest a better timing. When Ken Dodd recorded the old waltz “Tears” as a foxtrot, it created the odd timing that destroys the phrasing of the lyrics. “Roses of Picardy” (1916) is well-known as a foxtrot, but I first knew it from a piano recording by Rawicz & Landauer, and they played it as a waltz. The words and notes fit so much more smoothly in 3/4. Someone started playing "The carnival is over" in 3/4 by mistake, and I found that it worked well, because it shortened some of those very long notes, and made the words flow as they would do if they were spoken. The 1888 melody was originally a waltz. "My way" is another one with long notes, that works well as a waltz, and fits the bars better than the normal arrangement. “The John Dunbar Theme” from “Dances with wolves” has very long notes followed by quicker phrases, and again, the main theme fits much better into waltz time, although the middle section does not. I recently started playing “The shadow of your smile” and realised that the words fit better in 5/4 time, but I am not sure anyone would appreciate me playing it that way.

HYMN METRES

The rhythm of the words to a song is known as the METRE, as it is in poetry, and in hymn books with the music notation, the metre of a hymn is indexed in terms of the number of syllables in each line, so that it is possible to choose a different tune with the same metre. It takes practise to get used to the idea, because although the number of syllables in the words is equivalent to the number of notes, the precise timing of these notes is not always the same.

INHERENT CHANGES OF RHYTHM

Some songs have a built-in need to change from one type of rhythm or bar to another at certain prescribed points in the song, going into a quite different rhythm style. This is irritating for users of keyboard rhythms, computers and electronics, because it requires considerable extra effort instead of using ready-made rhythm patterns. Effort worth making. In Old Time dancing, the Gay Gordons is mainly in 6/8 time, for songs like "Chase me Charlie" or "Loch Lomond", but may change to 2/4 for "Scotland the brave", and dodge back and forth between the two very different rhythms. Billy Joel’s “Always a woman” floats somewhere between a waltz and an 18, but the pauses at the ends of lines add extra beats that are difficult to predict unless you know it intimately. "Devil in disguise" starts as a leisurely rhumba-style 8-beat that doubles up for the chorus, to the sort of hybrid 2/4 that rock'n'roll made so much use of. "Running bear" predictably begins with a hammy "red-Indian" 8-beat, but the chorus switches to a driving tied-triplet or shuffle beat, and then goes back to 8-beat for the next verse. Marianne Faithfull's "Those were the days", based on a Russian folk song, begins in a gentle 8-beat, then goes to a much more Russian-sounding 2/4 for the chorus. "This is my song" starts as a waltz, then according to the different arrangements, it goes to either 12/8 or 18/8. Cliff Richard's "The day I met Marie" starts as 8-beat, and changes to something which sounds like 2/4, although some would argue that it is still 8-beat, but with a different accent or "back-beat" that is almost funky. Gary Barlow’s “Run for your life” starts in 3/4 and the chorus is in 4/4 (8-beat).

SOMETHING LIVELY?

The one thing that all kinds of musicians dread most is that someone will say…

“Can’t you play something lively?”

because nobody can agree on what is meant by “lively”. You may think it means fast, but I recall an excellent jazz sax playing his fastest number of the night “How about you” at breakneck speed, and immediately being asked…

“Can’t you play something lively?”

I played in a restaurant, restful, relaxed music for people who were enjoying quiet conversations and good food. The manager said…

“Can’t you play something lively?”

I played a set of Techno-Rock guitar numbers, with a driving beat which the audience did not want. Eventually, the exasperated manager said he would play “something lively” on CD while we had a break, it was Tina Turner doing slow ballads, followed by medium-tempo Meatloaf. By what definition are those lively?

I played for some very old people in a care home, and they appreciated what I was doing, but the staff said…

“Can’t you play something lively?”

I played some up-tempo banjo, the room tapped their feet, and sang along, but that wasn’t lively enough. Bearing in mind that most of the people could hardly stand, much less dance, what did they mean by “lively”? “Show me the way to go home”… slowly!

I was playing some Irish songs for a group of Irish people, who were enjoying them, but the manager said…

“Can’t you play something lively?”

One of the common factors here is that I am aiming to please the audience, but often, the manager, publican, or organiser tries to impose their own view on what I should play, even if the audience do not agree. Live music is so often in the control of people who have no idea what audiences want. A woman organised an Old Time night, which is the bottom of the barrel for me, but I spent painful hours brushing up on this dross, only to find myself in agreement when the audience said…

“Can’t you play something lively?”

So I did!

SIMPLIFYING TEMPOS

If you keep a list, it is quite nice to personalise each song, and it is surprising how much difference a small change of tempo can make. Some musicians are very sensitive to tempo, and have a very fixed idea of how they want the song to run, even if they don’t define it in terms of beats per minute. I remember recording one such musician who was quite put off if the tempo varied by just ONE beat per minute.

However, when you are trying to organise a set of music for a performance, having too many different tempos does complicate things, and if you are playing for dancers, it is a good idea to stick to tempos that they can recognise as suiting a particular dance. It need not detract from the song at all.

For other purposes, it may simplify your life if you think of tempos in steps of 30bpm. For example, swing and ballroom tempos could be treated as…

90bpm – slow

120bpm – foxtrot

150bpm – jive

180bpm – quickstep

210bpm – I can only describe it as frantic!

The same kind of approach can also be applied to other types of rhythm.

PROGRAMMES

If you are presenting a programme of music for some particular occasion, it is worth giving some thought to the rhythmic aspects, and the tempos. For example, if the event starts with people sitting down, talking and eating, there are simple rules that may help you to make a success of it. If the audience is made up of friends or family members who haven't seen each other for years, they want to talk. They want music, but in the background, and it is at this point that you have to decide whether you like blending with the wallpaper. If you do, then you need to convince them that live music is still better than a CD. I find it frustrating not to be able to talk to the audience, but this is not the time for it. On occasions when I am providing "cocktail piano" or relaxing guitar in restaurants, it is often disappointing that nobody seems to notices the music: they do really, but they may not say so until it's all over, so it is important to look out for all the little clues, like tapping feet or fingers, the occasional whistled notes, nodding heads, mouthed lyrics etc.. Vocals and commentary are too intrusive when people are talking, so stick to instrumentals, and keep the volume low enough so that people can hear each other speak. Having said that, there are limits, and venues have to learn to grasp the concept that musicians are responding to the sounds they are making, so they need to be able to HEAR themselves play against the crowd noise! Unfortunately, the current mentality seems to find it acceptable to start recorded music in the middle of a tune, or switch musicians on and off like CDs, and just cut them off whenever somebody wants to say something important, instead of having the patience to wait for a song to end neatly. Masonic functions are infamous for this table-thumping, and a wedding presenter with a radio microphone can easily develop a power complex.

When people are relaxing and eating, the music must not intrude on those two things, and it is important to keep tempos low. Music is a powerful medium, even at low levels, and recent scientific research has confirmed that music affects people’s pulse rate, and performers in a choir, band or orchestra often synchronise their pulse-rates. Interestingly, tempos vary within the same sort of range as pulses, mainly 50-200.

If you think of your normal, relaxed pulse rate as being around 70bpm, the music below that tempo has the effect of pulling the pulse rate down, relaxing the audience, whereas tempos above that line will create energy that makes people want to move, and tap their feet. This sounds good to a musician, to evoke a response, but it is not ideal in a situation where the audience is eating. Drum beats and strong bass parts tend to emphasise these effects, so although too much is not a good idea, it may actually assist relaxation to have a good solid, slow beat.

Some gigs need to start in this "low-key" way, and build into something a little livelier and more "in your face" entertainment, but I witnessed one event where a country singer/guitarist using pre-recorded backings had logically and meticulously arranged his songs in tempo order, in order that they would gradually build into a more lively evening. It sounds a perfectly good theory, but the result was that at any point in the proceedings, every song seemed pretty much like the last, and there was no noticeable contrast at all. This was due in part to the fact that country music sends me to sleep, but audience non-reaction suggests that he should have used a slightly more random order. When it is time for dancing, a slow start often helps people to overcome their shyness on the dance floor: traditionally, ballroom dancing often began with a slow waltz, then went to the other end of the scale with a quickstep. The reverse also works, with a lively starting song to announce your arrival, then a slow dance to get more people up on the dance floor. The same technique can be used with more modern music, but think about bars, and try to vary the keys and rhythms. If you have learned to think of them as 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 18, that may help.

When it comes to livelier dance music of any kind, keep it in mind to vary the tempo, although arranging songs into tempo order can work very well if it builds up over twenty minutes. If you use a computer, you could set up a spreadsheet of titles, keys, bars and tempos, so that you can see how the music is changing. It takes hours of work, but the advantage of this system over pen and paper is that you can quickly produce different versions of the same list in title order, tempo order, etc.. Years for the songs are also very helpful in matching a set to a particular type or age of audience. It's good to have a plan, but they rarely survive the gig, you can’t control audiences, so stay flexible!

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