Theory

[mick hearn]

I'll go along with everything that has been said so far. I keep blundering away trying different string and pedal combinations until I find something that sounds right without knowing what chord I am playing - apart from the main ones of course.

[Will C]

My home-grown theory is that, if you know what key you are in, you will/should know what the notes of the scale are. Example, Look at Us, let's say it is in C, for ease of recognising the notes. No sharps or flats to worry about. At the end of the verses, there's a bridge. The words are "In a hundred years from now..."

The chords are C, at the end of the previous line, stepping down to G7 - although G works just fine for the example. Question: as the singer draws breath, how do we walk down from C to G? The "walk down" sounds good if you do a C at 8, no pedals, then a Dm at 6, E's lowered, a C at 3, A&B pedals in (squeeze them in for effect), then a G at 3, no pedals. Use strings 3 & 5 throughout. Sounds ok, but what is happening musically?

The top note in the C chord we start with is an E, the third note of the C scale. Then we go down from there, using the notes of the C scale. The next note down is D, but in the C scale that's a minor chord, so it has to be Dm. Then from D down to C, the "home" note of the C chord. Finally, back down one from the C to a B, which is the seventh note of the C scale - scales fold back on themselves, once you get to the 8th note it's the same as the 1st note, only an octave higher. ("Octave" - the clue is in the name.) Although in theory the chord for that note should be a Bdim, in practice the dominant seventh - the V chord - works extremely well and is easier to find for most of us.

So we have gone 3 - 2 - 1 - 7, or C, Dm, C, G7 - or just G, because we want a nice "solid" sounding chord there to start our slide back up again, and a 7th always sounds unresolved or unbalanced, as if it wants to go somewhere. In "Nashville Numbers" it's I - ii - I - V. It's knowing how to find and construct these little scale passages that constitutes much of the bread-and-butter work a steel player does in supporting the vocalist and the rest of the band.

The ideas aren't hard, if you can just get happy with the idea of how a scale is built. The whole thing about why sometimes a chord has to be minor, not major, is all about the gaps between the notes, and would be the subject of a talk on its own.

All this works fine unless you want some unusual tonal shadings for effect, then you have to use notes that don't "belong" in that key, and chords that are "foreigners" too. That's when you have to branch out a bit.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Will, As you have been good enough to write all that, I felt compelled to read all that.....but did it help!? ... in my case no, it was so far over the top of my head it suffered from altitude sickness!
What you people that understand it all, don`t understand is, We don`t get it!.... let me put it this way,
Have you ever watched someone giving directions? the person giving them has it all so clear in their minds because they have been there so many times before ,,,,.... but to a stranger its all greekadoodle until he gets there and suddenly its not that complicated.
except in my case it really is, I think if you don`t learn this stuff as a small child when your brain soaks up info like a sponge you have no chance when your over 24 and a half!

[Will C]

C'mon JD, man up! I was over 40 when I worked this lot out for myself. You can do it! Hup two three four, gimme ten press-ups!

[timdjango]

HI Guys

I have done a first video, looking a major scales, triads and grips. Its a bit rough around the edges and is definitely beginning at the beginning (if you know what I mean). However, if you like it/think it useful, please let me know and I will do more and get into deeper stuff.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Tim, thank you so much for making the effort to help..... Its obvious to me you are a very good teacher, I can say that with authority because I am a very bad /useless student.
I had questions as soon as we hit the whiteboard, and though you said it was more basic than basic parts of it went too fast for me.
I would gladly trade you some of my time on how to get some good sounds from it .... for some of your time on those "Basics"

[Uncle Roy]

I'm just loving this thread. JD you are not as dumb as you portrait , look westward towards Bristol and you will see a real Uncle thicko . Tim and Will please just keep this coming and by next year at 73 I might just have grasped some of this learning. Our newsletter could do with some of these lessons on paper for members who don't use computers.

[Basil Henriques]

At the end of the verses, there's a bridge. The words are "In a hundred years from now..."
The chords are C, at the end of the previous line, stepping down to G7 - although G works just fine for the example.

Not being argumentative, REALLY, but here is an example of "Home Grown" and if the folk process was to be let free unbounded, the whole world would start to rewrite theory lyrics and notation willy nilly..

G7 is completely incorrect in the instance above: The key is no longer C because transitionally, temporarily, the tonal centre becomes G, and a G7 is only correct when returning to the original key after the line "We made it all work out"
If you play the "B" section with a mindset of the tonic key, then you're approaching it incorrectly. It's imperative that you think of it as a new key temporarily.
The section referred is the Middle Eight, Bridge or Part B, there are no verses and chorus's in this song structure.. (AABA)
Personally I would reference that as Pt. B and the steel solo as the bridge. It's flexible regarding the terminology, but not so with the usage of a tonic seventh (G7) preceding it's dominant seventh chord (D7) in this instance it would be G Am7/D7 G G Am7/D7 Dm7/G7 then "Chances are" IF we were in the key of C..

Refs.
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[B.J.Weston]

Tim, you need to clarify a slip up on the white board introduction, C-D-D? can we have an E please, could confuse beginners Good stuff I'm hanging in here.

[B.J.Weston]

Uncle Roy, nail on the head with the newsletter suggestion. Only wish I could help,but, it's dangerous territory, . you either know or you don't. Good to learn though,but get it right ===Baz.