Modern Band: Chart Notation Guide

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Merilyn Gray
5 years ago
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1 At the top of each lead sheet, you ll fi nd information on the song s key (in this case, A major), tempo (90 BPM), chords, and song structure. You ll see the chords listed with a letter name and a roman numeral the roman numeral indicates the scale degree the chord is built on. Capitalized numerals indicate a major chord, and lowercase numerals indicate a minor chord. In the key of A major, A is I, Bm is ii, C#m is iii, and so on. The chords used in Cheap Thrills are A major (I), D major (IV), E major (V), and F# minor (vi).

2 GUITAR In the center of the page you ll see chord diagrams for the four chords used in the song, in the order in which they re played. Chord diagrams appear frequently in songbook notation, but if you ve never seen them before, they represent a section of the guitar fretboard. The horizontal lines are the frets and the vertical lines are the strings, just as they appear on the guitar. The x s and o s above the diagrams show which open (non-fretted) strings are meant to be deadened (x) and which are meant to be played (o). The dark bubbles on top of the vertical lines indicate where your fret-hand fi ngers should be placed, and the numbers inside those bubbles show which fi nger to use (1 being your index fi nger, 3 being your ring fi nger). In this case, three out of the four chords shown are open chords (D, A, and E). The F# minor chord, however, is a barre chord: The number 2 fl oating just to the left of the diagram identifi es which fret is barred. Right below the diagrams are two measures with repeat symbols, to indicate that the chord pattern is repeated throughout the song. Each quarter note is notated with a slash. Notice where the chord diagrams are placed in relation to the slash marks; this tells you how long a given chord should be played. In this case, each chord gets two beats.

ICONIC NOTATION The Iconic Notation shows notation for the strumming pattern along with a diagram for the scale to use when soloing.

In this case, you strum on beat 1, the a of 1, beat 2, the and of 2, beat 3, and so on.

As in the chord diagram, the numbers on each bubble show which fi nger to use to play that note. The lowest root of the scale is the note furthest to the left, and the scale ascends towards the right.

3 ICONIC NOTATION The Iconic Notation shows notation for the strumming pattern along with a diagram for the scale to use when soloing. The strumming pattern shows sixteenth-note beat divisions of 1, e, + (pronounced and ), a. The beat divisions in black show where you should strum; the ones in gray serve as rests. In this case, you strum on beat 1, the a of 1, beat 2, the and of 2, beat 3, and so on. The Solo Scale diagram is similar to the chord diagrams shown above but in this case, it s used to illustrate an F# minor scale. As in the chord diagram, the numbers on each bubble show which fi nger to use to play that note. The lowest root of the scale is the note furthest to the left, and the scale ascends towards the right. The blackened bubbles show where the root note (F#) appears in the scale. Use this scale when improvising a solo while playing Cheap Thrills. STANDARD NOTATION To the right of the Iconic Notation is the Standard Notation for the strumming pattern. This part is a little self-explanatory the notes here feature the same kind of common notation found on sheet music. If you ve only read guitar tablature up until now, this shows the actual notes you re playing when strumming the chords listed above. Similarly, the notes in the Solo Scale section make up an F# minor pentatonic scale, to be used when improvising a solo over Cheap Thrills.

KEYBOARD On the keyboard chart, the chords are shown in visual diagrams over two standard notation measures with repeat symbols, showing that the pattern is meant to be repeated throughout the song.

1st inversion and 2nd inversion in parentheses refer to which note is lowest in the chord.

4 KEYBOARD On the keyboard chart, the chords are shown in visual diagrams over two standard notation measures with repeat symbols, showing that the pattern is meant to be repeated throughout the song. For each chord diagram, the notes that belong to the chord appear in gray. (F# minor consists of F#, A, and C#, D major consists of D, F#, and A, etc.) The root note of each chord is labeled. 1st inversion and 2nd inversion in parentheses refer to which note is lowest in the chord. The slashes in the measures indicate quarter notes, and the placement of the chord diagrams above the slashes shows how long those chords should be played. In this case, each chord gets two beats. ICONIC NOTATION At the bottom of the page, the song s underlying rhythm is presented in both iconic notation and standard notation. The diagram under Iconic Notation shows the rhythm pattern that keyboardists can comp play as accompaniment throughout the song. Each vertical section matches up to the beat divisions labeled below, of 1, e, + (pronounced and ), a. The diagram is divided in half horizontally to show the right hand on top and the left hand on the bottom. The numbered bubbles that fall within the vertical sections show the fi ngering meant to be applied to the chords above. In this case, the right-hand notation specifi es that each of the chords should be played with a 1, 3, 5 fi ngering on beat 1, the a of beat 1, beat 2, the and of beat 2, beat 3, and so on. In the left-hand notation, the number 2 inside the bubbles means that you should use your second fi nger to play the root note that corresponds to each of the chords. They fall on the same beats as the notes in the right hand. The Solo Scale is more straightforward: The notes named on the keyboard illustrate the F# minor scale, meant to be used when soloing.

5 STANDARD NOTATION Moving over to the Standard Notation on the right, the Verse Pattern offers standard notation of the notes shown in the chord diagrams above and the rhythm in which they re intended to be played. Below, the solo scale is also depicted in standard notation.

6 ICONIC NOTATION DRUMS The drum chart fi rst shows a diagram of Iconic Notation, featuring a grid of the beats in a measure subdivided into 1, e, + (pronounced and ), a. Whenever a symbol appears above a particular subdivision, the drum symbolized should be played. In this case, the kick drum plays on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4. The snare is plays on the a of beat 1, the and of beat 2, the a of beat 3, and the and of beat 4. STANDARD NOTATION At the bottom of the page, the same rhythm is presented in standard notation. In standard drum set notation, a note in the fi rst space from the bottom on the staff indicates a beat on the kick drum, and a note in the third space from the bottom on the staff indicates a beat on the snare drum.

7 BASS On the bass chart, the notes to be played on the bass are shown in visual diagrams meant to represent the fretboard on a bass. The horizontal lines indicate the frets and the vertical lines indicate the strings, just as they appear on the instrument. The x s and o s above the diagrams show which non-fretted strings are meant to be deadened (x) and which are meant to be played (o). The black bubble on the vertical line in the F# diagram shows the fret where the F# note is played. The D, A, and E notes are open, meaning that they can be played on the strings tuned to those notes without needing to fret the neck. Below the diagrams are two standard notation measures with repeat signs, indicating that the pattern shown is meant to be repeated throughout the song. The slash marks indicate the quarter notes in each measure. The placement of the diagrams above the slash marks indicates how long a given note should be played. In this case, each note is played for two beats. ICONIC NOTATION At the bottom of the page, the song s underlying rhythm is presented in both iconic notation and standard notation. The Iconic Notation shows the beat subdivided into 1, e, + (pronounced and ), a below a solid line with black bubbles on it, lined up with certain subdivisions. The placement of those bubbles indicates on which beats in the measure you play the notes depicted above. In this case, an F# is meant to be played on beat 1, the a of beat 1, and beat 2. A D is meant to be played on beat 3, the a of beat 3, and beat 4. Now, repeat that same rhythmic pattern but this time with A and E. The whole pattern together is the full bass part.

8 STANDARD NOTATION The Solo Scale uses the same visual diagram as above to show the notes that belong to the F# minor scale. The lowest note of the scale is furthest to the left, and the scale ascends toward the right. The numbers in the bubbles indicate which fi ngers are to be used to play each note of the scale. The blackened bubbles show where the root of the scale (F#) appears. To the right of the diagram, you ll see 2 fr., indicating the fret on which the scale begins. Use these notes when improvising a solo over Cheap Thrills. To the right, both staffs of the Standard Notation show the same rhythm and solo scale notes as depicted in the Iconic Notation.

Rhythm. Chords. Play these three chords in the following pattern of 12 bars.

Rhythm. Chords. Play these three chords in the following pattern of 12 bars. This is a very short, brief, inadequate, introduction to playing blues on a guitar. Shown is a twelve bar blues in A because it's easy to get started. Have fun! Rhythm You've heard this rhythm before: