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Location: Whitecourt, Ab | When playing a song I like to add a little lead in unique to that song. I don't always want to copy the original writer or performer's lick or lead in note for note so I sometimes add a little something fun (spelled easier).
My question is should the last part end in the key to start the song, or should it end one note or part of the progression before the key.
Its always hit and miss for me. Sometimes ending in the key sounds ok other times...not so |
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Location: Utah | Something that fits. Trust your ear.
Copy a main theme from somewhere in the song, part of the melody, part of an instrumental solo, part of a chord progression, etc. Every song is unique, so I say don't use rules, use your ear. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Maybe the last bar or two of the chorus will provide you with an idea. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Few rules. Same key, but not necesarily the same note. |
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Location: NJ | start and end on the tonic and you will never go wrong |
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Location: Whitecourt, Ab | Thanks for all the help |
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Location: Chicago | The most common "lead-in" involves the V7 or dominant chord. Say the tune is in E major: make your lick or chord whatever sounds right but END the intro on a B7 or the chord tones that spell out that chord (B D# F# A, especially the D# and A; throw in a C natural for color). The "FIVE chord" is a always a good last stop before you start on the ONE of your tune, the TONIC or "home base." Thus: If the key is C, the V chord is G7; if the key is A, the V chord is E7; If the key is G, the V chord is D7 etc etc. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Good advice, Dobro. The V chord is also commonly used to transition from one key to another. For instance, you've played a few stanzas in TONIC D, then use B7 to modulate to TONIC E (where B7 serves as the V chord for the key of E). |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | After 3 lessons, I'm just starting to figure out what you guys are talking about. Should have started lessons years ago. Next week I'll have to ask what tonic means. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Something you mix with vodka or gin, I think. |
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| Tonic is the note of a scale considered the most important, or tonal center. People often confuse it with the root, which is only true for the triad formed by the first scale degree.
Confused? If you're playing a I IV V progression in the key of C major, then the tonic is C (same as the root of I), while IV is the subdominant (with the root F) and V is the dominant (with the root G).
At least that's my understanding. Folks here with a better grounding in theory will correct me, I'm sure. |
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Location: Newington, CT | I need some reminder for all of dobro's and Prof's and G8r's erudition. Something oddly facetious, yet with old wisdom to remind me...yes, that's it: an ironic, sardonic, platonic tonic mnemonic. |
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Location: closely held secret | Now you can put it to music. Make sure it has a Bbm7aug in it. |
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Location: Flahdaw | V chord? I thought it only went to G? God, no wonder I've plateaued. |
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Location: Chicago | I thought I was speaking plainly. Hell, I remember a "blues guitar" seminar with Larry Carlton in SF where he talked like this to a pretty basic crowd: "To spice up the turnaround just use the usual ramp by running diminished arps off the seven or flat nine of the five... For a minor key, the jazz minor works nice there too, but remember that the alt dom on the five does not actually include the "one" so be sure to land gracefully; also... I recommend a quick chordal sketch of the two min7b5 (if you're looking at a two-five at that point."
Any questions? |
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Location: Suisun City, Ca | Originally posted by dobro:
The most common "lead-in" involves the V7 or dominant chord. Say the tune is in E major: make your lick or chord whatever sounds right but END the intro on a B7 or the chord tones that spell out that chord (B D# F# A, especially the D# and A; throw in a C natural for color). The "FIVE chord" is a always a good last stop before you start on the ONE of your tune, the TONIC or "home base." Thus: If the key is C, the V chord is G7; if the key is A, the V chord is E7; If the key is G, the V chord is D7 etc etc. Oh well, at least I've always got astronomy!
I'm more of a "monkey see, monkey do" kinda guy... |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by dobro:
I thought I was speaking plainly. Hell, I remember a "blues guitar" seminar with Larry Carlton in SF where he talked like this to a pretty basic crowd: "To spice up the turnaround just use the usual ramp by running diminished arps off the seven or flat nine of the five... For a minor key, the jazz minor works nice there too, but remember that the alt dom on the five does not actually include the "one" so be sure to land gracefully; also... I recommend a quick chordal sketch of the two min7b5 (if you're looking at a two-five at that point."
Any questions? Yes.
Several. |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by G8r:
Tonic is the note of a scale considered the most important, or tonal center. People often confuse it with the root, which is only true for the triad formed by the first scale degree.
Nope. "Tonic" or "Root" or "Root Note" are the same thing. Doesn't matter if it's a chord or scale, it's the same thing. In your example the Key is C, and the root or tonic is C. The F and G chords have F and G repectively as their root or tonic note, but as it is all in this case derived from the key of C the tonic of the key is C. However when soloing you may want to target chord tones, therefore knowing the tonic and subsequent scale degrees of specific chords is important. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | This stuff is fascinating to me. I don't really understand it anymore now than I did at Matt's workshops at Amelia. But I have good ears and have memorized the fretboard well enough to know what note to play and when to play it based on the lick that I hear in my head, most of which I simply ad lib as I go. As Matt said, if you can hear the lick in your head and sing it, then you should be able to play it. This made the most significant impact on me from everything else we learned in those workshops. I certainly don't profess to be in Matt's or Temp's skill league (or most others for that matter), but I do understand this concept and am maximizing it to the extent possible playing lead in the band. They think I'm good. I just think I'm making it up as I go because I can hear it and know the fretboard. Whatever the theory, Matt's advice works. For me, it is the reason why good lead players can add great lead licks on top of anything at anytime. With a looper, I can can lay down rhythm tracks, play them back in a loop, and then practice my leads for literally hours. I find this to be a very beneficial and fun use of practice time. |
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| See? I knew someone with better understanding than me would chime in. Thanks Paul. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I understood what Paul said. Scary. Maybe those 3 music lessons worked. |
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Location: SoCal | Temp's a pretty damned good teacher. My biggest problem with him is that he gives me great information that makes so much sense at the time, but I end up in information overload (pretty easy for me to get there)..... |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | My guitar teacher drew a chart with Roman Numerals across the top and I said, "so that's what those guys were talking about." I got out a songbook and found a bunch of I,IV,V songs and started transposing them to different keys. It was like Helen Keller feeling the water. |
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Location: Whitecourt, Ab | Wow this board is a wealth of information!Lots of great ideas to try now. If only I understood half of it... |
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what key?
