Guitar Theory by Desi Serna Guitar Theory For Dummies® Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Media and software compilation copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013944338 ISBN 978-1-118-64677-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-64687-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-64693-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-64703-5 (ebk) Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Contents at a Glance Introduction ................................................................................1 Part I: Getting Started with Guitar Theory .....................................5 Chapter 1: Guitar Theory in a Nutshell .....................................................................................................7 Chapter 2: Navigating the Fretboard Like a Pro ....................................................................................15 Part II: Working with Chords from the Ground Up ........................33 Chapter 3: Harmonizing the Major Scale to Form Triads and Chords ................................................35 Chapter 4: Forming Chord Shapes with the CAGED System ................................................................41 Chapter 5: Adding Chord Tones and Extensions to Chords ................................................................71 Part III: Getting to Know Keys, Modes, and Chord Progressions .....91 Chapter 6: Playing Chord Progressions by Numbers ............................................................................93 Chapter 7: Knowing Music Inside Out: Identifying Tonics, Keys, and Modes ..................................103 Chapter 8: Following Key Changes ........................................................................................................129 Chapter 9: Dominant Function and Voice Leading ..............................................................................143 Chapter 10: Filling the Gaps with Passing Chords ...............................................................................153 Part IV: Playing Guitar Scales ..................................................165 Chapter 11: Preparing for Riffs and Solos with the Pentatonic Scale ...............................................167 Chapter 12: Playing Music’s Primary Melody Maker: The Major Scale ............................................187 Chapter 13: Playing in Modes and Using Modal Scale Patterns .........................................................205 Chapter 14: Exploring New Patterns with the Harmonic Minor Scale ..............................................225 Chapter 15: Playing the Blues ................................................................................................................239 Part V: Part of Tens .................................................................251 Chapter 16: Ten Guitar Songs Worth Learning ....................................................................................253 Chapter 17: Ten Sample Scale Applications .........................................................................................265 Chapter 18: Tens Ways to Put Theory into Practice ...........................................................................269 Appendix: Audio Tracks and Video Clips ....................................273 Index ......................................................................................277 Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................1 About This Book ........................................................................................................................1 Foolish Assumptions .................................................................................................................2 Icons Used in This Book ...........................................................................................................3 Beyond the Book .......................................................................................................................3 Where to Go from Here .............................................................................................................3 Part I: Getting Started with Guitar Theory ......................................5 Chapter 1: Guitar Theory in a Nutshell ...............................................................................7 Why Learn Guitar Theory? .......................................................................................................7 Navigating the Fretboard ..........................................................................................................8 Seeing the fretboard as a grid ........................................................................................8 Viewing neck diagrams ...................................................................................................8 Reading guitar tablature ...............................................................................................10 Playing Scales ...........................................................................................................................11 Pentatonic scale .............................................................................................................11 Major scale......................................................................................................................12 Modes ..............................................................................................................................12 Harmonic minor scale ...................................................................................................12 Working with Chords ..............................................................................................................12 CAGED chord system ....................................................................................................12 Adding chord tones and extensions ............................................................................13 Passing chords ...............................................................................................................13 Charting chord progressions .......................................................................................13 Testing Your Guitar Theory Knowledge ...............................................................................13 Chapter 2: Navigating the Fretboard Like a Pro ..............................................................15 Tracing Everything Back to Strings 6 and 5 .........................................................................16 Moving between pitches with whole steps and half steps .......................................18 Naming the pitches between natural notes: Sharps and flats ..................................18 Grouping notes ...............................................................................................................20 Tracking Notes and Playing Songs with Octaves ................................................................22 Shaping octaves with your 1st finger on strings 6 and 5 ..........................................23 Shaping octaves with your 1st finger on strings 4 and 3 ..........................................24 Shaping octaves that are three strings apart .............................................................24 Repeating octaves beyond the 12th fret .....................................................................24 Measuring the Space between Pitches with Intervals ........................................................26 Playing intervals 1 through 7........................................................................................27 Filling in the gaps with flats and sharps .....................................................................30 vi Guitar Theory For Dummies Part II: Working with Chords from the Ground Up .........................33 Chapter 3: Harmonizing the Major Scale to Form Triads and Chords ........................35 Building Triads and Chords ...................................................................................................35 Major triad: Building from the 1st scale degree of the major scale ........................36 Minor triad: Building from the 2nd scale degree of the major scale .......................37 Playing through the Seven Triads of the Major Scale .........................................................38 Playing the Chord Sequence of the Major Scale ..................................................................39 Chapter 4: Forming Chord Shapes with the CAGED System .........................................41 Making Chord Inversions and Chord Voicings ....................................................................41 Using the C Form .....................................................................................................................42 Using the C form as a moveable barre chord .............................................................43 Playing a C form arpeggio pattern ...............................................................................45 Playing C form chord voicings .....................................................................................46 Using the A Form .....................................................................................................................49 Using the G Form .....................................................................................................................51 Using the E Form ......................................................................................................................53 Using the D Form .....................................................................................................................55 Connecting the Five CAGED Forms .......................................................................................57 Starting on C ...................................................................................................................57 Starting on A ...................................................................................................................59 Starting on G ...................................................................................................................60 Starting on E ...................................................................................................................61 Starting on D ...................................................................................................................62 Sample CAGED Chord Changes .............................................................................................63 Playing Minor CAGED Forms ..................................................................................................65 Playing the C minor form ..............................................................................................65 Playing the A minor form ..............................................................................................65 Playing the G minor form ..............................................................................................66 Playing the E minor form ..............................................................................................66 Playing the D minor form ..............................................................................................67 Connecting the Five Minor CAGED Forms ............................................................................67 Minor CAGED Chord Changes ................................................................................................69 Chapter 5: Adding Chord Tones and Extensions to Chords ..........................................71 About Chord Tones and Extensions .....................................................................................71 Adding 7ths to the Major Scale Chords ................................................................................73 Playing major and minor 7th chords ...........................................................................77 Playing dominant 7th chords .......................................................................................79 Playing minor 7th flat 5 chords ....................................................................................80 Working with 2nds and 9ths ...................................................................................................81 Sus2 chords ....................................................................................................................81 Add9 chords ...................................................................................................................81 Minor chords with 2nds and 9ths ................................................................................82 9th chords .......................................................................................................................84 Working with 4ths and 11ths .................................................................................................85 Sus4 chords ....................................................................................................................85 Add4 chords ...................................................................................................................85 Playing 6th Chords and Blues Shuffles .................................................................................86 Adding Harmony with Pedal Point ........................................................................................88 Playing Pedal Tones with Two Guitars .................................................................................89 vii Table of Contents Part III: Getting to Know Keys, Modes, and Chord Progressions .....91 Chapter 6: Playing Chord Progressions by Numbers .....................................................93 Drawing Chord Progressions from the Major Scale ............................................................93 Using Roman Numerals to Represent Chords .....................................................................94 Visualizing Numbers on the Fretboard .................................................................................94 Transposing to New Keys .......................................................................................................95 Playing Common Chord Progressions ..................................................................................96 Playing I-IV-V chord progressions ...............................................................................97 Playing major chord progressions ..............................................................................98 Adding minor chords ii, iii, and vi ...............................................................................98 Playing minor chord progressions ..............................................................................98 Starting Numbers on the 5th String .......................................................................................99 Playing Chord Progressions with Open Chords ................................................................102 Chapter 7: Knowing Music Inside Out: Identifying Tonics, Keys, and Modes ........103 Understanding the Relationship between Major and Minor Scales ................................103 Numbering the Relative Minor .............................................................................................104 Accounting for any interval changes .........................................................................105 Looking at a few minor key song examples ..............................................................107 Identifying the Modes of the Major Scale ...........................................................................109 Ionian (I) ........................................................................................................................109 Dorian (ii) ......................................................................................................................110 Phrygian (iii) .................................................................................................................114 Lydian (IV) ....................................................................................................................117 Mixolydian (V) ..............................................................................................................121 Aeolian (vi) ...................................................................................................................124 Locrian (vii5) ...............................................................................................................124 Key Signatures and Common Discrepancies .....................................................................124 Looking past the key signature to figure out a song’s mode..................................125 Considering some common discrepancies in music notation ...............................126 Comparing Scale Formulas and Structures ........................................................................127 Chapter 8: Following Key Changes .................................................................................129 Getting to Know Key Changes by Switching Tonics within a Scale ................................129 Switching between relative major and minor ..........................................................130 Switching between other scale degrees ....................................................................130 Transposing a Progression ...................................................................................................130 Changing Key and Progression ............................................................................................132 Using Modal Interchange and Borrowed Chords ..............................................................133 Playing modal interchanges .......................................................................................133 Playing minor modal interchanges ............................................................................136 Using the Circle of Fifths for Circle Progressions .............................................................138 Applying the same circle to fourths ..........................................................................139 Seeing circle progressions in action..........................................................................140 Chapter 9: Dominant Function and Voice Leading .......................................................143 Chord Function and the Dominant Chord ..........................................................................143 Leading with the leading tone ....................................................................................144 Tension rises with a tritone ........................................................................................144 Playing songs with dominant function ......................................................................145 viii Guitar Theory For Dummies Secondary Dominants ...........................................................................................................146 Drawing attention to some common secondary dominants ..................................146 Thinking of secondary dominants as mini key changes .........................................147 Songs that use secondary dominants .......................................................................149 Voice Leading .........................................................................................................................150 Chapter 10: Filling the Gaps with Passing Chords .......................................................153 Getting to Know Chromatic Passing Chords ......................................................................153 Passing chords in blues ..............................................................................................154 We gonna get funky .....................................................................................................156 Chromatic ch-ch-ch-ch-changes .................................................................................156 Getting to Know Diminished Chords ...................................................................................156 Fingering diminished chord shapes ..........................................................................157 Playing diminished 7th chord inversions .................................................................158 Using diminished 7ths as passing chords ................................................................158 Substituting diminished 7th chords for dominant 7th chords ..............................160 Playing Augmented Chords ..................................................................................................160 Playing augmented chord inversions ........................................................................161 Using augmented chords for dominant function .....................................................161 Using augmented chords in voice leading ................................................................162 Part IV: Playing Guitar Scales ...................................................165 Chapter 11: Preparing for Riffs and Solos with the Pentatonic Scale .....................167 Getting to Know the Pentatonic Scale .................................................................................167 Covering the Fretboard with the Pentatonic Scale ...........................................................168 Starting with pattern 1 ................................................................................................168 Playing pentatonic pattern 2 ......................................................................................170 Playing pentatonic pattern 3 ......................................................................................172 Playing pentatonic pattern 4 ......................................................................................172 Finishing up with pentatonic pattern 5 .....................................................................173 Connecting all the patterns ........................................................................................174 Using the Pentatonic Scale as Major and Minor ................................................................175 Playing the Pentatonic Scale in Other Keys .......................................................................179 Playing in F minor and A ............................................................................................179 Playing in F minor and A major.................................................................................180 Playing in G minor and B major ................................................................................181 Playing in G minor and B major and other keys .....................................................182 Playing in A minor and C major .................................................................................182 Applying the Pentatonic Scale .............................................................................................184 Chapter 12: Playing Music’s Primary Melody Maker: The Major Scale .................187 Getting Familiar with the Major Scale .................................................................................187 Playing the Major Scale as Five Smaller Patterns ..............................................................190 Breaking down the G major scale ..............................................................................191 Focusing on fingering ..................................................................................................193 Connecting the five patterns to cover the whole fretboard ...................................194 Practicing the Major Scale without Getting Bored ............................................................194 Playing along with accompaniment ...........................................................................196 Adding minor notes and patterns ..............................................................................196 Transposing the major scale to new keys ................................................................197 Applying the Major Scale ......................................................................................................200 Playing Three-Notes-Per-String Patterns ............................................................................201