Jam Session 105h with E5 A5 D5 C5 B5 (Guitar, Drums)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 105h:

    E5    A5              D5     C5    B5   

e |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
B |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
G |-9-------------------|-7------------------|---------------------|
D |-9-----7-------------|-7------10----9-----|---------------------|
A |-7-----7-------------|-5------10----9-----|---------------------|
E |-------5-------------|--------8-----7-----|---------------------|

If you don't know how to read guitar tab (as computer text), this section of a Wikipedia article may help.

Sneak Peek Sunday: E

This week, Jon and Ryan jam in E (major, minor, modes, whatever), with guitar and MIDI keyboard-controlled drums (Digidesign Strike), for another week of Chord du Jour Jam Sessions!  Be sure to subscribe with your favorite podcatcher for this mp3 podcast!

Tweet to us @DeRamosMusic!

Podcast subscribers: If these jam session notes look jumbled, please visit http://www.chorddujour.com - Thanks!

Backtrack 104k in A

This week's giveaway is a re-recording of Jam Session 104k, without your Jam Session hosts talking over the music. Along with the piano and guitar, we've also added drums, bass, and Ebowed guitar to the mix. The full band comes in during the last minute of the backtrack.



Like Jam Session 104k, the chords of this Backtrack are Am F C E:  Tickle the ivories, strum along, groove accordingly, create melodies (and/or solo licks) over the chords, and learn more by playing more!

Tweet to us @DeRamosMusic!

Podcast subscribers: If these jam session notes look jumbled, please visit http://www.chorddujour.com and look up Backtrack 104k - Thanks!

Jam Session 104l with Am G D (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104l:

• A lot of the (electric-)acoustic sounds from these jam sessions are from an electric guitar going through an acoustic simulator effect.  This is sort of effect can be found in standalone stompboxes, multi-effects pedals, and software plug-ins.
• The chord progression is Am G D.

  

Those chords work well underneath melodies, lead-lines, and other improvisations in the G major scale:

Jam Session 104k with Am F C E (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104k:

• We are playing in the key of A minor.
• We are using familiar chords in C because A minor is the relative minor of C major.
  
• C Major:  C D E F G A B C (the white keys on a piano).
• A Minor:  A B C D E F G A (same keys).
• At one point in the jam session, Jon plays with an EBow, instead of a guitar pick, to magnetically 'bow' the guitar string he's playing.  It's a nifty effect.
  
• The chord progression is Am F C E.  The E major (E G# B) technically comes from the use of the A harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G# A), but it just sounds good, in any case.
  

   

Jam Session 104j with A G D A; C D A (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104j:

• This is another guitar and piano/keyboard/MIDI controller combo.
• In Pro Tools, we use the Grand Piano (or was it Xpand?) plug-in.  In any case, it comes with the program.
  
• There are other piano plug-ins available commercially for RTAS workstations (like Pro Tools), as well as AU (Apple Logic), and VSTi (other).
• On the Web, there are several VSTi plugins for free.
• If you want to use VSTi plug-ins in RTAS or AU software, use a wrapper like FXpansion's plug-in wrapper.
  

For much of the jam session, here are the piano chords used:

   

At one point, a C chord is introduced in the jam session:

Jam Session 104i, 12-Bar Blues in A (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104i:

We're playing the 12-bar blues in A, a simplified version of it, so that we're playing -

• Four bars of A
• Two bars of D
• Two bars of A
• One bar of E
• One bar of D
• Two bars of A
• Start over again!

I like to have a blues-swing mentality, 12/8 while playing the 12-bar blues:  "One and a two and a three and a four and a..." but a straight 4/4 count:  "One two three four..." or "One and two and three and four and..." could work just fine.

At one point in the jam session, the piano player does some embellishments on his right hand so that the major chords turn into 7th chords:

 

 

The guitar player solos/improvises in A blues, which is a minor scale, but it works over the major chords in the 12-bar blues in A.  Maybe we're culturally wired to appreciate the bluesy dissonance caused by clashing major and minor thirds (C# and C, respectively) in A.

Jam Session 104h with A D A E (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104h:

• Jon plays guitar; Ryan plays the piano.
• Okay, it's actually a keyboard.
• And by keyboard, we really mean MIDI controller, connected to a personal computer with a USB cable, using a piano virtual instrument in our digital audio workstation.
  

Piano/keyboard chords:

Guitar chords, tabbed:

Sneak Peek Sunday: A

This week, Jon and Ryan jam in A (major, minor, modes, whatever), with guitar and piano-sounding keyboard (really a MIDI controller), for another week of Chord du Jour Jam Sessions!  Be sure to subscribe with your favorite podcatcher for this mp3 podcast!

Also, if you subscribe to our newsletter, you'll get early access to Saturday's Backtrack!

Backtrack 103l in D

This week's giveaway is a re-recording of Jam Session 103l, without your Jam Session hosts talking over the music. We've also added drums to the mix.



Like yesterday's Jam Session 103l, the guitar and bass are in Dropped-D tuning, and the chords of this Backtrack are Dm F5 A5:  Strum along, create melodies (and/or solo licks) over the chords, and learn more by playing more!

Tweet to us @DeRamosMusic!

Podcast subscribers: If these jam session notes look jumbled, please visit http://www.chorddujour.com and look up Backtrack 103l (that's an 'L') - Thanks!

Jam Session 103l with Dm F5 A5

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 103l:

• Like yesterday, we're in Dropped-D tuning for both guitar (D A D G B E) and bass (D A D G).
• We've added effects to the bass, to give it some heavy fuzz-like distortion.
• We actually used a distortion, followed by auto-wah/envelope filter (with the treble up) to approximate the fuzz.
• We played with the 6/8 fast-waltz mentality (one two three FOUR two three), but 12/8 slow-blues swing could also work in this case.
  

Here's the bass groove tabbed out in 6/8:

    Dm 

G |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
D |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
A |-5--5--5--8--5-------|-5--5--5--8--5------|-5--5--5--8--5-------|
D |----------------0----|----------------0---|----------------0----|

    F5       A5 

G |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
D |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
A |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
D |-3--3--3--7--7--7----|--------------------|---------------------|

12/8 (twelve eighth notes per measure) would also work:

Jam Session 103k with D5 G5 F#5 D5 A5 G5

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 103k:

• We're in Dropped-D tuning
• Guitar (low to high):  D A D G B E
• Bass (low to high):  D A D G
• This week is full of distortion sounds, so crank up your amp and/or step on some pedals!
  

Guitar tab:

    D5   G5 F#5 D5 A5 G5  Open Low D with Octaves

e |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
B |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
G |---------------------|-7/-9/11/12/14/16/17|/19------------------|
D |-0-----5\4-0-----7\5-|-x--x--x--x--x--x--x|--x------------------|
A |-0-----5\4-0-----7\5-|-5/-7/-9/10/12/14/15|/17------------------|
D |-0-0-0-5\4-0-0-0-7\5-|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0|--0------------------|

Bass tab:

Jam Session 103j with D A C G

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 103j:

• Guitar, bass
• Sometimes we mess up, and sometimes it gets good.  It happens. ;-)
• Try some overdrive to warm up your sound.  With a guitar amp, you can just crank up the volume and add a bit of gain, being careful not to fuzz or crunch the distortion sound.
  

Guitar chords tabbed:

    D                     A                    C

e |-2-------------------|-0------------------|-0-------------------|
B |-3-------------------|-2------------------|-1-------------------|
G |-2-------------------|-2------------------|-0-------------------|
D |-0-------------------|-2------------------|-2-------------------|
A |---------------------|-0------------------|-3-------------------|
E |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|

    G
e |-3-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
B |-3-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
G |-0-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
D |-0-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
A |-2-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
E |-3-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|

Some bass ideas tabbed:

Jam Session 103i with D Dmaj7 A G

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 103i:

• This is another guitar and bass combo.  Check out our Chord du Jour Backtracks, which usually feature a full band (guitar, bass, drums, etc).
  
• This is a fast waltz number (6/8) - one two three, FOUR two three... would be the count.
• Ryan plays a Jazz Bass.
  

Here are some of the chords used (and then some?):

Guitar:

    D                     Dmaj7                A

e |-2-------------------|-2------------------|-0-------------------|
B |-3-------------------|-2------------------|-2-------------------|
G |-2-------------------|-2------------------|-2-------------------|
D |-0-------------------|-0------------------|-2-------------------|
A |---------------------|--------------------|-0-------------------|
E |---------------------|--------------------|---------------------|

    G
e |-3-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
B |-3-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
G |-0-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
D |-0-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
A |-2-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
E |-3-------------------|--------------------|---------------------|

Bass (not what was played in the jam session, but this is just an idea of how notes from the chords can be incorporated):

Jam Session 103h with D Bm G A

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 103h:

• Jon plays guitar; Ryan plays bass.
• Standard tuning for a four-string bass is like the thickest four of a guitar:  E A D G, but one octave lower.
• For some reason, Jon and Ryan use lipstick mics to record their voices, when these sort of mics are usually used to record instruments, not voices/vocals.
• A 2.0 mm pick is sometimes used during this jam session for the bass.
  

Here are some chords used, in tablature form:

Sneak Peek Sunday: D

This week, Jon and Ryan jam in D (major, minor, modes, whatever), with guitar and bass, for another week of Chord du Jour Jam Sessions!  Be sure to subscribe with your favorite podcatcher for this mp3 podcast!

Tweet to us @DeRamosMusic!

Podcast subscribers: If these jam session notes look jumbled, please visit http://www.chorddujour.com - Thanks!

Backtrack 102j in G

This week's giveaway is a re-recording of Jam Session 102j, without your Jam Session hosts talking over the music.



Like Jam Session 102j, the chords of this Backtrack are G D Bm C, but the chord changes of this new Backtrack are slightly syncopated.  In other words, if we're counting "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and..." as our rhythm, the chords would go something like this:

G and 2 D 3 and 4 and Bm and 2 C 3 and 4 and...

Jam Session 102l with G5 Bb5 C5; F5

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 102l:

Ryan uses a glass slide for some lead licks. The vocal mics pick up some of the slide noises. Repositioning mics might reduce (but not eliminate) picking up the sound. A noise gate could work. Cranking up the amps so that the mics pick up amp sounds would be a good plan, too. In any case, here's the tab:

Jam Session 102k with Gm C Bb

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 102k:

Dunlop-brand Tortex picks have a similar feel as Delrin-material picks from other brands.

    Gm                    C        Bb
e |-3-------------------|-8--------6---------|---------------------|
B |-3-------------------|-8--------6---------|---------------------|
G |-3-------------------|-9--------6---------|---------------------|
D |-5-------------------|-10-------8---------|---------------------|
A |-5-------------------|-10-------8---------|---------------------|
E |-3-------------------|-8--------6---------|---------------------|

Here's one prominent lick used during the jam:

Jam Session 102j with G D Bm C

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 102j:

More rant about mics (fast-forward if you like). Jon and Ryan talk about picks; both use Delrin-material picks, of different thicknesses.

    G       D   Dsus4     Bm       C/E
e |-3-------5-----------|-4----------------------|-----------------|
B |-3-------7-7-8-7-----|-3-3-3-3--5-------------|-----------------|
G |-4-4-4-4-7-7-7-7-----|-4-4-4-4--5-----5h7h5---|-----------------|
D |-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-7-----|-4-4-4-4--5-5h7-------7-|-----------------|
A |-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-----|-2-2-2-2-/7-------------|-----------------|
E |-3-3-3-3-------------|------------------------|-----------------|

If you don't know how to read guitar tab (as computer text), this section of a Wikipedia article may help.

Let's expand upon yesterday's G major scale grid with this G major scale/Ionian mode road map: