kick-out-the-jams

Kick Out the Jams: Using the “Wrong” Mode in the Right Way

Sometimes you need to break the rules to discover new sounds.

Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Learn how to apply the modes of the major scale in alternative ways.
• Improve your ability to pivot between modes.
• Develop a better understanding of modal improvisation.

Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.

Out of all the essential implements in a guitarist’s toolbox, having a firm grasp of major-scale modes might be the most important—especially for those of us who improvise.

There’s a vast array of sounds and ideas that can convey different emotions to a listener if they’re used properly. And in the realm of practice, knowing your modes is almost like a skeleton key to understanding an infinite number of other concepts. That’s a lot of power from scales that actually consist of the same seven notes rearranged in various ways.

Kick Out the Jams: How to Make Your Delay Pedal Work for You

A precisely timed delay effect with just the right number of echo repeats can become part of the composition of a great riff.

Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Understand the concept of metered delay regenerations.
• Use a mathematical equation to determine values for delay regenerations at various tempos.
• Construct riffs and rhythm parts using delay with quarter-note, eighth-note, and dotted-eighth-note regenerations.

Click here to download MP3s and a printable PDF of this lesson’s notation.

Delay effects are most often used to create ambient echoes on a lead guitar track, or on understated rhythm tracks with a clean sound. But a precisely timed delay effect with just the right number of echo repeats can become part of the composition of a great riff ... if you use the right approach. Using delay this way requires rhythmically precise performances, and in order to time your delay repeats just right, you’ll have to plug some numbers into an equation. So grab your metronome and a calculator, and let’s get down to business.

Finding Delay Times Using a Formula
Song tempos (and riff tempos) are expressed as a ratio of beats per minute (bpm). So 90 bpm on your metronome means that in 60 seconds of music—a minute—there will be 90 quarter-notes (the quarter-note is the most common unit of beat, so we’ll use that as a starting point). So far, so good.

Delay times, however, are most often expressed in milliseconds (1,000ths of a second). So to calculate the delay time of a quarter-note regeneration or echo repeat, we’ll need to know how many milliseconds there are in a quarter-note at various tempos. Since there are 60,000 milliseconds in a minute (60 × 1,000 milliseconds), we’ll find the length of a quarter-note by dividing 60,000 by the number of beats per minute. The equation, therefore, is q = 60,000 ÷ bpm, where q is the length value of the quarter-note and bpm is the song tempo in beats per minute.

For example, say you have a song tempo of 89 bpm. You want to compose a riff using a delay with quarter-note echo repeats: q = 60,000 ÷ 89. This gives q a value of 674 and some change. Depending on the sensitivity of your delay processor, you may be able to dial in 670 ms or 675 ms. Either of these values will give you a delay regeneration roughly equal to a quarter-note at 89 bpm.

Setting The Delay
For this use of delay effects, we’ll start with the following basic settings:
Level: 75 percent
Repeats: between 2 and 4 repeats
Time: determined by note value and bpm (use formula)

By keeping the delay level high (but not too high) and the number of echo repeats low, you’ll ensure that the repeats will be a feature of the part without crowding out the performance. Remember, your playing is still the big picture. The delay effect is only a window dressing, if a nifty one. These settings are a good starting point, and you’ll find your own preferred settings as you go along.

Composing Riffs
Let’s start with a song part using a quarter-note delay at 69 bpm (Fig. 1). Okay, q = 60,000 ÷ 69 gives a value of about 869.6, so we’ll set the delay time to 870 ms.

Click here for Ex. 1

The idea here is to allow enough space for the delay to bounce back the performance in rhythm. Here, I’ve played a chord or lick during alternating quarters of each measure, resting during every other quarter to allow the delay effect to do its thing. When composing, it’s good to add some rhythmic variety to similar phrases—it really highlights the rhythmic possibilities of even a simple quarter-note echo repeat. Using the delay gives this straightforward “hair rock” rhythm piece a spacious character. You can imagine a second guitar ripping solo passages during the second and fourth beats of these measures.

Now, let’s vary the rhythm of the delay repeats and this time go for an eighth-note echo at a tempo of 81 bpm (Fig. 2). We’ll plug 81 into our equation: q = 60,000 ÷ 81 gives a value of 740.7. Because we’re after an eighth-note echo, and an eighth-note is half the value of a quarter-note, we have to multiply q by 1/2 (0.5 on the calculator): 740.7 × 0.5 = 370.4. So set the delay time to 370 ms.

Click here for Ex. 2

Having the downbeats played back on the upbeats lends a disco-like feel to this funky rhythm part. You can hear, in your mind’s ear, a driving drum part with accented hi-hats on all the “ands.”

A common use of this delay technique is to reproduce dotted eighth-notes. This final example will be a song hook at 90 bpm (Fig. 3). Here’s the math: q = 60,000 ÷ 90, gives q a value of 666.7, which is pretty evil. Don’t worry. Remember to multiply q by our desired note value to find the delay time—in this case, 3/4 (0.75 on the calculator), because a dotted eighth-note is 3/4 the value of a quarter-note: 666.7 × 0.75 = 500. Hey—500 is way less evil than 666.7, so we’re good.

Click here for Ex. 3

As you can hear, dotted eighth-note echoes add syncopation to a riff that’s not already syncopated, or add further syncopation to a riff that’s only slightly varied. It really dresses up this simple hook to make it a little hookier.

With a delay stomp box or software-based delay processor, you can really juice up simple riffs and rhythm parts. Setting metered regenerations lets you add texture and flair to hooks and instrumental interludes. Remember to use judgment when dialing in your repeat and level settings, and you can deploy pro-quality delay licks onstage, in the studio, or simply jamming at home. Just be sure to pack your metronome, calculator, and some imagination.

Kick Out the Jams: Pumped Up Licks

Joe Robinson shows you 5 essential licks that demonstrate everything from fiery SRV-inspired blues-rock soloing to quirky, angular phrases.

Chops: Intermediate
Theory: Beginning
Lesson Overview:
• Develop rapid-fire blues-rock licks.
• Understand the importance of dynamics and accents.
• Create angular lines that are also melodic.

Click here to download MP3s and a printable PDF of this lesson’s notation.

Hi folks, it’s nice to be writing a lesson for PG! We'll look at five different licks that hopefully will spawn some ideas in your own playing. Each one focuses on a different technique or approach that I use a lot when improvising or composing. I’d recommend practicing these slowly and trying to focus on playing with dynamics as much as anything. Having dynamics within the notes of a phrase can really make it “bounce” a lot better and feel way more musical. And by accenting certain notes to create interesting subdivisions, you can make the line swing a number of different ways. When I play licks such as these, I’ll often change up the accents depending on how I want the phrase to sit. This is a concept I learned from watching and listening to drummers and how they will accent different strokes within a groove.

In terms of technique, I think it’s really important to keep checking yourself for arm and shoulder tension. When playing these examples, you may be using note combinations that feel a little alien, but if you walk through the ideas slowly and have a relaxed, light touch, you’ll be able to absorb them effectively.

If you have any questions about these licks, feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on Twitter.

I think it’s important to steal ideas from players you like, but even more so to figure out your own lines. Be creative! You don’t want to sound like every other bland, derivative player out there. Your highest achievement as a guitarist is to build a musical vocabulary entirely your own.

In Fig. 1 you can see a triplet-based idea with a bit of a blues-rock feel. Even though it’s written in 4/4 time, it does lie nicely in 7/4 as well. Give the first note of each phrase a SRV-style attack to really bring out the bend. Don’t be afraid to dig in and keep those pull-offs moving! I’m basically thinking in the standard blues scale shape, first in A (A–C–D–Eb–E–G) and then moving it up to C (C–Eb–F–Gb–G–Bb).

Sometimes I’m asked how I approach playing a phrase such as Fig. 2 that goes from the low to high end of the neck. It’s just a matter of learning the scales and practicing playing with a more linear approach. For example, learn a few positions of A Dorian (A–B–C–D–E–F#–G) and work on connecting them. Start slowly at first and then expand until you can tackle the entire neck. This phrase has a couple of cool little inflections and is a good example of something I might play over an Am groove. Check out the bluesy b3 bend in the third measure.

I love repeating a motif and moving notes around a central note or notes. Fig. 3 feels really comfortable to me for some reason, I guess it just has good economy of motion. This is an idea you can try on any string, in any scale, with any rhythmic combination, so have fun with it. Again, try different accents.

I came up with this line (Fig. 4) for a song of mine called “Piece of the Puzzle."" It’s a cool, quirky lick with a nice melodic quality. I feel like we can blow over all kinds of exercises to build technique, but when it comes to actually making music, you really want it to sound inspired and melodic and not coined by a technical approach.

I actually came up with this idea sitting on my couch watching Lost on Netflix and for some reason it just stuck with me. I used to always have a guitar in my hand when watching TV or riding the bus to school. Of course it’s invaluable to have practice time with silence and focus, but sometimes playing when your attention is elsewhere can be effective too.

The lick in Fig. 5 is the tag line from the title track of my Toe Jam EP. It starts in a D minor tonality—of course throwing in some bluesy b5 notes—and then moving to an E minor sound before returning to D.