String sets and the 1-4-5 chords

Last week we had a look at the One-Four-Five chords and the way they encapsulate modes. This lesson looks at those same chords from another point of view: string sets.

The only way to achieve freedom on the guitar is to be able to see the fretboard as music, not a maze of frets and strings. One of the easiest ways to begin the process of mapping out the fretboard is to break it down into string sets. I have posted a few lessons already which delve into string sets.

In this lesson, we'll have a look at the key of D and how the I-IV-V chords arrange themselves on the fretboard. I'm using the I-IV-V chords again because they really are the most important to nail down as they form the backbone of almost all Western music.

The movie shows a series of I-IV-V chords played on different string sets. In the key of D, of course, we're looking at D-G-A. I've kept the chords as simple triads (just the 1-3-5) to keep it clear, so what you're hearing is D G A D - D G A D - D G A D over and over again.

First string set (123 EBG). These are all inversions of each chord, all 1-3-5's of each. (I make a mistake in the movie: second chord... I play an Em instead of a G. The tab below is correct.)

Second string set (234 BGD). Same thing here, you're looking at 1-3-5's of each chord.

Third string set (345 GDA). No different here. The inversions change of course, but it's still 1-3-5's.

All together (except bass string). Here you'll recognize the barre shapes all of the above derive from.

MIDI FILES FOR ALL THE ABOVE HERE

And what is the point of being able to see all of these fragments of chords? Well, apart from being able to use them as compact forms of each chord, the notes which make them up are the strongest possible melody notes for each chord's duration. Even though all the notes shown above come from the D major scale, to simply play that scale up and down as a solo or as improvisation is not the way to go. It will sound weak, unimaginative and amateurish. On the other hand, keeping track of chords will always point to the strong MELODY notes.

Below is an example of a simple melodic excursion following these shapes, following D-G-A-D D-G-A-D.

There is certainly nothing fancy or award winning about the line, but you can hear that it tells a little story, that each section resolves in a correct and ear pleasing way. It consists almost exclusively of each chord's 1-3-5 notes.

There is a trick to being able to mentally lay your fretboard out in this manner. To be able to see any chord, no matter what name or flavor, as a collection of notes which occupies the entire fretboard, is the key to improvisation and lead playing. Those solos that you always thought REALLY sound great are invariably those which are closely following the chords. It's only logical that it is so.

The trick, which thousands of twangers World Wide now know, is the subject of my book PlaneTalk. If you've been wondering how it is some players seem to know exactly what's going on at all times, then wonder no more. There is an underlying template, a constant to which everything refers IN CONTEXT. I've always said in my columns that if nothing else, music is context -- relationships between notes measured in intervals.

The PlaneTalk technique describes a way of seeing the lowest common denominator of music on the fretboard, pointers for anything you may wish to play at any time. The lesson is available as a book, as an online lesson (same content exactly, including the all-revealing slide rule), or as a PDF file which you can download and print, including the slide rule.