The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    As some of you know, I'm Peter's student for 2 years now and I decided to write about my experience with Peter's teachings.
    Before I start first few disclaimers:
    - my English is what it is, sorry
    - my goal is to show you guys what this method is all about, but I can't go very deep into it because I can't and I don't want to. If you want deep, contact Peter.
    - I'm NOT trying to convince you that this method is the best (altough I personally think so), I'm just trying to show what it is.
    - my comments are based on more than 110 Facebook group lessons, couple of skype lessons with Peter and 2 Complimentary books about the Rhythm I acquired from Peter.
    - please leave your arguments, bad manner and nasty language out of this thread.
    - maybe I'll add few more disclaimers later on because I can, I'm the OP.

    I know that there are other Peter's students here on forum, so it would be nice if they would chime in and take a part. I would definitely like to hear opinions from other Peter's students and I think readers could benefit from this.
    So, let's start...
    Last edited by mikostep; 01-18-2020 at 04:13 PM.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    First I would like to talk generally about the method, what it brings, how different is, what's so innovate in it etc.

    So, generally it can be said that this method is assembled to show how George Benson plays. But, after learning this you will not be a copy of George, what you will learn is how to think like him. George is a musical genius who managed to convert all the complicated things to very simple ones. He made some crazy breakthroughs in technique, internalization and expression of music, harmonic understanding, rhythm and phrasing and who knows what.
    He is also known as a player who practiced for years more than 10 hours per a day. So, practice, practice, practice and practice. Peter also stress this too, if you want to learn how to play you MUST practice every day and you must practice the same stuff every day.
    Following stuff you've got to practice until you can forget about it and play (because you will use this to express your self musically) :
    - left/right hand technique related stuff - scales fingering and picking (but the way GB plays them), triads, tetrads, staccato playing, other picking excercises like bee picking, rest stroke etc.
    - subdivisions ABC's - this one is from the Complementary books about the rhythm.
    - scat singing - wording, listen to GB, Jon Hendrix and other cats singing/scating. IF YOU CAN SING IT, YOU CAN PLAY IT.
    Always practice this alone at first then apply it to song. Don't play whole song at the beggining, just the part you want to practice your stuff on.
    More soon...

  4. #3

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    Development of Secret of two chords

    Secret of two chords actually is two fold, it revels neck visualisation trick and starting point for developing harmonic richness.

    A) Neck visualisation trick shows how GB splits the neck in 5 positions. In every of those positions Peter executes major, minor, diminished, melodic and harmonic minor etc. In video above he shows one line per position (only major and minor), but in his lessons he explains how to easily create thousands of them in major, minor, melodic and harmonic minor etc. The trick here is that player needs to remember only major and relative minor position and not, like for example in CAGED system 5 different major (nothing against CAGED). So, its less thing to remember and flow is easier and quicker.
    B) Secondly, related to harmonic richness - since every chord has its relative, by using dominants or sequences or lines that approach those relatives it's an easy way to multiply your choices when soloing. For example: on Dm7 dorian (So what) soloist have following choices (I'll explain it in steps):
    Step 1 - relatives
    1. Fmaj and Dm
    2. Cmaj (actuall key) and Am.

    Step 2 - dominants
    1. Cmaj-G7 and Am-E7
    2. Fmaj-C7 and Dm-A7

    Step 3 - further development of dominants
    1.G7 - Abm7, Db7, Gbmaj, Bmaj
    2. E7 - Fm7, Bb7, Ebmaj, Abmaj
    3. C7 - Dbm7, Gb7, Bmaj, Emaj
    4. A7 - Bbm7, Eb7, Abmaj, Dbmaj

    Step 3 can be developed in other ways too.
    Now, try to play "So what" with all these choices and remember that all of this can be used harmonically and melodically.
    And this is just the beginning of harmonic possibilities. Another interesting harmonic concept Peter gave us is in the lesson about Harmonic regions. Many classically trained musicians are familiar with Schoenberg harmonic regions. It's similar concept, but with chords that works in jazz. Totally mind blowing lesson. In that lesson he played Blue moon in like 50 different ways. Again, it is possible to use it harmonically and melodically.
    I'll write some other times about Harmonic regions.
    Last edited by mikostep; 01-02-2020 at 04:27 AM.

  5. #4

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    Thanks for sharing this, I've always been intrigued by GB's methodology. I read somewhere that he likes to reduce things to Tonic and Dominant (T/D), which is also the way I prefer to see things, but your list of GB's subs for Dominant are intriguing...

    Firstly, I'm assuming a typo when you wrote : " 1.G7 - Abm7, Db7, Gbmaj, Bbmaj " I assume you meant Bmaj instead of Bbmaj ?

    Assuming that is the case, then if we consider all 4 subs for G7 we have:



    Ab m7 - Ab Cb Eb Gb

    b9, 3, b13, #7



    Db7 - Db F Ab B

    b5, b7, b9, 3



    Gb maj - Gb Bb Db

    #7, b3, b5



    B maj - B Eb Gb

    3, b13, #7



    Am I reading this correctly? Apart from the obviously fine TT (Db7), the other choices contain the #7, which I find rather strange! Does Mr Farrell provide examples of lines drawn from these pitch collections?

    Also, the idea that GB would pull from D Aoelian (and related variants) against a Dorian vamp is possibly over stressed? I mean I'm sure he plays the odd b6 instead of nat6th over Dorian vamps, but not often enough to be thought of as equal importance to the usual Dorian derived pitch collections?

    Another point of confusion relates to your stating that GB divides the neck into the 5 CAGED positions, but that : " The trick here is that player needs to remember only major and relative minor position and not, like for example in CAGED system 5 different major (nothing against CAGED). So, its less thing to remember and flow is easier and quicker. " ...

    Care to clarify re the above? Cheers.

    Last edited by princeplanet; 01-03-2020 at 06:12 AM.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by princeplanet
    Thanks for sharing this, I've always been intrigued by GB's methodology. I read somewhere that he likes to reduce things to Tonic and Dominant (T/D), which is also the way I prefer to see things, but your list of GB's subs for Dominant are intriguing...

    Firstly, I'm assuming a typo when you wrote : " 1.G7 - Abm7, Db7, Gbmaj, Bbmaj " I assume you meant Bmaj instead of Bbmaj ?

    Assuming that is the case, then if we consider all 4 subs for G7 we have:



    Ab m7 - Ab C Eb Gb

    b9, 11, b13, #7



    Db7 - Db F Ab B

    b5, b7, b9, 3



    Gb maj - Gb Bb Db

    #7, b3, b5



    B maj - B Eb Gb

    3, b13, #7



    Am I reading this correctly? Apart from the obviously fine TT (Db7), the other choices contain the #7, which I find rather strange! Does Mr Farrell provide examples of lines drawn from these pitch collections?

    Also, the idea that GB would pull from D Aoelian (and related variants) against a Dorian vamp is possibly over stressed? I mean I'm sure he plays the odd b6 instead of nat6th over Dorian vamps, but not often enough to be thought of as equal importance to the usual Dorian derived pitch collections?

    Another point of confusion relates to your stating that GB divides the neck into the 5 CAGED positions, but that : " The trick here is that player needs to remember only major and relative minor position and not, like for example in CAGED system 5 different major (nothing against CAGED). So, its less thing to remember and flow is easier and quicker. " ...

    Care to clarify re the above? Cheers.

    Yes, it was a typo. I meant Bmaj. I've corrected it.
    You also have a typo in in Abmin7, its notes are Ab, B, Eb, Gb.
    Important thing to stress here is that GB likes to play arpeggios, so these pitch collections are strong if used like that and you can see/hear them as different colors.
    Here in this video Peter explains this and plays many examples. He shows some other examples but not in depth as he shows on his classes.



    Regarding neck visualisation Cmaj-Amin creates 5 positions. They are different than CAGED and Cmaj-Amin is much easier to remember. I'll post basic lines for each position later with correct fingerings and picking.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by mikostep
    ...
    You also have a typo in in Abmin7, its notes are Ab, B, Eb, Gb.
    ...
    Thanks, I've fixed mine too. Cheers for the vid. I look forward to more posts!

  8. #7

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    Hey Miko, you still gonna post some lines like you promised?

  9. #8

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    Yes, I wil very soon. I'm sorry I didn't do it, but I was very busy around the holidays.
    I will post some lines with fingerings and picking rules.
    There will much more stuff to come. This is most comprehensive method I ever encountered and amount of knowledge in here is enormous, but the logic behind it is easy to understand and that is the beauty of it. Most of the material somehow very quickly goes into muscle memory which leaves your brain free to think about HOW to play and not so much worrying about WHAT.

  10. #9

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    Here are 5 positions of Secret of two Chords with one line for each position. I`ve included left hand fingering and right hand picking rules. Observe the extensive usage of three fingers in left hand. They are crucial for speed. Secret of Two Chords.pdf

  11. #10

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    It’s easy to see why the Gypsy guys like Benson so much haha. The Dutch school (Rosenbergs etc) all use 2ps descending positions, but Django often played a m6 pent descending instead of straight arp for instance. Works with the picking hand.

    i often think the Django influence on GB is overlooked. It’s def there, in the sound and articulation. He’s kind of like the combination of Charlie Christian, Django, Wes and Grant Green....

    anyway interesting stuff. This reminds me of one of the issues with cst is its change in emphasis. Many of the examples above can be understood in textbook terms - altered scale etc - but the older approach of substitution/superposition (also used by other musicians like Barry Harris) is much more streamlined and gets to the jugular of these sounds so much quicker than thinking about some theoretical stack of extensions on some basic chord. Also Steve Coleman’s concept of invisible paths is similar.

    Also as you show in some of the examples - GB plays stuff that isn’t explicable through that type of theory and it’s always fun to see the scale geeks tying themselves in knots trying to relate this stuff to what they know when it makes sense from a the concept you outline above. It doesn’t actually matter if something is a #9 or whatever. That type of analysis tells you less than you might think. Hearing Bmajor resolving into C, say, is more important...

    Anyhoo thats the way I’ve looked at it for years. Gratifying I suppose! You start to see how many common and less common moves can be understood to be the same thing and swapped out for each other.... that’s always fun.

  12. #11

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    Btw Barry Harris also singles out that Bmaj7 on G7 sub in his dvd. It’s a great resolution and super guitaristic. It surfaced in a Wes transcription on this forum a couple of years back iirc.

    this is one progression that makes little sense from a vertical mindset. It’s all about the line and the movement. That’s the mistake people make with bop. They think its all related to the lead sheet chords.

    Sometimes the line harmony works against the original changes but we end up resolving with a vengeance. At least it’s will if you are phrasing into the resolution.... and you have to hear it.Bmaj7 to C is actually a pretty easy one to hear.

    if you get that you can play ANYTHING and it will sound GREAT. and that’s voiceleading. Movement between chords, not some intermittent vertical relationship. The only vertical relationships that matter are your resolution points - mostly the major and minor chords.

    Look where Jacob Collier’s ended up with that exact, deceptively simple, logic .... you can do it microtones... as long as you know where you are starting from and where you are ending up....

    otoh you can play all the textbook notes and it won’t sound like anything if it isn’t phrased right.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Btw Barry Harris also singles out that Bmaj7 on G7 sub in his dvd. It’s a great resolution and super guitaristic. It surfaced in a Wes transcription on this forum a couple of years back iirc.
    Another example is in the opening bars of GB's solo on Billie's Bounce where he outlines an Amaj7 arpeggio over F7.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    It’s easy to see why the Gypsy guys like Benson so much haha. The Dutch school (Rosenbergs etc) all use 2ps descending positions, but Django often played a m6 pent descending instead of straight arp for instance. Works with the picking hand.

    i often think the Django influence on GB is overlooked. It’s def there, in the sound and articulation. He’s kind of like the combination of Charlie Christian, Django, Wes and Grant Green....

    anyway interesting stuff. This reminds me of one of the issues with cst is its change in emphasis. Many of the examples above can be understood in textbook terms - altered scale etc - but the older approach of substitution/superposition (also used by other musicians like Barry Harris) is much more streamlined and gets to the jugular of these sounds so much quicker than thinking about some theoretical stack of extensions on some basic chord. Also Steve Coleman’s concept of invisible paths is similar.

    Also as you show in some of the examples - GB plays stuff that isn’t explicable through that type of theory and it’s always fun to see the scale geeks tying themselves in knots trying to relate this stuff to what they know when it makes sense from a the concept you outline above. It doesn’t actually matter if something is a #9 or whatever. That type of analysis tells you less than you might think. Hearing Bmajor resolving into C, say, is more important...

    Anyhoo thats the way I’ve looked at it for years. Gratifying I suppose! You start to see how many common and less common moves can be understood to be the same thing and swapped out for each other.... that’s always fun.
    You are right on it regarding everything you wrote in these 2 posts, Christian.

    I wrote about 2nps and 3nps in some other threads, but I will write about it here later too. It turns out to be just simple rules of mechanics on guitar. When you play 2nps (even) left and right hand approach playing differently than 3nps (odd). One advantage of even number like 2nps is that phrasing is more consistent and much easier to manipulate the way player wants. But, odd number like 3nps gets it's attention too.

    To Charlie, Wes, Grant and Django I would add classical music and Paco who George considered best guitar player ever. IMHO Django's influence is there, but what is interesting is that rest of the gypsy players after Django don't phrase/articulate like Django. They are more like tatatata all the time and Django use a lot of hammering and pull offs and articulation/ phrasing is diffferent. That is not a bad thing at all, they developed distinctive style out of it.
    In music it is crucial to develop the sense of static and active parts. If player vertically outlines the chord with chord tones or chord arpeggios, that sounds static like painting a picture on the white wall with only white colour. That is not a bad thing but it is not enough. If player wants to give movement to a song than he should introduce other colours trough usage of parallel chords, dominants and approach like I described earlier. That is more colourful playing and invites groove (I will write about groove too). Actually, examples that I wrote about are just like 0,1 percent of what Peter showed us. The logic behind it is not so complicated, but you have to work on it. (practice, practice, practice, ouch). Imagine to play all those superimpositions with just the lines I showed in pdf in all 5 positions. You've got major and minor lines and for dominant chords you can use b7 major lines. All of this can be used on comping too. And I will say it again it is just a small part of the method.
    I actually hate the word method because it reminds me on so much failures I previously found in various teachings. But here I think it is justified to use it. Just my opinion.

    Barry Harris teaching is on it too. He says so much compatible things. But that is another story...

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by mikostep
    You are right on it regarding everything you wrote in these 2 posts, Christian.

    I wrote about 2nps and 3nps in some other threads, but I will write about it here later too. It turns out to be just simple rules of mechanics on guitar. When you play 2nps (even) left and right hand approach playing differently than 3nps (odd). One advantage of even number like 2nps is that phrasing is more consistent and much easier to manipulate the way player wants. But, odd number like 3nps gets it's attention too.

    To Charlie, Wes, Grant and Django I would add classical music and Paco who George considered best guitar player ever. IMHO Django's influence is there, but what is interesting is that rest of the gypsy players after Django don't phrase/articulate like Django. They are more like tatatata all the time and Django use a lot of hammering and pull offs and articulation/ phrasing is diffferent.

    That is not a bad thing at all, they developed distinctive style out of it.
    In music it is crucial to develop the sense of static and active parts. If player vertically outlines the chord with chord tones or chord arpeggios, that sounds static like painting a picture on the white wall with only white colour. That is not a bad thing but it is not enough. If player wants to give movement to a song than he should introduce other colours trough usage of parallel chords, dominants and approach like I described earlier. That is more colourful playing and invites groove (I will write about groove too). Actually, examples that I wrote about are just like 0,1 percent of what Peter showed us. The logic behind it is not so complicated, but you have to work on it. (practice, practice, practice, ouch). Imagine to play all those superimpositions with just the lines I showed in pdf in all 5 positions. You've got major and minor lines and for dominant chords you can use b7 major lines. All of this can be used on comping too. And I will say it again it is just a small part of the method.
    I actually hate the word method because it reminds me on so much failures I previously found in various teachings. But here I think it is justified to use it. Just my opinion.

    Barry Harris teaching is on it too. He says so much compatible things. But that is another story...
    I think there is no method ultimately. There are things you may or may not find useful.

    Anyway, great post. Well put.,..

  16. #15

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    Also loads of guitarists might play a Bmaj7-Cmaj7 slide in chords but they would never think to turn that into a line.

    The soloing/comping false distinction really holds you back. I’m still getting my head around it. I know it intellectually but I am so conditioned to play ‘right notes’ that I am not as free as I could be...

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I think there is no method ultimately. There are things you may or may not find useful.

    Anyway, great post. Well put.,..
    It's hard to talk about something like this without begin to sound like I'm trying to convince someone into this. Imho, this is very comprehensive method, but everybody should decide for him/herself is it the right thing.
    I was amazed by many things here, like harmonic approach I showed earlier and many I didn't show yet like harmonic regions, coordination of hands which ultimately brings fluidity, the tools for dissecting the song, lines that are used for creating his pet giant lines, the storytelling approach which is just amazing (and can be learned) and so many other deep things. But, when I heard Peter sing/scat while playing I knew that this is deeper than anything so far I've encountered. I've kept pushing him and asking question about it and he explained us the way. I also have his two books about the rhythm which go even deeper than I could imagine. Even a dead dog could become funk/soul/bop master with this in no time. I know its a bold statement after drum lessons or some greats like Mike Longo or a like. But, this is very quick way to understand and feel the groove and phrasing and be able to play and manipulate them. For example, one can learn how to groove with eight note, sixteen note or triplet feel and in diferent tempos which is totally neglected by so many players, even professionals. For me, this is the essence of jazz.
    One very important thing when you learn this is what I call "confidence booster". Every new thing I learn on guitar I put trough the pace of these rhythm exercises. After I finish just one cycle that thing is inevitably "mine" and I know I can do something else. That is an amazing tool, right?

  18. #17

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    Destroying the lines

    In the free video lesson below Peter explains one very impressive, unfortunately almost forgotten knee to knee experience transfer.

    I'll break it down, but also I will insert also the prerequisites.

    Prerequisites:
    1. Lines, triads and tetrads - using exact fingering and picking. It is crucial to use prescribed fingering and picking and in beginning simple rhythms cells like straight 16th notes. I would divide this part into following practice routines:
    a) major and parallel minor ideas
    b) melodic minor ideas
    c) harmonic minor ideas - ideas with special attention to diminished and augmented triads as connective tissue
    d) dominant diminished
    e) whole tone (etc.)
    Here you can use major and minor lines from pdf file from my previous post. Later I will add pdf with MM, HM, DD, WT lines, some tetrads, tetrads with step back etc. Always use major and minor parallels.
    2. Harmonic expansion - here you can use superimpositions of "preparation lines" on parallels like I described in Secret of two chords post. There are other possibilities, later I'll write about them too, but for now it is important to understand preparation lines.

    With these two step you should be able play lines with correct fingerings and picking in straight 16th notes. Learn lines one by one and in one key in the beginning. One key because these lines have strong internal logic of fingerings and picking. If practiced in one key in the begining, you can easily see all the possibilities. This is the same for practicing other stuff like chords, octaves etc. Other keys will fall naturally after that. In the begining it is crucial to learn lines played straight and simple. Focus on correct fingerings and picking, connecting the lines, positions.
    I will write more about harmonic possibilities, more lines, how to connect some lines etc.

    Destroying the lines

    This is where the fun starts. Lets break it down.

    3. Learn the rhythmic cell - without the guitar. Here are absolutely necessary Complimentary books about the rhythm Peter and George sells. (Sorry it sounds like bad advertising, but this is the only resource on the planet I encountered with this type of excercises). Here I will give example on 16th notes. You can sing 16th notes as follows:
    1. Ta ga da ga - 4 16th notes without rests,
    2. ti ga da ga - rest on 1 16th note,
    3. Taa da ga - rest on 2 16th note,
    4. Ta gaa ga - rest on 3 16th note,
    5. Ta ga daa - rest on 4 16th note.

    These are just simple examples from the Complementary books. There are excercises for the rest of 16note possibilities, whole, half, quarter notes, triplets, tuplets, triple feel (2 types), compound meter, cut time, rhythmic displacement etc. Its It's absolutely crucial to have this under the hood for any type of music. Musician without this is incomplete. This is great for sight reading too. My personal impression is that these are the super fun exercises that can be practiced without guitar anywhere you are and if you practice just 15 minutes per day (but every day), in 15 days you'll be totally different player. With these exercises you should be able to sing every rhythmic cell with prescribed wording and your understanding of the rhythm will be much deeper. But, the wording Peter uses in these books are just the beginning. They are used to help us to understand deeply the rhythmic cells. Its similar as playing lines with just straight 16th notes and the reason is that we have to eliminate all the distracting things in order to learn and memorize the important ones. Here comes the next step.

    4. Change the "ta ga da ga" words (and other from the books) with drum sounds. You should seek to use high and low drum sounds, different letters like letter L etc. With this you start to feel the dynamics and internalization process starts. Although this can be practiced with the metronome, it is the best to practice it with songs that have great rhythm section. I also use drumgenius app a lot. So, you take the exercise Peter showed in the books and you first learn the rhythmic cells using "ta ga da ga" to memorize them. Then you start experimenting changing the tagadaga words with drums sounds like tun, dn, dg, tk, chk, l etc. Than you play the song and sing the exercises Peter showed using drums sounds. (Best fun I ever had practicing the guitar and its accomplished without the guitar! ). When you practice these exercises with along the songs with great rhythm section you start to feel every nuance those players played, every micro change in tempo etc. Priceless.
    This should also be practiced without the guitar.

    5. Include the guitar. This part is the best demonstrated by Peter in this video (from 30 minute onwards) and I will leave it like that without my further explanation.


    Be unpredictable (you'll understand what I mean after watching this video).

    Next time I will write about storytelling.
    Last edited by mikostep; 01-30-2020 at 03:04 AM.

  19. #18

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    Storytelling basics

    So far I've been writing about some harmonic and rhythmic concepts Peter and George are using and difference between lines and scales. Scales are used visualisation, but lines are played. George use modified scales that fit his fingering/picking regime, but he almost never play scale up and down. He is always combining different scales in split of a second giving the sense of motion to his playing. There is transcription of part of the solo on song "I'll drink to that" that someone posted here on the forum. I've found some small mistakes and corrected it. Try to find it to have a glimpse into George's mind. Fingerings and picking (if I remember correctly) are indicated in it. You can see/hear a lots of great lines Mr. G played and how he connects them into giant lines. So, lines into giant lines.
    Here comes the storytelling. There are many pillars of good storytelling. I will talk just about 2 basic ones here.
    1. Playing in front, on or behind of chord - playing across the bar line is crucial part of storytelling. Most important and for many players most difficult is playing in front. Always think of half of previous bar as part of the next. For example if you have bar of G7 leading to bar of Cmaj7 play half of first bar G7 and other half immediately Cmaj7. Its nothing new, I know, but many players are not using this enough and they are not developing the sense of it. It should be used all the time while improvising or comping.
    2. Home and away - Peter calls it flux and reflux. This is when player, for instance inserts dominant on chords. For example on bar of Dm insert the chords I explained in Secret of two chords. Again, nothing new, but also totally not developed by many players.

    Now, when player combines these two pillars soon it becomes obvious that it is absolutely stupid to talk about the things like "#7 note is wrong to use on dominant chords" or similar things because player might actually played in front of chord or maybe he played home and away ideas. Secret of teo chord matrix is inviting you to combine these 2 steps.

    These are basics of storytelling that should be developed using Secret of two chord matrix. But, there are other pillars of storytelling. More later...

  20. #19

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    One more thought

    When you are practicing Secret of two chords don't forget to practice this matrix in all 5 positions. If you do this in one key other will fall in naturally. Quickest way to learn all 12 keys and actually undestand the connections within each key.

  21. #20

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    Thanks for posting all this info. May take me a while to get through it but it’s all of interest.

    my general approach has tended towards comparative - comparing one approach to another and seeing what’s in common and what’s different

  22. #21

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    Yea this nice thread... I'll try and not wreck the feel.

    I understand that most don't like analysis... but
    So the magic relationships in analysis can be called functional relationships. (Diatonic Function subs)

    That Bmaj7 relationship to Cmaj7, has a few possibilities, but in the charts above, if you like relative relationships.

    Starting reference "Dmin" (as stated Dorian.)

    Skip to G7 the related Dominant functional relationship to Cmaj.

    The related Dom. Sub. of G7 is "Db7" (or Tritone sub)

    Add it's related II- or "Ab-7" becomes..... Ab-7 --- Db7 from "Dom. Extensions"

    The related tonal target is the "Gbmaj7"

    And the Related Subdominant Relationship, (Functional Sub.) from that II-7 (Ab-7) of II V (Ab-7 Dd7) Again all from G7... Becomes Bmaj7.(Cbmaj7)

    Bma7 is Functional Sub or "Relative" Major of Ab-7

    The extensions can also have pretty standard organization.

    I love GB's playing and style... and it's cool to see interest in this style of playing, it's where I'm from and it's had a huge influence on me. So thanks for getting going. But without really good technique... it's really difficult to pull off.
    As PF and Miko seem to say.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by mikostep
    Here are 5 positions of Secret of two Chords with one line for each position. I`ve included left hand fingering and right hand picking rules. Observe the extensive usage of three fingers in left hand. They are crucial for speed. Secret of Two Chords.pdf
    yea great licks... So is the secret of the 5 positions of two chords... not using the the modal characteristic note of each chord... the 4th of the Maj. chord and the 6th of the Min. chord... the same note which allows the relative relationship to work in both... Imaj.-VI- and IVmaj.- II-. To help with the expanding aspects. Which are standard Functional avoid notes.

    I like this stuff, thanks for posting. Reminds me of Barry H. material... Sisters, brothers, man woman God... I like them all.

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    Yea this nice thread... I'll try and not wreck the feel.

    I understand that most don't like analysis... but
    So the magic relationships in analysis can be called functional relationships. (Diatonic Function subs)

    That Bmaj7 relationship to Cmaj7, has a few possibilities, but in the charts above, if you like relative relationships.

    Starting reference "Dmin" (as stated Dorian.)

    Skip to G7 the related Dominant functional relationship to Cmaj.

    The related Dom. Sub. of G7 is "Db7" (or Tritone sub)

    Add it's related II- or "Ab-7" becomes..... Ab-7 --- Db7 from "Dom. Extensions"

    The related tonal target is the "Gbmaj7"

    And the Related Subdominant Relationship, (Functional Sub.) from that II-7 (Ab-7) of II V (Ab-7 Dd7) Again all from G7... Becomes Bmaj7.(Cbmaj7)

    Bma7 is Functional Sub or "Relative" Major of Ab-7

    The extensions can also have pretty standard organization.

    I love GB's playing and style... and it's cool to see interest in this style of playing, it's where I'm from and it's had a huge influence on me. So thanks for getting going. But without really good technique... it's really difficult to pull off.
    As PF and Miko seem to say.
    Matrix in what Peter calls "Secret of two chords" is important to understand and put under the fingers. Possibilities in the matrix are not new to me, I've seen it as subs before, but it never occurred to me to arrange it that way.
    Also, this matrix is just the beggining. Possibilities in Harmonic regions are huge. It's similar concept as Schoenberg described it, but with different chords. Subs are for major and minor keys. They are extremely usable when play really fast without much time to think.
    Another thing is combination of playing in front/on/behind the chord of the moment and flux/reflux (or home and away).This is part of HOW to play. It is similar to playing across the bar line and inserting dominants. Most of players struggles with playing in front of chord and this is good tool for recognition the level of the player. It is, also important for analysis. Often players use only vertical analysis without taking this into consideration. And it is used so often by great players. For instance, great piano players like to use next chord in left hand and chord of the moment in right hand. That anticipation that happens can and should be thoroughly practiced. Now, that is important imho.
    As far the technique, you are right. Here is how I see it. Crucial (I know, I use this word too often, sorry) first step is to learn to play 16th note cells (tetrads) with exact fingerings and picking. Tetrads forms lines and lines forms giant lines. Giant lines are actually sequences of chord and subs. Again, all of this is learned with correct fingerings and picking. Its hard in the beginning, but it gets smooth pretty fast. That is where the technique and fluidity are. I would like to add here also that if you analyse the lines from pdf I've posted you can see that George differentiate the lines with even and odd number of notes per string. Lines with even notes per string are easier for both hands and, because of their consistency, they are also easier for phrasing. That is so obvious in George's playing. When I understood the lines with even notes per string, immediately I could understand how to play lines with odd number per string.
    Next step is learning as many sequences. Soon you become aware that whole song is more often than not just one big chord.
    (I'm skipping here many things and I mention just some very important.)
    Also, I would like to underline again that his should be practiced every day, at least one hour per day. No weekends, holidays etc. And every day the same things should be practiced. After few months under this regimen incredible technique gets under the finger. Not George's level, but some very usable level, for sure.
    Now, another story is HOW. This is what fascinates me more then WHAT to play. George would say "how to prepare the scene" or how to prepare the listener for the next thing. Recently I've heard Peter playing some very simple things, but the way he incorporated and mixed all the steps of storytelling was real hip.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reg
    yea great licks... So is the secret of the 5 positions of two chords... not using the the modal characteristic note of each chord... the 4th of the Maj. chord and the 6th of the Min. chord... the same note which allows the relative relationship to work in both... Imaj.-VI- and IVmaj.- II-. To help with the expanding aspects. Which are standard Functional avoid notes.

    I like this stuff, thanks for posting. Reminds me of Barry H. material... Sisters, brothers, man woman God... I like them all.
    That is right.
    I'll post more lines.

  26. #25

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    Keep going... so the storytelling can also be called organization of space....thing "Form", macro and micro. I saw him every chance I had back in early 70's. Also had a chance to BS with him at gigs. Never got into his approach...
    Anyway never really followed after he started getting paid what he was due. Did cover most of his early material... really fun tunes to burn on. I actually still cover some of the old tunes, My latin Brother etc...