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Yes, it's an infinite book, à la Goodrick or Van Eps. The "chord pair" aspect is central. I agree that Gmaj6 + Adim7 is a special case, which Barry Harris' material focuses on because it creates bebop/passing-tone scales that fit his music. That pair - at least its passing-tone aspect - gets only a brief treatment in Creamer's book, which is not based on harmony built in 3rds. Some approaches of the Almanacs apply easily to the chord pairs, like "Joe's 2+2 thing" in vol.2 and the counterpoint stuff in vol. 3. EDIT: I guess another way to think about, say, the bebop major scale is that it includes both major and harmonic major, so you can mix and match the cycles and operations from the Almanacs on those scales and get some very interesting results.
Originally Posted by MattKent
Last edited by jlp; 04-25-2021 at 11:26 AM.
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04-23-2021 08:01 PM
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So the books arrived yesterday from the US and I'm delighted.
I was wondering where to start. Volumes 2 & 3 look so much more interesting than volume 1.
However I hopefully have an improvised relaxation guitar gig coming up in a few weeks (or sooner). My first gig in over a year!!
So I know my triads but I don't KNOW them especially not the melodic and harmonic triads.
For this gig it will mainly be major stuff that I'll be playing while providing colour through key changes.
Therefore the obvious place to start is the start of volume 1 though I'm itching the get to the MM and HM triads.
Really looking forward to getting stuck in and 'meeting' you guys.
Peace
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I think the best place to start is by putting aside all expectations of what these books can be used for. That may sound like anti-advice or a self defeating anti selling point, but the truth of the matter is, in a world of books and methods that strive to give you practical advice you can ASAP use on the gig, it seems that the people that have used this material successfully have been those who have let it change the fundamental way they look at harmony and the guitar, have seen the alternative voice driven approach laid out in the Almanacs, and have assimilated and permuted those principles into things that would be unrecognizable to anybody else using the books. Originally Posted by Liarspoker
Read through the thread. There are lots of different approaches.
Early in the lockdown I made a resolution to myself that I'd finally immerse myself deeply in the Almanacs. I contacted two colleagues and we had a weekly FaceTime chronicling and sharing our progress. What came of this was most unexpected in we all developed our own system of, we might say, a dual harmonic approach: The more conventional chordal harmonic approach based on memorized chord shapes in tertiary inversions...and a previously uncodified approach where every voice has a movement through cycles of key areas forming melodic movement that interweaves with harmony for intervallic and chromatic effect.
These two systems are not mutually exclusive but inform one another, and the more one works with the cycles, the more second nature this "blend" is.
The almanacs are not so much "licks and lines" that can be sewn into an existing solo structure, but rather they're like wordless practical etudes in voice movement through intervallic movement.
To use them effectively, it would be MOST helpful if you had:
A firm grasp of a given chord grouping (drop 2, drop 3, drop 2 drop 3, for example) in all inversions all across the fingerboard.
A firm grasp of all notes by location on the fingerboard. This is really important for locating root movement, which will be constantly shifting especially after you introduce chromatics.
A firm grasp of diatonic harmony by ear and by identity
And it's very helpful but not initially necessary for you to know the voices within any chord you play (this will greatly assist you in, say leading the fifth of one chord into the root of the next chord).
It'd be much easier for you if your ear were trained enough to instantly recognize any chromatic interval from the root. Good news is, the cycles will really instill this sense in you through their use. This knowledge will facilitate the really interesting stage when chromatic voice leading starts to really make things fun.
That being said, it's useful to start with volume 1 (NOT boring at all), and one suggestion might be to take one family of chords, drop 2 for instance, and start with a cycle (cycle 6 is fun) and cycle through from beginning to end (they connect and form an infinite loop that uses every possible inversion) and do this until you can play this one cycle OFF BOOK. You will then begin to hear, see and feel connections of chord and voice connection within and between chords.
After this, take the same chord family and do cycle 2, ...then cycle 4... and after that, all the remaining cycles will be those cycles in reverse.
It's going to take time, but it'll change the very way you see and hear the guitar.
That's just my take. I'm sure every single other person who worked with this, stuck with it and watched something creative grow from it, will have a different take.
Ben Monder has been working with harmonic minor in triads in some kind of TBN voicing lately. I played Mick one of the pieces he recorded. Mick said "I have no idea what he's doing. I hope they don't blame me."
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Triads and sevenths may seem familiar stuff but
they can also represent extensions.
Triads - 3 5 7,5 7 9,7 9 11,9 11 13
Sevenths - 3 5 7 9,5 7 9 11,7 9 11 13
by playing over a bass line starting on a different point in the cycle
or play a cycle over either a lower or upper pedal note.
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Hi Liarspoker
You ask 'Where do I start?' While one answer is 'Anywhere', I'd also recommend a close reading of the introductions to Volumes 2 and 3 followed by a general read through, away from the guitar. There is a lot of very condensed and helpful information there. The 'Analyse This' section in Vol 3 is then a useful way to check that you're understanding the various chord types and sequence types, as well as finding some exciting new possibilities. But this is only one way of approaching these amazing books, and everyone will find their own route. Explore, and please post your findings!
All the best,
Mick W
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EXACTLY! I started to take triads cycled and using bass notes that created varying degrees of consonance or dissonance and the effect can be other worldly. Originally Posted by bako
Too, a triad cycle that approaches a tonic can be used with a bass line that approaches that same tonic in a very different (chromatic or diatonic/chromatic combination) that results in harmony that has a surprising sonority to it.
Write them out and you can create chord progressions that will change the way you think of "lowly triads".
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Thus begins my in-depth study of triads over bass notes (also extensions with bass notes). A very cool avenue to explore. Thanks guys
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Consider this Originally Posted by Liarspoker
New constructs in modern harmony and form
Look at post #23. I wanted to do a thread on this back when I was TruthHertz, but the interest and participation is rarified and sporatic to say the least.
See what you think of this. I can always elaborate or start a new thread.
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That's very interesting David. This evening I went through the exact process using the GCE C major triad at the fifth fret. I found that I liked the B note seventh fret on low E string as the best bass note.
Then I pulled out my copy of TAG and on page 74 I see that I have an arrow pointing to the Dd/C with the word Nice next to it.
Glad to see that my tastes haven't changed much.
I'd be happy to pursue this further
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Would anyone be interested in working through cycle 6 C Melodic Minor on page 107?
It should be interesting to see how we all approach it and what we do with it
This cycle was a random selection. I picked volume 2 as it's the middle book then randomly opened a page.
Edit. Well it's obvious that it was a random selection as the stretches are unreal. How would you guys approach this?
Just to add that I actually hurt my hand when I was doing my classical trip so I'm erring on the side of caution but still.....Last edited by Liarspoker; 05-29-2021 at 05:20 PM.
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I practice chords broken up in various ways. Such an approach allows me to engage with structures that lie beyond my mortal grasp.
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Arpeggiated sweeps are etherial. DO NOT DAMAGE YOUR HANDS! These are Almanacs of all possibilities, and not for guitarists necessarily. He is very adamant about this. Originally Posted by Liarspoker
Would anyone be interested in working through cycle 6 C Melodic Minor on page 107?
It should be interesting to see how we all approach it and what we do with it
This cycle was a random selection. I picked volume 2 as it's the middle book then randomly opened a page.
Edit. Well it's obvious that it was a random selection as the stretches are unreal. How would you guys approach this?
Just to add that I actually hurt my hand when I was doing my classical trip so I'm erring on the side of caution but still.....
In one word: Dyads
In Mick's words: "That's for you to figure out, I did my part writing it out"
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Ok will we work with this cycle as a group?
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Some observations about the cycles:
2 and 7 are cool because they reverse the direction we usually play them in. Cycle 2 goes down. Pretty cool.
4 and 5 voice lead in two distinct groups, and they really add an unexpected movement to the very well known V7 > I movement. There's a lot of movement on the fingerboard to voice lead smoothly.
3 and 6 have a VERY subtle and almost magically morphing quality to them because there are SO many common tones. They don't move much at all.
I have always liked cycle 6 in stacked thirds (volume 1) in Harmonic or Melodic minor. They sound like Bach.
Once you get into the different intervallic combinations, the leaps can be a handful, facilitating some changes of string sets within a cycle. Learn your voicings in ALL possible combinations and string sets.
I wouldn't work with clusters right off the bat myself. They incorporate larger intervallic leaps in some movements. But then again, go for it! You're not me and the work will tell the truth of what is locked within.
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Oh I thought that you'd be up for it David as you had suggested similar earlier in this thread (I'm still in the process of reading all the posts).
But no worries I'll continue on my original trajectory of starting with the triads and writing a few etudes with them.
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Hi Liarspoker
Does your Vol.2 have page numbers? - mine didn't. I've started my own numbers, 26 pages in, with the main sequence of charts. Please can I check that you're looking at this page: "4-part 4ths cycle 6 drop 3 Mel. Minor"?
All the best,
Mick W
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Volume 1 does not have page numbers. Vols 2 and 3 do. Volume 1 was a non prejudicial listing of families and cycles, not intended to be seen as linear. The colour coding and chapter groups are more of a guideline for organization. Originally Posted by Mick Wright
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I've been working on an organizational guide to using this material but the more people I've found, the more extremely effective and very personally divergent approaches are evident. That's the genius of it. Figuring it out on your own makes the product of what you find sound totally different. Originally Posted by Liarspoker
I may throw some cycle 6 diatonic approaches out there though. I've wanted to for a while.
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I'm probably stating the obvious, but I love the way that these cycles of 6ths also have the diatonic cycles of 4ths/5ths nested within them on the even-numbered steps, and on the odd numbered steps.
Likewise the cycle of 4ths contains the diatonic 2nds in the same way.
For me, Cycle 6 feels best played slowly. They're all very ambient and more leisurely - your word 'etherial' is just right - it's like beautiful choral voice-leading, whether arpeggiated or in block chords.
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Hi Mick. The voicing type is 4 way close on my page. Originally Posted by Mick Wright
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Thanks, I've got it. I'll take a look at it now and post something tomorrow morning.
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One note. Although it's good to have access to all the voicings somewhere in your vocabulary, sometimes close voicings, especially in 7ths, are cumbersome, and can be problematic in the stretches involved. Originally Posted by Liarspoker
One thing you might do is to read through the chord families (without voice leading them in cycles) and familiarize yourself with which families you might want to work with. Some will definitely be more useful and natural for guitar, and some not so much. One suggestion would be to sample your way through the chord families and gather some impressions based on sound and kinesthetics (what your hand feels good with) and in that way form your own strategy for filtering through all that is in there.
Mick's lessons often consisted of his throwing an idea out there and waiting for the student to come back with their own take on it. A student came into a lesson with a voice led etude he'd written based on Stella but using an extremely widely space voicing. This was one that guitarists rarely use or become familiar with because it's so wide that there is virtually no interchangeability among string sets. That means a LOT of linear movement along the string sets. But the sound was so unexpected that even Mick remarked that he'd never imagined that was buried in there.
That student went on to develop a linear approach around that chordal family and though some of the voicings are not easy to "grab", he made it his and owned it, and created a sound that was all his. This student had large hands and an ear for wide intervals, so it was up to him to create an interpretation of harmony that fit HIM. That's how it works; that's why some students find the lack of concrete guidance galling. That's why Mick's students become stellar players and none of them sound like each other or Mick.
So don't let me tell you what works or not, but taking the time to do a flyover survey of the landscape can be a good way to use your time.
You're in the territory where your hands, your ears and your taste will determine something you personally relate to, and the farther you run with a tendency or fascination, the more you'll find yourself in unexplored territory. So this is your trial of springboards. What you do once you're airborne is absolutely up to you.
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That is all very true David.
I know the sounds that I like such as a the dissonance created by two notes a step apart on adjacent strings. The fact that I play fingerstyle will also influence me to play certain voicings as I like easy to grab voicings or those that require a little work. I know that when playing live difficult to finger chords become more difficult.
Anyhow I am enjoying the basic triads. The building blocks of harmony. I have also been turning the basic 135 triads into Sus triads etc exploring the sounds. There's actually so much colour there that I'm happy to stay here for a while.
When that 4th note will be added the colours will be spectacular. I think that Mick said in TAG that if you know you're triads well you know 75% of your 7th chords.
I must play through those 48 triads in TAG again to see how I play them after my recently triad study.
Along side the triad study I am also still writing my own material in the vein of A Caspian Dream which you heard previously.
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What would be great too is if people started posting videos of how they are applying the almanac material.
I'd love to see all the different approaches and styles and I'm sure others would love to see more vids too.
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Those close voicing cycles make pretty interesting "single string" exercises.sometimes close voicings, especially in 7ths, are cumbersome, and can be problematic in the stretches involved
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