Exploring Melodic Minor Quartals: From Almanac formulas to music

[Alon Segal]

Quartal textures in melodic minor.
It might sound complex on paper, but combining Goodrick’s concepts with this visualization tool turns the heavy harmonic lifting into a creative playground for arranging and composing.
Here is a short piece I wrote while exploring a cycle from Goodrick’s Almanac Vol. 2.

Tool used: If you want to explore these shapes yourself, you can try the beta version here: https://voicylab.app

Technical Details for the theory nerds:
For this piece, I used the following settings in the engine:

• Scale: Melodic Minor
• Structure: 4-Part Quartals (Drop 3)
• Movement: Cycle 3
• Starting Voicing: C - B - Eb - F
• Voice Leading: > * Root (1) -> Moving up 2nd
  
  • 7th -> Moving down 2nd
  • 3rd -> Common tone
  • 4th -> Moving up 2nd

[AllanAllen]

The clip sounds nice.

[Alon Segal]

The clip sounds nice.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the feedback!

[AllanAllen]

What does Cycle 3 mean? Is that a chord progression exercise in the Goodrick book? Or do you use this to vamp on a static modal tune?

[pamosmusic]

What does Cycle 3 mean? Is that a chord progression exercise in the Goodrick book? Or do you use this to vamp on a static modal tune?

Cycling in diatonic thirds … in C, your root movement goes C E G B D F A C.

Cycle four is diatonic fourths, etc.

You should check out the Goodrick cycles for triads. You’d probably like them. They would slot in nicely to some of the other stuff you do.

[AllanAllen]

What volume are they in? Looks like there are 3 books.

[Christian Miller]

Quartals are in vol II


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[pamosmusic]

Quartals are in vol II


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And the triads are very beginning of Vol I

[AllanAllen]

I read a review on Amazon that said the almanacs are an expansion of 2 pages from The Advancing Guitarist. Should I just get that to have the source?

[Christian Miller]

I read a review on Amazon that said the almanacs are an expansion of 2 pages from The Advancing Guitarist. Should I just get that to have the source?

Tbh I think you could write most of the concepts down on a side of paper. But that side of paper would keep you in things to work on for years.

I don’t actually use the almanacs much as a reference. Once you understand the maths there’s no need. You just work through the cycles on the fretboard. There’s no notation or tabs much in the books anyway.

They are available for free from the Modern Guitar Harmony website so it’s not like it will cost you any money. The best years of your life maybe, but no cash hahaha


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[Christian Miller]

Naturally I have a video

Well actually two

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[pamosmusic]

Yeah if you understand the cycle concepts you could spend six months just on the triads. Then work out the next thing you want to work on. You don’t need the books once you understand what he’s doing. It’s impressive to see it all though, and that’s half the point obvs

[AllanAllen]

Naturally I have a video

Well actually two

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My man!

[AllanAllen]

Yeah if you understand the cycle concepts you could spend six months just on the triads. Then work out the next thing you want to work on. You don’t need the books once you understand what he’s doing. It’s impressive to see it all though, and that’s half the point obvs

I’m wondering if I’m actually already working on something similar.

I’ve been doing a D Ab triad pair run over that A Train D7 or D major, And G- Db triad pair over G7.

And I added triads of G Ab B- F- G Ab up then G Ab G Ab G Ab inversions down.

My wife said it sounded nice, I can’t tell because I’m focusing on the task so much.

I’ll watch Christian’s video and find out

[pamosmusic]

I’m wondering if I’m actually already working on something similar.

I’ve been doing a D Ab triad pair run over that A Train D7 or D major, And G- Db triad pair over G7.

And I added triads of G Ab B- F- G Ab up then G Ab G Ab G Ab inversions down.

My wife said it sounded nice, I can’t tell because I’m focusing on the task so much.

I’ll watch Christian’s video and find out

Not really the same thing.

I kind of think of them as scale exercises but for a chord voicing. Just a way of nailing down the nuts and bolts of voiceleading.

I use them for shells too:

rootless shell voicings diatonic cycles - Score.pdf - Google Drive

[Alon Segal]

What does Cycle 3 mean? Is that a chord progression exercise in the Goodrick book? Or do you use this to vamp on a static modal tune?

Yes, this is an exercise/cycle from page 127 in the second book of the Almanac.
You could say I built a sort of long vamp inspired by the cycle.
I don't play it in order and I only use some of the voicings included in it. For example, I started the melody from the fifth chord of the cycle, not the first.

What Christian says is true. The general idea of the Almanac can keep a guitar player busy for years.
One page from the book can keep me busy for a few weeks.


I also think what confuses people is the feeling of "What am I supposed to do with this?".


Most music books are very practical and focused on a specific goal.
In the Almanac, Goodrick takes the basic idea of voice leading and expands it using different combinations of movements that bring different results.


For example, on one page a chord will get an instruction that degrees 3, 5, 7 go down 2nd and degree 1 stays as a common tone.
On another page, the instruction might be that 5 and 7 go down 2nd and 1 and 3 stay common,
but this time in Cycle 4 (Cmaj7 jumps to Fmaj7). So the result is a different chord and the harmonic cycle sounds different.
Goodrick plays with this logic, where every page creates a different harmonic cycle with a different character.


So what do we do with this?
That is the beauty, because there is no instruction manual.
You can use it to reharmonize standards, for choir writing, composing, or just learning the neck.


I use it to search for new colors and try to create melodies. You can go step by step with the cycle, but I sometimes skip around. Whatever sounds good.
The voice leading is already built into the cycle so usually the voicings will connect well.


The app I made does a very simple thing that was missing for me in the books:
it generates diagrams for chords that are sometimes very hard to find alone on the neck.
I found myself many times discovering I made a mistake with a note because I calculated the position wrong, or that my fingers started to hurt from the stretches (Goodrick didn't check every voicing, some are impossible for human hands).

[Jimmy blue note]

Quartal textures in melodic minor.
It might sound complex on paper, but combining Goodrick’s concepts with this visualization tool turns the heavy harmonic lifting into a creative playground for arranging and composing.
Here is a short piece I wrote while exploring a cycle from Goodrick’s Almanac Vol. 2.

Tool used: If you want to explore these shapes yourself, you can try the beta version here: https://voicylab.app

Technical Details for the theory nerds:
For this piece, I used the following settings in the engine:

• Scale: Melodic Minor
• Structure: 4-Part Quartals (Drop 3)
• Movement: Cycle 3
• Starting Voicing: C - B - Eb - F
• Voice Leading: > * Root (1) -> Moving up 2nd
  
  • 7th -> Moving down 2nd
  • 3rd -> Common tone
  • 4th -> Moving up 2nd

Thanks for posting this! Every time I hear someone unlocking a page from the Almanacs, I see incredible possibilities open up that essentially redefine the guitar for me. I was looking for sounds that embraced non tertiary voicings; I found harmony in 4ths particularly compelling. Check out the TBN cycles for some surprising and expressive off the beaten track voicings.

[Jimmy blue note]

I also think what confuses people is the feeling of "What am I supposed to do with this?".


.

One thing that virtually ALL advancing explorers of Goodchord seem to have in common is a dedication to immersion, often to one page but for some people like Ben Monder, the whole shebang, and waiting for the ear to catch up as the hands learn the movement of voices. At some point, some unexpected process of rewiring hearing takes place and it changes the way traditional harmony is perceived, from one of vertical one chord at a time, to horizontal movement.
That stuff is life changing. ...if that's what you want from your music.

[AllanAllen]

If I can’t apply it to my playing in a direct way, I’m not sure it’s worth learning.

I’m 42 years old with a career and full family responsibilities. I don’t have time to ponder all the harmonic possibilities in the universe, I just want a few pretty ways to get from I to IV.

To circle back. Yeah Peter, I’m doing something different, but Christian’s video had some really pretty movement. So I’m going to dabble with this.

OP, thanks for starting this thread. For the reasons above I’ve always avoided the more philosophical jazz methodologies. Likely to my own detriment, but I’m still trying.

[Christian Miller]

If I can’t apply it to my playing in a direct way, I’m not sure it’s worth learning.

I’m 42 years old with a career and full family responsibilities. I don’t have time to ponder all the harmonic possibilities in the universe, I just want a few pretty ways to get from I to IV.

To circle back. Yeah Peter, I’m doing something different, but Christian’s video had some really pretty movement. So I’m going to dabble with this.

OP, thanks for starting this thread. For the reasons above I’ve always avoided the more philosophical jazz methodologies. Likely to my own detriment, but I’m still trying.

It’s nice, ain’t it?

JBN had some handy pointers for applying this stuff which iirc included not using a whole cycle. I can’t remember if he mentioned it but one way into it is to start with a commonplace grip and then start the cycle for there.

So, if I can find one of these structures in a grip I actually use then go around a cycle a few ticks that’s a nice entry level way into incorporating his material into everyday playing.

Here’s an example. Take these two common grips:

5 x 4 4 5 x (A-6/9 no 3rd)
5 x 5 5 3 x (A-11)

Both are quartal triads above an A bass. So if we add in a third

5 x 7 4 5 x
Or (easier)
x 0 7 4 5 x

We have a three chord cycle 3 in A Dorian with quartals

Next would be
5 x 5 5 7 x

I use this a lot for comping on modal tunes these days.

I need to do a video on this

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[Alon Segal]

Naturally I have a video

Well actually two

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Great videos! Thanks for sharing

[Alon Segal]

One thing that virtually ALL advancing explorers of Goodchord seem to have in common is a dedication to immersion, often to one page but for some people like Ben Monder, the whole shebang, and waiting for the ear to catch up as the hands learn the movement of voices. At some point, some unexpected process of rewiring hearing takes place and it changes the way traditional harmony is perceived, from one of vertical one chord at a time, to horizontal movement.
That stuff is life changing. ...if that's what you want from your music.

Yes. In a way, when you get to know the approach of Goodrick or Ted Greene, you get the freedom to travel into new harmonic territories. At least, that is my experience. I agree that it's life changing. it completely changed the way I look at the guitar, and by the way, I’m a huge fan of Ben Monder.

[Christian Miller]

Great videos! Thanks for sharing

Thanks! You’re welcome


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[AllanAllen]

Naturally I have a video

Well actually two

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What do you use to make the chord diagrams on your pdf?

[Christian Miller]

What do you use to make the chord diagrams on your pdf?

An app called ‘neck diagrams’

It’s not amazing but I don’t know many that do this


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