Guitarists and Rhythm: The Missing Link Beckons With Urgency

Among most teachers of academia as well as privately, the study and training in proper rhythmic fluency and rigor is currently almost entirely neglected. Great artists are not affected in their early development  as they are born with their rhythmic consciousness expanded; However, this state of affairs is to the detriment of the majority of aspirants  who cannot ascend to the higher levels of improvisational  mastery present in their heros given the current incomplete music education programs and to most  private teachers neglect.

Contrary to the real world experience of a master, rhythm is not considered to be very important in contemporary music curriculums and harmony and scale theory are considered to be the foundation of music and musical education, when in the real world of improvisational mastery it is rhythm that is the foundation of all music. Without it there is diffuse amateurism and tentative grasping for coherence at best. The result is disappointingly  powerless performances that do not inspire and audience in any genre.

Most dissect solos by Hendrix, Pat Martino, Coltrane, Holdsworth, Chick Corea, Clapton, Jack Bruce, Jaco Pastorius and other masters, but purely on a harmonic level and in a modal framework, atonal, polyphonic, etc... But there is no realization that it is the rhythmic variations and accents, as fundamental  elements of phrasing, that give life, power, grace and transcendence to these masterpieces.

Most players cannot play in time for very long and improvise at the same time . That in itself  reduces their power by 95%. Yet it is not even acknowledged by them in most cases, but an audience knows when it is missing and when it is there. A Coltrane or Dolphy or Michael Brecker solo exists in a state of timeless wonder only because they were both absolute masters of playing in time and using rhythmic variations very deliberately, with exalted fluency and superb control and spontaneity.

John Mclaughlin is explosively transcendental because the  elements -seen by most as otherworldly- in his improvised language are held tightly in his finely honed dominion over rhythm and time signatures. Emerging master improviser  Bryan Baker was forged into a  musical colossus by his long and focussed study of the elements of rhythm. As a result he as ascended as a unique voice rather early in his career. Allan Holdsworth is admired for his melodic fluency and harmonic conception but nothing is said about his mastery of rhythmic fluency, where one finds the relentlessly hypnotic momentum behind his phenomenal legato and sometimes staccato phrasing.

It is high time in 2012 that music educators ad the missing link of absolute rhythmic study to their curriculums. If not the current situation will continue with only  the very few born with rhythmic awareness going on to great musical expression and the great majority staying mired in  frustration and  imprisoned in mediocrity.

http://www.twitter.com/NeyMelloGuitar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ney_mello

http://www.youtube.com/user/NeyMelloOfficial?

http://bit.ly/aSUSw6

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NEY-MELLO/8702485599

Diatonic Harmony - Triads

 When I first started playing Guitar, I really had no sense for how to put chords together. I knew a handful of them and I knew which ones I liked, but I had no idea how to consistently put together a chord progression. Or analyze one for that matter. The problem only compounded itself as I became interested in Jazz and began learning chords like E7#9 and Cma7. I was totally lost. The good news is that you don't have to be lost when it comes to understanding chords and their relationships to one another. There is a way to tie chords together into a concept called Diatonic Harmony and it begins with the Major Scale.

  The Major Scale is a series of pitches, seven in all, that is the foundational building block of all Western Music. If we look at the C Major Scale for example, we see that it is made up of the notes C D E F G A B C. What makes the scale unique is it's formula ; the distance between each of the pitches is either a whole step or a half step. All together, the formula for the Major Scale is: W W H W W W H (ie. C to D is a whole step, D to E is a whole step, E to F is a half step, etc). See the diagram below.

  So, where is all of this going? Well, each one of these notes is the Root, of seven different three note chords called Triads. The process is simple. If we start with each note of the C Major Scale, we'll get a chord starting from C, a chord starting from D, and so on. This process is called Harmonization and all we have to do is take each note of the C Major Scale and skip every other note in the scale. For example, the first chord we get is C and it is made up of the notes C E and G. The second chord is D minor and it's made up of the notes D F and A. Get the idea? Check out the diagram below.

 

  Play through the chords and see if you recognize any of the sounds and combination's present within the Diatonic Harmony. Chances are that you'll have a few moments where you find yourself saying, "Oh, so THAT'S what that is....". The more of those the better! Try playing the chords in order, backwards, in different sequences or plug them into an appropriate song. Have Fun!

Tune in next week for the next installment of Have Guitar Will Travel.