“BO DIDDLEY BEAT” GUIDE TONES DRILL
This issue’s guitar exercise illustrates a great way to learn your guide tones. The overall rhythm here comes from the “Bo Diddley beat,” a two-measure phrase associated with rock music pioneer Bo Diddley. After a while, this drill will do you a few favors—for one, you’ll be drilling a great rhythm pattern that you can put to use in any number of settings. You’ll also improve the speed with which you can “name” the guide tones for any given chord, which can be a real brain-buster if you aren’t used to doing this. And perhaps best of all, if you push yourself hard enough, you’ll start to recognize where these different notes fall on the fretboard. Hear audio example.



The object is to strum full chords in the first measure of each phrase (on beat one, the and of two, and beat four), and follow them up with that chord’s guide tones (the third and seventh notes of the chord) on beats two and three of the following measure. The chords I’ve used here follow a simple I–IV–V–I pattern. Each chord shown is a dominant-seven chord, which means the guide tones will be the major third and flatted seventh. For example, for the E7 in measures 1 and 2, the guide tones will be G# (the major third of E) and D (the flatted seventh). You can play these guide tones anywhere you like on the fretboard, and in any order.

For more about what makes these notes important (and how to find them for other chords), be sure to check out “Guide Tones Lesson.” For more fun with rhythm patterns, there’s also “Eleven Great 4/4 Rhythm Patterns.” Find both articles online this month at AcousticGuitar.com.

FEATURE LESSON
THE FINGERPICKING STYLE OF REVEREND GARY DAVIS
Ernie Hawkins delves into Davis’s fingerpicking approach to blues, gospel, and 1920s jazz. With audio and links to video. [More]

THE BASICS
ELEVEN GREAT 4/4 RHYTHM PATTERNS
Learn to wield the shuffle, boom-chuck, Bo Diddley beat, and other classic rhythm figures in 4/4 time. With audio. [More]

WOODSHED
GUIDE TONES LESSON
Boil chord sounds down to their most important notes for minimalist rhythm and lyrical leads. With audio. [More]

PRIVATE LESSON
TYLER GRANT
The 2008 Winfield flatpicking champion traces part of his winning style to classical training. With audio examples and the Lick of the Month. [More]

ROLANDWHITE.COM RELEASES NEW CLARENCE WHITE BOOK
RolandWhite.com, the eponymous online purveyor of all manner of bluegrass-related instructional materials, is currently selling The Essential Clarence White: Bluegrass Guitar Leads. The book features 14 songs in notation and tablature, instructional text, and a biography section (with photos), and comes with two CDs (one of which includes up-close CD-ROM footage of Clarence playing “Soldier’s Joy” and “The Crawdad Song”). rolandwhite.com

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