First of all, an apology to all Eva Cassidy fans. Previously, I mentioned one of her tunes and my Netscape spell checker changed her name into Eve Casey... or at least I allowed it to by clicking the wrong button.

Eva Cassidy's version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow
http://www.guitarsite.com/newsletters/010423/8.shtml

Sorry about that, and thanks Andy for bringing it to my attention. I hope some of you had fun with the chords I posted and did some experimenting, the subject of this article.

Experiment -- as much as you can. Experimentation is, eventually, what gives you your sound, your trade mark and it's only by experimenting that you will get to that point, that you will be able to fit the pieces of the jig saw together and begin to see music as the unified system that it is. I've been playing now for 40 years and I still experiment daily, in fact you could say that at this stage of my stint as a guitarist, that's all I do -- experiment. I doubt I ever play the same thing twice. There's always some variation that you can try out, and the more you do it, the finer the detail can become.

There is one huge proviso to experimenting however, and that is to ALWAYS KNOW what it is you're experimenting with. You should always be able to think along the lines of 'I wonder what would happen if I added a 9 to this chord', or 'I think I'll try descending chromatically from the 5 of this chord until I hit the 3'. Never experiment blind; always keep the context in mind. That’s how you will eventually begin to unify your theory of music.

The way to do it, of course, is to never let the ‘chord of the moment’ slip your mind. I’ve written it a million times: the chord of the moment rules the moment. Only worry about it. Relate every thing to the One --Three -- Five of that moment, and you’ll start to see music for what is: islands of primary colors, the pure chord, linked by varying shades of in-between. It’s there that the experimentation is done -- in the shades. The most important part of your experiments should be the labeling of those various shades, using numbers: 4th, 7th, 9th, 6th, sharp 5 ... There aren’t that many to worry about. You will begin to hear the shades and identify them. Once they’re identified, as for example '7th', you can start to incorporate the 7th into your riffs, chords, solos, themes ... whatever, for that particular ‘chord of the moment’. In other words, your home base is now One -- Three-- Five -- Seven of that chord. All perfectly good start/end notes. Milk it dry. Try every permutation. Mentally turn your whole fretboard into a 7th fretboard for that chord. Go up, go down, go up and down ... sideways and diagonal. Experiment with all.

Next, the detail can be refined further to include all the other notes. For example, when I’m in 'blues mode', I know I can use the sharp 5 to get to a 6. I can use a Major 7 to get to the flat 7, so long as it’s quick. The flat 3 *is* the blue note, even in a major key. I can use the flat 5 ... As a matter of fact, I can use all of them, the entire chromatic scale -- all 12 notes. They’re all eligible. It’s the timing that then becomes important, using the least eligible as passing notes to get to the next level, then back to the primary color notes -- the resolve notes. Timing comes with being able to hear the line in your head before you play it.

There is only one way to get there, and that’s by experimenting. Don’t worry if it sounds awful. Just make sure that whatever it is that’s sounding awful is labeled ( as in 'I’m playing a major chord instead of the minor') so that you never do it again. Well, maybe a couple of times for it to sink in. When it does sound fantastic, when you’ve got your fingers around a great chord that you just discovered (while experimenting), hold it there. Analyze it. Say to yourself, 'I know it’s some kind of A chord, because the bass note is an A, but it’s got a G here, so it must be a 7th, and it’s got a D too, which is a 4 ... So it’s an A7thSus4. Classify it as such in your mind’s sound files.

As I said at the start of all this rambling on, if you stick at it long enough (which is easy ‘cause it’s really fun), all your experimentation will merge into your own mental view of music and how it hangs together, and you will wind up with your own sound. Your own natural selection of which experiments work or don’t work (through your musical taste) is what stamps as a player.

In other news, http://www.guitarforbeginners.com continues to grow. There’s an interesting poll there at the moment, which asks 'What’s the hardest thing about playing guitar?'

PlaneTalk and the video are doing well. PlaneTalk, of course, is the comic strip conversation which takes place on the plane which reveals the trick to keeping track of all things musical on the fret board, a simple visualization trick that decades years of experimenting taught me. The recently finished video demonstrates the technique. The Australian dollar is half a greenback these days, so now’s a good time to order. The two together will change forever the way you look at the fretboard. Go to http://www.lorange.kirk.net for all info.

I’ve put more slide tunes up at http://mp3.com/kirklorange too. Please, help yourself to the free downloads.

Until next week, Kirk
http://kirklorange.com
http://lorange.kirk.net
http://guitarforbeginners.com
http://mp3.com/kirklorange