Now, using the open and close-voiced chords we learned in Lesson 1, we're going to play Scale Tone 7ths. This entails playing a scale with 7th chords instead of single notes. This will be a familiar concept if you've gone through Unit 4: 7th Chords.
The way we're going to do this is to run the entire scale ascending and descending along the neck on one set of strings (unlike Unit 4 where we moved across rather than along string sets for more efficient movement). This is consistent with the limited number of chords you learned in the previous lesson.
To do this you need to be able to visualize a 1-octave Major Scale on the 6th string or the 5th string in every key around the Key Circle. The key to doing this is to know that there is a half-step between the 3rd and 4th scale degree and a half-step between the 7th and 8th scale degree. All other intervals along the scale are whole-steps:
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Blogs Published Since Last Newsletter
Thoughts on Jimi: An R&B/Soul guitar player…on acid!
Republished: 2-Note Blues Chords: A “Whomper” is a big ole fat, bottom-heavy bar chord, full of doubled notes with the root in the bass. Think your typical bar chords that use all six strings. Whompers generally (there are exceptions) don’t work well in a band context. You’ve already got the bass player playing the root; you’ve already got a keyboard player playing chords. All a Whomper does is muddy up the works. Play these dyads (2-note chords) instead:
Republished: 2-Note Jazz Chords: Applying the concept of 2-note 7th chords to Jazz standards is easy since the basic harmony of that style is 7th chords. When comping behind a vocalist or a soloist, playing these 2-note chords (dyads) leaves space for the bass player and the keyboardist to do their thing. Trust me, they'll appreciate you for it!
Republished: Texas Shuffle Applied to Jazz: This is the story of how I merged two disparate styles of playing in an unpremeditated, organic way.
Tune of the Month
"The Cat" is a Blues by Jimmy Smith released in 1964. This recording is from my CD, Channeling Harold featuring Hammond organist Rich VanSant. Rich and I worked together for many, many years, most notably on the Saturday Afternoon Jam at Harling's Upstairs, a club in Kansas City. That Jam is still going strong at a different venue some 39 years from when Rich, myself and others started it in 1984. I am still on that gig but Rich bowed out in 2004 and is in retirement. The Hammond organ-based Jazz/Blues format is my favorite genre in which to play. Rich was a killer B3 player and I miss him horribly.
A 4-part history of the Jam can be found here: Jam! Kansas City Style.
In the meantime, listen to Rich, myself and drummer Ian Sikora:
How about 5 FREE Lessons?
The 5-Lesson Foundational Series teaches the Circle of Keys as an organizational mechanism by which you ensure that whatever you learn is drilled in every key in all possible positions. It also gives you a method to find any note, anywhere, without memorizing note names on every string. That is a beautiful thing!
You can download the 5-Lesson Foundational Series right here for free (a $39 value) with no further obligation or commitment.
Jay
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