Guide Tones - Monotony or Melodic Mastery

Some of you may have been saying, "Come on, girl! When are you gonna talk about Guide Tones!"

And some of you don't care. So, I may be only speaking to a select few today....

BUT WHO CARES!!!

So guide tones. guide tones.... hmm... Where to begin.

From what I understand, they are the notes that provide stabilization and move the melody forward. So, in a chord, the guide tones would be be the 3rd and 7th usually. I say usually because you can also use the b9th, 11th, b5th, etc... yeah, pretty much anything goes. But most commonly, it's the 3rd and 7th. And because of this, if you use them too often they can make a piece boring. The ear will get used to their movement and start to tune them out.

Here the guide tones are in green. The first red note on the left (F) is the tonic of the chord, and the second is the 5th (C).

They are very common in Jazz and were made popular by guitarists Grant Green, Jim Hall, and pianist Red Garland (so Wikipedia says...).

In this example you can see how the guide tones can switch from chord to chord. Notice how from the first Dm7 to the G7, the F note stays stationary, but it's placement within the chord has changed from bein the 3rd to the 7th. Also note, that the movement between the chords of the notes and their values has only changed by a half step, whole step or not at all - Except in the case of last to chords, where the E note jumps to a G: a range of 3 half steps. (Not the norm, but doable)

If you would like to see a video series about guide tones, I watched this guy's. He's very thorough, but kind of droning and monotone in voice. It amazes me when musicians can sound like a bored accounting teacher or sociology professor. If you have passion in your music, then put it into your voice as you explain things.... PLEASE! For the love of all that is good!!! I had one prof. in college where he was so monotone, I had to pinch myself and slap my face to stay awake in his class!!! I'm NOT KIDDING! I looked like this guy!

Ok, I digress. Here's the video:

As with all things, know that this is a journey. Anytime we face a bump in the road, we can overcome it with a little more umph and, if necessary, help from our friends. Thank you to Mr. Brodbeck for his work on the videos. They did help me understand guide tones.


Remember also, that the use of guide tones is up to your own discretion. You can over use them. Also, I learned in the final video, that just like almost everything in jazz, the rules given are bendable if not totally breakable - SO HAVE FUN! And don't worry about the rules. If it sounds good, DO IT! If not, fix it.

Stay on Target! Stay on Target! You can and will make an absolutely fantastic piece of music. Just keep moving forward!!!