A lost iignny, Brean Ie sson arp armonics eavenly and | Ee armonies ful of guitarists who never achieve ‘Widespread public acl, but who ste held inawe by pee industry insiders, and knowledgeable fans. Guitar stu lens ofall ages and skill levels make the pilgrimage to smoky bars and cramped apartments t absorb 6stting Jor from dese shadowy figures. Swap ping stories and tapes, students devel- ‘op an informal, underground school natcaiyy6 curTax raver 67base! on te ideas and techniques of such reclusive guitar gurus High on the list ofleg- ‘endary low-profile jazz-guitarsavants are ‘Ted Greene, Mick Goodrick, and the late Lenny Breau. ‘Lenny lived and played in relative ob- scurity. His bohemian and often self-de~ -structivlitestyle prevented him from hav ing career commensurate with his abil- ities Questions stl surround his untimely death at age 43. Most wh heard Breau per- ‘orm felt his prodigious alent was never ad ‘equately captured on a smattering of com- ‘mercial releases, His ideas, however, con- tinue to be embraced and developed by ‘others, and in that sense, his music and legacy ve on. Listen to Steve Masakowsk! A lost lenny Breau Les: and Philip deGruy to bear two contempo- ‘ary players who acknowledge their debt to Breauand his 7-string, ‘OnDecember 13,1882, 10oka private lesson from Lenny in his Nashville apar ‘ment, The following materlal is extracted from my 90-minute tape of the event. ex plore how Breau used harmonics to convert standard guitar chordsinto piano-ike els tersand how he handled quartal voieings. (Well investigate Breau’ intriguing single note concepts in future Sessions lessons.) ‘Lenny possessed the rare ability oe duce complex techniques and theories t0 their essonce. He wasas gifted a teacher as, hhewas a performer. Lenny was the undisputed harmonics champ. In adition to rippling harp-har- ‘monie arpeggios~a technique he docu- _mented ins e808 GPeolumns teat ‘as fon of evicing chon by playing one ofthe lower notes as an octave harmonic. “Take Cmaj7, for example, he explained. “Ili G the root, up an octave so itsahalf- step higher dian the 7. Itbecomes more of cluster: Ifyou dont use harmonics custers ‘canbe dificult oft, especially when youte ‘moving around the fretboard.” First play the Cinaj7in Fx. 1a, picking ‘with your thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers. Nex using your picking hand index finger lightly touch the fith string over the ‘Hlarmonicharmony.a fngesiyleplayes, 15th fet. Puck the note with your pick (e) Cmaj7 Ebmay7 obmaj7 Fray Obmaj7 Dmai7 cmajz cma 668 GUITARPLAYER, MARCH i996hand thumb, This yields a Charmonic 12 frets—one octave—higher than the original rd- fet C(Ex. 1b) and produces close piano-like voicing (Bx. 1¢). Since two fingers are required tosound the harmonic, youl need to use your pinky o pick the highest note Ex. Ld illstrates the sete this major-7th ‘chord would require fyou didnt uses harmonic. While Breau's harmonic revoieing technique places less demand on the fretting hand, it re- quires more effort from your picking hand. To develop quick and accurate ‘point-and-pluck harmonics and strengthen your picking pinky, practice transposing the new voicing asin EX. Le Breau advised, “You have to be careful not ‘o pik the feted strings too hard or they cover Up the harmonic. like when the harmonic comes in asplitsecond after the rest ofthe chord. Irstands out bit. k’sa way to balance things” ‘Here are thee picking patterns Breau used to let harmonies breathe. In Ex. 2a, the -ootnow an octave harmonie—follows on the heels ofthe fretted 7, creating a ringing minor second meladicinterval, Rememberto tse your pinky to pluck the highest note. Ex. 2b isa quick ‘backward arpegio dat ends withthe harmonic. In B-2c play the minor second asastand-alone Jarmonicinteral, Work on each ofthese ech- ‘niques while moving the major-7th cluster up ‘and down the fretboard, Breau like! lacing minor 11th chords with harmonics. "To get a GmiJ1," he said, "barre straight aross the neck atthe dl fee (.3a ‘The 11 is C1 play the Gharmonic on the sith ‘ng with the next three notes—C,F Bk Then repeat that on the next-higher string group. ‘You just go four, four, and four (Fx. 8b]. 1s ‘amazing all the different sounds you ean get g this technique, things you could never reach, Like, it tough to fret Gat Land get the ‘Cand By together. By going withthe harmonic, you're playing a voicing that’s not a guitar ‘chord.” Play Fx 3b slowiy. For maximum sus- tain, don't relax your index barre as you work across the strings "Not only do you get esters from this mi nor 11," Lenny pointed out, “it gives you the freedom to playaline on top [Ex 4]. Whenever you have a free finger, experiment by adding ‘melody over a sustained cluster. Theresa whole \worl in thar technique alone. To strengthen your fret-hand pinky and develop Indepen- ‘dence, move Ex 4 up and down the neck in mi nor thirds—B5m, Dr, Fm, et iyg6 CUTAR PATER 69reau lesson “Tm always looking for unusual voicings” ‘Lenny said "For instance, play an Elke this (Ex. 5a) and anpeggiate it with moving har ‘monies (Ex.5b). Thetes Diriad on top—isnit ‘hata hip voicing? Let the interval ing against cach other They sound ike litle chon in em selves, got into this by listening to piano play rs, particularly Bil Evans.” Open strings. Lenny often used open strings to color his chords, as in Ex. 6. Mem ‘orize each bar’ chord form, and then add har- ‘monies for a real treat, Certain open-strng voicings automatically reduce ascending and descending intervals 4s you strum sequentially across the strings. Breau would take advantage ofthis phenom. ‘enon, as in Ex. 7 Am, Notice how in beat 10 the minor second descends, eventhough youte ‘moving from low to high strings. Conversely, Breau would often stagger his arpeggio to create jagged melodies and interval jumps. In Fx.8, for instance, he skips from the ‘th wo the second string, leaping major ninth, He fllows this witha minor second—the small. est possible interval. Mixing open stings with ‘harmonies, as in this example, offers a mind- boggling array of voicing possiblities and aife- time ofstudy Asked ithe developed his harmon- Emo Emi Jc approach scientifically rift simply evolved from late-night treasure hunts, Breau replied, “Like hunting, I didnt write chords down oF ‘make any notes. Ijust keep it in my head.” [Bx.9 shows how Breau would combinea G ‘major pentatonic scale (bar 1) with an 9 ‘Cool threods, cool Stra n is teens country pier Breau toured and performed as Lone Pine, Jr. Emo) 170 GUITAR PLAYER MARCH 996 ETOnr ru available ! 1800 +222 «3399arpergio (bar 2) to jam overan £m, Lenny suggested, “Instead offust ran- ning the pentatonic scale, usea patter ike this to make itsound good. Play slowly and listen to each note. Hear the effect each scale tone has ‘against the chord Ravi Shankar talks about the importance afone note. Know youte playing the. Playa nice Jong 4" Watch the slurs in this ick strategically placed hammers and pulls provide momentum and interest. "in jazz” Lenny continued, “you often hear pentatonics played against chords woiced in fourths. For example, instead of harmonizing a Cscale {in thirds (Ex. 10a}, harmonlze icin fourths (Ex. 0b}. You're playing the scale along each string, but fourth apart. McCoy Tyner plays chords like these with his left hand and solos against tem with is right. Tha’ ‘what makes the sound, Sometimes hed arpeggiate these chords to create lines. fyoutre blowing over Em, play this to sound outside (Es. Bx. 12 demonstrates the kind of quaral(fourth-based) chords Breau ‘would use for G7r G13. Chord tones abound, but in a harmonically ae. biguous context. Without thirds, there’ no major or minor tonality This abstract seating lets you play non-diatonie clusters half-step away from diatonic ones, as at the start of bar 4, "You can getaway With i," Bt ‘1 around with halfstep approaches to create tension.” se 12 (ar) ARCH i996 GUITAR PLAYER 7A lost lenny Breau lesson ‘Tobecome versed in quartalharmony, played against put youin Aeolian [Ex. picka key—say, C—and build chords in 14) Itreallystartssoundlnglike ane John fourths from each seale tone (C-F-Bp, D- Coltrane] when you gt into the £ Phrygian ©C.E-A-D, etc). Work these chords out mode. Try superimposing a Gpentatonic fon the three highest three-string groups, pattern fasin Ex 8] over this two-bar pro: -1,4-3-2,5-4-3, Listen for timbral gression [Ex 15)" differences when you play thesamevoic- ___‘Newrtrf In three-note quartal chords, ingson diferent sting groups. Also notice the top and bottom tones are a seventh how a voicing’s shape changes from one apart, Using Broaulsoctav-harmonic tech string group tothe next. Overtime, work nique, why'notralse the lowest note, revolc: through otherkeys. Ingthe chord so ithasasecond on top? Ex. Use fourths harmony in modal music” _ploringthisbrave new world of octave-har- Lenny sad Say wel in Cagain, Listen to moniequartal harmony should keep you those fourth chords against each note in offthe streets for atleast afew months. the Cscale,Liketo playin Dorian, make Thanks, Lenny for your inspiration, Rest ‘Dibetonal center [Bx 13).Thesamechors in peace. a a The early days: Lenny thumbpicke @ Martin D-28 flat-top. mt "6% A Aeolian ' je E = bes Jesone epnygian EO RRL EVE 1-800 -222 «3399