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Gig Essentials

Ever forget to bring a cable or extra strings to practice? Batteries? Tubes? Well hopefully one of your bandmates has your back or practice is over. It’s an inconvenience when this happens at practice, but it’s a disaster if it happens at a gig. Some bar owners will rightfully dock you for time lost. And forget about getting asked back…

To save face (and gig money), be prepared. Have a “trick bag” ready. You can use an old gym bag or backpack to store gig essentials. Just keep it small. Here’s a checklist of things that you should have in it:

  • Duct tape– Jet tape, Quack tape, wonder tool, marital aid-whatever you call it; you gotta bring it. The silver stuff is great for holding down treacherous cables and wind-blown setlists as well as mending straps and broken mic clips. This silver is worth its weight in gold at a gig.

  • Instrument, speaker, and MIDI cables– Packing 2-3 extra instrument and/or MIDI cables is always a good idea. If you have a pedalboard, you might want to include a couple of patch cables.

  • Guitar Picks– If you use picks it’s reassuring to know that you have plenty on hand to flick at the bass player.

  • Extra strings– strings are like postal workers- they can snap at any time. So ALWAYS carry at least 2 complete sets of strings with you. Even if you have a backup guitar.

  • Miscellaneous– Do you use a music/guitar stand, capo, slide, Ebow, etc.? Also, remember to bring a few extra mic clips and a drum key.

  • Basic Tools– Screwdrivers, pliers, string winder, Allen wrenches, etc.

  • Power strips, power cables, and Extension cords– You can’t play power chords without power and…uh…cords. Ensure that your cords are long enough to draw power from all over the stage. A big orange extension cord with a power strip attached should get you through any gig.

  • Batteries and Adapters– Effects pedals, tuners, and wireless units are just some of the electronic toys we carry to shows. And they all need a power source. Bring spare power supplies when possible or at least bring appropriate-sized batteries for backups.

  • Electrical Parts– Don’t forget about your amps! Tubes and fuses can save the day. Be sure to carry components that match the manufacturer’s specifications.

  • a CLEAN change of clothes– be proactive in preventing “wardrobe malfunctions”.(It happens…). And changing out of sweaty stage clothes does wonders for your post-show social life.

Ideally, every band member should have their own “trick bag”.

magic duct tape

THE MAJOR SCALE

 

We are about to learn THE most important scale in all of music:

THE MAJOR SCALE

Why is this scale so important? Well, because the vast majority of music you hear comes directly from it. And when musicians talk about other scales, they still use the Major scale for comparison.

Like all scales, The Major scale has a formula. In other words, it has a specific pattern that it must adhere to. You can measure the Major scale or any scale’s formula by measuring from note to note to note, etc. In music we measure these using half-steps (1 fret) and whole-steps (2 frets). (Later on we’ll experiment with others).

The Major scale uses 7 different notes to produce a “happy” sound. The eighth note is the same as the first, and in traditional theory you should start and end a scale on the same note.

The formula for ALL Major scales is:

major formula

This means that you play a note on any given fret. We’ll call this number (1), then go up a whole step to land on number (2). Count up another whole step and you end up on number (3). Next count a half-step to reach number (4). Another whole step to find number (5), and another to get to (6). A final whole step will take you to (7). Count up one more half-step to find your octave.

Here is the Major scale formula on your guitar neck:

better-numeric-single-string-major-scale

You can start this formula on any fret or string and play a Major scale. Try a few (make sure to stick with the formula!). Does it sound happy yet? If not try again…it should start sounding like the “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, (Do)” that we all remember from childhood.

We just learned the Major scale up one string. It works fine, but the linear shape requires a lot of movement up and down the neck. But NO WORRIES!!! One of the coolest things about the guitar is the fact that you always have the option to play something with a different fingering. Let’s try a more condensed version of this scale:

one octave maj scale chart

VARIATIONS ON THE MINOR PENTATONIC

VARIATIONS ON THE MINOR  PENTATONIC

In the last lesson we likened 5 note Pentatonic scales to “skeletons” of the original 7 note scales.

This guy represents a 7 note Minor scale. (His name is the Natural Minor Scale– we’ll learn all about him later.)

 

sil-man

 

Here is his 5 note Pentatonic “skeleton”. It’s still the same guy/scale-there’s just less of him.

 

skel-sil-blk

 

Let’s say the guy (Natural Minor scale) contains the notes:        A  B  C  D  E  F  G  (A)

His skeleton uses 5 notes to give the basic form of the scale:   A       C  D  E       G  (A)

SO… Anytime we can use a full 7 note scale, we can always substitute the 5 note pentatonic skeleton.

But what if we tried to go all mad scientist on this poor guy’s skeleton??? What if we added another bone (note) or two? It wouldn’t be too much different from the Pentatonic skeleton, but it would be vastly different from the original guy/ scale…

 

2x-skel

 

Minor Pentatonic is interchangeable with Natural Minor. All the notes agree. But when we add in foreign notes, they aren’t found in the original body scale. These oddball additions are referred to as passing tones. Because they aren’t technically correct, they sometimes have a “brash“ effect. Listeners are quick to pick up on these deviations because they vary from the overall scale and “feel” of a song.

Many styles of music use passing tones. We’ll also learn about other scales incorporating passing tones to create new and unique sounds.

Probably the most commonly used scale that contains passing tones is the “Blues Scale“. The Blues Scale is essentially the Minor Pentatonic with one passing note added per octave. I’ve marked the passing tones with an “X”. Remember to play these! It’s no longer a pentatonic scale because it has more than five notes. Here is the pattern (remember to use the four finger block!):

 

blues_scale_shape

 

Here is the Blues Scale in the Key of X:

What if we try to attach even more bones/notes? We can add notes to the Blues Scale and come up with a scale that doesn’t really have a name. I call it the BWPT (Blues with passing tones):

 

bwpt_scale_shape

 

It’s not as difficult as it first appears. There are only two fingerings to play this scale- index, ring & pinky or index middle and ring. Guitarists like this shape because of it’s symmetry. It is easier to play across the strings if the pattern stays the same. Try this simple exercise using the first three strings:

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