Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Studies in D for Diatonic and Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer

[UPDATED: If you've already downloaded the .pdf for D Diatonic Scales, please download the correct version for D Diatonic Scales again. Inadvertently left the setting on CAPO 3, which effects fingering. Thank you!]

For a reference starting point to this series, please visit the link for Studies in C for Diatonic and Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer.




• Download the .pdf for D Diatonic Scales



• Download the .pdf for D Chromatic Scales



• Download the .pdf for D Scale Harmonization

As we continue along on our journey through the 15 Major keys (and their relative minors), we reach the key of D - D for dulcimer. Since most mountain dulcimer players begin playing the instrument with a tuning of DAD (dd-A-D) this should be fairly familiar to many. Once again, chromatic players need not retune for any of these explorations.

Where the key of C had no flats (b) or sharps (#) and the key of G has one sharp, which is F# - we now add to that one sharp for the key of D. In addition to F#, we've also now got C#. Remember, flats and sharps effectively mean to lower (flatten) or raise (sharpen) notes a half step. Following the seven-note pattern, the D Major scale looks like this with its corresponding scale degrees:


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



A note by itself is simply that: a note.

Two notes comprise an interval: the measured distance between two notes.

Three notes officially becomes a chord or triad. You can also have more than three notes in a chord, but more on that later.

Begin building chords out of each note in the D Major scale by first choosing the root note and then skipping every other letter in the scale like this:

D  F#  A = D Major
E  G   B = E minor
F# A  C# = F#minor
G  B   D = G Major
A  C#  E = A Major
B  D  F# = B minor
C# E  G  = C# diminished


Major = root, Major third, perfect fifth
minor = root, minor third, perfect fifth

diminished = root, minor third, diminished fifth (or "flat fifth" or b5 or 5b)
augmented = root, Major third, raised or "augmented" fifth (or #5 or 5#)

Remember that even though we are dealing with seven-note scales, there are notes in between some of these steps that can be found by raising or lowering the notes a half-step.

According to Christian Schubart's "Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst", published in 1806, D Major is the key "triumph, of Hallejuahs, of war-cries, of victory-rejoicing. Thus, the inviting symphonies, the marches, holiday songs and heaven-rejoicing choruses are set in this key."

The key of D is certainly a preferred key for mountain dulcimer players, Old-Time performers and Celtic session musicans.

For every Major scale there is a relative minor or natural minor scale that shares the same notes, albeit in a different order. To find it within the Major key, simply begin on the sixth note of the scale and play the seven notes in sequence:


Major

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

minor

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


I know I'm repeating things quite a bit, but that's one of the fundamental rules of learning - repeat, rinse, repeat (okay, maybe not the rinse part) until it's locked into your memory.

Speaking of repeating, you'll notice in the Major and minor diatonic and chromatic studies that are available for download on each of our key studies blog posts, I have not touched upon the relative (or natural) minor for each of the Major keys. Rather, I've dealt with Major and minor scales coming out of the same root. (C Major - C minor - G Major - G minor, etc.) This is to help you with playing Major and minor examples in the same areas of the fretboard. Nevertheless, the construction of both types of scales is the same:

Major

Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step

minor

Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step

(Did you figure out what the relative Major key of G minor was? How about the relative Major key of D minor?)


Scale Harmonizations

I figure now's as good a time as any to begin covering some of the extra materials in the .pdf files you're hopefully downloading. Along with Major and minor scales (and there are a few different types of minor scales, which we'll get into with the next post) for diatonic and chromatic fretboards, I've also included scale harmonizations. Scale harmonization can be described as using each note of a scale as a root note for a chord and then adding other notes within that scale to form a chord.

So, instead of playing a scale of seven notes, you're playing a scale of seven chords in sequence. This can be effectively viewed as a chord progression and it's the foundation upon which most music in the western world is based.

By the way - notice how the term "notes" is an anagram for "tones"? Cool, huh? They are one and the same.

Also, notice how I've been capitalizing the term "Major" and spelling "minor" with a lower-case letter. This has been by design, leading up to a better understanding of reading scale degrees.

Let's take our D Major and minor scales with their Arabic numerals (1-7):


Major

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

minor

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


Now, let's replace the Arabic numerals with Roman numerals (I-VII)


Major

D   E   F#   G   A   B   C#
I  II  III  IV   V   VI  VII

minor

B   C#   D   E   F#  G   A
I   II  III  IV  V   VI  VII 


Now, remember, when we build chords off of each of these notes, skipping every other letter, the result is a mixture of 3 Major, 3 minor and 1 diminished chord. That's just the way the math works out.

For Major scales, you can always count on 1, 4 and 5 being Major chords (or scales), 2, 3 and 6 being minor chords (or scales) and the 7th being a diminished chord (or scale.)

For minor scales, you can always count on 1, 4 and 5 being minor chords (or scales), 3, 6 and 7 being Major chords (or scales) and 2 being a diminished chord (or scale).

If we use all uppercase Roman numbers, then we just add a lowercase "m" to those scale degrees that are minor. We then add a degree symbol "°" (like what is used to denote temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit) to the degrees that are diminished. Nothing is changed with the Major degrees. So we get this for the Major and minor scales:


Major

D    E    F#    G    A    B    C#
I   IIm  IIIm  IV    V   VIm  VII°

minor

B    C#    D    E    F#   G    A
Im   II°  III   IVm  Vm   VI  VII 


Notice how in either scale, the characteristics of each scale degree don't change between Major and minor scales. D remains Major, B remains minor, C# remains diminished, and so on. The order changes, but that's it.

Though this method is perfectly acceptable, there is also another way of going about this, and it's considered easier to read by many. You simply make the minor and diminished scale degrees lower-case. But be sure to keep the degree symbol on the diminished:

Major

D    E    F#    G    A    B    C#
I   ii   iii   IV    V   vi   vii°

minor

B    C#    D    E    F#   G    A
i   ii°   III   iv    v   VI  VII 


WHY is this important? Well, by using the scale degrees, we can talk about the progression of chords without having to specify the key.

For example, one of the most popular chord progressions of all time is:

I - IV - V

What does that mean? Well, at first glance, we can see that they are all Major chords. So, let's assign a key: D.

If we're using a D Major scale, that means that:
D  -  G  -  A
I  - IV  -  V


The chords built off of the first, fourth and fifth scale degrees. Try playing it on your mountain dulcimer (or whatever instrument you've got with you.) Sound familiar?

So, what if we see this?:


i  -  VII   -  VI


Our first clue that something is different is that our root chord is minor (lowercase.) So we're dealing with something in a minor key, even though it has Major chords as well. If we are in the key of Bm (B minor) then:

B  -   A    -  G
i  -  VII   -  VI


Of course, you can also write it out as Bm - A - G, but our focus now is on identifying Major, minor and diminished chords by looking at the scale degrees.

Next up: we'll get into the relative minor key from D Major and also dip into a look at chroma or extended chords.

Friday, February 18, 2011

A GEm of a Key



Howdy and welcome back!

The focus now has been on the key of "G." It has one sharp, which is F#. As mentioned in the previous post, we're now going to look at the minor side of this key.

We begin by assigning a number or scale degree to each note; seven notes total. For every Major scale, there is a relative minor scale that shares the same seven notes, only in a different sequence. If you begin the Major scale on the sixth note and then run in order for seven letters, you get a minor scale that takes its name from that sixth scale degree.


Major

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

minor

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


In this case, the sixth note is "E", so if we begin with "E" and run through seven notes - we get an E minor scale. This one's easy to remember because the Major scale is G and the minor is Em. That spells "GEm." Not all Majors and their relative minors spell something cool, but you may want to play some word games like that to memorize a handful of them (with C Major and its relative minor of A, I sometimes think of a cam-shaft or "CAm.") You can always simply count six notes from the root, which is G. Or, you can go backwards two notes from the root, which puts you at six as well. There are a lot of little tricks that will help you to recall this stuff.

Quick recap: The order of notes has changed, yet it is still the same seven notes of the G Major scale. When played in this new order, beginning with E, the steps between notes become altered slightly, which gives minor chords and scales a darker, more somber tone. Now remember - the point at which we begin on the scale has changed, so the notes have not. Which means that each of those notes retains its Major/minor/diminished quality. You'll just encounter them in a different order like so:

Em -  F#dim  -  G   -  Am   -   Bm   -  C   -   D
i  -   ii°   - III  -  iv   -    v   -  VI  -  VII


Remember that, in the case of a Major scale, each of the seven notes can be used to build a chord or a scale. Because of the relationship between notes, scales/chords built from the 1st, 4th and 5th notes are Major; scales/chords built from the 2nd, 3rd and 6th are minor. The 7th note yields the mysterious-sounding diminished chords and scales.

But, if you begin this scale on the sixth note and use all of the same notes as the Major scale, you get the relative minor scale (also known as the natural minor or Aeolian mode.) So now, chords and scales built off of the 1st, 4th and 5th notes are minor, the 3rd, 6th and 7th now present Major scales and chords while the 2nd is the location for the diminished chords and scales.

To explore the key of Em in diatonic dulcimer land, here is an arrangement of "The Star Of The County Down." Tuning is dd-A-D (DAD) with a capo at the 1st fret. By using the capo, we are first putting the dulcimer into a tuning of ee-B-E (EBE) and then we are also using the E minor scale which begins at the first fret and continues through the 8th fret without using the 6 1/2. Below is the sheet music, the Tab|Edit file and a mp3 of the tune played one time through.

Star of the County Down.pdf

Star of the County Down.tef


The Star Of The County Down.mp3



So G Major has one sharp - F#. That means that E minor also has one sharp - F#. Remember that to go through your scales, you simply repeat the first seven letters of the alphabet, A through G. No matter where you start, whether it's on C or G or A or E, you'll always get to G and then start over again with A. There is no H, I, J, etc. Then, it's just a matter of knowing which flats and sharps are in each key. Once you know that, you simply add the appropriate symbol to one of those seven letters. Right now, we're going through the sharps and after that, we'll be exploring the flats. Not all of these are going to be suitable for diatonic mountain dulcimer, but it doesn't hurt to know all of the keys. This knowledge will assist you in playing other instruments as well. In fact; the more you know about music theory, the more inclined you are towards understanding how to play music in more ways! For chromatic mountain dulcimers, of course, this study will truly help you understand your instrument better.

Next up: probably the most popular key for mountain dulcimer players - that's D. D for dulcimer!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Dulcimerica 184 - "The 1 1/2 Fret Pt. 2"

Dulcimerica 183 - "The 1 1/2 Fret Pt. 1"

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Studies in G for Diatonic and Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer

For a reference starting point to this series, please visit the link for Studies in C for Diatonic and Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer.



• Download the .pdf for G Diatonic Scales



• Download the .pdf for G Chromatic Scales



• Download the .pdf for G Scale Harmonization

The next stop on our journey through the 15 Major keys (and their relative minors) takes us to the key of G, which is an easy one for diatonic mountain dulcimer players. For this exploration, you'll need to be in DAD (dd-A-D) tuning with a capo at the third fret. Chromatic mountain dulcimer players will not need to use a capo, of course. If you don't have a capo - get yourself one quickly! It's an invaluable tool for switching keys without retuning.

Where the key of C had no flats (b) or sharps (#) - the key of G has one sharp, which is F#. Remember, flats and sharps effectively mean to lower (flatten) or raise (sharpen) notes a half step. Following the seven-note pattern, the G Major scale looks like this with its corresponding scale degrees:

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


Off of each note in this scale, you can build either a chord or another scale. If we simply start anywhere on the scale and add every other note, we'll build a series of triads:
G  B  D = G Major
A  C  E = A minor
B  D  F# = B minor
C  E  G = C Major
D  F# A = D Major
E  G  B = E minor
F# A  C = F# diminished


Major = root, Major third, perfect fifth
minor = root, minor third, perfect fifth

diminished = root, minor third, diminished fifth (or "flat fifth" or b5 or 5b)
augmented = root, Major third, raised or "augmented" fifth (or #5 or 5#)

As we move through these 15 keys, we'll be adding sharps and, eventually, flats to the scale. According to Sir James Jeans, "Every additional sharp in the key signature is supposed to add to the brightness and sparkle of the music, while every flat contributes softness, pensiveness, and even melancholy."

The key of G is certainly a preferred key for many session musicians from Celtic and Old Time music traditions.

To review, out of each Major scale comes a relative minor scale that shares the exact same notes and chords, but in a different order. By starting on the sixth note of the Major scale and playing through all seven notes, ending an octave above where you began, you will then be playing the natural minor scale, which in the case of G Major ends up being E minor:

Major

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

minor

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


Same notes, different order.

You'll notice in the Major and minor diatonic and chromatic studies, I have not touched upon the relative (or natural) minor. Rather, I've dealt with Major and minor scales coming out of the same root. (C Major - C minor - G Major - G minor, etc.) This is to help you with playing Major and minor examples in the same areas of the fretboard. Nevertheless, the construction of both types of scales is the same:

Major

Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step

minor

Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step

(By the way - if your fingering exercises are coming out of G minor - then what is the relative Major key?)

Use the tablature above for fingering exercises, working out of the "boxes" to get familiar with the patterns. The scale harmonizations exercise take the various scales and stacks chords at equal distances apart, much like we've built triads out of the root notes of each scale note. Skip every other letter in the scale and, for each note, you'll have built a triad. Notice how certain "spellings" result in Major chords (bright and happy sounding), minor chords (somber and pensive) or diminished chords (quizzical, odd). For chromatic players, I've also included harmonizations for the harmonic minor, melodic minor and four-tone (seventh) scales.

Diatonic players take note: without a Bb or F, you'll need to bend in order to play the G minor scale listed in the tablature. Bends are a good habit to get into, so I'll be including all of the proper minor scales for each key that we explore.

Next post: we'll look more at the relative minor of G Major.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Gear In Action, Not Inactive Gear

So it's been a whirlwind since my last post, heading down to Key West and putting on our second annual Key West Dulcimer Fest: an easy-going gig if there ever was one. I took the Bose L1 Model 1 down there as our P.A. system for the instructor concerts and also ended up using it to amplify Butch Ross during his stint at the Key West Food and Wine Festival wine stroll on the first Thursday night. Armed with extra cables, I got intimate with the system fairly quickly and in the moment as I began to understand what it was capable of doing.

I also took delivery on my latest mountain dulcimer from Folkcraft Instruments, this one with the Fishman Aura Pro pre-amp built into it. Truthfully, I've not had much time to mess around with the Aura (it involves some downloads - and I've been without wi-fi for a while now) but the dulcimer is absolutely gorgeous and has a magnificent sound; great tone and volume. Last night, I performed my first solo show with the L1 and honestly don't know why I waited this long to get the system. It is like night and day - being able to hear yourself clearly, project out into a room (in this case, McWell's back bar) and, with only one of the B1 bass modules, still had enough bass to support the drum loops and bass pedal tones. I decided to go with one bass module as a test and will probably use both next time for added push.

The next few weeks will be spent experimenting in the lab with the new gear, seeing just how far I can push the system and changing my flow of operation. There are some things that I'd like to see improved and other things that have that taste of "yes, finally!" Of course, as things progress, I'll report here, just in case you're on a similar gear discovery of your own.