S E S S I O N S

Guided by Voicings
B Y D AV E M A C N A B
MY STUDENTS FREQUENTLY
ask me how they can come up
with interesting voicings that
move beyond the standard chord
forms. Here is an exercise I show
them that can be used to generate
a lot of cool new harmonies. Be-
sides being a virtual voicings ma-
chine, this exercise helps my stu-
dents— and me—to understand
the fretboard horizontally (across
the board lengthwise), as opposed
to vertically (across the board
widthwise), the way most chords
and scales are taught.
The exercise goes like this:
First, choose a three-note interval
structure to work with. By this, I
mean choosing how far apart the
two lower notes will be from each
other, and how far apart the high-
er notes will be from each other.
For example, the notes could be
separated by a fifth and a third,
a second and a fourth, a sixth and
a second, and so on, as illustrated
in Ex. 1 . Step two is to choose a
particular scale or mode to use as
you inch your three-note voicing
Ex. 1
up the fretboard.
To start, let’s use the interval
structure of a second and a fourth,
and let’s use the A natural minor
scale—A, B, C, D, E, F, G (E Ex. 2a).
For now, we’ll keep everything on
the second, third, and fourth
strings. Beginning as close to the
nut as possible, our first voicing is
F-G-C (E Ex. 2b). We’ll move this
structure up the neck (from low
position to high) using only the
notes of the A natural minor scale.
F moves up one scale step to G, G
moves to A , and C moves to
D—thus our second voicing is G-
A-D. Continue like this up the neck
until you have played all seven You could do the same using your the four uncommon chord voic-
possible voicings (E Ex. 2c). As you open E or D strings, so long as you ings in Ex. 3.
ascend, you’ll notice that the choose a scale with an E or D root. If you like the sound of the
shapes change subtly: some have You don’t have to limit yourself to voicings we’ve generated in this les-
major seconds while others have voicings with open-string bass son, keep in mind that we’ve barely
minor seconds, and some include notes, however. Any of the three- even scratched the surface. If you
perfect fourths while others have note groups could be combined have a good working knowledge of
augmented fourths. with a fretted bass note to create scales, modes, and intervals, and
I purposely chose a scale with a cool new four-note chord. For in- know your notes on the fretboard,
A as the root so that we can use our stance, if we take the third voicing you can generate a nearly endless
open-A string as a drone below all from Ex. 2c (A-B-E), and fit the bass stock of fresh harmonies. You’re
the voicings—a cool modal effect. notes F, D, C, or G under it, we get bound to come up with some
sounds that will inspire you to write
Ex. 2a Ex. 2b a new piece of music, and you’ll be
expanding your fretboard aware-

A natural minor

       
ness at the same time. g

   

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2 2 2 2 4 1
3 1 4 2 4 1
1 4 1 3 Dave Mac Nab has worked
with Shelby Lynne, Bob Weir, Char-
lie Musselwhite, and others. His
T
3 3 3 6 8 1 own disc, Dave Mac Nab [Noir], was
4 2 5 T 5 7 9 T 0
A 2 5 2 A 7 9 A 3 released in 1999. Mac Nab can be
B B B
contacted at jaznab@yahoo.com.

Ex. 2c Ex. 3
Fmaj7 5  D6/9 Cmaj7/6 G6/9

  
          
2 3

 
2 2 1
2 1 1 1 2 3 3 3
















2 4

1 1 4 1 2

1 4 4 1 2
4 4 4


3 3 4
4 4 2 1
1

1 3 5 6 8 10 12 T
5 5 5 5
T 0 2 4 5 7 9 10 4 4 4 4
A 3 5 7 9 10 12 14 A 7 7 7 7
B B 8 5 3
3

1 5 0 GUITAR PLAYER AUGUST 2001 guitarplayer.com “I used to think that picking every note was all that mattered—I used to be an idiot.” —David Fiuczynski, June ’94 GP