Unit 14: Jack and Diane

A triad is made of the scale degrees 1,3 and 5. We have established this from the beginning of class. Now we we look at the arrangements of these notes from the bass note up. If a triad is arranged 1,3,5 (with the 1 as the bass note) it's in root position. Your F chord is spelled this way. The note in parenthesis is optional because it's the root that is doubled on the D string.

-(1)-

--1-- Fifth

--2--Third

--3-- Root

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A chord is in first inversion when the 3rd is the lowest note. This shape is similar to the open position C chord and D chord when only the D,G, and B strings are played. Here is a D chord in first inversion.

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--3--Root

--2--Fifth

--4--Third

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The second inversion chord is like the open A chord where all of the notes are in the same fret but on different strings. The root is on the G string and the fifth is in the bass. Here is an A chord in 2nd inversion. Note that the open A string is not sounded as the lowest note in the chord needs to be the 5th.

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--2--Third

--2--Root

--2--Fifth

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Now that we have all of these inversions, we can apply them to a song. Jack and Diane by John Mellancamp is a perfect example. It starts like this:

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---5---5---5---5---3------

---6---4---6---4---2------

---7---6---7---6---4--0-0

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It's an A chord in root position (like your F chord shape moved up to the fifth fret) followed by an E chord (the V) in first inversion. To make the switch from the A chord to the E chord, move down a half step and switch your first and seconf fingers. Note that the thord firnger stays on the D string. To get the last chord (IV) move the E chord (V) down a whole step. The opening riff ends with the open D string played twice.

The nest section of the tune starts on an A chord again, but this time it's in first inversion. To do this, make the first inversion form in 9th position. Then the rest of the chords follow like this:
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-10--12--10--9--10--9--7--7--9--10---9----10--12-10--9--10--9--7--9--10--10--10-
-9-------------9--9---9--7--7--9--9----9----9-----------9--9---9--7--9--9----9---9--
-11------------9--11--9--7--7--9--11---9----11----------9--11--9--7--9--11--11--11-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The motion between the first chord and the second chord is separated by two individual notes as indicated in the tablature, this does not change the chord progression.
Practice the change from first inversion A (the first chord) to the second inversion E (all 9th fret). Notice that the first finger stays in place on the 9th fret, and should barre so that the fingers on the 10th and 11th frets can be lifted and dropped back into place.

The third section of the tune begins on... you gessed it! An A chord. But this time it's in 2nd inversion (with the 5th in the bass). The motion is the same as the previous section (First finger stays in place on the 2nd fret, and should barre so that the fingers on the 3rd and 4th frets can be lifted and dropped back into place. The harmonic motion is I to IV this time instead of I to V. The V chord (E) is reached by sliding the 1st inversion D chord up a whole step. Clever!
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-2-3-2-5-5-5-3-3-5-5-5---2-3-2-5-5-5-3-3-2
-2-2-2-4-4-4-2-2-4-4-4---2-2-2-4-4-4-2-2-2
-2-4-2-6-6-6-4-4-6-6-6---2-4-2-6-6-6-4-4-2
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There are many songs that use these voicings to play I,IV,V progressions. Try to figure out the the verse of "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne (in the key of A) and the intro to "Runnin' with The Devil" by Van Halen.
Your assignment will be to perform all three sections of "Jack and Diane" in class. You will also need to be able to play root position, 1st and 2nd inversions of any major chord on demand. Good Luck!

Unit 13: Relative Minor -Brown Eyed Girl

We have used only major chords up until this point, and it's time to start using minor chords. In notation, you'll see a small "m" after the root of the chord indicating it's minor tonality like this: Em

Sometimes, you'll see the abbreviation for minor like this:

Emin

Or if you're reading jazz notation, you'll see a dash like this:

E-



What makes a chord minor? A lowered 3rd scale degree. E major (1,3,5) is spelled E, G#, B. E minor (1,b3,5) is spelled E, G, B. If you've been paying attention to where these scale degrees are in the chords you already know, forming minor chords will be very easy. All you have to do is locate the third in any major voicing you know and drop it down a half step. Let's use E to start. Here's E Major with the names of the sounding pitches written in on each string:

---0---E

---0---E

---1---G#

---2---E

---2---B

---0---E



To make this chord minor, we lower the third. In E, the third is G#, so we'll make it G natural. To do this, we'll use the open G string.

---0---E
---0---E
---0---G
---2---E
---2---B
---0---E

Viola! There's E minor.
Here's and E major chord followed by an E minor chord. See if you can hear the difference:


Your written assignment is to do this to 3 other chord forms that we have learned thus far- A, D, and F. Write them out in diagram form in your notes.

The second part of this unit is the relative minor rule. It goes like this:

The vi chord (minor) can extend or replace the I chord (major) in any key. That means in the Key of G major, the vi chord is Eminor and they can be used interchangeably because they share many of the same notes. G major is spelled G,B,D and E minor is spelled E,G,B. This gives us the common I, vi, IV, V progresson that's common in 1950's tunes like "Earth Angel". It's also used in the chorus of one of my favorite Van Morrison tunes "Brown Eyed Girl". Here's the chord progression to the intro and the verse: I, IV, I, V (G,C,G,D).

The chorus uses the relative minor over the lyrics "You my, Brown Eyed Girl" C, D, G, Em.

Your assignment is to play the chord progession in the open position if you are a beginner, and in the 7th position if you are advanced.