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"Guitar Lessons" by Bob Taylor - a good read

3/27/2011

Just finished Bob Taylor's new book, "Guitar Lessons," which is his overview of the development of his company, Taylor Guitars. Guitarists should consider it almost required reading not only as an interesting story of the rise of Taylor to become the second largest maker of premium guitars in the world but also from a pure grow-a-business perspective.

Taylor describes himself as a tinkerer, someone who always was fascinated with the way things work. He claims to be much more interested in making guitars than actually playing them. One thing is for certain - Bob Taylor was and is a very savvy businessman. Because of this, and all it implies, it's no secret that he has detractors in the guitar world. Is this fair? I don't think so.

Many acoustic guitarists get all misty eyed and not a little envious when they talk about the solitary craftsman, carving and cutting and sanding away to make guitars that are somehow endowed with almost magical qualities. While there are certainly more than a few of these types of luthiers out there, it can be somewhat uncomfortable and not nearly as romantic to think of guitar making as a business with employees, problems with suppliers, competition in the marketplace and the fickle nature of the guitar buying public. Taylor "got it" early on and the result was going from a tiny shop that could barely produce a guitar or two every other week to a successful factory employing over 700 people in California and half that many just over the border in Mexico, shipping almost 500 guitars a week.

I found Taylor's description of evolving relationships with his employees absolutely fascinating. He recounts an incident that opened his eyes about the necessity of defining the worker/employer synergy. It was his habit to host a large picnic every summer at his home for all his employees. This event grew as the company did and one summer, after spending days preparing and of course paying for the event - attended by the workers' families too - he overheard one of them say something to the effect of: "Well, I guess this is where my raise went."

You can almost hear his hurt and then resolve as he realized the days of trying to be a buddy AND a boss had come to an end. I have seen similar incidents in a few other businesses as they grew and my guess is that this bitter pill must be swallowed by just about every boss at some point in time. Taylor then goes on to describe how he and other top people at his company learned to train and educate his employees, define their expectations and make sure discontent could not grow without being dealt with.

He is very candid about problems with production as the company evolved and I think the thing that impressed me the most was his willingness to try new construction techniques while still being aware of the importance of producing guitars that were at the same time traditional and modern. Durable finishes, neck connections that allow for quick and easy reset and adjustment, neck shapes that would appeal to both acoustic players and electric guitars who were used to much lower, faster action - these innovations and many more made guitarists take notice.

Meanwhile, Martin guitar company remained the largest manufacturer of high quality guitars, made in the USA. In spite of Chris Martin IV taking control of the company at a point in its history when the challenges were huge and Martin's reputation was slipping, and turning things around, Martin still seemed to be relying on antiquated designs and construction techniques. Their attitude seemed to be: Look, we haven't been around since 1833 for no reason. We make wonderful instruments and if you can't deal with having to pay hundreds of dollars for a neck reset due to our use of the traditional dovetail neck joint, well, that's just too bad.

It is obvious when reading "Guitar Lessons" that Bob Taylor took aim at Martin early on. He is effusive in his praise of their instruments but knew there was room for another builder of fine American guitars, ones that addressed some of the issues players had with Martins. And there is no question he succeeded.

If you have any doubt about this, take a look at the new Performing Artist series from Martin. Look at the body shapes and look at the pickguard. Kind of reminds you of a..... well, you know. Check out the Fishman Aura electronics. You have to wonder if Chris's grandfather would have approved!

For my part, I have come around completely on Taylors. The first few I played some years ago didn't seem to have any complexity of tone and were way too treble-ly for my tastes. But then about a year ago I began to see and play Taylors that that sounded great, and played like a dream. The fit and finish was superb and the use of interesting tone woods like Nigerian Satinwood, walnut and others were striking to the eye. Then I purchased a 2001 Taylor 810. This series from Taylor is a direct imitation (or perhaps, tribute?) to Martin's venerable Dreadnaughts. If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I have been a huge Martin fan for decades and have owned many, many Martin dreads. But you know what? This 810 blows just about every Martin dread I've ever played or owned right out of the water. Not only does it have deep, resonant bass but it has the signature sparkly treble that Taylors are famous for. I know I'd probably be laughed out of the local picking parlor if I showed up with it for a bluegrass jam but who cares? It is truly an exceptional guitar in every way.

I'm sure Bob Taylor will continue to be controversial. I've heard that he doesn't pay his workers very well and that he is absolutely dictatorial with his dealers. True or not, it is fact Be that as it may, many Taylor guitars are world class instruments and deserve a serious look by any guitarist who knows the value of tone, playability and looks.

Pick up a copy of "Guitar Lessons" by Bob Taylor. I promise you will come away with a deeper appreciation of what it takes to grow a successful company. One that just happens to make great guitars.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Playing by ear, Part 5

3/25/2011

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Just a quick review (and if anything here is not clear, go back and re-read previous posts - or take some guitar lessons with me!). Here's what we know so far.

1. Almost all American popular music (except some jazz) is based on the Major Diatonic Scale.
2. Every song is written in a key, which is defined by the notes that are natural, sharp or flat in that key. You can find the notes in any key by applying The Formula of construction, which identifies were the whole steps and half steps occur between sequential notes.
3. From that Major Diatonic Scale we come up with a set of seven chords, or triads, by stacking a root, 3rd and 5th. Those basic chords will be Major, minor or diminished, and the order in which they occur transfers to every Major key.
4. It is likely that one of those chords (in a given key) will be "right" in a song you are trying to figure out by ear. (Note: Like everything in music, there are exceptions - but you can be pretty sure most of those chords will work with *most* popular songs)

Now a couple of interesting exceptions and tricks to use to hone in on even more accurate playing by ear.

First of all, what about that weird sounding diminished chord that is the naturally occurring VII chord in the scale line triads? "I hardly ever see songs that call for one," you say. "Besides, they sound kind of strange compared to the majors and minors in the scale line. Not wrong, exactly, just....strange."

Right you are. Diminished chords have many uses and are often used in jazz, both in scale lines and as transitional chords between the scale line ones. But in popular, folk, blues and country they are hardly ever used. However, songwriters still want to use the VII chord somehow. So what they do is very simple. They LOWER the root of the naturally occurring VII chord by 1/2 step and look what happens:

VII chord in the key of G Major: F#dim :     C
                                                                                > 1 1/2 steps
                                                                            A
                                                                                > 1 1/2 steps
                                                                            F#

Now, with root lowered 1/2 step:
                                                                            C
                                                                                > 1 1/2 steps
                                                                            A
                                                                                > 2 steps
                                                                            F

So what do we now have? An F Major chord! Instead of the weird sounding diminished VII chord (which was "correct" if we stick with only the notes in the key of G Major), we now have a wonderful sounding straight Major chord, one that sounds just a tiny bit out of the key due to the use of the F natural as the root, but still includes two other notes that are IN the key.

This is know as the "Flat VII chord" in a scale line. You can do the same thing with any of the keys: lower the root of the VII chord (diminished) by 1/2 step and you will get a Major chord. One of the most common progressions in popular music is the I - bVII - IV. Songwriters like James Taylor use it all the time ("Fire and Rain" "Country Road" "Machine Gun Kelly" and many others). Along with the I - IV - V progression, it is the most common grouping of chords in most forms of American popular music. Try it in a few keys! You will almost immediately be reminded of many, many songs you've heard.

This insertion of a new note leads to another question: Can I alter other chords in the scale line to develop interesting sounding chords? Well, of course! Just remember though that the more you insert notes outside the key you're playing into the scale line chords, the more "outside" they will sound. This can be a good thing from the perspective of making interesting sounding music. Let's face it, playing ONLY chords in the scale line in a key can sound kind of plain. But keep in mind the fact that most popular songs need to be somewhat logical sounding and centered. Use altered chords with caution.

So where do I start when I want to figure out a song by ear? Keeping in mind that most songs begin with the I chord (the chord that is the root or first chord of the key) I listen not to guitar part - but rather I listen to the bass! Bass players almost always play the roots of the chords that are being played by the guitarist or keyboard player, at least at the beginning of a measure or when a chord change happens. I pick my low E string, move up the neck and try to match (albeit, one octave higher) the note the bass player is playing on the first downbeat of the song, or where the vocals come in on a down beat. That little trick almost always works to help me identify which key the song is in. Then it's just a matter of thinking about the other scale-line triads available to me in the key and try to use one of them when I hear a change.

This is not an exact science of course and it takes some time and experience to be reasonably accurate. Also, there will be times when TWO different chords sound OK. You then have to go with one for a while and decide in the long term whether or not you're pleased with the sound. Keep in mind that chord changes usually happen on the first beat of a measure, or half way through the measure.

So there you have it - a very basic overview of understanding what it is to play in a Major key, the chords that are developed from that key, and how to make an educated guess as to where they will go in the music. There is a whole world of music beyond this of course, beginning with the more complicated 4 and 5-tone chords. Explore those as you become comfortable with the concepts I've laid out.

Good luck with your quest! Figuring out songs by ear is fun and will definitely make you a better player.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Playing by ear, Part 4

3/23/2011

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So - we now know that chords are constructed of a minimum of three notes: Root, 3rd and 5th. By "stacking"only the notes in a particular key we get groups of three notes (chords) in a sequence that repeats itself, regardless of the Major key we are playing in. Chords in any key are identified by Roman numerals, I - VII. Here's how they lay out:

I = Major
II = minor
III = minor
IV = Major
V = Major
VI = minor
VII = diminished

These are what are known as the Scale Line Triads. Understanding and applying this concept is absolutely essential to playing by ear (i.e., figuring out which chords are used in a song by listening to it). Here are a couple examples of scale line triads in a couple keys.

Key of C Major (the "natural key" - no sharps or flats are needed to comply with the rule of construction of a Major key, as outlined in a previous post):

I = C Major
II = D minor
III = E minor
IV = F Major
V = G Major
VI = A minor
VII = B diminished

Key of G Major (one sharp, occurring on F - so in G Major, all Fs are sharped):

I = G Major
II = A minor
III = B minor
IV = C Major
V = D Major
VI = E minor
VII = F# diminished

***SO..... before trying every chord you know when you're trying to figure out a song, pick a key, write down the Scale Line Triads in that key - I suggest using G Major to start - and when you think you hear a chord change in the song, try one of the scale line chords, Chances are very, very good that one of them will be correct!***

At this point you should take the time to write out the scale line triads in the following keys:
G Major
D Major
C Major
A Major
E Major

These are extremely common keys in various forms of American popular music and they are relatively easy to play on the guitar. That is - you won't be confronted with too many of those nasty bar chords!

In the next installment I'll reveal some tricks for determining the actual key a song is played in, common chord progressions and what to do about that pesky diminished chord (!). Until then.....

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Playing by ear, Part 3

3/9/2011

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If you've stuck with me through the first two parts of this exercise you should now have a basic understanding of the notes that are in a key, based on the Major Diatonic Scale. With those notes we'll now be constructing chords. This gets us to one of the most central issues that players have when they try to figure out songs on their own or they examine the chords present in a few songs they already know. It's obvious that certain chords are often found together and that some chords sound "good" or "right" in a song, while others that are tried may sound not so good. There are definite reasons for this.

We're going to build chords out of notes in a specific key - the key of C Major - but the formula applies to any key. The first thing to understand is the "triad." First, lets review a one-octave scale in the key of C Major:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

Chords begin life as triads and a triad is just what the name implies - a grouping of three notes. Triads are built from the bottom up (although the notes can be grouped in other ways, called inversions) in the beginning. It works like this. Start with the first note in the key (C), then count to the third note and put that on top of the C (E), then count to the fifth note above C and put that on top of the E (G). Here is how that "stack" of notes looks:
                                                                           C

                                                                            E

                                                                            C

Now you need to do the same thing with each note up to and including the seventh note in the scale. Here's how they "stack up":

G        A        B        C        D        E        F
E        F        G        A        B        C        D
C        D        E        F        G        A        B

Remember, you're starting with each note in the key of C Major and on top of each note you're putting the third and the fifth note above each. What you now have - although you don't know it yet! - are a series of chords.

Wait a minute, you say. When I play a chord on the guitar it has more than three notes! And you are correct, in almost all cases, in common 1st position chords anyway. Hold that thought for the moment!

The reality is this: all Major, minor, diminished and augmented chords - the basic building blocks to which we add other notes to make ALL OTHER CHORDS, have a minimum of three notes. They are called the root (that first note you started with in each "stack"); the third (that third note above each root); and the fifth (the fifth note above the root). In the case of the first one we made above, it goes like this:

G    (fifth)
E    (third)
C    (root)

Every complete Major, minor, diminished or augmented chord has a root, third and fifth. And here's the most important fact: the musical distance between those three notes determines whether a chord is Major, minor, diminished or augmented.

Please stop for a second and re-read that last paragraph. Accept it at face value for now, but burn it into your memory!

OK, that's all for now. Stay with me - this will all become clearer as it relates to what you know how to play in the near future! (I won't be able to post for a few days, but check back next week for Part 4!)

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Playing by Ear, Part 2

3/6/2011

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So here's what we know so far.
The names of the notes played in sequence are "circular" - after you reach G the next natural note you come to is A.

The intervals, or musical distances between notes are called half-steps and whole steps. The notes B and C are always just a half step apart, as are E and F. All the other notes are a whole step apart (when played in sequence) so there is a note between them, called a sharp (#) or flat (b) depending upon the "key" a song is written in.
The Major Diatonic Scale is the basis of virtually all American popular music (except jazz). This "do-re-mi" sounding sequence of notes must adhere to a a basic formula of construction with specified intervals between the notes. It goes like this:

whole - whole - half - whole - whole - whole - half

Keeping in mind those half steps that are always found between B and C & E and F, if we start a 1-octave diatonic scale on C and go through the notes in order, arriving at the next C, we see that those notes all "fit" perfectly with the above formula. So we say the the Key of C Major is the "natural key" - no notes need to be raised (sharped) or lowered (flatted).

(Don't worry - we're going somewhere with this! We'll get to the chords soon, but first....)

So theoretically, if all the notes were the same distance apart, we could start anywhere on the circle of notes, play seven more in sequence arriving at the same letter name we started with, and we would have a Major Diatonic Scale. But alas, this is not the case, thanks to those pesky smaller intervals between B and C, E and F. Suppose we started on G and went through a complete octave, which would look like this:

G - A - B - C - D - E - F - G

But when we apply The Formula above you'll see we run into a problem. The Formula says that the interval between the 6th and 7th note has to be a whole step - but E and F fall there! And we know that E to F is a half step! What to do.... Well, we have to make that interval "bigger." So instead of playing an F natural, we raise that note a half step to F-sharp (F#). Now we have the required whole step between the 6th and 7th notes.... and best of all, by virtue of raising that F to an F#, we now have the required half step between the 7th and 8th note! So: The Key of G Major has one sharp (F#) and the G Major Diatonic Scale goes like this:

G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G

(This would be a good time to take out your guitar and assuming you know the names of the notes in at least 1st position, play a 1-octave scale from one G to the next, first with all natural notes and then with an F# instead of an F natural. Hear the difference? Hear how the F# sounds "right"? )

One more example of applying the formula. Suppose we start on F and go one octave:

F - G - A - B - C - D - E - F

Now match those notes to The Formula. Uh oh. Different kind of problem. Up in G Major we had an interval that was too small and we had to make it bigger. Now we have the opposite situation. The Formula says that the interval between the third and fourth notes has to be a half step, but the notes that fall there when we start with F are A and B - which is a whole step. In other words, the interval is too big and we have to make it smaller! How can we do this? Well, there are two ways. We could raise the A to A# but if we did that we would have a step-and-a-half between the second and third notes. Not good. The other way - the correct way - is to LOWER the fourth note a half step (B becomes Bb). Now we have the required half step between the third and fourth tone, and because we did that we also accomplish having the required whole step at the fourth to fifth note (Bb to C). So..... we say that the Key of F Major as one flat (Bb), and the one octave correct diatonic scale goes:

F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F

Remember back in Part One how I said that some notes have two names? Well, now you know why. Even though A# and Bb are functionally the same and are played in the same place, you need to think of that note in this case as Bb.

I would urge you to work out all the keys in the form of one-octave scales by starting on each possible note - including sharped and flatted notes - and either write down or memorize (or both!) which notes are sharped, flatted or natural in all 15 possible keys. Tedious? Yes, it might seem that way. But it is essential to understand and be able to hear major diatonic scales to construct the chords that are found in each key - which is what I'll be doing in the next installment.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Playing by ear, Part 1

3/3/2011

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Ever notice how certain chords always seem to be found together? Or that certain songwriters seem to always use a certain set of chords? These things don't happen by accident. Understanding the basics of music theory will help you figure songs out, and then you won't need a guitar teacher to lay out a song for you. Hey, wait a minute .... (!)

I have a couple students right now who are delving into the mysteries of "playing by ear," which roughly means to listen to a song and then be able to come up with the structure and changes and at least have a starting point for playing that song. Way back in my early years of playing I viewed that ability with awe. I had a friend who could do it and I supposed (with not a little jealousy) that he was endowed with some magical musical ability that I would never be able to understand. Well, maybe he was endowed with skills that made him an awesome player but after I went to college and began learning the basics of music theory much of the mystery disappeared. It can happen for you , too!

The first thing to understand is that just about all Western music for the last three hundred or so years has been based on the major diatonic scale. You know it: "do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do." From that major scale come many of the chords we play in American popular music. Before I go any further, understand that I'm talking about the less complicated forms of popular music like folk, country, blues and rock. Jazz is another thing entirely in that the diatonic scale is just a basic starting point and from there the player of that wonderful music goes in many, many directions.

To understand the major diatonic scale and the chords that are constructed from it you have to know a bit about intervals, which are the musical distances between the notes. It would be a wonderful thing if all the notes were the same distance apart but alas, that is not the case. For example, the notes C and D are what is called a "whole step" apart. Between them is another note, which has two names: C-sharp (C#) or D-flat (Db). Why does that note have two names? It has to do with the "key" a song is played in. Don't worry about that for the moment - just accept that the note between C and D has two possible names.

The interval between C and C# is a "half step" and the interval from C# to D is a half step so we say that C to D is a whole step. However - and here's the rub - the musical distance between B and C, and E and F, is a half step! In other words, for now, you can assume there is no B#, Cb, E# or Fb. (There is - those notes are really C, B, F and E, but you're not supposed to think of them that way in certain keys - more on that later)

Because of that lack of consistency in the intervals, to attain that "do -re-mi" sound of the major diatonic scale has to be adjusted depending on where you start and stop a scale. Here's the formula:

There are 8 notes in the scale if you move one complete "octave" from, say, one C to the next C higher up. Wait a minute! you say. Two C's ?!! Are they the same note?

Well, no...but yes! There are only seven "natural" note names in Western music: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. There's no H! But there are literally hundreds if not thousands of notes that we can hear, from very low to very pitches so you can see that there must be many, many notes with each of those seven names.

You need to think of the names of the notes in a circular fashion. That is, moving through notes in sequence, after G comes A again. Keeping that in mind, here is a one-octave diatonic scale moving from C to the next C:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

Now, remember what I said above about which notes are a whole step which are a half step apart and applying that to the C scale I just wrote, the intervals between the notes in that scale look like this:

whole - whole - half - whole - whole - whole - half

And THAT is The Formula of a Major Diatonic Scale! If you start with C and move to the next C, it happens that all the intervals between the notes line up perfectly with The Formula. Because of this, the Key of C Major (the notes found in the key of C) are ALL "naturals," i.e., no notes need to be raised or lowered ("sharped" or "flatted") to make that one-octave scale match The Formula!

For now, just re-read what I've written here in Part 1 and digest it. Read it a couple times if you need to! Next we'll look at adjusting notes to make all the keys. After that - the chords and how they are developed from the major scales.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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"Guitar Lessons" by Bob Taylor - a good read

Playing by ear, Part 5

Playing by ear, Part 4

Playing by ear, Part 3

Playing by Ear, Part 2

Playing by ear, Part 1

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