Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 214" This Micro-Lesson explores the application of the, "Blues Scale," within a minor tonality format in the key signature of, "C Minor."
The Blues Scale is simply a standard, "Minor Pentatonic," scale with an added diminished 5th interval. In this Micro-Lesson we take the notes of a, "C," Blues Scale and create a guitar lick that covers the 8th to 12th position on the neck.
In measure one, we find an opening full-step bend on the 3rd string with fast slides around the diminished 5th interval. The line moves between 2nd and 4th strings with a number of slide and pull-off ideas. Measure two, opens with the tonic and minor 3rd bringing in another walk through the diminished 5th. Measure three takes us into the wrap up of the part with one last chromatic phrase taking up the advantage of the diminished passing tone on the 3rd string.
While the passing tones and the work highlighting the lowered 5th are a big part of what makes this lick Bluesy, the embellishments are equally important. Practice getting nice smooth bends, slides, and pull-offs across this part. The lick is a lot of fun and will introduce a number of efficient ways to include the "Blues Scale" on minor tonality sounds. Enjoy!
This week's GuitarBlog covers a "How to Compose Strong Melody," through repeating phrases.
When melodies, or rhythm guitar riffs /grooves repeat a lot, they can achieve a kind of, 'hypnotic,' result. They generally follow a fairly typical approach in their structure when doing so.
The method used here is based on taking a primary melodic statement and then building it through layering and repetition. However, what can spark an "interesting twist" for the listener, is what happens in respect to how the composer, "turns the phrase around."
This can be accomplished in a couple of different ways. In this lesson, I will run through how to establish a repetitive statement, and then, I'll break down options for making the melody idea strong - creating a repetitive "hypnotic-style" effect with the part.
Posted by Andrew Wasson
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 213" This Micro Lesson works through a short classically inspired melody in the key of, "Bb," Major played in the style of, "Chopin."
The melody is in 3/4 time signature and applies a mixture of eighth and sixteenth notes from the notes of the, "Bb Major Scale." Beginning in the 5th position, off of the 3rd guitar string, our melody starts with a sixteenth-note phrase that leads to a sequence in measures two and three.
In measure three, the phrase prepares for the ending that brings in the tonic of the key, "Bb." The combination of sequenced ideas and 'lead in' phrases makes for a close resemblance to melodies found within Chopin's famous piece, "Polonaise."
Take your time and memorize this short melody exercise piece prior to building up the speed. Be sure to fully comprehend the entire melodic contour, as well as, the guitar fingering patterns for each phrase.
When your familiarity of the melody becomes well established, turn on a metronome to take the tempo higher. Enjoy!
Posted by Andrew Wasson
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Music students often get hit with writer's block when they're trying to compose full-length pieces the first few times. They can have a very difficult time completing a song from intro to outro, even after they've spent hours staring at the page in frustration, asking themselves why today they couldn't do what seemed so easy last week. Sometimes it's lack of background knowledge, (they simply haven't learned enough songs by other composers for a foundation to build from), other times it's a lack of basic harmony and theory, (they do not comprehend keys and harmonies). But, the biggest issue is usually how they're approaching the writing process. Most students don't realize that songwriting is a skill, and the only way to learn a skill is to do it a lot. Just like you have to do a lot of boring scales when you're learning guitar, you have to write a lot of bad songs when you're learning songwriting. And, you need to realize that there's nothing wrong with writing bad songs. Over time bad songs get better. Then, they get great.
This all sounds very logical, but where songwriters in training will often go wrong is this: Most musicians, (who are brand new to songwriting), like to talk about their own life in their songs, and what's more important than your own feelings? Nothing! So the student slaves away on a lyric, a melody and a groove for their chords that never quite seems like a perfect representation of their inner emotions, and then they get frustrated, and soon afterward, they usually just stop.
That's writer's block. It's your own frustration with something that doesn't feel like it's good enough to finish. It's also completely detrimental to learning. Imagine stopping scale practice because you have a note here or there that you feel sounds bad. No one would ever learn an instrument if they practiced that way.
In songwriting, "doing your scales" means writing a lot of songs. And, this means you write for Quantity over Quality. Don't spend a month on a lyric. It might make the song better, but it won't make you a better songwriter. Spend a month writing one song a day instead. Hone your skill over the course of a lot of mediocre songs. After a while, your average will go up, and your worst song by day 300 will be better than your best song by day 10.
Which brings us back to writer's block. How can you write a song a day if you're stuck on a lyric, chord, melody or groove because it's not the perfect representation of your own life? Solution: Don't write about your own life! Don't write for your own artist project, but write for your cousin who can't hold a tune! The less you care, the easier it is to finish up the song and move on. This is doing your scales. Spend less time writing more songs. Give yourself a deadline, (like four hours), and just figure it out. However, you also need to remember: in order to become a master at anything, you will need to spend at least 10,000 hours doing it.On average, this means approx. 15 years for most players composing about 2.0 hrs. a day. Yes, fifteen-years. Now, get to work!
Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 212" This Micro-Lesson involves playing through a traditional set of jazz harmony chords as a, II-V-III-VI progression in the key of, "C Major."
Starting in the 5th position, off of the 5th string's root, we begin on, "C Major's," II-chord of, "Dm7." Next, applying the feel of a "Swing Rhythm," we head to the V-chord of the key with a, "G7," chord.
In measure two, we move into the key's, III-chord of "Em7" and then into the VI-chord. In this case, the VI-chord is a Secondary Dominant chord, (it's quality has however been switched from, "Minor," over to, "Dominant Seventh").
In addition to the change in quality, we also have an altered tone added to the chord in the form of a, "raised 5th." In the third measure we find a return to the II-V progression, with the II-chord, "Dm7," and the key's Vth chord, "G7."
However, once again we encounter another raised 5th on the "G" dominant 7 chord giving us a, "G7+5." The progression resolves into the keys Tonic chord of, "C maj7." This is a great run of chords if playing jazz is new to you. Take your time if the chords are found to be challenging. Enjoy!
As long as someone else has already made a recording of a song... you and your band can cover it. George Gershwin's song "Summertime" has been covered tens of thousands of times, and each artist covering the song has added his or her own personal touches.
But how much can be "changed" in a cover song before the owner/publisher can demand that you ask for permission and pay them extra money for the privilege? Here are the basics about making changes when performing or recording cover songs without increasing your costs.
1. Lyrics and melody
There's no hard and fast law about what changes make up artistic license, but in practice, it comes down to which elements of a song are covered by copyright. The US courts have often ruled that the melody and lyrics are a unique foundation of the elements of a song and are thus protected by copyright, whereas elements such as key and tempo are not. Changing the lyrics or melody requires direct permission from the song owner and will likely cost more than the compulsory mechanical license you can get from the Harry Fox Agency. To stay safely within the bounds of your basic performance or mechanical licenses, you should only change the key and/or tempo of songs that you cover.
Why the restrictions?
Changing the tempo or key doesn't alter the basic intentions of the writer, but when people start to change the lyrics or melody, and the song could be made into an advertisement, ridiculed, or bent to support a cause the owner doesn’t approve of, there's an issue.
Commercial hijacking
The possibility that a song might be hijacked for commercial purposes is a big part of why changing the melody and lyrics is not allowed without permission from the song's owner. Requiring permission for lyric and melody changes gives the owner the possibility of sharing in the wealth created by any alterations.
Unintended endorsements
Another consideration for protecting the lyrics and melody is to make sure that writers do not end up having their song give off a message of which they don't approve. For example, if a political party takes up a song and makes a few small changes to the lyrics, it could be made to seem like the original songwriter is promoting a cause that, in reality, they are against.
2. Instrumentation
If you plan on changing the song from its original instrumentation – i.e., you want to arrange a song originally written for guitar and vocals for your bagpipe band – then you need a license directly from the song's owner or publisher. 3. Harmony
Though lyrics and melody are unique and can be copyrighted, harmony cannot be copyrighted (which is good news for anyone who ever wrote a song using the 12-bar blues!). However, this can be a touchy area of music legal ground. Think about this... just because a writer can't copyright the harmony – i.e., prevent anyone else from using that harmony without first getting a license – it doesn't mean that the original chord progression isn't an integral part of a song.
If you make big changes to the harmony that alter the original meaning or mood of the song, you may be creating an arrangement that requires permission from the owner or publisher. But more often than not, the US courts have ruled that basic mechanical changes to the harmony – i.e., changes that any competent musician would make as part of standard practice, such as adding an additional voice to the harmony or fleshing out chords implied by the melody – would not be copyrightable changes and would thus not require a special license.
Jamie Davis-Ponce is a professional musician and graduate of Northeastern University's Master of Music Industry Leadership program with a concentration in entrepreneurship. She has been a music lecturer at Ithaca College, and is deeply involved in Boston-area arts and music organizations, having worked with ArtsBoston and held internships at Handel & Haydn Society and Boston Symphony Orchestra. Jamie is currently an administrator in the Professional Performance Division at Berklee College of Music.
Welcome to... "Micro-Lesson 211" This Micro Lesson works through a 1970's "Soul-Jazz" guitar riff in the key of "D Minor."
The riff begins with a short pick-up phrase that covers the 2nd and 3rd strings in 8th position. It brings in the key's tonic note of "D" in measure one.
The "Dm7" chord appears next and takes us into a "C/D" chord. These measures repeat and then the "Bbmaj7" appears in the riffs second half. At this point the riff starts heading back to the tonal center by way of some, "Am" harmony.
This happens through the appearance of two "Am" quality chords. They are, "Am7" and "Am11." After these chords, the tonic chord of, "Dm7" appears to resolve the idea back to the tonic once again. After this point, the lick that acted as the pick-up phrase comes back once more and allows the riff to loop.
This riff will be fairly easy to perform if you are familiar with the various chords used throughout. However, if these chords are unfamiliar, then you will need to learn their voicings on the neck and master their fingering technique prior to building up speed. Take your time, never rush, and always play at the rate and pace which you can play the piece perfectly. Enjoy!
