Seven String Guitar Book

The 7-string guitar adventure continues. I've been messing around with the 7-string guitar for a couple weeks. I figured out a few things, but it quickly became apparent that I needed some direction. My teacher suggested Mel Bay's Complete 7-String Guitar Method. A quote from the introduction reads "[This book] is geared toward the intermediate to advanced student. Those who already have an understanding of scale and chord construction, and other basics of jazz guitar playing, will probably benefit most from this book." Perfect! That description sounds an awful lot like me.

This isn't a book you'll typically find at your local music store, so I ordered a used copy online. Returning from a late rehearsal, I found my new (to me) book waiting for me in the mailbox last night. I started working through it today, and it's just what I need to help me tackle this beast.

The book is organized into three sections: Scales, Arpeggios, and Chord Voicings. It's set up so that you can work through each section independently. I'm spending most of my time on the scales and chord voicings. I'll start working through the arpeggio section after I'm familiar with the major scale patterns.

The material in the book is both new and familiar. Let's take scales as an example. The 7-string guitar is tuned exactly like a 6-string guitar, with a low A string added. So really, the scales are all patterns that I already know, but there is another string that extends the low range. It won't be long before the extended scale patterns are ingrained – same with chords and arpeggios.

The chord section is written with the assumption that you already know 6-string jazz chords, so the author concentrates on chords that are unique to the 7-string guitar. The chord exercises are pretty simple. They are all written in the key of C, with the assumption that you'll learn to play them in all keys. As simple as the chord exercises are, it's thrilling to hear those low notes.

If you are a jazz guitarist exploring the 7-string guitar, I highly recommend Mel Bay's Complete 7-String Guitar Method.

Four Years

In a few days, I will have completed my fourth year as Director of Music at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. I have been attending NWUUC since 2004, when I first moved to Atlanta. I served as an interim music director three times, keeping the music program going while various search committees looked for new music directors. After serving as interim for the third time, I thought, "enough of this interim stuff," and applied for the position.

I've been a freelance musician most of my adult life, doing this and that to make ends meet. Except for my four-year stint in the Air Force, this has been the longest I've held anything resembling a normal job. Maybe "normal" isn't quite the word I'm looking for. This music director job is far from normal!

As I've grown more comfortable with the job, the music has evolved and grown at Northwest. When I first started, the music program was very traditional, with the choir singing two Sundays each month, me providing the music once a month, and the pianist providing music on my Sundays off. My initial goal was to simply keep the music program going as it was while I got used to the job, but soon the program started to reflect my own musical tastes. Before I took over, the music was classically oriented. It still is, but I've introduced a lot more jazz, rock, and folk into the mix than there used to be. I used to perform the music alone on "my" Sundays, but our minister suggested that guitar alone didn't always feel right; there needed to be more. So I recruited a bassist and a percussionist from the congregation to play with me. This grew into an official church band, with a lead singer, two guitars, flute, bass, piano, and percussion.

This year, I experimented with combining the band and choir for two services. It was a hit. The band loved playing with the choir, and the choir loved singing with the band. After a summer break, we are going to combine the band and the choir once a month. On top of that, the band/choir Sundays will feature a "join-in" choir, meaning that absolutely anyone can sing in the choir that day as long as they can be at the pre-service rehearsal that Sunday morning.

I learn every day from this job. It certainly has taken its twists and turns. The combined band/choir is something I never would have anticipated when I first began serving as Director of Music. Where does it go from here? Who knows? We'll keep the band/choir ensemble rolling for a while, and I imagine something new will evolve over time.

Seven String Transition

I've been playing the new 7-string guitar for about four days. It's a challenge, but it's fun. I brought the 7-string to a Godfrey and Guy rehearsal after exactly one day of owning the instrument. I could practically feel the smoke coming out of my ears as my brain went into overdrive. To make a long story short, it'll be a while before I debut the new instrument in a performance.

While I expected the transition to 7-string guitar to be tricky, I was surprised at some initial awkwardness when picking up the 6-string again, although it didn't take long to readjust. Last night's performance at Noosh suffered a bit after focusing on the 7-string earlier in the week. I play as many songs as possible from memory. Memory slips are inevitable in a three hour gig, but I had more than my share last night.

Going forward, I'll spend equal time on the 6- and 7-string guitars. At some point, I may have to decide whether to continue playing both instruments in performance or switch permanently to a 7-string, but based on the way things are going, I'm not going to have to make that decision any time soon!

One More String

After saving my pennies, I bought a 7-string guitar. At $800, the Ibanez Artcore isn't exactly cheap, but it's the closest thing to an entry level price I could find for a 7-string archtop. It's a beautiful looking guitar. I prefer the tone of my Heritage 575, but still, this Ibanez has a pretty sound.

So why spring for a 7-string guitar when I haven't come close to mastering six strings? I've been fascinated by jazz guitarists who play 7-string instruments. In particular, I've been watching videos of Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, and Charlie Hunter. You can do a lot with a guitar, but if you are playing solo, or if the guitar is the only accompanying instrument, I find that even the best players lack a certain depth of sound. The extra string adds that depth.

The 7th string adds a bass note below the low E string. From what I understand, guitarists will either tune it to a low B or A. Like most jazz 7-string players, I've tuned mine to an A. Any note that I play on the 5th string can be played an octave below on the 7th string. I discovered right away that this adds a lot of body to chords with 5th string roots.

With the 7th string tuned an octave below the 5th string, I find the new landscape easy to understand intellectually. Physically, it's going to take a lot of adjustment. The guitar is tuned the same way with just one more string added. How tricky can that be? Plenty tricky! I'm so used to navigating from the 6th string, that I constantly find myself playing on the wrong group of strings. On the other hand, I find that the extra string doesn't affect my single note playing all that much, probably because I play most of my single note lines on strings 1 through 4.

This is not an instrument I would use while playing with a bassist. I'll continue playing my Heritage in the Sentimental Journey Orchestra and my church band. When I begin to feel comfortable with the Ibanez, I'll use it for Godfrey and Guy and solo playing.

The only way I'm going to learn to play this instrument is to simply play it as often as possible (which is obvious – this isn't rocket science). I spent quite a bit of time with the Ibanez today, mostly experimenting with different chord voicings. I'll also explore the 7th string in a more methodical way. I learned basic jazz guitar chord forms from the Mel Bay Rhythm Guitar Chord System. I've already taken myself through the book three times. I guess it's time to play through it a fourth time, adapting the chord forms for seven strings. I'll bring the Ibanez to my next lesson, too. Although he doesn't play a 7-string guitar himself, my teacher may have some suggestions for getting to know the Ibanez.

I already knew it would be challenging to learn the 7-string guitar, but all I had to do was play an "A" chord, and I was hooked. Even with the little experimenting I've done, I find that I love the depth of sound that the extra bass string offers. I'm looking forward to exploring and discovering new sounds and possibilities.

Ella's Poem

Today, I said goodbye to a delightful young guitar student, Ella, who is moving in a few weeks. I've lost track of time, but I think I've been teaching Ella for two years or so. The thing that makes Ella a joy to teach is her personality: part rock star, part comedian. In her first lesson, Ella was sizing me up and didn't say much. In her second lesson, she opened up right away about school, guitar, and life in general. From that point on, Ella has made me laugh out loud in nearly every guitar lesson.

Although Ella is moving to a different state, we are going to continue lessons through either Skype or Google Hangouts. I'll miss seeing Ella in person, but I'm glad that we'll continue lessons online.

Instead of having a lesson today, I went out for frozen yogurt with Ella and her mom. As a parting gift, I gave Ella a Snark tuner and a chord book. Ella gave me a card and a poem she had written. I was really touched by the poem. Here is Ella's poem:

"Guitar"

Strum, strum, strum.
Light sound, hard beat
Makes me want to move my feet.

Tap, tap, tap.
Guitar resting on my lap.

Bump, bump, bump.
Made from a tree stump.

You may like the sound
That comes from the amp on the ground,
But the acoustic guitar is for me
You see.

Simple Is Good

"Less is more." It's a cliché, but it's true. It's a lesson I find myself learning over and over again. Examples:

I lead a band at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, made up of two singers, two guitars, piano, bass, and percussion. When I begin learning a song for the band, I tend to play very rhythmically and with full chords. With two guitars and a piano, there is a lot of overlap in comping, so this full out approach usually doesn't work when I play with the band. As I listen to what the other players are doing, I invariably find myself playing less and less. I'll just play offbeats or some other simple rhythm, and I'll play 3- or 4-note chords instead of full guitar chords. On hymns, which tend to be simpler than the band songs, I sometimes find that it sounds best if I don't play at all. It's humbling to find the band sometimes sounds better when I lay out. On the other hand, it frees me up to be a more effective song leader for the congregation.

The larger the group, the less you have to do. I play guitar in the Sentimental Journey Orchestra, a 17-piece big band. My role as a rhythm guitarist is to help keep time and to outline the basic harmonic movement. Rhythmically, my job couldn't be simpler. I'm playing quarter notes 95% of the time. (Notice I said that my job is simple…not easy. Believe it or not, there is an art to playing quarter notes.) Harmonically, the less I play, the better it sounds. The bass player covers the root notes, so I leave those out. The piano player plays all the extensions (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), so I leave those out. That leaves me with the guide tones, sometimes called shell voicings. Unless I have a solo, which is rare for a guitarist in a big band setting, I usually play 2-note chords. By themselves, those shell voicings don't sound like much, but they're wonderfully effective in a big band.

Being the sole instrumentalist in the Godfrey and Guy duo, you'd think I could play all sorts of crazy stuff, but no. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, the main focus of the listener is on the vocals. If I get overly fancy with my guitar accompaniment, I get in the way of the singer. I have more freedom to branch out in Godfrey and Guy than I do with the church band or the SJO, but I still find that a strong basic groove sounds best…a walking bass with rhythmic stabs, simple quarter notes, a basic Bossa beat, all in support of the song. And if I feel like throwing in a little lick now and then, it's more effective when it jumps out of a simple texture. As a bonus, when I'm playing a 3+ hour gig, my hands get less fatigued if I keep it simple.

As I delve deeper and deeper into jazz guitar, I'm constantly working to improve my technique, solidify my time, and open my ears. I'm not setting the world on fire, but my technique is far better than it was five years ago, and I'll keep working to improve. But even as I continue to stretch my own boundaries, I keep reminding myself of the basic rule that less is more. Simple is good.

Roller Coaster Club

I have dropped twenty pounds since the beginning of the year. Like many of us, I am in the Roller Coaster Club. I'll have my weight under control, and then a few months later, my pants are too tight. I'll lose weight again, get cocky, and then let go of the habits that helped me stay smaller.

About a year ago, maybe longer, I was feeling pretty good about my weight. It wasn't as low as it was when I had lost 120 pounds running and dieting, but I was getting there. Then something switched in my brain. I don't even know what triggered it, but I started eating unhealthy foods again. I probably snuck a pint of Ben and Jerry's or something, and it all went downhill from there. You can live in denial for only so long, but your pants don't lie. By early December, there were three shirts and one pair of dress pants in my closet that still fit. I realized that I could either start buying bigger clothes, or I could make some changes so that I could fit into my smaller pants again.

For me, the most painful part of any new weight loss endeavor is dusting off the bathroom scale and weighing myself. Oddly enough, once I've recorded that first weigh-in, I immediately feel better. I don't feel good about the number, but the mystery and suspense are gone. Once I step on the scale, I have a clear goal, and I can proceed.

Fortunately, I don't have to drop 120 pounds this time, but I still have a lot of weight to shed. Once I set my mind to it, I'm really good at losing weight – I've done it so often! I've been losing the pounds pretty steadily.

How am I dropping weight? There's no magic involved. It's simply a matter of diet and exercise. Even when I'm heavy, I enjoy exercising. I wouldn't say I love my stationary bike as much as I loved running, but it's pleasant enough to break a sweat while watching Netflix or reading a book.

With my exercise routine already in place, I just needed to tighten up my diet. I'm not on an overly strict diet. All I'm doing is keeping track what I eat. I write down each meal and snack in a pocket sized notebook. That's really about it. I don't count calories. I'm not on any particular diet plan. I just write down what I eat, I eat smaller portions, and I make better food choices in general. For example, instead of a sandwich, I'll order a wrap. Instead of taking home a pint of Ben and Jerry's, I'll buy a box of fruit juice popsicles.

In the past, I've become lax when I've reached my goal weight. I figure that I'm skinny and exercising a lot, so I can eat what I want. Wrong! This was wrong in my 20s, and it's certainly wrong as I begin to approach 50 and my metabolism slows.

The reason I had problems maintaining weight in the past was that I didn't have an end game. This time is different. I already know what I'm going to do. When I get to that point, here's the plan for maintaining:

• Continue to exercise
• Continue recording my meals and snacks
• Continue weighing in every 2-3 days
• Gradually begin adding more calories to my diet until I find an equilibrium

If I can follow those simple steps, I think I'll finally be able to quit the Roller Coaster Club.