Discussion of Guitar Voicings Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 17:05:25 -0800 From: Roger Labbe (by way of Reed Kotler ) Subject: Re: Inversions (long w/ examples) Let's talk about inversions using a very specific, musical example. Suppose you are playing the changes to I Got Rhythm. The first two measures are: | Bbmaj7 G7 | Cm7 F7 | How would we play this on guitar? One choice would be: | x | | | | | | | x | | | | x | x | x | x | x | - 3 | | | x | | | x | x | x - 3 | | | | x | | | x | | | - 3 | | | | x | | | | x | x (view as ascii or in non-proportional font to make it come out right) which uses non-inverted chords. However, play it through few times and you realize that by placing the root in bass you are 1) duplicating the role of the bass, assuming you are playing with a bassist, and 2) the bass line is rather boring. So suppose you want to make your music more varied, or you want a less obvious bass line, or you are getting in the way of your bassist. Inversions, by placing different notes in the bass, will automatically generate more interesting bass lines for you. For example, take the previous example, but play the f7 as | | x | | | - 3 | | | | x | x | | x | | which is the same as the previous f7 except the A was moved from string 1 to 6. Now the bass line is Bb G C A We can get more bass movement by moving up the neck. Starting at fret six we can play the two measures as: x | | | | | - 6 | | | | x | | | x x | | | | x | | | -5 | | | | x | x | | x | | x | x x x | - 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | x | x - 8 | | | | | | | | | | x | Giving a bass line that walks: Bb B C F Equally, inversions give you a choice of what notes to place in the melody, but I won't talk about that; the principle is the same as with the bass. Finally, inversions allow you to play a series of chords in one position on the neck, which makes playing easier and gives a more consistant sound. I agree with Reed that sitting down to study inversions is not useful. However, I do think it is useful to know 5 or 6 standard ways to play a given chord in your idiom. I've placed a chart at the end of the message that shows different inversions for the most common chords. You can learn these very quickly by taking a tune like I Got Rhythm and playing the first few measures using the chart below. Try playing low on the neck, medium on the neck, then high on the neck. You will find that at each position you will use a different mix of inverted and normal chords to avoid changing position drastically. I bet you can learn most of the chords in just 2 days if you are diligent. As you do it don't just memorize the chords but listen to the sound; some will give you a nice progression in the bass, others will sound terrible. Sometimes the bass will stay the same over two chords, but the internal voices in the chords will change, giving inner movement. Then spend the next several days trying to cause these effects. Play a descending bass line. Play an ascending bass line. Make the inner voices move around. It won't be long before you can choose your sound, all just by knowing a few common chord voicings. Don't bother figuring out how to play every inversion of every chord. As Reed has pointed out, players only really use a few common form. The ones below are somewhat old fashioned as the voicing are very full; good for holding down the rhythm in a big band, but not so good for more modern forms where you might just play the 3 and 7 of a chord. If you want to know more than the chords below, get a book such as Arnie Berle's "Chords & Progressions for Jazz & Popular Guitar". It contains a few of the most common chord voicings, and talks about things like constructing a bass line, how to comp, etc. It doesn't overburden you with 10 zillion chord forms that no one plays, it just gives a few useful forms for each style (e.g. barre, top four strings, etc). There are many other books out there, but this one is fine. The following shows several choices for common chords. The numbers indicate the function of the note in the chord. For example, to play the first chord as GMaj7, play it at the third fret, which places the R(oot) on G. Maj7 chords R | | | 5 | | | R | | | | | | | 1 | | | 5 1 3 | | | 7 3 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | 5 7 | 5 | | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | 7 Chord R | 7 | 5 | | | R | | | | | | | R | | | 5 R 3 | | | | 3 | | | | | | 7 | | | 3 | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | 5 | | 5 | | 7 | | | | | | | | m7 Chords R | 7 3 5 | | | R | | | | | 3 | R | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | 3 | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | 5 R | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | 5 | | 7 | | 7 | | | | | 6 Chords | | 6 | | | | | R | 6 | | | | | R | 6 | 5 R 3 | R | | | 5 | | | | | | | | | 3 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | 3 | | 5 | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | m6 Chords | | 6 | | | | | R | 6 | | | 3 | R | | | | | 3 | R | | 3 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | 6 | | 6 | 5 R | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | I hope this answers Reed's valuable injunction to make your studies specific and musical, but also gives you knowledge of several inversions which you can use anytime in jazz. It was written more for a beginner rather than someone with decades of experience (like Jim). Roger Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 09:21:46 -0500 From: "Lawson G. Stone" Subject: Re: Guitar Chord Systems reed wrote: > > Kevin, > > Wow! Nice job. > > Yes it's certainly easier to read and you have all the tensions > which is more important than the written notes anyway. > I've been working on these voicings as well. I have put them into neck diagrams that I might be able to post as some kind of PICT or JPG file, or even an Adobe Acrobat type of file, if there is interest. I tend not to like tab that much, preferring standard notation with neck diagrams at key places. I appreciated Kevin's analysis. Most of these voicings I have stumbled on for myself, but it's nice to see them synthesized; plus its helpful to have one's own learning validated by someone else. RE Joe Pass' videos and chord shapes. He was an ardent advocate of the CAGED approach to chords and scales, in which 5 basic fingerings are correlated to the basic, first position shapes of the C, A, G, E, and D chords. That is also the order in which a single chord moves up the neck. While a couple of books out there purport to present Joe's system, I learned CAGED from my first guitar teacher 32 years ago and have since found it brilliantly expounded in a series called "Fretboard Logic." It is especially effective for linking Pentatonic scales. Thanks again, Reed, for the voicings. -- Lawson, To me the main thing is to reduce the amount of actual information and then just relate everything to a few simple things. To me, that is a fundamental part of the lesson Joe Pass communicates on his video. BTW, he even talks about all those books with thousands of jazz guitar voicings and how he just plays easy things. I think most top players do that, though not all may use an identical system. Joe Beck on his video is describing a similar system to what you say Joe is using whereby he has a couple of shapes derived from the basic cowboy chords that he sees up and down the neck. (Interstingly enough, beyond saying that is what he does, he doesnt really seem to be doing that at all on the video). Guitar players tend to see shapes since it's a very visual instrument. For me, I see shapes too but I also want to see harmony on the freboard so I can voice lead. For me, just seeing shapes is limiting in that respect. My system was derived from something I developed first on the piano. I still have to start posting my piano version. It's a little more complicated because piano players have to learn them in all the hand splits. That is a 5 note voicing may have to be practiced with 1 not in the left hard, 2 notes in the left hand , 3 notes in the left hand, etc. I first came up with this because piano players tend to get locked into particular grips like guitar players. It makes it very awkward to voice lead if you have to move your whole hand just because you can't finger the chord appropriately for the music. Of course I could have just started trying to voice lead but I found that working through these kinds of voice leading excercies, which are actually quite musical and nice sounding, helped me to practice them in all the keys and get very comfortable with them. Also, the various grips tend to become isolated things in particular tunes and particular keys if you don't work on them this way. When you see what someone like Bill Evans is playing, you know that he did something like this because he is voice leading and using lots of "non standard" hand splits whenever he needs them. For example if he wants to play the notes [D F A C E ], he might grab it with any combination of the notes in the left and right hand depending on where is coming from and where he is going to. My guess is that someone like Barney Kessel or Ron Eschte is doing something more like what I posted though I don't know for sure. I've recently orderred some Barney Kessel videos on chord playing and a Ron Eshte book so I'll report on what I see when I get them. I think Joe Beck and Joe Pass are too though clearly when he described things, Joe Beck was giving the CAGED speech. BTW, you have to be very careful with what top players say they do if they don't actually seem to be demonstrating that on the video (similarly in person.) This was the source of my comment of what Joe Beck said regard the CAGED system. Sometimes they will just repeat what others have said in an educational setting and it's not what they are doing at all. There are a basic set of rooted voicings, which also can have upper chord degrees that I will be posting. reed > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 09:22:50 -0800 From: frankj@curran.Eng.Sun.COM (Frank Curran) Subject: Re: Guitar Chord Systems > From: "Kevin Johnsrude" > Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 15:15:38 +0000 > Subject: Re: Guitar Chord Systems > Is there enough interest and are there enough guitar players to > continue this thread? Let me know and we can compare notes (haha). > I'm a guitar player and I've also been working diligently on Reed's chord voicings. I'd like us to continue this thread. I've started to practice songs, like from fake books, and use Reed's voicings to construct chord/melody solo guitar. I have had to start very slowly and work carefully, about one song per week. Its fun and, after just a couple of weeks, it is making a difference in my playing. Frank ------------------------------ Lawson G. Stone Professor of Old Testament ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 15:15:38 +0000 From: "Kevin Johnsrude" Subject: Re: Guitar Chord Systems Hi y'all! I meant to do this earlier, but my axe is at home and my Internet connection is at work. Here are the ascii tab versions of the first set of Reed's rootless guitar voicings for those of you without Web access or Adobe capabilities. Sorry about the representation, but I don't have a music notation program--pencil and staff paper are easy and cheap. Once again, if this stuff doesn't line up right, then use a monospaced font like Courier. First Set of Reed's Rootless Guitar Voicings: First progression template is: | Dm9 G13 | Cmaj13 || Second template is: | Dm9 G13 | C6/9 || Dm9 voicings: ============= Notes: C F A E Chord degrees: b7 b3 5 9 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 10 10 10 12 Mid 4 : x 15 15 14 17 x G13 voicings: ============= Notes: B F A E Chord degrees: 3 b7 9 13 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 9 10 10 12 Mid 4 : x 14 15 14 17 x Cmaj13 voicings: ============= Notes: B E A D Chord degrees: 7 3 13 11 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 9 9 10 10 Mid 4 : x 14 14 14 15 x C6/9 voicings: ============= Notes: A D G C Chord degrees: 6 9 5 1 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 7 7 8 8 Mid 4 : x 12 12 12 13 x All mistakes are mine. Play the two progressions above, using first the top 4 string voicings and then the mid 4 string voicings. Notice how smooth the progressions are; that's because of the common-tones between each chord. I kind of like the ambiguity in the rootless progressions as well--the root is implied but not stated and that opens up the sound of the chords. I'm going to take a little time to see in what contexts I can arpeggiate these chords with the bass; I may be able to make the key center ambiguous. Personally, I think that you should learn both the top4 and the mid4 voicings because so many tunes do ii-V7's through the circle of fourth's but your mileage may vary. Reed then alters the above templates to form the following progressions, with both Cmaj13 and C6/9 endings (but I'll only show the Cmaj13 endings): | Dm9 G13(b9) | Cmaj13 || | Dm9 G13(#9) | Cmaj13 || | Dm9 G7(#9#5)| Cmaj13 || | Dm9 G7(b9#5)| Cmaj13 || | Dm9 G7(b5#9)| Cmaj13 || Each of these alterations are accomplished by only altering one or two notes; there's great economy of effort here. I know Reed's got at least three more sets of voicings and I'd love to see them. I've found some additional rootless voicings that are interesting. Is there enough interest and are there enough guitar players to continue this thread? Let me know and we can compare notes (haha). Kevin, kevinj@roguewave.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 10:10:27 +0000 From: "Kevin Johnsrude" Subject: Re: Guitar Chord Systems Here are the second set of guitar voicings. These are the "drop 2" voicings. I may have made an error in the Cmaj13 voicings as they're a bit of a jump from the other chords. Maybe these voicings weren't meant to be the top 4 strings and the mid 4 strings. If this stuff doesn't line up right, then use a monospaced font like Courier. Second Set of Reed's Rootless (Drop 2) Guitar Voicings: Dm9 voicings: ============= Notes: F C E A Chord degrees: b3 b7 9 5 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 3 5 5 5 Mid 4 : x 8 10 9 10 x G13 voicings: ============= Notes: F B E A Chord degrees: b7 3 13 9 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 3 4 5 5 Mid 4 : x 8 9 9 10 x C6/9 voicings: ============= Notes: E A D G Chord degrees: 3 6 9 5 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 2 2 3 3 Mid 4 : x 7 7 7 8 x Cmaj13 voicings (This is the big jump that I'm not too sure about): ============= Notes: A D G B Chord degrees: 13 11 5 7 Strings: E A D G B E Top 4 : x x 7 7 8 7 Mid 4 : x 12 12 12 12 x All mistakes are mine. The above chords are used in the following progressions: | Dm9 G13 | C6/9 || | Dm9 G9(#5) | C6/9 || | Dm9 G9(b5) | C6/9 || | Dm9 G13(b9) | C6/9 || | Dm9 G7(b9#5)| C6/9 || | Dm9 G7(b5b9)| C6/9 || | Dm9 G13(#9) | C6/9 || | Dm9 G13(#9) | Cmaj13 || | Dm9 G7(#5#9)| C6/9 || | Dm9 G7(#5#9)| Cmaj13 || Kevin, kevinj@roguewave.com ------------------------------ Kevin, Wow! Nice job. Yes it's certainly easier to read and you have all the tensions which is more important than the written notes anyway. Okay, I'll start posting the other sets . I promise at least one by monday. The next sets are pretty simple. Basically you have: 1) Pure m7 instead of m9. So the first one for dm9 of [F C E A ] becomes [F C D A ]. SImilarly for the other. The reson for this one is that : a) It's a different sound. b) THe natural 9 is not always an appropriate tension. For example Em7 A7 in the key of C, you might not want that F# . For example the horn player might just be playing in C and not want that F# shoved down his throat. 2) Pure m7 -> m7b5 . 6 -> m6 . 3) A few variations of other pure m7 inversions going to dominant chords. Similarly for m7b5. Also pure m7 -> m11 so [ F E C A ] becomes [F C E G] There are a few other things. Anyway, all the sets above are almost trivial modifications to the first set and cover an amazing percentage of what people play, when it comes to rootless voicings. I have another set like these based on shells (R 3 7) and if you add a few more things you basically end up with all the voicings a straight ahead guitar would use. So someone like Barney Kessel, Joe Pass, etc. I think I can post it all over the next month or so. If you watch the Joe Pass solo guitar video you'll see he is doing exactly this. He talks alot about simplifying things. Also, a few times he plays through all the tension variations very quickly so he's obviously thought the same way and practiced them. Then I have some guitar solos I've written which illustrate how all this works together. What I'm thinking of doing is just using ones that are in the new real book and just remove the melody note. SOmeone with the book could just pencil the melody notes back in. reed