Me And God Just Watchin' Scotty Drum

Scott is one of my favorite local drummers.  He’s an interesting drummer.  He’s familiar with a wide variety of styles, listens constantly to wide variety of music, and then...here it comes...he shapes his drum part for that room, for that song, for those players, for that audience. 

Which is why he brought this kit to church last Sunday:

I’m sure there’s more to it, but he didn’t bring the rest of it because he knew he wouldn’t need it.  Manna (the little church I attend) meets in a smallish, low-ceilinged room, with people sitting right up next to the stage.  Most of the time we don’t have a drummer.  

Scott was a study in ensemble playing this past Sunday.  He watched the leader and the other players, and I could see him thinking.  Was the leader pushing for a little more energy on the second verse?  Scott helped him take it there with a little more volume, a little change of stick position on the snare.  The bass player would play something, Scott would pick up on it and reinforce it.  Just for a change of pace, I saw him play his right hand on the rim of the snare instead of the HiHats.  

And here’s maybe the coolest thing:  his playing disappeared into the song.  I saw him doing all his little things, but the congregation didn’t.  And that’s exactly right.  Scott served the song, and by doing so, served the congregation.  And he did it gladly, and with a tiny, curious little grin on his face.  

He wasn’t thinking ‘Watch this’, but rather “Oh, you know what would be cool?”

And just to be clear:  Scott can play some really cool stuff.  If there’s room, he always includes it in his performance.  He just doesn’t put his own fun first.  Or maybe he does.  Maybe he defines fun as making the song really cool.  

Scott’s only in his 20’s, and I have at least thirty years experience on him, but I’ve learned from watching him play.    

There's almost never one right way to play a song.  You tailor your part, your arrangement, to suit the size of the room, the people you're playing for, and the people you're playing with.  Like this, for those of you who are more visually oriented:

Serve the song, serve the audience, serve yourself--in that order.  

Positioning Yourself To Be Inspired

It’s going better for me at Rockford Res.  At least they’re not saying anything.  It might be that they’re just keeping their mouths shut, comforting each other by whispering behind their hands that I’ll be gone after Christmas.  Or I might have actually hit all the marks last week.  Whatever—I’m having fun.  I didn’t throw up in the parking lot beforehand this week, which is improvement. 

So between the second and third services we’re sitting around discussing what Steve (the leader) called ‘the devolution of modern worship music’.  To paraphrase Steve: 

“If ever there was a time to start playing guitar in a worship band, it’s now.  It’s gone from strumming full chords to playing rhythmic ‘5’ chords, to just plinking one note over and over.”  (This is not lost on me, how the guitar players are plinking too.) 

We asked Brian, young bass player (and really good, too), what he thought of the ‘older’ music, and brought out a Tommy Walker song from the 90’s as an example.  He made a face.  “Hokey”, he said. 

Still they all feel the need for a change.  The question is, where does the inspiration come from? 

My friend Randi said it pretty well yesterday, in our monthly lunch with some area church music directors.  We were sitting around my studio eating bag lunches and discussing…stuff.  Ed the Other stops in unannounced (my friend, and the guy who leads the music at my little church) and he’s just back from a pilgrimage to Memphis.  He waxes eloquent about Stax Records, Sun Records, etc. 

Randi says, “What should we listen to?  I mean to get inspired?”  Ed rattles off several suggestions (including Aretha’s first album with, I think, was on Atlantic). 

And then Randi says (and this is the money quote), “I think it’s important that we position ourselves to be inspired.”

I wish I’d said that.  She’s so, so right.  Are we listening to new, different stuff?  ‘Cause you never know where inspiration’s gonna come from. 

You may or may not be familiar with and old jazz album, Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’.  I know I wasn’t, until recently.  But it apparently influenced, of all people Duane Allman.  Here’s from the liner notes to Davis’ album:

Critic Robert Palmer…discovered that very link backstage at the Fillmore East in 1969. “Duane Allman [was] the only ‘rock’ guitarist I had heard up to that point who could solo on a one-chord vamp for as long as half an hour or more, and not only avoid boring you but keep you absolutely riveted…. ‘You know,’ he told me, ‘that kind of playing comes from Miles and Coltrane, and particularly Kind of Blue. I’ve listened to that album so many times that for the past couple of years, I haven’t hardly listened to anything else.’”

Wait a minute: Duane Allman gets his inspiration from Miles Davis?  Here’s Duane:

And here’s Miles:

What?

But the connection is there.  So, my point:  set yourself up to be inspired, by listening outside your normal sphere of influence.  If you want suggestions, I’ll throw some at you, but really, just start off in any direction, and see what you find. 

Well, okay, here’s one, because I can’t resist: 

Feelin' Alright from Sundroid on Vimeo.

I give you permission to go out and be inspired.

Rockford Files Part 2--The Little Plinky Parts

Two weeks ago I played at Rockford Res Life, sitting in with their church band.  (click here) I felt...unprepared.  So this time I played the music a lot, poured over the charts, made sure I was ready.  Twenty minutes before anyone showed up, I sat in the parking lot at the strip mall down the street, dome light on, listening and reading through the charts.  Jon, one of the guitar players, teased me, "Did you spend all night in the parking lot?"  He wasn't terribly far off.

So it went much better.  I’m relieved.  I think.  I didn’t make any big mistakes, and there were a couple of times I actually just closed my eyes and played from the heart—always the goal.  This might have been due, in part, to there being no important keyboard parts for me to play.  Not sure whether this was by design, but I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know.  Although at one point I hit all the marks in a little rhythmic passage, and Steve (the worship leader) said into the mic, "You hit every one of those!  I was watching." 

Sigh.

The music is well within my ability to play it.  Billy Joel said “Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout the new sound, honey, but it’s still rock and roll to me.”  Mostly that’s true with the stuff they play at Rockford Res.   In fact, it’s not challenging in the sense that I can’t keep the chord changes straight, or pull off fast passages.  Nothing like that.  I can play the Cma9’s and Asus2’s, and take a whirl on the bridge, etc.

What I find difficult is the way this music goes together.  It's tricky for me, knowing who I am in the band, because the parts they give me aren’t the kind of parts I’m used to.  The guitars drive the sound along, so I’m not ‘holding down the fort’, and the second keyboard player is playing ‘pads’, filling in all the cracks.  So what’s left?  The little plinky parts.  That's what I'm playing; little plinky parts.  Is that what the music needs? 

I’m used to holding the whole middle together with strong 2-&-4 chords, working at keeping my voicings away from the vocals, coloring it up with altered 5’s and 9’s, pushing and pulling the band along, doing a workman’s job.  If I was a cyclist in the Tour de France, I’d be one of Lance Armstrong’s domestiques, pulling the Peloton along, protecting the team leader, fetching water, watching out for aggressive riders, etc.  I like that roll onstage.  In this band, I feel like the guy Sinatra used to hire for recordings, the guy who sat in a chair on the side and played little tasty, jazzy riffs whenever Frank stopped to take a breath.  Yeah—there was a guy especially for that stuff. 

So I dunno know how I feel about my little plinky parts.  They don’t feel, well, necessary, and I like feeling necessary.  I like the work of it.  I like the adrenaline rush, solving problems by playing my way out of them.  But the little plinky parts?  Who'd miss those?

I’ll figure it out.  I always do. 



The Rockford Files, Part 1

A month ago: 

I remark to my friend Bob, who plays bass in my band, that I’m feeling less and less useful as a musician.  The music I like, the music I know, is now ‘classic’, and the new music leaves me…if not cold, then lukewarm.  It all sounds like U2 to me, and I really don’t like U2 very much.

Two weeks ago:

Doug, an old friend and former bandmate, calls me.  He’s the pastor of Rockford Resurrection Life Church, and he needs a keyboard player for a few months.  Says the regular guy has moved on, and until they find a replacement, he’ll take me as many Sundays as he can get me, now through Christmas.  When he tells me the name of the guy I’m replacing, I recognize it immediately—this is a player I really respect.  If HE plays for them, it might be a pretty good band.  Doug goes on to say they play of lot of the cool contemporary stuff.   When he names a few names, I realize he’s talking about the U2-influenced recordings.  I hesitate, he offers me decent money, I stop hesitating. 

Last week Thursday:

I head out to Rockford to check out the scene.  Their music guy is friendly, personable, and I like him immediately.  He’s not terribly young, but has pointy hair and black glasses.  I have black glasses, but my hair is still high-school-hair.  I can’t bring myself to wear my hair pointy, with a lot of product.  I wonder if it’s symptomatic (along with my dislike for ‘new’ music) of a larger, aging-related issue, or if, like Samson, my hair is hindering me.  Either way, a voice whispers in my ear: “That ‘new’ sound is 30 YEARS OLD, Mr. Schief”.   It’s come to this: my inner voice is calling me Mr. Schief.

Last week Friday:

I download the charts and mp3’s for the upcoming weekend (okay, THIS part I like, the downloading), and listen through everything.  No problem.  I should be able to easily keep up.  Steve, the music director, tells me, “We do the songs just like the CD, so make sure you listen to the piano and organ parts.”  I listen, and I hear one or two little things I should probably get familiar with.  I spend maybe an hour with the music, sort of listening and re-organizing the charts to my liking. 

Sunday: 

6:50 am:   I sit in the parking lot at the church, and my heart is pounding.  This is about more than just playing a couple weekends at a church, I realize.  There are a bunch of people here I used to do church with, used to hang with, people from my other life—the life of my first marriage, a different church family, a different era.  I think they’re expecting something from me.

7:05am  It’s just me and the janitor.  Got my music set up, keyboards fired up and tested.  I think I’m ready.

7:15am  Everybody comes in at the same time.  Handshakes all around.  Jonathon, who is Doug’s son and used to be my student, says, “Where’s the fat guy with the beard?”

7:20am  The good news is I can adjust my own monitor settings.  The bad news is I can’t figure it out.  Can’t hear vocals, and I’m hearing mostly one of the guitars and the other keyboard.

7:30am  I’m in the weeds.  I don’t know the little parts I thought I knew, and they’re switching from song to song at a breathtaking pace.  This is a good band, seasoned players.  They sound great.  Steve comes over.  “Hey, really, really glad you’re here this morning.  About that little part in the intro…”   I’ve switched places.  It used to be me helping out the guy in the weeds.  It’s humbling.  Well, it’s humiliating.  It’s humiliating, but it’s also kinda funny, if I watch it from a third person perspective.

8:20am  The service starts, and I absolutely RIP IT UP on the Hammond organ.  I surprise even myself. 

8:25am  Too much self-congratulation.  The song ends, I take literally three seconds to savor the moment, and hear the click track starting for the next song.  No!  I’m not ready.  What sound do I need for the next song?  What’s that little part I’m supposed to know? Crap--I’m supposed to be at the other keyboard.  Crap crap crap.

8:45am  We’re wallking off the stage, heading back to the office for breakfast.  Steve says, “Hey, the hard part is done, getting used to a new situation and all.”  I appreciate his words, but hate it that he even feels he has to say them. 

10:00am  I play worse than the first service.  Can’t remember JACK.   There’s a moment when the song is starting, and I know I have a little part to play.  I can’t remember the little part.  Steve looks over at me from the guitar, and I avoid his gaze. 

11:20am  Back on my feet, third service I play respectably. 

1:15pm.  Pulling through McDonald’s, hands shaking from the adrenaline come-down.  I realize I have two choices: either get with the program, or get old.  I’m getting with the program.  I'm on again this coming Sunday, we’ll see how I do.  Maybe I can show the young guys a thing or two.  FAR more likely they’ll show me something.  I’m ready. 

Moving Past Barre Chords--6 Chord Forms You Can Use This Weekend

When I was 19 years old I auditioned for a position as guitarist in a jazz orchestra.  I thought since I knew all the ‘A’ and ‘E’ barre chord forms, that I pretty much knew all the chords.  Or at least, all the chords that really mattered.  I was wrong.  I couldn’t get three bars into the chart.  I was really, really embarrassed. 

So I auditioned for piano, got the spot, and then pestered the guitarist who did know all the chords until he showed me.  He was a fantastic jazz player, and I still couldn’t beat him today, but I learned a lot. 

These six chords are among the many he taught me as essentials—learn to use these and you’ll have a great start moving past barre chords.  They sound great, and they make you look smart.    

Chord #1

Major 7 with a 6^th string root.  Here it is at the 3^rd fret: 

The easiest way to grab this chord is to first play a Bmi barre chord at the 2^nd fret, then move your 1^st finger so it only frets the 6^th string at the 3^rd fret.  The back of your 1^st finger should deaden both the 5^th and 1^st strings.  Thinking of it this way makes it instantly familiar (providing you already know the Bmi). 

This Major7 form is a very clean sounding chord, because the 6^th string acts as a sort of bass note, with the rest of the chord starting almost an octave up.  Especially below the 5^th fret, this keeps the low strings from sounding muddy and undefined. 

It is of course, a moveable chord form, so it’s useful up as high as you can reach.  You find the chord just like you’d find a regular ‘E’ type barre chord.  In other words, Gma7 is at the 3^rd fret, Ama7 at the 5^th, Cma7 at the 8^th, and so on. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the sound of this chord, try substituting it for a regular ‘G’ chord, and see how it sounds. 

Chord #2

Major 7 with a 5^th string root.  Shown at the 3^rd fret:

 

This one is easy to translate visually from its open form—Ama7.   It sounds best with the 6^th string deadened (as shown), because the 5^th string is the root of the chord.  Makes for a clean sound.  Use the tip of your 1^st finger—the one you’re barring with—to touch the string and deaden it. 

I actually like the sound of this chord with the 1^st string deadened too.   I do that with the back of my first finger.  A little practice and you’ll have it. 

You find this chord like any other A-type barre chord—i.e, Cma7 is at the 3^rd fret, Dma7 at the 5^th, Fma7 at the 8^th, and so on.  Along with the 6^th-string-root Major 7 I showed you last time, you can find any Major 7 chord from the 8^th fret down. 

If you need a song to try it out, it works great (along with the Gma7) on America’s ‘Tin Man’.  Like this, strumming up and down:

Gma7     -     -     -    |  -   -   -   -   |Cma7   -   -   -   |  -  -  -  -  |

Sometimes late, when things are real and people share the…

If you don’t have the recording, check it out here on youtube. 

Chord #3

Minor 7, 6^th string root.

LOVE this form for a mi7 chord.  It’s really a simplification of this basic mi7 barre chord:

 

We’re just taking away the 5^th and 1^st strings.  The thing that’s so great about this chord is that it puts your wrist (and elbow) in a very relaxed position.  Once you get used to it, you can play this chord easily, even when your hand is tired.  And just like the first chord in this series, it’s like the chord is actually a bass note with a chord on top of it—very clean. 

You deaden the 5^th string with the back of your 2^nd finger, and deaden the 1^st string by raising your 3^rd finger just slightly.  If getting that 1^st string to go dead is hard at first, don’t worry—the note actually fits into the chord.  It’s just better without it.  Note:  it helps to roll your fingers a little to the outside, so they’re more rigid.  This chord took me a week or so to get used to. 

You find it like any other E-type barre chord—i.e., Gmi7 at the 3^rd fret, Ami7 at the 5^th fret, Cmi7 at the 8^th fret. 

To try it out, play along with Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ here on youtube.  You just move back and forth between the 5^th and 7^th frets. 

Ami7 – Bmi7 - |

Chord #4

Minor 7, 5^th string root.

 

Although this form will require a little more practice before you can grab it easily, I guarantee you’re going to love it.  You’ll love it for two reasons:  it sounds great (which makes it usable), and it’s another form that’s easy on the hand.  (In the next installment I’ll show you it’s 6^th-string counterpart—they make an extremely useful pair).  Here it is at the 5^th fret:

Just like the Gma7 and Ami7 I showed you earlier, this chord has the bass note/chord thing going.  Clean. 

Chord #5

Dominant 7, 6^th string root.

This one is going to feel like a freebie, because it’s the exact same position as the previous chord, only with a 6^th string root:

 

By now you will have noticed this is another chord with a sort of bass note/chord thing going.  It’s a useful chord.  All the chords I’ve shown in this little series are useful.  They’re not esoteric, once-in-a-while chords, but utterly practical.  You don’t need a jazz chart in front of you to find a place for these; they work in ‘regular’ music. 

Putting it to use

Along with chords 2 & 4, try this little progression:

Dmi7  - - - |G7 - - - |Cma7 - - - | - - - - |

Move the whole thing up one fret and you have:

Ebmi7 - - - |Ab7 - - - |Dbma7 - - - | - - - - |

NOW we’re talkin’.   Seriously.  You don’t have to be afraid of progressions like the one above.  One more chord to go, and then I’m going to give you some sample progressions so you can practice these in useful ways.

Chord #6

Dominant 9, 5^th string root. 

 

Okay, this one for SURE will make your playing sound sophisticated.  It's an excellent substitute for a ‘7’ chord.  If the music says D7, try D9 instead.  It might not sound right every time, but it’s good to have in your pocket.  The more you use it, the more you’ll like it, I think. 

With any new chord, it helps to ‘see’ it on the neck—so here’s how to see this chord.  Play a plain old C7, the open version. 

Do you see the triangle formed on the 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th strings?  This is basically a C7 chord.  We’re stealing this triangle, moving it up two frets to make it a D7, then adding the first two strings back into the mix for a 9 chord. 

Putting all six chords to use

Here are some chord progressions to get you started.  Mix and match these a little, and try them up and down the neck. 

Chords 1, 2 & 6

Gma7 - - - |Cma7 - - - |D9 - - - |Gma7 - - - |

Chords 1, 3 & 6

Gma7 - - - |Ami7 - - - |D9 - - - |Gma7 - - - |

Chords 2,4 & 5

Cma7 - - - |Dmi7 - - - |G7 - - - |Cma7 - - - |

Chords 5 & 6

G7 - - - | - - - - |C9 - - - | - - - - |D9 - - - | - - - - |G7 - - - | - - - - |

Any questions, post them here at the bottom as a comment, or hit the contact button above--I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  If you want some chord charts to try these out on, ask me--I'll attach them to an email.  I have a lot of them. 

All right—get to work. 

If you’d like even more help improving your knowledge of the guitar neck hit the CONTACT button, and let’s set up a few lessons.