Music & Writing

I have so far recorded three albums- 'Snaizeholme' which I recorded in 1995 with my colleague and former student Fred Arnell. This features music which I composed from 1984 onwards. We recorded the album in one day playing all of the music live, developing the pieces through improvisation and included two pieces which we spontaneously improvised in the early hours of the morning. It very much reflects the music we were performing in our live concerts at that time.

I recorded 'Solo Six and Seven String Guitar' but sadly never got a chance to release it. It reflects an onward going commitment to creating improvised solo guitar music.

I recorded 'Living Music' with fellow guitarist John Loughran and Indian Sitarist Partha Bose when Partha visited the UK during his tour of Europe, Canada and the USA in 2008. The pieces are all original compositions by either John, Partha and myself and reflect our mutual commitment to the art of improvisation with its capacity to provide bridges across all musical boarders.

More recently we have recorded as the 'Living Music Quartet' at Parr Street studios in Liverpool. These recordings include John and myself along with American double bass player David Luvin and Israeli drummer Michael Wiseman. This music is much closer the more familiar Jazz quartet- albeit with a distinctly European perspective- and a classical guitar taking over the role of the piano!

I have included below a chapter from my new book 'Improvisation for Classical and Fingerstyle Guitar'. This book is aimed at intermediate to advanced students and contains a great deal of practical and theoretical information as well as exercises for guitarists wishing to develop their improvisational skills in both solo and ensemble settings. The book is written for all musicians regardless of the style of music they choose to play.

Chord / Scale Relationships

Ex. 4 shows a common (‘E’ shape) two-octave B major scale in the 6th position. The by now familiar Emaj7 chord from examples 1-3 is contained within the notes of this scale. This is a very simple and useful insight as it surrounds a recognisable chord fingering with all of the accessible notes from its corresponding key or mode. For example, we can easily identify the #11th(A#) or the 9th(F#) associated with the Lydian mode and either adjust the fingering to include these notes as chord tones or include them as part of a melodic line or intervallic idea.

Ex. 5 shows the same relationship between the Eb7 chord and its corresponding (D shape)Ab melodic minor scale[1] (or its fifth mode- Eb mixolydian b6). This enables us to easily include the 9th(F) or b13th (Cb) in our chord voicing, melodic line, or chosen intervals.

I apologise for the difficult key signature! You may prefer to think of this chord as a D#7b13 from the key of G# minor (which is the relative minor of B major- the key from which we derive the initial Emaj7#11 chord), but this still leaves us having to negotiate our way around an E# and an Fx. Take your pick! I think of this particular piece as a continually shifting sequence of modes rather than it being in a specific key. In these circumstances I usually find myself selecting the spelling for a chord or scale, which is the easiest and quickest to think about in the heat of the moment.

Ex. 6 outlines the same idea for the two Cm7 chords that are contained within an (C shape) Eb major scale or C Aolian mode.

This looks quite complex on paper, but it only uses chord and scale shapes that should be familiar or at least accessible to most people after a few years practice. We guitarists have a distinct advantage when it comes to moving between different keys or modes because we can easily relocate the same familiar fingering patterns into different positions on the neck.

Ex. 7 shows all of the common chords built in thirds on each degree of a C major, C harmonic minor and C (Jazz) melodic minor scale. I have named each chord to include the root, third, fifth and seventh and bracketed the most commonly used upper extensions.

Cm/maj7 (9) Dm7 (6) Ebmaj7#5(9) F7 (9, #11,13) G7 (9,11,b13) Am7b5 (9) Bm7b5 (b9) or B7 (b5, #5,b9, #9)

Memorise these chords and arpeggios in C. Once you know them in C it is much easier to learn them in all twenty-four keys, as the chord types remain the same- only the letter names change.

[1] I am referring here (and throughout this book- unless otherwise stated) to the so-called ‘Jazz melodic minor scale’, which, in contrast to the classical version of this scale, ascends and descends in the same way.


		Paul Costello Music and writing
Home Electric guitar Acoustic Guitar Classical Guitar Jazz Guitar Q&A's Biography Contact	Music I have so far recorded three albums- 'Snaizeholme' which I recorded in 1995 with my colleague and former student Fred Arnell. This features music which I composed from 1984 onwards. We recorded the album in one day playing all of the music live, developing the pieces through improvisation and included two pieces which we spontaneously improvised in the early hours of the morning. It very much reflects the music we were performing in our live concerts at that time. I recorded 'Solo Six and Seven String Guitar' but sadly never got a chance to release it. It reflects an onward going commitment to creating improvised solo guitar music. I recorded 'Living Music' with fellow guitarist John Loughran and Indian Sitarist Partha Bose when Partha visited the UK during his tour of Europe, Canada and the USA in 2008. The pieces are all original compositions by either John, Partha and myself and reflect our mutual commitment to the art of improvisation with its capacity to provide bridges across all musical boarders. More recently we have recorded as the 'Living Music Quartet' at Parr Street studios in Liverpool. These recordings include John and myself along with American double bass player David Luvin and Israeli drummer Michael Wiseman. This music is much closer the more familiar Jazz quartet- albeit with a distinctly European perspective- and a classical guitar taking over the role of the piano! Writing I have included below a chapter from my new book 'Improvisation for Classical and Fingerstyle Guitar'. This book is aimed at intermediate to advanced students and contains a great deal of practical and theoretical information as well as exercises for guitarists wishing to develop their improvisational skills in both solo and ensemble settings. The book is written for all musicians regardless of the style of music they choose to play. Chord / Scale Relationships Ex. 4 shows a common (‘E’ shape) two-octave B major scale in the 6th position. The by now familiar Emaj7 chord from examples 1-3 is contained within the notes of this scale. This is a very simple and useful insight as it surrounds a recognisable chord fingering with all of the accessible notes from its corresponding key or mode. For example, we can easily identify the #11th(A#) or the 9th(F#) associated with the Lydian mode and either adjust the fingering to include these notes as chord tones or include them as part of a melodic line or intervallic idea. Ex. 5 shows the same relationship between the Eb7 chord and its corresponding (D shape)Ab melodic minor scale[1] (or its fifth mode- Eb mixolydian b6). This enables us to easily include the 9th(F) or b13th (Cb) in our chord voicing, melodic line, or chosen intervals. I apologise for the difficult key signature! You may prefer to think of this chord as a D#7b13 from the key of G# minor (which is the relative minor of B major- the key from which we derive the initial Emaj7#11 chord), but this still leaves us having to negotiate our way around an E# and an Fx. Take your pick! I think of this particular piece as a continually shifting sequence of modes rather than it being in a specific key. In these circumstances I usually find myself selecting the spelling for a chord or scale, which is the easiest and quickest to think about in the heat of the moment. Ex. 6 outlines the same idea for the two Cm7 chords that are contained within an (C shape) Eb major scale or C Aolian mode. This looks quite complex on paper, but it only uses chord and scale shapes that should be familiar or at least accessible to most people after a few years practice. We guitarists have a distinct advantage when it comes to moving between different keys or modes because we can easily relocate the same familiar fingering patterns into different positions on the neck. Ex. 7 shows all of the common chords built in thirds on each degree of a C major, C harmonic minor and C (Jazz) melodic minor scale. I have named each chord to include the root, third, fifth and seventh and bracketed the most commonly used upper extensions. C major: Cmaj7 (6,9) Dm7 (6,9,11) Em7 (b6, b9, 11) Fmaj7 (6,9, #11) G7 (9,11,13) Am7 (b6, 9,11) Bm7b5 (b9) C harmonic minor: Cm/maj7 (9) Dm7b5 (b9) Ebmaj7#5(9, #11) Fm7 (6,9) G7 (b9, 11,b13) Abmaj7 (#11) Bdim7 C melodic minor: Cm/maj7 (9) Dm7 (6) Ebmaj7#5(9) F7 (9, #11,13) G7 (9,11,b13) Am7b5 (9) Bm7b5 (b9) or B7 (b5, #5,b9, #9) Memorise these chords and arpeggios in C. Once you know them in C it is much easier to learn them in all twenty-four keys, as the chord types remain the same- only the letter names change. [1] I am referring here (and throughout this book- unless otherwise stated) to the so-called ‘Jazz melodic minor scale’, which, in contrast to the classical version of this scale, ascends and descends in the same way.