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Capo up, spread out your sound!

11/28/2014

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I encourage my students to play with others whenever possible because it’s one of the best ways to learn the importance of steady rhythm and how to make one’s playing respond to what others are doing, whether it’s another instrumentalist or a singer. Plus it’s tons of fun!

When two guitarists get together to play, it’s natural for them to play the same chord voicings in same places on their guitars. A more interesting approach is utilizing a capo on one guitar while the other player (usually) stays in 1st position. This can be confusing to many beginners but the pay-off is a wider range of sound, which always sounds more interesting. So how is it done? Where should the capo go?

To understand this you must have at least a basic understanding of the intervals (musical “spaces”) used in music. In Western music, i.e., not music from other cultures such as far eastern and near eastern music, we define intervals in terms of whole steps and half steps. If you don’t have knowledge of this concept I would urge you to do some research – there are plenty of web sites and of course books that explain the basics of music theory. In a nutshell:

 We give a letter name to each note (and the chords that are built with them), A – G.

The musical space or interval between those notes is as follows:

A – B: whole step (the note between is thought of as A# or Bb, depending on the key)

B – C: half step (nothing between)

C – D: whole step

D – E: whole step

E – F:  half step

F – G: whole step

G – A: whole step

On the guitar, the distance from one fret to the next is a HALF STEP. So, for every fret you go up the neck with a capo, you are RAISING the sound of the guitar by ½ step. Now, here’s the take-away regarding capo placement:

If you want your capoed guitar to sound the same as the one playing un-capoed, you must think BACK ½ step for every fret you go up with the capo.

If that sounds confusing, here are some examples. I will refer to the un-capoed guitar as Guitar 1, and the one using a capo as Guitar 2. We’ll start with Guitar 2 placing the capo on the 2nd fret (or more accurately, just behind it):

Guitar 1 plays E Major = Guitar 2 plays D Major

Guitar 1 plays A Major = Guitar 2 plays G Major

Guitar 1 plays F# minor = Guitar 2 plays E minor

(you notice it is the “first name of the chord” that is affected, not the family of chords, i.e., Major or minor. The same thing goes for altered chords such as 7ths, 6ths, etc.)

I use capoing at the second fret as an example because you just need to think back 1 step to find the matching chord. Many players prefer a wider, more interesting range of sound and will capo farther up the neck. Capoing at the 5th or even 7th fret while playing with an uncapoed guitar really opens up some interesting sounds. Here are some examples – we’ll assume Guitar 2 has a capo at the 5th fret, in other words, that guitar is now 2 ½ steps higher in pitch than the un-capoed Guitar 1, so the player of Guitar 2 must now think BACK 2 ½ steps:

Guitar 1 plays G Major = Guitar 2 plays D Major

Guitar 1 plays C Major = Guitar 2 plays G Major

Guitar 1 plays E minor = Guitar 2 plays B minor

Guitar 1 plays A minor = Guitar 2 plays E minor

Guitar 1 plays D7 = Guitar 2 plays A7

Give it a try! Even if you don’t play with anyone else on a regular basis, record a song and then capo up and play along. If you’ve never done it, I promise you will love the bigger, more interesting music you’re making.

Peace & good music,

Gene

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The more things change....

11/18/2014

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Like countless work-a-day musicians I’ve played more gigs than I can remember over the last 40 or so years. OK, some were memorable but details are sketchy for the vast majority of them. I don’t get out to hear local live music much anymore (my bad….I should….) but in the last couple years I’ve observed some things that I find kind of interesting, compared to the days when I gigged a lot more than I do now. Here are a few.

It seems like guitarists have finally figured out that ear-splitting volume is not a good thing. My guess is that this may have at least a little to do with the quality of the gear that’s being used these days. With reasonably affordable PA systems readily available that offer great fidelity without the need for volume such as the Bose L1 series there is just no need to blast the audience out of their chairs to get their attention. This is a good thing!

In the same vein, electronic add-ons are being used to better effect. I well remember when acoustic guitarists became enamored with the phase shifter and chorusing back in the 1980s. Like a cook who uses too many spices in a dish, those boxes were used to the point that they were overbearing and sometimes almost unbearable to the listener. Sometimes they were used to good effect (although they sound kind of dated now) – think Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” or Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.” But usually they ended up disguising the sound of the guitar to the point of bringing on a slight feeling of seasickness. Today, many solo performers use loopers, compression and even Auto-Tune to add depth and interest to their performances. Some even use harmonizers with their vocals and while it may be a bit disconcerting to see one person singing while multiple voices are coming out of the PA, all those add-ons can make for a very good performance. If they are used with some degree of subtlety of course.

I also find it interesting that many single performers and bands have no qualms about attaching an IPad to their mic stands to keep a limitless supply of songs at their disposal. This is not a bad thing, just a bit curious to me being an “old school” guitarist who was (and still is!) proud of having his repertoire memorized. There was a time – believe it or not – when having a music stand on stage with you kind of implied some degree of amateurish musicianship. Why that was, I do not know. I subscribed to it, however. I think the idea of having an IPod in front of you when you perform may be a much better idea. In fact, I’m in the process of building files on mine that will surely make my performances more interesting. I hope so anyway.

Another observation, and I find this the most curious. While some solo performers and duos I’ve heard in the last few years in many places, from local bars, to places in the Florida Keys, and even on cruise ships do play a few modern pop songs, for the most part they still lean heavily on older songs. Why is it that “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Sweet Caroline,” and (gulp) “Margaritaville” are still sure to be heard when you listen to almost any solo guitarist anywhere? Does it have to do with the demographic of the audience, i.e., the age group? I thought so for a while but after spending an evening at a local bar not too long ago where the guitarist banged out those songs and dozens of others of the same genre to a great reception from the audience I came to a different conclusion. Those songs are tuneful, familiar and just downright catchy. The age group in the packed bar ranged from early 20s to oldsters who could remember when those songs were brand new. The performer threw in a very occasional tune by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Kenny Chesney and John Meyer but the audience reaction was much more subdued and no one sang along, like they did to “Take Me Home, Country Road.” And again – I’m talking the youngsters too, who may have first heard that song at their grandparent’s house! Are we in an era when strong melodies are just a rare thing? Or put another way, will anyone be singing a John Meyer song thirty years from now?

I don’t have an answer to those questions. All I know for sure is that I’d better be sure to upload some of those oldies to my IPad.

Peace & good music,

Gene


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The mind plays tricks....

11/12/2014

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I’m often reminded that there are some things music and guitar related that I just won’t ever figure out. Strange how the human mind works. For example, how much can we depend upon intuitive playing, or rather, how much SHOULD we depend upon that?

I’ve been fortunate to have a regular gig at a small café for the almost four years. While I’m proud that my playing and repertoire have greatly improved over that period of time (regular gigs do that!) I readily admit the quality of my performances is variable. Some weeks I just nail every song I play; some weeks it’s a struggle. Stranger still, some songs that are fairly complex seem to work pretty much all the time, while ones that are deceptively easy can be problematic from time to time. This gets to that question of intuitive playing, i.e., letting our minds go into “auto-pilot” mode when we play.

I work out my own arrangements of the songs I play, usually attempting to combine chords and a bass line with the melody somewhere on top. All of them required some work in the beginning but after a while they can become pretty automatic. This can be a good thing because if things are going particularly well with a song I feel confident enough to embellish what I’m doing. I confess that I don’t do this enough, though. It’s easy to get rattled if something suddenly “turns to cheese” as my dad used to say. Then I go into immediate recovery mode and return to the tried and true formula I’ve worked out for that song. And hope like heck no one noticed!

But there are also deceptively simple songs that I always struggle with, not because the changes are particularly difficult but because I have yet to find that auto-pilot comfort zone with them. A good example is my arrangement of the great Stevie Wonder classic “My Cherie Amour.” I worked out a decent and not too challenging boss nova arrangement of that song about a year ago, and I’ve put it front of people quite a few times, but at no point can I give less than 100% concentration. Sometimes it works OK, sometimes it’s a borderline disaster! All I can do is practice it regularly at home, trying to reach that illusive comfort zone. I swear I will get there sooner or later but in the meantime I have to repeat: strange how the mind works!

Another example. Right now I have three guitars that I play regularly, a Martin M-36, Martin 000-18, and a Gibson J-15. They are all different in subtle but noticeable ways. The M-36 is the one I seem to grab most often, it is rosewood and has a wonderfully mellow and resonant sound although it doesn’t have a lot of volume unamplified. The Gibson is much more brash and more appropriate for strumming than finger picking, although it responds to finger style pretty well. I also love the feel of its neck, which is kind of a compromise between the narrow nut on the M-36 and the wide, flat feel of the (new version) 000-18. That one is my latest acquisition and it has the classic sound of a Martin mahogany guitar, albeit still a bit tight (this will surely change as it’s played more).

Now here’s the thing. Some days all three of those fine guitars sound terrific in their own ways. Some days however they all sound a bit dull and lifeless. This may well have something to do with the radical shifts in humidity levels that we must endure here on Cape Cod. I do my best to keep my studio in the range of 45% - 50% humidity but even if my humidity gauge reads somewhere in that range I still hear tonal quality variation, often on a daily basis. The conundrum is this – do they REALLY sound all that different from day to day, or is it the way I’m hearing (or – gasp – playing) each of them? Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer. Are my ears and mind playing some cruel trick?

I guess I need to go with a sports analogy. Even the greatest players have days when things don’t go so well or more curiously, days when to the observer they play very well but the player is totally disgusted with his or her performance. The truly great ones don’t let that get them down, they just devote themselves to a better performance next time. They put it behind them and learn from the experience.

Right now it’s a dank, foggy day here on the Cape. I’m anticipating that my guitars won’t sound all that good when I begin teaching in a few hours. Or…. maybe not. Maybe they’ll sound just fine. And maybe my playing will be too. Time will tell.

Peace & good music,

Gene


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Singing and playing

11/6/2014

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Way back when in my college days I was a music education major and at that time you had to declare a “major instrument” even if you did not intend to pursue a career playing that instrument. “Applied Music” majors did concentrated study of performance and of course it was focused on a specific instrument with less focus on education credits. At my college, guitar was considered about as legitimate as the harmonica or kazoo (!!) so I had no choice but to declare voice as my major instrument. That’s another whole story, but for another time!

Anyway, I did grow up singing in church and also in various music groups so I was comfortable singing in spite of the fact that I was never going to be the soloist doing Italian Art Songs that my voice teacher tried to turn me into! But I did learn some important techniques that helped over the years in all aspects of my singing.

Over the years of teaching hundreds of guitar students I’ve had some good singers who were comfortable singing and playing but among recreational players it’s been my experience that this is the exception rather than the rule. What I try to make them understand is that singing while playing is an incredibly important skill if for no other reason than it makes them depend upon their hands to do what they are supposed to do without totally focusing on the playing. I’m not saying it’s easy but the rewards are many.

Wait, many say. I can’t sing a lick! My voice is terrible. I’m tone deaf!

OK, maybe you’re not going to be the next American Idol but you know what? That doesn’t matter. Here’s why that’s true and some things to remember when you try to sing and play guitar at the same time.

First and most importantly, correct posture is vital. Singing and breathing are interdependent. Standing is much, much better than sitting and singing because there is a straight line between your diaphragm and your voice box. Unrestricted air flow encourages better control. Yes, you will see some good singers who sit and sing while they play but all the great singers ALWAYS stand.

Breathing…. Don’t forget to do it! Sounds silly, right? But I am often guilty of this myself. If you run out of air before a phrase is completed you’re in trouble. One thing I learned from my voice teacher back in the day was to take short, deep breaths the instant before singing a line of a song. If you take a breath too soon, preparing for a phrase, you tend to tense up and no matter how deep that breath is you will most likely run out of air before that phrase is completed and then you’ll have to take another breath somewhere in the middle of the phrase. This sounds choppy and awkward. And always think ahead to how long the last note of the phrase will last. That will help you determine how deep a breath you need to take the instant before you launch into the line or phrase.

But what about the basic question of intonation, i.e., singing “in tune”? There are quite a few variables here, mostly having to do with experience. The most important aspect is listening, not just to your own voice but to the guitar. In popular music, most or all the melody notes will be contained within the chords you’re playing. If you’re trying to work on singing in tune and the correct melody line, it’s worthwhile to learn how to play just the melody line on your guitar. Then try singing along with that without playing any chords. Your ear and brain find it much easier to focus on a single line of notes rather than trying the right ones buried in a chord. It takes a lot of practice and you may have to utilize your capo to move the song into a comfortable key but that’s just fine. Obviously, you’d like to sing the song in the original key used by the artist but that may not be practical.

One small note here. Another thing I learned from my voice teacher was that we all sound better utilizing the upper part of our vocal range. What feels comfortable may not sound the best. Push yourself a bit, you will sound better. Trust me on this. If you don’t, record your singing and I can just about guarantee that something you sing that feels comfortable will probably sound too low.

Regarding recording yourself, be prepared for a shock if you’ve never done it before. You do NOT sound like what you think and hear when you’re doing it! But this is not necessarily a bad thing, just not exactly what you were expecting. And for goodness sake, don’t compare your singing to the original artist. There is a reason why he or she makes gazillions of dollars and you’re sitting in your bedroom practicing. Just don’t be too hard on yourself, and here’s the take-away:

Assuming you work on it and you get to the point you can sing reasonably in tune, no one really cares if you sound just like the original artist! If you do it with passion and commitment the listener will look past the small stuff. This I absolutely promise. Anyone who slights your singing is probably wishing they had the guts to go in front of people and do it themselves! So disregard any snide comments and GO FOR IT!

Singing while playing the guitar is wonderfully gratifying, even if you only do it in the privacy of your home. Just don’t be too hard on yourself, spend time working on basic intonation and phrasing and you know what? Your singing may well move out of the shower into the world. Like most anything else, the more you do it, the better you’ll get!

Peace & good music,

Gene


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    Gene Bourque

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