an embarrasingly simple question: Modal Vamps?
Marck Bailey
years now (though in my defense, the last 20 have been "self-taught"),
and i don't know the answer to a pretty simple question.
i just got Mick Goodrick's _The Advancing Guitarist_, which looks like
just the book i need -- incredibly challenging, and it will teach me a
lot. but in the very first lesson, an exercise requires that i make
recordings of "modal vamps" in each mode.
but no explanation of what a "modal vamp" is! i'm guessing that it's a
chord progression that i build out of each mode. but do i always use the
I, IV and V chord from each mode? is there a rule on building modal
vamps? or are we simply talking about a chord progression here?
(i understand the basic idea behind modes -- that much i remember from
my music education, though i haven't actually consciously USED modes in
many years.)
any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
ten good days,
mlb
Tom Walls
says...
>
>so i'm embarrassed to say that i've been playing guitar for almost 30
>years now (though in my defense, the last 20 have been "self-taught"),
>and i don't know the answer to a pretty simple question.
>
>i just got Mick Goodrick's _The Advancing Guitarist_, which looks like
>just the book i need -- incredibly challenging, and it will teach me a
>lot. but in the very first lesson, an exercise requires that i make
>recordings of "modal vamps" in each mode.
>
>but no explanation of what a "modal vamp" is! i'm guessing that it's a
>chord progression that i build out of each mode.
Yes, more or less.
but do i always use the
>I, IV and V chord from each mode?
No, you're better off regarding each mode as a tonality and construct chords
based on the notes of the tonality that you want to emphasize. I guess that's
probably as clear as mud. Think of Miles tune "All Blues". It's a modal vamp
based on the first three notes of the mode. Build chords or clusters on those
notes and play them in a sequence.
You're vamping! :<)
--
Tom Walls
the guy at the Temple of Zeus
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/zeus/
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Tom Lippincott
I had a student come back with the same question once after I had recommended
that book to him. Don't worry, a "modal vamp" is not some obscure jazz
terminology that Goodrick is expecting you to be "hip" enough to know all
about. If you turn a few pages forward you'll find that he actually has
written out the vamps, but I guess for some reason he doesn't mention that when
he first makes a refernce to them in the section you're talking about. One
note; with my students if we work on that concept I usually don't take those
vamps too literally (i.e., play them exactly as written over and over into a
tape recorder.) If you have access to the Band in a Box program, or another
one called "Jammer", you can easily and quickly program in similar vamps using
chord names. For example, for the first "Ionian" modal vamp just punch in
G7sus4 for one bar and Cmaj7 for one bar and make it a 2 bar loop, whatever
style you feel like. For the other modes/vamps you could use something along
these lines;
D dorian; Dm7 (or Dm7 to G7)
Ephrygian; Fmaj7/E
Flydian; Fmaj7#11
Gmixolydian; G7sus4
Aaeolian; Am7 to Fmaj7
Blocrian; Bm7b5
Hope this helps. If you don't have Band in a Box, I highly recommend it for
practicing purposes. You just need a computer with some sort of MIDI
capability, and most computers these days have that built into the soundcard.
Tom Lippincott
Guitarist, Composer, Teacher
audio samples, articles, CD's at:
http://www.tomlippincott.com
Joey Goldstein
I thought Mick supplied the modal vamps in his book. I studied with him
many years ago and appropriated (i.e. stole) the concept for my own
book. Have a look at the chapters called "Chord Scales Via Modal Theory
Part 1" and "Chord Scales Via Modal Theory Part 2" in my free online
book at:
http://webhome.idirect.com/~joegold/jgm.htm
Tom Pimienta
12 keys. So I recorded some basic progressions that can be transposed to
all keys, which I'll illustrate in C
1. ionian
| Cmaj7 | Dmin7/G | (thats Dmin7 with G in the bass, basically G7sus)
2. dorian: I used "stacked 4th voicings", just three notes at a time, but
hovered around the tonic (eg C min7) so these would be the voicings in C
dorian, read from lowest pitch to highest: CFBb, DGC, EbAD, FBbEb, GCF, ADG,
BbEbA I played these voicings on the middle strings of the guitar (A thru
B). You can get hip lines out just arpeggiating the 4th voicings (which Mick
also talks about in his book)
3. phrygian
for C phrygian I played the iii, IV and V chords of Ab major, but kept the C
in the bass as a pedal. These were the voicings, again lowest to highest:
CGCEb, CAbDbF, CBbEbG (so these chords are triads: Cmin, Dbmajor, Ebmajor,
all with a C pedal in the bass) maybe try one measure of the first chord
then 2 beats for each of the other chords to give a nice 2 measure vamp
4. lydian : I just played a bunch of inversions of C major 7#11
5. Mixolydian: I played inversions of C7 and through in Gmin7 (basically
C7sus) too.
6. Aeolian: | Cmin7 | % | % | Fm7 Gm7 | (just i - iv -v, all
min chords)
you can use Cmin9 or Cmin11 and also try a #5 on the tonic chord. You can
put a 9 (or 11) on the Fmin too, but not on Gm because A is not diatonic to
C aeolian (11 is cool).
7. locrian: used bunch of inversions of Cmin7b5.
IMHO Goodrick's book is the single best book for guitar players ever. (And
maybe Howard Roberts 3 volume guitar compendium)
Have Fun,
-Tom
email: stpim...@yahoo.com
or goto www.geocities.com/stpimienta
Marck Bailey <ma...@principia.edu> wrote in message
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MJardine
Am -> Bm repeating progression for the solos is an example of an A dorian
mode section. If you use A natural minor to solo, it doesn't sound quite
right (to me anyway).
"Marck Bailey" <ma...@principia.edu> wrote in message
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