Category Archives: guitar

What are "Jazz" Chords

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“Jazz”  chords are simply chords.

Just like the name “Folk” or “Cowboy” chords have been associated basic open position chords that movie cowboy singers like Roy Rodgers and folk artist’s like John Denver played. The chords that jazz guitarists played came to be called “jazz” chords.

These jazz chords are simply chords. Typically 4-part chords like major sevenths, sevenths and minor sevenths . Although these chords appear more complex and use more of the guitar neck than the first few frets. These chords can be organized and learned like the basic chords one typically learns.

On guitar these “jazz” chords can be organized into four strings sets. And, four string set, with the most being strings set comprising strings 1234, 2345, 3456, 1235, and 2346. Using a C7 chord as your foundation or core chord – this gives you 20 voicings on guitar to learn. On ukulele one the 1234 string family is available, for four C7 chords – a little less daunting of a task. The number of chords to master as a jazz guitarist contributes to the mystic of “jazz” chords being hard to learn. Not really hard to lear, just a lot of them.

New Members Area of CurtSheller.com Launched

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Launching a new Members Only area on the main CurtSheller.com site. Benefits of membership include access to more lessons with expanded content, video examples and access to your private ukulele and guitar teacher – me, Curt Sheller, studio quality play-along tracks for practice, discounts on my books and a lot more as time goes on.

There is a FREE Basic Member Subscription available and a Premium Member Subscription at $9.95 for three months using PayPal.

A Premium Membership includes ALL the benefits of a basic membership plus access to me, Curt Sheller, premium play-along tracks and charts, books, lessons, TABS and more.

Premium Member lessons are what you might get if you studied with me. They draw on my 40 years of studying and playing experience and 20 years of teaching. The premium lessons are detailed and take a bit more production time to put together. Hence the small fee for the Premium Membership. Need to pay for this somehow. Your support is welcomed and appreciated.

A Premium Membership is only $9.95 for three months. Considering a private music lessons this is a great deal.

Over 50 Premium Play-along Backing Tracks are being made available as part of the Premium Membership.

Several of my books are being made available FREE as PDF eBooks for FREE Basic Members and Premium Members.

Download my Midnight at the Jazz Cafe CD for FREE.

Got to members.curtsheller.com for more information.

What is the different between a Scale and a Mode?

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This started out as a reply to a online posting and question. I realized a lot of players don’t know the difference between and scale and a mode or scale mode. So, I though I’d spin out a little Internet lesson and post it. I’ll be posting this to my site at some point. So here is my take on the Scale and Mode thingy.

This is not a light read. And, as with most music things, the understanding of something is a lot easier that the application of the same.

What is the different between a Scale and a Mode?

As my music guru has said many times, “Tools not rules.”

The term scale and mode are used interchangeably and in a strict theory sense there is a big difference between a scale and a mode or modal scale. They are NOT the same, even if they are the same notes.

Music is best explored and explained in context. So I’ll use the G major scale as that context.

G A B C D E F# G’ is the G Major Scale. It can be anyone of the those funny Greek sounding mode names that end in “ian”, like Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian and Ionian is all notes are equal. Sounds like one of the TLC shows with all the kids.

Even starting on one scale degree vs another doesn’t define one mode from another.

Dorian: A B C D E F# G A’
Phrygian: B C D E F# G A B’
Lydian: C D E F# G A B C’
Mixolydian: D E F# G A B C D’
Aeolian: F# G A B C D E’
Locrian: F# G A B C D E F#’
Ionian: G A B C D E F# G’

Most confusion when learning about modes, I feel comes from using the same major scale as the basis for study. Like we are doing here. But for our purposes this will really help clarify why a scale is different than a mode. And, you get seven modes for the price of one major scale.

To complicate matters. there are common traditional scale names for some of the modes that are in common use.

Dorian A B C D E F# G A’ is frequently called a minor scale. As it is a minor scale.
Phrygian B C D E F# G A B’ is also a minor scale. I don’t know of any other common name for Phrygian. I’m sure there are some.
Lydian C D E F# G A B C’, is a major scale.
Mixolydian D E F# G A B C D’ is often referred to as the Dominant scale.
Aeolian E F# G A B C D E’ this is the same as the Natural Minor scale.
Locrian F# G A B C D E F#’ a diminished scale. No other common names that I’m aware of.
Ionian G A B C D E F# G’. This is the common Major Scale.

Dorian, Aeolian and Mixolydian are common modes in use in contemporary music. Moondance is part Dorian and part Minor, Sweet Home Alabama is Mixolydian, although they didn’t know it when they wrote it.

All seven modes are just a collection of the notes G A B C D E F#. If all notes of the scale are equal it is just a scale and you can name it whatever you like. If one note is emphasized over the other six then it is one of the scale modes.

Melodically

Each mode has a characteristic scale step. When emphasized in a melody will give it’s characteristic modal sound. You then have a scale mode or mode.

The characteristic scale steps are:

Dorian: A B C D E F# G A’, characteristic scale step is F#, the sixth scale degree.
Phrygian: B C D E F# G A B’, characteristic scale step is C, the second scale degree.
Lydian: C D E F# G A B C’, characteristic scale step is F#, the fourth scale degree.
Mixolydian: D E F# G A B C D’, characteristic scale step is C, the seventh scale degree.
Aeolian: E F# G A B C D E’, characteristic scale step is G, the third scale degree.
Locrian: F# G A B C D E F#’, characteristic scale step is C, the fifth scale degree.
Ionian: G A B C D E F# G’, characteristic scale step is G, the first scale degree.

Even more to confuse you. Using triads, a three note chord. Mot common are built in thirds. Each mode has the same G Am Bm C D Em F#dim chords in it’s “chord collection”. Although modes are typically triad in nature when talking about the the primary and secondary chord’s of a mode. We should add the D7 to the collection. As a 4-part chord it is so often used as the V chord in the G Major key. In a blues the chords are typically 4-part seventh chords.

Harmonically

Just as each mode has a characteristic scale step for the mode. Each mode has characteristic chords. The characteristic chords of each mode help define the modal sound.

It is the characteristic scale step that identifies the primary chords for each mode. The primary chords of any one of the modes are the I chord of the mode and the major and minor triads that contain the characteristic scale step.

One example and I’m out of here.

A Dorian:
A B C D E F# G A’
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 scale degrees
I II III IV V VI VII chord functions

Characteristic scale step is the sixth, F#. So the primary chords are the I chord of the mode and the major and minor triads: Am, Bm and D
I Am (A C E)
II Bm (B D F#)
IV D (D F# A)

The C, Em and G are secondary chords of the mode and the F#dim is the lone diminished chord.

OK, one more to show that the G Ionian mode is different that the G Major scale.

Characteristic scale step is the one, G. So the primary chords are the I chord of the mode and the major and minor triads: G C and Em:
I G (G B D)
IV C (C E G)
VI Em (E G B)

In the traditional key of G major the I IV and V chords are primary chords.

Alright, one more example. D mixolydian D E F# G A B C D’. The characteristic scale step in mixolydian is the seventh, C. The primary chords are the I V and VII. D, Am and C.

Here is a 12 bar, D Mixolydian blues

|| D | C | D | D | G | G | D | D | Am | C | D | Am ||
|| I | VII | I | I | IV | IV | I | I | V | VII | I | V ||

Each mode contains notes and chords common to the major scale. So it is easy to inadvertently slip into a mode’s related major scale. When that happens, you have lost the mode and have actually moved into a major key. This can occur melodically or harmonically or both. Basically avoid or handle with care the D to G as that is the V I in our G major example.

One of the keys to all this mode or modal stuff is that the harmonic function of a chord, its I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII is different in each mode for each chord. Here is how the AM chords functions in each mode:

Am in A Dorian is a I chord.
Am in B Phrygian is a VII chord.
Am in C Lydian is a VI chord.
Am in D Mixolydian is a V chord.
Am in E Aeolian is a IV chord.
Am in F# Locrian is a III chord.
Am in G Ionian is a II chord.

My brain hurts after that one!

Their harmonic function is completely different from mode to mode. Just like a G in the key of C is different than a G in the key of G, or G in the key of D in traditional tonic/dominant harmony.

With printed music only using key signatures for major and their relative minor keys. It is this harmonic knowledge that will allow you to determine if a song is in a major key or a mode. Yu might not need this to just play chords but to embellish the chords and improvise it is a definite plus.

This is a classic case for only naming things IN CONTEXT. In music there isn’t a lot that can be named out of context.

Here is my secert, mystical key that I use to get all the chords from any mode based on a major scale: For triads: maj, min, min, maj, maj or 7th, min dim. For 4-art 7th chords: maj7, m7, m7, maj7, 7th, m7, m7b5 or half-diminished.

This allowed me to remember the chords for this example and the related modes. I can get any mode’s chords from this sequence of chords by starting at a different point in the sequence. You don’t have to remember so much stuff. Just this tool and your major scales.

See you in New York.

PS. I’ll be giving an “Advanced Jazz” workshop. But – you definitely don’t need to be advanced to attend. If you know a few 7th chords you won’t get lost. Plus, I have great handouts.

Develop Your Own Uniqueness

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Develop Your Own Uniqueness:The guitar world has always been obsessed with who is faster or better. The reality is that all good players are fast and knowledgeable about chords, improvisation and harmony.

What makes one different than another is not the external factors of technique but the unique projection of personality that comes through the music. Just as you meet one person that you like and another person that you don’t like, the audience is only affected by their own individual response to a player.

Does the player move them or not? After all, the audience is not in a position to judge a player on the basis of his or her technique or knowledge. The audience can only react. This is ultimately a good thing.

Bill Evans said something that I always admired . He said you must please yourself. Play what pleases you. You can’t chase players or styles or trends. In essence, he was saying find your own voice.

From a marketing point of view, you have to find an audience that likes your style, your sound, your personality.

If you become your own unique self, you’ll never be disappointed with the results!

(Via ChuckAndersonGuitar.)

Curt Sheller – This is so true. I often get questions from students like “Who is better, this guitarist or that guitarist.” I tell them that they are all different. You can give any to great guitarists, even not so great guitarists the same gear, pick and level of ability. If the play the same some through the same gear and even the same notes. They will sound different. Take the Wolf Marshall, the author and great mimic of other players. He still sounds like Wolf Marshall.

The Three Words

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The Three Words:There are three words commonly used in music that should be avoided – or at least redefined.

These words are Practice, Play and Rules.

Practice – This implies boring repetition. It’s uncreative and unproductive.

Play – This connotes casual fun – a frivolous, optional activity.

Rules -These are a rigid set of “laws” which must be followed.

I would suggest that the word Practice be replaced with the word Explore.

I would suggest that the word Play be replaced with the word Work.

I would suggest that the word Rules be replaced with the word Principles.

Why?

When you explore music, it becomes fun and exciting. To explore is to discover!

Work in the music business is not like work in any other field. Most musicians feel blessed to make music their career. So work in this context is joyful not tedious.

The Principles of music hold the key to the development of your potential. Within these principles, there is unlimited opportunity to expand your creativity.

(Via ChuckAndersonGuitar.)

The Value of Formal Music Study

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The Value of Formal Music Study:
Should you study music with a teacher or should you “wing” it on your own? This question always comes up in this type of discussion about music.

An objective assessment of the two alternative approaches leads me invariably towards the formal route. Why? Because without guidance, there is a tendency to go in circles, What do you practice, when do you move to the next topic? When are you doing something wrong? How do you practice what doesn’t exist to you?

Many complain about time as a factor leading to the decision not to study. I would suggest that exactly the opposite is true. Those with less time need the efficiency of study. Without it, there’s a tendency to “practice” what you’re already good at. Study ensures that you will be working on your weaknesses. The results of self teaching are obvious. A player may get good at one thing but have blatant weaknesses in another.

If you use famous players in the past as your justification for not studying, you’d be wrong! Wes Montgomery was self taught – there’s your justification. But is it? Wes was self taught because there were no teachers at that time. I don’t mean no qualified teachers. I mean no teachers. Wes told me “Make sure you study. Don’t do what I did.”

All this, of course is premised on the presumption that you study with a qualified teacher. What makes a teacher qualified and how do find such a teacher? We’ll save that one for the next installment.

(Via ChuckAndersonGuitar.)

Guitar Players’ Issues

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Guitar Players’ Issues:

It’s unbelievable to me how weak guitar players are on knowing the notes on their own instrument!

No other instrument suffers from this same fate. Imagine a piano player not knowing the note names of the keys…or a trumpet player not knowing what notes come out if they push specific valve combinations. An amazingly high percentage of guitar players don’t know the notes on the neck. Is it more difficult than other instruments? No doubt. But that’s the price you pay for playing the guitar.

This problem has certainly been created by the guitar world’s penchant for tablature and chord picture diagrams. Despite this, there is no excuse for the failure on the part of guitar players to learn what is absolutely rudimentary on any other instrument.

If you need help overcoming this particular problem, check out my handbook Unlocking the Guitar – Notes on the Neck. It gives different approaches to learning the notes as well as several drills to master the topic. It’s available at www.ChuckAndersonGuitar.com

(Via ChuckAndersonGuitar.)

Curt Sheller Publications Updates

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Page Updates and Additions

Newest entries for CurtSheller.com (CS), JazzGuitarResources.com (JGR) and UkuleleClubs.com (UC). Most current listings are at top of list