Hey everyone...

It's ridiculous to think that someone would not know who Joe is. So I propose that every one of us make 10 signs, out of cardboard or whatever, and write in big black letters Joe's name. Go out one evening and put them on light poles for as far as you care to drive. (do I live a boring existance or what)

Anyways, I'd be willing to bet that a small percentage of the people who see them will remember Joe and start listening again, or just listen out of curiosity. And of course, become lifelong fans.

Theory posse – ok guys, time for a little change in direction….. we’ll return to more complex chords a little later.. but first I think that it would be good to take a look at minor scales…
So, just like the major scale, the minor scale is composed of 7 notes and therefore 7 intervals.. it can be ‘spelt’:
Tonic, major 2nd [1 tone/2 frets], minor 3rd [1 1/2 tones/3 frets], perfect 4th [2 1/2 tones/5 frets], perfect 5th [3 1/2 tones/7frets], minor 6th [4 tones/8 frets], minor 7th [5 tones/10 frets]
So let’s consider this with a real note for a tonic and calculate the notes for a minor scale.
Tonic = E….. so here goes….
major 2nd is two frets above….. so is it F# or Gb?….. lol … All of the notes have to appear once and in sequence… the letter F comes after E [not G]….. so the 2nd has to be ‘F’ something…. As it is a major 2nd [2 frets] it will be F#……..
the 3rd has to be G something…. As it is a minor 3rd [3 frets above the tonic] it has to be G natural.
by applying this method, you should end up with the scale of Em = E, F#, G, A, B, C, D

Hmmmmm something interesting stands out here……. Notice that the note values that create the scale of Em are the same as those that created the scale of G major [G, A, B, C, D, E, F#] but starting from the 6th degree of the scale…… treat this as a very useful coincidence.

A rule of thumb:- if you go to the 6th degree of a major scale, you’ll find the tonic of its ‘relative minor’ scale…basically – count upwards by 6 notes including the tonic.
‘relative’ because the two scales are related [sharing the same note values]. Consider the major key as the ‘centre key’ which is the ‘birthing place’ for the minor….
and in reverse, you can look at the 3rd degree of a minor scale and find the relative major. [count up 3 notes including the tonic]

Try a few…..
the key of C = C, D, E, F, G, A, B therefore the relative minor key is Am.
the key of E = E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, therefore the relative minor key is C#m.
the key of F = F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, therefore the relative minor key is Dm [saddest of all keys… lol]

and in reverse
the key of Cm = C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb therefore the relative major key is Eb.
the key of Bm = B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A therefore the relative major key is D.

The relative minor is also known as the ‘natural minor’

So why does the major and minor sound different if they are related and made of the same notes?????
This is because the intervals between the notes are completely different thereby giving a totally different tonal relationship with the tonic….. this is much easier to see if you look at a major and minor scale side by side but with the same tonic……

the key of Em = E, F#, G, A, B, C, D

the key of E = E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#
very different as you can see…….

So what about the chords?????? So the chords that you calculated in the key of G major also apply to Em but their position has now changed in exactly the same way as the notes of the minor scale did…..

The G major scale produced: I = G, II = Am, III = Bm, IV = C, V = D, VI = Em, VII = F#mb5 So the Em scale produces: I = Em, II = F#mb5, III = G, IV = Am, V = Bm, VI = C, VII = D

theory posse - and of course - G-everywhere means that you’ve also been practising the notes of Em…. but from the 3rd position…
so when you get to the 6th position of G-everywhere you can also consider it as the 1st position of Em…..
move all 7 positions up 2 frets from the G to the A and you have both A major and F# minor.
move all 7 positions up 5 frets from the G to C and you have both C major and A minor.

XCPX - by moving the 1st postion up to the A and playing it again you actually changed key to A major [shifted the whole thing up two frets].... take a close look at the actual notes you were playing.... 5-7-9 = A, B, C#... C# is note one of the notes in the key of G major.... the fingerings for all 7 positions are all completely different... you have to write down the notes of the G major scale and then find them on the neck [3 notes per string etc]... it takes a whole lot of time and effort but the rewards are huge..... so try again and if you're still stuck just shout.... don't appologise.... we'll stick at it 'till you nail it..... no probz... # : )

DAVE Mc-- just do what i do, drive around in your car blasting the hell out of you're Joe cd's, I sit in my truck while my wife goes into the store and play it so loud it echos through the Albertsons parking lot... __________________________________________________

all minor chords are "sad" sounding

Clarky: that's cool man, I comprende all that, but my question is what is the difference between G and Em keys if it's all the same? How does it make anything different? Does the fact that you play a different note or chord first change it much? (Or am I missing something obvious!)

Akreepish: all minors sound depressing and Dm is the Big Mama Saddy. But I'll leave it to someone else to explain why!!!

Pete: yeah, most of my friends are guitarists or general musicians.

Dave Mc: interesting idea!!! Hmmm...

Zaximus/R6Rocker: Okay, but it still doesn't make grammatical sense. Should it be "I have become Death" or "I am becoming Death" or "I am being Death" or "I am Death"?

ALL YOUR DEATH AM BECOME TO US

BEN

Brandon: apart from the p word, if you know theory (this is a rather large part of it), and you know the notes on the guitar, and you know scales and stuff, and you've developed speed, and you listen to a lot of diverse styles, and you watch a lot of other players, I don't really have any advice at all.

copper - You obviously spent a lot of time to type that out so you obviously want Joe to hear it. This is not the place to post it for Joe to find it direct. Even if he was here at the moment (he's in Japan now), may may overlook such a monstrous post (or maybe not).

Dear Mr. Satriani, I am a big fan of yours, and I would really like to come to your show at the Commodore in Vancouver this upcoming Nov.24 but I cannot as I am only 17. I am a guitar player and I love your style and I try and play like you as much as I can. Is there anyway I could come to the Commodore if I was with an adult (i.e. my dad)? I would not like to pass up this opportunity to see you perform live.

Of course all minors are "sad," but D being the saddest, hmmm...

death cube k: true, it says it's there, but when you phone em up they say it's not..i didn't stick around to find out an exact date of when it's arriving, but it should be within a week or 2...when i ordered it, they forecasted about a month wait, so with a month closing in, it should be here shortly.