Once upon a time, I found this grid of I-IV-V variations and added many of my own. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand “why” the changes occur as they do. Solo along using one line for backup and another for soloing. Yes, some of these are severely twisted. Pick out the ones that sound best and stick em in your bag of tricks. The idea is to just play - don’t think. Just play….
blueschord changes
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Bob and Gerd Leonhard are brilliant. Below is just another of many reasons:
1. Songs
This is one thing Clive Davis has right. How you play, how you sing, how you look…they’re all secondary to the TUNES!
If you want to reinvent the form, you’d better be REALLY talented. Like Freddy Mercury with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Or realize that the odds of breaking big via radio/video airplay are almost nil. And that you’re going to have to slug it out via alternative marketing methods, i.e. word of mouth/playing live, etc.
For those of you not reinventing the form, STUDY the great songs of yore. Listen to those early Beatle albums. Don’t take too long to get to the chorus. Insert a bridge. Have more than one chord in the verse. And write memorable words, those that convey a mental image and EMOTION! The key isn’t to test the limits, but to work within the form and make it your own.
That’s what you do if you want a hit. But, hits are harder to come by and mean less than they have in decades. So, if you’re breaking the mold, inventing your own format, before you go too deep into yourself, play your songs for a bunch of people. Friends, other musicians. And tell them to tell you the truth. If their eyes bug out and they start foaming at the mouth, you’ll know you’ve got something. If not… Well, it’s never too early to get on the harsh rejection pathway. But PLEASE, realize that there’s a chance you’re on the wrong tack, and your music is just too out there, or you suck. Don’t blame it on the audience. That’s the bane of the MySpace wannabe. The people whose music is just not “understood”. It takes talent to make it. And most people don’t have it. If you don’t, GIVE UP! There are other ways to direct your passion about music. You can help OTHERS with talent. By marketing their music and maybe promoting their concerts. As for saying your mother likes it, and your girlfriend… People are afraid to tell you the truth. Many people on “American Idol” truly don’t know they suck. So, enter a talent show early, find someone who you know to be honest. DO NOT LABOR IN OBSCURITY BELIEVING YOU’RE GOD’S GIFT TO MUSIC UNLESS YOU TRULY DO NOT CARE IF ANYBODY EVER LISTENS TO YOU! And, if this is true, you’re not really an artist. There isn’t an artist who’s ever lived who hasn’t wanted more people to be exposed to his music.
2. Production
Okay, you’ve got the tunes. Now you’ve got to make demos. This comes LONG BEFORE the time to make an album. If you don’t own a computer and know how to record your own songs then you’re not serious. You’re another Lindsay Lohan. Artistry and recording are now intertwined. The computer/Pro Tools/Logic are all part of the process. Even if you end up hiring a big name producer, familiarity with the means of production will serve you well in the studio. Your chance of getting what you truly want will be improved. And, you’ll be aware of the POSSIBILITIES!
The song is the star. So, as long as the instruments are in tune and the vocalist is too, that should be enough for anybody with ears to recognize your talent. DON’T spend eons getting the sound right. Don’t spend time and money getting famous players to perform. These are DEMOS! As in DEMONSTRATIONS! Write more songs, don’t polish to perfection what you’ve already got.
3. Label
Don’t sign with a major label unless you write the kind of music that’s played on Top Forty radio.
Don’t know what Top Forty radio is? Start reading hitsdailydouble.com. Look at the “Billboard” charts. If you’re a sensitive singer/songwriter, your odds of making it on KIIS in L.A. are just about nil. Oh, it can HAPPEN, but at WHAT COST? Isn’t James Blunt on the verge of becoming a joke? He’s got no cred. He’s someone the girls like today and will forget tomorrow. Unless he releases another album JUST AS GOOD! Which sounds JUST LIKE THE FIRST ONE! Which is artistic death. So, are you into the money or the artistry? If the latter, beware of signing with a major label. Their paradigm ONLY works if they can get you on Top Forty radio and television. If you don’t listen to these stations or watch those channels do you want to appear on them? And, signing to a major is like being a member of a Mafia family. You can’t say no. You’ve got to play ball, do what they say, or you’re dead.
If you’re pretty, if you have a good voice (although with auto-tune this is hardly necessary anymore), if you want to party at discos with Paris Hilton and you’re NOT signed to a major label, you’re missing the boat. This is what the majors do. Massage you into a product, fodder for the machine. They like it best when THEY’RE the artist and you just play along.
If you’re a rapper… Well, live business is shit. And the majors pay hefty advances. And, Top Forty is urban. So, you BELONG on the major label. Hopefully with someone who’ll put other rappers on your tracks to help break you.
But, if you’re an artist who doesn’t fit the Top Forty radio paradigm ABSOLUTELY DO NOT SIGN WITH A MAJOR! You won’t have success and you’ll soon be at a day job. I know, I know, you can’t pay the rent. You want the advance. Sorry, if you can’t find a way to make it all work now, you’re never going to succeed big time. It’s a HARD LIFE for a musical artist. It’s ALL ABOUT THE STRUGGLE! Work that day job. Make that music. And play live EVERYWHERE!
That’s the indie label paradigm. Free music on the Web and live performance.
As for the indie label…
Sure, for discs make a deal. But get a good lawyer. Own your masters. Have a brief license period. DON’T GIVE SOME PRICK CONTROL FOR ALMOST NO MONEY! If they want all the rights for no bread you don’t want to be in business with them. You’re just gonna get fucked. Believe me, if they want you badly enough, they’ll make a deal on your terms.
But better yet… Don’t sign with ANYBODY! Don’t even worry about making a deal with iTunes. Just give the music away on your Website and build community.
4. Selling
If you’re on the major, good luck. You’re on a magic carpet ride. Either they’re going to hate the record you make and bury it or hype you to high heaven.
But if you’re an indie. If you’re doing it alone. Your music has to sell you. Plain and simple.
A street team doesn’t sell you. Pushiness doesn’t sell you. Great music sells you.
Once again, just about everybody sucks. We’re all looking for good things. When we find them, we tell EVERYBODY! It’s human nature. THIS is the game. Read “The Tipping Point” for instruction (and buy Don Passman’s “All You Need To Know About The Music Business” too, if you haven’t read it, you’re operating with one hand behind your back). You’ve got to get your music to connectors, TASTEMAKERS! But now, on the Web, EVERYBODY’S A TASTEMAKER! Give away MP3s on your Website and TELL people they’re free to e-mail/IM/burn/exchange them. Say they’ve got PERMISSION!
Put a feedback e-mail address on your site. And answer EACH AND EVERY LETTER! If you don’t have time to do this, you’re not gonna make it! You never know who’s rich and will buy you gear, who’s gonna play your music at the high school dance, who’s gonna get you a gig. DON’T TURN PEOPLE AWAY! Indie music is now cottage industry. It’s not us versus them, it’s WE! As in WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! You’re establishing a family. You won’t have to ASK people to help you out, they’ll OFFER! If they’re not, you’re just not good enough.
It’s all about the slow build now. It’s about coolness. You can be famous in a day with today’s marketing tools, but be nobody tomorrow. So GO SLOW! Don’t take every hype opportunity available. If it’s not about the MUSIC, say NO!
5. Play Live
Music without live performance is like a relationship without sex. It’s missing a core element.
Be good from the very first gig. That doesn’t mean you’ve got to have choreographed dance steps, it means you’ve got to emit PASSION! That’s the number one thing that translates on stage. Fuck the clothes. In most small venues the sound sucks. But people can tell when you play like you mean it.
Play wherever and whenever you can. If you make just one convert opening for somebody else, that person could be the link to your success.
After you start getting some traction, focus on the sound. Buy better equipment. Get rid of the clams. It’s not about perfection, otherwise nobody would have ever liked the Replacements. But it is about professionalism. Practice. Rehearse. Your act should be like a well-oiled machine. Stiffness, stage fright should be no part of it.
Give away and sell stuff at EVERY GIG! Even the most minor one.
Whether it be just a postcard, with your Web address. Give a way for interested people to get MORE!
And merch. Sell t-shirts. But they can’t look HANDMADE! They’ve got to be every bit as professional as the ones the Stones sell. Or INTENTIONALLY unprofessional. And at first they must be CHEAP! Ten bucks. You want people WEARING THEM!
6. Money
The major labels have it all fucked up. They’re charging up front.
You’ve got to charge at the end, where there’s REAL MONEY! Build your community, build your fanbase. Get people involved. Accumulate BELIEVERS! Once you’ve got this group, they’ll give you ALL THEIR MONEY! They’ll buy the CD even if they’ve already downloaded the tunes P2P, as a badge of honor, as an emblem of BELONGING! They’ll pay for every gig, they’ll buy merch, because we ALL WANT TO BELONG AND EVIDENCE OUR MEMBERSHIP!
7. Conclusion
It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. If you’re looking at shortcuts, you’re doing it wrong. It’s about slow and steady. It’s not about taking a few years off before law school. It’s about dedication, it’s about no fallback position.
And you’ll know if you’re on the road. Because you’ll have a coterie of people who won’t LET you quit. Their lives will be ruined if they don’t have you around anymore. It’s NATURAL to want to give up along the way, but you shouldn’t unless EVERYBODY who knows your music tells you to.
Music is not a diversion. It’s life itself.
You know if you’ve got it. If you do, that’s half the battle. The other half is dedication. You’ve got to want it more than anything. You’ve got to be willing to sacrifice relationships, real estate, remuneration, all in the desire to be part of the circus and MAKE IT!
Most people give up.
Then again, as stated above, most people just don’t have it.
But some do. And believe me, for those talented folk there’s a whole world of listeners out there just DYING to hear their material.
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Musicians, FREE YOUR MUSIC!!! This means literally and figuratively. Modern copyright laws and DRM (Digital Rights Management) bind the artist more than ever. Free music means not only offering digital music free of charge and unrestricted from duplication in non-commercial forms. However, if listeners derive pleasure from the music, they should always be encouraged to donate to the artist. But of course, if the music is being used in a commercial form (remix or sync context), there should be a mechanism in place to compensate the artist BUT, these situations should be encouraged by the labels.
The Album format is dead. There was a measurement of time before the advent of the internet. However, at the current rate of innovation, time is an even more precious commodity as attention spans shorten. The past practice of one album release by an artist every 2 years is suicide for any indie. Personally, I’d advocate a 2-3 song release every 4-6 months. This puts the artist in closer contact with their fans because of its greater frequency. It reduces expenses for the artist experimenting in a particular musical direction. If the new sound is rejected by fans, there’s not as much time and money wasted. There’s greater freedom to experiment with new themes, sounds, styles without much significant investment. Plus more frequent releases provide a better picture of an artist’s musical growth over time. With more ala carte download services coming online, the 10-12 song album format is becoming irrelevant. Although I don’t like the bigger emphasis on “singles” the breakdown of traditional formats is a step in the right direction. However, artists should still be encouraged to put out “bodies of art” or “clusters” of material.
CDs are also dead. MP3 players, especially the IPod, are now the player of choice for the most important demographic and as such, digital music is king. Owning music is over and so should buying it be.
We are all standing on the shoulders of giants. No style, song or singer ever developed in vacuum. All music is the product of everything else before it. Things must be borrowed in order to create something new. We encourage and promote derivative works made from our releases. Whether it’s a guitar lick, a vocal hook or a remix version of a complete song, new art from old keeps the art alive. If these are done in the name of creation and development, there should be NO restriction. But, if the “adaptor” receives compensation for the new work, then the “adaptee” should, in part, be compensated for their contribution.
People, make ake money where the money is! Music fans are the lifeblood of the art. But, for too long they’ve been preyed upon as the sustainers of the music industry because the music had become “the product”. However, if you remove the music as a thing and think of it as more of a marketing device, you empower the artist and simplify the business plan. The small money is in live performance and merchandising. The BIG money is in sync licensing and strategic partnerships. Envision a record label as more of a strategic partnership between artists to create more value for themselves because of the collective catalog. In having one unified point of purchase, the catalog increases in value because of its proximity to teach other. This concept is almost like a music “co-op”.
What is even more liberating about this concept is that artists can be encourage to adopt a B2B mindset when it comes to servicing their “business” clients in the form of licensing while offering consumer music free of charge.
Here’s how this “free music” scenario may turn out for one artist.
In speaking with my friend the songwriter, we discussed the success of his last album selling it off the stage at shows. Although he loves to play gigs, he has primarily done in order to connect with more new fans and sell cds to sustain his career. With that said, the numbers fell like this:
$1000 - studio time $1500 - cd replication and printing
His album has been out for 3 years and he has sold 600 copies at $10 apiece out of an original pressing of 1000 units.
So this album, so far has made a net profit of $6000 MINUS the $2500 in costs for a grand total of $3500.
I put it to him like this - if we take a modest number of internet listeners - for sake of argument we’ll say 5000. Let’s say that only 14% of those listeners chose to pay only half the suggested price for his new cd according to the free music philosophy. That means that only 700 of those 5000 new listeners chose to pay $5 for music that they loved which made the artist the same $3500 he made on his last album.
But now his music has 5000 NEW FANS and a monster mailing list on which he can market his merchandise, his fan club, his tour and his future albums. Since he knows these people already dug his music, logic would dictate that he will get a greater return percentage on his next album - maybe 25% will then pay that same $5 next time around!
Also, there is something else to be noted here: since free music encourages listeners to copy this music and distribute it to their friends (encourage send to a friend section - incentive) there’s even more people listening!
Here’s a further break-even scenario using this method using this artists same timeframe:
5000 users over 3 years = 139 downloads per month 14% purchase rate each month over 3 years = $97.22 how many people need to buy this album at $5 apiece? Just 19
(According to other data, this number has been as high as $9 per release!)
Now this is all just to achieve the same monetary result.
-at
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Being a musician and a martial artist most of my life, the corrolations between the two disciplines have been quite obvious:
both are based on influence, intent and mechanics. As a martial artist begins his/her study, focus is on technique and mechanics - delivery and position of punches and correct stance work as in music things like embouchure and scale understanding are important, but only the beginning and serve as the foundation blocks of expression.
The goal in both is for the art to meld with the body and mind - or to have the art serve the physical form as a true extension of expression - in a sense to begin with form and to evolve into a formless art. To save time, i’ll speak of both musical study and martial arts proficiency as “art” conjunctively. Once mechanics are studied, they must be put in their proper place which is where intent is very important. Intent is the “grand mindset” in art study - it is the psychology of how the art and mechanics will be used. Influence is the guide to which we yield when making artistic choices.
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In recent article in the Nashville-based trade magazine MusicRow, Michael Milom, Esq., an entertainment attorney with Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC, observes a “new business model” that the majors and some larger independent labels are implementing to increase their profitability.
In his article, “The Impact of New Business Models on Artists,” Milom identifies five contract strategies now being employed by labels for the purpose of increasing and diversifying label revenue sources, and three contract strategies being employed to increase label profitability from existing revenue sources. Unfortunately, all of these new contract strategies come at the expense of new artists. I’ve done my best to summarize some of Milom’s major points, below:
1. Labels are requiring that they own and control artists’ “official websites” and labels may generate income by selling advertising on the artists’ official websites.
Milon adds that labels may also require from artists that the labels be permitted to license and sell label-created merchandise on official artist websites. But, he warns, if and how the artists will participate in these revenue streams is up for negotiation, not a given. Finally, Milon points out that just a few years ago, labels would have been prohibited from such activities in most recording contracts.
2. Labels are requiring control over the licensing of album cover artwork.
Specifically, the labels are requiring that they control licensing for artwork that incorporates the artists’ names and likenesses. Milon points out that the net revenue from licensing deals, which was traditionally a 50-50 split between the label and artist, can now dip to as low as 12 percent for new artists.
3. Labels are requiring that artists pay a portion of their touring and/or merchandise revenue to the record company.
Milon says that the amount of the artists’ touring and/or merchandise revenue that labels are now requiring to participate in “varies widely.” However, he reminds us that this is a new contractual requirement that “significantly reduces a source of income that has previously belonged solely to the artist.”
4. Labels are increasing the market for authorized electronic sales and similar electronic revenue sources such as subscription music services - but are decreasing the revenue share for artists.
Milon states that the artists’ revenue share in these cases is often significantly lower than revenue “derived from a comparable sale in CD configuration.” He also states that “many contracts still apply deductions for packaging, free goods and returns reserves in calculating an artist’s royalties from electronic sales even though there are no packaging costs incurred, no free goods offered or return rights granted by the company or its licensee in connection with those sales.”
5. Labels are requiring artists to create new products for the mobile communications market, but with no financial renumeration to the artist.
Milon notes that these products are frequently being used for what labels are considering “promotional purposes” and no royalties are paid to the artists. These products include “voice tones,” “ring backs” and “electronic wallpaper for computers.” The net result: artists are not gaining revenue from this quickly expanding market.
6. Labels are increasing the percentage of record company expenditures that are recoupable from artist.
Milon warns that labels are both increasing percentages of traditional recoupments as well as attempting to “shift other costs traditionally borne by the label to the artist’s side of the ledger.”
QUESTION: Can artists survive this new record label business model?
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Your at the jam and someone calls out the infamous “Jam in E”. Ugh. Here comes your big solo - you have E, you have E7 - where do you go from there?
One way to add some spice to your solo is to imply chord changes within the single chord. I’m not really going to go into the “whys” or tonal mechanics of how this works so fiddle with these variations and decide which work for you.
Four measures of EMaj7:
EMaj7 | EMaj7 | EMaj7 | EMaj7
variation 1:
G#-7 (relative minor) | C#-7 | F#-7 | B7
variation 2:
EMaj7 | FDim7 | F#-7 / B7 | EMaj7
variation 3:
G#-7 | GDim7 | F#-7 | B7
variation 4 (out there! - use very sparingly at your own peril):
EMaj7 | GDim7 | F#-7 | FDim7
Feel free to mix and match these combinations for variety.
And of course this can be applied to minor keys. These are all I/vi/ii/V straight up and with tritone subs in the major key. Minor keys also have their own diatonic movements and substitutions that relate to the key center.
-at
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As bass players, we live our lives in the chromatic realm when walking a line from one chord to another - especially in jazz and blues. Let’s apply this rationale to soloing over a simple I-vi-ii-V change:
CMaj7 - AMin7 - DMin7 - G7
Try imposing a Diminished 7 chord chromatically on your way to the iiMin7 chord as follows:
Measure 1: CMaj7
Measure 2: EbDim7
Measure 3: DMin7
This is the typical tritone substitution. However, you can also apply a Dim7 chord chromatically from the other direction:
Measure 1: CMaj7
Measure 2: DbDim7
Measure 3: DMin7
This creates a little more tension than the triton sub but can add an “out” flavor to these basic changes.
As usual, do whats sounds good and tasteful. Sometimes only one or two notes are necessary to create that tension on your way to the ii chord.
-at
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It isn’t as complex as it sounds….really.
Take a simple jazz/blues change - the I chord to the IV in C.
CMaj7 (C-E-G-B) to FMaj7 (F-A-C-E) becomes:
CMaj7 to C#Aug (C#-F-A) to FMaj7
This creates an ascending line of C-C#-D, landing on the 6th of F which makes for a hip sounding endpoint to your line.
When soloing, try any combination of ascending or descending scales or arpeggios in order to outline these chords.
Luckily, when playing a bass solo in a group, there is minimal chord comping by the other instruments in the band but still, make sure your within the bounds of good taste and not clashing with the song arrangement.
-at
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Ever notice that everybody’s a scumbag?
I guess the reason you die at seventy is because you’ve seen the movie. You realize that America is a scam. Full of slimy hucksters out to make a buck. Shit, you’d think with all the religious zealotry in the States these days we’d have a kinder, gentler nation. Instead, we’ve got a country of duplicitous fucks. And that just sucks.
How do I know this?
I saw Paulie in a police car. Yup, the “Sopranos” is strangely crappy this year. It’s as if they lost the yeast, the key ingredient that makes the whole show rise. I wince at some of the lines. But Paulie in the police car. THAT’S America. Everybody’s on the take. If there’s something in it for them, they’ll look the other way.
We’ve got the label heads saying they’re only doing it for the MUSIC!
And the rip-off artists, like this schmuck Bill Nguyen of Lala.com, saying he’s a FRIEND of the industry.
And a President who believes the law doesn’t apply to him.
Where’s John Lennon when you need him?
I want you to read this article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lala14may14,1,6331647.story, on Lala.com.
“Newsweek” broke Napster. Sure, college students were rabid for the service. But only when it was on the cover of NEWSWEEK did the hoi polloi, the average citizen, say I’VE GOT TO CHECK THIS OUT!
I thought Lala.com was inconsequential until this article came out. On the front page of the Sunday L.A. “Times” Business section. With a big picture. I guarantee you Nguyen and his buddies are laughing TONIGHT! Because a zillion people read about their company and want CDs for $1.49!!!
That’s what Lala’s selling. Oh sure, the discs are used, but hasn’t the industry been telling us for YEARS that CDs are virtually indestructible, that they’ll last almost forever? So, you get this disc you insert it into your computer and VOILA! You’ve got the whole album as files. And you sell said disc to ANOTHER individual, recouping most of your buck and a half investment. Who needs that Russian site with ten cent tracks when you can acquire them LEGALLY for this price.
Yup, it’s the first sale doctrine.
I’ll make it simple for you. Imagine if every time you resold your Toyota the Japanese car company wanted a cut. That wouldn’t fly. Which is why Congress ain’t about to tackle THIS issue. People buy something, they want to be free to do with it what they want. Hell, the American religion isn’t Christianity, but eBay!
Yup, under present law, Lala.com is perfectly legal. Oh sure, the labels got a record rental law passed decades ago, to hinder home taping’s supposed hit upon their business. So, maybe they could get a law passed. But shit, how long would that take? The remaining lifespan of the CD?
But Lala.com doesn’t stand on a legal opinion, that their service is legal, and fuck the labels. They come up with all these crazy reasons why their site is GOOD for the music industry.
Now more people acquiring more music at a lower price is good for the business. But only if those who make and market said music GET PAID!
I read this article and laughed hysterically. Because the labels are fucked. And now, seven years later, they STILL have not got a reasonable online solution. One that cuts the public off at the pass. That doesn’t label people thieves, but gives them essentially no choice BUT to pay.
Oh, the labels could have legalized Napster five odd years ago. But NO, they’d rather sue Hummer Winblad, Napster’s financial foundation, and Bertelsmann, to get mere cents on the dollar. Who’s STEERING THIS SHIP?
In a country with no truth, does it surprise you that the public no longer listens to the windbags? That it does what it wants to?
Music will survive the major labels’ ineptitude. It will flourish.
But if only these guys would speak truth. That they want to milk their cash cow for as long as possible and when the movie ends, when they walk away, they’ll be fucking RICH! THAT’S their end game. Not a newfangled distribution model.
No, I’m not indicting the worker bees.
But those running the operation. Be sure, they only believe in dollars, today. Not music. Not even tomorrow. They’re like heroin addicts looking for their next fix, SAYING they’re interested in getting clean, but having no intention of EVER going to rehab. On their road to O.D.’ing, like every unrehabilitated junkie.
But I don’t like that these Silicon Valley scumbags like Nguyen are just looking for ways to make money off of others’ efforts. Lying on their way to their IPO.
Count me out. Like the rest of the public. Stealing files P2P and leaving BOTH of these entities in the dust.
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