Lessons

It’s a Wonderful I-IV-V World

By V i nn i e D eMas i

The I, IV, and V chords—the
chords built off of the first, fourth, and fifth
notes of any major or minor scale—are the
three most common and arguably the most
important harmonic elements in the musi-
cal universe. While you may already pos-
sess a basic understanding of this concept,
a detailed knowledge of the tried-and-true
triadic trinity’s infinite fretboard applica-
tions will help you become a more versa-
tile player and composer.
A raved-up ’round-the-clock rockabilly
I-IV-V sequence in the key of A, Ex. 1 gives
all three basic triads a makeover, adding
slick-sounding 6th, 9th, and 13th inter-
vallic extensions. Voiced on the top four
strings, it evokes the tight-knit arrange-
ments of a big band horn section. It’s I-IV
the money! (Get it?)
Ex. 2 is a Beatlesque barnburner. Dig the
fab-sounding switch from major to minor
on the IV chord, and treat the slash chords
Dm/F and E7/G# as extensions of the reg-
ular IV and V harmonies.

Ex. 1

 132-144

     
3

 4       
A6 D9 E13 A6
 
           
 
   
 4     
   
5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 9 5
T
7 7 5 5 5 5 7 7 9 7
A
6 6 5 5 5 5 7 7 9 6
B
7 7 4 4 4 4 6 6 7

Ex. 2

144-152
A A7 D Dm/F E E7/G A6
X 1 1 1 X X 1 1 1 3 XX 1 3 2 XX3 2 4 1 2 3 1 4 2 1 X 1 1 1 1

44

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 Ex. 3

1 1 1
76-84 E 1 1 A B5
1 No stranger to the creative application

44 T T of basic theory, Jimi Hendrix was known

for his artistry at playing rhythm and lead
guitar simultaneously. Dig Ex. 3 and evoke
3 3 the way he would masterfully spin a simple
T T
12 14 12 I-IV-V in E into a bold sonic experience. For
12 14 12 9 10 9 0 0
T 9 added mojo, reach your fretting-hand thumb
A 9 11 9 9 7 9 9 around the neck to grab the bass notes on
B 11 9 7 7 9 9
0 5 5 5 7 9 7 the A (IV) and B5 (V) chords.
Have you ever considered playing a dia-
tonic I-IV-V progression completely with
harmonics? It’s possible in the key of D­—
you can spell out all the notes of the D, G,
Ex. 4
and A triads (which, incidentally, contain all
seven notes of the D major scale,)—as dem-
Freely D G A D onstrated in Ex. 4.
For Ex. 5, let’s look to the classics and tem-
44 plate the solo guitar compositions of Car-
cassi and Sor. Beneath the rolling triplets,

12
7 5 7
T 7 5 7
A 7 5 7
B 9

Ex. 5

80-88 Em Am B7 9

128

7 5 3 7 8 7 5 8 11 8 7 11 12 7 3 0
0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 0 0 0
T
A
0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 8 8 8 8 0 0 0
B 0
0 7 0

GUITARPLAYER.COM OCTOBER 2012 97

Lessons
ascending first-string melody, and 5th and
7th fret big-stretch barres is a simple Em-
Am-B7b9 progression, also known as a I-IV-V
in the key of E minor. In fact, many com-
plex-sounding classical arrangements can
be reduced to simple I-IV-V structures. Roll
over Beethoven, indeed!
Play through the seemingly atonal series
of chromatically ascending tritone intervals
in Ex. 6a. Now reorder them slightly adding,
open A-, D-, and E-string bass notes, as demon-
strated in Ex. 6b, and see how they become the
3rds and 7ths of the chords in a funky I7-IV7-
V7 progression in the key of A, or A7-D7-E7.
These examples should give you plenty
of tools to create your own I-IV-V magic, so
pick a key and a style (or several styles) of
music, and have at it. g

Ex. 6a Ex. 6b

100-108
A7 D7 E7

44
P.M. - - - P.M. - - -
P.M. - - - P.M. - - -
7 8 9 8 7 9 9
T 5 6 7 6 5 7 7
A 0 0
B 0 0
0 0 0 0

98 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2 G U I T A R P L A Y E R . C O M