Andy Timmons - How To Play 'Shuggie' - Part 2 | Guitar World
MELODIC MUSE by Andy Timmons
MORE SHUGGIE
How to play “Shuggie,” part 2
Andy Timmons continues his look at the track “Shuggie,” which is his ode to late Sixties/ early Seventies guitar master Shuggie Otis that’s included on Andy's album, Electric Truth. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Otis, he’s a brilliant guitarist whose two seminal albums, Freedom Flight and Inspiration Information, were released in the early Seventies. Freedom Flight included “Strawberry Letter #23,” which was a hit for the Brothers Johnson in 1977.
#AndyTimmons #ElectricTruth
MORE SHUGGIE
How to play “Shuggie,” part 2
Andy Timmons continues his look at the track “Shuggie,” which is his ode to late Sixties/ early Seventies guitar master Shuggie Otis that’s included on Andy's album, Electric Truth. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Otis, he’s a brilliant guitarist whose two seminal albums, Freedom Flight and Inspiration Information, were released in the early Seventies. Freedom Flight included “Strawberry Letter #23,” which was a hit for the Brothers Johnson in 1977.
#AndyTimmons #ElectricTruth
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Hey, everybody.
00:18 Welcome back.
00:19 It's Andy Timmons.
00:20 Thanks for checking out my melodic Muse course with Guitar World.
00:23 And we're going to carry on talking about the tune "Sugie."
00:26 We discussed last episode with the guitar harmony bits
00:31 and the harmonies that go with that, which
00:34 is what I solo over at the end.
00:35 So we're going to look at how to navigate.
00:38 We've got a G major 7 chord.
00:40 We've got a B flat major 7 chord.
00:42 So all of a sudden, a significant key shift
00:45 to an F major 7 over A to A flat.
00:50 And these types of chord progressions
00:51 are the ones I really love the most,
00:53 because when you're in one key center,
00:56 it can be great.
00:57 There's plenty of things to do.
00:59 But I love when there's a chord progression that really
01:05 inspires some melodic direction.
01:06 There really can be some real beautiful lines
01:09 to weave through some of these changes.
01:11 So this particular chord progression
01:13 is perfect for that.
01:14 So I'm going to play a bit, and then we're
01:15 going to talk about some of the strategies that you can use.
01:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:21,
01:43 So let me walk you through some of the elements of certainly
01:46 what I like to hear when I'm playing.
01:48 I can intellectualize these things well enough
01:50 to tell you what it is.
01:51 But it does have to do with a lot with voice leading
01:54 and just kind of melodic direction
01:56 and what I've grown to want to hear as I've
01:59 played all these years.
02:01 And the beautiful thing is that when
02:02 you've got chords that have just kind of subtle changes--
02:05 so I'm going from the G major 7 to a B flat major 7, which
02:11 is a key change of a minor third.
02:14 But I'm always looking for common tones.
02:16 And here you've got that D.
02:20 It's the fifth of the G major 7, but it's also
02:24 the third of that B flat major 7.
02:28 And then you change to it like an F major 7.
02:30 And a similar thing, now you've got this A flat major 7.
02:37 There's another common tone in between those keys,
02:40 even though you're going from--
02:43 well, I'm just kind of recognizing
02:46 how this is structured.
02:47 So it's basically two major 7's.
02:51 I never even realized it before now.
02:53 So essentially, if you've got some things that
02:56 sound good over this first chord change, the G major 7--
02:59 so you might think of just the arpeggio.
03:01 [GUITAR PLAYING]
03:16 So let's analyze maybe some note choice and scale selection
03:21 if we want to think about that.
03:23 I'm more in general going to be concerned with where I can find
03:27 some common tones maybe, as we talked about from that.
03:31 There's that D that connects the G major 7 and the B flat major
03:35 7.
03:36 And if we're thinking F major 7, there's
03:39 that C that can connect those two, F major 7, A flat major 7.
03:47 Even major scales--
03:49 [GUITAR PLAYING]
03:52 But because of the way these keys sound together,
03:59 B flat major scale wouldn't be incorrect.
04:05 But for whatever reason, I want to hear the E.
04:10 So that's more of a B flat lydian sound, right?
04:13 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:16 So let's just look at these two chords again.
04:23 So G major 7, we might be able to use G major pentatonic.
04:27 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:29 But I really like the sound of the D major pentatonic.
04:33 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:36 Because it has some much more interesting color tones.
04:42 You've got the 9, you've got the major 7, the 13.
04:46 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:48 OK?
04:50 So even if we just use that D major pentatonic--
04:55 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:59 If we move that up a minor third to F major pentatonic--
05:01 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:04 Then we're back over that F major--
05:07 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:10 To B flat major pentatonic.
05:16 But within all that, I have these places I know I can go.
05:21 But I'm really going to let the ear hopefully guide me
05:24 as much as the brain.
05:26 And I call that kind of the melodic muse.
05:27 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:31 And I'm also looking for any subtle note change.
05:35 I might look for a common tone.
05:37 Or in that last case over the F--
05:39 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:41 That A is the third of the F major 7.
05:45 But the next chord is A flat.
05:47 So that's a nice-- it's going to be a nice moment.
05:49 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:53 I'm going to want to feel that.
05:56 I'm going to want to feel that.
05:57 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:59 I'm going to want to feature that and kind of--
06:01 so it really gives the listener that flavor
06:04 of that tonality change.
06:06 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:08 Let me start over and try it again.
06:11 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:14 And that's another really nice place.
06:22 Because you've got the F major 7--
06:23 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:26 That major 7, that E--
06:27 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:30 --needs to change to E flat for that A flat major 7.
06:33 So I know in my recorded solo on the record,
06:36 you'll hear that kind of movement featured a lot.
06:38 Just because that's the type of melody
06:40 that really kind of gets to me.
06:41 It gets into my heart and my soul a little bit.
06:43 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:44 OK.
06:45 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:47 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:50 And then from the A flat to the G--
07:01 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:05 --some more half-step resolutions
07:06 that are really--
07:07 some really potential beauty.
07:08 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:11 Get the G to the F sharp there, or the E.
07:15 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:18 Right?
07:18 Or--
07:19 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:22 Because this is a half-step chord movement,
07:25 all the scalar things are going to also sound beautiful
07:27 just resolving down a half-step.
07:29 So record these changes for yourself,
07:33 either on your phone or you've got a multi-track situation.
07:36 Lay those down and just experiment
07:38 with weaving some melodies to those.
07:39 Plenty of scale choices, but use your ear, too.
07:43 Just maybe try to forget some of the intellectual properties
07:46 and let your ear guide you.
07:48 Go on a single string and--
07:49 [GUITAR PLAYING]
08:11 You'll certainly recognize a recurring theme
08:13 through all these lessons in that I'm--
08:15 as aware as I am of all the scalar,
08:18 be it pentatonics or regular scales,
08:20 I'm aware of those choices.
08:21 But really, the underlying guideposts, so to speak,
08:27 are really knowing where those chord tones are
08:29 and then anticipating where a nice, subtle voice-leading
08:33 change might occur.
08:35 So it may seem like a bit of work,
08:36 but it's not so much theory.
08:38 It's just some basic knowledge of really
08:41 kind of getting under your finger some of the basic chord
08:44 shapes and realizing what those chord tones are.
08:49 It's handy if you can name them.
08:51 Even if it's just visual, that's OK, too,
08:53 because eventually it's just all going to be about your ear
08:55 the more you do this.
08:56 But knowing in G major 7, you've got G, B, D, F sharp,
09:01 and being able to kind of get to those in different places
09:04 on the neck is invaluable.
09:06 Even if it's just a few sections at first,
09:11 if you know where that B flat is--
09:15 because as we all may be guilty of, we learn scales,
09:20 and we learn all the different positions.
09:21 But when it gets down to making music,
09:24 those notes aren't always going to sound great.
09:27 If you're on that G major 7 and you're just--
09:31 well, it's right.
09:32 It's in the scale.
09:34 Unless you know where to go with that.
09:37 But that all relates to where those chord tones are,
09:39 because it's about tension and resolution.
09:41 [GUITAR PLAYING]
09:44 But without that intention, it can just
09:46 sound like you're just meandering
09:48 and without direction.
09:49 So the chord tone awareness is just kind of paramount
09:53 to really sounding musical and having direction and intent
09:58 in your lines.
09:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:03 (upbeat music)
10:05 you