I wouldn't worry about "adding" chords. Throwing in chord inversions and keeping the melody together is something that takes a bit of skill to actually pull off. Just randomly throwing in an extra chord here and there is fun when you're home along, but if you do it in a jam session somebody is going to spank you like a circus monkey for throwing everybody out of whack.
To talk about what you "can" do I'm going to have to give into a wee bit of music theory - but don't sweat it because this stuff is actually pretty simple once you understand it.
The examples I'm posting here will look a lot nicer and make more sense in a moonscape font. Cut and paste this into a text program like Notepad and covert everything to something like Courier.
I think the first step to really being able to use chord progressions is learning how they are built.
If I just say, "In the key of C you usually can count on the song using the C, F and G chords" if doesn't give you the whole picture. As soon as you play a song like Freight Train in C and run into the E chord you'll be thinking, "where the hell did that come from?"
So what "makes" a chord progression?
It's built on scales.
Now, don't freak out and run away here. I know that some goomer at a festival might have convinced you that music theory is either hard or not applicable to traditional music but neither of those old wives tales is true.
A scale is just a sequence of notes. The formal term is something more along the lines of "the key of E is a major mode with a root of E," but we won't be getting into modes for a while so thinking of it as a sequence of notes makes things easier for now.
In Western music we are only working with twelve notes. The twelve notes are named after the letters A through G with a note or half-step between each pair of letters except between B and C and E and F:
A | B C | D | E F | G |
Your half step is either a sharp (#) or a flat (b.)
The half step between A and B can be called either A# or Bb.
A# means that the A note is raised one half step higher. Bb is the B note lowered one half step. A# and Bb are the same note and the other half steps follow the same pattern.
So with all twelve notes laid out you have the chromatic scale:
A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab
Once you understand the idea of half steps you can just write out your chromatic scale like this to save space and make it a tad clearer.
The " | " symbol will be used to represent a half step.
A | B C | D | E F | G |
To hear this on your banjo play the third string at the second fret
(an A note) and play that string on each fret all the way through twelve frets for each note of the chromatic scale.
To figure out the notes of the C scale we need to lay out the string of notes starting with our root note. In this case the root note is C so we start with the C note. Because we are only working with the letters A through G the notes after the G note is going to be A.
It might help to think of the notes as being laid out in a loop or circle.
C | D | E F | G | A | B C
Now if you notice we started on C and ended on C. That second C is called the octave. It is the same note as the root but higher in pitch.
What we have here now is a chromatic scale starting on C and ending on C.
Root, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.
C is the root.
1. a whole step from C is D.
2. a whole step from D is E.
3. a half step from E is F
4. a whole step from F is G
5. a whole step from G is A
6. a whole step from A is B
7. a half step from B is C
So your C scale is
C D E F G A B C
Now, try writing out some scales on your own.
Once you have a scale laid out- and it might be a good idea to sit down and work out A couple of scales here for keys you will be using a lot on the banjo like A,D and G andd keeping them handy to use in the next step- go ahead and number each note:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C
The notes numbered 1, 4 and 5 (C, F and G) will be your major chords for the key of C.
Go back and look at all the songs in the key of G that know (that is, if you are already playing a couple of songs.) You will notice that almost all of them use some combination of G, C and D. Some songs will only have two of the chords but most of the time you will see all three.
The note numbered 6 is going to be your relative minor. In this case Am.
Every root chord has a relative minor chord. We'll go into this in more detail later on, but every key has a unique number of sharps and flats. The key of C has no sharps or flats and the key of G has one sharp (F#.) The same rule applies to minor keys. Any minor key that has the same number of sharps and flats as a major key is the relative minor of that major key.
The key of Am has no sharps or flats therefore it is the relative minor of C.
It is good to know your relative minor chords (the 6 chord in the number system) because you can swap them around in some situations. If you are playing a song and cannot remember how to make an Am chord you can just play a C chord. It is different but it is close enough that you may get away with it.
The note numbered 2 is going to be both a minor chord and a major chord. In this case Am and A.
Number 3 is where it gets kind of neat because in folk music this is often referred to as an "off chord." In the key of C your off chord is E (remember when I mentioned Freight Train?.)
Your 6 chord can be played as a major chord as well. But it is kind of funky. You will really only use the major 6 once in a great while. In some songs like "Little Maggie" you might run into what some players call a mountain seven. That is when you flat the 7 chord. That is why "Little Maggie" goes from G to F rather than G to F# (it's actually a mode, but modes complicate things at this point - if you want to learn about modes look for the free online edition of "A Book Of Five Strings" by yours truly at http://www.ezfolk.com)
So right now we know how to build a scale and how to build a chord progression and your head hasn't exploded yet. Let's take this over to the guitar.
Just about every fretted instrument you are going to run into is laid out so that the fretboard follows the concept of the chromatic scale. This goes back to ancient Greece when a bunch of old fat guys in togas were spending all day plunking on a monochord.
If your guitar is in standard tuning your first string is tuned to E. If you fret that E string at the first fret you end up with an F note. Fret that E string at the third fret and you get an F#. If you lay out a chromatic scale staring on E you can see you each fret moves along the chromatic scale.
E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E
It's the same for each of your string. The tird string is tuned to G so you you waled down the fetboard you'd end up with this string of notes:
G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G
To hear this on your guitar play the third string at the second fret (an A note).
Then play that string on each fret all the way through twelve frets. You have just played each note of the chromatic scale. This works because the fretboard is laid out to follow the chromatic scale.
Look at it this way. The third string of your guitar is tuned to G. If we fret the G string at the first fret we get a G#/Ab. Keep that idea moving down the fetboard and . . .
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---0----1----2----3----4----5----6----7----8----9----10----11----12-|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G
Each string on your guitar follows the same pattern. The first string is tuned to E so fretting the first string at the first fret gets you an F note and fretting at the third fret gets you a . . . come on, figure this one out on your own . . . if you said "G" you've got the idea!
Now let's go back to the goold old C scale we worked out earlier: C D E F G A B C.
To play this on the guitar we could use the same formula that we used to play the A chromatic scale. We can start this on the second string at the first fret.
Why? Because the second string is tuned to B and as a result fretting that B string at the first fret gives you a C note.
A whole step from C is D:
|--------|
|---1--3-|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
C D
A whole step from D is E:
|-----------|
|---1--3--5-|
|-----------|
|-----------|
|-----------|
|-----------|
C D E
A half step from E is F:
|--------------|
|---1--3--5--6-|
|--------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|
C D E F
A whole step from F is G:
|-----------------|
|---1--3--5--6--8-|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
C D E F G
A whole step from G is A:
|---------------------|
|---1--3--5--6--8--10-|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
C D E F G A
A whole step from A is B:
|------------------------|
|---1--3--5--6--8-10--11-|
|------------------------|
|------------------------|
|------------------------|
|------------------------|
C D E F G A B
A half step from B is C:
|----------------------------|
|---1--3--5--6--8-10--11--12-|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
C D E F G A B C
And that gives us a C scale.
That isn't the only C scale on your guitar. You can play a C scale anywhere on the fretboard. Try playing a C scale staring on the fifth string at the third fret.
That's a C note because the fifth string is tuned to A:
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|---0----1----2----3-|
|--------------------|
A A#/Bb B C
So we start with C:
|-----|
|-----|
|-----|
|-----|
|---3-|
|-----|
C
The next note in the scale is D- and that just happens to be the next open string:
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|------0-|
|---3----|
|--------|
C D
After D comes E and F:
|--------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|
|------0--2--3-|
|---3----------|
|--------------|
C D E F
The next note in the scale in G- and we can move over to the next open string for that note:
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|---------------0-|
|------0--2--3----|
|---3-------------|
|-----------------|
C D E F G
And you just keep that idea going until you hit the next C note:
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|--------0--1-|
|---------------|--0--2-------|
|------0--2--3--|-------------|
|---3-----------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
C D E F G A B C
And you can start another C scale from that C note:
|---------0--1--|--3--5--7--8-|
|---1--3--------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
C D E F G A B C
So playing a major scale isn't a big deal. In fact, it's nothing more than playing a simple pattern of whole and half steps on the fretboard.
Try working out some more scales on your own. For the next part of this mini workshop we will be using the C, F and G scales.
To save time I'll tab the bass-string scales out for you.
C:
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|--------0--1-|
|---------------|--0--2-------|
|------0--2--3--|-------------|
|---3-----------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
C D E F G A B C
F:
|---------------|--------------|
|---------------|--------------|
|---------------|--------------|
|---------------|-----0--2--3--|
|---------0--1--|--3-----------|
|---1--3--------|--------------|
F G A Bb C D E F
G:
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|-----------0-|
|---------------|--0--2--4----|
|------0--2--3--|-------------|
|---3-----------|-------------|
G A B C D E F# G
ALTERNATING BASS:
Using the root note for the bass sounds good but it's kind of boring. In order to give the song a feeling of motion we can alternate the bass. To do this we play the root note for the first bass strum in a measure and either the fifth or the third note of the scale to start the second bass strum:
C:
|---------------|-------------|
|---------------|--------0--1-|
|---------------|--0--2-------|
|------0--2--3--|-------------|
|---3-----------|-------------|
|---------------|-------------|
C D E F G A B C
Root 3rd 5th
So if we use the root and the third note for our bass notes for a C chord we get an alternating bass pattern like this:
C
|-----0-----0--|-|
|-----1-----1--|-|
|-----0-----0--|-|
|-----2---2-2--|-|
|---3-3-----3--|-|
|-----x-----x--|-|
For an F chord it's a bit tricker because of the sixth string F note at the first fret. In the beginning you can just fudge a root-five for the F chord.
And when you apply that to a song like Boil Them Cabbage Down:
C F C
|-------0-------0---|-----1-------1-|-----0-------0---|
|-------1-------1---|-----1-------1-|-----1-------1---|
|-------0-------0---|-----2---2---2-|-----0-------0---|
|-------2---2---2---|-3---3-------3-|-----2---2---2---|
|---3---3-------3---|-----3-------3-|-3---3-------3---|
|-------x-------x---|-----x-------x-|-----x-------x---|
boil them cab-bage down down bake them hoe-cakes
G C F
|-------3-------3-|-----0-------0---|-----1-------1-|
|-------0-------0-|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1-|
|-------0-------0-|-----0-------0---|-----2---2---2-|
|-------0-------0-|-----2---2---2---|-3---3-------3-|
|-------2---2---2-|-3---3-------3---|-----3-------3-|
|---3---3-------3-|-----x-------x---|-----x-------x-|
brown brown the only song that I can sing is
C G C
|-------0-------3---|-----0-------0--|-|
|-------1-------0---|-----1-------1--|-|
|-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-*|-|
|-------2-------0---|-----2---2---2-*|-|
|---3---3-------2---|-3---3-------3--|-|
|-------x---3---3---|-----x-------x--|-|
boil them cab-bage down
Bass Runs:
If you mess around with your scales it's easy to add bass runs into the mix. Let's look at the first few measures of Boil Them Cabbage Down:
C F C
|-------0-------0---|-------------|-----0-------0---|
|-------1-------1---|-------------|-----1-------1---|
|-------0-------0---|-------------|-----0-------0---|
|-------2---2---2---|-------------|-----2---2---2---|
|---3---3-------3---|-------0--2--|-3---3-------3---|
|-------x-------x---|-1--3--------|-----x-------x---|
boil them cab-bage down down bake them hoe-cakes
G C
|--------------|-----0-------0---|
|--------------|-----1-------1---|
|--------------|-----0-------0---|
|--------------|-----2---2---2---|
|-----0--2-----|-3---3-------3---|
|--3--------3--|-----x-------x---|
brown brown the only song that. . .
Okay, We've got some bass line stuff to mix in, what about the melody? Here's the trick: Hold a C chord and while you are holding the chord play this little piece of a C scale:
-----------0--1--3--1--0-------------------
-----1--3-----------------3--1-------------
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Just mess about with holding a C chord and playing that little bit of a scale now and then.
Now play a couple of measures of C with a simple thumb-brush:
------0--------0---+-----0-------0----
------1--------1---+-----1-------1----
------0--------0---+-----0-------0----
------2--------2---+-----2-------2----
---3--3--------3---+--3--3-------3----
------3----3---3---+-----3----3--3----
Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4
(we're playing a simple quarter note strum here)
And once you practice that for a little while and use it in a jam it's easy to move on to the Carter Strum (which is actually nothing more than the "bump dit-ty" from frailing banjo, but since the idiots in Banjo Newsletter and banjo camps can't play the "bump dit-ty" that technique has been labeled 'untraditional' with a whole cock and bull story about the technique being invented by Pete Seeger . . . I really freaking hate the music community!)
Where was I? Oh yeah, the Carter strum:
------0--0------0--0--+-----0--0-------0--0--
------1--1------1--1--+-----1--1-------1--1--
------0---------0-----+-----0----------0-----
------2---------2-----+-----2----------2-----
---3--3---------3-----+--3--3----------3-----
------3-----3---3-----+-----3-------3--3-----
Count: 1 2 & 3 4 & | 1 2 & 3 4 &
This isn't a quarter note strum, it's a quarter note and two eighth notes played in a "down, down, up" pattern. You can do it with a flatpick, but to "get" the rhythm down for fingerstyle guitar it's better to play the pattern with your thumb and index finger. Down with the thumb on the bass string, down with the thumb for the strum and then strum up with the index finger.
You jam with that for a while and the next step is to change up the rhythm into something more like fingerstyle guitar by replacing the strums with a single note.
------------0------------0--
----------------------------
------0------------0--------
----------------------------
---3-----------3------------
---------3-------------3----
Count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
And it doesn't have to be single notes:
------------0------------0--
---1-----------1------------
------0------------0--------
---------2-------------2----
---3-----------3------------
---------3-------------3----
Count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Once you can keep the rhythm smooth playing a string of eighth notes the next step is to mix the alternating bass with the scale:
-----------0--1--3--1--0----
-----1--3-----------------3-
----------------------------
-----------0-----------0----
-----3----------3-----------
----------------------------
Count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Now play that same pattern but switch your chord form to F, Am and G. Don't change the fingering of the scale pattern, just move the alternating bass to the right notes for the chord form.
And right here you have the pattern that Doc Watson uses for Doc's Guitar, Don't Think Twice, She's Gone Away, Deep River Blues and a bunch of other songs. It also shows up in the playing of musicians as divers as Merle Travis, Leo Kottke, Gary Davis, John Cephas and God only knows how many others.
If you tab out, say, Deep River Blues and Doc's Guitar on paper it looks like there is this long string of individual finger movements you have to memorize to play the song. The reality is that you only need to understand a few concepts to be able to play those songs and a thousand others.
The really wild thing about this concept is that the scales with alternating bass trick will work for any chord form.
The problem is that this:
-----------0--1--3--1--0----
-----1--3-----------------3-
----------------------------
-----------0-----------0----
-----3----------3-----------
----------------------------
Count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
will not work until you have mastered this:
------0--------0---+-----0-------0----
------1--------1---+-----1-------1----
------0--------0---+-----0-------0----
------2--------2---+-----2-------2----
---3--3--------3---+--3--3-------3----
------3----3---3---+-----3----3--3----
Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4
-Patrick
|
sj