| Rate This Article |
|
Current rating: 0 stars by 0 user
|
|
|
|
Ancient Chinese Secret, Part III
by Denis Taaffe
Let’s look at some modes in context with the Chinese scale.
 Denis Taaffe has been playing guitar since age seven and has developed a unique solo electric guitar style which uses regular guitar and guitar loops done on the fly and all his material is improvised on the spot. Denis performs, records and teaches guitar regularly. He has released 80 independent CD's, nine of which have been considered for Grammy Awards. He also has endorsements with Kradl picks, Seymour Duncan Pickups, Ernieball/Musicman Strings, Parker Guitars & Boomerang Pedalboards. Always in search of unique guitar sounds, Denis is set to release his 81st CD "Modern Rock Guitar Vol.81". You can visit his website at www.dtguitar.com for more info on him and mp3 audio samples.
Welcome to another edition of ”Practice Up.” This month, let’s look at some modes in context with the Chinese scale. Modes are all based off the Major scale. If you were to play the notes of a major scale, starting each time from a different note (in the Major scale), then each time you would have created a mode. Last month I used the A Chinese scale with the C# Aeolian Mode. However, I could have also used the A Lydian mode as the actual physical fingerings on the neck for A Lydian and C# Aeolian scales/modes are identical. However, the emphasis is in a different place and as you will see, creates many unique sounds.
Example 1) The C# Aeolian Mode is a minor scale, sometimes called the natural minor. It has a dark sound. Its seven notes are C#, D#, E, F#,G#, A and B; if you mapped these out over the neck, between the 4th and 7th fret, you would get the following fingering:
Example 2) The Lydian mode is identical to a major scale, except that is has a raised 4th and has kind of an airy sound (think Joe Satriani’s, “Flying in a Blue Dream”). The A Lydian mode’s seven notes are A, B, C#, D#, E, F#, and G#. If you mapped these out over the neck, between the 4th and 7th fret, you would get the same fingering as in example 1. Note that the root note for example 1 is C#, and for example 2 the root note is A.
Example 3) The difference comes in when we add a third and fifth to each note in the scale to create chords. Doing this to the 7 notes of the C# Aeolian Mode gives us C#m, D#dim, Emaj, F#m, G#m, Amaj, and Bmaj.
Example 4) Let’s add a third and fifth to each note in the A Lydian mode as well, giving us Amaj, Bmaj, C#m, D#dim, Emaj, F#m, G#m.
Example 5) If I were to create a chord progression for my C# Aeolian mode using the VI chord (Amaj), the VII chord (Bmaj) and the I chord (C#m), then my VIVII- I progression would be as follows:
Example 6) If I were to create a chord progression for my A Lydian mode using the VI chord (F#m), the VII chord (G#m) and the I chord (Amaj), then my VIVII- I progression would be as follows
Example 7) Try playing the scale fingering in example 1 over the chord progressions in 5 and 6. Notice how they sound drastically different and that the scale wants to resolve to different notes for each progression. Try a I-III-V progression with the A Lydian Mode (Amaj, C#m, Emaj) and then the C# Aeolian Mode (C#m, Emaj, G#m) as follows:
Example 8) One way to hear how the A Lydian Mode sounds is by playing A Lydian fingerings over the root note. It has almost an airy sound. You can play the A Lydian scale fingering with the A open string as the root note. Let the note on the A string ring out as you play the scale notes.
Example 9) By the same token, you can hear how the C# Aeolian mode sounds by playing the C# Aeolian fingerings over the root note. It has a dark sound. For C# Aeolian, you could play the A Lydian scale with the C# note on the A string as the root note. Remember to let the A string ring.
Example 10) As a refresher from last month, the Chinese scale has 5 notes at which point it repeats, in A the notes are: A, C#,D#, E, G#. Try playing our A Chinese Scale fingerings over our C# Aeolian chord progression from example 5 and our A Lydian chord progression in 6. Do you hear how the chord progressions change the sound of the A Chinese scale?
Try combining the A Chinese scale with the C# Aeolian mode fingerings in example 1 and then playing those fingerings over the Aeolian progression in example 5. Also try combining the A Chinese scale with the A Lydian mode fingerings in example 2 and then playing those fingerings over the Lydian progression in example 6. You will find that the overall sound depends on context. Next month we will look at some neat arpeggios we can use, so see you next time!
Commentary
Link to this Article
Want to link to this article? Just copy and paste the text below into your website.
|