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BYTE 1

the

C major scale (fig 1)

BYTE 2 The first two noles are C and D, and

the interual beiween them is a tone.ihe second two notes are G and C#, and the interval b0lrffct* tfigm is a semitone BnE 3 This i$ a,maisr seale, but played in
interuals of lhird$, which means aftemate nqtes oflbe scale BYTI 4 A C,majfi chord, first as an arpeggio,

Theoreticafly
speakingooo
sits you. d,owrr urith ma,nuscript, quill and ha,rpsichord, a,nd d,ema,nd.s tha,t you write an ora,torio in pQ ninrrf,es. 'Who sa,id theory wa,s dull?

then as aMad

fig 4)

BYIE 5 An F maior chord,

ffi

as an arpeggio,

thsn as a biad {fig 6} BYTE 6 A 6 majqr chord, first as an arpeggiq ihen a$ a ldad {tiq 7) BYIE 7 A blues-type progression using the
basic $ree ciords derived from the rnaior scals

tlu EqEEfi,

I, IV and V

ET's staft br leflectrng ort uL.Lt theon is. ,rncl s ln' it .s so use tirl to musiciiurs. hr the corttert ol tttusic

ori rr :iiicl to be plilinq in the ke1' of C lr.rjor. Sorrrc piec'es of ntttsic irre entirelt'irl
r

theon'

crTrlriiri.s

the relationsliip behleert

nmsic:rl sounds irnd pheuor,retia

'theont in tlie s.:icntific sense - it s-vsterlr of mles and procedures sfiich produce a
lesult. Rernetlber, urusic ahvays coues first. theory {bllol's. \{usic theorl catr benefit -vou rrost bv gii,ing you a lot trore icleas to t'ork tvith, just irs learning tnote about gt'atntn:rr ancl vocabulary lielps 1'ou to express yourself rlclrc easillt u'ith s'olds. Evetyone carl corne up against brick u':rlls when being crcatil'e. but iL qood knoriletlqe o['tlrcory catt qive you lots rlore icleas, and take I'ou into
neu' dirnensions.

- it is lot

one ker'. sltile othcrs rtrove betrveen r'lil l.r, ,,r kcrr tlrrrrrrglrortt llre pilt c. Olc' of the ihings i'ou'll trotice as '"'ou plai'the scale is that thcre is a pattern invoh.'ecl. The p:rttern is created b1'the clistance behl'eer each successive note in the scale, Thc technical nanre for this disttutce is :rn interval, ancl thele are t\\.o differetrt trpt:s of inten'nl occurling in the n-rajor scale - a tone and a setnitone. An ertrrnple ol a tone is the distance behveen C :rnd D (trvo frets). An exarnple ol a seuitone is thc clistance betrveerr E and F (one fret). Thc rnajor scale is actrt:rll1'definc'd bt'the la1'orrt oltones iurd serttitones. Look at thc scalc again, and notice r"'hich inten-als in the
scale are tones. and s4rich are setnitottes. To heal tl're diflerernce more clearlr',

TA.LEIITG SC.6,IiES
At the heart ol rnost music is a collection ol notcs knorvl as rr scrrle. There are trtany dillerent tlpes ol scale, but b;- {irr the rlost cornr-non is the najor scalc. Erc r shorvs a C urajor scale (u'e'11 start u'ith C for simpliciry-s sake, becatrse it has no sharp or fl:rt rrotes). As 1'ou cau sec, the notes ol C tttaiot' are: C, D. E. F. G, A. B, C. YoLr'll probablv be lamiliar ri'ith the souncl of thc scalc. it's that doh-rc-nre thirlq (cD srrr t). Ifrou plav a meloclr or tune usirlg otilr'these notes.

major - one octave

listcn to the rc'corded version (co nvtr z) ancl 1'ou'll l'rear the llrst inten'al of a totre (behi.een C and D), trncl the seconcl itlten al of a scmitone (bctr.veen C and C#). Try plal'rng tlie rnajor scale etrtireh'otr the A string, {iorn the C ol the thild frt't tcr the C :lr octirr-e alnvc ort tlrc l5tlr lit'i (nrcs z ,r.xo 8), alcl the i)irttcrl) ol'totres alcl st'rnitones bt'cotttes clcar. Thc point of ,rll this is thrrt ortcc rort knos'the 1t;rttcrrt olottc ntitjor scrJe. \ou citll

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major played along the neck

major scale - one octave.

major triad.

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plal'all the other major scalcs, sirnply by

rnoring (or transposing) the pattern to another startirg rxrte (r'rcs 3 lNn 9).

rlusic. Everytliing frorn lVlozart to the

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GETrING IN:TO CIIOR,DS

A chord is a cornbilation ofnotes. The rnost lundamental chorcl is the trind. q4rich is a chord built up ol three lotes frotn nlternate lotes irr the scale. Tlie inten'al betq'een alternate scalic rntes, {br erarlple t1're inten'll behvercrr notes I antl 3, 3 and 5, 5 an<l 7. is krronn as a thircl. So a tliacl is a chord ol three notes spaccd in thilds. Listen to the exarnple - I'r'e played the scale in parallel 3rds (cn nrrn 3). To cre'ate the tri:rd C nrajor', tt*e t'l're first, third and fifth notes of the C major scale. The notes in thc chold are relelred to as the Root, Thircl nnd Filih respectivell'. The Iloot gives thc chord its name, in this cirse, C rrrdor Clieck the recolcling (cn rvrr 4) lbr :rn exarnple of the C rnajor triad on grritat'. \Vhen plaf ing a chord, ),ou citrl double any of the notes, lbl cxarnple by plar.ing the C again up arr octave. This is very often the case u'hen plal.ing chords on the guit:rr, s4rere vou usually play chords u'ith five or sir notes (rrc 5). Therc'.s no reason to builcl 1'our chold froni tlie first note ofthe scnle. F and G cliords c:rn be createcl bl'starting on tl'rr: 4th and 5th scnle notes respectively, and pltq'ing tlrcir root,3r'd and 5th (nrcs 6 aNo 7). I've pla)'ed these chortls ou tlie CD so you ctlrr hear thcir relationship to the home chorcl. Thesc 1. 4 :rncl 5 (often u'ritten I, I\l V) clxrrcls

Pistols to the entire blues back catalogue throrvs up examples of I, na V cl-rord progressions. Listen to cD BYTE 7 I'or an exarnple of a blues-type progression uslng only tlre choxts C. F and G. And ifyou're still not convinced, check out C'rnott Ercnlbody by Eddie Cochran, Let It Blced by The Rolling Stones, /ohnny B Coode by Chuck Berry, Cerenutn ry by Nerv Orcler, The Balkrcl of Jolm and fokoby the Beatles... the list goes on and on. Next rnonth u'e'll take a look at the other qpes of chords in the rnajor scale.

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