Friday, June 21, 2024
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Saturday, April 6, 2024
The Power of the 3rd Rail!
( A shorter version of this video is here: https://youtu.be/_GrkDEKBHAU ) A paradigm change: The fretboard starts between the G and B strings. These two strings comprise the "3r Rail" which is the center of a primary diatonic symmetry. As a metaphor derived from electric rail systems like the NYC subway, the "third rail" is usually characterized as a thing that is too dangerous to touch, usually in business or politics. But while the 3rd rail is lethal to the touch, it also powers the train. So it is a double-edged sword, to mix metaphors. Locating the positions of the natural tones (the key of C major/A minor) becomes more logical when recognizing the inherent symmetry of the Diatonic keys starting with C. This is most clear when starting from the 3rd Rail. Index: 00:00 — Intro ... What is the 3rd Rail? 00:53 — Why is the 3rd Rail? ... How does the tuning of renaissance viols pertain to the tuning of the guitar? ... The standard guitar tuning is not all about playing barre chords! 03:26 — The Pentatonic Axis ... Every fret on the guitar is a pentatonic scale. ... There is only one major 3rd in a pentatonic scale. 04:45 — How Can We Use the 3rd Rail? ... The key of C major is built around the 3rd Rail. ... The three major 3rds in the key of C are positioned symmetrically on the 3rd Rail. 07:27 — 3rd Rail Major and Minor 3rds ... Three major 3rds and four minor 3rds in every key. ... The symmetry of major and minor 3rds on the 3rd rail. 8:57 — Mapping Diatonic Symmetry ... The symmetry of diatonic intervals. ... 7th arpeggios on the four top strings. 11:08 — The Primary Symmetry ... Animated diagrams of the rotational/palindromic symmetry from several perspectives. ... Comparison between the guitar symmetry and that of the piano keyboard. 15:32 — The fretboard begins on the 3rd rail C major 3rd ... at the 5th fret. ... What better way to understand the symmetry of the system than to start at the center of the system? 18:53 — Mission Statement and Thanks! ... A paradigm shift: Thinking about the guitar fretboard that begins at the 5th fret, on the 3rd string. ... More to come. © 2024 Mark Newstetter https://marknewstetter.com ================ More about the Renaissance guitar: https://www.laguitarra-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/strining-and-tuning-the-renaissance-four-course-guitar.pdf The Metropolitan Museum Instrument Collection: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?department=18&showOnly=highlights&q=guitar
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Diatonic Map of the Guitar Fretboard
In this video I present a method of mapping the diatonic system on the guitar fretboard in standard tuning. I've been using and refining this method for decades with many hundreds of private students to excellent results.
I was motivated to develop this map because, while there are many guitar methods which cover various aspects of playing scales, chords, arpeggios, riffs, etc ... there is no standard method for mapping and identifying the structures of the diatonic keys in their own right.
As the guitar presents the player with the challenge of simply knowing were all the notes are within each key, I became focused on finding a way to delineate key structures in a way that would be clear and accessible so that I could find any note in a key by knowing their relative physical positions.
Since all keys have the same structure, they also have the same geometric arrangement on the fretboard. It's just a matter of deciding how to depict and identify these structures. Having been unable to find any such map after years of searching, I created my own, which I make available here:
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
More Modal Madness Galore!
Before you venture into this ... please study the previous post:
https://fretography.blogspot.com/2023/03/diatonic-symmetry-galore.html
Now ... where were we?
Ok ... we're making connections between modes and keys across the diatonic system. Modes do not only exist in separate keys with walls around them. The cross key relationships we find in so much music have their own logic, grammar and flow.
The character of each mode becomes a pathway from one musical idea to another. We sense when the key has changed, and it is modality that provides the framework of coherence of the harmonic and melodic threads.
Since Dorian mode is diatonically central, lets see how it connects to the seven keys drawn from its traverse of natural tone finals ...
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Modal Symmetry Galore
The symmetry built into the Diatonic system has many manifestations. One of the most compelling is the phenomenon of modal common tones.
Deep Symmetry
The modes form palindromic interval groupings ...
Ionian and Phrygian,
Locrian and Lydian,
Aeolian and Mixolydian,
... and Dorian mode ...
The intervals within each mode are part of the overarching Diatonic symmetry. Study the interval structure of the modes ... notice the palindromic pairings:
Common Tones connect seven keys in a modal continuum ...
Modal Common Tones
When the notes of Major scale (Ionian mode) each become the tonic of a new key there is but one note common to them all. In the Key of C are the notes C D E F G A B ... the scale will include the complete octave — C D E F G A B C.
Make each of these natural tones the Tonic, and you have seven keys, and within each of them is the note 'E' ... the III of the original key. There will be no other note to find a place in all seven keys.
That's interesting enough, but there's more!
Do this with all of the seven Modes, and you'll find the correlation between Mode's interval symmetry and the Common Tone Counterpart groupings.
Common Tone Counterparts are those notes that link the diatonic symmetry due to their corresponding key degrees.
Just as Ionian and Phrygian are a palindromic pair, the notes C and E are positioned symmetrically around the central note of the key: D ... as are B and F, as well as A and G ... and their respective modes.
These images show the common tones in each mode. In each case — within seven keys which have Natural tones as their tonics:
...
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Fretboard Landmarks ... Know the Notes (and More)
A wide-ranging lesson on several methods of note-knowing along with a healthy portion of music theory geekery. Index: 00:00 — Intro 00:27 — Up and down each string with Natural Tones 01:00 — Half Steps and Whole Steps on Each String 02:06 — Open Strings as a Landmark - E A D G B E 03:05 — Open String Intervals " 4 4 4 3 4 " 04:11 — 5th Fret Intervals " 4 4 4 3 4 " = A D G C E A 05:09 — 10th Fret Intervals " 4 4 4 3 4 " = D G C F A D 06:13 — Graphic: Where the Natural Tones Line Up 07:10 — Graphic: The Piano Keyboard Half Step Connection — BC EF 10:36 — Graphic: EF BC EF BC EF BC ... 11:05 — A D G 11:45 — Quick Review ------------------------- Other Methods: 13:16 — The Big Box 13:35 — Graphic: The Box Rooted on the 6th String 15:24 — Graphic: The Box Rooted on the 4th String 15:36 — The "3rd Rail" 18:11 — Graphic: The Box Rooted on the Open 3rd String 19:03 — 3 Shapes / 4 Positions of the Big Box 19:15 — Graphic: Comparison of the 6th String and 5th String Big Boxes 20:30 — The Big Big Box 20:50 — Graphic: All the Natural Tones between the 3rd and 7th fret 23:30 — Graphic: The III Zone 26:53 — Graphic: The VII Zone 28:14 — Do it in Both Directions — the 'Backwards' Alphabet 29:44 — Outro ------------------------- 30:18 — End Title Music: "Wisest Dreams" excerpt © Mark Newstetter