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Author Topic:  Avoiding the 6th: an accompaniment exercise
Guy Cundell


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More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 5:29 pm    
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This is an exercise designed to help build right hand technique and also to improve accompaniment chops when using 6th tunings. It is written for A6 but the idea (by no means original) can be adopted for any tuning. They are just patterns that avoid the 6th.

The 6th note in a tuning is a gift but can be a burden in particular songs. Where the note in a voicing is not appropriate, strumming is difficult and can be avoided by using grips. An alternative approach is to use running arpeggios but to achieve this you still need to avoid that 6th. This requires cross-string picking that includes string jumps which I don’t find all that easy.

Here are some arpeggio patterns that do the job. Practicing them as slowly as it takes to avoid any mistakes is the way to go, and then gradually increasing tempo. These are just some examples as the possibilities are endless. I haven’t added RH finger choices as there are plenty of different ways to go about it. For myself, I use alternate finger and thumb when practicing and then just go for anything that works on the gig.

The etude that I have written came about while noodling along to Greg Booth’s great arrangement. Unfortunately, it is not in the same key as Greg or Glen Campbell’s original so you can’t play along unless you can pitchshift the audio or video file, but I have put in the melody in case you have a flute or fiddle player around the place. (Out of interest, you can pitchshift video files with the latest version of Transcribe.)

As well as being beautiful and evocative, technically this really is a remarkable tune! One of the few hits that doesn’t have a chorus and, theoretically, if it is in G (or F in the original) it never gets to the tonic chord. And what a bass line!

As always, email me if you would like a better PDF file.



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Randy Rollman


From:
Hadley NY USA
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 6:55 pm    
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Nice job, Guy! Can I ask what program you used to write the tab?
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Guy Cundell


From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 6:58 pm    
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Thanks, Randy. I use Sibelius. It is expensive but great for lap steel tunings. Not so good for PSG though.
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David Becker

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 8:16 pm    
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Guy, As somewhat of a newbie (1 yr + on lap steel and no previous guitar experience), I greatly appreciate your sharing tabs. As a big jazz fan, I'm looking forward to working on your take on Take Five.
In this one, the tabs of your second arpeggio exercise don't seem to match the notes in the score. Am I wrong about this?
Thanks, David
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Guy Cundell


From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 8:34 pm    
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Thanks, David. You are right. I haven't put the dots on this one, just the original melody in notation. The reason is room. I would like to put both notation lines on there but I try to do one pagers where ever possible for practical reasons. I thought that the melody in the correct key might make the page more useful, especially if you can't play along with the record because of the new key. Happy to supply a sheet with the arpeggio notes. Very simple to do in Sibelius.
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Guy Cundell


From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 8:41 pm    
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 1:37 am    
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Guy Cundell wrote:
Thanks, Randy. I use Sibelius. It is expensive but great for lap steel tunings. Not so good for PSG though.


Which version, please?
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Guy Cundell


From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 1:26 pm    
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I'm on v8.2, David, but this facility for steel guitar has been in the program unchanged for at least ten years. That would take it back to v5.0 or maybe earlier.

One thing I probably should have put on the chart is that all of these notes should be left to ring rather than just being 1/8th note duration.

And if that bar 20 is just too much to handle then here are a couple of alternatives that are OK but don't allow the bottom note to ring.
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Guy Cundell


From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 1:34 pm    
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And just a reminder, to turn C6 into A6, just raise the Cs to C# and drop the Gs to F#. Piece of cake!
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 1:46 pm    
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Guy Cundell wrote:
I'm on v8.2, David, but this facility for steel guitar has been in the program unchanged for at least ten years. That would take it back to v5.0 or maybe earlier.


Thanks, Guy. I have v7 so it should work...but I recall octave issues last time I tried to use it.
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Guy Cundell


From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 2:06 pm    
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There are a few in and outs on getting register right. Probably because of the large amount of flexibility. Transposing/non-transposing score is one thing to check initially. But customising instruments is the key to getting what you want and, with a template in place, "Bob's your uncle".... i.e. no worries, mate.

Shoot me an email if you have questions. I can even forward you a template file.
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 4:20 pm    
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Guy Cundell wrote:
There are a few in and outs on getting register right. Probably because of the large amount of flexibility. Transposing/non-transposing score is one thing to check initially. But customising instruments is the key to getting what you want and, with a template in place, "Bob's your uncle".... i.e. no worries, mate.

Shoot me an email if you have questions. I can even forward you a template file.


Thanks. When I get around to writing some tabs, I will email!
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Dom Franco


From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 9:34 pm    
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I play A6th almost exclusively, and yes there are sometimes that I really have to be careful avoiding the F# string (6th note) but I find that in most of the song styles that I play the 6th sounds just fine.
Cowboy Songs (Classic Country Western) Gene Autry, Hank Williams, Bob wills (Western Swing)

Then when I am playing Hawaiian music, the 6th really sounds great as well.

For the rest of my repertoire, (Oldies, Big Band swing, 1930's to 1950's Jazz, Tin Pan Alley) The 6th is also a welcome chord style and an important scale note!

So only when I play more modern songs, Rock, blues, pop tunes etc. Do I have to be careful to only use major or minor chord grips, with the occasional 7th, maj7, diminished, aug5 intervals.

It does make it a challenge sometimes.
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Mark Helm


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 5 Nov 2017 10:35 pm     Witchita Linesman?
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Wasn't that a huge hit for Gleen Carmbell?
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Andy Henriksen

 

From:
Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 6 Nov 2017 6:17 am    
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Love the note in bar 16! Genius! Laughing
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 6 Nov 2017 7:04 am    
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Dom Franco wrote:


So only when I play more modern songs, Rock, blues, pop tunes etc. Do I have to be careful to only use major or minor chord grips, with the occasional 7th, maj7, diminished, aug5 intervals.


And once in a while some of those songs might need a minor 7th chord, too, and that 6th chord then magically becomes a m7.
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Dom Franco


From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
Post  Posted 6 Nov 2017 2:41 pm    
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David;
Yes, I often use that minor 7th chord.
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