Here are two pretty common patterns to solo with. There are some more complicated things we can build with these patterns but let’s start with the basics for now. We can call these patterns 1 2 3 1 and 1 3 2 1. These refer to the degrees of the major scale. F is 1, G is 2 and so on.

Here are the patterns at the fifth fret, F major:

|------------------|-----------------|
|o-----------------|-----------------|
|------------------|-----5-----5-7---|
|----5-7---5-7-8-5-|-7-8---7-8-----8-|
|o-8-----8---------|-----------------|
|------------------|-----------------|

|-----------------|----------------|
|-----5-----5-6---|-5-6-8-5-6------|
|-5-7---5-7-----7-|----------------|
|-----------------|----------------|
|-----------------|----------------|
|-----------------|----------------|

And here’s the 1 3 2 1 pattern:

|------------------|-----------------|
|o-----------------|-----------------|
|------------------|---5-------7-5---|
|----7-5---5-8-7-5-|-7---8-7-8-----8-|
|o-8-----8---------|-----------------|
|------------------|-----------------|

|-----------------|----------------|
|---5-------6-5---|-5-8-6-5-6------|
|-5---7-5-7-----7-|----------------|
|-----------------|----------------|
|-----------------|----------------|
|-----------------|----------------|

Next time we’ll look at some ways to practice these patterns.

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - November 15, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

We’ve been exploring the uses of the min7b5 chord, a chord that doesn’t seem to get a whole lot of play. And that’s a shame, because it’s got a sound all its own. This time out we’ll use the min7b5 in a ii V I going toward a minor key center.

Time for a little background info. What is a “ii V I”? It’s a mini chord progression that sets up a key center. After you play a ii V I — Like Am D7 G, for example — you instantly know that G is the most important note, the key center.

There are minor ii V Is and major ii V Is. Minor ii V Is typically use a min7b5 for the ii — because the ii chord in a common minor scale, the harmonic minor, is a min7b5. Check out the chords in A harmonic minor:

A min, B min7b5, C major, D minor, E7, F major, G# dim

See how B min 7b5 is the second (ii) chord? And notice the V: E7. Now let’s use that min7b5 and V7 to move toward the One minor:

|-------|-------|------|
|-3--3--|-3--3--|-1----|
|-2--2--|-1--1--|-2----|
|-3--3--|-0--0--|-2----|
|-2--2--|-2--2--|-0----|
|-------|-0--0--|------|

If that’s a little dry, let’s try this, which uses add bit more flavor to the plain B min7b5, to make a B min7b5 add 11.

|--------|-0------|------|
|-5-3----|-3-3----|-0----|
|-2-2----|-1-1----|-5----|
|-3-3----|-0-0----|-4----|
|-2-2----|-2-2----|-0----|
|--------|-0-0----|------|

That’s it for this time. Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - November 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

We’re looking again at the often over-looked min7b5 chord. Last time we saw how it can replace a dom 7 chord. This time we’ll see how it replaces a tonic minor chord.

The point of doing this substitution is to give ourselves some fresh-sounding options to play, rather than trudging through the same old sounds.

What is a “tonic minor chord” anyway? It’s a minor chord that’s set up as the central, most important chord — even if only for a short time. A non-tonic minor chord is just like a pitstop: we’re just passing through it on our way to something else. An example will better illustrate.

Play a D minor, E7, then A minor. That A minor is a tonic minor. Even if we follow it with a G7, then, C. That A minor feels like a significant place, in whatever musical journey the song it appears in takes us on. Contrast with this: play a G major, A minor, D minor, G7, C. That A minor doesn’t grab our attention in the same way, does it? Same chord, different context, different function, different *feeling.*

Back to our mission here: replacing the tonic minor with a minor 7b5. Let’s try this:

|-1--1--|-0--0--|-0----|
|-3--3--|-3--3--|-1----|
|-2--2--|-1--1--|-2----|
|-0--0--|-0--0--|-2----|
|-------|-2--2--|-0----|
|-------|-0--0--|------|

|-1--1--|-0--0--|------|
|-3--3--|-3--3--|-1----|
|-2--2--|-1--1--|-2----|
|-0--0--|-0--0--|-2----|
|-------|-2--2--|------|
|-------|-0--0--|-2----|

The first progression uses the A minor, but the second uses F# min7b5 in place of the A minor. Hear the mysterious edge that F# min7b5 gives?

How would we know that it’s okay to do this kind of substitution? In other words, it *sounds* pretty cool, but are we just plucking chords out of nowhere and settling on one that sounds good?

No. The F# min7b5 shows up in the A melodic minor scale. And the chords themselves have these notes in common: A, C, and E. Remember our maxim regarding chords substitution? If two chords have two or more notes in common, they can often substitute for each other.

Next time: part three of our mini series on the min7b5: using it as the ii in a minor ii V I progression.

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - October 15, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

This chord doesn’t get a lot of press, but it’s pretty useful. We’re going to look at the min7b5 chord. First, a pattern for it:

|------|
|-6----|
|-5----|
|-6----|
|-5----|
|------|

That’s the D min7b5. And here’s an arpeggio pattern for the same chord. Use this to solo:

|-------------4-8-|
|-----------6-----|
|-------5-7-------|
|-----6-----------|
|-5-8-------------|
|-----------------|

Where can we use the min7b5? Let’s look at three different uses: 1) replacing the dom 7, 2) replacing a tonic minor chord, and 3) in a minor ii V I progression.

Here’s an example of the first usage:

|------|------|------|
|--6-6-|-6--6-|-6----|
|--8-8-|-7--5-|-5----|
|--6-6-|-6--6-|-5----|
|--8-8-|-8--5-|-6----|
|------|-6----|------|

This progression is as follows: F minor 7 in bar 1, Bb7 and D min7b5 in bar 2, and Eb 6/9 in bar 3. In other words, a ii V I in Eb major.

Look at bar 2. We’re substituting the D min7b5 in place of the Bb7 here. The Bb7 was also included, so you can compare the similarity of sounds. Why do the Bb7 and D min7b5 sound alike? Look at the notes:

D min7b5: D F Ab C
Bb7: Bb D F Ab

Three notes in common definitely make for a similar sound. Next time: usage 2) replacing the tonic minor chord.

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - October 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

We covered the major chord with a sharp 5 last time, and this time we’ll cover its “sister” chord, the #11. Where does the term #11 (pronounced “sharp eleven”) come from? Look at the notes in the G major scale. Yes, that’s not a typo: the G major, not the C major scale:

C D E F# G A B C D E F# …etc

Counting up from C to the second F#, you’ll see the F# is eleven. And since it has a # (sharp) after it, we get the name sharp 11 (#11). Making a major chord from this, we take every other note, starting with C:

C E G B D F#

That looks like a lot of notes for a chord, doesn’t it? We guitarists like 3 and 4 note chords, generally, as far as ease of playing goes. So we can eliminate some notes, being sure to hang onto the F#. We can play patterns like these:

|-2------|-5----|
|-5------|-5----|
|-4------|-5----|
|-2------|-4----|
|-3------|-3----|
|--------|------|

The second one is better for strumming. And it has the 13 added, yet another extended chord “color.”

Where to use major chords with a #11? Try them in place of unaltered major chords. They won’t sound right in every situation, but they could add a fresh change of pace from the usual 1 3 5 major.

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - September 15, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

In a previous post we tinkered with a chord’s 9. This time we take a look at a major chord’s 5.

Five, Nine? What are these? Quick refresher. Let’s see the notes of a chord and the numbers we refer to them with:

C, E, G
One, Three, Five

Take a look at the bigger picture: ONE of the scales that includes the C major chord:

C D E F G A B C D

If you count to the D, you’ll see it is nine. But back to the fifth of the chord. Here’s what happens when you increase the fifth of a C major chord by one half step, or one fret:

---
-1-
-1-
-2-
-3-
---

That’s a C Major Augmented or a C+5. What can you do with such a creature? How about put it in place of a regular C major chord:

|-1-1--|--------|
|-3-0--|-1-1----|
|-2-0--|-1-0----|
|-0-3--|-2-2----|
|------|-3-3----|
|------|--------|

You won’t find a C+5 in any major scale — that’s one of the reasons it might sound kind of surprising to you. You will find it in these two minor scales: harmonic and melodic minor. And because it shares two notes with the minor chord whose root is a third below the root of the plus 5 chord, you can experiment with substituting the plus 5 for that minor chord. Here’s an example:

|-----|------|
|-6-6-|-5----|
|-7-7-|-5----|
|-7-6-|-6----|
|---7-|-3----|
|-7---|------|

Have fun exploring the Major Augmented chord. Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - September 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

Last time we took a major chord shape and transferred it from strings 2 to 5, to strings 1 through 4. The purpose of doing that is to expand your knowledge of the fretboard. When you learn one shape, whether a scale, chord or something else, you increase your fretboard navigation skills if you translate that shape to as many different places as possible. When you can move around the fretboard with ease, you get a sense of being a solid guitarist.

We’re going to cover the flip side of Bump It Down in this installment. We’ll take a pattern that falls across that gnarly difference in tuning between strings 2 and 3, and move it down in pitch. We translated a chord last time, so let’s do a lick this time.

|-8-7-6-4-5-------|-----------|
|-----------6-----|-----------|
|-------------8-7-|-5-----5---|
|-----------------|---6-7-----|
|-----------------|---------8-|
|-----------------|-----------|

|-----------------|-----------|
|-8-7-6-4-5-------|-----------|
|-----------5-----|-----------|
|-------------8-7-|-5-----5---|
|-----------------|---6-7-----|
|-----------------|---------8-|

These are all eighth notes.

Look at the differences between the two tabs. Really, the only place you need to look is at strings 2 and 3. Obviously, nothing remains on string 1 in the second tab. The transferred lick starts on string 2 now. All the fret numbers are the same, for string 2, as they were for string 1, in the original lick.

Now look at string 3 on the transferred lick: its one note, at fret 5, is one fret less than the corresponding note of the original lick, which is on string 2, fret 6.

Beyond string 3, all other fret numbers are the same. In other words, strings 4 and 5 of the original lick transfer exactly, fret for fret, from the pattern on strings 3 and 4 of the original lick.

Look more closely at string 3 of the transposed lick. What did we do to transfer the notes used to be on string 2? All we did was slide back the fret one.

Put it another way: whatever pattern you have on string 2 that you want to duplicate on string 3, shift that complete pattern “left” one fret. “Left” is in quotes because if you’re fretting notes with your right hand, left is going to be right.

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - August 15, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

This tip will have us exploring that funky difference in tuning that you find between the B string and the G string. Sometimes it seems like the guitar would be so much easier to play if all strings were tuned a fourth apart.

Specifically we’re going to learn how to transfer patterns — including chords, scales, whatever — across strings. We’ll start with a C major chord spanning strings two to five. And we’ll try to turn that into an F major chord, showing up on strings one to four.

Here’s the C major chord just mentioned:

|------|
|-5----|
|-5----|
|-5----|
|-3----|
|------|

Now let’s bump it up (in pitch). We’ll go to the next string that’s higher in pitch. The root is going to be F. So it’s going to be some kind of F chord, if we transfer the pattern exactly from the C major chord. But we also think, “Okay, we got that B string tuned different from the other strings…so what am I going to have to do to turn the ‘F Something’ chord into the F major chord?” Here’s the pattern shifted up before we’ve made any change to it:

|-5----|
|-5----|
|-5----|
|-3----|
|------|
|------|

That turns out to be an F major 7. So, we came pretty close to our goal of the same exact kind of chord as the C major, didn’t we? They’re both major chords. But the F chord is a major 7, which is not exactly the same as a plain old major. Here’s the adjustment to make it a plain F major:

|-5----|
|-6----|
|-5----|
|-3----|
|------|
|------|

Notice carefully where the change was made: the B string. And that’s going to be true for any pattern we want to bump up to the next string: whichever note got moved from the G string onto the B gets moved up one fret. And that’s the ONLY change you need to make.

The tough part comes, sometimes, in trying to work out a fingering for the bumped shape.

Next time, we’ll Bump it Down. Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - August 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

Have you heard this sound before?

|------|
|-6----|
|-5----|
|-4----|
|-5----|
|------|

You probably have if you’ve done any listening to rock or blues. It’s the dom 7 #9. Consider it a kind of sister chord to the dangerous dom 7 b9 we covered in recent issues. All “sister” means here is that this is another alteration to the natural nine of the dom 9 chord. The natural nine for the D7 chord is the note E.

Both flat nine (b9) and sharp nine (#9) are often found in the scales that we find the dom 7 #9 in. That does NOT mean we HAVE to put both b9 and #9 in the chord.

So what’s the big deal about the dom 7 #9? If you have a recording of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, have a listen to the intro. It’s a distinctive, pungent sound, which can work great for hardcore blues. Also, think of using it as a replacement for a simple minor chord:

Let’s try it in a wee little progression. First, try the progression without the dom 7 #9. Use your non-fretting fingers to grab the strings.

|-5-----------|------|------------|------------|
|-6-----------|-6-3--|------3--4--|-5--3--1----|
|-5--7--5--7--|-5-5--|-3--5-3-----|-3-----3----|
|-7--6--5-----|-7-4--|-3----3-----|-5-----2----|
|-8--8--7-----|-5----|------------|-3-----3----|
|----6--5-----|---4--|-3----3-----|------------|

Now play it with the dom 7#9

|-5-----------|------|------------|------------|
|-6-----------|-6-3--|------3--4--|-5--3--1----|
|-5--7--5--7--|-5-5--|-3--5-3-----|-3-----3----|
|-7--6--5-----|-4-4--|-3----3-----|-5-----2----|
|-8--8--7-----|-5----|------------|-3-----3----|
|----6--5-----|---4--|-3----3-----|------------|

The only change here is in the second measure. Pretty subtle. Maybe as a listener you wouldn’t notice the change, but you might feel something. As a player, though, you can hear a real change.

We’ll close out with another pattern dom 7 #9 pattern. It’s the one we just covered, but bumped up to put the melody note on string 1.

|-6----|
|-6----|
|-4----|
|-5----|
|------|
|------|

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - July 15, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

Ninth Chord Series

• Ninth Chords
• The Major Nine - Part Two
• The Dominant 9
• The Dangerous Dom7 b9
• More on the dom7b9

Hello, again. We’re back looking at the “Dangerous” dominant 7, flat 9. This is a chord you see a lot of before going to a minor key, and that’s one of the reasons it sounds dangerous when we hear it. The flat 9 of the dom 7 b9 chord turns into the b6 of the tonic chord we expect to come next. A tonic chord is the central, most important chord of a key center, whether major or minor. Major key centers, most times, do not use scales with flat or minor 6s, preferring the major 6s instead. For example, note A in C major is a major 6 up from C. But minor key centers commonly DO use scales that DO have minor 6s in them, such as A harmonic minor or A natural minor.

Whew! That’s a roundabout way of explaining why we anticipate a minor key center when we hear that flat 9 in a dominant 7 chord, such as the F note in E7b9. And a side note but an important one, as I look at this bunch of text used to try to explain the dom 7b9. If you don’t understand the stuff written here or in the last issue, do not despair. Your musical ear know perfectly well what’s going on; and words often get in the way of trying to explain these so called theory topics. Keep playing and asking questions like “Okay, the F note over the E7 chord makes the E7 sound dangerous. Why? Let me track that F into the next chord and see where it fits in the next chord or key center.” Persist, and you will get it.

Okay, enough pep talk. Let’s look at one more reason why the dom 7 flat 9, such as the E7 b9, sounds dangerous. Yes, that F note is telling us “something wicked this way comes,” in the form of an A minor key center. But that’s not the only reason that F sounds dangerous. Think about what the F note is to the root of the E7 chord: yes, it’s a flat nine. That’s dissonant. Check it out by playing the E note on string 4 and the F note on string 1. In comparison, play that E note with the G# on string 1 (fret 4). Much sweeter, isn’t it?

We did that little exercise to show that dom 7 b9 chords sound dangerous partly because the flat 9 is claustrophobically close to the root of the chord.

Thanks for reading.

Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow

This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News - July 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.

Ninth Chord Series

• Ninth Chords
• The Major Nine - Part Two
• The Dominant 9
• The Dangerous Dom7 b9
• The dom 7 sharp 9