Two Sides To Every Story
A lot of people, when they first learn scales, fall into a trap: They're only capable of playing them staright up and down.
Yeah, I know. You really have to think in terms of intervals. It's been years since I practriced scales, but when I was a teenager I used to do things like this: If you're in A Dorian, practice going up a 3rd every time [you switch to the next string], all the way up the neck. It's also important to not think of ascales shapes as being jsut one thing; try to see their modal relationships. One day, practice G Aeolian, thinking: "root, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5 th, minor 6th, minor 7th". The next day, play the sale group of scale shapes, thinking of them as C Dorian, so that every interval's different: "5th, major 6th, minor 7th, root, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th". That would be a good way to keep it alive in your head. I also think if you're just starting, playing scales along one string is helpful. Also, playing 3rds is good. Or you can play 3rds this way [as 10ths], as opposed to right next to each other.
You use 10ths in "Scar Tissue" and some tunes on your first solo record, Niandra LaDes.
Having two notes that are kind of far apart from each other is a fun thing to do. Just playing a full chord is one thing. But if you play this, it creates depth and a kind of rhythm; one string becomes the bass drum, and the other becomes the snare, sort of. It's also a good way of playing by yourself and being entertaining. I think that's probably why I started doing it on acoustic guitar a lot.
When you improvise, you sometimes create chord shapes out of note pairs, moving them along the neck.
I might improvise something using different 6ths - major and minor 6ths on the D and B strings, with some open strings. It's good to be able to go all over the neck [diatonically] and see the way the 6ths change.
One thing I just thought of is to pick a chord shape and play it all the way up the neck, always fitting it into the scale. You could do it with 7th chords, or anything. There, I'm just trying to play some kind of 6th chord.
You implied a C-G-Am progression using 10 ths a moment ago. To further demonstrate how you don't have to just "sit" on the same chord, could you give us a different take on that progression, using the type of Hendrix - like accompaniment you used on certain Blood Sugar songs?
Okay. But I don't do that style as much anymore, just because I don't want to keep repeating myself. Rather than just the "triplets" thing [referring to his treatment of the C chord], lately I've been trying to think of interesting notes to add to chords [referrong to his treatment of G-Am].
I recall an interview where Flea mentioned that when you first joined RHCP you weren't muting the strings a certain way with your frethand when playing single-note funk lines.
Like doing this, as opposed to this? When I was first in the band, I don't think I'd really figured out that type of fret hand damping yet. You learn that a lot from listening to old reggae music. Those guitar players are hardly ever pressing down all the way with their fret hands. It's good for funk, too. It's more of a percussive thing, because the notes don't resonate at all; it's all attack.
When did you get into playing single-note funk lines using a fingerstyle approach?
Like this? I heard Hillel used to do stuff like that; I guess I was just trying to do my own version. Lately, I've been listening to folk music a lot - like Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention. So I've been learning more complex stuff.
How important was it for you to do all that work in your earlier years - to get all the scales and foundation together?
I can't stress enough how important it was. Understanding the way modes work and the way harmony works within the context of modes is infinite; it's not at all listening.
When I was 20 years old, it hit me like a ton of bricks that no music is ever good because of how difficult it is to play, how it looks on the neck, or how complex it is. But I can use knowledge of theory to my advantage; it gives me the ability to assimilate music into my head, break it down, and turn it into something I can use in my own way. People like Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, Igor Stravinsky, or Miles Davis? Their knowledge of theory didn't hurt them in any way. I feel very confident that thinking about music from a theoretical stand point doesn't get in the way of me putting my soul into it.
