General Chord Creating Structures

Chords are groups of notes usually played simultaneously, or at the same time, but may well be played in arpeggio. Arpeggio chords are played one note at a time, or at times two or three notes can be played simultaneously, or at the same time; as a good idea, including the chord root note being used at the time, alternating with a group of any of the chord notes played one at a time, perhaps including the notes that were played simultaneously, or at the same time. Arpeggio notes (and alternating between simultaneous chord notes and a group of chord notes played one at a time) should be played in a rhythm that is evenly proportioned relative to the "measures/bars," and the other repeating, or sub-phrased musical parts. A measure (or bar) is an equal dividing of a musical sequence, the measure being the length of a division, and the bar being the ending or beginning of a division, usually used on the notation stave/staff. (See "How to Read, Write, And Play Notation" in the accompanying pages, which also explains "beats" of the "measure[s]/bar[s]") Also 'at the end of various measures/bars various musical parts end, and at the start of various measures/bars various musical parts start or repeat.' (Campbell Duncan, Hamilton musician) For an explanation of "sub-phrases" see "Creating Chord Root Note Or Slow Hook-Line Melodies," or the sections about lead playing below) You may let all successive notes ring together, or sound each successive note separately, and perhaps play arpeggio notes in a pattern (taken from the above structures) that may repeat evenly for the duration of a given chord, perhaps using complementary follow-on patterns for following chords, probably played on different strings. Also, you don't have to play all the chords notes, but you can just play some of them. If appropriate, the timing in which you play or arpeggio the chords can dance along in a skipping rhythm, (or "Meter") and/or a consistently timed rhythm, perhaps using either technique throughout a song, or a technique that you may want to use is to change between the two at one or more times that you think would sound good. A chord most times accompanies each chord root note, as explained further below, however, if it sounds good, 'you can play one or more chord root notes by themselves, ("passing notes")' (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) e.g. for fast moving or intricate parts of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody. Any chord may be continuously sounding, or repeatedly resounded in a consistent and/or skipping rhythm, resounding for a number of times appropriate and proportional to the measures/bars, or the beats of the measures/bars. A skipping rhythm is called the "meter." Perhaps either technique may be used throughout a song, or you may want to change between the two at one or more times that you think would sound good. Positions of notes of chords are best memorized by imagining dots on the keyboard/piano, guitar etc in the specific locations of the chord notes. It's a good idea to mingle in a little lead in the chord playing, perhaps playing arpeggio chords, and adding in one or more lead notes, either by experimenting with notes playable while holding the chord, or by letting go of the chord for a while, perhaps played in a pattern with the arpeggio chords. At any time that sounds good within a sequence of chords you can play a chord that is in the root of the song, or "key note/tonic," that being the first "scale-tone chord" of the "key" scale, and you can also play that chord throughout changing chord root note or slow hook-line melodies. (For an explanation of "scale-tone chords" see "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method" in the accompanying pages) Also, you can play different notes of the same chord on different instruments using experimentation, and also one or more of those chords can be any "scale-tone" jazz chord, (a jazz chord having more than three notes perhaps with additional duplicates of various notes in various octaves, which may be innate or necessary for certain instruments. For an explanation of "octaves" see the "glossary" in the accompanying pages) or in other words an "extended chord." 'When creating various note, and/or chord etc "musical phrases," it's a good idea to think a few steps ahead of what you're playing, or singing, to try to make the music flow naturally, and/or melodically, and/or harmoniously.' (Phillip Leng, Hamilton musician) Melodic means a sweet sounding sequence of notes, and harmonious means sweet sounding combinations of notes usually played simultaneously. Although there is no specifically defined way of being melodic, try to have a strong grasp of, and mastery over being melodic and/or harmonious within your songs. To create a song you may start with the chords/hook(s) or else the drumming followed by the chords/hook(s), perhaps the notes and usually rhythm and timing of the chords/hook(s) created to be interactive with that of the lyrics, (which I recommend) especially with a "lyrical hook," as explained above, either interacting part spontaneously leading the other at any times (the completed notes of the lyrics perhaps being based around the content of the lyrics) and perhaps the notes and usually the rhythm and timing of the lyrics created to be interactive with that of various other simultaneous parts, or parts occurring at the same time. After creating the chords/hook(s) and lyrics together as the basis of a song, you may quite easily create each accompanying musical part one instrument at a time, or one musical part at a time. Also, you may create in your mind all separate simultaneous parts, or parts occurring at the same time, all at once, making them complimentary to each other, while being spontaneous. 'If using this last technique to create all simultaneous parts of a song by yourself you must write it all in notation by first creating any part usually ultimately occurring simultaneously, or at the same time as the other parts, in full, e.g. a full song melody. Without this step it may be very difficult to create multiple simultaneous parts. Then you must imagine all simultaneous parts to go along with that part second by second or measure/bar by measure/bar all at once by being familiar with what combinations of simultaneous notes etc work. To develop that familiarity, as a basic exercise, listen to each note of a scale played with one other scale note, then each note of the scale with the next scale note, etc, then start thinking of the way different musical parts, or instruments are usually played together, as well as about drumming or percussion.' (Matthew Mansergh, Auckland music tutor) 'To perfect a song using either technique above you may want to "mix down" the song after recording the entire multi-track recording by re-recording any parts at any times, as many times as are necessary, to sound better, and, as a good idea, to arrange the notes, rhythm, and timing etc to be more appropriate and/or interactive with other parts. You should really focus on creating a high quality arrangement.' (Matthew Mansergh, Auckland music tutor) In any situation, notes that are louder, higher pitch, and/or longer duration than usual within a song communicate stronger feeling or have more emphasis (or are "accented.")

At certain times, to add new melodic qualities to a note sequence, or musical phrase, you may feel the need to add one or more "passing notes" to the chord root note or slow hook-line melody as part of it, (A passing note is a note that's not part of the normal scale. Melodic means a sweet sounding sequence of notes) and the passing notes must be substituted for one of the notes immediately before or after them in the scale, which must be chosen based on what sounds best. 'If it sounds good, passing notes can be treated as part of the "key" scale, as well as the same passing note(s) used in the lead, singing, and bass scale, for as long as that type of "key" scale is used in the song,' (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) or for a particular type or types of section, perhaps only adding the passing note(s) to the key in those sections. If you use this technique, you must tell the chord, lead, and bass players. However any of the "key," lead, singing, and bass scales, may include passing notes independent of each other. 'Usually chords aren't played in the root of a passing note of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody, but if a passing note of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody is played, the last chord that was in the root of a note of the "key" scale is usually played with it instead,' (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) perhaps with one or more suitable occurrences of that chords root note changed to the same note as the passing note. However, if you want to sound jazzy when using a western world scale, you may play one or more chords in the root of a passing note using the dominant note method in the chord diagram pages, or the scale-tone method, which you will have to calculate yourself using the page "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method", and you will have to show the rest of the band the "key" scale with the passing note(s) and tell them that the passing note(s) should be treated as part of the scales of their parts in one or more chosen types of sections or throughout a song.

You can play several musical phrases, simultaneously, or at the same time, that appropriately go together. This is called counter point. To do this you can play the notes of all simultaneous phrases from the same scale as is being used to play lead, in any place on the instrument where they can all be reached at any given time, perhaps in various chord-like arrangements, and you can mingle in counter point with chord progressions. Also, one or more different phrases can be played on different instruments or partly on instruments and partly in singing, perhaps with parts alternating between instruments, or instruments and singing, with any duration, that sounds good, of either part. To know what two or more simultaneous musical phrases, go well together you must experiment. For this technique you must memorize where every note is on the instrument, and what notes are part of the lead scale using the paragraphs below "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The (Guitar/Bass Guitar/Keyboard/Piano) Off By Heart."

You can create a chord progression in which the chord root note or slow hook-line melody successively descends down the "key" scale one note at a time, or "walks," (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) simultaneously, or at the same time, and/or alternately with notes ascending up the "key" scale, or "walking," (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) (played within the chord playing) of the same type and root, one note at a time, both starting on the "key note/tonic" (or root note of the song) in any octaves. Or using a similar technique, the descending sequence can change one half step at a time using scale notes as well as non-scale notes, or "passing notes," which are to be treated as passing notes within the bass, and lead playing, (as explained in those sections) as well as the chords used with this technique, as explained above. You can choose which of the two musical phrases to treat as the official chord root note or slow hook-line melody, (which may need to be shown to the bass, and lead player) but it is usually the descending one. Using this technique you must play all the notes wherever they can all be reached with the chords at any given time. This may require some plotting out before hand, or memorization of where every note is on the instrument, and which notes are parts of the "key" scale using the sections "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The (Guitar/Bass Guitar/Keyboard/Piano) Off By Heart." below.

When playing chords notes simultaneously, or at the same time, you may want to choose some of the notes to play louder, or to "accent," which you can do on keyboard, or piano by pressing the fingers holding those notes harder, or by digging in a pick or your thumb and/or fingers a bit on those notes when strumming on guitar, or by holding them looser or tighter slightly muting or un-muting them respectively when strumming on guitar, and you may want to partly strum and partly arpeggio chords, perhaps alternating that in a rhythm and speed appropriate to the drumming or rhythm of the song. Rhythm is the speed or "tempo", duration, (or certain notes/beats played together fast and others slower) meter or skipping timing, and accent or dominance, (shown by increased pitch, loudness, and/or duration) of each note/beat (or chord strum.)

You may want to make the rhythm of the chord strumming and/or picking appropriate to the drumbeat, and/or chord root note or slow hook-line melody(s.) You can replace the last half of the duration of some or all of the chords with silence. This is called staccato. Some or all of the simultaneous parts of the verses, or parts of the verses played or sung at the same time, may be quieter while the choruses may be louder, and/or the bridge(s) may be quiet, perhaps the lyrics remaining at the same volume throughout, and/or any other parts that sound good. 'When playing live, if you make a mistake don't go back and start again from the place you made a mistake, but continue with the music that should be playing at the time.' (Ian Smith, Hamilton musician) 'Chord substitution is replacing various chords of a previously planned musical piece with alternate chords that sound similar, by having many notes in common, e.g. 7^th's, 9^th's, 11^th's, 13^th's, 15^th's, or chords with passing notes etc.' 'In many cases, a substitute chord only differs by one or two notes from the original chord.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_substitution) A substitute chord may also be in a different root to the original chord. A technique that you may want to use for every occurrence of one or more particular musical phrases played on instruments or sung etc, or at chosen times, is for those parts to lag very slightly behind the rest of the music, played simultaneously, or at the same time. This may add a funky feel.

'A melody is best to move in pitch a bit to sound melodic, and not monotonous, or else you may have memorable lyrics with a melody that's hardly moving.' (http://www.songwritingtipsonline.com/)

'To make a song interesting you can play chords stressing, or playing louder, normally unstressed chords in a measure/bar, and/or not stressing normally stressed chords in a measure/bar, and/or miss a chord that may normally be stressed, and/or play the chord before or after it's supposed to be played.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncopation) This is called syncopation. The way you use this technique is up to your creativity, but usually you would consistently syncopate the same chords for several consecutive musical repetitions, perhaps doing so for the duration of every occurrence of a certain section of the song or of a certain musical phrase, or whenever it sounds good, but don't lose track of the basic timing. A measure (or bar) is an equal dividing of a musical sequence, the measure being the length of a division, and the bar being the ending or beginning of a division, usually used on the notation stave/staff. (See "How to Read, Write, And Play Notation" in the accompanying pages, which also explains "beats" of the "measure[s]/bar[s]") Also 'at the end of various measures/bars various musical parts end, and at the start of various measures/bars various musical parts start or repeat.' (Campbell Duncan, Hamilton musician)

The simplest and quickest way to write down original chord progressions for guitar is to draw a sequence of guitar diagrams the same as are in the guitar chord diagrams pages, the timing of each chord relative to the "beats of the measures" shown by writing evenly spaced numbers and symbols above or below the chord diagrams and drawing the chord diagrams at the relative position in which they occur i.e. "1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +" etc, said "one and two and three and four," the numbers being the "beats" of the measures usually being about half a second apart, and the plus symbols marking the half way points, or "1, e, +, a, 2, e, +, a, 3, e, +, a, 4, e, +, a" etc, said "one eee and ah two eee and ah three eee and ah four eee and ah" etc, the numbers showing the "beats" of the measures usually being about half a second apart, and the other symbols marking the quarter, half, and three-quarter points in between the beats, (if these symbols aren't fast enough you may use your own symbols in between) and write the notation and perhaps guitar tab after, perhaps including lead playing that you may have mingled in. (To learn how to write guitar or bass guitar tablature/tab see "How To Read, Write, And Play Tablature") However keyboard/piano playing must be written in notation. Also you may want to write the names of the chords above the diagrams and/or notation. (To learn notation, see "How To Read, Write, And Play Notation," and to learn how to write their names see "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method" in the accompanying pages)

You may want to plot out the fingering of all the possible chords that you may want to play with each note of the "key" scale, perhaps before creating the chord root note or slow hook-line melody or melodies.

'Non-jazz chords, usually with the exception of the diminished chord, have exactly three different notes in any octaves,' perhaps with additional duplicates of various notes in various octaves, which may be innate or necessary for certain instruments. ("Progressive Lead Guitar," by Gary Turner, And Brenton White, pg 79) These are called "triads." (Elizabeth Salmon, "Singing Lesson Notebook" PG 59) And jazz chords always have more than three different notes, perhaps with additional duplicates of various notes in various octaves. To play abstract jazz chords using the "scale-tone method," or the "dominant note method," you can add any note(s) at all to any chosen chord(s) that you like the sound of. This may require that you use unused fingers to play the extra note(s), or replace a note(s) with others, preferably replacing notes that have duplicates in any octave(s) somewhere else in the chord(s).

Additionally to playing chords in the root of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes, at any time during part, or all of the chord progression, you can play chords in the root of a harmony note of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody from the "key" scale, except along with the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note that is the "key note/tonic," (or root note of the song) and at any time that sounds good, instead of playing a chord in the harmony of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note you can play a chord that is in the root of the song, or "key note/tonic." This makes the chord progression more interesting. To play chords in the root of harmonies of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes, once the chord root note or slow hook-line melody has been decided, while playing the song, and keeping track mentally of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody, play chords with root notes at either the third, or else the fifth scale note, or "interval" of the "key" scale higher than the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note. ('An interval is the distance between any two notes of different pitches, counting from and including the first note.' ["Introducing Blues Guitar" by Brett Duncan]) It's best to use the "scale-tone" chords that go with each harmony note of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody or melodies using the page "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method." It may sound best to stick to either the third or else the fifth scales note, or "interval," in any octave, counting from each chord root note or slow hook-line melody note for the duration of one or more "phrases." 'An octave is the twelve half step distance between a given note and a note that sounds the same, in a way, but which is exactly double the pitch, and has the same letter name.' ("Progressive lead guitar" by Gary Turner and Brenton White pg 101) 'Pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of a sound' ("Collins Gem Dictionary and Thesaurus"). A half step or "semi-tone" is the difference in pitch between two adjacent frets (or two frets immediately next to each other) on guitar or bass guitar, or two adjacent keys on keyboard/piano, regardless of whether they're black or white. You may want to play chords of which the root notes are harmonies of each chord root note or slow hook-line melody note with one or more added notes in each chord, which may usually be, or include, the same notes as the chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes being played at the time in any octaves, or else the "pedal note," (which is the "key note/tonic," or root note of a song) or both, perhaps with one or more harmony notes of the "key note/tonic" (or root note of a song) (usually being one of the first two harmony notes of the "key note/tonic.") Harmony notes of a "key note/tonic" (or root note of a song) are the 3^rd, 5^th, 7^th, 9^th, 11^th, 13^th, or 15^th etc, or in other words any of every second "interval" of the "key" scale, in any octave(s), counting from the "key note/tonic" (or root note of a song) which is the 1^st note, and as long as you use at least two of the first three harmony notes counting the "key note/tonic," (or root note of a song) you can change which one(s) you use at any time. It's best to plot out chords in the root of a harmony of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody or melodies before hand, perhaps with the added notes mentioned above. "Pedal notes," (which are the "key note/tonic" or root note of the "key" scale) and/or their harmonies, at different times, can be played continuously or intermittently throughout a changing chord root note or slow hook-line melody, and pedal notes, perhaps with harmony notes of the "key note/tonic," (or root note of a song) are usually played on open strings on guitar, or the one or two highest pitch strings can be tuned to a "key note/tonic" (or root note of a song) and/or its harmony from the "key" scale in any octave, (without tightening those strings so much that they snap by making sure to choose a "key note/tonic," [or root note of the song] and octaves of the notes on the two strings that aren't too high) and you can keep your fingerboard fingers off those strings while playing chords and play those strings simultaneously, or at the same time, with them, or using normal tuning, pedal notes can be plotted out anywhere on the instrument within the notes of several chords to occur through as many chords in a row as desired, usually using the same octave of pedal note, or pedal harmony note, with every chord; or the pedal note, perhaps with harmony notes of the pedal note, can be played on a different instrument. At appropriate times you may want to switch between two chosen chord pedal notes to create an alternating pedal note sound, perhaps switching pedal notes between two consecutive musical phrases. The only times you would use different "key note/tonic" (or root note of a song) pedal notes and/or their harmony notes, is if they start to sound at conflict with the scale-tone, or non-scale-tone chord being played, in which case you should play the chord by itself, which although not including a pedal note, and/or harmonies of the pedal note, (as the other chords do) still sounds right. If the song changes "key note/tonic" or root note, (or "modulates") the pedal note would change to the new "key note/tonic" (or root note of the song) and of the "key" scale, and you would plot out the new pedal note, and/or harmony, or harmonies of the pedal note, or temporarily have no pedal note. Pedal notes, and/or pedal harmony notes, may have to change often at times. When creating chord progressions with pedal notes and/or harmonies of the pedal notes, you should write down the name of each chord of the chord progressions that you created, and put the pedal note and/or accompanying notes at the end of the name after a slash "/", so you must consult a diagram of every note on the instrument to know what those notes are, or use memorization of every note on the instrument, perhaps using the training of notation reading/playing exercises. You can play chords in which the root notes are the same note as the chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes, perhaps with added notes that are the pedal notes, and/or harmony notes of the pedal notes from the "key" scale, or all of the above, you can also play the first "scale-tone" chord, in the root of the "key note/tonic" (or root note of the song) (or a "pedal chord") throughout part(s) or all of the songs changing chord root note or slow hook-line melody or melodies, perhaps only playing it on the higher strings on guitar, and perhaps adding the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, and/or one or more harmony notes of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, or some lead note playing, somewhere within easy reach of the chord, playing the lead scale by using notes around the chords, and perhaps including the chord notes, and you may let go of the chords at times to play the lead, and if you let go, you may want to use the multi-string scale pattern with the root note on the fifth or sixth string. (For an explanation of "scale-tone chords" see "The Scale-Tone Chord Progression Method" in the accompanying pages, and for an explanation of playing scales with root notes on the fifth or sixth strings see the lead guitaring methods below). When using "pedal chords," the only times you would play a different one is if the "pedal chord" starts to sound at conflict with the chord root note or slow hook-line melody(s), in which case you should play the scale-tone chord that's in the root of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note. If the song changes "key note/tonic" or root note, (or "modulates") the pedal chord would change to the root of the new "key note/tonic" (or root note of the song and of the "key" scale.) Pedal chords may have to change often at times. On keyboard/piano you can alternate the first scale-tone chord that's in the root of the "key note/tonic," (or root note of the song) or pedal note, with each chord in the root of each chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, with any duration, that sounds good, of each alternate part. You can replace any other single chord (perhaps several in a row) with the chord in the root of the song, or "key note/tonic," perhaps with added notes that keep the same as the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, or that keep the same as a harmony of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note from the "key" scale, or both. An added note can be added and taken away intermittently, or at intervals during each chord. Instead of playing a pedal note with guitar chords, you can tune all the open strings of the guitar to the first scale-tone chord of the "key" scale, and figure out where all the other chords are using different fingering. Added notes can use "ornamentation." '"Ornamentation" means decoratively flickering between several notes, and similar techniques,' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornamentation_%28music%29) and this is commonly done at the end of phrases, but can be done at any time that sounds good. The easiest way to use all of the techniques in this paragraph is to plot out all the chords before hand, or if you have memorized where all the notes are on the fingerboard, and if you can think quickly, or use intuition, you can find the chords, and improvise.

Also, you can repeatedly, or continuously, play any chord, perhaps starting with an added lead note, and play lead simultaneously, or at the same time, on the same instrument, using notes close to the chords location, perhaps including some chord notes, or if you can't finger that, or if you think it would sound better, get other musicians and/or singers to do various parts, perhaps the lead phrase periodically increasing, or decreasing in pitch, (either of those sounding good) through the "key" scale, played along with a single chord, perhaps starting on the root note of the chord, with the timing of occurrences of each lead note played in a rhythm that is evenly proportioned relative to the "measures/bars," and the other repeating, or sub-phrased musical parts. (A measure [or bar] is an equal dividing of a musical sequence, the measure being the length of a division, and the bar being the ending or beginning of a division, usually used on the notation stave/staff. [See "How to Read, Write, And Play Notation" in the accompanying pages, which also explains "beats" of the "measure[s]/bar[s]"] Also 'at the end of various measures/bars various musical parts end, and at the start of various measures/bars various musical parts start or repeat.' [Campbell Duncan, Hamilton musician] For an explanation of "sub-phrases" see "Creating Chord Root Note Or Slow Hook-Line Melodies," or the sections about lead playing below)

'Usually chords aren't played in the root of a passing note of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody, but if a passing note of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody is played, the last chord that was in the root of a note of the "key" scale is usually played with it instead,' (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) perhaps with one or more suitable occurrences of that chords root note changed to the same note as the passing note. However, if you want to sound jazzy when using a western world scale, you may play one or more chords in the root of a passing note using the dominant note method in the chord diagram pages, or the scale-tone method, which you will have to calculate yourself using the page "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method", and you will have to show the rest of the band the "key" scale with the passing note(s) and tell them that the passing note(s) should be treated as part of the scales of their parts in one or more chosen types of sections or throughout a song.

One method for creating chord progressions is memorizing where every note is on the instrument using the paragraphs "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The Guitar Off By Heart," or "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The Keyboard/Piano Off By Heart" below, and playing chords, usually along with each chord root note or slow hook-line melody note taken from the "key" scale of a type and root chosen by the creator of the chord progression(s), the chords usually being scale-tone chords, or chords consisting of some of every second scale note counting from and including the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, or else as exceptions you can use normally scale-tone chords in the root of a given chord root note or slow hook-line melody note that they wouldn't usually go with, (or in other words they being used as non-scale-tone chords) or you may perhaps play scale-tone chords consisting of some of every second scale note counting from and including three or five scale notes, or "intervals" higher than each chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, (or in other words playing chords in the root of a harmony of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody) that are all within easy reach of each other, using skilful fingering, on thick nesses of strings with "tonal qualities" that sound good to you, and perhaps each note generally in octaves chosen at any times because they sound good to you, with each note on a different string. To know what chords have some of every second note counting from and including a given chord root note or slow hook-line melody note you can see the page "The Scale-Tone Chord Progression Method." A chord is made up of a minimum of three notes in any octaves, or a "triad," perhaps with additional duplicates of various notes in various octaves, which may be innate or necessary for certain instruments. If using the scale-tone method, those notes are three of every second note counting higher from and including each chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, in any octaves, and you can count every second note further and higher through the scale in any octaves to add to a chord therefore making sevenths, ninths, add ninths, elevenths, add elevenths, thirteenths, add thirteenths, fifteenths add fifteenths etc. The numbers in the names are the scale note counts from the root note of the chord, the root of a chord also usually being a particular chord root note or slow hook-line melody note of the "key" scale. As well as the non-add chords having the numbered scale note, (i.e. 7^th, 9^th, 11^th, 13^th, or 15^th) written in the name, added to the chords, they also include every second note counting up to it from, and including the root note of the chord, without naming those notes, however the "add chords" don't include all those notes, (the 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th usually being included in either case, named as "Major," "Minor," "Diminished," "Augmented," or "Power Chords" or those chords with a sharpened, flattened, double sharpened, or double flattened etc 1^st, 3^rd, and/or 5^th as shown in the page "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method") but the added note(s) is (are) written in the name preceded by the word "add."

If you play any usually scale-tone chord in the root of a non-scale-tone chord root note or slow hook-line melody note of the "key" scale, (or in other words a non-scale-tone chord) in order for the lead, bass player, and singer, to be able to play their parts, (those parts usually being played simultaneously, or at the same time as the chords) you need to show them which chords are non-scale-tone chords, as well as showing them the root chord, or "triad" version of the chord, or in other words the version with no added notes. These are non-jazz chords.

The duration of any notes, rests, or drumming or percussive beats within the duration of a measure/bar should be the duration of one beat of the measure, or an even division or multiple of it, or two note/rest/beat durations played as one, i.e. tied notes/rests, or dotted note/rests. (For an explanation of measures/bars, beats of the measures/bars, tied notes/rests, or dotted notes/rests see "How To Read, Write, And Play Notation" in the accompanying pages.)

You can continue to play a given chord that's anywhere within a normal chord progression along with the next following chord root note or slow hook-line melody note played on either the same or other instruments, perhaps in one most suitable location (and octave) within the chord on the same instrument, or perhaps in two or more locations, perhaps followed by playing the chord in the root of the changed root note within the time of the same chord root note or slow hook-line melody note if the note is a "key" scale note, or else it may perhaps be played on the bass instrument. This technique is used to imply chords in the roots of those chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes without playing them, perhaps if the chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes are "passing notes," or chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes that aren't part of the "key" scale. The most commonly used passing note for this technique is one half step, or one fret/key lower than the previous chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, regardless of whether a piano or keyboard key is black or white if played on piano or keyboard. If, when playing chords with changed root notes on guitar, or bass guitar, it's difficult or impossible to hold the other notes of the chords just mute them by holding a finger on them without pressing it down onto the fingerboard, perhaps the length of that finger leaning over to mute that string while holding down another string with the finger-tip, or you can just not pick them.

A technique that sounds Jimi Hendrix Esk is to play louder, or "accent," high pitched 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, or 15th notes of jazz chords at times, or perhaps playing them at a normal volume after playing the whole jazz chord and letting go of all, or most of the other notes of the chord, perhaps followed by resolving that note if played on guitar or bass guitar. A resolve is a slide done across the entire length of a string, or most of it. Or from where your hand is to the end of the fingerboard on one string. A slide is 'a technique that involves a finger moving along the string to its new note. The finger maintains pressure on the string, so that continuous sound is produced.' ("Progressive lead guitar" by Garry Turner and Brenton White)

At times within a chord progression, to elaborate on it, chords can be played in the root of made-up lead lines using the sections about lead creation below.

Usually to play famous music, or "covers," you must get the sheet music and memorize how to play it, however, to improvise chords along with famous music, or "covers," or original songs that you haven't practiced, you could recognize by ear what the "key" scale is, and memorize in advance one or more fingerings of all chords that can go with each note of the five most common "key" scales, and perhaps other scales, using the page "The Scale Tone Chord Progression Method," or you could recognize by ear what the "key" scale is, and use a few favorite, or other chords, using the "dominant note" method in the chord diagram pages, or a harder technique to use is to recognize what the "key" scale is by ear, remember where those notes are everywhere on the instrument using the memorization methods in the sections "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The Guitar Off By Heart", or "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The Keyboard/Piano Off By Heart," and when a given chord root note or slow hook-line melody note is played, remember some of every second scale note counting from and including the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, and play them simultaneously, or at the same time, as a chord, with the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note, anywhere they can be played simultaneously on the instrument, perhaps resounding each chord in various consistent and/or skipping rhythms (or "meter") for their duration, resounding for a number of times appropriate and proportional to the measures/bars, or the beats of the measures/bars, or you could play some of every second scale note, or "interval" counting from the third and/or fifth (usually sticking to one of those) "interval" higher from the chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes, or in other words, harmonies of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody. (To figure out what "key" scale is being used, remember a happy sounding song may be using a "major," [also called the "Ionian" scale] or "mixolydian" scale, and a sad sounding song may be using a "minor" scale, [also called the "natural minor" and "Phrygian" scale] a bluesy sounding song may be using a "the blues scale", and a rocky sounding song may be using the "rock/pentatonic minor" scale. Those are the five most common scales, however it's not always as clear-cut as that, and you may need to just be familiar with the five main scales, and perhaps other scales)

If you want a single musical phrase of a chord root note or slow hook-line melody to consist of quite a lot of notes, and it lasts for four measures/bars, or a multiple of four measures/bars it's a good idea to design it to be divided into 2, 4, 8, 16 etc "sub-phrases" (which can be picked and chosen for any musical phrase) that fit evenly into the musical phrase, or if it lasts for three measures/bars, or a multiple of three measures/bars, it's a good idea to design it to be divided into 3, 6, 12, 24 etc "sub-phrases," (which can be picked and chosen for any musical phrase) that fit evenly into the musical phrase. "Sub-phrases" are smaller musical phrases, that form a recognizable unit, or "phrase," and that make up a larger musical phrase, that also forms a recognizable unit, or "phrase." "A phrase is a sequence of notes, chords, or a harmony-line, that form a recognizable unit." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_phrase) "Sub-phrases" are, usually, but not always, evenly spaced. (Because you can "syncopate" sub-phrases by overlapping from the normal end of one sub-phrase past the normal starting point of the next, or by playing a shortened sub-phrase immediately followed by the next sub-phrase, as long as it's as exceptions to the basic underlying uniform timing that the sub-phrases equally fit into within the musical phrases or hooks. In the case of syncopating the chord root note or slow hook-line melody that the chords are based on, it will have to be a "stand-in" chord root note or slow hook-line melody independent of the real chord root note or slow hook-line melody that the other simultaneous parts, or parts occurring at the same time, are based on. 'A hook is an interesting sequence of notes, or a "phrase," or sequence of chords, or chords and notes, or notes of lyrics, somewhere in the song that makes the song highly catchy, or memorable.' [Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert]) If some one you know, or a "cover" or famous song, uses one or more syncopated musical phrases or hooks, or if you created it without analyzing what you were doing, you can take this syncopation into account to identify the basic underlying chord root note or slow hook-line melody, (as well as identifying the basic underlying chord root note or slow hook-line melody of a non-syncopated musical phrase or hook) remembering that the note that each sub-phrase of a musical phrase or hook starts and/or ends on is usually the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note it's accompanying at the time, or the 3rd or 5th scale note counting higher from and including the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note (in any octave) at the time, which continues to be the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note until it changes at the start or end of a sub-phrase, either of which position you must choose based on what sounds right, and if it suits the music, you may elaborate by adding appropriate chord root note or slow hook-line melody notes in between those notes. Once you've identified a previously unknown chord root note or slow hook-line melody of a sub-phrased musical phrase or hook, you can create other simultaneous parts based on it. Also, usually the note that the first sub-phrase of any musical phrase starts with is the first chord root note or slow hook-line melody note of the musical phrase.  'An octave is the twelve half step distance between a given note and a note that sounds the same, in a way, but which is exactly double the pitch, and has the same letter name.' ("Progressive lead guitar" by Gary Turner and Brenton White pg 101) 'Pitch is the degree of highness or lowness of a sound' ("Collins Gem Dictionary and Thesaurus"). A half step is the difference in pitch between two adjacent frets (or two frets immediately next to each other) on guitar or bass guitar, or two adjacent keys on keyboard/piano, regardless of whether they're black or white. If it sounds good to you a chord root note or slow hook-line melody sub-phrase can be repeated immediately, or later, and if it sounds good to you, two sub-phrases in a row can be replaced by one sub-phrase that takes up the same amount of time, or any two, or three (depending on whether the musical phrase consists of four, or a multiple of four measures/bars, or three, or a multiple of three measures/bars respectively) individual sub-phrases in a row can form a small "phrase," or recognizable unit, within the larger one. Also, any sub-phrase of a musical phrase can also be divided into smaller sub-phrases, the number of which will be the same as the beats of the measures/bars, or a division or multiple of them. If the chord player creates chord progressions using sub-phrased chord root note or slow hook-line melodies, and as long as they generally work within the structures explained for their instrument, it's a good idea for them to 'decide from one sub-phrase to another when it would sound good to repeat any previous sub-phrase, use a variation of a previous sub-phrase, or use a contrasting sub-phrase, as explained in the section "Creating Chord Root Note Or Slow Hook-Line Melodies." These are the main things going through a musicians mind when composing.' (http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1242)

You can use the same of any particular musical technique throughout a whole musical phrase with any particular simultaneous part of a song, (or a part occurring at the same time as others) including all its sub-phrases, perhaps working through consecutive scale notes, or "walking," (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert) at each successive sub-phrase, and within a musical phrase, various sub-phrases, (perhaps consecutive ones) can have the same rhythm but with different notes. Also, to show a heightening of feeling when repeating the chord root note melody of the last "sub-phrase" but with different chords to go with each note, you can play the "third" note (counting from and including each chord root note) in a higher octave in the first chord progression, followed by playing the "fifth" note (counting from and including each chord root note) in that octave in the second one. This will require extensive knowledge of the fingerboard/keyboard/piano and fingering that is not shown in the guitar chord diagrams. To do this you must use the paragraph "How To Know Where Any Note Is On The (Guitar/Bass Guitar/Keyboard/Piano) Off By Heart" below. This is one example of chord "inversion."

To make sub-phrases vary, (or else contrast by making them sound quite different) you can use the same sub-phrase as a previous part, but play it from the last note to the first, but instead of making the durations of each note go backwards as well, keep them in the forward moving order. This is called "retrograde." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permutation_%28music%29) Or you could make each note of a second sub-phrase change in pitch by the same amount of half steps as the first phrase but in the opposite direction of pitch, which must be plotted out before hand. This is called "inversion," or "turning the phrase upside down" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)) and these two techniques can be combined to create more variations on the phrase. Or you could play the same notes of the sub-phrase as a previous part, but in a different order, and with different durations. Or you could play the sub-phrase in one part at a higher, or lower speed than another, perhaps decreasing or increasing the amount of times it's repeated in order to appropriately fit it into the part. Or you could play a harmony-line of a previous sub-phrase. Or you could add and/or take away notes from a previous sub-phrase. Or you could have a different root of lead/chord root note or slow hook-line melody/bass/singing scale in different parts (or "modulation"). To modulate you must choose a different "key note/tonic" or root note for the scale, chosen because you like how it sounds, and the whole scale changes accordingly. "Key notes/tonics" or root notes usually change to one half step, or one whole step higher, or you can change it to any "key note/tonic" or root note if it sounds good to you. A half step is the difference in pitch between two adjacent frets (or two frets immediately next to each other) on guitar or bass guitar, or two adjacent keys on keyboard/piano, regardless of whether they're black or white, and a whole step is two half steps. You can play two sub-phrases of which only the rhythm is similar (which is called "imitation"), or with contrasting rhythms, you can "modulate" as explained elsewhere in this section, perhaps repeating the order and distance between notes, but in a different "key note/tonic," or a "tonal sequence," (Rona Rose, Hamilton music teacher) as explained else where in this section. Also you can repeat the order and scale "intervals" of a sub-phrase, but in a different location of the scale, or a "real sequence." (Rona Rose, Hamilton music teacher) 'An "interval" is the distance between any two notes of different pitches, counting from and including the first note.' ("Introducing Blues Guitar" by Brett Duncan) 'You can divide notes with big durations into several notes with shorter durations, and vice versa.' (http://www.magicspeedreading.com/music/compose/phrase.html) You can use different harmony notes with the same tune, or one sub-phrase can be played using "staccato" notes or chords, (or notes or chords which have the last half of their duration replaced by silence) and another using "legato" notes or chords (or notes or chords smoothly and well connected.) 'You can play a sub-phrase on a different instrument, or in a different octave to a previous sub-phrase. Also you can combine various techniques, and the more you vary a sub-phrase the more it will contrast.' (Graham Horne, "Shearer's Music Works" Hamilton employee and music expert)

Techniques that are only used to contrast sub-phrases are as follows. 'You can play one sub-phrase that ends on the scale note just before the "key note/tonic" (or root note of the song), followed by another sub-phrase that ends on the "key note/tonic," or a sub-phrase can end on a note other than the 1^st, 3^rd, or 5^th counting higher from and including the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note in any octave, followed by a sub-phrase ending on the 1^st, 3^rd, or 5^th of the chord root note or slow hook-line melody note being played at the time, or the note one sub-phrase ends on, the next can start on. These techniques are called "statement and answer."' (Rick Bernard, "Wintec" music teacher) You can swap around the rhythm of the first and second half of a sub-phrase in the next sub-phrase. You can play sub-phrases slower or faster, softer or quieter (which is called "dynamics.") 'To contrast different rhythms, note durations can change from long to short, or you can change from a smooth phrase to one with gaps. Also you can combine various techniques.' (http://www.magicspeedreading.com/music/compose/phrase.html)

Various musical parts occurring simultaneously, or at the same time, may have the same consistent rhythm throughout a song, however to create an interesting variation using an industrial standard structure within bass-lines, chord progressions, chord root note and/or slow hook-line melodies, and (within certain songs) lead playing and lyrics, but rarely drumming, it's a good idea to create each sub-phrase with a broken up rhythm, (or "rhythmic sub-phrasing") usually consisting of two or perhaps more different rhythms played one after the other with any duration of each rhythmic part that sounds good, and from each sub-phrase to the next you can decide whether to repeat, vary, or contrast the complete rhythm of each sub-phrase. 'These are the main things going through a musicians mind when composing.' (http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1242) However repetition, variation, or contrast of the rhythm from one sub-phrase to another may occur independent of the musical phrases of those sub-phrases, using your discretion as to what sounds good, i.e. you may use the same rhythms with different notes, or varying or contrasting musical phrased sub-phrases may have different rhythms, or varying or contrasting rhythmic sub-phrases may have different notes. If it sounds good to you the complete rhythm of a sub-phrase can be repeated immediately, or later, and if it sounds good to you, two sub-phrases in a row can be replaced by one sub-phrase that takes up the same amount of time, or any two, or three (depending on whether the musical phrase consists of four beats of a measure/bar, or of four, or a multiple of four measures/bars, or three beats of a measure/bar, or three, or a multiple of three measures/bars respectively) individual sub-phrases in a row can form a small "phrase," or recognizable unit, within the larger one. Also, any sub-phrase can be divided into smaller sub-phrases, the number of which will be the same as the beats of the measures/bars, or a division or multiple of them.

If using techniques for lyric writing where several three-rhyme stanzas, or three-beat measures/bars, immediately follow on from each other, or before or after an even number of stanzas, or measures/bars, the last 1, 2, or 3 letters or beats are skipped, or the last 1, 2, or 3 stanza letters, or beats of the measures/bars, of every chorus, (or possibly but rarely other sections) or of every section immediately before every chorus, (or possibly but rarely other sections) are skipped, the accompanying chord root note or slow hook-line melody, bass, chords, and lead lines should evenly divide into, or evenly spread across the timing of the stanzas, or measures/bars proportionally to the beats of the measures/bars. You may perhaps want to use repeated and/or non-repeated "sub-phrases," each sub-phrase accompanying each letter of the three or four-letter stanzas, or each beat of the three or four beat measures/bars, and each time any letters or beats are skipped, the accompanying sub-phrases are also skipped.