Sliding is another legato technique used by all guitarist. They are very simple to learn, just pick a note or notes and slide your finger slides to another note(s).

This is presented in most TAB format as a ?/? slide up and ?s? slide down. First let?s do a simple slide up. Use your 3rd finger on the A string 7th fret pick the note and slid up to the 9th fret smoothly and without stopping. Don?t pick the note on the 9th fret! The Tab is below

E—————

B—————

G—————

D—————

A–7/–9——–

E—————

Now for a slide down: on the G string put your 3rd finger on the 5th fret pluck the note and then slide down to the third fret. Made sure to do it smoothly and don?t pluck the note once you arrive at the 3rd fret.

E—————

B—————

G–5s—3——-

D—————

A—————

E—————

If you combine the slide up and slid down you get cool legato sliding effect. Try this combo using the b string and your 3rd fret. Pluck the note at the 5th fret slide to the 7th fret then slide back to the 5th fret. Pluck again and slide up to the 7th fret, hold the note a bit and then slide up to the 11th fret. Then pluck at the 11th and slid down to the 9th. Cool!

E————————————-

B–5/-7s-5/—9s—7/–11s–9———

G————————————-

D————————————-

A————————————-

E————————————-

Try sliding a chord, a power chord for example. In this tab form a C5 chord and slide up to the D5 Chord. This is done a lot in modern rock songs.

E————

B————

G————

D—5/–7—-

A—3/–5—-

E————

Sometimes you may want to pick a note and just slide it down until it fades out. In this example just pluck the note on the 9th fret of the A string and then slide down with no end spot. This is done to added color and a fade sound to your playing. You can also reverse this and do a slide up.

E————

B————

G————

D————

A—-9s——

E————

Now is the best part. Practice doing all kinds of slides you don?t need any book or rules, just make things up that sound cool to you. Practice combining all the legato techniques along with muting and you?ll be ready to start rocking in no time.

Bill McRea is the publisher of http://www.guitarwarehouse.com/blog/ and http://www.kansasfans.com. Bill has owned his own music store and tough guitar for many year.

Introduction

The fact that you are holding this in your hands suggests that you have got to the point in your explorations of, and curiosity about the guitar that the next step is the modes. Maybe it?s because you have read somewhere that Steve Vai loves the Lydian mode, or you have listened to music by Frank Gambale and wondered what he was up to. Whatever the reason, the material you have here should set you on the road to opening up new ways to express yourself, to get different sounds into your melodies and harmonies.

First off you need to know that this material alone will not have you ripping exotic solos up and down the fret board, smoke and fire on your fingertips. It will take the same process and work that has brought you your level of chops with the pentatonic, major and minor scales, arpeggios and your own licks. What it will do is give you the information you need, and the backing tracks so that you can practice and familiarise yourself with the patterns of the modes, and get used to the sounds.

Ultimately it?s down to the time you put in and your motivation to go beyond what you find within these pages. But if you?re serious about learning the modes, you knew that already. Anyone promising you a quick fix, whether conscious or subconscious, is at the very least pulling your leg.

The second thing you need to know is that a certain facility and knowledge is assumed. If you find yourself flailing in a sea of non-comprehension it is hopefully only because you?re not ready to move on to this stage of learning, and you need to tuck this back under the bed and give yourself a little more time with the basics. You could ignore the theory section altogether. It?s up to you what you want to do with this now it?s yours, but hopefully, if you do ignore it now, perhaps you will come back to it and then it should make some sense and help you with other aspects of using the modes.

Let?s start with the good news. There are 7 modes built on the major scale and you already know two of them. The major scale is a mode itself, called the Ionian, and the minor scale is another mode, called the Aeolian. So, more than a quarter of the work is done. If you thought that getting to grips with those two scales wasn?t too complicated, then you should get on fine with the other material here. If you are in a state of experience where playing the major and minor scales in 5 positions on the guitar neck, in any key, is not something that you are familiar or comfortable with, back this goes under the bed. Although both of these modes will be covered you really should be worrying about the basics at this point. Any half way decent book about playing the guitar, or song writing, should provide you with the information to get these two modes under your fingers. For the rest of you, let?s go.

The Modes

Before we get to anything even remotely like playing a scale, we need to have a think about the theory to understand where these modes come from. It is not essential to understand this to learn the modes, you could just learn the patterns, but, knowing some of the theory should help you to know when the modes could be employed, why they sound different etc. There are seven modes, named Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. The reason why there are seven modes is because each mode is built on a different tone of the major scale and there are 7 different tones in the major scale. If we take the scale of C Major as an example, so we don?t have to worry about sharps and flats, this should be clearer.

As you are probably aware, the C Major scale consists of the following tones:

C D E F G A B C

If we think of the major scale as a mode, then what we are saying is that if we start on the tone C, and then play all seven tones of the C Major scale, we are playing C Ionian. The same is true for any other major scale. If you start on the tone B and play all 7 tones which make up the B Major scale, you have played B Ionian.

Another way to think of this is to consider the way in which this scale is constructed. All major scales are constructed with the same distance between pairs of tones. Again, considering the C Major scale, the distances between the pairs of notes is:

Note Pair…….Tone distance…………Fret distance

C to D……….a whole tone (T)………..i.e., 2 frets)

D to E……….a whole tone (T)……….(i.e., 2 frets)

E to F……….a semi-tone (S)………..(i.e., 1 fret)

F to G……….a whole tone (T)……….(i.e., 2 frets)

G to A……….a whole tone (T)……….(i.e., 2 frets)

A to B……….a whole tone (T)……….(i.e., 2 frets)

B to C……….a semi-tone (S)………..(i.e., 1 fret)

So, we could say that the structure of any major scale, or Ionian mode, is

T T S T T T S

We can check this. You should check this on your guitar neck to convince yourself that it is true, but here we?ll do it on paper. Let?s say we want to construct the G Major scale.

Knowing that all major scales are constructed using the formula T T S T T T S, and starting on G we would get the following:

G up a whole tone to A

A up a whole tone to B

B up a semi-tone to C

C up a whole tone to D

D up a whole tone to E

E up a whole tone to F#

F# up a semi-tone to G

Producing the scale

G A B C D E F#

Do this with other major scales just to check that there?s no trickery here. If you didn?t know that the G Major scale has an F# in it, back under the bed this goes and find a theory book!

Ok, so we can think of the Ionian (from now on the Major scale will always be referred to as the Ionian, as we are thinking in modes here) as having a particular structure. The next theoretical step we?ll take is to build the other modes on the notes of the Ionian, and then look at their structures in exactly the same way. Taking C Ionian again, and only using the tones of this mode, consider the following.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on C

C D E F G A B

We are playing C Ionian.

Now we?ll look at the other modes, remembering that as we are building them on the tones from C Ionian, these are the only tones we can use, i.e., C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on D,

D E F G A B C D

We are playing D Dorian.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on E,

E F G A B C D E

We are playing E Phrygian.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on F,

F G A B C D E F

We are playing F Lydian.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on G,

G A B C D E F G

We are playing G Mixolydian.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on A,

A B C D E F G A

We are playing A Aeolian, also known as the minor scale, which you know.

If we take all the notes from C Ionian, and only those notes, and we start on B,

B C D E F G A B

We are playing B Locrian.

If you know your Ionian modes, then you will have instantly seen that the scales we are producing in this way are not the same as the Ionian modes you know. For example, the G Mixolydian we have built does not have an F#, which the G Ionian does and the F Lydian we have built does not have a Bb in it, which the F Ionian does.

Noticing these differences means you have noticed one of the key aspects of the modes. The reason why, for example G Mixolydian does not sound like G Ionian is because the relationship between the notes has changed, the pattern of tones and semi-tones between the notes has changed and as such the tones in the scale are different. These changes in the relationships are what give the modes their characteristic sounds and determine why they can be used in some instances, and not in others. But more of that later.

You could now start comparing some of your modes. For example, you could play a D Ionian, and then play D Dorian and compare the sounds. You?ll probably hear that your Dorian sounds slightly more ?minor?. Part of the work you need to find time to do is to start to hear these differences, but when we get to the playing part of this package you?ll be doing that anyway, so just hold on one moment. The next thing we will do is look at the structures of each of the modes, again using as our base example C Ionian. Below you will find each of the 7 modes built on C, starting with C Ionian, the others built on the tones which make up the C Ionian mode (C, D, E, F, G, A, B).

Starting Tone…..Mode Name…..Mode Notes…Mode Structure

C,…………………C Ionian……..CDEFGABC……T T S T T T S

D,…………………D Dorian……..DEFGABCD……T S T T T S T

E,…………………E Phrygian……EFGABCDE……S T T T S T T

F,…………………F Lydian……..FGABCDEF……T T T S T T S

G,…………………G Mixolydian….GABCDEFG……T T S T T S T

A,…………………A Aeolian…….ABCDEFGA……T S T T S T T

B,…………………B Locrian…….BCDEFGAB……S T T S T T T

As you can probably see, each of the modes has its own, unique structure of tone and semi-tones between notes in the scale. What this means is that if you learn, for example, that the Locrian mode is constructed by spacing notes according to the formula of S T T S T T T, you can play the the Locrian mode in any key by choosing your start note, and then building the scale according to this formula.

One final way we can think of the modes shows very clearly how each mode differs from its own Ionian mode. Again, taking as our basis the C Ionian, we will number each of the notes in the C Ionian scale, as below.

C D E F G A B

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Now, we will look at the modes based on C Ionian, and show how each mode differs.

D Dorian

D…E…F…G…A…B…C

1…2…b3..4…5…6…b7

This merely means that D Dorian differs from D Ionian by the third degree of the scale and the seventh degree of the scale being flattened. So, whereas in D Ionian the scale has an F# and a C#, D Dorian has an F and a C. We?ll look at the other modes in the same manner.

E Phrygian

E…F…G…A…B…C…D

1…b2..b3..4…5…b6..b7

F Lydian

F…G…A…B…C…D…E

1…2…#3..4…5…6…7

G Mixolydian

G…A…B…C…D…E…F

1…2…3…4…5…6…b7

A Aeolian

A…B…C…D…E…F…G

1…2…b3..4…5…b6..b7

B Locrian

B…C…D…E…F…G…A

1…b2..b3..4…b5..b6..b7

What the previous list demonstrated is how each of these modes differs from the Ionian mode starting on the same root node. So, for example, A Aeolian differs from A Ionian by the third, sixth, and seventh degree of the Ionian mode being flattened. Once again, you could learn how the individual modes differ from their Ionian modes and alter the way you play the Ionian to take account of this.

By now you have probably got a bit of an ache in your head from all this theory. It?s not crucial at this stage that you have got all of this committed to memory and have it all worked out. Give it a little time, and when you have had a chance to get a bit of modal playing done, you can pick the ones that you like, or that fit your style, and then just get your head around those ones.

This is end of the main theoretical section. Bits will creep in, or will seem to creep in when we look at chords for each of the modes, but really, as long as you have a basic understanding of music it shouldn?t be any more troublesome than what you?ve been through already. I hope.

Feedback welcome.

Guitarist and therapist: http://members.lycos.co.uk/newtballon/, http://www.hypnotherapies.co.uk, though not necessarily in that order, and not exclusively either.

For optimum amp tone onstage, plug your amp into your own AC outlet.. – Eric Johnson

DOING GIGS

In my opinion, there are two kinds of performers:

1 – Concert performers — who do well in front of a sit-down audience

2 – Club performers — who do well in a noisy atmosphere

Knowing which kind of performer you tend to be can help you a lot in deciding where to play. For a lot of people, it’s easy to be both types of performers but some people truly prefer playing in one atmosphere over another. If you want to be at your best, it’s smart to be comfortable. So if this is an issue for you, take the time to think about it.

Next you have to consider if you are going to be performing your own material or covers or both. If you decide to do covers, here are some good tips:

1) The song should really move you.

2) Make the song your own, otherwise after awhile you’ll just feel like parrot for someone else’s material (and to me there’s far less creativity in that – just my opinion mind you).

3) Cover Songs are great ice-breakers and shouldn’t be overlooked as great tools for any songwriter to use. Do covers, from artists who lend to your style in one way or another. Opening with a recognizable cover song really helps an audience relate to you and get an idea of where you’re coming from as an artist … and also helps them relate more to your originals, too.

Of course, to play at most venues, you’ve got to be prepared to sell yourself. Here are some tips on this subject:

Get your Bio / Demo ready for the Concert Promoters & Club Owners.

I’ve read a bunch of stuff about preparing demo submissions for venues, with bio’s and clippings and stuff like that – but I’m sure there’s more to it than that?

You don’t need much. No club owner or manager is going to want a twenty-page book on you, nor will he/she be impressed with elaborate artwork and/or printing. Just a single sheet of paper that briefly and concisely states what type of artist you are, what kind of songs you play, how you interact with an audience and where you’ve played or are playing … and a CD with either three or four whole songs, or six to eight songs that each fade after a minute. That, along with a congenial introduction and follow-up calls will be enough.

Performance anxiety can be an issue. Fortunately, most musicians overcome this in a short period of time – I’ve found that going to open mics, just getting up there and doing it has helped immensely. Find a supportive group of people in your genres’ scene.

Here are some more tips to help you…

1 – Know your material and your performances upside down and backwards. You have to be able to play your songs and not mess up under any situation, and the way to do that is to KNOW them well … memorization … playing a song and working out each and every measure of it until you know it blind-folded. Then, if something bizarre happens while you’re in the middle of a performance, muscle-memory and instinct will take over and you won’t be thrown.

2 – Know your strengths … know which songs are yours and which songs aren’t. In effect, build a really strong set list. When someone like Bruce Springsteen cuts a new album, he’ll record 50 songs … 12 of those wind up on the album we hear and the other 38 go to other artists to do.

3 – LOOK unique . Dress yourself in a way that makes a statement. You know from my previous posts that I believe in dressing the way you always dress; to not be pretentious or something you’re not … but that doesn’t mean that you want to look like the guy next door. You want to create an image … just make it an honest one. So you usually wear jeans and a t-shirt? Fine. Just add some accents that make it all yours. A unique pair of glasses (if you wear them), a very special vest, a wardrobe of scarves, purple boots or hand painted sneakers … whatever separates you from the average guy walking down the street and doesn’t make you look like you’re trying to be someone who lacks sincerity or who has lost all sense of reality.

With the above going on, you’re going to FEEL confident, because you ARE … and THAT sells.

Performance and Gigs by Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas

Managing Editor

Guitarz Forever.com

Guitarz Forever.com