Implied Tonalities (Guitar Lesson)

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Implied Tonalities

Chris Liepe delves into the world of implied tonalities. This lesson details how a single arpeggio can be implied over various chordal sounds.

Taught by Chris Liepe in Rock Guitar with Chris Liepe seriesLength: 25:40Difficulty: 4.0 of 5

Lesson 12: Implied Tonalities

This lesson focuses on taking some of the arpeggio and chord shapes we've worked on in this series and applying them over different tonal centers or chords. For example, you could play an A Major arpeggio over an A Major chord, but what would happen if you played an E Major arpeggio? What would the resulting "chord" or tonality be? To figure this out, you must look at the note makeup of each individual tonality (the A Major and the E Major), take the key signature and tonal center in to consideration, and then combine the notes in each chord. You'll then be able to look at the combined sound and decide whether it might be cool to try in a solo.

So, an A Major chord has the notes A, C#, and E. An E Major chord has notes E, G#, and B. If we're calling the A chord our "1" chord and are in the key of A Major, then we define the E chord using the A chord and not the other way around. So, in the key of A Major, the notes E, G# and B would be the 5th, 7th and 2nd (or 9th). When combined with the A chord, we have a total chord makeup of Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th. The implied tonality when playing an E Major arpeggio over an A Major chord is an Amaj9 which, again, if we're playing over the "1" chord, is quite nice sounding and interesting. This lesson demonstrates a number of examples of finding cool ways of applying this way of thinking in order to create fresh sounds in your playing.

Here are the examples covered in the lesson:

Ex 1: C major arpeggio played over an Am chord, or even an "A" root creates an Am7 tonality.

Reasoning:
An Am chord: A, C, E (R35) C Major chord: C, E, G (define those notes in terms of an "A" root and you get: 3, 5 and b7) so total, we have 1, 3, 5, b7 ... a m7 tonality

Ex 2: G major arpeggio played over an Am chord creates an Am11 tonality.

Reasoning:
Am : A, C, E. G Major: G, B, D or 7, 9, 11 for a combined tonality of 1, b3, 5, b7, 9, 11 or an Am11 tonality

The crux of the idea is that each note means something different depending on what is behind it. Understanding this concept takes a lot of time, but helps you apply what you know in a huge variety of ways. If you are unfamiliar with some of the shapes playing in this lesson, make sure you're up to speed on the previous lessons in this series. There isn't any new playing, per se... just a new concept to apply to positions you already know if you're following this series.

Video Subtitles / Captions

Arpeggio Shapes

Arpeggio Shapes
Arpeggio Shapes
Arpeggio Shapes

Supplemental Learning Material

Member Comments about this Lesson

Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.

bunky replied

I searched this site and the net, and can not find a G5 pedal tone. Could you please add one to the suplemental content or backing tracks. In fact it would be nice to have a full array of pedal tones in all keys with majors minors and 5 chords. Thanks

Chris.Liepe replied

Tracks of this nature should be up within the next month or so.

bunky replied

Awsome topic, and a very well taught lesson. Loved it!

siegb replied

Thanks for introducing these concepts. Its rarely mentioned, yet so important in making sense of music.

GuitarLibMan replied

Really cool lesson!

Chris.Liepe replied

Many more to come

jets42689 replied

wooo i thought this series was over

Rock Guitar with Chris Liepe

Found in our Beginner Lesson Sets

Instrumental Rock carries with it many creative aspects both in writing and playing. By the end of this series, Chris will have covered almost everything you will need to know to create and play your very own melodic instrumental rock piece, with emotion!

Lesson 1

Rock Essentials Introduction

Chris Liepe introduces his Phase 2 Rock Essentials lesson series. By highlighting specific instrumental rock styles and techniques, Chris will help you become a more melodically creative player.

Length: 3:57 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only

Lesson 2

3 on a String Scales

Chris Liepe starts off his Rock Essentials series with a lesson on 3 on a string scales. Utilizing 3, 4, and 6 note sequencing, Chris begins to dive into instrumental rock style phrasing and provides several...

Length: 37:00 Difficulty: 3.5 FREE

Lesson 3

Pentatonic Scales, Sequencing, and Lick Ideas

Chris introduces the pentatonic scales as well as some of their basic applications.

Length: 19:35 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only

Lesson 4

Chord Numbering

Chris Liepe takes some time to explain chord numbering. Understanding how chords are built will only help in your overall knowledge of the guitar.

Length: 16:25 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only

Lesson 5

The CAGED System

Chris breaks down the CAGED system and its chord chemistry. He covers both major and minor chord forms.

Length: 35:06 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only

Lesson 6

Sweep Picking

Chris digs into the sweep picking technique. He uses the C, A, and E forms introduced in the previous lesson to help with finger synchronization.

Length: 27:15 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only

Lesson 7

Introduction to Modes

Chris moves on to the subject of modes. He explains where modes come from, how they sound, and how they are used.

Length: 30:04 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only

Lesson 8

Modal Pentatonic Scales

This lesson demonstrates how to modify the old trusty 5th fret A minor pentatonic position to make it sound modal.

Length: 10:30 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only

Lesson 9

Modal Chord Progressions

How do you know which mode to use? There are giveaways with every chord progression, and Chris covers them in this lesson.

Length: 17:12 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only

Lesson 10

Complete Major / Minor Scale Using Penatonic Scales

Chris demonstrates how to complete the major and minor scale by using pentatonic positions based on the roots of the I, IV, and V chords.

Length: 14:52 Difficulty: 4.5 Members Only

Lesson 11

Melodic Development

Chris Liepe utilizes everything he has taught in the series so far to demonstrate how to create catchy lead lines over a backing track.

Length: 15:30 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only

Lesson 12

Implied Tonalities

Chris Liepe delves into the world of implied tonalities. This lesson details how a single arpeggio can be implied over various chordal sounds.

Length: 25:40 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only

Lesson 13

Series Introduction Solo Lesson (Composed Soloing)

Chris teaches the solo that was used in the introduction lesson for this series. He uses the solo as an example of how to effectively compose your own solos.

Length: 22:09 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only

Lesson 14

2 Hand Tapping

It's time to give the right hand hand some work with two hand tapping on the guitar neck.

Length: 31:26 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only

Lesson 15

Thoughts on Practice

With so much material out there, what should you focus on? How much time do you spend on a certain topic? How do you progress? How do you measure progress? Chris covers all of these topics in this lesson.

Length: 17:16 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only

Lesson 16

Get to Know Chris Liepe

Chris Liepe offers up some insight into his past. Hopefully this lesson will help you further your own goals as a guitarist.

Length: 11:42 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only

About Chris Liepe View Full Biography Chris Liepe was born on September 17th, 1981 in Portland OR. His first instrument was piano which he pursued until discovering his love for the electric guitar in high school. He became fans of such groups as Soundgarden, Collective Soul and U2 inspiring him to start singing, songwriting and helping others in their musical endeavors with teaching, co-writing and album production.

Having moved to Colorado with his family, he began gigging, recording and teaching in a number of music stores as well as out of his apartment until deciding to pursue music full time. He moved to Denver, CO to complete a Bachelors in Music Technology and was then hired on by Sweetwater Productions, a division of Sweetwater Sound and one of the largest, most successful recording studios in the Midwest.

Chris spent nearly 4 years at Sweetwater as a producer, recording engineer, studio musician and writer. During this time he had the privilege of working with many artists including Augustana, Landon Pigg, Jars of Clay, and Mercy Me. He also wrote for and played on numerous independent albums and hundreds of radio/TV commercials.

Wanting to get back to his favorite State in the world (Colorado) and feeling the urge to 'go freelance', Chris moved to Greeley, CO and opened his own recording and teaching studio. He continues to write and produce music for artists and agencies and is happy to be among the proud JamPlay.com instructors.

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Implied Tonalities (Guitar Lesson)

Implied Tonalities

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