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08.30.10
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"Good improvisation communicates harmonic progression melodically. Effective melodies manipulate harmonic content through the use of guide tones and preparatory gravity notes, masterfully woven in systematic tension, release, and transparent harmonic definition."
September 2, 2010 | Altered States
Recently we received a question about Altered Scales we thought appropriate to share. Peter writes, "I have practiced the diminished whole tone, half tone scale which you introduced in Jazz Mandology. I am somewhat curious as to whether this scale is only used to resolve to minor keys (such as in Minor in Possession) or does it resolve equally to major keys as well?"
The answer is yes, it can be used in Major Scales. Simply a matter of personal taste, we like its harmonic flavoring in the minor mode, but nothing says you can't use it elsewhere. When you spell out the individual elements of a V7 chord, especially one with a b9 added, you have some commonality:
Key of B minor, V7(b9) = F#, A#, C#, E, G F# Altered scale = F#, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F#
Note the harmonic and enharmonic similarities; really, the only superfluous notes are A and C (Bb and A# are the same note). A is the 7th, and can either be raised or lowered as part of the B minor scale. C is a color tone we added when we arbitrarily flatted the 9th of the V7 chord.
We believe the Altered Scale is the second most important scale you can learn. The first? Why a major scale of course, because with its WWHWWH step sequence, you have all the modes (Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian, etc) covered. Learn a major scale cold, and all you have to do is start it on a different scale degree to get these other precious modes.
In an Altered Scale, you have three in one. With the F# Altered Scale, you also have a tasty treat, our favorite Aug 11th Scale (start on the C):
Notice if you start the same sequence of notes on the G, you have a third delicious scale, a G Melodic Minor Scale, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F# G.
How can you beat that? The trick is to get this into your fingers, the fret relationships, where you skip frets and/or cross strings, and over time, they become subliminally fertile. Granted, initially the Altered Scale can be quite foreign to the unaccustomed ear. This is one you'll just have to trust on, for now. Spend a few months on it. Get a tactile intimacy with it.
This week's Tips entry is from staff contributor and music software theory Guru, Craig Schmoller. His Mando ModeExplorer is one of the most authoritative and concise fretboard software programs available for mandolin, and his recently released Jazz CitternExplorer is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to dive deeper into 5-string fifths tuned instruments.
"Your synopsis was precise and accurate. Time to write a book." - An anonymous Professor at a world-renown music education institution, regarding the following article.
I do a fair amount of posting on music discussion boards. And when the topic of "Chord Naming Rules" comes up, an abundance of "lively" and "passionate" discourse inevitably ensues. Perhaps you've witnessed one of these. In these discussions, we try to remain respectful and civil. This, I think is partly good manners; but in greater part, it's to save our own skins, that is, Save Our Reputations. After all, you don't want to come down on the wrong side of a Chord Naming Rules debate. Uh-uh. That is, if you wish to be taken seriously ever again. And that topic is of sufficient depth that, in the limited format and dubious climate of most online forums, you risk looking really, really stupid. So we get good at "agreeing to disagree."
To be clear, I'm not referring to "chord symbols" here. You know: Those dashes, circles and triangles combined with note names and whatnot. That is another discussion. There are a lot of valid shorthand renderings of chord names that work well, and though folks have preferences, I never encountered a heated debate over which is right, which is wrong, or what longhand the shorthand represents.
I am talking about the actual names of chords, and what those names mean when putting the chord together. What is that name implying, and what is it instructing us to do? That's not preference. That's fundamental. That's Important.
"Your synopsis was precise and accurate. Time to write a book." So, at first, I found it a little odd that our anonymous professor had not yet written that book on Chord Naming himself. But in retrospect, I think he was being prudent. In view of the great risk, and limited benefit associated with the topic of Chord Naming Rules, and being a man of great and sterling reputation, he has much to lose by entering into such a controversial discussion.
I, on the other hand, have very little or nothing to lose. So I'm here to introduce you to "The Seven Chord Naming Rules."
The following rules, when used together, are efficient and precise in meaning, unambiguous, provide extraordinarily complete coverage of all cases, have a great track record, and are well-accepted. They just make sense. So before you get out the pitchforks and torches, please put them to the test.
Naming Rule 1: The omission of "m", "mi", or "min" implies a major 3rd. So "C" designates a major chord, but "Cmin", "Cmi" or "Cm" designates a minor chord. If a "ma", "maj", "Maj", "M" are designated, this DOES NOT refer to the 3rd, but rather, to another degree interval such as the 6 or 7.
Naming Rule 2: Any degree named above 7 implies the existence of a 7, like 9, 11, 13. Any name below a 7 implies there is no 7, like 2, 4, and 6. The same rule applies to b2, #2, b9 and #9. The b2 and #2 mean there's no 7. The b9 and #9 means there is a 7.
Naming Rule 3: If the 5 is not there in the chord, you can have a b5 or a #5. Otherwise, you have to use the alternative, that is, #4 or b6.
Naming Rule 4: If there is a 7 in the chord, then any #4 becomes a #11 and any b6 becomes a b13.
Naming Rule 5: All diatonic degrees of the chord below the highest degree specified are implied to be in the chord. That is to say, if the chord specifies a 13, the 11, 9, and 7 are implied. If the 11 is specified, the 9 and 7 are implied. If the 9 is specified, the 7 is implied. In practice, the 11 may be omitted due to dissonance. (Of course, partial voicings omit any voice as needed.)
Naming Rule 7: Addendum: If there is no 7 in the chord, you may use the "add" directive to include extensions, such as "C(add9)". To replace the 3 with a 4 or 9, you may use "sus" as in "C(sus2)" or "C(sus4)". To omit voices, use the "omit" directive, like "C(omit 5)".
Examine any of the New Real Book volumes published by (Sher Music) for chord naming conventions and for great examples, or go online and visit my Chord Watcher Field Guide. Craig Schmoller
A faulty string can be a frustrating endeavor, and the staff in our research lab is all-too familiar with not only that angst, but the many possible roots to the problem. We've not only prototyped four different models of strings, we've had the hands-on experience in getting to the bottom of the common ways a string can be flawed through our after market interaction through our sales department.
First let us state that no manufacturer is immune to an occasional problem. These complicated things are mass produced as efficiently and economically as possible, and even the best of equipment, tools, and trained labor will run into a slip-up once in a while. String manufacturers love the opportunity to make things right, and in most cases will bend over backwards and give the customer the benefit of the doubt as far as free warranty replacements. Don't ever hesitate to ask for resolution; reputation depends more on satisfaction than perfection. The former is achievable, the latter impossible.
Bear in mind we are referring to the problems that occur immediately after or during string changing. 95% of the problems should be noticeable at this point. String breakage or decay becomes impossible to diagnose weeks after, and more often than not are user error or problems with the instrument itself. (A good share of the strings on the market may only last a few weeks under heavy playing conditions.) Initially, the big four are loop, core, age, and correct tension.
Loop. In the old days, loops were wound by the player him/herself. Today's manufacturing technology makes it possible for us to buy packages of loop-end strings, and we don't have to struggle with winding the loops. Be grateful! That said, if you run into a set that pops off at the loop, especially if the open loop is intact and not fractured into pieces, it's a good chance this is the problem. We had an issue with a batch of E-strings a few years ago that called for a change in the way the end was wound in production. An extra crimp in assembly solved it and with new tooling, we haven't had a problem since. Understand, this is one of the highest tension strings of any fretted instrument out there, so these have to be titanic in strength.
Core. A wound string is a plain steel core with some kind of wrapping around the outside, composites like bronze, phosphor bronze, nickel, nickel steel, or monel steel. If the string is wrapped incorrectly or the core imperfect, you'll have a string that always plays out of tune with itself. This is very noticeable on a double course instrument like the mandolin. You can have one core that is perfect, the other not, and the pair play out of tune with itself. You likely won't notice this on open tunings, but you'll hear it as you move up the frets. If it is just one of the two strings, you can catch this by matching the harmonics at the 12th fret. If one is in tune and the other isn't, you've found your faulty string. We had a batch over a year ago that had about 25 out of 200 sets reported as faulty. See JM11 String Consumer Alert It wasn't easy but the manufacturer backed us up and we provided free replacement D courses. Unfortunately, this could never be detected visually, and we had to replace them as they were discovered.
Age: What many don't know is strings don't have to be played to deteriorate. Skin oils accelerate the decay process in playing, but they can still oxidize unused in the package. Labella does a great job of sealing their string packages to eliminate premature aging, but most other manufacturers don't offer this protection. When you buy strings from your local store or a big online warehouse discounter, you want to be aware of how old they are. You don't want strings that have been sitting around on a shelf for years. Unfortunatley, this is not an uncommon situation for stores that don't really specialize in folk or mandolin family instruments. The freshest strings will likely come from a source that does a heavy, dedicated volume of mandolin string sales.
Correct tension. Strings are designed to play at certain pitches, and you really don't have a lot of room to vary this. Tune the tension too high and you'll snap the string. Tune it too low, and you'll have major string flap--weak and flabby tone. If you stick with the manufacture specs you'll be okay, but anyone experimenting with alternate tunings should pay heed. Also, it's always a good idea to use an electronic tuner or tuning fork when setting up a new package of strings. More strings are broken simply because the player never bothered to get a true reference pitch.
In summary, consider the price you pay for strings should factor some kind of opportunity for after the sale service. When (not if) you have problems with a string and you can't get satisfaction, perhaps the price you paid for a good set of strings was too low.
If you were asked to memorize these numbers, it probably wouldn't be much of a struggle. You might be able to commit the sequence to memory just because it's short, just three digits. You might frame them in some categorical way, numerically, like "the first three odd numbers after one." It might be a hotel or dorm room you stayed at once. It might be the numbers of the months your three children were born in, March, May, July.
We think numbers in a "rote" context, and we often comprehend them as relationships.
2.4.6.
This would be another set of three numbers you might attack as "the first even numbers." You might think of the third number "6" as being the sum of the first two. Different brains will assimilate these in individual ways.
357246.
If we started with these six numbers and asked you to memorize them, you could probably do it. You might think in chunks, three hundred fifty-seven, and two hundred forty-six. You might tack on the previous relationships we already mentioned. Of course, two sets of three digit numbers is easier to assimilate than six individual ones.
0101
That's an easy one. It's only two numbers repeated, but again, what if we asked you to memorize the following sequence of notes:
3572460101
In this context, it would be tough, but if you'd learned them as 357, 246, and 0101 and put them together, with some kind of number relationship, you could do it and probably quite simply.
This strategy of stringing numbers is excellent for learning and memorizing the notes of a melody. You can think of it as relationships, pitches in a sequence from a scale. Think of them as members of a chord (or non-members). This is also the strategy of the FFcP.
Early in life, a child learns the numbers as individual identities. One is followed by two. Next comes three. At some point, the concept of tens and one-hundreds becomes cognitive, and later mathematical functions develop to higher functions, some all the way to complex geometry and calculus. Inherent in the FFcP are the basic elements of music, the scale itself, pitch relationships of the 3rds and 4ths intervals, an arpeggiated diatonic chord progression (I Maj7, vi7 , ii7, V7), and finally the pull of 4 to 3, 7 to 1, etc..
Playing these and getting them into your fingers is the way you can prepare for advanced melody and chord recognition. You don't think Bb, you think 2 of an Ab scale, you think C, D, Eb, F as the first four notes of a C minor scale, all this of course based on the context of the key you are in. The nice thing is with our FFcP Studies you are mastering the secret of the mandolin. There are only four patterns!
Of course everyone is going to be different. Some will respond aurally, some visually, some tactilely. Just like someone you know who has no problem remembering 10 digit numbers without simplifying word or numbers tricks. You need to discover what works best for you and now worry about how others learn.
Find a familiar song and see what you can do with these sort of elementary analysis. You might uncover tips on how you can learn new music faster!
August 5, 2010 | Don Stiernberg on scale degree "feelings"
The research staff has abandoned the JazzMando offices this week to squeeze in a little vacation before the kids have to get back in school, so this week we're borrowing a video from the mandolin jazzmaster himself, Don Stiernberg in this incredible workshop at the April 2010 Mandolin Camp North in Ocean Park, Maine.
Don discusses both the functional and emotional impact of scale degrees in this vivid workshop demonstration. We've examined this concept in detail in previous articles on the site, but there's nothing like hearing them in a moving, aural context. Guest "chopper" in the background by the way, is master Gibson luthier Dave Harvey, establishing the key.
Don maintains an exhaustive clinic schedule, and with as much travel throughout the US and Europe, there is no excuse to not get to one of his sessions. You'll see why he's in such demand in this video!
July 29, 2010 | Cool sounds with a simple new scale
Scale degrees can be like characters in a drama. Some you feel an affinity with and like, some you'd rather avoid. Some propel the action in the story, and still others will bring a sense of familiarity--completeness and belonging. What's interesting is how they can have a different subjective impact on the audience and our scale degrees have varying personal effects on your ear.
We've mentioned the power of the 4th and 7th, the notion that in a major scale, these lead to the defining notes of the scale, the lead of the 7th to the tonic (1) and the gravitational force of the 4th pulling to the 3rd. The remaining "supporting characters" of the scale can lead you to other notes, especially the chord tones of 1, 3, and 5.
We also mentioned a delicious little scale we call the Augmented 11th, sometimes referred to as the Lydian Dominant. Varying from a Major Scale you get: 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, b7, and 1. Let's look what this does "psychologically" to the music when we play solos based on it.
First of all consider what the lowered 7th (F) does in the key of G. In the key of C, the F would lead to the 3rd scale degree. You could almost say varying the note pushes the sound from the key of G to the key of C.
The raised 4th (C#) could be a leading tone (7) in the key of D. So now combined, you have a G tonal center with a sort of split personality, one that can't decide if it wants to be a C tonal center because of the F natural, or a D tonal center because of the C#.
In the end, the theory really doesn't matter. What's happening is a tense, but fun little sound you can build off of, especially in long passages of dominant chord. Sometimes restlessness and instability is a good thing. Keeps things interesting.
For now, let the personality of the sequence of notes tell its own story. But first, get to know it on your fretboard.
Last week's session was a journey up the fretboard splicing the one octave FFcP patterns. If you've already played through the exercise, you understand that a couple things make this difficult. One is just getting used to a different spacing between the frets as you move the patterns up (the spaces are narrower, in case you haven't notice), and acclimating to the difference takes practice. Still, those scale degree references are invaluable, and with enough drilling, become intuitive.
The second challenge is moving your hands up more than 5 or 6 frets without losing intensity of tone (let alone finger accuracy!). Really, the only way to master this is to isolate the shifts themselves.
We've extracted four measures out of the first key and we encourage you to spend some time on these in the frets and strings they are originally written, and later, move them around, up a string and across to the next string.
Here are some ingredients to think about when you are doing these or any other "home base" shifting:
Lay low. The closer you can keep your finger to the strings during the shift, the more efficient the movement. (Shortest distance between two points is a straight line!) Fight the temptation to lift off the strings. Be stealth.
Move fast. You really have to be consciously rapid when you change positions, even at slow tempos.
Exaggerate the sustain on the note before the shift. This does not usually come naturally, so you have to focus on the last and first note of each position change, keeping the pressure as long as you possible can.
Think where your hands are, not just your fingers. You are fixated on the frets; think big picture and notice your hands and palms, how they line up on the back of the neck.
Don't ignore the pick. All the attention on the fretting fingers can distract from a good clean articulation. Make sure you're getting a strong pick stroke and attack.
This is a lot to think about! If you master shifting at slow tempos, faster speeds will get easier. Take some time in your regular songs and literature to isolate the problematic shifts. It will be time well invested!
Think of what it is to learn to speak a language. We learn the words we need to survive, including words for food and comfort. We start with primal concepts, and then we work our way up to more complex thoughts combining these into nouns and verbs that express actions and more sophisticated needs. we learn phrases and the proper way to string them. Really, we get to the point where it's more about the string than the individual word. We get to where we aren't as conscious about how they are strung, and that frees us up to come up with more descriptive words that pack deeper meaning and communicate exponentially more powerfully. Maybe and occasional grammar correction, but by the time we are adults, we are well established in how we talk and write. It becomes very much unconscious.
Playing an instrument is like this. We learn where the notes are when starting out. Then we learn scales to more effectively string them together. We learn the conventions of major, minor, and other modes, where the half-steps and whole-steps are within the sequence, eventually getting to the point where these are automatic, too. When we tackle higher level improvisation, it's a wonderful combination of intuition and calculation, and tons of blurry stuff in between.
If you've messed around with our FFcP approach to fretboard familiarity, you've started on some building blocks that can bring huge payoffs in the future. Once these are mastered in the resident one-octave format however, it's time to REALLY expose their complex advantage not only in movability, but range. The next step is to do TWO octave scales, and not necessarily in the same area of the fingerboard.
We identify this in a Mandolin Cafe Lesson, as well as in the Getting Into Jazz Mandolin book. The idea is once you've got a basic grip on the four basic FFcP fingerings, it's time to move them around and better, connect them with FFcP patterns up and down the neck.
We've written a great exercise for you to start doing this. It's a good idea to just get these into your fingers, and work on smooth connection, making it sound like the same passage, even with a jump. That's not easy to do effectively, but the more you work at it, the more you'll be able to exploit the entire range of the fretboard. When you've messed around with this a while, try connecting other FFcP patterns, not just the scales but the arpeggios, 3rds, and 4ths while moving them to other regions of the fingerboard. Work on bridging them seamlessly, no detectable bump in sound or sustain when you shift.
July 8, 2010 | Compose yourself. Course correction.
We've gone through our series on intentional improvisation, the first being Antecedent/Consequent thinking, the second Story Arcs, and our final one is probably the least calculating, the most interactive of the three. We've conspired to entice you into "planned spontaneity," thinking structure within freeform. We're going organic.
If anyone has made a career of "mistakes" it is Thelonius Monk. Listen to his playing and his tunes. He made a true art form of playing the "wrong" note, but he always succeeded in making it sound intentional. One could argue whether it is or not, but the beauty is how he follows up the unconventional notes with calculated course corrections. Sometimes we can let the Muse wander and just play anything, as long as we can follow up with the ear (and a little music theory) with notes that put us back on track.
Try it sometime with just one note. Start in the middle of a chord progression with any random note, completely out of nowhere. It's either going to be a "right" note, one that belongs to the scale or chord, or it's going to only be a fret away from the right note. If it isn't right, follow it up with the correction.
Try it with several notes in the same context. If your notes sound intuitively wrong, follow them up with "appropriate" notes that get you back on course. The aesthetic here is allowing your subconscious take over once in a while, getting in touch with your inner Monk (or Jethro) and (only temporarily) turning your frontal lobe off. You can make your follow-up passages with science, or you can just play what your ear dictates is right.
We posted it before, but it's appropriate to embed it in this article, the notion of jazz schools teaching how to play wrong. It's a hoot, because you know it's partially true!
"The fact is, jazz is mistakes. You're playing it wrong...
Jazz is an accident. Waiting to happen. Glad to have happened..."
The second in our series on "intentional" improvisation (Antecedent/Consequence last week) holds interesting concepts parallel to dramatic writing or screenplay, the notion of the Story Arc. Simply put, you start with something serene, introduce chaos, and through the course of the script, bring things to resolution.
Of course within that big picture, you have the more intricate details of subplots and character development, but still the best writers glue all these pieces to a great big mental story board. Boy meets girl, falls in love, has to fight for her attention, boy marries girl. Within that narrative is a myriad of twists and turns, the parents are against the idea, the boy can't shape the emotional baggage and behavior-shaping of a bad childhood, a hurricane threatens to destroy the town. These are all the diversions within the larger whole.
So what elements in music do we have that create similar twists and turns when our soloing needs to recount? When you are building your improv, you can certainly use the components of gravity notes and chord tones for the "subplots" of the music. The 4th and the 7th scale degrees, the surrounding chromatic passing tones leading to chord tones, all the melodic tension we cover in music theory can bring those moments of harmonic drama. This is the "character development" of the line.
Note frequency is something to consider. The worst thing you can do is come out of the gate and immediately unload machine-gun style, all your best rapid-fire licks in the first few phrases of your solo. You need that audience "foreplay" to get them warmed up to your musical ideas, plus you don't want to save your least interesting materials for last. Build by starting with slower notes and lots of Miles Davis inspired space. Save the thick black notes energy for the middle or towards the end of your solo.
Register shifts can be a fresh way to tell a story, and it's very graphical on the fretboard. Sure you want to bounce around the frets, but for heaven's sake, the mandolin can be a very shrill instrument, and dwelling up above the 12th fret can be hard on the ears. Save it for "punctuation," spice, and energy.
Dynamics are a no-brainer. Make your softs softer, your louds louder, and find the colossal range of nuance in everything in between. Remember you draw people in by playing quietly, you pound on them playing loudly. They only want so much decibel abuse and they can start tuning you out. Dynamic variety equals sophistication.
Lastly, use recurring themes and motif tidbits. We mentioned this last week about developing antecedent/consequent phrasing. Start with a simple idea and play with it, a scene and keep coming back to it, develop it. Don't just blow.
Nobody likes a drama queen when she's overly dramatic, unintelligible, and narcissistic. Spin a clear story that works the audience, not just yourself.
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September 2, 2010 | Altered States
Loop. In the old days, loops were wound by the player him/herself. Today's manufacturing technology makes it possible for us to buy packages of loop-end strings, and we don't have to struggle with winding the loops. Be grateful! That said, if you run into a set that pops off at the loop, especially if the open loop is intact and not fractured into pieces, it's a good chance this is the problem. We had an issue with a batch of E-strings a few years ago that called for a change in the way the end was wound in production. An extra crimp in assembly solved it and with new tooling, we haven't had a problem since. Understand, this is one of the highest tension strings of any fretted instrument out there, so these have to be titanic in strength. 
Moving on Up
We've gone through our series on intentional improvisation, the first being 
