JFRocks.com Online Guitar Lesson with Jeff Fiorentino

Written by:	Jeff Fiorentino
Produced by:	Jeff Fiorentino, & *JFRocks.com*
Video Edited by:	Kelly Ross
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Copyright © 2007 JFRocks All rights reserved

Lesson Features

The song track

The Jam along track

The Video Guitar Lesson

Lesson MP3 song track

JAm TRack for this lesson

Click here for the Video Lesson

Fonts may look weird, or not line up properly in Firefox or some other browsers if you have not set them up correctly..

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This Lesson's difficulty level 1-10 scale


Lesson Example Track
Written by:	Jeff Fiorentino
Performed by:	Jeff Fiorentino and Vin Heuton
Engineered by:	Mick the Mixer
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Copyright © 2007 JFRocks All rights reserved

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This lesson addresses many questions about song idea development that have come in via email. Below are some lesson notes to pair with the Video. Below that is a basic transcription of the "Lesson example track".

I suggest using some of the lesson notes below and portions of the tabs for the example track to practice with using the JAm TRax mp3 for this lesson. For those that are new here, the links to the mp3 example track, JAm TRack, and Video lesson are up at the top portion of this lesson page...

On the video lesson I talk about how leaving the riff the same and having everything else around it change can create different moods and feel. This is the way many rock and blues tracks are written. Usually there aren't that many unique parts per say. Even some of the unique parts, or parts that sound unique are simply altered versions of the same riff. On the video I mention a good rule of thumb is to use the Root, 3rd, 5th, and 6th as driving notes. This is not an absolute but a good rule of thumb... Below are some notes and examples of things you can try around a simple riff to get the hang of this concept.. Please read the lesson below carefully and follow it in order. It'll make more sense that way....

Pitches that make up our example track: A, C#, E, F#. Basically a big F#m7 chord.

E__________________________________________
B___2______________________________________
G___2______________________________________
D___2______________________________________
A___x______________________________________
E___2______________________________________

Now on the video I describe using each of those notes above that make up our riff as driving notes, much like what I did on the example track. You can also use each of the notes i.e. the 3rd (C#), or the 5th (E), etc.. to build bass riffing sections with.. This will also create new moods and feel to the listener as you change them up.. See video lesson, and examples below....

Example 1: A bass riff that could be played over our example track. The riff below is anchored off the Root of our key (A)

G___________________________________________
D___________________________________________
A________4~_________________________________
E___5_5______5~---slide down---__0__2__>and repeat____

Example 2: Another bass riff that could be played over our example track. This time it's anchored off of the 6th of our key (F#)

G__________________________________________
D__________________________________________
A______0___________________________________
E__2_2___2__0__0__>and repeat____________________

Now what's above are simply examples of bass riffs that could be done over the guitar riffing in our example track instead of the driving notes that were done. I chose to just drive various notes such as "A" then drive "F#" etc. for lesson purposes. However, you can take it much further than that.

If you understand the basic concept that the note the bass is driving or rooting off of can affect how your riff is perceived by the listener in a big way, then you have total control at your fingertips to make a riff groove however you want it to without actually changing the riff..

You must understand that the bass is much like the lead guitar. This is why it's always surprising to me that the bass player in most bands is usually someone's uncle's roommate that has never played an instrument before.. Or the kid at school that's your friend that doesn't really play an instrument but he or she is cool to have in the band... LOL.... Bass is an art form all to itself, it's not just the instrument that you give to the person that can't play.... In a lot of cases the bass player and more specifically what the bass player is playing can and will make or break your band, or more importantly your song...

Example 3: Example 3 below is what the bass in our lesson example track is doing over the main guitar riff when the song kicks in..

G_______________________________________________
D_______________________________________________
A_______________________________________________
E__5_5_5_5____5_5_5_5_____5_5_5_5______5_5_5_5__

G_________________________________________
D_________________________________________
A_________________________________________
E__2_2_2_2___2_2_2_2___2_2_2_2___2_2_2_2__

As you can see the bass above in example 3 is driving first the root note (A) then the 6th (F#). In example 4 we're doing the same thing but this time playing the bass riffs given in examples 1 and 2...

Example 4: Example 4 below is examples 1 and 2 being done over the guitar riff in our example track instead of the driving notes in example 3. Notice how it's still A to F# but now we've added in some other notes from our guitar riff to create a more interesting bass line... The effect is the same though. The listener still gets the same vibe that they got from the driving bass notes in example 3. This is because of the fact (as I've already stated) that our riffs below are still anchored off of an A to F# chord change...

G____________________________________________________________
D____________________________________________________________
A________4~___________________________4~____________________
E___5_5______5~---slide down---__0__2___5_5_____5~---slide down--__0__2__

G_________________________________________
D_________________________________________
A______0_______________0__________________
E__2_2___2__0__0___2_2___2__0__0__________

So this example shows that you don't just have to change driven notes around. You can still play bass like a bass player and do bass riffs or bass lines. However, take note that you don't just have to start those bass lines on the root note of your riff. Nor does the bass have to follow the riff. And if you're more creative with your rhythm section, you won't have to come up with so many parts to a given song.

In fact we can all take a lesson from Mr. Van Halen.. Van Halen in the early days was notorious for having songs that were made up of no more than 3 different riffs. However, each time the riff came around in a lot of cases something new was happening either around it, or Ed himself would alter the way he played the riff. (Which I might add made transcribing Van Halen songs a real headache)... There's a lot we can learn from other people's music.

Remember to always listen to more than just the guitar, even though most if not all of you are guitar players. It's best to remember that there's a lot more to a song than just what the guitar is doing. Some of the other stuff going on is far more subtle, but affecting the entire song on a grand scale... Which again is why you've got to look at the big picture when writing a song track.. It's also why you as the "Guitarist"/ "songwriter" need to know how play more than just guitar. To really get your vision across you need to understand what the other instruments will be doing, you don't need to be a master at these other instruments, but you do need to have an understanding of how they will be affecting your song track, or more importantly have an idea of how you want them to be affecting it....

1. Look at the notes (pitches) that make up the riffing and chords in your track.

2. Record yourself playing the riff you came up with. Record at least 1 minute, but 3 is ideal, so you have time to noodle..

3. Play mock bass along with yourself to find the best notes to either drive or riff off of with the bass. Take note of how each pitch you choose affects your riff. To keep it simple, use the pitches from tip #1 to practice with on bass...

4. Build other song sections by simply altering your riffs on some level, or by having a drastic drum change up, and seeing what kind of inspiration that brings to mind.

5. If you don't have a riff idea to practice with, use one of mine, or use a cover song riff you know.

As you can see here, and will see on the video lesson, part 1 of the Songwriting lesson series ties in with this part 2 on a very high level.

Marshall Settings: Low EQ = 4.5, Mid EQ = 3, High EQ = 8, Pres = 6, Reverb = 8

*Chord names above the tabs are what the Bass is driving, they are NOT chords.........*

G >>remember throughout this tab, these Blue chord names are what the bass is driving, not chord names.

E______________________________________________________
B___3__________________________________________________
G___3__________________________________________________
D___3__>>w.b chord downward slowly________________________________
A___x__________________________________________________
E___3______________________0~*flop string with thumb as it is slackened_____

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G___2______________________________________________
D___2______________________________________________
A___0______________________________________________
E______2__0x_0x__2__0x_0x__2__0x_0x__2__2x_0x_0x___

E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G___2___________________________________________
D___2___________________________________________
A___0_________________________________2a.h~~~___
E______2__0x_0x__2__2x_0x__2__0x_0x_____________

E_________________________________________________
B__3---5---3____3---7---5____5---9---7____7---14---12______
G_________________________________________________
D__3---5---3____3---7---5____5---9---7____7---14---12______
A_________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________

This riff pretty much just repeats so I've only tabbed the basic idea 1 time through...

E________________________________________________
B___2_________________________________9--slide down--__
G___2_________________________________9--slide down--__
D___2_________________________________9--slide down--__
A___0____________________________________________
E_______2__0x_0x__2_2x__0x__2x_0x_0x_____________

E______________________________________
B______________________________________
G______________________________________
D______________________________________
A________2-0__3-0__4-0__3-0__2__________
E__0-2-0_______________________2~~_____

E___________________________________________
B___________________________________________
G___________________________________________
D___________________________________________
A________2-0__3-0__4-0__3-0__2^1/2a.h__2a.h~~___
E__0-2-0_____________________________________

*It keeps going for another round of this version of the riff, then the drum beat changes and it goes into the section below..

Verse section type.. Drums switch from 8th note hi hat ride, to down beat quarter note hi hat riding.. Notice the changes in what the bass is driving below, indicated in Blue.....

E___________________________________________
B___________________________________________
G___________________________________________
D___________________________________________
A________2-0__3-0__4-0__3-0__2a.h~~__2a.h~~____
E__0-2-0_____________________________________

This is where the drums go double bass and the bass drives 16th notes with the bass drums. The riff below is simply an alteration of what we've been playing. When the drums and bass are busy, the guitar lays back. This is a good rule of thumb to follow because if you don't lay back a bit things can get a little mushy, or turn into death metal, which in and of itself is fairly mushy.. So unless you're going for mushiness.. It's a good idea to lay back a little when your rhythm section decides to go into double bass with driving 16th notes......

E__________________________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________________________
G_____________2_____________2_______________3______________________
D_____________2_____________2_______________3______________________
A____________________________________________________2^1/4a.h__2a.h~~_
E__0-2_2_2_2_________2_2_2________0-3_3_3_3____3x_3x________________

E___________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________
G_____________2_____________2_______________3_____5^1a.h>release>5-3-5-3~_
D_____________2_____________2_______________3_______________________
A___________________________________________________________________
E__0-2_2_2_2_________2_2_2________2-3_3_3_3____3x____________________