Hey Friend,

Happy Friday! 

The exercise I sent out Wednesday can help you accomplish a few things, including helping you stretch your fingers and getting you familiarized with the fingerboard.

Here it is again in case you missed it:

Let’s face it, not the most exciting set of tabs in the world!

Did you happen to notice that you were also working through the various modes of C major? Starting in the open position puts you squarely in the Phrygian mode and each return to the sixth string then moves you up to the next.

I know it doesn’t necessarily feel like the C major scale when you start on an E note, but again, it’s not where you start that defines which key you’re playing in. It’s the intervals between the notes.

Now if you DIDN’T recognize that you were playing modes, no big deal. You DON'T need to know what they are to play music.

In fact, you don’t even really need to intellectually know the scales (or any theory for that matter). 

Your brain will tell you when a note sounds right and when it sounds wrong. It will also tell you when you can make a wrong note sound right.

This is stuff that has been ingrained in our humanity - each one of us has this ability. Our bodies react to the sound wave frequencies and produce our perception of the notes coming off our guitars.

The thing that bothers us humans is not understanding, so we seek out people to help us - understanding comes a lot faster when you have someone to guide you!

That’s the long way to say don’t get hung up on “modes” and “scales” and “theory.”

Cool?

So how can we take this simple scale (ha, you didn’t think I’d let you off that easy, did you?) and make it more spicy and interesting? How can we make it more musical?

We could change the order we play the notes (like a song, obviously), or we could try something a little different - harmonize them. For example, if you add a note that is two whole steps above the scale note you’re playing, you’ve added a major third.

If you play a C note and an E note (the root note and its major third interval), you’ve got a really cool harmonization. You’ve also got two of the three notes that make up a triad (chord).

This technique is used in Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Funk, Folk, etc...

Whenever you hear a background singer harmonizing a verse with the lead singer, there’s an extremely high likelihood the background harmony is sung at the major third interval. 

I’m putting together an exercise for you that demonstrates what I’m talking about. I’ll work up some tabs for you to try out along with audio (I know you love my mad sounds!).

In the meantime, try to play Wednesday’s tabs from start to finish. If you need to play them slower than the 80 beats per minute, just use the PDF to guide you and go slower.

Pull out your handy metronome and set a tempo that’s comfortable. You can always work up to the speed of the audio later.

In fact, playing an exercise at a slower tempo is a great way to practice timing, so feel free to slow down regularly.

Have an awesome Friday!

Peace~

Dave