S E S S I O N S

Texas-Style Backup

B Y R O G E R F E R G U S O N

THE POWERFUL GUITAR thoughts on the progression:

accompaniment that’s common- • As you’re working out the
ly called “Texas-style backup” will changes, listen to the bass line by
be forever associated with the late itself. This will help you under-
Eldon Shamblin, who played stand how it drives the progression.
rhythm with Bob Wills & The • Notice how some of the in-
Texas Playboys. versions have a 3 or b7 in the
In the ’30s, Wills formed the bass. In isolation, such voicings
original Playboys—a dance band often sound ambiguous, but
that fused horns, twin fiddles, heard within the progression,
amplified instruments, and they make perfect sense.
drums with traditional country • As indicated, play a strong,
music. The mix became known staccato chuck on each upbeat.
as Western swing; its compelling Try quickly palm-muting each
sound still draws people to the chord after you play it.
dance floor. • When you encounter an un-
This progression will give familiar voicing, be sure to prac- National Flatpicking Guitar
you a feel for Western-swing tice it in other keys, up and down Champion Roger Ferguson has
rhythm guitar. The style is char- the fretboard. performed and recorded with
acterized by three primary ele- • Break out portions of this Mark O’Connor and Jerry Doug-
ments— passing chords that link progression and plug them into las. Ferguson lays down lone-
the main harmonic changes, a other settings. For example, bar 4’s some bluegrass and stomping
moving bass line, and a boom- G6/D-Edim7-D9/F#-G6 subs nicely Western-swing licks throughout
chuck strum. Here are a few for a I-IV-V-I cadence in G. g the Pacific Northwest.

#
C #dim7 G6/D Edim7 D9/F# G6 b
1.

.
G
. .
G9/B
. .
C
.
G G9/B C
.
C dim7
. . .
G
. . .
G9/B B dim7 D7/A
. . .
# 4 ä öj ä öj ä öj ä öj ä öj ä öj ä b öj ä öj ä öj ä öj ä öj ä öj ä ööj ä b b öööj ä öööj ä n öööj
1 4
2
3 3 1

& 4 { öö ö n öö ö öö # ö #öö öö n öö b öö n öö öö n öö ö öö # ö #öö ö ö ö ö ={

4 4 3
ö
4

==================================
4 1 1 4 1
2 1 3 2
ö b ö nö ö ö
3 2 3
ö ö 3 3 3
2 1 1
3 2
1
2
2 1

T .. 0
0
3
2
1
0
5
3
0
0
3
2
2
0
1
2
0
0
3
2
1
0
5
3
5
4
3
2
3
5
5
5
3
5
4
..
A 0 3 2 5 0 3 2 0 0 3 2 5 5 2 4 5
B 2 3 4 2 1 0 2 3 4 5
3 3 3

. G7/F . C/E . Cm/Eb . G6/D . C# dim7. D7/C .

2.
G G13
5
# ä ööj ä ööj ä ööj ä b ööj ä (n) öj ä öj ä öj Î ä öj ú .
ö ö ö n öö úú ..
2 3

ö ö ö bö ö ö ö #ö ö n ö ö # ö n ö
1 1 4
nö
1
==================================
& =
1 1 3 3
3 4 3
4 1 2 1

ö ö w
2 3 4 4 2

2 1 1

T
8 8 5 4 5 5 3 5
A
7 7 5 5 4 3 2 4
B
9 9 5 5 5 5 4 3
10 8 7 6 5 4 3
0 2 3
 S E S S I O N S
Up the Down
Escalator
B Y E T H A N F I K S

IN HIGH SCHOOL, I HAD the diatonic chords are Cmaj7,

the privilege of taking some
lessons with Pat Bergeson, now a
successful Nashville studio gui-
tarist. He encouraged me to be-
come familiar with harmonized
scales and learn how to play them
up and down the neck, a concept
I didn’t fully grasp at the time.
Sometimes a little confusion
goes a long way. Not comprehend-
ing Pat’s intentions, I began to
work out how to ascend through
a harmonized major scale (moving
stepwise from the Imaj7 to the
VIIm7b5) while descending in
pitch. You know, “play up and
down” the neck.
The chord sequence below lets
you achieve this feat using 7th-
chord inversions of the harmo-
nized major scale—Imaj7, IIm7,
IIIm7, IVmaj7, V7, VIm7, and
VIIm7b5. This workout is in C, thus
Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7, Am7, and
Bm7b5. Some observations:
• The sequence starts on an
open-voiced, root-position Cmaj7,
and ends on the same inversion
one octave lower.
• Every chord appears four
times—once in root position, and
once in each of the three possible
inversions.
• In every measure, the four
chords follow this pattern: root po-
sition, 3rd inversion, 2nd inver-
sion, 1st inversion.
• Each chord has one note in
common with the following chord.
Select any two chords: The com-
mon tone will be the first chord’s
root and the second chord’s 7.
• To play through this se-
quence, you have to periodically
jump back up the neck when
you run out of room at the bot-
tom of the fretboard.
• Because we’re not using any
open strings, you can transpose
the sequence—or any portion of
it. Try playing this progression in
other keys.
• You can adapt this harmo-
nized major-scale sequence to
chords on different sets of strings.
• Also, you can harmonize a
different parent scale—say, melod-
ic minor—and run the sequence.
• In addition to being a potent
exercise for mastering 7th-chord
inversions and learning the notes
on the fretboard, this workout is
a farm for compositional ideas. g
National Guitar Workshop fac-
ulty member Ethan Fiks has a gui-
tar-teaching studio in New York
City. His book Guitar Effects [Al-
fred/Workshop Arts] shows you
how to create dozens of tones and
emulate bagpipes, drums, cats,
and cars. Visit www.ethanfiks.com
for more info.

Am7/G Bm7 b 5/F Cmaj7/E Dm7 Am7 Bm7 b 5/A Cmaj7/G Dm7/F
öö
Cmaj7 Dm7/C Em7/B Fmaj7/A G7 Em7/D Fmaj7/C G7/B
ö
öö ö ö öö öö öö ö öö öö öö öö
44 öö ö ö ö
4
ö ö ö
4
ö ö ö ö ö
4 4

ö ö
3 4 2 4 4
ö ö ö ö ö ö
2 1 4 4

ö ö ö ö ö
1 1 4 1
ö öö öö ö ö
3 1

ö ö öö ö
3 3 1 1 2 4 4 1 1 1
ö ö=
3 3

==================================
& ö
4 3 3 1 1 1 3 3 3
ö
1 2 2 3 1 1 2 1 3
2 1 2 4 3 3 2 2 2
2 2 1 3
2 2

T
17 15 15 13 12 10 10 8 6 5 5 15 13 12 12 10
A
16 14 12 10 10 9 7 5 5 4 2 12 12 10 9 7
B
17 15 14 14 12 10 9 9 7 5 3 15 14 12 10 10
15 15 14 12 10 10 8 7 5 5 3 14 12 12 10 8

b b
Em7
ö ö
Fmaj7/E
U
G7/D Am7/C Bm7 5 Cmaj7/B Dm7/A Em7/G Fmaj7 G7/F Am7/E Bm7 5/D Cmaj7

öö öö öö öö ö
öö öö ö ö ö ö öö
ööö öö öö
2

öö öö
4 4
öö
1 4
ö
3 4
ö ö ö
2 3
ö ö ö =
2 4 4 1 1 4
ö ö ö
1 4 2

==================================
& ö ö ö
4 1 1
ö ö
1 3 1

ö ö
1 1 3 3 3 2

ö
3 4 2 2 4 3
3 3 2 4 3
1 3 1 2 2
3 2 2 2
1 1

T
8 6 6 5 3 13 13 12 10 8 8 6 5
A
7 5 4 2 2 12 10 9 9 7 5 4 4
B
9 7 5 5 3 14 12 12 10 9 7 7 5
7 7 5 3 2 14 12 10 8 8 7 5 3
 BACK TRACK S
The Bead Game
E
Ex. 1

Gmaj7 G7 Gm7 b
G7 5 #
G7 5 G13
B Y A N D Y E L L I S
1 X3 4 2 X 1 X2 4 3 X 2 X3 3 3 X 2 X3 4 1 X 1 X2 3 4 X 1 X2 3 4 X

THROW AWAY THAT CHORD

S
III III III III III III
dictionary—there’s a better way to build
RX7 3 5 X b
RX 73 5 X bb
RX 7 3 5 X b b
RX 73 5X b #
RX 73 5X b
RX 73 6 X
your chord vocabulary. Rather than at- (13)

tempt to memorize the hundreds of unre- Gm7 5 b G7sus4 G9 G6 G6/9 Gdim7

lated shapes provided by typical dictio- 2 X3 4 1 X 1 X1 4 1 X 2 X3 1 4 X 1 X2 4 3 X 2 X1 1 3 X 2 X1 3 1 X

naries, it makes more sense—musically

III III III III III III
and in terms of decoding the fretboard—
bbb b b bb
to master a dozen or so chord formulas RX 7 3 5X R X 74 5 X RX 72 5 X RX6 3 5 X RX6 2 5 X
bb
RX6 3 5X

and learn how to apply them to a basic

major-7th chord matrix. (The major 7’s Ex. 2
(11)

Ex. 3
(9) (9) ( 7)

S
basic root, 3, 5, 7 formula offers an ide- Cmaj7 Fmaj7
X1 3 2 4 X XX1 3 3 3
al starting point for creating other chord
flavors.) Here’s the process: III III
• Find a major-7th fingering that lies

well on the fretboard. Let’s use Ex. 1’s
Gmaj7 for illustration.
• Identify the function of each note in
the selected major-7th form. In this in-
stance, that’s root, 7, 3, 5 (low to high),
as shown below the fretboard grid.
• Now picture the fretboard as an
abacus—you know, the ancient calculat-
ing device consisting of beads suspended
on wires. The difference here is that your
beads (chord tones) run up and down six
vertical wires (guitar strings).
• Once you know the formula for a
dominant-7th chord (1, 3, 5, b7), morphing
XR 5 7 3 X XXR 5 7 3
hear the relationship between Gmaj7,
G7, and Gm7. Three voicings from one
basic form—not bad.
• Why stop here? Ex. 1’s nine other
voicings (G7b5, G7#5, G13, Gm7b5,
G7sus4, G9, G6, G6/9, and Gdim7) are
likewise related to each other and to that
first Gmaj7. As you familiarize yourself
with these shapes and sounds, take the
time to track the moving beads and com-
I
and 3. Simply follow the formulas shown
in Ex. 1, move the “beads” accordingly,
and presto—two more sets of 144
chords. (If a formula yields an un-
playable fingering, just ignore it. Other
voicing options are always available.)
O
It takes years to master fretboard har-
mony. Playing the bead game will speed
the journey. g

Gmaj7 into G7 is simply a matter of sliding
the 7 back one fret to make it a b7. Com-
pare the two grids and see for yourself.
• Want a Gm7 ? Armed with the for-
mula for a minor-7th chord (1, b3, 5,
b7), you can transform G7 into Gm7 by
sliding the 3 to a b3.
• The bead game lets you see and
pare their positions with the major-7th
starting point.
• Because these 12 voicings use no
open strings, they’re moveable. Congrat-
ulations! In chord-dictionary terms,
you’ve learned 144 chords (12 voicings x
12 keys).
• Now apply our abacus principle to
the major-7th voicings in Examples 2
N
All of us—no matter how long we’ve
played or how skilled we are—have
gaps in our knowledge. Back Track is an
ongoing Sessions series designed to fill
these holes. Got a topic you’d like to see
us address? Send your question to Back
Track, c/o Guitar Player, 411 Borel
Ave., #100, San Mateo, CA 94402, or
e-mail it to guitplyr@mfi.com. S
 S E S S I O N S
Ska Building Blocks
B Y D AV I D B U R K

IF YOU WANT TO BE RUDE, stroke the upbeats because, with gression in G. In bar 3, notice how
play everything on the upbeat. downstrokes, you hit the bigger the Am changes inversions.
The basic building block of past strings first. For a truly rude flavor, add
and present ska is the accented Modern skameisters often play dominant-7th chords and sliding
and of each beat (E
Ex. 1). The ten- clip rhythms on the treble strings chromatic movement from either
dency is to strum this apparently (G, B, and E ). However, the ’60s Ja- above or below the target harmo-
simple rhythm (often called the maican originators—ska’s “rude Ex. 3). As illustrated here, oc-
ny (E
“clip”) with upstrokes. But you boys”—favored fuller voicings as casionally it’s effective to play on
get a fuller sound if you down- shown in Ex. 2, a I-VIm-IIm-V pro- the downbeat.
Often called a “stuckey,” a
typical ska single-note riff fea-
Ex. 1 G
# 4 ä ööö ä ööö ä ööö ä ööö
tures sixteenth-notes, played David Burk is a Minneapolis-
1

& 4 J J
===============
1
2
J J Ô =
clean and very staccato (E Ex. 4).
Note the characteristic chromat-
based guitarist, producer, writer,
and teacher. For info on Do You
ic movement, as well as the Know What Time It Is, an album
arpeggiated chords. by Burk’s world-beat group, Labor
3 3 3 3
These examples sound great Party, contact Nabi Musicworks,
Ô
T
3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4
A with wah and work well at tem- Box 8621, Minneapolis, MN
B
pos from 150 to 190 bpm. g 55408; (612) 823-6204.

ö ö ö ö
Ex. 2 G Em Am D

# 4 ä öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä Jööö ä Jööö ä Jöööö ä Jöööö ä Jöö ä Jöö ä Jöö ä Jöö 1 1
1 1
1 1

J J J J J J J J
2 2 4

& 4
2

================================= =
1 4 1 2
1 3
3 3

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 8 8 10 10 10 10
T
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 5 5 10 10 10 10 10 10
A
7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 5 5 9 9 11 11 11 11
B
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10

Ex. 3 G Em Am D7
1
ö .
# 4 # # ööö öööö öööö ä öööö ä ööö öööö ÀÀÀÀ ÀÀÀÀ öööö öööö ä öööö ä öööö ä b n bb öööö ööö ööö ä ööö ä ööö ä # öö öö # öö öö öö öö öö Î
2 1
1 4 1 1
3 1 1

& 4 # Jö J J J J J ö ö Jö Jö # Jö ö # ö ö ö ö
2
4

================================= =
4
1
3 3
3

6 7 7 7 10 7 X X 7 7 7 7 6 5 5 5 5 5
T
7 8 8 8 8 8 X X 8 8 8 8 6 5 5 5 5 6 7 6 7 6 7 7
A
6 7 7 7 7 7 X X 9 9 9 9 6 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 5
B
8 9 9 9 9 9 X X 9 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 7 6 7 6 7 6 7

Ex. 4 G Em Am D7

#4 ö ä
& 4 ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö# ö ö# ö ö ö ö î ö ö ö ö ö ö ä Jö ä Jö # Jö n ö öj ú
3
1 2

================================= =
4 3
1 4 1
2 1 3
3 1

Palm mute - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

T
5
A
7 4 5 7 6 5
B
5 5 5 5 5 5 9 5 7 7 7 7 7 4
7 6 7 6 7
 L i c k o f t h e M o n t h
O P E N U P
S
THIS MONTH’S LICK IS ALL ABOUT ADDING To avoid stepwise movement, I play many fourths and
air to a phrase by skipping strings and playing wide inter- fifths. For the #11 sound, I draw on elements of the Bm
vals. Hazard, Kentucky’s Marin Bucevic, who gave us this pentatonic scale that feature F#.” Start at a moderate
four-bar passage, elaborates: “It works over Cmaj7#11. tempo, and gradually work up to around q = 144. g
E
Cmaj7 11 #
U 4

ö ö
3

ö ö
4

4 ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö
2

ö ö ö
1 1

ö #ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö ö # ö # ööö =
3 4 3 2 2 1
1

&4
2 3 3

==================================
ö ö ö 2

S
3 1 3 1 3 1
3 1 1 2
4 2
1

3 3 7 5
T
3 5 3 3 5 5 3 5
A
4 4 5 4 2 4 2 4 5 4 2 4
B
5 4 4 2 2 4 4
2 5 2 3 3

Send us your candidate for Lick of the Month (prefer-
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S
submission. You’ll get your shirt if your lick is chosen.