___‘THE STAGGER CONCEPT " GENERAL REMARKSBASIC EXPLANATION “The principle ofthe stagger concept is based on the use ofthe natural tones/steps ofthe scale, (aby wid najator minor, Used together in varying relationships and positions to each other to form chord voicings. “The purpose of the stagger concept isto be able to trace various voicings and relate them to the scales, tats doing find all of he rlaves of those vicings — the resus are always intresting and very informative. Here isa good basic example: ‘When the lower “C” in this““C* chord is staggered ‘becomes a "C” major seventh with the seventh in the Tocked voicing down the scale while making sure = the top voice must go from "C” down to “C” next must go from “E” to “E” and the bottom voice must go from ‘The result of the one note stagger produces some ‘and of course, the third step, which is four_ When working with three voices, use three strips, four voices four strips ete. The numbers can be "extended for Wider range if necessary. | When the strips /one above the other there ino stagger, no chordal voicing, eeccc see ee i ‘inversions” — ‘The first inversion tonic triad would read this way; Ifthe upper two voices were staggered one step up, the reading would be;fees i4 5 6°87 Spaiesmee ying 7) 9) 10 11, .12..13 15 1 M12 13 14 45 4eS E607. 1 13 14 15GENERAL REMARKS ‘As has been mentioned, in using the stagger principle any chord can be traced and therefore related to Seine scale, and in the process old fiend” chords show up, chords that all players know regardless of thom long they've been playing. Only now the player will have the advantage of knowing where the voic ing has Been, where its atthe moment (in te scale) and where itis going, or where it cam go == “These “old friend” chords take on a new dimension, a new look, and most importantly, a new Harmonicaly, this provides a better, deeper understanding of voicing, voice leading, and the relationships of the notes to one ancther. ‘Voices in a harmonized passage, using this line of thought actually become more like ‘rather than just block harmony. By experimenting with the concept carefully, many new and different experiments can produce some rather surprising voicings, but now they ‘make harmonic sense continuity-wise, aioli ‘A chord that has been staggered, can become the base for further be staggered, ete, ete. — 2 ‘with all kinds of voicings open end closed, ‘other words, when all ofthe tones have been stage = Stagger the notes up, and/or dawn, snake sue to"eeze™ the voicingbasic simple basic staggers the names/symbols change quite a bit. Here are three examples using just the three first steps ofthe “C” scale in first inversion triads. ee ‘By staggering one voice at aime jst one step up the seal, notice what happens othe symbols on the “second and third steps: ai within Sa ba 2.08 c D as acc bi ma fe = Ss < e arf > |_TOPTONE UP | TOP & MID TONE UPONE STEP(3 BASIC EXAMPLES) ‘The upper voices can be placed in minor modes while keeping the bass in major, The lower voice ean placed in miner modes while Keping the uper voices major, et. experiment, mix them here area Tok vaice Lv Ch msToR FT owe Famiy -Lawsa 3 Voices iv C Mazon,TET, ‘clearly demonstrate how much simple staggers can affect basic harmonic ‘In the first bar of each example, the lower three notes represent an “A” minor second inversion triad with the mile one “A” staggered one step up the scale to” — then the frozen voicing i taken ‘dow the scale. The lower thre voices remain the sare in each example. In example one, the key note “A” is added above the staggered triad and then descends down the scale. ia : Ssmn OR AnD MUR AbD AB Fok MELODIC INR. aeAa Al Foe meveore minek aga= eee ‘Number 25 in major requires quite long finger spreads — 25 in minor requires even longer spread hhowever, try to play them both. If they are too long, 25 A & B contain the very same harmonic information and notation, except that the notes are sounded in arpeggio form. = % S 2= eee ‘Number 25 in major requires quite long finger spreads — 25 in minor requires even longer spread hhowever, try to play them both. If they are too long, 25 A & B contain the very same harmonic information and notation, except that the notes are sounded in arpeggio form. = % S 2STAGGER EXAMPLES : masoR AND MINORATOR AND MINORvo 15 16 17 1919 80 At Be ates 67 820 81D TALLTHE Vo1e ES INTHE ABOVE EXAMPLE CAW BE PLAYED AS SHowH AELOW=! iM da 8. «= haeeges! ‘ 7 3 4] al z 338 = a ysUse AND mINOR,re pee = Se eta ese nth sre. corner oe pust! Voice morion=AGGER CONCEPT _ REMARKS