"Drivin' Sideways in Detroit!"
Guitar-Strings 'n things. Methods to my madness.
Howdy friends. It occurred to me recently that the one thing I know most about, I haven’t written about as yet. The guitar. Its methods, means and theory of 'how-to' play it. 'In the modern era, and in the world of 'Guitar-Hero' video gaming, to me it seems the theory of tuning, chords and basic modes of playing has been lost.
Back in the 1970's, the '60's were over and it seemed everyone wanted to pick up a guitar, banjo and even dulcimer, to be the next Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan or Pete Townsend of the Who. The world of music was wide open and I learned to experience many different styles and instruments. At the time, I was playing Lead guitar with Johnny & The Hurricanes. In fact, I was teaching to nearly 70…(yep folks…that’s as in SEVENTY) students a week, both male and female between a young one of 7 and an older gentleman of 75 at my local music store. I wanted to give them all the benefit my knowledge and experience. I don’t know what that speaks of now in 2010, with all the years that past since the 1970's. I guess that makes me qualified. Maybe overly qualified, but here we go.
There is a basic theory I discovered way back to playing lead guitar. In the next few installments, I will address how I learned and how I did it. Some in principle are so easy to understand, I don’t know why others take a lifetime to learn. The 1st method I will address is RELATIVE MINOR THEORY. And believe me. Get THIS…and you can play any lead, by any-body…and in a variety of ways. While listening to the likes of the Allman Brothers, that well-known Southern Rock group of brothers Duane and Greg, I would play along over and over with their long-winded back and forth soloing. (A good few for examples were "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed; "Whippin' Post' "Mountain Jam" "Melissa" and "Ramblin Man"). One day, a light went on in my head. As I was playing your typical "Chuck Berry" "Johnny B. Good" type lead which is usually played over a 7th type R & R 4-bar progression, all of sudden…it worked over a Major AND Minor chord change! Same lead, different chord structure. I was blown away.
Digging out my theory books, I discovered for every Major Key…there is a Relative Minor Key. What that meant in a nutshell is that a major scale could be played OVER a minor key and produce a melodic type lead solo. It had to have occurred to Duane Allman and Dickie Betts on all those recordings. I went back with this thought in mind and doors opened, lightning flashed, and the Gods spoke! I was dumb-founded! On that day, my playing took off in a hundred directions at once. Stardom at that point…if you could call it that, beaconed me onward, and I started getting praise and acclaim and offers too…from heavy weights in Rock and Roll. Bluesman Bo-bo Jenkins, the Famous Coachman, called me the 'wildest white-boy who ever played the slide guitar!' And Waylon Jennings said 'Son? You ARE the guitar!' And Blue Grass-Bill Monroe told me to throw away my electrics and amplifiers and "just play!" All were wonderful to me, and I appreciated the praise and advice. I can attribute it ALL I assure you.. to the simple MAJOR-MINOR theory I will address here over the next few blogs of "Drivin' Sideways in Detroit!" Maybe I ought to call it "PLAYIN SIDEWAYS AROUND THE WORLD OF MUSIC!"
Its all so simple. So if y'all will just stay tuned each week, I will go into examples of songs and lead phrasing so easy…you'll probably KICK yourselves for not coming up with it too! I'll delve into OPEN TUNINGS and some chord diagrams in OPEN as well. But to start off here, I will just say a few words to hint at the direction we'll be goin' in. You can play a MINOR blues scale (examples to follow in weeks to come) over minor chord Blues, and youre playing the blues. Play that same minor blues scale over a MAJOR chord progression, and youre now playing a MELODIC scale form lead solo. Same solo…different chords…and it will sound different. I used this theory with students all the time. Quickly teach a simple blues pattern, show them that key's RELATIVE MAJOR KEY… and off they went. In fact…some went RUNNING! Below, Im listing some keys and their respective RELATIVE MINORS. If you know some blues lead-patterns, try them over some of the RELATIVES. I think you as well will be pleased and hopefully as amazed as I was.
Once we get through these…Ill address some acoustic tunings and ways of playing I learned while down South with all those country acts I backed up and performed with. That too is something everyone who plays should try to grasp. Ill just say this about that. Acoustic guitar has many types and ways of playing. A lot of it can be explained by saying that to get a ringing sound or 'twelve-string' effect, try using SUSPENDED chords, voicings and tunings. And yes…I will include those chord diagrams as well a little farther down the road. So for now lets just say that here are only 13 notes in ALL OF MUSIC EVER WRITTTEN. Bach, the Beatles, Green Day, Amy Winehouse, John Coltrane, Miles Davis or Bill Monroe…everyone of them. Only 13 notes! Below are some keys, and their respective Relatives. Have fun y'all…and drop me any questions or comments.
"Hurricane' Duane, Johnny & The Hurricanes
Relative Major Relative Minor
A F#m
B Gm
C Am
D Bm
E C#m
F Dm
G Em
