Lesson 7 - Tension and Resolution

- Hello and welcome to Lesson 7, so once we've, now, started to do call and answers
on the first three strings, let's take a quick break, look at the guitar, and talk about some of
the quirks of the major scale. Remember how in the C major scale, we have these two half
steps between E and F, and B and C, right? So far, we've been using them as simple
landmarks to help us situate the rest of the natural notes, but these landmarks also have a
musical significance. They have musical tendencies, and they make the major scale sound
like the major scale. This is what it's like to have half steps. Remember how I told you just to
follow your ears in the exercises and play the natural tendencies of the scale, just play things
that sounded good to you. Certain notes of the major scale have a strong pull towards other
notes, and that's because of how close they are to each other relative to other, so if you've
ever landed on and F note, or a B note, while you do this when improvising with each other,
earlier, especially before playing the C chord, you might have felt as though those notes felt
more tense and they wanted to move, or they might not have felt like a natural resting place
for your phrase. The C chord that we're playing is made up of three different notes: C, E, and
G, and notice how those notes, C and E, make up the other halves of those half steps in
there. The C major scale, because F and B are extremely close to E, sorry, F and B are really
close to B and C. That creates a tension, so not too much theory on this. I want you to be
aware that the half steps have a pull. We often refer to this feeling as a tension and
resolution, so this is tension, this is resolution. This is tension, this is resolution, and listeners
experience the resolution when F falls to E. The third note of the scale, we call this a 4-3
resolution. Likewise, there's tension when you play a B note, the seventh note of the C
major scale, and listeners experience a resolution to B and C. It's like singing. That's called a
7-1 resolution. These half steps resolutions between the four and third, so four to three and
seven and one, drive much of the Western harmony, honestly, the classical music, and
especially jazz harmony. I cannot stress enough how important it is to notice these tension,
as well as the natural inclinations of other notes on the scale. You can spend hours with the
flashcards, and saying note names out loud, and memorizing key signatures, or doing ear
training with softwares out loud and playing scales and using backing tracks, but you really
only going to memorize and master the notes on your fretboard by understanding the
unique characters, the unique character, of each individual note. The E and F of the major
scale, once again, have a unique relationship, as do the B and C, and the sooner you start
recognizing the sound and personalities of these notes, rather than just their name or visual
location with your eyes, once again, the faster you conquer the guitar and be able to
improvise in other contexts that are not a static C major. We still have the training wheels
on. When there's a chord progression, you will not see this as clearly, but it's still there,
underneath. With this perspective, now, let's go on to work on the last three strings on the
guitar, and do your call and answer. Try to keep in mind what we just talked about when
you hit an F or a B, you will feel it resolve and perhaps, now, start to notice it.