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Prior knowledge Before beginning to work on this material, you should know: ● How to read bass clef ● What the parts of the bass are called (the neck, frets, the body) ● The names of the strings on your bass Understanding the major scale Q: Which notes sound good? A: Those which use notes in the song’s current triad. Q: How do I connect triads? A: By knowing the relationship between notes in the triads.. Day 0: An introduction to the Bass Book Oftentimes when playing bass outside of classical or big band situations, we will not be given a written part, but a list of triads. The composer is assuming that we already understand how to connect those triads in a bassline. In some of your jazz music, you will see triad symbols like these above a written part: 1 Jazz band provides you with a great opportunity to discover what these triads mean while still having a written part to use as a guide. Above is a bass line I wrote down from a song I like. The written notes here are related in some way with the triad symbol. For example, in the first measure, the written part suggests the note F to go along with the F7 chord. A chord, like F7, is a technical term meaning certain sets of notes work together to achieve certain effects. A chord progression is a series of chords played one after another. 1 This phrase is the beginning of a bassline played by Percy Heath on an F blues from Miles’ Davis album Bags’ Groove. The song is also called “Bags’ Groove.” 1 A well-built chord progression evokes a complicated feeling. Understanding the notes in these chords helps us learn how to build them and play with them. Think about colors… kind of like notes, but for visual art. Red is often equated with excitement, and blue typically described as calm. These broad concepts can only be applied generally to every single red or blue thing you see every day. A more accurate emotional description of red or blue comes with context. When you view different pieces of art and see how the artist uses those colors in context, the colors become more complicated and personal. Much like a painter might build their ability to understand the effects of different shades of red, musicians must also break down their favorite music to build a personal relationship with how those songs are built—with chords. The best way to understand chords is to listen to lots of music in the style you want to learn and then try to play that music. It’s pretty obvious that playing the note written in the chord symbol (like playing the note F with the F7 chord) is going to be safe—what are our other options? Figuring out which notes sound good in certain situations will improve our confidence in playing bass lines based on how we relate our own preferences to the music, rather than only reading the notes we are given—in other words, we will be more able to improvise. 2 Day 1: A foundation in F Major When playing a song, there are three steps to being able to grasp which triads to play: identify and understand the key, understanding the framework of building triads, and applying that framework to each note in the scale. When looking at a piece of music, the key signature of F Major will be communicated with one flat between the bass clef and the time signature: The flat symbol is on the “B” line, which means the B has a flat added (B♭). The first step in narrowing down our available notes depends on knowing the key of the song. This is the set of notes that most of the bass line will come from. Every instrument’s most basic job is to state in clear terms, “Hey! We’re in F major!” (except the drummer). This is a great way to play the F Major scale on electric bass. “1” means index finger, “4” is your pinky, and “3” is the ring finger. “0” means that you play an open string. Unless an alternate fingering is provided, all of the music contained in this packet will be using this fingering for the scale given at the beginning of the chapter. The notes of the F Major scale are connected to one another in multiple patterns. Being able to hear these relationships between these notes and how they feel when played on the bass is an important step to understanding a scale. Once you can play the scale from memory, with the correct fingerings, you’re ready to move onto the next day. If you can write in your fingerings for the F Major scale without referencing the previous diagram, you are good to go! 3 4 Day 2: Exploring the F Major scale Let’s spend some time unraveling the F Major scale. This exercise moves through the scale in a certain pattern. Let me modify this so you can see the pattern a little easier: If you continue crossing out the second and fourth note of each measure, you’ll see a built-in F Major scale! Cool, right? Each note on the first and third beat makes up the scale. The notes on the second and fourth beat connect to the built-in F Major scale in a unique way. We’ll look at what this unique pattern of notes mean tomorrow. Underneath each note, write in the fingering. It’s important to use the same fingerings as shown in the F Major scale so that the patterns become more obvious. 5 There are two notes in this pattern that aren’t in the F Major scale I gave you yesterday—the high G, A, and C. These notes are all above the high F in the scale I showed you earlier, on Day 2. Play the G with the open G string, and then play A on the G string with your index finger, and the C with your pinky three frets above the A. Now that you have these new fingerings, write them in! This exercise is a combination of everything we’ve studied so far with the F Major scale. It has higher notes, as well as patterns that move within the F Major scale in different ways. Writing in these fingerings now, while you have time, will help you out a lot when you don’t have time to stop and think. When you’re playing on-the-fly, this foundation you built will support your creativity with good technique! 6 Day 3: Whole steps and half steps in scales The most basic pattern in a scale to understand is based on half steps. A half step is the smallest standard interval in Western music. In the F Major scale, you can see it between A and B ♭, and again between E and F. Each of these pairs is one fret apart. This is an example of a half step interval, because each of these pairs is a half step apart. The other notes in the scale are two half steps apart. If you play F, and move up one fret, you’ll be playing F#. Move up another fret, and then you’re on G, which is the second note in the F Major scale. This interval is called a whole step, because it’s a combination of two half steps. Write down the interval between each of the notes in the F Major scale. Notes in F Major Whole step (W)/half step (H) F to G G to A A to B♭ B♭ to C C to D D to E E to F This scale recipe is commonly abbreviated as WWHWWWH (Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half). This is the first F Major pattern we looked at on day 2. With this new knowledge of half steps, we can dig a little deeper into how this pattern works. In between each note, write how many half 7 steps are between each note. Only write in the number of half steps for the notes that are ascending, like this: We’ll talk about how the number of half steps between two notes helps us build chords tomorrow. 8 Day 4: Building a Major triad with the “two things” The F Major scale: one note out of seven is flat (B♭). The other six are natural (F G A C D E). So what? It is not enough to know just the key of a song and use those notes to play with the entire song—try playing with the song (insert song in f major) with only the knowledge of the key guiding you. Trying to arrange those seven notes into a nice-sounding bass line is a guessing game without digging deeper into the scale. Remember the definition of a chord2? Working to understand the chords of a scale will help us develop more specific basslines than just playing an F major scale. Without picking certain notes of a key, it is difficult to control the flow of different emotions in the song. Trying to play a song without understanding the chords will make the bass playing sound repetitive and lead to the music sounding thin or unfocused. We’ve finally caught up to the question posed at the beginning of this chapter: what notes can we play over certain chords, other than the note in the name of the chord (also known as the root note, or tonic). Well, to answer that question, we need to look at a specific type of chord first—the triad. Having a foundation in triads will be very helpful for launching into learning about chords. Just to explain my word choice… triads are like chords, but a little different. A triad is made of three notes, while a chord is made of four. We’re going to start with triads, because three notes is PLENTY to work with for now. Chords are easy to understand after you understand triads! Here are the guidelines that we can use to discover triads within the F major scale: Two things to remember about triads as a bass player: 1. Triads are built in Major or minor thirds from a root note 2. The notes of a triad can be inverted in any order There is a triad that we can find for each note of the F Major scale. The first is the tonic triad (also known as the “I” triad, pronounced “one triad”). Tonic triad just means the triad built from the root of the scale. With the F Major scale, that note is F. Thus, we call this a F Major triad. 2 Triad is a technical term which means certain sets of notes which fit together to achieve certain effects. 9 Let's find the F Major triad, using these guidelines listed above. Applying the “two things” to the F Major triad 1. triads are built in major and minor thirds When playing the F Major scale, think of each note as not only being assigned a letter name, but also a number: F 1 G 2 A 3 Bb 4 C 5 D 6 E 7 The note F is 1 because it is the root of the F Major scale. Each note has a higher number than the note before it. These numbers are the same whether you are playing the scale going up or down. For example, the scale in one octave would be: Going up… ...and coming back down 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 F G A Bb C D E F E D C Bb A D F Since we are starting with the F Major triad, we know that the note F is our root note. With that in mind, what could the major third of the note F be? To find this next note, an important concept to remember is that an interval is the distance between a pair of notes. A triad is made up of two different intervals: a major third, and a minor third. These intervals are not coming out of thin air—they are already built into the Major scale that you already know! We just have to learn how to recognize them. 10 Take a look again at the F Major pattern on page 4. In the first measure, you play F and move up to the note A, skipping the second note of the scale (G) . To build a triad from the note F, we need to use musical logic. There are certain patterns within a scale that work together to create new sounds. F and A are the first two notes of a Major triad. The first interval in a Major triad is a major third, which is made of two whole steps. F and A are two whole steps apart. Thinking about the order of the notes in the scale, A is the “3” in the key of F Major. This proves the “third” part of a Major third, but what about the “Major” part? All you have to do is count the whole steps between the notes F and A to see that they are two whole steps apart (or four half steps—same thing). Two notes, separated by two whole steps, are a Major third apart. It’s that easy! This is the essence of the first “thing”: Two things to remember about triads as a bass player: 1. Triads are built in Major or minor thirds from a root note 2. The notes of a triad can be put in any order {insert speed bump so student understands what they need to know before working through the next day of material} 11 Day 5: Finding the fifth So, F is the root of the F Major triad, and A is the major third. Since every triad is made of three notes, we know we are still missing one. How can we find the other note of the F Major triad? Remember the guidelines of the first “thing”—that every triad is built in Major or minor thirds. The next note of the F Major triad is another third up—this one is a minor third! That means that it is one whole step and one half step away from A. This time we will find the third by moving higher in the scale from the second triad tone (A). Try finding the next triad tone without looking at the table on the previous page—remember that you can find a third in two ways: skipping a note when moving higher up the scale, or by thinking in numbers.3 For the first method, which is based on skipping notes, think about the F major scale. When playing A, which note comes next? Well, that would be a Bb. If you skip that note and play the next highest note in the scale, that will be the next triad tone, C. If you prefer the second method, which attaches a number to each note in a scale, remember that the root of the scale is called 1, and the third is called 3. Following the same numerical pattern—triad tone (F), skip a note, triad tone (A), skip a note, triad tone—what would the next number be? Which note is assigned that number in the scale? To double check whether or not you found the right note, remember that the minor third interval is made of one half step, and one whole step (three half steps), so A and C should be three frets apart. Looks like C is the next triad tone in the F triad! That means that our F triad looks like this: 3 Being able to understand triads with both the first and second method is a great way to make sure you fully understand all sides of the idea. I use both methods—sometimes one is more useful than the other depending on what concept you are trying to figure out in your practice. 12 I include the high F because it is important to be able to feel that the high F is included in the shape and sound of this triad. The high F is not connected to C by a major or minor third, but it is still part of the triad because it is the root. Triad tones can exist in any octave. All F’s, A’s, and C’s in any octave, if played with other F’s, A’s, and C’s, are part of an F triad. There is a recipe for a Major triad, just like there is a recipe for a Major scale. To make a Major triad, you will always move up by a major third from the root, and then move up again by a minor third to land on the perfect fifth. Don’t worry about the “Perfect” part of the fifth that I included in the diagram—it’s a technical name. Just calling it a fifth is fine. For this triad, I use the same fingering for each note as I do when I’m playing the F major scale. Experiment with just playing these notes, first up and down, then in any order. Like with a scale, it is important to be able to feel where each note is physically (on the fretboard) in relation to the one you’re playing. Here is one example: Here is some information regarding the names of each of these notes and their intervals. It’s important to use clear language when you’re talking about music so that you can communicate with other musicians. These terms are true for any triad, whether it is F Major or not. 13 Note Relationship to other Number in relation to Common name4 notes F major scale F Root note, tonic 1 “The root” A Major third above the 3 “The third” root note C Minor third above the 5 “The fifth” third, also a fifth above the root note 4 For example, if a band director asks you to just play “roots and fifths” of the F triad, they only want the bassline to contain the notes F and C. 14 Day 6: Putting the notes of a triad in any order Applying the “two things” to the F triad 2. The notes of a triad can be put in any order Despite most of these measures starting on notes other than F, the implied triad is still F. Try singing the note F while playing this pattern—it still has the nature of the F triad, because all of the notes are still F, A, and C. If you sing A or C under this pattern, it still may sound good, but some of the notes in the pattern will not have the same feeling of stability.5 If you think it would help your practice, write in the fingerings below each note. Those fingerings are still the same as the F Major scale on page 3. Musicians who understand these “two things” about triads are off to a great start! [insert a comprehension check so that the student understands what knowledge is needed to progress to the next section of material] 5 In case you’re curious, if you sing the note A under this pattern, the stand-out note will be the note F. If you sing the note C, both notes will stand out: F more so, A less so. 15 Day 7: Building triads from other notes in F major In Step #2, we focused only on the F Major triad. We first thought about how to build it from the root note using Major and minor thirds. Then, we looked at how the triad is the same regardless of the order of the notes. Now it’s time to look for other triads inside of the F Major scale. In the excerpt from Bags’ Groove on page 1, the triad symbol in the second measure is “Bb.” Bb is the fourth note in the scale, counting up from the root note of the scale. We can find the triad for that root note! A little more vocab to get us started: when someone says “the root,” it’s really an abbreviation of “the root note of X triad.” When talking about an F Major triad, the root is F. When talking about a triad built from the note Bb, the root is Bb. All roots belong to a specific place! So, what are the two triad tones that go with Bb, in the key of F Major? Remember the first of the “two things”—triads are built in Major and minor thirds. Check Step #2 again if you need a refresher… … D and F! The Bb triad in F Major is spelled Bb, D, F. Since the D is two whole steps up from Bb, we know that interval is a Major third, so this is a Bb Major triad. triads are labeled Major or minor based on the third. Here is another pattern with these triads.6 Like the example for the F major triad on the previous page, the triad tones are in any order—it’s important to recognize the shape and names of the notes under your fingers in any combination, not just up or down from the root. Root Third Fifth Major/minor F A C Major 6 Play the high Bb with your pinky, on the third fret of the G string. 16 Bb The rest of the triads in this scale follow the same rules as the first of the “two things.” Write in each note of the F Major scale in the table above, and then go up in thirds! Now we can have some fun—we have seven triads to play with! In any song in the key of F major, these triads are very common. We need to familiarize ourselves with all of these triads in the same way that we have with the F Major and Bb Major triads—through patterns. Our next mission is to explore these other triads and deepen our relationship with the Major scale. 17 Day 8: Exploring other triads How to transpose patterns from one triad to another triad 1. Identify how the notes in the pattern function in the context of a triad 2. Transpose those functions into a new triad Wow… take a breather for a minute. We just took a scale and turned it into seven powerful triads. Who knew that there was so much information within a scale? Something interesting about the format of a triad—root, third, and fifth—is that ALL triads follow this same layout. This means that we can transfer one triad pattern to another. Moving patterns between triads can strengthen our ears and help us see how the thirds which make up triads blend together. The first part of this process involves digging back into —look back at the F Major triad pattern on page 13: Identify which triad tone each note is, and then write the corresponding number above the note. For example: This is the first measure of the pattern. Continue through the pattern and identify whether each note is a root, third, or fifth within that triad. 18 So there’s no confusion; these numbers are not fingerings, but labels for the triad tones. Fingerings will always have the string each note should be played on listed below the staff. [this is not yet true :)) a short term goal of mine is to make this labeling system more consistent within the sheet music] Once you write in all of the triad tones for the F Major triad pattern, do the same with the Bb Major triad pattern on page 9. (here’s the first measure of the Bb pattern): Once you have written in all of the triad tones for both patterns, it’s time for step 2! Transposing patterns between triads 1. Transpose those functions into a new triad Now that you’ve written out the triad tones for both of those triad patterns, let’s take the third measure of the Bb Major triad pattern. The triad tones in that measure are: 5, 3, 1, and 5. What if we wanted to keep that same order of triad tones—the fifth, the third, the root, and the fifth again—but in the D minor triad, so that D is now the root? We learned in the previous step how to analyze a phrase. This process of taking that analyzed material and moving it to a different context is transposition. Referencing the table you completed on page 9, go ahead and write out that sequence of notes (5, 3, 1, and 5) for a D minor triad… (speed bump)? 19 … and again for a G minor triad. Even as we change from the triad those tones were originally pulled from, the sequence still sounds good. Those four notes maintain a similar, but not identical, character between the F Major, D minor, and G minor triad. Sing the root note out loud while playing each note —it might give you a better idea of what I mean. In all of the phrases, regardless of which triad, the root note is always played on the third beat. That is the spot in the measure where the phrase might feel more balanced, or “done.” The fourth beat is always going to be the fifth of the triad. Moving to the fifth after playing the root in that phrase can take away that impression of balance.7 This concept is somewhat similar to the analogy I made on page two about the colors red and blue. These ideas of balance and “done-ness” are based on my experience with music, and many other musicians would agree. Regardless, descriptions like these are difficult to understand through words, and it is more than okay if you don’t hear what I (or anyone) is describing in music. Words are limited in their ability to explain the emotions of music. If you listen and play attentively, you will develop your own language to describe what you hear. Day 9: Build your own patterns! 7 You could try and regain that balance by playing the root note again after playing the fifth. 20 On the next page, I’ve left some blank staff paper. I’d like for you to transpose any eight measures of the F Major or Bb Major triad patterns into each of the other five triads in the key of F Major: G minor, A minor, C Major, D minor, and E diminished (we’ll talk about what Major, minor, and “diminished” mean within triads later—it’s not a big deal right now). You could pick out eight measures, put them in an order you like, and transpose those same eight measures into each triad. You could also make a totally new pattern for each triad. Both are equally useful! This is a departure from the other days so far—it's your turn to produce some patterns! The point here is to practice technique on our instrument and to get more comfortable with using triads, not just learning about them. You have learned them! This is your opportunity to see what you can do with them, and your own creativity. 21 22 Look at all those notes! This may seem simple or tedious, but grasping this fact will make learning new music more straightforward. All musical phrases exist within a triad, usually connected to a triad which comes before it, and another triad which comes after it. Just like guitar players are responsible for knowing triad shapes, bass players need to know triad arpeggios, or the notes of a triad played one at a time. You could replace the F Major scale we used in this chapter with ANY other Major scale, and follow the exact same process to expand your knowledge of that key. It’s much easier a second time around. Being able to think in this way about triads all keys is important, because not all songs are in the same key. Deeply understanding the sound and location of the roots, thirds, and fifths of the triads in a key, creates a powerful bassist in any style. Practicing each of these triad patterns you’ve built will make our upcoming shift from playing a single triad and connecting different triads more comfortable. ... In summary Nice work! This material is a great start for understanding the major scale. At this point, I hope you feel more comfortable with... ● What triads are, and how to use common vocabulary to describe them ● The difference between Major and minor thirds ● How triads are fingered on your bass ● How each note in a major scale can be expanded on to form a triad ● The similarities between all of the triads’ construction ● How to analyze triads and change their context with transposition I really encourage you to take about a week between this part and the next one. Spending some time memorizing which notes make which triads, and how each triad feels under your hand. Chart with 1, 3, 5, 7 /// 1, b3, 5, 7 (triad recipe) 23 pt. II; Finding chords from triads Q: What are chords? A: Triads with an extra step. Day 1: Reviewing part 1 In this chapter, we will be working in G Major, instead of F Major. Here’s a good fingering for the G major scale: Go ahead and fill out this table with the triads of the G Major scale for reference. Root Third Fifth Major/minor* G B D Major A C E minor F# *if you need a refresher on the Major/minor aspect of a triad, go check out Day 4 and Day 5 :-) 24 Here’s an exercise which uses every triad in the G Major scale! See if you can identify each triad—there is one per measure. [voice leading, etc] Day 2 : working title (this part that used to be in the review) You learned at the end of the last chapter about the idea of balance within one four-note phrase. This balance depends on multiple notes played in a sequence. Depending on how you order the notes of a G Major triad, for example, the phrase can leave a totally different impression: Play these two phrases—separately, not as one exercise. How do they compare to one another, in terms of balance? Writing the note number for each triad tone can help you compare them. One thing I notice when comparing these phrases is that one of them ends on the root, while the other ends on the third. The combination of G, B, and D all clearly communicate that this is a G Major triad, regardless of the order. However, the final note in particular does change our perception of the phrase. For me, the second example ending on G is more balanced than the first, which ends on B. 25 Connecting triads depends on moving from a note in one triad to a note in another triad. The number above the notes represents which fingering to use. Here’s an example: 8 There is a lot to unpack within these five notes! The first thing I would pay attention to is the notes in the first measure. Which triad is being played? You could just look at the table you filled out for G Major scale triads to find the answer, but try this: order the notes going up in thirds. Let’s think through this together: in order, the notes of the first measure are: A, D, and F#. If A was the root, the triad would contain the note C (because it is the third of A). There isn’t a C in this measure, so this can’t be an A triad. So either D or F# must be the root. The third of D, in this case F#, is in this measure, so D could be the root. The third above F# is the note A, which is also in this measure. So, we know that we have two pairs of notes in this measure that make a third: D with F#, and F# with A. The combination of these thirds looks like a D Major triad! 8 I intentionally didn’t make the fingerings for these notes the same as they are in the G major scale reference on page 15—this is just a more comfortable way to play this phrase. 26 Day 2: Tension and Resolution When playing this phrase, there’s an interesting shift in balance between the first and second measures that we haven’t heard before. It hinges around the notes F# and G. When you reach the F#, hold out the F#, play a bunch of them, go between the F# on the D string and the F# on the E string: You can hear it: the F# needs the G for some reason. The longer you play the F#, the more tension you create, until you finally play the G, which resolves this tension. If you were to just play the F#, but never play the G, you would never create balance—the phrase would be a cliffhanger. Once you get used to the idea of the F# leading to the G, the phrase doesn’t feel very complete if that G never comes: When the next measure contains an F# rather than a G, it’s not very rewarding. 27 Here’s our first example again. This is the most finished part of The note G is not a part of the D Major triad, and it comes on the first beat of a new measure. Those two facts are pretty good clues that the second measure is on a different triad than the first. Moving between triads could be the reason that this change in balance is so dramatic compared to the exercises we did in the first chapter: they were all based on one triad. Instead of just moving between notes inside one triad, we are starting to move from one triad to another—this is much closer to how most music works! This triad in the second measure is a G Major triad: the one (I). The I triad is almost always right after the V triad, and there is a very convincing musical logic to this triad change that is the key to understanding how to move between ALL triads. This is where we start to deal with chords, as well as triads. I can prove it. But it’s going to take a little explaining. {need speed bump to ensure that student knows what they need to understand the next section] 28 Day 3: Understanding resolutions between chords Music is about contrast, from a broad, song-to-song level on an album, to the tiny note-by-note details of a single phrase. In Part I, we only talked about one interval: a third. Each triad tone is either a third below or above another triad tone in the same triad. Moving between triads requires bass players to be aware of how to move smoothly from one note to another. How far apart are F# and G? A half step, right? That’s what we figured out way back on page 4. A half step the smallest typical distance in Western music, which has a lot to do with its powers of balance and unbalance. F# moving to G creates more tension than something like F moving to G. To test that half-step idea further, try this: This A♭ is a half step above G, just like an F# is a half step below G. The same principle applies to A♭—it’s a half step away from G, making the A♭ uncomfortable until it resolves nicely to G. It’s an especially spicy note because it isn’t in the D Major triad. It has the same general effect as the F#, but with a different tone. You should rarely use the A♭—I just wanted to prove a point about half steps. The important difference between the A♭ and the F# is that F# is in the D Major triad. F# is also in the G Major scale, as the seventh note. Moving from the seventh note of a Major scale (F#) to the one (the note G) is always going to be a half step. Why the note F# is important to the G Major triad: 1. It is a part of the G Major scale 2. It is a half step away from a triad tone in the I triad 3. It is a part of the D Major triad (V triad) Are there any other notes that could also meet some of these criteria? 29 The first two points are pretty closely tied: we’re trying to find a note that is a half step away from a triad tone in the I triad, and also a part of the G Major scale. Remember the recipe for a major scale (from page 6): Notes in G Major Whole step (W)/half step (H) G to A A to B B to C C to D D to E E to F# F# to G Did you find any? A small hint: there’s one other half step in this scale. Write the pair of notes here once you find them: [i think this could be a good place to start another Day, as the above table could serve as a good comprehension check and this is pretty dense stuff] Are either of those two notes in the G Major triad? It looks like B is the third of the G Major triad! The note C is one half step above it. Now we have two pairs of half-step relationships that connect to the G Major triad: C to B, and F# to G. Unlike the A♭ example from earlier, C is a part of the G Major scale, and it is a half step away from a triad tone in the I triad. That makes C very similar F#, except for the fact that it is not a part of the D Major (V) triad. 30 Unless… it is? Wouldn’t that mean we have a triad with four notes? Yes! That’s a new one. Instead of a group of three notes, we now have a group of four. That is the difference between a triad and a chord: a chord is made up of a triad, with another third added above the fifth. So four notes total! Oh my goodness. Need speed bump 31 Day 4: Chords in motion Adding this fourth note to the D Major triad works perfectly considering Step #2 from the first chapter: move up in thirds from the root note to make a triad. When you call D your root, and move up a Major third, you get F#. Go a minor third up and you get A, the fifth. Another minor third up from the fifth of the triad gives you the seventh. In this case, the seventh is C. Giving the D Major triad this new note is important, because it gives us a chord in the G Major scale that has two half step resolutions in it. A resolution just means moving notes in a phrase from one triad to another. C moves down one half step to B, and F# moves up one half step to G. In this phrase, you can hear the relationship between the C and and B when moving from the first measure to the second measure. It’s the same idea as the relationship between F# and G, but a bit less strong, since you’re resolving to the third, instead of the root. This is a very classic sound. Any song that you enjoy listening to, or are playing in a band, is going to have this resolution. We call this a V-I (five-one) cadence. I added a repeat sign to these two measures: try playing them in a loop. For the first two repeats, you can play it as written. On the next two, try trading one chord tone for another (the eighth notes on A in the first measure would be a good place for this. Try changing the length and type of tension, and when the release occurs. It’s okay to plan a little, but you don’t need to write anything down. You can change it as much as you want: the more you work on changing the idea while still keeping the triads the same, the better you will be able to feel that triad progression in your hands and ears. 32 Day 5: Building chords from triads This table should look familiar: Number Root Third Fifth Major/minor I G ii vii F# diminished Fill it out again so that we can reference all of the Major scale triads without having to flip back to previous pages. It should be easy by now! All the chords we’ll talk about here are triads with an additional third added above the fifth. That third will either be Major or minor, depending on how many half steps lie between the fifth and the note a third above it. Let's think about how this works with the V chord, which in the key of G Major is a D Dominant seventh chord. When you take the V chord of a Major scale, and move up a third from the fifth of that triad, that note is called a dominant seventh. The resulting chord is called a dominant seventh chord. This is the only triad in the Major scale that is called “dominant,” because it is the only Major triad with a minor third above the fifth. D Dominant seven chord \ 33 To compare, a Major triad with a Major third above the fifth is called a Major seventh chord. G Major seven chord Here is the G Major scale, with the notes of the G Major seventh chord indicated. This is the I chord, just like how the G Major triad was called the I triad. Number Root Third Fifth Seventh I G B D F# ii A B C D E vii F# The only difference between this table and the one we already learned is the new column for you to write the seventh of the chord. Remember, when you move up a third from the fifth of the triad, you’ll find the seventh! It’s all in the G Major scale. A little assignment before you move on: listen to the song “White Freightliner Blues” by Townes Van Zandt. It’s from the album Live at the Old Quarter. There are other versions, but that one is what we’ll learn from. 34 Day 6: Learning songs with triads Let’s make some music! Heads up—it’s not a good idea to go on unless you’ve listened to the song “White Freightliner Blues” by Townes Van Zandt. Make sure it was the Live at the Old Quarter version! We’re going to dig into the song and find the key, as well as the triads or chords that make up the song. An important note before we begin: triads and chords aren’t interchangeable. Playing chords when you should be playing triads is not right. It’s like if someone asked you which state you’re from… and you answered with your home address. The bass player especially needs to be cautious of using exotic notes like the seventh too often. Our main role is to highlight the root of the triad or chord. White Freightliner Blues Townes Van Zandt From Live at the Old Quarter The key is C Major—can you identify the chords? Each measure starts with the root note. Try playing each triad through each measure, like this: 35 This process is how you learn all songs! 36