Nation Wide - ZZ Top
Easin' down the highway in a new cadillac,
I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back.
2,101 2008-06-12 23:11:29
Re: SONGS ABOUT CARS (53 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
2,102 2008-06-12 03:59:21
Re: Playing in the dark (6 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
I'll often plug a set of headphones into my practice tube amp, plug in the dot, and lay on the floor with my eyes closed.
2,103 2008-06-12 03:55:20
Re: Your Top 5 Guitarists of all time (167 replies, posted in Electric)
ziggybear wrote:
Hi Tim, Dave matthews is awesome, do you know that since he left South Africa he has never done a show here. I don't even know how many people would even know who is and how awesome the DMB is. My brother is good friends with his cousin so we are kept up to speed with DVD's and CD's.
You guys should all come out here sometime and we have a huge jam session. It's really cheap with your dollars in our country.
Dave Mathews is HUGE in the US. He's one of the few artists that can sell out the Gorge at George three nights in a row. I've seen him three times, and would gladly do so again.
2,104 2008-06-11 18:54:12
Re: Transposing? (12 replies, posted in Acoustic)
anastasiak112 wrote:
My confusion was cleared by your explanation on the chord shape with a capo producing a different voicing. I was thinking that if an E shape is producing a G sound, how can I call it an E? See what I mean? I look forward to seeing this chart... I think it will further clear up my muddled mind!
I have a long running complaint about just this thing. If you tell someone to cappo at the third fret, and play E, what they are really playing is G. What you want to tell them is cappo it at the 3rd fret, and play the E shape, or even better, tell them to play G and have them understand what shape that is at the 3rd fret.
I catch myself doing this. We're working up a tune in G where I play the guitar with a cappo. I'm explaining the chord progressions, and catch myself explaining them in terms of shape rather than chord.
"That's a C? I thought you said it was an A." Gahhh!!!
2,105 2008-06-11 18:48:40
Re: SONGS ABOUT CARS (53 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
I've always argued that there are only three kinds of songs.
Songs about women, songs about liquor, and songs about Cadillacs.
2,106 2008-06-11 16:02:14
Re: A-shaped Bar Chords - Help (5 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Linusguitar wrote:
do you mean bar on the fifth fret, or open with those three?
That would be an e shape chord.
Think C at the 3rd fret. That is an A shape.
2,107 2008-06-10 23:51:18
Re: Transposing? (12 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Don't think in terms of chords, think in terms of chord shapes.
Cappo anywhere, and play the same chord shapes you normally would at the open position.
2,108 2008-06-10 22:43:57
Re: Chords (2 replies, posted in Music theory)
That's not really a theory question, but a question of technique.
The answer is "barre." You use your fingers to fret more than one string. For F ( or any E shape chord) simply barre the entire fretboard with your index finger, and play the remaining notes with your other three fingers.
2,109 2008-06-10 02:59:17
Re: Welcome to the Theory Forum (25 replies, posted in Music theory)
That about sums it up.
The nice thing about it is once you get it, it's immediately apparent how useful it is.
2,110 2008-06-10 02:04:35
Re: Welcome to the Theory Forum (25 replies, posted in Music theory)
Montana W. wrote:
umm... this might sound stupid but it is a serious question
wat is theroy?
I've sat here for five minutes trying to come up with a concise answer for that, and honestly, I'm a bit stumped. So that makes it a good question. 
So I'm throwing up my answer. Anyone else that has one, please step forward and be heard!
Music theory is "the rules" that you would use to write songs, play your instrument, improvise, and do the other things we as musicians do. A random jumble of tones does not make a song, any more than a random splattering of paint makes a picture. Just as a painter knows how to use color and line to create an image, a musician uses theory to choose notes for harmony, and melody.
So for example, when you sit down at Grandma's house and she starts banging out Christmas tunes on the piano and wants you to play along, she might say "This song is in the key of G." Theory would guide you as to what notes and chords would be appropriate for that key, and help you play along with the song even if you've never heard it before, as it will follow those same rules.
Now, do you need theory to play? No, you don't. Will it make you a better player? I think so. Will it help you learn to play faster? I'd state categorically yes.
Sometimes those rules seem a bit arcane, or confusing, so this forum was created to help us understand and apply it to our playing.
Did that help, or should we get another batter in the box? 
2,111 2008-06-09 20:21:35
Topic: Minor Scales - A Primer (22 replies, posted in Music theory)
We're all familiar with the minor tonality in chords and scales. But what makes a minor scale a minor scale?
Going back to the first discussion on Scales, we know that any scale is a pattern of intervals.
While the major scale pattern is
root whole whole half whole whole whole half
The minor scale pattern is
root whole half whole whole whole half whole
Now, you're probably thinking "Do I have to memorize all these patterns?" It may seem like a lot, but it's really not. So lets look at the practical way to get your minors in on top of your majors, and reinforce the critical nature of learning those majors. In fact, if you have practiced your major scale patterns, you already know the minor scale patterns, too.
Lets take a look at the C pattern as an example. You may know from past playing experience that A minor and C major go really well together. There's a reason for that. They are the same scale.
Observe. C major in the open position along side A minor in the open position.
Note that the scale pattern is exactly the same. The only thing that has changed is the position of the root note in the scale. The minor scale starts where the major scale's VI is located. This effectively "rotates" the scale pattern, producing the new minor tonality.
So you can use any of the five scale patterns to not only play all the major scales, but all the minors as well. You don't even need to know which note to start on. Just find the VI of the major scale, and start from there.
The minor scale derived from this relationship is called the natural minor scale. We'll go over some other kinds of minors later. Every major has a related minor scale that goes along with it.
Here is the G Scale Pattern as an example. Here is G major and E minor side by side.
You can slide these five patterns all the way up the neck of the guitar, and play every minor key as well.
So that's five patterns that equates to 24 individual scales (12 major + 12 minor). You're getting pretty good at this.
A note on pentatonics
Pentatonic scales are five note scales. They are derived from major and minor scales. The first scale you probably ever learned was "A minor pentatonic." Most likely what you learned was "pentatonic in G shape."
Minor pentatonics are merely minor scales with the II and VI notes dropped. So lets look at the G pattern a little closer, and see what we can find out about what we already know. We'll drop the II and the V, and see what pattern appears.
Hey, this looks familiar...
So go ahead and see if you can derive the other pentatonic forms from the other four scale patterns.
For major pentatonics, the IV and the VII are usually dropped. Give that a try, too.
So now you have the ability to learn 48 different scales (12 minor, 12 minor pentatonic, 12 major, 12 major pentatonic) from five (5) FIVE!!! patterns.
And that's easy.
2,112 2008-06-09 06:54:53
Re: Connecting Scales (11 replies, posted in Music theory)
Ah. Good catch. Strings is upside downed.
2,113 2008-06-08 19:00:04
Re: Welcome to the Theory Forum (25 replies, posted in Music theory)
Yep! That stuff is coming. I want to build on scales as the foundation, though. Understanding scales is critical to understanding chords. All chords are built from scales in one degree or another.
I also want to get the "practical" side of things out first, which is why the scales thread was done the way it's was. That is a "here is what you can do" kind of thing. Next will be the "here is why you do it that way" side of it, that will really be about the theory of scales.
So, the next things coming up will be..
1. Scales Primer (done)
2. Minor Scales Primer (built in the same way as scales primer)
3. Scales Theory (covers key signatures and other notational things)
4. Chord Primer (how chords are built, etc...)
5. Chord Theory (How chords progress within a key)
6. Creating Music with Chord Progressions
These will all come up as I have time to build them. I'm using Visio to build the fretboard charts, and I'm really liking the way it is coming out. I've got a template with a blank fretboard, and I'm adding new patterns (scale patterns, chords, etc) all the time. If someone has some web space available, I can put that on line, too.
2,114 2008-06-07 09:03:01
Re: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
Scale Patterns (cont) - Summary
OK. So there are five basic major scale patterns you can practice with. Some things to work on when you practice.
0. Practice a lot. Use these scale patterns to make up little songs and melodies. Run them in order. Do whatever you need to to stay interested until you can play them all.
1. Focus on learning where the root for each scale is for each pattern. You should know that if you're playing C, then root is under your index finger for example.
2. Remember that these examples only show you one octave. You can (and should) run the scales past what is shown all the way across the fretboard. For example, here is the complete C scale pattern at the 12th fret. This is the A major scale.
I'll leave it to you as an excercize to figure out the rest of the scale patterns from edge to edge.
2,115 2008-06-07 08:48:52
Re: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
Scale Patterns (cont) - D Shape Pattern
The D shape pattern is good to use if you like to play in the upper registers. If you like to bang on the skinny strings, practice this one a lot. The following are E major and C major. It's a hard one to fret for chords (for me, anyway) but it's a useful solo scale.
2,116 2008-06-07 08:42:09
Re: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
Scale Patterns (cont) - E Shape Pattern
You should be getting the hang of this by now. So here is the E pattern. This is C major for both examples.
2,117 2008-06-07 08:37:34
Re: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
Scale Patterns (cont) - The G Shape Pattern
The G shape is also portable. Here it is playing C and A, just like we did with the C shape pattern. This pattern is also portable across the neck as well as down, so you could fret it with root on the E string, and you would be fine.
2,118 2008-06-07 08:29:05
Re: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
Scale Patterns (cont) - The A Shape Pattern
The A pattern is portable, too. I've added the complete fingerings to demonstrate it's relationship to the A chord shape. I will also place the pattern in position to play C major, as above, so you can see how many different ways you have to play a given chord, or scale.
Also note that this pattern is portable not just up and down the neck, but across it, too. At least until you hit the B string. That is because the interval between any two strings is a the same from the E string to the G string. So here you can see this pattern used in two different locations to play the C major scale. Again, no matter where you put the I (the root), if you play that pattern, you are playing the scale named by the root.
2,119 2008-06-07 08:15:41
Re: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
Scale Patterns - C Shape Pattern
So, scales are patterns of intervals. The guitar fretboard lends itself well to patterns. It is really just a big grid. And in fact, scales can be played by simply fretting patterns that represent those same intervals. So no matter where you play the pattern, you can play a scale in that key.
Below I've included a diagram of a chord shape you probably already know. C major. Where you fret is highlighted in red. You can see all of the notes of that scale by their "Nashville number" (I II III IV, etc). If you play those notes in order starting out on C, you have played the C major scale. Down on the 12th fret you can see the exact same pattern, but because the root (the I) is on A, when you play that pattern, you will be playing A major instead. We call this ability to move scale patterns around all over the neck "Portability." It applies to chords, too. If you fret the C shape chord down on the 12th fret, you played A major.
I will go over five scale patterns, and show you how they relate to each other. All of the patterns are portable, and relate to a common major chord shape that you most likely already know.
2,120 2008-06-07 08:07:52
Topic: Scales - A Primer (38 replies, posted in Music theory)
What is a scale?
Scales are the foundation of music. They are the basis for everything else you will do in music. Chords are derived from scales. Melodies are derived from scales. Harmonies are built on scales. It is worthwhile to learn them. To someone unfamiliar with scales, they may seem complicated, or intimidating, but the reality is that all scales are built using a few simple and easy to understand rules. If I can understand it, so can you.
Music is all about intervals. A single note doesn't have a whole lot to say for itself. It is only in contrast to other notes that they become interesting. The difference between any two notes is referred to as an interval. The fundamental unit of intervals in music is called a "tone" or a "whole tone" (not to be confused with a "whole note"). The smallest intervalic unit you can play on your guitar is a "half tone." On your guitar, a half tone is the difference of one fret. That is, if you strike a note at the 3rd fret of any string, and then strike it at the 4th fret on the same string, that is a half tone. Likewise, a whole tone is two frets difference.
A scale is just a repeatable pattern of intervals between octaves.
So what patterns make up scales?
The two primary scales we deal with are "major" scales, and "minor" scales. They are related. We will consider the "major" scale to be the parent of all other scales we talk about.
The interval pattern for the major scale is
Root tone tone half-tone tone tone half-tone root
You often see the particular note indicated in roman numerals. So "root" is I, etc. It's just an easy way to write which note you are playing, independent of which key you are playing in.
On your guitar, you can hear this pattern by playing the following tab on any string.
-0-2-4-5-7-9-11-12-
It does not matter where you start that pattern. If you play it, you will have played a major scale.
So, to summarize.
Scales are made up of repeating patterns of intervals.
The major scale interval pattern is "Root tone tone half-tone tone tone half-tone root"
2,121 2008-06-07 07:31:42
Re: Connecting Scales (11 replies, posted in Music theory)
I don't know about writing it, but I'm pretty happy with my little notation system. Pretty amazing what you can do with Visio.
Anyway, here is a better diagram showing how they overlap.
The red is the C shape, the yellow is the A shape, and the green is the G shape. I think it gives a better representation of how they flow together.
2,122 2008-06-06 23:18:17
Re: Connecting Scales (11 replies, posted in Music theory)
OK. Here is an example of what I mean. C major in the open C, A and G forms. See how they all tie together?
C form.
A form
G form
2,123 2008-06-06 20:25:43
Re: amps? (33 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Tube amp definitely. After that, it's all about what features you like.
Some people like lots of effects and gizmos. The Valvtronic amps are fantastic in that regard. Some folks (like me) are easily confused, so a minimal number of knobs and buttons suffice. The Epiphone and Kustom tubes are great for that.
But a tube amp, no matter what.
2,124 2008-06-06 15:40:55
Re: Welcome to the Theory Forum (25 replies, posted in Music theory)
admin wrote:
Good luck with the new forum!
It is really fantastic if you make tutorials as the ones you are suggesting. If you do this, please consider marking the threads by using something like "TUTORIAL: title..." in the title. After posting it, you have (as an administrator) the option of making it "sticky". That way it always stays on top of the list.
Sticky power for the win!
2,125 2008-06-06 06:07:34
Re: Naming the band (30 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Bitch Slap!