B Y A N D Y E L L I S

Money
NOTES
LARRY CARLTON DEMYSTIFIES CHORD-OVER-CHORD SOLOING

B
efore Larry Carlton, session guitarists

were a highly skilled, but anonymous

subset of the 6-string community. A few

studio cats—such as Howard Roberts

and Tommy Tedesco—had developed name recognition

through solo albums and GP columns, but it was Carlton

who first brought star power to the gig. In the ’70s and

early ’80s, his sweet, singing tone and soaring lines in-

spired a generation of pickers to attend music school so

they, too, could play rock and blues with a jazzbo’s fi-

nesse. (Arguably, Carlton’s licks did more than any enroll-

ment drive to entice guitarists to attend

8 0 GUITAR PLAYER JANUARY 2003 guitarplayer.com

 “The happiest moments of

my life,” says Carlton, “are those 90 minutes

onstage.”
 Eureka!
Money Notes “I started playing when I was six,” recalls you see how it contains three notes from G7, as
Carlton. “Country music was popular in the late well as the E triad?
Musician’s Institute and Berklee College of ’50s in Southern California, so on Saturday “For me,” continues Carlton, “this was a
Music.) Armed with his trademark sunburst Gib- night I’d see Jimmy Bryant, Joe Maphis, and Lar- huge breakthrough. I intuitively understood that
son ES-335 and a Sho-Bud volume pedal, Carl- ry Collins performing on TV. In fact, when I was to improvise over G13b9, I could weave an E
ton played on more than 3,000 sessions for nine or ten, I went to Bakersfield to play with arpeggio into a G7 arpeggio [plays Ex. 1c]. I
artists as diverse as Michael Jackson, John Buck Owens on his television show. But before began to explore this idea by playing licks that
Lennon, and Dolly Parton. Carlton’s phrases on long, I got into jazz. I started teaching myself merged these two arpeggios. This technique
Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark, Steely Dan’s Roy- more ‘adult’ chords by studying records by gave me possibilities that didn’t feel or sound
al Scam, Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly, and the Barney Kessel, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and like I was running a scale—pretty exciting stuff
theme for Hill Street Blues epitomize the gold- Johnny Smith. One day, I was walking to junior for a 14-year-old. To get used to the stretches,
en age of studio guitar. high school—no guitar—thinking about a try practicing figures like this [plays Ex. 2a]. To
With his first major-label album, Larry chord I’d learned, G13b9. As I was visualizing hear how these arpeggios work against the
Carlton, the fleet-fingered guitarist began a it on the fretboard, it hit me: This is an E triad harmony, have someone play a G13b9. Or, if
second, parallel career as a solo instrumentalist on top of a G chord. you’re practicing by yourself, include a G13b9
in 1978. These days, he tours and records with “Here’s G13b9 [plays Ex. 1a]. You can see an within the line, like this [plays Ex. 2b]. Part of
the smooth-jazz group Fourplay, cuts his own E triad on the top three strings, and the G7 the challenge is knowing how long to linger on
records—the most recent being Deep Into It chord on strings six, four, and three. Really, the upper triad. That depends on the con-
[Warner Bros.]—and does very selective sessions. it’s a mix of two sounds—G7 and E. Because it’s text—the tempo, the musicians, the audi-
Unlike scale-oriented guitarists, Carlton voiced on the lower strings, the G7 is the foun- ence—and there’s no set formula. Sometimes
typically builds his distinctive solos around dation, while E contains the colorful exten- all you need is a hint of the upper triad, like this
wide interval jumps. In a May ’79 GP cover sions.” [plays Ex. 2c].”
story, he touched on his “chord-over-chord” To fully grasp the concept, strum the two
approach to soloing. Now, more than two voicings in Ex. 1b—a G7 (G, F, B, D or root, b7, Diminished Discoveries
decades later, we take you deep inside his 3, 5,), and a second-inversion E triad (B, E, As the teenage Carlton explored his chord-
intriguing technique. G#). Now compare these voicings sonically over-chord discovery, he began to see a larger
and visually to the previous G13b9 grip. Do pattern. “Soon I realized that that E triad was

Ex. 1a Ex. 1b Ex. 1c


 
= 66-88
G13 9 G7 E G13 9
E G7

       4             
4 1
3 1
1

4  
1 1 2

  
4 2

1 3
2 2 1

 
1 1
1
T T

4 4 4 7 3
T
5 3 5 5 6 3
A
4 4 4 4 3 4
B
3 3 5 3
3 3

Ex. 2a Ex. 2b Ex. 2c

 
G13 9 G13  9 G13 9 

= 80-112
G7 E G7 G13 9 E G7 E
   4

 4                       
4 4

    
2 3 1 3 3 2


3 4 4
2

4

































 3 3
 
3 33 2
3 let ring - - - - - - - - - - - -

7 7 12 7 12 7 12 7 7
T
6 8 8 6 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 6 6
A
7 9 10 7 9 7
B
9 9
8

8 2 GUITAR PLAYER FEBRUARY 2003 guitarplayer.com

 Money Notes Ex. 3a contains a one-octave G diminished play a major triad off of each tone in a Gdim7
scale. To find the E triad lurking within it, think chord [plays Ex. 3b]. This gives you a total of four
part of a G diminished scale,” he details, “which of Ab enharmonically, and you’ll see G#, B, triads: G, Bb, Db, and E [plays Ex. 3c]. In the end,
is built from alternating half- and whole-steps. and E, a first-inversion E triad. it all adds up to a diminished scale, but my brain
Jazz players use this scale to solo over altered- “Once I made the connection to this G di- and eyeballs see it as a series of related triads.
dominant chords, such as the G13b9 we’ve minished scale,” he elaborates, “I saw that it con- “Back in the ’70s, people said I didn’t play lin-
been playing.” tained other triads, as well. In fact, you can ear solos, and that’s because I wasn’t thinking

Ex. 3a Ex. 3b Ex. 3c

G diminished (half-whole) scale Freely Gdim7 Freely G B  D  E

    
H
 4
H H H
     
3 3
         4    
     
 4    4   
3 1 3 2

3 3
4
3
W W W W 3 3 3

3 4 4 7
T
3 5 6 5 3 3 6 6 5
A
3 4 6 3 6 6 3 4 3 6
B
5 6 5 5 5

Magic Hands
Keeping a slightly arched wrist, Carlton attacks the strings over ger, he backs it with the 2nd and 1st fingers for extra strength.
the area between his 335’s humbuckers (F Fig. 1). He stabilizes Another source of bending power is his straight wrist (F Fig. 4).
his picking hand by lightly hooking his middle finger against “I pick hard,” says Carlton, as he wields a small very stiff jazz-
Fig. 2). “I have the claw thing happening down
the first string (F style plectrum (FFig. 5).“In fact, I overplay the instrument. I’ve
there,” he says. “It lets me know where I’m at, but I’d have bet- been squeezing a pick since I was six, and the pressure has curved
ter technique if I held my hand free of the strings.” my index finger (F Fig. 6). At this point, my hands have molded
For his sweet, soulful bends, Carlton wraps his thumb themselves to fit the guitar.” —AE

around the neck (F Fig. 3). When bending a note with his 3rd fin-

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6

8 4 GUITAR PLAYER FEBRUARY 2003 guitarplayer.com PH OTO S : A N DY E L L I S

 Money Notes
about scales. Where someone else might play
Mammoth Tone Brigade
a diminished pattern like this over G13b9 [plays For more than 30 years, says Carlton’s longtime tech, Sammy Sanchez, the guitarist’s
Ex. 4 ], I’d try to work through these triads main squeeze has been his 1968 Gibson ES-335 with stock pickups. Its signal goes
[plays Examples 5a and 5b]. It’s a simple con- into a Sho-Bud volume pedal (modded by Alexander Dumble), a Dunlop CryBaby
cept, and I wind up playing a lot of the same wah, and a Dumble Overdrive Special head. A Shure SM57—
notes as those who favor scales, but my lines
positioned close to the 1x12 Dumble cab’s EVM 12L speaker—feeds the house P.A.
sound different because they’re based on wider
To produce fat, studio-like stereo effects onstage—as well as not alter the the
intervals. Don’t get me wrong—you can get
basic tone of the Dumble—Carlton uses a simple but ingenious setup. First, he close
nice lines from a diminished scale. For exam-
ple, this sounds cool against a G7#9 [plays Ex. mics the Dumble cabinet with a second SM57 routed to channel 1 on a Mackie 1604-
6a]. Yet compare it to this triad-based phrase VLZ Pro mixer stashed in his stage rack. Then, he typically assigns a T.C. Electronic
[plays Ex. 6b], which takes some unexpected 1210 Spatial Expander + Stereo Chorus/Flanger, a T.C. Electronic M2000, and a Roland
twists and turns. I’m constantly working on SDE-3000 Digital Delay to dedicated aux sends and aux returns. This system allows
this diminished stuff, because there’s a lot of mu- Carlton to process a miked speaker tone (rather than a direct guitar
sic in it. John Coltrane—the way he eats up a signal), run stereo effects with a monaural amp, and route his effects in parallel (where
raised 9 chord? I want to know how to do that.” no effect comes before or after any other, as it would in a series setup). Finally, the
mixer’s stereo output is sent to a pair of powered JBL EON P.A. speakers.
Major Realizations Carlton uses D’Addario strings. His 335 sports an EXL140 light top/heavy
“Because I didn’t know any better,” says
bottom set (gauged .010-.052), and his Valley Arts flat-top is strung with EJ26
Ex. 4
acoustic lights (.011-.052). —JON CHAPPELL


 
 = 60-92 G13 9

         
 4          
 4   















1
3 4

9 10 12 13 15
T
8 9 11 12
A
6 7 9 10
B
5 6 8 9

Ex. 5a Ex. 5b

 G13 9  G13 9
  
= 80-108
G E B D E B

 4 3            4      
4
2 1 1 1 3 4

   

2 1
 
3

4  4  
3 1

 3 3 3
3 3
3 3

4 7 6 3
T
3 5 3 6 6 5 6 3
A
4 6 4 3
B
5 6 6 5

Ex. 6a Ex. 6b

 G7 9   G7 9 
 B
= 132-144 = 120-132
G diminished scale G E D
    4

 4               4    
1


1 3 1 3
1 2 1
2

3 3 1

4















 4













 3 3

3

7 12 9
T
8 9 11 12 9 11 T
8 9 9 11
A
6 7 9 10 A
7 10
B B
9

8 6 GUITAR PLAYER FEBRUARY 2003 guitarplayer.com

 Money Notes
Full Disclosure
Carlton, “I looked for other ways to use this “I need to clear something up,” says Carlton. “In 1980, I wrote a tune called ‘Strikes
chord-over-chord theory. Soon I started hearing Twice,’ which appeared on my album of the same name. After I finished the record,
other chords than G13b9 as a combination of I realized I had used the melody line from ‘Jaguar’ off Johnny Smith’s Moonlight
triads. For instance, Cmaj7 suggested a G
in Vermont—an album I listened to when I was a kid. When I realized I’d stolen
triad sitting on top of a C chord [plays Ex. 7a].
his line, I called Johnny and sent him a check. He laughed and said, ‘You used
Eventually, I found that you could locate that
one of my little ditties, and you want to pay for it?’ I mention this because I’ll some-
second triad by simply alternating major and
minor thirds from the root of any major chord.” times hear, ‘Hey, what’s with Carlton? “Strikes Twice” is a rip-off.’ Recently some-
Ex. 7b illustrates the process. Starting from one started such a thread in an online discussion group. I want people to know
a C root, we stack major and minor thirds to cre- it was innocent. I would never consciously steal a song.”
ate a pair of triads: C and G. “Working off that —AE
upper triad—in this case, G—gives you a fresh
sound,” Carlton reveals. “You can play a G lick, Without the Cmaj7 ringing in the background, “Context is everything. Of course, you can use
like this [plays Ex. 8a], or move through a G these figures sound like the kind of nice, nor- this technique in any key. Like over a Gmaj7, I’ll
arpeggio [plays Ex. 8b]. Either way, you’re play- mal G phrases that decorate country and pop play a D triad.” Play the two chords in Ex. 9a,
ing from the 5.” songs. But played against Cmaj7, the licks ac- and then scrutinize Ex. 9b to see how the al-
To appreciate Carlton’s overlaid colors, it’s quire a restless energy. ternating major and minor thirds create a D tri-
crucial that you hear them in the proper setting. “It’s funny how that works,” says Carlton. ad as an extension of the G triad.

Ex. 7a Ex. 7b

Cmaj7 G C G

 M3 M3

    














  

m3 m3

3
T
0 3 3
A
0 4 4
B
2 2 5
3 3

Ex. 8a Ex. 8b

 = 84-92 Cmaj7 Cmaj7

G


 ( )   
4 1 2

44 ( )
3
 44   1
2
2

 3


hold
B----------------------
10 78 7
T
10(12) (12) 8 8 8
A
9 7
B
9

Ex. 9a Ex. 9b

Gmaj7 D G D

     
M3 M3


  














m3 m3

10 2 5
T
7 10 3
A
7 11 4
B
9 5
10

8 8 GUITAR PLAYER FEBRUARY 2003 guitarplayer.com

 to solo over minor harmony, as well. Against a
Money Notes backdrop of Am7, for instance, try arpeggiat- Carlton’s Coda
ing an Em triad. After listening to Ex. 11a’s “My chord-over-chord theory won’t explain
“Instead of arpeggiating a D triad, I might Am7 and Em, look at Ex. 11b and notice how everything,” says Carlton, “but I’ve found it’s a
drop a D major pentatonic line over the Gmaj7,” the order of the alternating thirds is reversed: quick way to get to the ‘money notes’ when div-
states Carlton, playing Examples 10a and 10b, This time, we’re climbing a minor third/major ing into a solo. People often ask me, ‘How do
which you can also view as B minor penta- third ladder. Though the intervals have flipped- I learn to hit the right notes when I solo?’ My
tonic moves. “By themselves, these could be flopped, we’re still playing off the 5. advice is simple: Learn harmony. Once you
Allman Brothers licks, but they sound jazzy “You can get bluesy with the chord-over- know what notes go into a particular chord, you
when you slide them against a Gmaj7. The chord technique,” says Carlton, playing Ex. can base your lines around them, and you
beauty of this approach is that you get new 12a. “Instead of picking a standard A minor pen- won’t get lost. The key to playing great melodies
sounds from familiar fingerings.” tatonic line, try this Em-over-Am approach. lies in understanding chords. Like everyone
Or play an E minor pentatonic line against else, that’s something I’m still learning.” g
Minor Details Am7 [plays Ex. 12b]. Again, it’s a matter of
You can use the chord-over-chord concept drawing new sounds from old friends.”

Ex. 10a Ex. 10b

 = 72-80 Gmaj7 Gmaj7

 ( ) 
D Pentatonic D Pentatonic

 4      
3 4 3

4 
1
2 1 3

  
1 1 3

4 4
3

























*PB R
10
T
10 12 (12)10 7
A
11 11 9 7 7 9 7
B
9 9 (9)

*Pre-bend from 10th fret

Ex. 11a Ex. 11b

Am7 Em Am Em

  
M3 M3
  
  
 














m3 m3

5 7 7
T
5 8 5 8
A
5 9 5
B
5 7

Ex. 12a Ex. 12b

 = 84-92 Am7  = 84-92 Am7

Em Am E minor Pentatonic

 ()        () ()

3 3

  1 1

 
3

4 4
2 1
3 3

4 3











3 4













*PB
*PB
7 (12) 8 12
T
8 10 (10) T
12 15 12(17) (17)
A
9 A
12
B B
14

*Pre-bend from 10th fret *Pre-bend from 15th fret

9 0 GUITAR PLAYER FEBRUARY 2003 guitarplayer.com