Jacob strikes again. re Interval Studies - why?

Hey Barrett,

why from a soloing/lead guitar or chord based perspective would intervals actually be beneficial to someone's playing or their guitar sound? Everyone mentions them and I've looked through the exercises on Fretboard Workbook and Chord Tone Soloing and I'm still confused on how they can help things like expression and sound? Thanks a lot!

 Hi Jacob, 

Often players get stuck in a rut where they only play the next note in a scale. For example, you just played C. If your next note is always B or D then you have a problem that can be fixed by practicing interval studies. Here is my book on the subject. 

http://www.amazon.com/Interval-Studies-Lead-Guitar-Technique/dp/0980235340/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379105980&sr=1-6

step 1 to soloing over chord changes: find root shapes

Jacob writes:

Hi Barrett,

I was running through Fretboard Workbook as a review now that I'm on Chord Tone Soloing and I was wondering, with the 5 root shapes aspect, should I have simply learned the 5 shapes themselves or learned them to the point where I could play them at ears glance. As in, if someone said, play the root shapes in F sharp, I'd be able to play them in it immediately with any of the 5 patterns? Or is that a too advanced requirement for the first book of a series? Thanks again Barrett!

Hi Jacob,
Thanks for getting these books and working with them. Sounds like you are working pretty hard! It'll pay off.

In order to best apply the concepts in Chord Tone Soloing, yes, it is a great idea to know your fretboard patterns as deeply as possible. Finding root shapes for the chords in the closest available position will allow you to solo melodically without jumping up and down the neck, so there's less chance of getting lost.

Say for example you are soloing, with your hand at the 5th fret, over these chords:

|A C#7| F#7 | Bm F#7| Bm |

Nearby shapes are:
A pattern 4

-5-
---
---
-7-
---
-5-


C#7 pattern 2
---
---
-6-
--
-4-
---


F#7 pattern 5
--
-7-
---
-4
---
---

Bm pattern 3

-7-
---
-3-
--
---
-7-

That progression is the first four measures of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," by the way. It is a slow 8-bar blues. Here are the remaining four bars.

D D#dim7 |A F#7 |B7 | E7 |

Barrett

Understanding Intervals

Hi Barrett

I am working my way through your Chord Tone Soloing book and am so far half way through Part II. It has already improved my understanding for guitar playing a lot. Your books are the best guitar learning material I have ever read - and that's a lot. Thank you!

I'm having a problem with understanding the 6ths intervals on page 34 (track 20). How can it be 6ths if you are in the key of C?
C-E = 3rd interval
It would make sense to me if we were in the key of E: E-C = 6th interval.

I can see the tones are the same, but not how it can be a 6ths interval? Won't E always be the 3rd tone in the key of C?

Could you please explain to me how to understand this? Thank you again
-Martin from Denmark
**************************************************************
Hi Martin,
We use a number like "3rd" to describe two things. This is how there can be confusion.

A "3rd" is a scale degree (which is what you are thinking). As you say E is always the 3rd degree in the key of C major.

A "3rd" is also an interval: the exact distance between any two pitches. Not just from one C to the next higher E. There is more than one C and more than one E. Which C and which E do we mean?

From C up to E is a 3rd:

C D E
1 2 3

And from E down to C is also 3rd.

E D C
3 2 1

but from E up to a higher C is a 6th:

C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
   (1 2 3 4 5 6)

From C to an even higher E is a 10th:

C D E F G A B C D E
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please let me know if this helps you. And thank you very much for getting my book.
Barrett

Tasty Diminished Licks on the Blues

Double-Stop Blues Lick

Short and easy to learn, but cool.

City Solo

This was composed for a client of my friend, producer Billy Burke.

Pendulum Picking

Hi Barrett,

I am working through your book Rhythmic Lead Guitar, I really enjoy it. After playing the guitar for 15 years, it's been really helpful to remind myself to play in time.

I am working through the portion on intentionally make the pick miss the string while maintaining constant motion along with the foot. I realized I don't do that at all, especially when I am playing the acoustic guitar when all I'm doing is mainly strumming. I would just like to ask if it make sense for me to correct that, so that I will maintain constant motion. Do you do it yourself as well when playing acoustic?

Thanks for your help!
"John"


Hi John,

Yes, I do it that way too.

One of the main benefits of keeping your hand moving along with the foot, even if it is not really a visible movement, is that you start strumming again on either a down or an upstroke that is aligned with the down or upbeat of the music.

If you are just strumming 8th notes on an acoustic (with pick or fingers) to accompany vocals in a pop or folk tune, then I'd recommend the alternation to keep the time steady. A good example is "Yesterday" by the Beatles. When Paul sings the title word (at about 1:15), the final up strum with "-day" is left to ring for a quarter note duration, and he comes back in with up-down-up strums before the down beat of the bridge section ("Why she had to go").

Strict right-hand alternation even when some notes are not played (some call it "pendulum picking") is useful for making sure you play syncopated single notes and chords without rushing the time. If you try to play single-note funk parts (or mixed single-note lines with chords like the two guitars in Rufus's "You Got the Love") without this steady alternation, it's much harder to stay in the groove.

For strumming chords with no single notes involved, you may alter this approach for tonal purposes. Downstrokes and upstrokes sound a little different from each other. The downstrokes are chunkier and the upstrokes are a little more chime-like due to the order of the strings being hit. Usually the first strings you hit in a strum get hit the hardest and therefore get a volume boost. Punk and metal rhythm parts are often played with downstrokes only and would not have the same impact otherwise. I usually play ska skanks with only upstrokes (they're on upbeats anyway) on the high strings for stinging accents that stay in the rhythmic pocket.

Thanks for your question.
Barrett