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jerry@jcrmusic.com
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DulciTheory Newsletter -- Issue #8: Fingerboard Surveys and Chord
Formulas for the Key of G
publisher: Jerry Rockwell
email: jerry@jcrmusic.com
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INTRO
Last issue concentrated on building the scale-tone triads for G and A on
staff paper -- stacking up the triads in thirds and labelling them with
their pop symbols (G, Am, Bm, C, etc.)
This issue we'll get to the important task of laying out all these
chords on the D-A-D tuned dulcimer fingerboard. I'll emphasize that once
more to make sure you understand that we are NOT tuning into these keys,
but we are MAPPING THE CHORDS IN THE KEYS OF G AND A ONTO THE
FINGERBOARD OF A D-A-D DULCIMER.
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CONTENTS:
1.) G (I) CHORDS
2.) CHORD FORMULAS
3.) LOCATING INDIVIDUAL CHORDS
4.) CHORD SHAPES
5.) Possible discussion list to augment and expand DulciTheory (short!)
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G (I) CHORDS
Here are the three notes comprising a G Major triad mapped out at all
their possible locations on the fingerboard, up to the 10th fret.
Remember that we have NOT re-tuned our dulcimer to fit the key --
instead we are going to learn to play in G WHILE TUNED D-A-D. (notice
that there is an "x" where A should be just to the left of the nut. This
is like a place-holder to fill in that space, but it also indicates that
this note is not one of the ingredients in our G Major chord):
D|-----------|---------|---G|-------|-----B|---|---|--D|-----|----|-G|
x|----------B|---------|---D|-------|------|--G|---|---|----B|----|-D|
D|-----------|---------|---G|-------|-----B|---|---|--D|-----|----|-G|
Now, you might ask what this chart will do for you. This is a VERY good
question, actually, and if you can understand the reasoning behind it,
you will be able to easily construct your own reference charts for
whatever chords you are interested in.
CHORD FORMULAS
Chord Formulas are a good place to start. They give you the basic
ingredients, or pitches, in a chord. All of our 3-note "triads" have
three ingredients, and for G the ingredients are G, B, and D.
So the chart above simply maps EACH AND EVERY OCCURRENCE OF G, B, AND D
across the entire fingerboard up to the 10th fret. Now, this information
doesn't have IMMEDIATE PRACTICAL VALUE for you as a dulcimer player
trying to play in G while you're tuned D-A-D. However, over the long
term, you will find out that knowing where your chord tones are is
absolutely essential to knowing your instrument thoroughly.
[this is true of ANY instrument! As dulcimer players, we might think
that we can bypass most of the basics of music, but I'm afraid this
mind-set will be severely limiting to our musical growth]
LOCATING INDIVIDUAL CHORDS
Getting to the practical, then, we need to locate individual chord
positions from the complete G survey chart. Probably the most important
chords, at least to start, would be those containing all three pitches
in the G Major Chord Formula: G, B, and D. Let us start from low to
high.
Here are two complete G Major Chords in TAB:
G G/D
--3----0--
--1----1--
--0----3--
Now....refer back to the survey chart. Do you see how each of these
lower-fret chords contains the three essential ingredients?
[did you notice how I labelled the chords above with their standard pop
symbols? You don't see it too much in folk music, but I labelled the
second chord in "slash notation," which can be read as: "G with a D
bass."]
[WHY did I give you this information when you will probably never see it
in a dulcimer book? Because it might lead you gracefully into the fine
art of VOICE-LEADING, as well as maybe getting your ear wrapped around
the idea that these two G chords have a vastly different sound and
effect. The first chord, a "root position" G with G in the bass, has a
more grounded, "homey" feel to it -- like you've finished and come
home.]
CHORD SHAPES
Many dulcimer teachers have put "chord shape tags" on the actual shapes
that you find for the triads, and although I never developed any
terminology for these myself, I think it is a great idea because it
should help you to see the consistency of the shapes, how they recur,
and how you only have to learn THREE SHAPES!
I forget what other people call these shapes, and you can invent your
own language for this, but here are my suggestions:
|---------stretched X-------| |-------X-----|
D|-----------|---------|---G|-------|-----B|---|---|--D|-----|----|-G|
x|----------B|---------|---D|-------|------|--G|---|---|----B|----|-D|
D|-----------|---------|---G|-------|-----B|---|---|--D|-----|----|-G|
|--------L-------|
----------3----0-----------------3----5---------7---5----
----------1----1-----------------3----3---------6---6----
----------0----3-----------------5----3---------5---7----
Next time we will take a look at the Am (ii) chords. I encourage you to
get the jump on this by taking everything I have given you for G chords
and applying it to A minor.
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POSSIBLE NEW DISCUSSION LIST TO ENHANCE FEEDBACK FOR THIS NEWSLETTER,
AND TO WIDEN THE TOPICS TO INCLUDE ANYTHING RELATED TO DULCIMER PLAYING
After last week's DulciTheory HOT AIR about the future of the newsletter
and ways to enhance your participation (thanks a bunch for putting up
with all that! I promise to only do that once a quarter or something),
two of you expressed interest in having a meaty discussion list related
to dulcimer playing that I proposed in the last issue. If a few more of
you want to do it, please email me asap and I will set it up -- probably
on Topica, just like this newsletter.
jerry@jcrmusic.com
Thanks! Let me know what you think.
Jerry
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