Practical harmony for the guitarist. A

Playing guitar. Music theory and harmony - Part 1 (Notes on the guitar neck) May 13th, 2014

Good afternoon, fellow musicians and all those who want to get into playing the guitar.

Having learned to play popular songs with chords and learned simple chord forms, the question often arises: what next?
There is a desire to play a solo part on a sequence of chords or find out why the A6/9 chord is needed.
But many questions arise:
- what notes to play;
- why some notes sound accompanied by accompaniment, while others hurt the ear;
- why in C major they always play D minor and in very rare F sharp minor;
- what is the difference between the C major and C minor scales and in what compositions should they be played;
- what chords to play blues and jazz, hard rock or heavy metal;
and many other hows, whys and whys.

And if you want to play in a group, then at rehearsals you can often hear:
"We play this song in G major, sequence I-VI-IV-V (first, sixth, fourth and fifth)"
Which chords from the sequence are major and which are minor and what are the chords here?? but no one said anything about it “in the yard”)))
Therefore, a modern musician simply needs to know and understand music theory and musical harmony, regardless of the genre that you already play or want to study.

Many guitarists are intimidated by the prospect of learning to read music. And probably many have musician friends who studied at a music school, but did not finish their studies precisely because of difficulties with musical notation. You can often hear from them that notes are boring and difficult. At the same time, examples are set of musicians who do not know sheet music, but nevertheless became stars and play the guitar excellently. And this is partly true. But not many take into account the fact that these people have absolute pitch and have undeniable musical talent.
Many famous musicians did not study at conservatories and music colleges. However, they all put a lot of effort into learning on their own. Self-education is sometimes no less effective than at school, but this requires great commitment and self-discipline.
Many self-taught guitarists do not know sheet music and easily play by ear. Such training is achieved through books, various manuals and tutorials, video lessons, as well as through communication with other experienced guitarists and musicians in general. By selecting music by ear, you can gradually develop your skills to a high level.
At the same time, knowledge of notes will be a very useful skill, which will give much more freedom of creative action. For example, world-famous guitarist Steve Vai spends a lot of time flying, and while on a plane he wrote a lot of excellent music. Because to create he only needs inspiration and a notebook.

You need to start learning to play the guitar by studying the notes on the guitar fretboard. This is the basis - like the alphabet in a language.
You cannot read a word without knowing the letters it consists of.
It’s the same in music - knowing the notes, you can build a scale. Chords can be constructed from scales. By taking a sequence of chords, you can play or select any composition.
By using different modes, you can “color” the composition with the appropriate mood, from deep sadness to bright and joyful colors.

Adviсe
1. Your guitar must be tuned!!! no matter what kind of guitar you have, Custom Shop or standard instrument. I recommend contacting a good guitar maker. He will rebuild the "meznura" of the guitar - this is extremely necessary so that the notes sound correctly, regardless of what fret they are played on. Also, during the learning process, the brain will remember the correct intervals, and on an untuned and untuned guitar, a “porridge” will form in the head. Adjust the height of the strings above the fingerboard - you should feel comfortable holding them and this should not distract you from playing. If you plan to use a tremolo, then after using it the guitar should remain in tune, in other words, after raising or lowering the strings should return to their original tuning.
2. Tune your guitar using a tuner. Now you can buy it in any design - be it a pedal or a clip on the neck of a guitar. You can buy a tuner with a built-in metronome, which will come in handy for independent practice.

Theory
Notes in music are designated by the first seven letters of the Latin alphabet - namely:
A(la) B(si) C(before) D(re) E(mi) F(F) G(salt).

In Russian musical literature, the note B is often designated as N, and B-flat lowered by half a tone IN. To avoid confusion, we will use the international system of notation.

We begin studying notes on the fretboard in standard tuning by studying notes on open strings:
1st string - note E(mi)
2nd string - note B(si)
3rd string - note G(salt)
4th string - note D(re)
5th string - note A(la)
6th string - note E(mi)

It should be noted that the note E(E) on the 6th string is two octaves lower than the same note on the 1st string.

Exercise (horizontal movement along one string)
Consistently play notes on the 1st string E(E) starting from the open string up the fingerboard:


then down the fretboard in reverse order.

Please note that the note E(E) on an open string is different from the note E(E) on the 12th fret one octave. For convenience, there are two dots on the guitar neck at the 12th fret.

move on to the 2nd string IN(si):


We also play sequentially, first up, then down the fingerboard.

3rd string G(salt)

4th string D(re)

5th string A(la)

on the 6th string E(E) we play notes on the same frets as on the 1st string

Now you can combine the notes from all six strings into one diagram and expand it to the entire surface of the fretboard:

At the initial stage of learning, it is always convenient to have such a diagram on hand in printed or electronic form as a cheat sheet.

We study on our own
So we studied the location of the main notes on the guitar fretboard without accidentals.
Please note that the distance between adjacent notes is 2 frets or one tone, with the exception of pairs of notes E (mi) F (fa) And B (si) C (do)- the distance between them is one fret or half a tone.
The question arises - which note(s) is on the second fret between notes WITH(C) 1st fret and D(d) 3rd fret on 2nd string?
You probably heard something from school music lessons about the signs “sharp” and “flat” and that within one scale there are 7 notes and 12 sounds.

Sign # (sharp) - raises the note by half a step
Sign b(flat) - lowers the note by a semitone
In our case, on the second fret of the 2nd string the note will correspond WITH#(C sharp) or Db(D-flat), depending on the chosen key and musical mode. For example, in the G major scale the note will appear F#(F-sharp), and in the F-minor scale - notes Ab(A-flat) Bb(B-flat) Db(D-flat) and Eb(E-flat).
Thus, we can fill in the missing frets with notes that are raised or lowered by half a tone, respectively.

In the next part, we will arrange the studied notes into the C major scale and study its location on the guitar neck in various positions.

to be continued...

What's Inside the Book:

Practice

Here are just some of the skills you will gain:

Understanding different styles of harmony: blues, jazz, rock, pop

Ability to create chord progressions: tonal and modal

Knowledge of the laws of interaction of chords with each other in various systems

Practical skills in constructing any fingerings and chord forms

Universal chord substitution techniques

Understanding the role of the guitar in different styles

Development of chord playing technique

Understand deviations and modulations

Learn to build quarter chords

Learn what three sounds are and how to use them in practice

See methods for working on guitar texture

1. ——Introduction.
2. ——Alphanumeric notation and Roman numeral system.
3. ——Recommendations for mastering harmony
4. ——Triad chords and fingerings
5. ——Inversions of triads and fingerings
6. ——Voicing and its role in guitar practice
7. —— Fundamentals of a functional system
8. —— All chords of the scale and their functions
9. ——Functional logic minor
10. ——Harmonization of scales
11. —— Cadances and their varieties
12. —— Three types of harmonic motion
13. ——Principles of substitutions
14. —— Melody harmonization
15. —— Free harmonization
16. ——Harmonic improvisation
17. —— Texture and harmony
18. —— Form and harmony
19. ——Harmonic sequences
20. ——Seventh chords and their classes
21. ——Fundamentals of polytonal harmony
22. ——Chord alterations
23. ——Elements of melody in harmony
24. —— Deviations and modulations in guitar harmony
25. —— Modal harmony
26. —— Features of modern harmony
27. —— Triads and synonyms
28. —— Quarter chords
29. ——Styles at a Glance
30. --Conclusion

Bonuses

1. Reader of chord progressions (book)
2. 17 mind maps on harmony
3. Video course Harmony 100: Alphanumeric notation of chords
4. Video course: Modulations and deflections

The book “Practical Harmony for the Guitarist” should undoubtedly be a mandatory element in your training, if only for the reason that it will save you a huge amount of time, effort, nerves and money. You don't need to study hundreds of textbooks! I have already done this work for you and collected the entire concentrate of practical information on harmony for the guitarist.

If you want to truly master the guitar, then without knowledge of harmony and the ability to apply it in practice, you are unlikely to achieve your goals.

No textbook will teach you without your efforts, but this book has everything you need for musical growth. All you need to do is read and practice.

Learning harmony for guitarists has never been easier!

“A Short Course in Harmony” is intended for persons familiar with elementary music theory and intending to expand their musical theoretical knowledge professionally or amateurly.
The theoretical provisions of the course are mainly borrowed from “The Teaching of Harmony” by Yu. Tyulin (ed. 1937). Some of them were developed by the author independently. The text of the book is an adaptation of a 1938 manuscript.
The book is based on the pedagogical method first implemented by the author in the first years of the performing departments of the 1st Leningrad Music School named after M. P. Mussorgsky in the second half of the 1930s. This method, besides the author, was repeatedly used in the specified school and in other special educational institutions by a number of teachers (Az. I. Ivanov, A. Ya. Koralsky, A. N. Sokhor, A. A. Kholodilin and others), as well as in circles of music lovers.
The book sets out a complete theoretical course of harmony, the completion of which is based on simplified, compared to conventional teaching methods, practical skills.
Thanks to some special presentation techniques, the “Short Course” is designed to be mastered within 30 lessons (weeks), that is, in one academic year.

After completing the “Short Harmony Course,” the student can deepen his knowledge and skills in more detailed special systems. In this case, classes using these systems will be significantly easier and can be dramatically accelerated compared to the usual time frame.
On the other hand (especially for music lovers, but also professional performers), having mastered the “Short Course in Harmony”, the student will be sufficiently prepared to move directly to the analysis of musical works, and in practical terms, to arrangements for various instrumental and vocal compositions.
When studying harmony, music lovers have to take into account not only the different level of abilities and degree of preparation of the student, but also the extent of his interest in the subject, the volume and depth of knowledge that he wants to acquire. Unlike vocational training, there cannot be standard norms and requirements, since much depends on the will and desire of the student.
In this case, practical skills can be endlessly varied. Nevertheless, experience shows that they can be reduced to certain varieties, and among music lovers interested in harmony, certain categories can be established: from those seeking to learn the content of the course only in general terms, to those wishing to study it in a business-like manner, thoroughly, in order to deepen their understanding music, in a serious sense to continue familiarization with various aspects of musicology. To meet the needs of amateurs of various categories, at the end of the book special ways to facilitate (shorten and simplify) the course are proposed. If the course is completed independently, it is desirable to have periodic supervision from the supervisor.
The book as a whole is formed by;
Basic course (presented in the form of 30 lessons),
Supplement (expanding the main course and designed for students of increased activity),
Appendix (containing the necessary information for those starting to study harmony without sufficient knowledge of elementary music theory),
Methodological notes (addressed to the leader and explaining various ways to use the “Short Course in Harmony”).

Lesson 1. Introduction. Voicing in major
Lesson 2. Voicing in major (continued)
Lesson 3, Voicing in major key (end)
Lesson 4. Voicing in a minor key
Lesson 5. Theoretical foundations of harmony (theory of harmonic functions).
Lesson 6. Composing problems in a major key. General principles
Lesson 7. Composing problems in a major key (continued)
Lesson 8. Composing problems in a major key (second continuation)
Lesson 9. Composing problems in a major key (end)
Lesson 10. Basic Minor Chords
Lesson 11. Natural minor chords
Lesson 12. Writing problems in harmonic major
Lesson 13. Modulation theory
Lesson 14. Perfect diatonic modulation of the 1st degree of kinship from major
Lesson 15. Perfect diatonic modulation of the first degree of kinship from minor
Lesson 16. Perfect diatonic modulation of the 2nd degree of kinship from major.
Lesson 17. Perfect diatonic modulation of the 2nd degree from minor
Lesson 18. Perfect diatonic modulation of the third degree of kinship from major and minor
Lesson 19. Imaginary enharmonic modulation
Lesson 20. Diminished seventh chords in major
Lesson 21. Diminished seventh chords in minor
Lesson 22
Lesson 23, Perfect melodic-chromatic modulation (of all degrees of kinship) from major and minor
Lesson 24. Perfect diatonic or enharmonic modulation via diminished seventh chord
Lesson 25. Deviations of the first degree of kinship in major
Lesson 26. Deviations of the first degree of kinship in minor
Lesson 27. Repeated deviations of the first degree of kinship in both major and minor
Lesson 28. Secondary dominants in major
Lesson 29. Secondary dominants in minor
Lesson 30. Tonal plans
Addition
Application, Akkordika
Methodological notes

A musical composition consists of several components - rhythm, melody, harmony.

Moreover, if rhythm and melody are like a single whole, then harmony is what decorates any piece of music, what makes up the accompaniment that you dream of playing on the piano or guitar.

Musical harmony is a set of chords, without which not a single song or piece will be complete, full-sounding.

Properly chosen harmony caresses the ear, ennobles the sound, allowing us to fully enjoy the wonderful sounds of a piano, guitar or instrumental ensemble. The melody can be sung, the harmony can only be played. (By the way, you can also sing harmony, but not for one person, but for at least three, provided that they can sing - this is what choir and vocal ensemble artists are trained to do).

A play or song without harmony is like an uncolored picture in books for children - it is drawn, but there is no color, no tints, no brightness. That is why violinists, cellists, domrists, and balalaika players play accompanied by an accompanist - unlike these instruments, you can play a chord on the piano. Well, or play domra or flute in an ensemble or orchestra, where chords are created due to the number of instruments.

In music schools, colleges and conservatories there is a special discipline - harmony, where students study all the chords existing in music theory, learn to apply them in practice and even solve harmony problems.

I will not delve into the jungle of theory, but will tell you about the most popular chords used in modern compositions. Often they are the same. There is a certain block of chords that wander from one song to another. Accordingly, a lot of musical works can be performed on one such block.

To begin with, we determine the tonic (the main note in a musical composition) and remember, along with the tonic, the subdominant and dominant. We take a scale step and build a triad from it (one note at a time). Very often they are enough to play a simple piece. But not always. So, in addition to the triads of the main steps, triads of the 3rd, 2nd and 6th steps are used. Less often – 7th. Let me explain with an example in the key of C major.

Examples of chord progressions

I put the chords in descending order of their popularity:

C major

• C major, F major, G major (these are the main triads of the mode);
• Li minor (this is nothing more than a triad of the 6th degree);
• E major, less often - E minor (triads of the 3rd degree);
• D minor (2nd degree);
• si – diminished triad of the 7th degree.

And this is another option for using the 6th degree triad in musical compositions:

But the fact is that these musical harmonies are characteristic only if the note DO is taken as the tonic. If suddenly the key of C major is inconvenient for you, or the piece sounds, say, in D major, we simply shift the entire block and get the following chords.

D major

• D major, G major, A major (1st, 4th, 5th steps - main triads)
• B minor (6th degree triad)
• F# major (3rd degree triad)
• E minor (2nd degree)
• to # reduced 7th stage.

For your convenience, I will show a block in a minor key, slightly different degrees are popular there and it can no longer be said that the chords of the 3rd and 2nd degrees are rarely used. Not that rare.

La Minor

A standard set of chords in A minor looks like this

Well, in addition to the standard ones - 1, 4 and 5 steps - the base of any key, the following harmonies are used:

• A minor, D minor, E major (main);
• E seventh chord (related to E major, often used)
• F major (6th degree triad);
• C major (3rd degree triad);
• G major (2nd degree triad);
• A major or A seventh chord (the major of the same name is often used as a kind of transitional chord).

How to find tonic

A question that torments many. How to determine the tonic, that is, the main tonality from which you need to start when searching for chords. Let me explain - you need to sing or play a melody. The note it ends on is the tonic. And we determine the mode (major or minor) only by ear. But it must be said that in music it often happens that a song begins in one key and ends in another, and it can be extremely difficult to decide on the tonic.

Only hearing, musical intuition and knowledge of theory will help here. Often the completion of a poetic text coincides with the completion of a musical text. Tonic is always something stable, affirming, unshakable. Once the tonic has been determined, it is already possible to select musical harmonies based on the given formulas.

Well, the last thing I would like to say. The flight of creative inspiration of a composer can be unpredictable - seemingly completely unpredictable chords sound harmonious and beautiful. This is already aerobatics. If only the main steps of a scale are used in a musical composition, then this is called a “simple accompaniment.” It is really simple - even a beginner can pick them up with basic knowledge. But more complex musical harmonies are closer to professionalism. That’s why it’s called “picking” chords for a song. So, to summarize:

1. We determine the tonic, and for this we play or hum a melody and look for the main note.
2. We build triads from all degrees of the scale and try to remember them
3. We play chords in the blocks indicated above - that is, standard chords
4. We sing (or play) a melody and “pick” a chord by ear so that they create a harmonious and beautiful sound. We start from the main steps; if they are not suitable, we “feel” for other triads.
5. We rehearse the song and enjoy our own performance.

As a tip, it’s convenient to select musical harmonies along with the sound of the original on a music center, computer or tape recorder. Listen to it several times, and then take a fragment, say 1 verse, and pause it, play it on the piano. Go for it. Selecting musical harmonies is a matter of practice.

Harmony(another name for scale) is a set of sounds that harmoniously fits into the chord currently sounding on the guitar. This is a set of sounds that “do not hurt the ears,” that is, acceptable For this chord, other sounds cannot be used. Why do you need to learn harmonies? This work, at first glance, may seem monotonous, but once you understand how the permissible notes for a particular chord are located, in the future you will be able to assemble any chords yourself without any problems. So there are two harmonies represented here. For ease of perception, we will begin the harmony with a bass note, which will be located on 6 string, we will end the harmony with 1 string.

The starting and ending points are the main note of a given chord. Presented here G major And G minor. For simplicity, we designated the notes by numbers, move from the beginning to the end numbers, this is harmony. Learn harmony, try to place your hand so that it does not move along the fingerboard; all fingers of your left hand should work in turn. Press one string at a time and move to a higher note; when you reach the last one, go back in the same way.

Once you understand the "legal notes" of these two chords, do the same for all seven chords, finding their root note on the 6th string of the guitar.

Sergey

added: 01/28/2018 04:48[Message No. 17]

Hello, Alexander,

I want to thank you for your site and the patience with which you explain how it is possible to learn to play the guitar without reading music. During school, I graduated from a music school in piano with notes, solfeggio and choir, but when I looked at the notes for the guitar... things didn’t work out. On a piano, you just see a note and press a key, but... In a word, after going through college and the army, I learned to play along on the guitar using a traditional set of chords. The previous training of the fingers made it possible to master fingering faster than strumming. But no matter how much I tried to start something with the notes, I couldn’t. Apparently the piano spoiled me. Now, having seen your technique, I have perked up and am full of desire to go deeper in mastering the guitar.

And it doesn’t matter what all sorts of music theorists write, they have their own way, the majority of ordinary people will be very interested in this technique.

Thank you again for giving me hope.

Sincerely

Sergey Savenkov

Anastasia

added: 11/25/2016 19:31[Message No. 16]

Hello! Please read that I’m annoying you with stupid questions, but could you explain what these numbers mean?! I re-read everything that was written “before”, but I still didn’t get it. I understand that it shows chord compatible strings, but I don't understand what that means, how to play, etc.
I pray for an answer

Answer: The first string in the picture is higher than the others. The sixth string in the picture is the lowest. The guitar is shown as the guitarist looks at it. Take a guitar and look at it when you play it, that is, when it is in your hands. You will see that this is how we draw a guitar in the picture.

The numbers are where the strings are clamped.

these pictures show GALMATS, that is, those places that are ALLOWED in this case G major (top picture) and G minor (bottom picture)