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Discussion Forum | HOME | Contents | NO FRAMES |
| Contrary to popular belief, being a session guitarist does
not necessarily mean you have to be a fluent reader. Many
producers and musical directors are keyboard players and
have no idea how to write for guitar. In fact many
producers have very little musical knowledge and get their
results by hiring the right players. More often than not,
a chord chart is all that you get. As a professional you
are expected to turn that chord progression into music. It
is therefore often more important to be able to invent
something on the spot than to be a fluent reader with
nothing to read and nothing to say.
As a self-taught player who wound up sitting in the recording studio with the money meter running and the tapes rolling, I quickly realized that a short-hand method of keeping track of the fretboard was essential. When the MD asks me to ‘Add a nine to the chord’ or ‘Play the same thing up an octave’ or ‘Finish your solo on a six’, I have to firstly know what she or he means, and then where to find it on the fretboard. Producers don't call you back if it takes too long to figure it all out. Time is money. The method I came up with is to follow three familiar triad shapes. Knowledge of what these shapes are and where they are for whatever chord, will give you a visual reminder of where the fundamental notes are for that particular musical moment. This approach to the fretboard is based on two premises: One, that music can be seen at its most distilled as a triad that moves in pitch and time, and Two, that this triad has three shapes and positions for whatever the chord of the moment is. The triad I chose as my guide is the Major triad in its pure form, which can become diminished or minor or augmented or altered in any way. This mental process helps in many ways. Instead of trying to deal with all the various scales, modes and key signatures, the shapes pinpoint the vital notes of the moment, the ones that make that moment so: the I, III and V. The other notes of the scale surround the shapes in a fixed way and are there at your disposal. |
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A few years ago, when people started asking me for
lessons, I racked my brain trying to zero in on how it is
that I play, so I could pass something on to them. It
wasn't long before I realized that my method is based solely
on knowing those three shapes and their ‘clouds’ of
surrounding notes inside and out. Everything, whether
single note lines, chord voicings, harmony...anything, no
matter how straight forward or complex, can be seen to
relate to those three familiar little triads.
I still don’t read music. One day. Maybe. In the meantime, I have an understanding of music and a way to keep track of it all on the fretboard, which gives me the ability and the confidence to hire myself out as a professional. It also allows me the daily pleasure of of exploring the fretboard, of absent mindedly doodling my way through the and around those shapes, of inventing new ways of dealing with them and, most importantly, of knowing what it is I’m playing, what the context is. Music IS context. Back to the question: To read or Not to read? I would love to be able to read. I can't think of one reason why it wouldn't be a great thing. I guess I've just left it too late. But to those of you like me, with a bit of a block about notation, don't despair. There are other ways of knowing music. Don't let it put you off playing! But even if you do read, knowing where those triads are will still help you get a handle on it all. By the way, I wrote and illustrated a whole book on the subject. It’s called PlaneTalk - The Truly Totally Different Guitar Instruction Book, and you can read about it here: http://lorange.kirk.net Regards from Tamborine Mountain, Australia Kirk Lorange lorange@kirk.net |
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