"We'd like to introduce you to the talents of mulit-instrumentalist and 5-string guru Danny Williams sit back and enjoy the luscious voicings. "
- Ted Eschliman , www.jazzmando.com (Nov 07, 2009)
"Danny, that is terrific; some cool out-of-the-box voicings for chords. (I will plagarize for my own...)
I love what you are doing to maximize the 5-string potential." Nice job! __________________
- Ted Eschliman , www.JazzMando.com (Nov 04, 2009)
"Great stuff man, you are breaking new ground on the Bari! Great to hear electric mando with that warm, modern sound...Nice tunes and it sound happening, very cool! I will spread the word as a lot of my students would really dig it too. Thanks again!!!" __________________
- John McGann, Associate Professor, Strings, Berklee College of Music (Nov 03, 2009)
For lessons in Guitar,Mandolin, Bass and music theory call 859-806-1888 or email barimando_gmail.com
Quartal Voicings
So, you are probably saying, "What the hell is quartal voicings!" And you know what I wouldnt blame you at all for asking such a question. I remember the first time I heard of quartal voicing...oh yes...I was just a little whipper snapper with the whole world at my...sorry nevermind. Anyway, in college when I was studing music, classical theory barley mentioned it as a viable way of voicing chords, the few years I studied classical theory. When I started to study jazz theory it was all the rage! All the hip cats were doin' it and to be honest when I found out who those cats were I was like, " Man, Mcoy sounds amazing! And Jim Hall has to be the coolest sounding dude on the planet!" Im paraphrasing of course. I definitely wanted to sound hip and modern like those fellers fo sho! Come to find out, they were using quartal voicings and it changed my playing forever.
You know, when you think of chords you dont often think of the 4th as a viable interval. When we think of chords we always think of 3rds. Major and minor 3rds staked in such a way to create harmony. And, not just triads but those fancy jazz chords as well. Let's explore this option of the 4th for a second. Here is the example. Lets take an E and add a 4th above it. You get an A. Now, let's add a 4th above the A. You get a D. So our triad of 4ths is E, A, and D. Let's pick a root note to put in the bass. Im going to pick a G. When you put it all together you end up with a G69 chord. Pretty cool, huh? You can have a lot of new and fresh sounding chords to comp with your normal 3rd voicings once you have mastered the art of quartal voicings.
What I have done in the written part of the lesson is that I wrote down some staked 4ths against a constant root note. That way you can here and see what it sounds and looks like. For the guitar players I used the low E as the root note since it sounds cool for one and you can also leave it sustaining as you play the new quartal voicing. Mandolin players the same goes for you with the exception of the root note which yours is a G. For the same reasons as guitar. Alright, good luck and as always if you have questions... just ask.
