I’m often asked the best way to learn all 12 keys and while I’ve advocated many methods in the past, the most practical way is to adapt my “3 x 12″ rule.

Simply put: Take 3 songs you know and learn them in all 12 keys.

It helps if they are songs that utilize a variety of different chords. That’s why picking 3 is important because between them, you should get a good mix of chords off every tone of the scale.

And since most songs follow the same patterns, you’d be surprised how few chords you really need to know to play in all 12 keys. Taking 3 different styled songs and learning them in all 12 keys usually gives you plenty.

The easiest way is to simply start at the original key of the song and move every note up a half step.

So if a song is in Eb major, you’ll attack E major next by literally taking every note in every chord and moving it up a half step.

Transposing a song to a new key is no more than moving every note up the appropriate amount of notes.

If the next key is a half step up, every note of every chord simply moves a half step up.

However, if you’re trying to move to a new key 4 half steps up, then you need to move every note of every chord 4 half steps up. As long as you move the same distance for every note in every chord, the end result will be the same song in a new key.

Exercise:

Move these chords in F major to Gb major.

Hint: Gb major is a half step higher than F major. That means every note is moved up a half step.

F major 7: F + A + C + E

D minor 7: D + F + A + C

G minor 7: G + Bb + D + F

C 7: C + E + G + Bb

F major 7: F + A + C + E

To move this to Gb major, just take every note up a half step, thus giving you the equivalent chords in Gb major:

Gb major 7: Gb + Bb + Db + F

Eb minor 7: Eb + Gb + Bb + Db

Ab minor 7: Ab + Cb + Eb + Gb

Db 7: Db + F + Ab + Cb

Gb major 7: Gb + Bb + Db + F

Is it hard work in the beginning? Sure it is.

Does it get easier over time? Definitely.

Because songs repeat the same chords and patterns over and over so as you start seeing the same chords and memorizing them in all 12 keys, you need not work out the transposition from scratch each time; rather, you’ll pull from your memory bank.

So make this your next goal: 3 x 12

3 songs in 12 keys.

It seems simple but it’s quite a hard thing to do. If you can master this, you’ll get to pro status in no time.

Until next time —

Yesterday, we briefly introduced modes.

We learned that although they have fancy greek names and sound all intricate, they are no more than individual scales that simply start and end on a different tone of the major scale.

So you literally play ONE scale but you start and end on different notes of that scale, depending on the mode you want to play. It’s that simple.

What I’ll show you now isn’t quite as simple as yesterday’s concept, but still easy to grasp.

Consider the single note, “F.”

As we learned yesterday, F is the 4th tone of C major and thus creates the lydian mode.

Playing a simple C major scale starting and ending on “F” is known as F Lydian.

Say you’re on an F chord (in the key of C major), this mode would definitely be something to try.

But guess what? You don’t have to be confined to F Lydian. And you don’t have to be confined to one key. ANY time you go to any F chord in ANY key, you can think of the various modes with F as starting note.

Sure, F is the 4th tone of C major and the Lydian mode but what if you got a little creative and incorporated other modes with F as starting note?

That means, you ask yourself:

1) In what key is F the first tone of the scale?

Answer: F major

Play F major from F to F and you get F Ionian (pretty simple because all Ionian modes are essentially major scales since they start and end on FIRST TONE).

So F Ionian (a.k.a – “F major scale”) would be one option to try whenever I’m on an F chord.

Again, I may be in C major (or maybe in any other key) but that doesn’t stop me from venturing outside and playing other F modes.

2) In what key is F the 2nd tone?

Answer: Eb

That means, you could play an Eb major scale starting and ending on F.

Pop quiz? What’s this called?

Answer: Whenever you play a scale starting and ending on the 2nd tone of the scale, you’re playing the DORIAN mode. (We learned this yesterday!)

Now just add “F” to the front of that name and you’d call this “F Dorian.”

F Dorian is simply playing Eb major from F to F.

Note: You have to know your modes very well and be able to think backwards a little bit. If the dorian mode is ALWAYS the 2nd tone of the scale and you want to play F dorian, you basically do what we did above and ask yourself, “In what key is F the 2nd tone of the scale?”

3) In what key is F the 3rd tone?

Answer: Db major

That means, you can play F Phrygian by playing the Db major scale from F to F.

This might also be something you try when on F.

Note: Each mode carries a different feeling. Some are more associated with major scales. Others are more minor.

4) In what key is F the 4th tone?

Answer: C major

We already know this mode. It’s the first one we did above where we played C major scale from F to F. This is the F Lydian mode.

5) In what key is F the 5th tone?

Answer: Bb major

So you’d simply play a Bb major scale but starting and ending on F. That gives you the F Mixolydian mode.

6) In what key is F the 6th tone?

Answer: Ab major

By now, you should have it. Play an Ab major scale starting and ending on F and you’ve got yourself an F Aeolian scale.

7) Lastly, in what key is F the 7th tone?

Answer: Gb major

Simply play Gb major scale starting and ending on F, the 7th tone of that scale, and you’ve got yourself the F Locrian scale.

—–

Wow, you’ve just now learned 7 possibilities. Keep in mind, not all will work. Some are associated with major, some minor, some diminished. They all have alterations that should hint you at what chords they work best with. But at the end of the day, use trial and error and let your ear be the final judge.

I won’t kid you… this takes some work to get used to.

#1 – You’ve got to memorize your modes and what scale degrees they fall on.

#2 – You’ve got to be good at knowing each major scale as numbers (i.e. – “what is the 2nd tone of the scale?”)

#3 – You’ve got to be able to quickly recall the major scale and play it starting on the appropriate tone.

This should keep you busy for a while. :-)

Until next time -

Over the years, we’ve brought you many west coast gospel musicians – Jonathan Powell, Jason White, Kevin Nickelson, Mike Bereal, to name a few – and without a doubt, they all share a commonality in their playing.

Don’t get me wrong… they each have their own distinct way of doing things but there is, undoubtedly, this west coast “feel” underlying their playing.

And when you add to the mix 7 more professional, west coast musicians we’re bringing you in our new Musician Breakthrough (14 discs / 17 hours), it not only shows you what each uniquely brings to the table but what they all share as well.

(Don’t worry east coast folks… I haven’t forgotten about you. Since we’re out here on the west coast, it’s just a lot easier and practical to access this incredible pool of talent. But in the future, rest assured we’ll be going on the road!).

One simple technique that is common out here is to take a chord, pull out the middle note, and simply play that middle note on your left hand.

It could be done to practically any chord.

For example, C major. Instead of voicing it like this:

You may find it voiced like this:

It’s commonly done with diminished 7 chords too.

For example, here’s a normal C# dim 7:

Now take out the “E” and put it on the left hand:

You can also do it with the “G” in the chord. Simply take it out and put it on your left hand:

Works well with half-diminished 7 chords too. Here’s the normal way to play an Eb half-dim 7:

Now with “A” moved to left hand:

Or you can try it with the “Gb”:

I can go on and on but here’s the principle:

Take chords you normally play and experiment with taking notes from the middle of the chord and placing them in your left hand bass. That’s it! Some will work really well, others won’t but let your ear be the final judge.

I hear some folks saying: “But what about my normal bass note?”

These would act as substitutes. So, for a quick moment, you don’t play your normal left hand bass and you’d play whatever this strategy calls for (whatever note is in the middle of your chord that you’re moving to the left hand).

Or better yet, if you have a bass player, you can do whatever you want on left hand because they’re always holding down the bass.

Alright, hope this helps. See ya soon!

We’re back with another “Ask Jermaine” session — this time, focusing on the phrase, “2-5-1 Of The 4.”

This question comes from Bill in San Antonio, TX.

“Jermaine, I’ve heard you and others talk about how important 2-5-1 progressions are and I understand all this. What I don’t get is when you say the 2-5-1 of the 4 or the 2-5-1 of the 6. What does this all mean?”

My Answer:

First off, great question Bill!

In music, even though you’re in one particular key (or as I always say, one planet or galaxy), you can borrow things from other places.

For example, if you live in the USA like me, it doesn’t stop us from importing goods from other countries.

Using chord progressions in your current key that would be typical in another key is very common… and helps to spice up your music.

If you only used the same diatonic chords of a key every time, things would get boring pretty fast. Now, don’t get me wrong… millions upon millions of songs use the typical diatonic chords (that is — major on 1, minor on 2, minor on 3, major on 4, dominant on 5, minor on 6, diminished or half-dim7 on 7). And with all the inversions and potential voicings available to you, these 7 chords can be turned into a lot!

So let’s explore the 2-5-1 in general. Then, we’ll turn to the “2-5-1 of the 4″ and once you get that concept, you’ll get them all (i.e. “2-5-1 of 6″ … “2-5-1 of 3″ etc).

If you’re a beginner, you must understand the numbers come from the major scale.

A 2-5-1 chord progression is no more than a chord off the 2nd tone of the scale moving to a chord off the 5… finally coming home to a chord on the 1.

In C major:

C is 1
D is 2
E is 3
F is 4
G is 5
A is 6
B is 7

So this would be some type of D chord going to some type of G chord… then coming home to some type of C chord.

Above, we covered diatonic chords briefly. Those are the chords that are most likely to occur on each tone of the scale.

So the D would most likely be D minor or D minor 7 because the 2nd tone of the scale naturally creates a minor chord.

The G would either be a G major or G dominant 7.

And the C — it would be a C major or C major 7.

D minor 7

G dominant 7 (a.k.a. – G7)

C major 7

This holds true in all keys.

If we wanted to take this to the key of F, we answer these questions:

1) What is the 2 in F? What is the 5? What is the 1?

Answer: The 2nd tone of F major is G, the 5th is C, and the 1 is F.

2) What diatonic chords occur on the 2, 5, and 1?

Answer: The same diatonic chords that occur on any 2, 5, or 1. The key doesn’t matter. The 2nd diatonic chord of any scale will be minor or minor7. The 5th will be major or dominant 7 and the 1 will be major or major7.

So, in F major:

G minor 7 >>> C7 >>> F major 7

G minor7

C7

F major 7

So, if you’re in C major and someone says “play the 2-5-1 of the 4,” they literally mean:

“Even though you’re in C major, think as if you were in F major because F is the 4th of C. What would be a 2-5-1 in the key of F major? Simply bring that chord progression to the key of C.”

Your song may start on C major 7 and since we know 2-5-1 progressions are very strong, we’d insert a “2-5-1 of the 4″ to give us a strong connection to the 4.

So the progression would be: C major 7 – G minor 7 – C7 – F major 7

You hear this all the time too! It’s simply a C major 7, followed by a “2-5-1 of the 4.”

F is the 4th tone of C… so “2-5-1 of the 4″ literally means “2-5-1 of F.” We’re bringing a 2-5-1 from F major into C major (and you know it’s not a chord progression native of C major because the G would never be minor… it would always be major or dominant so that’s an obvious giveaway that we’ve borrowed this progression.)

C major 7

G minor7

C7

F major 7

So whenever someone says “2-5-1 of the 4,” you’ll never be confused again!

I’m out of time but maybe next time I can cover the “2-5-1 of the 6.”

It’s the same concept except the 6 is minor… so you’re borrowing a “2-5-1″ from a minor key. Just check out this lesson I did on the diatonic chords of minor keys. Then figure out the 2, the 5, and the 1 of “A minor.” Once you’ve gotten that, bring those chords into C major and you’ve got yourself a “2-5-1 of the 6.”

There you have it, the “2-5-1 of the 4″ concept demystified!

Today, let’s talk about borrowed chords.

They are chords literally borrowed from what we call the “parallel” minor or major key.

Let’s not mix up “parallel” with “relative.”

If we were in the key of C, as we’ve learned in other lessons, A, the 6th degree of C, is the relative minor of C. Likewise, C is the relative major of A. That’s not what we’re talking about here.

Parallel keys have the same tonic note… or home base. That means, the starting note of their scales are the same.

So the parallel minor of C major is — you guessed it — C minor!

The parallel minor of A major is — yup, A minor!

So parallel keys have the same first note and understanding this allows you to start using borrowed chords almost immediately.

Borrowed Chords Explained

To really understand borrowed chords, let’s compare the diatonic chords of C major to C minor:

C major or C major 7

D minor or D minor 7

E minor or E minor 7

F major or F major 7

G major or G7

A minor or A minor 7

B diminished or B half-diminished 7

Vs. C minor:

C minor or C minor 7

D diminished or D half-diminished7

Eb major or Eb major 7

F minor or F minor 7

G minor or G minor 7

Ab major or Ab major 7

Bb major or Bb7

Borrowed Chords – Continued

So when you employ borrowed chords, you simply take chords from the parallel minor and play them in your major key. Or vise versa… if the song was in C minor, you could take chords from C major.

Some common borrowed chords in C major:

1) On the 2nd tone of the scale, instead of playing your normal D minor (or 2-minor), you could play D half-diminished 7. Sounds great leading to a 5-chord.

2) Instead of going to the 5-chord to end a song or half-cadence, you can go to Bb major (the “b7″). Sounds great and you hear it in a lot of contemporary music.

3) If you want to change the mood of your song, change your 4-chord — which is normally F major — to an F minor.

4) Use Ab major (the b6) to come down to your 5-chord (Gdom7)

5) Even though this chord isn’t technically in C natural minor (it’s in C harmonic minor), use Bdim7 (B+D+F+Ab) on the 7th degree. It’s a great leading tone back home to any C chord.

6) Use Eb major (b3 tone) in certain spots… like to lead to the 4-chord… or to lead to the b6 (Ab), which can come down to the 5-chord (G), which leads back home to C. See how these things are chained together?

Well, that’s all I have for today. It’s Saturday at about 6am so everyone’s sleep. I thought I’d add another content lesson but don’t get used to Saturdays… this is an anomaly! :-)

These borrowed chords should give you a lot to work on.

A Quick & Easy Way To Play Suspended Chords

In this last week’s post, I talked about quartal chords — which are chords built off fourth intervals.

Examples are: C + F + Bb… or G + C + F

(The interval between C and F is a fourth; likewise, the interval between F and Bb is a fourth. The same goes for the intervals between “G + C” and “C + F.”)

But here’s an interesting discovery with quartal chords.

They are actually inverted suspended chords. Yup, suspended chords!

(…which brings up another point. Music is filled with scales, chords, patterns, and theories that can be named different things… looked at from different perspectives… transformed to be different, etc.. Wayne Dyer says “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This is especially true in music.)

Quartal Chords Are Inverted Suspended Chords

Remember, to invert something means to rearrange it so a different note is on the bottom. There are many ways to describe inversions but that’s the easiest I’ve found. When you’ve cycled through every inversion of a chord, every note has gotten its turn on the bottom. (There is something I’m dying to say to married couples on the topic of inversions but you figure it out!)

So what happens when you invert a quartal chord? Let’s take the C+F+Bb quartal.

Now, let’s rearrange it:

What do ya know… it’s a suspended 4 chord.

A Note About Suspended Chords

Suspended chords (aka – “sus” chords), and specifically sus4 chords (as there is a difference between sus4 and sus2 chords… more on this later), are basically major chords with one modification.

In a typical major chord, you’re playing the 1, 3, and 5. In C major, that’s C+E+G:

Suspended chords replace the 3rd degree of the chord (which is E). So again, the target is the 3.

We’re getting rid of the 3 and putting another note in its place.

The note we use depends on whether we want a “sus4″ or a “sus2″ chord.

Sus4 chords use the 4th degree of the scale in place of the 3rd. So instead of C+E+G, you get C+F+G:

Regular C major chord:

C sus4 chord:

Likewise, sus2 chords use the 2nd degree of the scale in place of the 3rd. So instead of C+E+G, you get C+D+G:

I love to play sus2 chords in slow, ballad-style songs. You’ll find they sound a lot better than plain major chords.

And as the name “suspended” implies, when you play these chords, you get a feeling that something should soon resolve… something needs to change. Even the untrained non-musician ear hears this and anticipates something happening soon after. And in the case of the sus4, the “4th” degree is dying to resolve down to the 3… and usually it will.

Quartal & Suspended Chords

So by simply inverting our C+F+Bb quartal chord, we got F+Bb+C, which is an Fsus4 chord.

Regular F major chord:

F sus4 chord:

If you keep inverting, you’ll get yet another surprise:

C + F + Bb becomes F + Bb + C, which becomes Bb + C + F.

What do ya know… a sus2 chord.

Regular Bb major chord:

Bb sus2 chord:

So basically:

1) In root position, a quartal chord is… umm… a quartal chord.
2) After inverting up once, you’ll get a sus4 chord.
3) After inverting up once again, you’ll get a sus2 chord.

One caveat: It won’t be the same sus4 and sus2. In other words, a quartal chord on C is not going to be a C sus4 and a C sus2. It’s going to be the sus4 of the second note in the original chord… and the sus2 of the last note in the original chord.

So if original chord is C quartal:

Root position gives you: C quartal

Inverting once gives you: F sus4

Inverting again gives you: Bb sus 2

There you have it, a lesson on quartal and suspended chords and how they, as is much of music, are connected.

I knew I had to share this story because there are some lessons about chord placement here.

So Jadyn, our oldest daughter, comes in our room this morning and while I never noticed, Sarah says “Jadyn, you have on your little sister’s pajamas!” Jadyn hadn’t realized it either and we all busted out in laughter.

Now, Layla, our youngest daughter is cute and chunky! Probably in the ninety percentile weight and height for 1 year olds so I’m not surprised Jadyn could fit into her pajama pants.

How does this relate to chord placement?

A few ways…

Chord placement tips

1) You’d be surprised what chords you can “fit in” between common patterns.

Just like Jadyn was able to turn Layla’s pajamas into capri pants, you too can turn smaller progressions into bigger ones if you understand this concept of chord placement.

For example, a song progressing from the 1 to the 4 can easily be expanded by using a “5-1″ progression in between. So instead of going directly from the 1 to the 4, you go: 1 > 5 > 1 > 4.

For more experienced players, you may also think of this as a “2-5-1″ of the 4. That’s when you temporarily treat the 4-chord as “home base.” So if we were in the key of C major, the 4 is F. In the key of F, a 2-5-1 uses the bass notes G > C > F. All we’re doing is borrowing that and using it in C major: C > G > C > F (aka - “1-5-1-4″ or 1 > “2-5-1 of 4″ … different ways to say the same thing).

I always say, “playing by ear is all about having options” and that “the ear is the final judge.” For all I knew, those were Jadyn’s pajama “shorts.” Your audience never knows what you intend… as long as it sounds good and acceptable to them.

2) What’s intended for one purpose can be used for another

I find this is the biggest breakthrough in musicians’ playing — when they start putting chords they’d normally only play in certain situations in totally new places. Or they start employing chords they’d normally only play in one key in other “foreign” keys. This is the art of chord placement.

Like putting a major9 chord on the 6th tone (which is normally “minor”) or putting a dominant7 #9#5 (popular altered chord) on the 7th tone, or even b5 tone (to lead to the 7th tone)… or even on the b2 to lead to the b5, which leads to the 7. As you can see, this can get really crazy! This is chord placement gone wild.

More Chord Placement Tips

3) Sometimes, you CAN do too much! Only get in where you fit in! (Another “hearandplayism” quote)

As they say, “less is sometimes more.” And sometimes, it’s obvious you’re trying to do too much. To Sarah, she was obviously in Layla’s clothes.

Jeremy Jeffers, from our all-new Musician Breakthrough series, says it best: “Music is a conversation… you talk, and you listen… you breathe.”

Some of us ought to give up them old blue jeans from the 90′s. They don’t fit anymore! They cut off circulation to the point where we can’t breathe. Are you suffocating your music?

Chord placement isn’t about “how many chords you can place” but rather what QUALITY placements you can make. Our Musician Breakthrough series, featuring 7 of the craziest west coast musicians, shows chord placement at its best. Check out the video clips to see chord placement at a mastery level.

4) Some progressions and patterns allow for flexible chord placement, others don’t.

Undoubtedly, there’s some articles of Layla that Jadyn could definitely not fit in. But these particular pajama pants were a little loose-fitting so they worked.

In music, you get progressions that ought not be touched… but you also get flexible progressions that can almost always be altered, embellished, expanded, etc.

Jason White, from our Ministry Musician course, relies on the melody to find as many chords as he can that has that same melody note on top. It need not matter what the bass notes are either because your ear will be the final judge. You may know 25 chords that have “Eb” on top. In the research and experimentation part of your practice, simply go through all those chords looking for possible matches… “trial-and-error” style. It’s perfectly okay to be wrong 24 times but when you come across that ONE unorthodox chord that works, it will turn the heads of the BEST musicians. This is a very popular chord placement discovery technique.

(That previous paragraph was a gem. It’s how the best of them find chords. You’d think there was a theoretical, organized process. Really, it’s trial and error, TIME, and the process of elimination.)

One Final Chord Placement Tip

5) Borrowing is good!

Staying on this blog, being a member of GMTC (where you get weekly chords, patterns, chord placement ideas, etc), and shedding with other players will build up your chordal vocabulary.

Remember, what one musician uses one particular way, you can take, “FLIP IT,” and use it a totally different way. Jadyn turned pants into shorts. I bet there will come a day when Layla will turn Jadyn’s shorts into pants or roll up the legs and wear them like they’re hers.

With your knowledge of chords, theory, substitutions, and placement, you can do the same. Sheet music is written in stone… playing by ear is not. You have the choice to do whatever you want… as long as it sounds good, you’re staying true to the melody, and not over-deviating to the detriment of the song.

So there you have it… chord placement lessons from a 4-year old, and her daddy :-).

The other day, I answered a question regarding popular gospel scales one can play — and the diminished scale was on my list.

But it haunted me because this is a pretty big scale… 8 notes to be exact. It’s what we call an octatonic scale. Octa = 8.

(Incidentally, there’s such a thing as pentatonic scales, which have 5 notes. Hexatonic scales have 6 (like blues scales). Heptatonic scales have 7 (like major scales). And here we are at a diminished scale, which has 8).

I knew many wouldn’t even try to learn the diminished scale in all 12 keys because it simply has too many notes. (Well, I take that back… 80% wouldn’t try but there are those “dedicated few” — the 20% — who make an effort tackle stuff like this).

How to play any diminished scale in seconds

So here’s what you do to play any diminished scale. The ONLY prerequisite is that you know your diminished 7 chords, which are pretty easy because there’s only really 3 of them.

C Diminished 7 (C + Eb + Gb + A) — The “A” should really be named “Bbb” but let’s keep it simple.

C# Diminished 7 (C# + E + G + Bb) — Yes, you can mix sharps and flats. See these two lessons here and here.

D Diminished 7 (D + F + Ab + B) — The “B” should really be named “Cb” but again, let’s keep it simple here.

If you learn these 3, you can play all the other diminished chords. In other words, you can transform the D Diminished 7 chord above into an F diminished 7 chord by simply taking the D off the bottom and putting it on the top:

F diminished 7 (F + Ab + B + D) — again, written in slang or else it’d be F + Ab + Cb + Ebb

So basically, the D diminished 7 has the same notes as the F diminished 7, which has the same notes as the B diminished 7, which has the same notes as the Ab diminished 7. All the notes in the chord share the same notes in their own respective chords. That’s why you only need to know 3 distinct sets of diminished chords.

One Step To Master The Diminished Scale

Now that you know your chords, this is the only step you have to do.

Remember, half steps are from key to key with no keys in between. Whole steps always skip a key with one key in between.

Now, you’d skip the first note but don’t worry, we’ll get back to it at the END of our scale since scales start and end on the same note.

And I’m not too concerned with the spelling here… just the quick concept. So pick sharp or flat… your call.

If we were to do this with the D diminished 7:

First, we identify the regular notes of this chord:

D + F + Ab + B

Now, just slide in half step notes between each tone. Remember, we’re slipping notes half-steps BEFORE so notice how we slip an “E” before the “F”… a “G” before the “Ab”… a “Bb” before the “B”… and “Db” before the “D.”

D + (E) + F + (G) + Ab + (Bb) + B + (Db) + D

(Notice, we didn’t put a half step in front of the first D because it started our scale… but we did insert a half-step note prior to the last “D.” That’s how it works).

So you have 4 notes in your regular chord… and 4 “inserted” notes which happen to be half steps before your original notes. Pretty simple!

Another Diminished Scale Revelation

Notice anything interesting about the notes we inserted: E + G + Bb + Db?

Maybe not in that order. How about in this order and alternate spelling:

C# Diminished 7 (C# + E + G + Bb)

(This is the same chord ordered differently and with C# instead of Db).

So the half-step notes you added also form a diminished chord of their own!

That means the diminished scale is nothing more than two diminished chords superimposed on top of each other.

But for now, I think the easiest way to think about the diminished scale is to take one diminished chord and basically fill in the notes a half-step before each note of your chord.

I know my promise was big in the title of this lesson but didn’t I deliver?

That’s my philosophy — to take the complicated and make it drop dead simple. Elsewhere, the name of the game is to sound the smartest… I guess to compete with other professions like doctors and lawyers. “Music has terminology and theory too!” they must say. Well, I don’t care for all that. I just want you to play!

If you haven’t invested in one or more of my courses to keep this cause going, check out my selection.

Well, there you have it. A simple 2-second method to play any diminished scale you want.

Most people haven’t heard of quartal chords.

That’s because they are chords built off fourth intervals, whereas the most familiar chords (like major, minor, dominant, diminished, augmented) are built of thirds — aka “tertian chords.”

How to Form Quartal Chords

First, you gotta know your intervals. Here’s a quick way to learn fourth intervals (and subsequently fifth intervals because fourths and fifths are like the opposite of each other. If you go down a fourth, you’ll get the same note an octave higher by going up a fifth… and vise versa).

This chart will help you learn fourths. Just follow it counter clockwise.

If there is anything in music to commit to memory as fast as you can, it’s this chain of notes organized in fourths. It just so happens this is the way most songs progress, too. Think about all the songs you already know how to play. Compare them to this circle and I’d bet entire chunks will be consistent. Music moves in fourths!

In other words, F is a fourth up from C.

Bb is a fourth up from F.

(Others take the “fifth” route — C is the fifth of F… F is the fifth of Bb… and so on. But for the purposes of learning Quartal chords, we’ll stick with fourths. There is such a thing as Quintal chords built off fifths but that’s another lesson).

Using the chart above, if you circle any 3 notes neighboring each other, you’ve got yourself a quartal chord.

Let’s try it:

C + F + Bb = Quartal chord

F + Bb + Eb = Quartal chord

Can you do the rest? I’ll provide answers below.

Answers: Quartal Chords In All 12 Keys:

C + F + Bb

F + Bb + Eb

Bb + Eb + Ab

Eb + Ab + Db

Ab + Db + Gb

Db + Gb + Cb (or C# + F# + B)

F# + B + E

B + E + A

E + A + D

A + D + G

D + G + C

G + C + F

Quartal chords In Action

As the title of this post implies, quartal chords are really easy to use. It’s because of the open sound created by the fourth interval. Quintal chords, created by 5th intervals, have a similar effect.

Quartal chords can be used as 1-chords, as 4-chords, as passing chords… almost anywhere. In fact, you’ve probably marveled at jazz players using them and because of their distinct sound, you couldn’t even tell what the player was doing!

Try this:

1) Hit C on your left hand as bass.

2) Just start playing random quartal chords above while keeping C on your left hand.

You’ll find majority of them work. Keep the ones that sound good to you… throw out the ones that don’t.

For example, holding C on my left hand, these quartal chords sound good to me:

C on left /// C + F + Bb (this creates a suspended 7th chord… lower the F to E for resolution).

C on left /// D + G + C (nice major-sounding chord)

C on left /// Eb + Ab + Db (I’m sure you could find a place for this)

C on left /// E + A + D (similar to the other major-sounding one, this can be used on the “1″)

C on left /// F + Bb + Eb (push the envelope with this one)

C on left /// Ab + Db + Gb (dissonant but useful)

C on left /// A + D + G (one of my favorites to use on the “1″)

C on left /// Bb + Eb + Ab (one of my favorites to use as a passing chord on the “3″ in Ab major. For extra spice, add an “E” to left hand: C+E)

C on left /// B + E + A (nice major-sounding chord).

And truth be told, even the ones I skipped work!

You could almost hold C down and go up chromatically, note for note playing each quartal chord in rhythm, and create a nice little groove. Try it.

If you want even more guidance, check out my GospelKeys 202 program where I first started talking about quartal chords in 2003, when this course first came out.

Well, that’s all I have for you. To be honest, I thought this lesson would be short but I got a little carried away.

Comment below and let me know how you use or will start using quartal chords in your playing.

We’re back for another “Ask Jermaine” where I choose a student’s question and give my personal take on it — this week on gospel piano scales.

(By the way, you can submit your questions here).

Today’s questions is from Ade:

Hi, it’s Ade here. I’m a young 14-year old player and just want to know how many types of gospel piano scales there are and which ones I really need to know to progress as a gospel player. I already understand major scales and the circle of fifths and am now working on minor scales. You are doing a great job with your gift and this site. Thanks and God bless

My answer:

Ade,

Just by your question, I can see you’re a serious player… even at the tender age of 14.

When I get questions from youngins’ like you, I don’t take them lightly because I too was a young church musician. At 7 years old, after getting tired of beating on pots and pans and getting spankins’ for putting holes in our couch, I moved on to playing this old antique piano my grandma won on the “Price Is Right” in the 70′s.

Long story short, one thing led to another and by 12 I was playing for multiple churches, youth choirs, gospel choir competitions and more. So I know from personal experience, music has no age barrier. If you don’t believe me, check out this amazingly talented 8-year old gospel organist, Jayden Arnold.

Gospel Piano Scales

When it comes to gospel piano scales, you have many options.

I’d say the most popular gospel piano scales are:

• Blues scale 1 2 3
• Pentatonic scale
• Minor pentatonic scale
• Super “Locrian” scale 1 2 3 4
• Whole tone scale
• Diminished scale

In fact, there’s really no such thing as “gospel piano scales” — scales are scales and regardless of whether you’re playing gospel, jazz, or blues, there’s places to fit all scales. Granted, some styles utilize certain ones more than others.

Gospel Piano Scales – Whole tone

Since I’ve covered the blues scale, pentatonic scale, and minor pentatonic scale extensively in the past (see above links), I’ll just cover the ones I haven’t written about here.

When it comes to gospel piano scales, the whole tone scale is a great tool to have in your arsenal and pretty simple to understand. It’s basically all whole steps.

C Whole Tone: C – D – E – F# – G# – A#

And because every note is the same distance apart (equidistant), there are really only two unique whole tone scales.

Why? Because if you play this same scale above starting and ending on D, you get the same exact notes.

Starting and ending on E, same thing.

Basically, pick a note in the scale and play the same notes and you’ve got yourself a brand new whole tone scale without changing up anything.

So the only other whole tone scale is on B (or any other note of that scale, as explained above):

B Whole Tone: B Db Eb F G A B

These are great gospel piano scales to use with:

• Augmented chords
• Augmented 7th chords
• Dominant 7 #9 #5 (very popular in gospel)
• Dominant 7 b9 #5 (very popular as well)

…and many others.

(If you’ve taken GospelKeys 202, you’ll know the last two chords on the list are VERY popular in gospel. They can be used on the 2, b3, 3, b5, and 6 — but most popular on the 3 as passing chords. You’d simply play the chord in your left hand and experiment with different whole tone gospel piano scales in your right, knowing that there are really only 2 unique scales… and all the rest just start on different tones but use the same notes).

Gospel Piano Scales – Diminished Scale

The diminished scale is also a pretty cool gospel piano scale you can use with diminished chords (…which occur a lot in gospel).

Just like the whole tone scale, you don’t have to remember 12 distinct scales because they repeat. There are only 3 unique diminished scales.

E♭ diminished (F♯/G♭, A, C diminished): E♭, F, F♯, G♯, A, B, C, D, E♭
D diminished (F, A♭, B diminished): D, E, F, G, A♭, B♭, B, C♯, D
D♭ diminished (E, G, B♭ diminished): D♭, E♭, E, F♯, G, A, B♭, C, D♭

How do you remember which scales share the same notes?

Answer: Just remember which diminished chords share the same notes!

Let’s look at these 4 diminished chords:

C diminished 7: C + Eb + Gb + A

Eb diminished 7: Eb + Gb + A + C

Gb diminished 7: Gb + A + C + Eb

A diminished 7: A + C + Eb + Gb

They share the same notes don’t they? Therefore, their corresponding diminished scales will be the same. So just commit the three diminished scales above to memory, remember which ones group together, and you’ll have even more gospel piano scales to add to your repertoire!

And because diminished 7 chords are commonly found on the b2, b3, 3, b5, b6, and 6 tones of the scale, you’ll have many opportunities to employ these gospel piano scales.

When it comes to gospel piano scales, if you master the 6 here, you’ll never run out of ideas.

How to spice up minor chords

It’s been said “small hinges swing big doors” and it’s true. Today’s strategy is so simple and concise, yet it will be very valuable to you.

(I’ll make this fast because as I type, Jadyn, my oldest is banging on my home office door demanding to play “Reader Rabbit.” She goes to preschool Monday thru Thursday, home on Fridays so you can imagine our “Full House” — long story, but just 13.5 months ago, she was the only child. Now we have 3 and the youngest aren’t twins. What a riddle… you do the math!)

So with that said, here’s a simple alteration you can make to spice up minor chords and sound like you’ve been playing for years. When a pro hears you do this, you automatically get brownie points.

There are a few things like this I’ll cover in the future but these little secrets usually separate those who know what they’re doing from the rest.

How to spice up minor chords – Tip #1

So any time you’re on a minor 7 chord like C + Eb + G + Bb, all you have to do is identify the 5th degree of the chord and raise it a half step.

This gives you a minor 7 #5 chord and it sounds awesome! It’s that easy… and this is just one of many ways to spice up minor chords.

Now the trick is usually to start by playing the typical minor 7 chord, then a second after, raise the 5th!

Let’s do some examples.

C minor 7

Now, if you number the C minor scale (which happens to yield the same 5th degree as the C major scale, so either one can work), you get:

G is the 5th so that’s the note we want to raise a half step.

C minor 7 #5

How to spice up minor chords – Tip #2

Now the key is to practice this with all your minor 7 chords and their inversions

C minor 7 #5 (1st inversion)

C minor 7 #5 (2nd inversion)

C minor 7 #5 (3rd inversion)

How to spice up minor chords – Tip #3

The keynote is the root of the chord, the title of the chord. In this example, it’s “C” because we’ve been studying the “C minor 7″ chord.

When you invert your chords, the C will get lost in the mix. Many prefer to remove it from the right hand, especially if you’re going to play it in your left or you have a bass player holding down the root. It just sounds better omitting the root from the right hand.

C minor 7 #5

If you’ve been with me a while, you’ll know this is nothing more than a quartal chord on the right hand. Music is full of coincidences like this.

Here’s my favorite voicing:

Your turn: Spice up minor chords in all 12 keys. Start with the typical minor 7th chord, identify the 5th degree, and raise it a half step.

Well, time to go. We’re taking the kids for a walk down one of these trails around here. Quick story before I go…

When I first moved here to Orange County, the selling agent said these trails had coyotes and to take a stick (I think he was being more funny than cautionary because my grandma, also my agent, gets hysterical about things like that). So for 7 years, I avoided the trails… even though one starts right across the street!

Well, just a month ago, I got over it and we went on the trail and guess what??? There was NOTHING to fear after all. Just nature at its best! In fact, not being an outdoors guy, I was awe-inspired by the beauty. Come to find out, you can take this trail for 5 miles all the way down to Laguna Beach. Not trying to make this about race but I think it’s a cultural thing. Some folks just get out… others ain’t having it!

I did pick up a pocket knife and pepper spray. (I’m open to new discoveries but I ain’t stupid)!

Now go spice up minor chords!

Today’s lesson is real important because it puts together all the stuff we’ve learned in the past few posts. If you haven’t read them, now may be a good time…

Today’s lesson (in audio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) gives you a nice little recap and method to apply this altered scale to real chord progressions and songs! Check it out…

Until next time —

Lately, we’ve been talking about power chords, tritones, and substitutions.

Today, I want to show you how to use tritones and minor chords to form crazy-sounding dominant ninth chords.

Yes, that means if you know all your tritones (…there’s only really 6 to learn) and all your basic minor triads, then you can play dominant ninth chords — instantly!

But not just any kind of dominant ninth chord. This voicing sounds really good!

As you know, two musicians can play the same dominant chord and make their versions sound totally different. I’m going to give you a “behind-the-scenes” look at how that’s possible.

Here’s the regular C dominant 9 chord:

C E G Bb D

It’s basically a C dominant 7 chord with an added “9″ tone. If you don’t understand where the 9 comes from, read yesterday’s lesson.

There are only two steps to transforming this boring, “standard” ninth chord into a snazzy one!

Step 1: Play the tritone replacement for the dominant chord on your left hand. Remember, you can always substitute the appropriate tritone for a full dominant chord since a tritone utilizes the key tones of the dominant chord. Basically, take the 3rd and 7th tones out of the dominant chord and play them on your left hand. That is a tritone.

Example:

C dominant 9
C + E + G + Bb + D

You’d take out E and Bb and play them together.

* As you probably know, “E” is the third tone of the scale and “Bb” is the flat seventh tone.

So far, my left hand has “E + Bb” in it.

Step 2: After you have determined what tritone to play on your left hand, you’ll want to identify the 5th tone of the chord. You’ll want to play a minor chord off this tone on your right hand. If I’m playing a C9 chord, the 5th tone of C is basically G (which is in the chord). I’m simply going to play a G minor chord on my right hand.

It’s that simple! Find 5th tone of chord (or scale) and play its minor triad. Point blank!

Example:

C dominant 9
C + E + G + Bb + D

*The fifth tone in C major is G. Therefore, I’m going to play a G minor on my right hand: (G + Bb + D)

You can try different inversions of this G minor triad but I prefer first inversion, which means the keynote will always be on top: (Bb + D + G)

Same for the tritone, you can try the alternate inversion but I like my flat seventh on the bottom (Bb + E) but feel free to try the other way around too (“E + Bb”). They both work.

So my full chord looks like this:

C dominant 9
Bb + E on left hand /// Bb + D + G on right hand

If you do use the opposite tritone “E + Bb,” you may find that the “Bb” from your tritone meets the “Bb” from your G minor chord if you’re playing both hands close to each other. This is fine. It actually results in a nice little effect with simply “E” on the left hand and “G minor” on the right hand.

Now here’s the best part.

In gospel music, you can really work this! Try going down a half step and doing the same thing. Then quickly move that chord back up to your original chord.

So basically, take this same exact voicing of C9 and move it down to B9.

If you understand “big picture thinking” (yesterday’s post), this shouldn’t be hard.

What is the tritone that goes with “B?” Bam! That’s your left hand!

What’s the 5th tone of B? Play it’s minor chord in first inversion! Bam!

B dominant 9
A + D# on left hand /// A + C# + F# on right hand

*I’m using informal naming to make it easier to follow

And this B dominant 9 (a.k.a “B9″), which is the same exact chord as C9 (but moved down a half step), leads perfectly to the C9:

B dominant 9
A + D# on left hand /// A + C# + F# on right hand

C dominant 9
Bb + E on left hand /// Bb + D + G on right hand

In fact, if you play gospel music and know the classic “shouting” bass run:

C – E – F – Gb – G – A – Bb – B – C

*It’s a bass line so play each of these notes separately.

…Imagine playing this same dominant 9 voicing over each of these bass notes.

But here’s the thing — with this voicing, you don’t really play the bass. Either you rely on someone else playing the bass or you just play the chords rootless.

Imagine replacing each of those “shouting” bass notes with this dominant 9 voicing?

Try it! You already know the notes for C9 and B9.

Just take the same formula and match up the chords for each of these bass notes. Then practice playing them because it won’t be easy at first. You’ll love what you come up with! Sounds a little crazy at first but this is how top gospel musicians like Jason White and Michael Bereal think.

I hope you enjoyed!

Until next time —

Our last radio show was awesome! We took several callers, gave away tons of prizes, and delved into some more music theory concepts!

One of our callers had a question about a particular altered chord and I spent some time unraveling it with her. In this post, I just want to take some time to review what I told her on the air. I think this will be extremely helpful for people in the same situation.

Her question had to do with playing a C diminished 7 chord over F bass. She wanted to know what type of chord it was.

So we broke it down…

F on bass
C diminished 7 on right hand: C Eb Gb A

Note: I’m using “A” on purpose. If you were taking a music theory exam, you’d make that “B double flat” (Bbb). But let’s just keep it informal so I can make my point easier. That disclaimer is just for my theory heads. Most people can careless (just being honest).

Here’s something to help you out…

Whenever you don’t know the name of a chord, try starting with the 3rd and 7th tones of the keynote. In this case, the keynote is “F,” our bass.

(This is when knowing all your scales as numbers is important. If you can know the 3rd and 7th of virtually any key without having to think much about it, then finding the names of chords will be super easy for you. So work on that in the meantime).

Notice there is an “A” and “Eb” in the chord. Immediately when I see that, I think “F dominant 7 chord.” I don’t even think about it. Unless there’s something crazy going on with the other tones we haven’t analyzed yet, this chord has a very high probability of being some kind of dominant seventh chord… but we’re not done yet!

So that’s the kind of the thought process I go through. I find and hold on to the best match until it is dethroned. Make sense?

Notice the “C” in this chord. What is its relation to the keynote?

The “C” is simply the perfect fifth. From past lessons, you know that the fifth isn’t really as helpful as the other tones because you’ll find it equally in major, minor, and dominant chords. So it can’t really be the deciding factor when trying to differentiate among those chords.

In this case, the “C” doesn’t change our answer. It just further confirms we’re on the right track by adding another note to our F dominant 7 chord, which is “F + A + C + Eb.”

Back to the chord that was posed on the show…

F on bass
C diminished 7: C Eb Gb A

There’s just one more tone left… the “Gb.” And that’s what makes this chord more than an “F dominant 7″ chord.

So what we do from here is figure out what tone of the scale Gb is based on.

First off, there’s no Gb in the F major scale so we know it’s not a tone directly out of the major key of F. Something is either going to be sharped, flatted, augmented, or diminished — we just haven’t figured out what it is quite yet.

“G” is the 2nd or 9th tone in the F major scale.

Yes, I know that may sound confusing but here’s where the numbers come from.

If you play an F major scale only using one octave and number each tone as you play it, “G” will undoubtedly be the 2nd tone of the scale. This is the norm. You probably already know this.

However, if you extend the scale another octave (basically keep going), “G” will be the 9th tone in the next octave. You don’t stop counting… you basically keep going.

1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10 > 11… and so on.

So that’s where 9s, 11s, and 13s come from.

But here’s the thing…

Just think of:

• 9 as 2
• 11 as 4
• 13 as 6

It will be so much easier.

Now, there does come a time when you use 2, 4, or 6 and this is usually when you’re playing simple triads with added notes. Like if I play an F major chord (F+A+C) and just add the “G” in between the “F” and “A,” I could simply say “add 2″ (F + G + A + C).

However, when you start getting into dominant seventh chords and your chords start reaching across octaves, that’s when the higher numbers come in. For example, some will say if you add “G” in the next octave and still maintain that regular F major triad (F + A + C + G), then you can reference it as “add 9.” Chord naming is very ambiguous like that but as long as you’re in the right neighborhood, people will know what you mean!

So, indeed, “G” is the 9. But “Gb” is what’s in the chord so we have to say “flat 9″ (a.k.a. – “b9″).

In other words, this is an F dominant 7 chord with a lowered 9.

Big picture thinking

Now how can you easily play this chord in every key?

Here’s what I like to do.

I try to find some commonality that I can turn into a “rule” that works any time.

Also, “rules” (in the way that I’m defining them) don’t use specific notes or else they wouldn’t be rules. They use universal numbers so that they can be applied to any situation.

There’s several ways to approach coming up with your own internal rule for this chord.

Let’s try a few…

1) I can think of this chord as the keynote plus a diminished 7 chord played on the 5th tone of the keynote’s scale. Yes, I know it sounds complex but it really isn’t. Basically, I’m telling myself that whenever I want to play a dominant chord with a flat 9, all I have to know is the diminished seventh chord a fifth up from my bass note and I’m good to go!

If I want to play an Ab 7 (b9) chord, all I do is put Ab in my bass and go up to the 5th tone (Eb) and play its diminished seventh chord (F on bass + Eb diminished 7).

If I want to play a D7 (b9) chord, I do the same thing. Play D on my bass, go up to the 5th tone of D and play its diminished seventh chord (D on bass + A diminished 7).

If I want to play a C7 (b9) chord, my rule works there too (because my rule works in EVERY situation). I just play a G diminished seventh chord over C bass and “BAM,” there it is!

But this isn’t the only rule. If thinking of the “fifth” on the spot works for you, then go for it! But maybe I can get closer…

2) There’s something unique about diminished 7 chords. Take that C diminished 7 chord (C + Eb + Gb + A) and play it with Eb on the bottom. It still sounds like a diminished 7 chord right? That’s because it is a diminished 7 chord… Eb diminished 7 (Eb + Gb + A + C). Do the same thing with Gb… play the same exact notes starting on Gb — Gb + A + C + Eb. So basically, once you know 1 diminished chord, you know the other 3 in the group because they all share the same notes. So if that’s the case, maybe I don’t have to play the C diminished 7 because I have three other choices that will pretty much give me the same sound (…now if you want your melody to be on top, you’ll have to pick the chord that does that). With that said though, I’m going to use Gb diminished 7 (Gb + A + C + Eb). Keep in mind that the ONLY difference in this chord and the C diminished 7 is the order of notes. That’s all.

Now that I’ve figured this out, I can change my rule a little bit. I can simply think of this chord as the diminished 7th chord RIGHT ON TOP of my bass. Get it?

My bass is F right? Now, I’ve figured out that my C diminished 7 chord can actually be Gb diminished 7 if I want it to. And Gb is just one half step higher than F right? So that means instead of having to think of this chord as the keynote plus the 5th tone’s diminished chord, I can ease my mind a little bit by simply thinking of this chord as the keynote plus the diminished 7 chord a half step up!

Bam!

So let’s compare:

Rule #1
Keynote plus 5-diminished7 chord
F + C diminished 7
F + (C + Eb + Gb + A)

or

Rule #2
Keynote plus diminished 7 chord half step up
F + Gb diminished 7
F + (Gb + A + C + Eb)

Up to you!

But that’s the idea.

It’s not always about having to do a lot of thinking. For me, at least, it’s about finding universal rules I can apply on the spot. Heck, your rules are your rules… even if they don’t make sense to others! :)

So try taking some of your favorite chords and come up with some numerical rule that you can apply to easily take these chords to any key you want on the spot (assuming you know the underlying chords you’ll be using — if your rule includes playing a big 9th chord with smaller major chords, then you had better know all your major chords or even the rule won’t do you any good).

Well, this post was a little long but I hope it helps!

All the best —

Wait!

I know you’re thinking… “whoa, big words.”

But let me assure you that this concept is very easy to understand.

Maybe you’ve heard of it. Perhaps you’ve seen these words thrown around forums. Well, I’m finally going to demystify tritone substitutions for you…

Yesterday, we talked about the tritone. I called it the little cousin of the power chord.

As you know, a tritone is made up of the 1 and b5 interval.

C major:

C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

In C major, that’s C + Gb (G is the fifth… simply lower it to Gb).

It’s also known as a diminished fifth interval. (Diminish literally means to “make smaller”).

But here’s the thing with tritones. Unlike other chords, you really only have to learn 6 of them.

Yes! 12 is THE magic number in music. There are 12 major chords, 12 minor chords, 12 diminished chords… 12 of everything!

But with tritones, they are symmetric. In other words, they are the same if you take the bottom note and move it to the top. It doesn’t matter.

Take that “C + Gb,” flip it, and you’ll get “Gb + C” (it’s still a tritone).

On the other hand, if you take a perfect fifth like “C + G” and flip it, you won’t get the same fifth — instead, you’ll get a fourth (“G + C”). That’s because they aren’t symmetric.

Tritones are basically equal when you transpose them.

And get this…

They cut the octave perfectly in half.

Yes, believe it or not, the “b5″ (flatted fifth) marks the MIDDLE POINT of the octave.

So if you go from C to Gb and then from Gb to C, you would have encompassed an octave.

Octave = 12 half steps
Tritone = 6 half steps (or 3 whole steps, thus the name “tri”)

Because of all this, there are really only 6 of them. Gb + C is basically the same as C + Gb (at least for the purposes in which we’ll use them).

That means, all you have to do is learn these (and I’m going to use informal spellings just to keep thing simple):

C + Gb
Db + G
D + Ab
Eb + A
E + Bb
F + B

…And you’ll automatically know these, the “flipped” versions:

Gb + C
G + Db
Ab + D
A + Eb
Bb + E
B + F

So the key is to master not only these tritones played as chords (or dyads) but to master, for example, what a tritone up from C is. In other words, you should be able to know that the other “tritone” side of D is Ab. Or the other side of G is Db. Or the other side of E is Bb, and vise versa.

Because once you understand this, tritone substitution is easy.

It basically says that you can substitute the chord a tritone away for the chord you’re currently on. It works best with dominant chords but you can mess around with it on major and minor seventh chords as well.

But basically, let’s see how this works in a 2-5-1 chord progression…

Normally, in a 2-5-1, the “5″ tone is a dominant chord.

2-minor7 >>> 5-dominant7 >>> 1-major7

In C major, this plays out as:

D minor7 >>> G dominant7 >>> C major7

D minor7 = D + F + A + C
G dominant7 = G + B + D + F
C major7 = C + E + G + B

See the “G dominant 7?” The rules behind “tritone substitution” say that you can replace this G dominant7 with the dominant chord that is 3 whole steps away (or a “tritone” away).

That is the golden rule!

I said “follow” because, in my experience, you can usually play your original chord and then follow-up with the dominant chord a tritone away. And other times, you can substitute the original chord altogether.

And like I said, if you know your tritone relationships very well, it won’t take long to know that you can use Db dominant 7 in the place of G dominant 7 (“G7″ for short).

D minor 7 >>> Db dominant 7 >>> C major 7

D minor7 = D + F + A + C
Db dominant7 = Db + F + Ab + Cb
C major7 = C + E + G + B

*Cb is basically the same as playing “B” — just spelled differently.

Why does the Db7 work so well as a substitute for the G7 chord?

Well, let’s look at their notes:

G7:
G + B + D + F

Db7:
Db + F + Ab + B

(Yes, I know that “B” should say “Cb” but I’m trying to make a point here).

Regardless of what you call them, do you see the two common notes that these two chords share? In fact the notes they share (“B + F”) form a tritone, themselves! There are just tritones everywhere!

Next week, I’m going to show you how to use tritone substitutions in 1-6-2-5-1 chord progressions. I’ll even show you how to simply move JUST the bass note of most of your chords up a tritone, and how it can totally change the feel of your chords! You’ll love it!

GospelKeys Tritone Xtravaganza

I've teamed up with my good friend Jamal Hartwell to bring you GospelKeys Tritone Xtravaganza, the course that's finally going to reveal the ins and outs of tritones, how to use them properly, where to place them, and how to take full advantage of their power! Never before has a course focused just on tritones for a whopping 2 hours straight!

GospelKeys Tritone Xtravaganza truly takes you step-by-step and shows you everything you need to know to spice up your contemporary playing with tritones and accompanying chords! Click here to learn more | Buy now

All the best —

Ok, so you’re experienced. Maybe you’re an expert sight reader or you’ve been playing by ear for several years.

One thing is for certain…

You’re reading this page so you definitely want to learn more or get to an even higher level in your playing!

There are a couple of things (out of many) that separate one musician from another.

One of them is the ability to improvise.

Being able to play on the spot is extremely important. This is everything from picking out chords to a song you just heard less than 2 minutes ago — all the way to being able to solo effortlessly over a few chord changes!

Let’s start with picking out a song.

Being able to learn a song a few minutes after you hear it comes with experience.

What it all amounts to, really, is something called “patterns.”

That’s all songs are — patterns. And the good news is that the number of common patterns are finite. Yes, they can be arranged differently and some may sound trickier than others when placed differently (or unusually), but at the end of the day, once you’ve mastered the common ones, then there will be very little songs you won’t be able to pick out in minutes.

The hard part is key mastery. Yes, it’s easy to play like a pro in ONE key but you’re not ultra-advanced until you can do ALL THE SAME STUFF IN ALL 12 KEYS. If you can’t, then there’s lots of work still left to do.

The number “12″ is the key to your success. Once you master a new chord progression (pattern), immediately learn it in all 12 keys because your ability to immediately improvise or pick out a song in minutes is directly dependent upon your knowledge of that pattern AND the key that it’s being played in. You can know the pattern like the back of your hand but if you haven’t rehearsed it in the key it’s being played in, you’ll slow yourself down and it will take much longer to learn that song than usual. Worse, if you’re in a live performance or put “on the spot,” you may ruin your reputation by not being able to follow along.

On the other hand, if you know a key really well but haven’t mastered all the popular patterns out there, you’re still stick. Focusing on learning new songs in different genres will help you to master a plethora of patterns. Once you find it easy to play virtually every song that you hear, this may be a good indication that you’ve gotten a handle on the most common patterns.

This is a “guesstimation” but if the pareto principle holds true here, 20% of patterns are responsible for 80% of the songs you play and hear. From my own experiences, this seems about right.

As far as the “soloing” side of improvisation…

That amounts to a knowledge of scales, modes, and common melodies you can “play off.” Modes like Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian, Locrian (and the others) should come to mind. Do a search for them in the upper right hand corner of this site and you should see some other posts on modes.

Not only modes and scales, but one must know where to place them (…what chords and progressions they flow smoothly over).

Lastly, “speed.”

I’ve seen musicians play chromatic scales (that is, one note after the other) and make them sound like brilliant solos just because they were played super fast and with precision. You can get away with a lot if you have speed. For example, you can arppegiate major seventh chords at a super fast rate up and down the piano and no one will know that you’re playing a basic chord broken up because it’s done so fast and precise. This happens a lot, in fact.

Hanon exercises are a great way to work on speed, dexterity, and independence. Trust me, it will be a while before you’re mastering all 60 Hanon exercises at an optimal speed so this, alone, should keep you occupied.

So be honest and rate yourself (1 out of 10):

____ Your ability to pick out patterns in songs within minutes.

____ Your ability to play the same in all 12 keys (no major variation between how you play a progression, lick, or solo in one key versus another).

____ Your ability to solo over any type of progression.

____ Your speed/precision level.

And of course, this isn’t a super comprehensive list but certainly factors that affect your playing.

Thanks for reading. See ya next time!