September 2023 Guitar Newsletter Transitions: Analyze, Anticipate, Slow Down & Repeat!
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Learning an instrument and playing music well requires the player to navigate transitions with ease. Playing the guitar is full of transitions, and they need extra work to master and today’s technology enables this easier than ever. Transitions can be anything requiring a change like left hand fretboard positions, moving from one chord shape to another, encountering accidentals or switching into a new key or time signatures while reading music. What they all have in common is that something is about to change, and we best be prepared for it.
A great way to work on transitions is to analyze the tough ones and then practice them at a slower speed over and over again, essentially turning them into a muscle-memory-based habit. It is no secret that slowing down recordings and playing along with a tune allows musicians to play difficult passages at a more reasonable tempo and also has ear training value. The Strum Machine App is an intuitive app for practicing chord progressions of bluegrass, old time music and fiddle tunes and pairs up best with an acoustic guitar. With the tap of your fingers you can adjust the speed or change keys and also create your own chord progressions. What a handy practice tool!
Here are a few ideas of how you can mindfully practice and anticipate transitions of various sorts using any simple chord progression found on the Strum Machine app. Start at a very slow tempo setting and gradually up your speed. The Strum Machine even has a setting that does this automatically. Brilliant idea!
1. Switching between strumming chords and improvising
Strum 8 measures and then alternate with improvising for 8 measures for the entire form of the song, and then do the same thing with 4 measures each. Jazz musicians call this trading fours, where the entire band takes turns improvising solos and accompanying back and forth. Doing this exercise helps with improving one’s sense of time, and eventually, one “feels” how long 4, 8 or 16 measures are instead of having to count them out loud or in your head. Feel free to experiment with different lengths, say 6 bars of improvisation and 2 measures of strumming chords. Try incorporating durations of not playing at all. For example, play 3 measures and rest 1, or play 4 measures and rest 2. Some feel more natural than others but these exercises can end up with rewarding fresh ideas and the periods of silence can give your inner ear a chance to respond with a meaningful musical idea.
2. Shifting through the 3 triad shapes
Play through the chord progression using different triad shapes up and down the same set of strings. The idea is to become familiar with the 3 shapes of minor and major triads and be able to transition to the closest chord shape on the fly.
3. Alternate between arpeggiating the chord tones and playing a full scale.
Again, start with longer lengths at first, say 8 bars of arpeggios and 8 bars of scales, and gradually lessen the length of the bars as you alternate between the two.
4. Switch between playing the melody and improvising
Once you have it memorized the melody try switching back and forth between playing the melody for several measures then strumming the chords or improvising for the same length, and then go back to playing the melody while the chord progressing is moving along. This is a great way to use the melody as a red line holding the tune together and not straying too far away from the heart of the tune.
5. Substituting chords on the fly
More advanced players can look at a song chart and see one chord but know that you can substitute other ones without departing from the original chord progression completely. The genre of music will dictate how far you can use the chord substitution concept. With most chord progressions on the Strum Machine it is pretty safe to experiment with exchanging the I chord with the minor vi chord, the IV with a minor ii or the V7 with a diminished vii chord. Some options are safer than others but experimenting is the name of the game, and at the end of the day, use your own ears to judge what works! You might create a unique version of a well-known fiddle tune by embedding it in a slightly different chord progression. The app also shines by allowing you to quickly type in different chords to a standard song form and save it as your own separate backing track.
Transitions…aren’t life and music full of them? As uncomfortable as transitions are, they also serve us well in keeping us alert and on our toes. Summer is coming to an end and the new school year has started. It’s transition time for a lot of folks, and especially those with children, know that it is important to look ahead a bit and adjust accordingly. Wishing all of you the best of luck with whatever transitions you are going through. Be it musically or in life, be prepared for changes, slow down and take a good look at what lies ahead.
Chris
