Summer School & | Concert Programme BA 4th-sth August 1999 ‘Away Newt Artisti Diet Expert tuition in Compesition Pern Casi, Jaz, Contemporary Electric E Cele putarstyles | Special Guest Stars include » Dano Tavevsaunt + Nixa Kosa + Prue Thorse * Dow PartRsow + Gono McParrsaw = G many others AlLinformation available from: Dundee Guite Festival Ofc, 233 Perth Road, Dundee DD: tel 0044 1382 email: hakertso cok webs worsolcouk/a/a.neave/guitarfest The premier guitar festival in the heart of Scotland I nae ek ed Seen eee ees Se Set et ee eee scenic Olymple Peninsula CENTRUM + P.O. Box 1158 Soy ones | bttp:llwww.centrum.org RIVATE BEGINNERS ROCK RHYTHM By David Hamburger FOR translate electric gultar leads to the acoustic guitar without fighting the acoustic’s inherent response and ty] cal setup. This month we'll take a sim lar approach to rhythm guitar. ‘The big myth about blues and rock rhythm guitar is that you have to play barre chords. It’s true that barre chords sound a whole lot different than strum- my, open-position “cowboy chords,” but players (even electric players) rarely hold down all six strings of a barre chord, Most rely on the classic power chord: just the bottom two strings. Another thing to keep in mind is that there’s more to rhythm guitar than just chonking away on a complete chord. The lower wound strings are often beefy enough to carry through as single-note riffs. Double-stops work well if you're playing with another guitar player or a bass player (see “That Second Guitar Part” in “Singer- Songwriter Sidemen,” June °97; also Included in Acoustic Guitar’s book/CD Private Lessons, Vol. 1), And triads— three-note voicings—can be grabbed with three individual fingers and, with sufficient left-hand damping, moved around the neck to create convincing parts. Finally, you can work off of the open strings, especially the low E and A, and uuse a capo to do the rest. Open strings rule on the acoustic guitar; they're your chief tool in generating sustain. And sustain is the key. You don’t have a solid-body instrument or a chiming, ringing amplifier to help you out, so ‘open strings help to pick up the slack. There are really only two ba- sic power/barre chord shapes to move around the neck, A and E, and you can L*: month we looked at ways to LESSONS ?eeaaeee make the most of them by using a capo at various positions. Let's begin by demystifying those barre chords. Here are the two classic barre chord shapes played at the third fret to give you a G chord and a C chord: ¢ Notice the shapes of the chords. If you stare at them long enough, it should become clear that the first chord is basi- cally an E chord moved up to the third fret, with your indexfinger barre acting 1s a capo would to raise the rest of the strings. And the second chord is essen- tially an open-position A chord moved up to the third fret in the same way. Don't worry if you can't get these chords to sound clean right nov. We'll be starting out with the abbrev- jated power chord versions of these voicings: G Cc Ht Play lazy: let the fleshy underside of your fingers rest on the upper strings to mute them as you strum down on the bottom two strings, as in Example I Got all that? Now we're going to drop In the capo to allow us to do more with these sounds than just crank out the root and the fifth (although in some cases, that’s exactly what the situation calls for). By placing a capo at the third fret, we can now get this same voicing with just one finger: Plus, we get an ope? string on the bottom. This lets us play the classic vamp in Example 2a without ‘wrenching our tendons. Although theCapo I (Key of G) Ex.ta Ex. 1b Ex. 2a Ex. 2b Ex.3 G c & A y= —— ts eth 6 sogsss33 Ex, 5a (Nocapo) Ex. Bb Capoill(Key of) Ex. Ga Ex. 6b Ex.7 Cr Ar“This is a disc that will inspire plenty of awe and a heap of jealousy.” - NEW YORK POST Sounds of Wood&Steel2 A WINDHAM HILL COLLECTION The All-Star Guitar Collection Is Back! featuring plus DOYLE DYKES, ELUOT EASTON, STEVE LUKATHER and more! BOOKSELLERS as TP geo Se BARNES NOBLE 2) thet Se ele a Michael ‘and more... ane re re +. — © 1999 worry eat ro he wince il grou utc a Cranaicnennotation now says you're playing an E chord, the capo raises the actual pitch to G (this Is the standard way to notate a capoed part). Try playing this with fand without palm muting. Palm muting is when you rest the soft outer side of your picking hand just where the strings meet the bridge to create a sound that doesn't ring out so much. Example 2b shows another common variation on this basic rhythm riff. Simply move either of these phrases over one string to play them as an A chord (which actually sounds as a C, with the ca po): Example 3 shows one more poss ble variation on this approach. Let's try putting this together into a 12ar blues, Example 4 is a blues in E that combines the various riffs we've learned so far. Since there Is no open bass string for the V chord (B), just play the basic eighth-note downstroke strum for bars 9 and 12. Example 5a comes from a different school of thought. Buddy Guy often played backup parts like this with Junior Wells in the 1960s; it comes from 4 time when guitarists lacking a bass player would comp for one another by imitating bass lines. By capoing at the third fret again, we can use an open string for the lowest note and move up the fretboard to grab the remainder of the line on the heftier fourth and fifth strings, asin Example 5b. This position is good for working out a few chord- based licks as well. In Example 6a, make ‘partial barre with your ring finger across the seventh fret (counting the fret after the capo as one). Next, make another partial barre with your index finger at the fifth fret and hammer on from the minor to the major third (Cato CA) with your second finger on the third String. This classic blues figure has been used countless times. Example 6 shows a way to combine it with an open string-based single-note rhythm riff that lies nicely on the acoustic guitar You may recognize the chord In Example 7 as most of an open-position C7 chord moved up the neck. As with the power chords above, let the soft undersides of your fretting fingers ‘mute the unwanted strings. Example 7 Combines this abbreviated three-note chord voicing with a singlenote bass riff. Example 8 is a 12-bar blues in A. Notice that one of our earlier double- op nfs works well over the V chord In measure 9, while the single-note idea a adapted to the same chord in mea- fut’ 12, Now you're ready for some ious unampilfied grooving. . FREE CATALOG ‘from Theodore Presser Co. & affiliates. Highlights include vw Richard Wernick $5.50 Robert Martin $7.75, Paco de Lucia $37.0 Sor/Romero $15.00 “kndrés Segovia $37.50 DW ASE (Presser 114-4092) TpIaRY OF A SEDUCER, Vol 1 (Merion 144-40281) ewTRE DOs AGUAS (SEEMSA 564-02282). 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