Ifyoufindanyerrorsordisagreewithanypointsmadeinthislittlewriteup,pleaselet

meknow.Thismaterialis,insomeways,newtome,andImsureastimepassesIll
reflectonbetterwaystopresentit.I'mopentoallcriticisms.

Allthisstuffwillprobablybethemostusefulorrelevantifyouknowthefretboardandall
keysverywell,alreadyknowquitealotofvoicings,andareinterestedinexpanding
yourchordal/harmonicvocabulary.

Ifyouarestillstrugglingwithgoodcompingonjazzstandards,thisstuffwilldefinitely
nothelp.Sorry!Thisismoreifyouarebeyondboredwithdrop2anddrop3,etc.

Thismaterialdoeshaveapplicationtoplayingstandardsandjazztunes,butIthinkis
applicabletoalotofstylesofimprovisationandcomposition.I'vebeenusingalotof
thesevoicingsandsequencesforimprovisedsologuitar.

Anyway,thepointis

1.Discoverandplayanypossible3or4notestructurewithinagiventonality

2.Findmusicalusesfornewstructures

MyhopeisthatIamprovidingthereaderwithsomethingthatisbothnewanduseful.If,
onthesurface,theseseemlikeconceptsyouareveryfamiliarwith,bearwithmeasI
expandtheconceptsandhopefullygettonewterritorycertainlyterritorythatisnewto
me!

Ontheothersideofthings,iftheseconceptsseemtoodauntingandoverwhelming,
laterIaddresspracticalandfunwaystotackletheinformation.

FirstI'lltalkaboutsomeofthepossible3notestructures,thenaddressmusical
applications.Thenontomore3notestructures,then4notestructures.

Inthebiglistsbelow,thenumbersrepresentscaledegreesfromany7notescale.
Horizontally,theyarechords,listedfromlowestpitchtohighestpitch.Forexample,127
inthekeyofCmajorwouldmeanachordwithCasthelowestvoice,Dasthemiddle
voice,andBasthehighestvoice.

Onewaytoplaythisonguitarwouldbe

x304xx

anotherwaywouldbe

xx107x7

(Allspecificguitarvoicingsarewrittenlefttorightaslowstringtohighstring,numbers
arefretnumbers,notscaledegreesinthiscontext.)

Youcouldapplythenumberstomajorkeys,modes,melodicminor,harmonicminor,
harmonicmajor,anymodeofanyofthesescales,oranyothersevennotepitch
collection.Forexample,156inClydianaugmentedwouldbeC,G#,AbutinC
harmonicmajor156wouldbeC,G,Ab.LaterI'lladdressalternativepitchcollectionsin
moredetail.

Withinthisstyleofnotation,belowisalistofallpossible3notestructureswithina7
notepitchcollectionthat:
startwiththerootofthekey
containnointervalsofanoctave
havealimitationofaseventhasthelargestintervalthatcanexistbetweentwo
adjacentnotes

Iwilleventuallyaddresseachoftheselimitations.

1,2,3
1,2,4
1,2,5
1,2,6
1,2,7
1,3,2
1,3,4
1,3,5
1,3,6
1,3,7
1,4,2
1,4,3
1,4,5

1,4,6
1,4,7
1,5,2
1,5,3
1,5,4
1,5,6
1,5,7
1,6,2
1,6,3
1,6,4
1,6,5
1,6,7
1,7,2
1,7,3
1,7,4
1,7,5
1,7,6

Sincewewanttofindthesestructuresstartingwithnotesotherthantheroot,simply
transposeeachstructureupthekey.

Forexample,our127frombefore,(CDBinCmajor)canbemovedupastepinthe
scalethe"1"inthelowvoicebecomes"2,"the"2"inthemiddlevoicebecomes"3,"
andthe"7"inthehighestvoicebecomes"1,"therootagain.Soitisnow231,DEC,
fromlowtohigh.Transposedagainitis342/EFD,453/FGE,564/GAF,675/ABG,
716/BCA,thenwearebackattheoriginal,127/CDB

Thediatonicintervalsbetweenthenotesstaythesameasyoutranspose.Theabove
exampleisasecondbetweenthefirsttwonotesandasixthbetweenthelasttwonotes.
Mypresentationofthelistavoidstheredundancyofwritingboth123and234,andit
alsopointsouttheconsistencyofthosetwostructures(andtheotherfivestructuresthat
havetheexactsameintervalspread.)

Theabovelistcontains30structures,buteachoneofthemcanbetransposedtostart
withanyofthe7scaledegrees,givingus210uniquestructureswithinatonality.

Eachchordcouldbeplayedharmonically(allnotesplayedtogether)ormelodically
(arpeggiated.)Andofcourse,there'saverysignificanttexturaldifferencebetween
sustainingeachnoteofthearpeggioandnot.


It'sgoodtoexploredifferentregisters,stringsets,andfingeringsforeachstructure.
Someofthevoicingsproducedmaybeplayableaschordsinmanydifferentways,
someonlyoneorafewways,andsomeofthemwillbephysicallyimpossibleforyou.

Alsonotetheimportanceoforder,astheyarelistedfromlowestnotetohighest:143
hasamuchwiderintervalspreadthan134,becauseintheformer,thereisaseventhin
betweenthe4andthe3,andinthelatter,thereisasecondbetween3and4.

Examplesonguitar:

143inCmajorwouldbeCFE,onewaytoplaythatwouldbe

xx1010x12

134inCmajorwouldbeCEF,onewaytoplaythatwouldbe

xx1096x

Sincetheinterestinthesestructuresmightbewiththegoaloffindingambiguousor
clustervoicings,hereisalistofallthestructuresfromtheabovelistthatcontainatleast
oneintervalofasecond:

123
124
125
126
127
134
145
156
167

Hereareallthestructuresthatcontainatleastoneintervalofaseventh:
127
137
147
157

167
132
143
154
165
176

Hereareallthedifferentwaysthatthreeconsecutivescaletonescouldbearranged,
stillwiththelimitationthateachstructurestartswiththeroot.(thenyoutranspose)

123
127
167
132
172
176

Practicalapplicationsofthelist:

Keepinmindalloftheseprocessesareapplicabletothelistoffournotestructureslater
inthisdocument.

Theprocessontheguitarissomewhatsimpleifyouknowthefretboardwellenough:
pickatonality(key,mode,etc,)pickastructure,playit,andmovethatstructureupand
downstepwisethroughthepitchcollection.Ifstepwisemovementistooeasyorboring,
youcouldmovethestructurethroughthepitchcollectioninsomesortofintervallic
pattern,orbyvoiceleadingamelodyinthetopvoice.(Orbottomvoice,ormiddle
voice.)

Youcouldanalyzeindividualstructuresagainsttherootnoteofthatmode/key,insearch
ofanewwaytointerpretafamiliarharmony.Similarly,youcouldrecord(orhum)a
droneandplaythroughthetranspositionofastructure,and,well,yourinterpretationof
thesoundistheresult.

Youcouldalsotakeonestructureinonlyonetranspositionandanalyzeitagainst12
possiblerootnotes,alsotoseeifitisanewwayofinterpretingafamiliarharmony.

Beingpractical,thetaskofpickingastructureatrandom,playingitandits
transpositionsupanddownthepitchcollectionisagreatwaytolearnthesoundofthat
collectionaswellasthelocationsofitsnotesonthefretboard.Certainstructureswill
definitelychallengeyourknowledgeofthatpitchcollection.

Ifanything,evenifthemusicalresultsaren'tputtouseinimprovisationorcomposition,
thesecanbethoughtofaskey/modeawarenessexercises.Ifyouarestrugglingwith
certainkeysormodes,youcouldworkthroughsomestructuresinthesekeysormodes.

Thereareavarietyofsingingandsolfeggiexercisesyoucouldapplytothese
structures,makingforfantasticeartraining,aswellassimplylearningtoaurally
recognizeandidentifythesetypesofvoicings.

Youcouldgothroughthesestructuresformajorkeys,minorkeys,allmodesofthe
major,melodicminor,harmonicminor,harmonicmajoranysevennotepitchcollection.

Andofcourse,it'sprettysimpletoalterthelistforapitchcollectionofanysize5notes,
6notes,8notes,etc.Theresultscanbeprettyinterestingforavarietyofreasons,one
beingthatasyoutransposestructuresupthosepitchcollections,theintervalsbetween
thenoteschange.Forexample,inapentatonicscale,whatwasanintervalofasecond
inonestructuremightbeathirdwhenyoutransposeitupascalestepwithinthat
pentatonic.

AsIsaidbefore,youcouldalsoarpeggiatethestructuresandturnthemintomaterialfor
melodiesandsolos,oreventechnicalpractice.

Suggestedapproach:

EventhoughI'veonlypresentedasmallportionofthestructuresthatarepossibleusing
theseapproaches(moreiscomingup,)alreadythereisenoughmaterialtokeepa
playerbusy(andpossiblyfrustrated)foravery,verylongtime.

Ifindaverysimpleandfunactivityisto

setatimerfor2030minutes

pickapitchcollection


pickastructure,atrandom,fromthelist

(Good"randomizer"website:http://www.randomizelist.com)

transposethestructureupanddownthepitchcollection,exploringpossibleregisters,
fingerings,stringsets,andharmonicapplications.Allowyourselftogoonan
improvisationaltangentifastructureorsequenceinspiresyourcreativity.

ThegoalisNOTtomemorizeorhaveavocabularyofallpossiblestructureswithin
everypossiblepitchcollection.Thatisimpossible.Thepracticalfunctionforthese
exercisesistofindnewmaterialthattheplayercanusetosuithisownpurposes
whetherit'scomposition,newwaystocompthroughjazztunes,soloarrangement,free
improvisation,etc.Sowhensomethingcatchesyourearorinspiresyou(andhopefully
thatwillhappenoften,asithasbeenforme)thenexplorethatitemingreatdepth.Isee
thisasamorepracticaluseoftimethananyattempttobeexposedtoamaximum
numberofchordforms.

Morestructures!

First,abitmoreaboutdifferentpitchcollections:

Yougetfreshersoundswithfresherpitchcollections.It'sfuntobecreativeand
experiment,goingintoanactivitywithanopenmindandopenears.Iknowsomeof
youmightalreadymightbeveryfamiliarwithclustersandquartalvoicingswithinthe
majormodesandpossiblymelodicminorandharmonicminor.Ibelievethereisquitea
lotofharmonicterritorytoexploreifyouconsiderdifferentpitchcollections,perhaps
startingwithharmonicmajor,diminishedscale,augmentedscale,'bebop'scales,and
triadpairs(hexatonic).Consecutivehalfstepscertainlymakeforinterestingresults.I
don'tbelievethereisalimittohowmuchmaterialyoucouldproducewiththese
approaches.

Toaddressintervalwidth:

Therearetwoadjacentintervalsineach3notestructure:theintervalbetweenthefirst
andsecondnote,andtheintervalbetweenthesecondandthirdnote.Oneormore
octavescanbeaddedtooneorbothoftheseintervals.

Thisisusefulformanyreasons.Youaccessdifferenttexturesawiderspreadof
intervalsbetweenvoicesiscertainlyadifferentsound.Italsoprovidesawaytoplay
somestructuresthatareverydifficulttoplayotherwise,especiallyontheloweststrings
orlowerontheneck.Forexample,671.Itishardtoplay,say,A,B,andCtogether
likethis:

xxx14128

it'sevenhardertoplayitas

x1295xx

(Andyes,youcoulduseopenstringsforthese,whichisaverypowerfultool,butonly
applicableinveryspecificstructuresandtonalities.)

Byaddinganoctavetothefirstintervalyouget

5xx41x/5x95xx/x12xx128etc

Byaddinganoctavetothesecondintervalyouget

xx74x8

(Theb9intervalinthiscasemightbeunpleasanttosome,butasyoumovetheshape
upthekeythestructurechangesfromABCtoBCDtoCDE,etc,theb9issometimes
justa9,andinsequenceIactuallyfindthatverypretty)

Byaddingonoctavetobothintervalsyouget

5xx9x8

(rememberthatthisissixth,seventh,root.)

MovingthatshapeupCmajoryouget

5x9xx8

7x10xx10

8x12xx12

10x14xx13

12x15xx15

13x17xx17

15x19xx19

Interestingtomyears,andhonestlynotanythingI'deverplayedbeforewritingitdown
justnow.Aesthetically/personallyIpreferitwithanothernoteaddedbetweenthetop
twovoices(8x12x1012)

Withoutaddingoctaveswehad210structures.Nowhavingtheoptionofaddingan
octavetothefirstinterval,anoctavetothesecondinterval,oranoctavetoboth
intervalswehave840structureswithinasetpitchcollection.

Therestillistherestrictionthatnonotesarerepeatedindifferentoctaves.

Stayingconsistentwithinmystyleofnotation,hereareallthe3notestructuresthat
haverepetitionnotesrepeatedindifferentoctaves.

111
112
113
114
115
116
117
121
122
131
133
141
144
151
155
161

166
171
177

Harmonically,Ithinkoftheseasbasicallydyadswithanotedoubled.

Listofpossiblefournotestructures:

Theseare,well,biggerandricher.

Allthesameprocessesandprinciplesthatappliedtothe3notestructuresapply
hereexceptnowtheoriginallisthas120structures.

Addingoctavestosomeoftheseareessentialinordertomakethemplayableonthe
guitar.Addingoctavestoothersmakethemimpossibletoplay.

Sincethislistismuchbigger,randomizingitmakesitmoreinterestingtoplaywith,at
leastforme.http://www.randomizelist.com

1,2,3,4
1,2,3,5
1,2,3,6
1,2,3,7
1,2,4,3
1,2,4,5
1,2,4,6
1,2,4,7
1,2,5,3
1,2,5,4
1,2,5,6
1,2,5,7
1,2,6,3
1,2,6,4
1,2,6,5
1,2,6,7
1,2,7,3
1,2,7,4

1,2,7,5
1,2,7,6
1,3,2,4
1,3,2,5
1,3,2,6
1,3,2,7
1,3,4,2
1,3,4,5
1,3,4,6
1,3,4,7
1,3,5,2
1,3,5,4
1,3,5,6
1,3,5,7
1,3,6,2
1,3,6,4
1,3,6,5
1,3,6,7
1,3,7,2
1,3,7,4
1,3,7,5
1,3,7,6
1,4,2,3
1,4,2,5
1,4,2,6
1,4,2,7
1,4,3,2
1,4,3,5
1,4,3,6
1,4,3,7
1,4,5,2
1,4,5,3
1,4,5,6
1,4,5,7
1,4,6,2
1,4,6,3
1,4,6,5
1,4,6,7
1,4,7,2

1,4,7,3
1,4,7,5
1,4,7,6
1,5,2,3
1,5,2,4
1,5,2,6
1,5,2,7
1,5,3,2
1,5,3,4
1,5,3,6
1,5,3,7
1,5,4,2
1,5,4,3
1,5,4,6
1,5,4,7
1,5,6,2
1,5,6,3
1,5,6,4
1,5,6,7
1,5,7,2
1,5,7,3
1,5,7,4
1,5,7,6
1,6,2,3
1,6,2,4
1,6,2,5
1,6,2,7
1,6,3,2
1,6,3,4
1,6,3,5
1,6,3,7
1,6,4,2
1,6,4,3
1,6,4,5
1,6,4,7
1,6,5,2
1,6,5,3
1,6,5,4
1,6,5,7

1,6,7,2
1,6,7,3
1,6,7,4
1,6,7,5
1,7,2,3
1,7,2,4
1,7,2,5
1,7,2,6
1,7,3,2
1,7,3,4
1,7,3,5
1,7,3,6
1,7,4,2
1,7,4,3
1,7,4,5
1,7,4,6
1,7,5,2
1,7,5,3
1,7,5,4
1,7,5,6
1,7,6,2
1,7,6,3
1,7,6,4
1,7,6,5

Iusedthiswebsitetomaketheselists:
http://www.mathsisfun.com/combinatorics/combinationspermutationscalculator.html.A
littletrialanderrortogettheresultsIwanted.

For4notestructureswithinasevennotepitchcollection,Ientered2,3,4,5,6,7intothe
permutationcalculator,typestochoosefrom=6,numberchosen=3.Icopiedthelist
thatgavemeintothiswebsitehttp://alphabetizer.flap.tv/index.phpwhereIhadthe
optionofadding"1,"tothebeginningofeachline,givingmefournotestructuresthat
startwiththeroot.Hopefullyseeingthatyoucanfigureouthowtomakelistsof
structuresofanysizewithinpitchcollectionsofanysize.Fun!