Concepts for Comping: Lesson 27
- Jay EuDaly
- 10 hours ago
- 4 min read
Master Guitar School April 2026 Newsletter
Concepts for Comping: Lesson 27 - Dominant Cycle (4-Voice)
Dominant Cycles, that is, Dominant chords that move in 4ths around the Key Circle, are common. Notice that the alternating open-to-close voicing flips from Gb to B:
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For an example of how all this (knowledge of chord progressions, key schemes and what not) plays out in real life - how it saves my ass on the gig - check out this blog:
Video Lesson
Cowboy Chords: Lesson 7
Progression: G - Em - C - D7
This is a cliché progression; get it down and you know dozens of songs, and parts of songs. See the video for a demonstration:
“Cowboy Chords” are otherwise known as “First-Position Chords” and usually contain open strings. The term, “first-position” indicates they occur within the first 4 frets. These are the typical chords (G, C, D etc) that most guitarists first learn.
The above lesson is one of 15 lessons in a series called, Cowboy Chords: A Deep Dive into 1st Position Fingerings & Application.
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BLOGS PUBLISHED SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER
1972 Alvarez 5001/1975 Martin N-20: The original version of this blog incorrectly identified the Alvarez as an Alvarez-Yairi. The blog has been rewritten to reflect my current understanding.
Open Road Conspiracy: After decades of gigs, I estimate well over 10,000 shows - that’s roughly equal to 40,000 hours on stage - and more ”bands” than I can count, I decided to tell this story; the band that started it all for me.
Republished: Dropped My Pick: Navigating Mistakes in Live Performance: I rarely drop my pick, but at 17.29 seconds into a Bob Marley song, I dropped my pick.
Comping Concepts: Lesson 26: Lesson: Concepts for Comping, Video: Cowboy Chords, Blog: How I Play Songs I Don’t Know & more…
TUNE OF THE MONTH
Norwegian Wood
I can't remember if I've posted this song before - I think I may have. If so, I can't remember which version, so I'll do both.
The first one is from my CD, Channeling Harold. Hammond organ trio; Rich VanSant on Hammond B3, Ian Sikora on drums, and myself. A jazz waltz take on this classic Beatles song. I asked myself, “How would Wes Montgomery play this song?”
This second version is from a cell phone video of a gig, with myself playing guitar and singing (and using a looper), and Phil Brenner on soprano sax.
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