Musiclessonsfl

03/02/2019

Here's something that really helped me get the idea of the Subdominant - Dominiant - Tonic relationship in tonal music. Hope this might be of use to you!

05/04/2018

We'll have our wares at the 1st Friday event at the Tarpon Springs Historical District tonight from 6-10 PM. Come on by and say hi. Check out our musical merch and lets talk music!

04/27/2018

I'm helping a student with a Tom Waits song called "I Hope I Don't Fall in Love with You." This has a spot in the song where the transcriber, probably not a guitarist, misses the guitar harmony in the accompaniment. It is a standard I-IV-V7 progression, but on the V7 chord there is a two beat sus4 that resolves to the G chord third (B) on beat three. The transcriber realizes this as a Gsus7 -G9. What the guitar line is actually doing is more easily thought of in terms of a slash chord (this notation made famous by Steeley Dan) and so the progression at this point is a F/G chord going to the G9, but with a very different fingering/voicing. If you aren't familiar with the slash chord notation, the first letter is the chord and the second is the bass note. A very familiar one might be C/E, telling the guitarist to play a C major chord with an E in the bass. In this case, an F chord with a G in the bass is harmonically a G11 chord with out the 3rd and 5th. So the notes of a G11 chord are G,B, D, F, A, and C. In this slash chord notation the sounded notes on the guitar are G, F, A, C. So when the suspension is resolved the 1 finger lifts up and a lovely 9 chord voicing is rendered very smoothly on beat three. Also, the note A in this voicing in not missed as it is in the suggested sheetmusic G7sus4. Hope this adds to your chord vocabulary. If you'd like the example as a pdf, message me and I'll send you one.

04/24/2018

Back to the Shortnin' Bread tune. Here is the second octave of the A major pentatonic scale that corresponds to the A major chord at the second fret. This is an "at the nut" G major chord shape. Hopefully, from the diagrams at the bottom of the page, you can see this. I like to play this tune at the higher octave and then this octave for a contrast. Great way to learn the scale for two octaves and to see how it relates to the A major chord. A pdf verseion of all this is here: http://musiclessonsfl.com/content/theory/scales/Major%20pentatonic%20scale%20study%20with%20Shortnin'%20Bread.pdf
and more things like this here: http://musiclessonsfl.com/Theory/Music_Essentials.html
This is also a fun alternate picking and speed exercise. Enjoy!

04/16/2018

I've started helping a student with the Creedence Clearwater song Suzie Q. Its a great tune to work on really strict rhythm patterns with licks and leads using the Em pentatonic scale.
At the guitar nut, with maximum open strings it looks like the scale in the pic. The 8 measure chord progression is 4 measures of I7 (E7), then one of IV (A) then the fifth measure is two beats each of VI7 (C7), two beats of V7 (B7) then two measures back on the root E7 chord. -more about that later.
The intro riff is stated once, then repeated throughout the song with a couple variations. That's in the second pic. A pdf version of that scale is here: http://musiclessonsfl.com/Theory/Music_Essentials.html

04/11/2018

This is the A major pentatonic scale, one octave at the fifth fret. It plays over the A major chord at the 5th fret that is shaped like an E major (or F major). From the previous post, there are now two ways to play the melody. Try playing each, and then mix and match between the two scale forms. This will really help to lock it in. There's more of this type material here: http://musiclessonsfl.com/Theory/Music_Essentials.html

04/06/2018

In the foregoing post, the fingerings in red are chord tones. A pdf version of the song is available here: http://tntmusicbox.com/Pages/Freebies.html and the scale in pdf form is available here: http://musiclessonsfl.com/Theory/Music_Essentials.html

Free Blank Sheet Music Templates, Folk songs, music flash cards, Giuliani right hand studies.

04/06/2018

This is a fun fiddle tune to work on major scale runs. Try it first with open strings then go to the second fret and use the scale form shown. This fits over the D chord in a C chord shape. If you aren't familiar with it, add it to your chord vocabulary. After a while it will become on of your favorites. It is a great inside rhythm chord.

04/05/2018

Knowing how triads work on the guitar really helps in harmonizing melodies and seeing how the fret board is connected. The following three major triads, along with their respective scales are a foundation for understanding how the various chord and scale types relate and ultimately, how to make music. Here is a short series on intervals if this sort of thing is interesting to you: http://tntmusicbox.com/Pages/Theory/Intervals/Intervals_1.html

04/04/2018

Here's a folk tune that's great for learning the major pentatonic scale: Shortnin' Bread. It covers one octave and gives the opportunity to play double notes and work on skipping strings. Play it slow then speed it up. Sounds great fast. Learning these scales an octave at a time makes it easier to digest and to see in relation to the chord. Here the A chord is in a G chord shape. This was a favorite voicing by Hendrix. I'll get this up as a pdf soon. If you want lyrics and background on the tune link here: http://tntmusicbox.com/Pages/Folksongs/Shortnin_Bread.html

09/27/2017

Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl is a fun way to introduce yourselves to playing a harmony line a 3rd above the melody line. Here, the melody is on the B string and the harmony is on the E string. When the two notes are one fret apart, you are playing a major third, when they are two frets apart it is a minor third. You can see this difference by playing a D major chord and then a D minor chord. The provided example is in the recorded key, so play along with the recording. Enjoy!

09/21/2017

If you like the tune "Go Down Moses" enough to work on it, please download the pdf version of it here: