Dictionary: A Major Pentatonic Scale

The A major pentatonic scale is convenient to use for improvising solos and composing melodies over an A major chord progression, especially if you are unsure whether to use the Lydian, Ionian, or Mixolydian mode at any given moment.  It's almost foolproof in that manner.

Modes in A

For larger mode maps:
A Lydian
A Ionian
A Mixolydian
A Dorian
A Aeolian
A Phrygian
A Locrian

See also:
A Major Scale
A Minor Scale

Modes with 3 Sharps

For larger mode maps:
A Ionian
B Dorian
C# Phrygian
D Lydian
E Mixolydian
F# Aeolian
G# Locrian

See also:
A Major Scale
F# Minor Scale

Dictionary: Bbb Chord

The B double-flat major chord sounds suspiciously like the A major chord.

Dictionary: A Chord

If you're looking for a simpler guitar chord chart, check out this entry from July 2007.

Dictionary: Bbb Major Scale

See A major scale.

Dictionary: A Major Scale

From this three-sharp scale, we can derive the modes A Ionian, B Dorian, C# Phrygian, D Lydian, E Mixolydian, F# Aeolian, and G# Locrian.  In the table below, you'll find accompaniment-friendly triads to the left, and chords more suitable for transition (if you're adventurous enough) to the right:

A	F#m	G#dim	Aaug
D	Bm	Dm	Bdim
E	C#m	C#	E#dim

Four #Chords for #Guitar / and for #Keyboard (#Piano, etc.)

Four Chords for #Piano / Four #Chords for #Guitar

Four #Chords for #Guitar / Four Chords for #Piano

Four #Guitar #Chords / Three #Drum #Rudiments

Seven #Modes with Two #Sharps for #Guitar / Four #Keyboard #Chords in B Minor

Four #Keyboard #Chords / 4/4 and 6/8 #Drums

Seven #Modes with Three #Sharps / Four #Chords for the #Guitar

Jam Session 104j with A G D A; C D A (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104j:

• This is another guitar and piano/keyboard/MIDI controller combo.
• In Pro Tools, we use the Grand Piano (or was it Xpand?) plug-in.  In any case, it comes with the program.
  
• There are other piano plug-ins available commercially for RTAS workstations (like Pro Tools), as well as AU (Apple Logic), and VSTi (other).
• On the Web, there are several VSTi plugins for free.
• If you want to use VSTi plug-ins in RTAS or AU software, use a wrapper like FXpansion's plug-in wrapper.
  

For much of the jam session, here are the piano chords used:

   

At one point, a C chord is introduced in the jam session:

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Jam Session 104i, 12-Bar Blues in A (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104i:

We're playing the 12-bar blues in A, a simplified version of it, so that we're playing -

• Four bars of A
• Two bars of D
• Two bars of A
• One bar of E
• One bar of D
• Two bars of A
• Start over again!

I like to have a blues-swing mentality, 12/8 while playing the 12-bar blues:  "One and a two and a three and a four and a..." but a straight 4/4 count:  "One two three four..." or "One and two and three and four and..." could work just fine.

At one point in the jam session, the piano player does some embellishments on his right hand so that the major chords turn into 7th chords:

 

 

The guitar player solos/improvises in A blues, which is a minor scale, but it works over the major chords in the 12-bar blues in A.  Maybe we're culturally wired to appreciate the bluesy dissonance caused by clashing major and minor thirds (C# and C, respectively) in A.

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Jam Session 104h with A D A E (Piano, Guitar)

Here are some show/lesson/jam session notes for Jam Session 104h:

• Jon plays guitar; Ryan plays the piano.
• Okay, it's actually a keyboard.
• And by keyboard, we really mean MIDI controller, connected to a personal computer with a USB cable, using a piano virtual instrument in our digital audio workstation.
  

Piano/keyboard chords:

Guitar chords, tabbed:

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A Major Voicings

If you don't know how to read guitar tab (as computer text), this section of a Wikipedia article may help. This is not an exhaustive tabbing of possible A chords, but will give you an idea of the possibilities:

    A
e|--0----5----5----0-----9----12-----9----12-----0----17--
B|--2----2----5----5----10----10----10----14----14----14--
G|--2----2----6----6-----9-----9-----9----14----14----14--
D|--2----2----7----7-----7----11----11----14----14----14--
A|--0----4----7----0-----------0----12----12-----0----16--
E|-------5----5---------------------------------------17--

Five Part Harmonies with the Open A String

If you don't know how to read guitar tab (as computer text), this section of a Wikipedia article may help.

Today, we're adding a note on the High E string to create exciting voicings up the fretboard.

   A7   D/A  G/A  E/A Aadd9 G/A   Am     A   Dm/A   A7
e|--3----2----3----0----0----7-----0----12----10----12--
B|--2----3----3----5----0----8----10----10----10----14--
G|--2----2----4----4----6----7-----9-----9----10----12--
D|--2----4----5----6----7----9----10----11----12----14--
A|--0----0----0----0----0----0-----0-----0-----0-----0--
E|------------------------------------------------------

Four Part Harmonies with the Open A String

If you don't know how to read guitar tab (as computer text), this section of a Wikipedia article may help.

Today, we're adding a note on the B string to create exciting voicings up the fretboard.

    A   D/A  G/A  E/A Aadd9 G/A   Am     A   Dm/A   A7
e|------------------------------------------------------
B|--2----3----3----5----0----8----10----10----10----14--
G|--2----2----4----4----6----7-----9-----9----10----12--
D|--2----4----5----6----7----9----10----11----12----14--
A|--0----0----0----0----0----0-----0-----0-----0-----0--
E|------------------------------------------------------