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sound clips of these examples
for the bottom interval. The chord’s top
interval (C#–F#) remains a perfect fourth.
Work your way slowly up the neck,
checking each chord carefully and listening to its edgy sound. When you reach the
penultimate voicing (D–G–C#) at the 12th
position, you’ll again find a new fingering. This time the augmented fourth is the
higher of the two intervals. Finish up with
the last form and then descend, strumming each form on the return journey. Try
occasionally plucking the open 6th string
to create an E drone against these descending chords. This will help you orient these
voicings within the parent tonality.
Fig. 2 shows the three grips we just
generated by stacking fourths in E Dorian
on string set 4–3– 2. In this example, we’re
just visualizing the shapes. If you play them
back to back, they’ll sound peculiar. Yet
in a tonal context—that is, placed in their
proper positions as dictated by the scale—
these forms sound righteous. The first grid
shows a pair of perfect fourths. The second
is composed of an augmented fourth in the
bottom and a perfect fourth on top. That
relationship is flipped in the third grip,
Ambiguous yet versatile, quartal voicings
have the potential to greatly expand your
harmonic palette.
which consists of a perfect fourth topped by
an augmented fourth.
Fig. 3 gives us an opportunity to put
our newfound knowledge to work. Pick a
moderate tempo and play this phrase about
10 times. It might take a few passes to
acclimate to the sound of quartal harmony,
but once your ear settles in, the effect can
be hypnotic. If you have a looper, grab the
four-bar section and then try jamming in E
Dorian on top of the changes.
Let’s see what happens when we try
a different tonality and string set. Fig. 4
shows a set of quartal voicings derived
from A Mixolydian (A–B–C#–D–E–F#–G)
and played on string set 3–2– 1. Once
again, calibrate your ear by playing the
lowest note in each voicing, starting with A
on the 3rd string and ascending one octave
through A Mixolydian.
Then carefully work through the three-note voicings, absorbing both their sound and
shape. You’ll find three forms when you do
this, and they’re shown in Fig. 5. Study them
and identify the combinations of perfect and
augmented fourths lurking in each grip. It
bears repeating: Played back to back, these
forms sound downright bizarre—at least to
my ears. But when you put them in a tonal
context—as in the funky Fig. 6—you’re
rewarded with beautiful harmonic textures.
We’ll continue exploring quartal harmony in the next lesson. Meanwhile, see if you
can create some grooves of your own using
the E Dorian or A Mixolydian voicings
we’ve generated so far. If you find something you’re happy with, be sure to record it
or loop it or teach it to a friend so you can
start soloing on top of the progression in
the corresponding mode.
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44 &## oeoeoe
Fig. 4
oeoeoe
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Fig. 5
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Fig. 6
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44 &## oeoeoe oeoeoe ‰ oeoeoe oeoeoe ‰ oeoeoe oeoeoe oeoeoe oeoeoe OE
oeoeoe oeoeoe ‰ oeoeoe oeoeoe ‰ oeoeoeJ ‰ oeoeoe oeoeoe ‰
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