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Exercises for the [[The Kite Guitar|Kite Guitar]] by [[Kite Giedraitis]], assumes the downmajor tuning. They are for a 6-string guitar, but can be adapted to a 7- or 8-string. Once you master them, there's no need to practice them further, because you'll naturally reinforce these skills in the course of singing and playing actual songs.
[[Kite Guitar Exercises|Exercises]] for the [[The Kite Guitar|Kite Guitar]] by [[Kite Giedraitis]], assumes the downmajor tuning. They are for a 6-string guitar, but can be adapted to a 7- or 8-string. Once you master them, there's no need to practice them further, because you'll naturally reinforce these skills in the course of singing and playing actual songs.


== Vocal Exercises ==
== Exercises for Players ==
There are plenty of guitar exercises to make your fingers more agile or strong. They all apply to the Kite Guitar. These exercises help you navigate 41edo better.
 
=== Vocal Exercises ===
The best way to internalize 41-edo is to sing 41-edo! Get in the habit of singing what you play and playing what you sing.
The best way to internalize 41-edo is to sing 41-edo! Get in the habit of singing what you play and playing what you sing.


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As before, start by singing along with the guitar, then try singing first and checking yourself later with the guitar.
As before, start by singing along with the guitar, then try singing first and checking yourself later with the guitar.


== Parallel Thirds ==
=== Parallel Thirds ===
For all your favorite scales, play ascending and descending lines harmonized in 3rds. If the two notes lie on the same string, use the scale's innate fuzziness to move one of the notes a half-fret up or down. The fuzzy notes are bolded:
For all your favorite scales, play ascending and descending lines harmonized in 3rds. If the two notes lie on the same string, use the scale's innate fuzziness to move one of the notes a half-fret up or down. The fuzzy notes are bolded:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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|}
|}


== Half-fret Bends ==
=== Half-fret Bends ===


The fact that each 41-edo note only occurs on every other string makes certain scales awkward to play, for example scales with pythagorean or neutral 3rds. But for 5-limit or 7-limit scales of low odd-limit, it usually works out that you're forced to move to the next string just about when you would want to anyway. For example, the downmajor scale is P1 -- M2 - vM3 - P4 -- P5 - vM6 -- vM7 - P8. The double dashes indicate where you have to move up a string.
The fact that each 41-edo note only occurs on every other string makes certain scales awkward to play, for example scales with pythagorean or neutral 3rds. But for 5-limit or 7-limit scales of low odd-limit, it usually works out that you're forced to move to the next string just about when you would want to anyway. For example, the downmajor scale is P1 -- M2 - vM3 - P4 -- P5 - vM6 -- vM7 - P8. The double dashes indicate where you have to move up a string.
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Exactly how far you have to push the string sideways depends on your location on the neck. The most amount of travel is needed halfway up the neck, around the 5th dot. Closer to the nut or the bridge, you'll need less travel.  
Exactly how far you have to push the string sideways depends on your location on the neck. The most amount of travel is needed halfway up the neck, around the 5th dot. Closer to the nut or the bridge, you'll need less travel.  


== The Circle of 5ths ==
=== The Circle of 5ths ===


The most common intervals for root movements are 4ths and 5ths, so it's good to practice moving by these intervals. This exercise walks you through the entire circle of 41 frets.  
The most common intervals for root movements are 4ths and 5ths, so it's good to practice moving by these intervals. This exercise walks you through the entire circle of 41 frets.  
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Because 41 is a prime number, any one of 41edo's intervals will generate a similar circle (except the octave of course).  
Because 41 is a prime number, any one of 41edo's intervals will generate a similar circle (except the octave of course).  


== Leaping by 5ths, 8ves and Unisons ==
=== Leaping by 5ths, 8ves and Unisons ===
Being able to leap up or down by 3 dots can be useful when chording (see the "[[Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis|I Will Survive" translation]]). Again, start with a bass line, and add chords over them later.
Being able to leap up or down by 3 dots can be useful when chording (see the "[[Kite Guitar Translations by Kite Giedraitis|I Will Survive" translation]]). Again, start with a bass line, and add chords over them later.
* Play a low Ab (6th string 1st dot), leap up 3 dots to Eb, and leap back down.
* Play a low Ab (6th string 1st dot), leap up 3 dots to Eb, and leap back down.
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A complimentary exercise is for when you are on the lowest string and high up the neck, and you want to go further down. Start at the highest fret of the 6th string, leap down by (+2,-3-1), and leap back up. Move down a fret and repeat.
A complimentary exercise is for when you are on the lowest string and high up the neck, and you want to go further down. Start at the highest fret of the 6th string, leap down by (+2,-3-1), and leap back up. Move down a fret and repeat.


== Combination Exercises ==
=== Combination Exercises ===
These are not for the faint of heart!
These are not for the faint of heart!


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You can add a vocal exercise to all this by singing what you play.
You can add a vocal exercise to all this by singing what you play.


== Quarter-fret Bends, Sixth-fret Bends, etc. ==
=== Quarter-fret Bends, Sixth-fret Bends, etc. ===
When soloing over an ^m7 chord, a sustained 4th creates an innate-comma pentad. The effect is subtle but noticeable, and once you hear it, it's hard to unhear. The comma can be tamed by splitting the difference. Play the plain 4th, then bend it up a quarter-fret to a <u>half-up</u> 4th. The bend needn't be exact. Unlike bending the down-5th a half-fret up to the 5th, the end result isn't to lock into a specific ratio. In fact, rather than play a static half-up 4th, a moving bend that starts at the plain 4th and goes up to the half-up 4th or even beyond sounds better. This is called a fuzzy 4th, specifically an upfuzzy 4th. But over a vm7 chord, we want a downfuzzy 4th. Either play the <u>down</u> 4th and bend it up, or play the plain 4th and bend it down (harder).  
When soloing over an ^m7 chord, a sustained 4th creates an innate-comma pentad. The effect is subtle but noticeable, and once you hear it, it's hard to unhear. The comma can be tamed by splitting the difference. Play the plain 4th, then bend it up a quarter-fret to a <u>half-up</u> 4th. The bend needn't be exact. Unlike bending the down-5th a half-fret up to the 5th, the end result isn't to lock into a specific ratio. In fact, rather than play a static half-up 4th, a moving bend that starts at the plain 4th and goes up <u>past</u> the half-up 4th and then back down sounds better. This is called a fuzzy 4th, specifically an upfuzzy 4th. But over a vm7 chord, we want a downfuzzy 4th. Either play the <u>down</u> 4th and bend it up, or play the plain 4th and bend it down (harder, see below).  


Any chord that has two notes an upmajor or downmajor 2nd apart will create a fuzzy note:   
Any chord that has two notes an upmajor or downmajor 2nd apart will create a fuzzy note:   
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Both the top and bottom rows of the table apply to the dominant 9th chord, thus it has <u>two</u> fuzzy notes.
Both the top and bottom rows of the table apply to the dominant 9th chord, thus it has <u>two</u> fuzzy notes.


One can hide pitch shifts by sharpening an entire chord by some fraction of an edostep. Obviously it won't work if a chord uses open strings. Play a progression with a pitch shift, e.g. Iv - vVI^m - vII^m - Vv7 - Iv. The 3rd chord has vD and the 4th chord has D. Bend the entire 3rd chord up a quarter-fret by ear, so that its vD becomes a half-down D. This creates another pitch shift, because the chord now has a half-down A which differs from the previous chord's vA. However, two small 15¢ shifts are better than one large 30¢ one. Alternatively, bend the 2nd chord up a sixth-fret and the 3rd chord up a third-fret, to create three pitch shifts of 10¢ each.
The next use of quarter-fret bends is less essential. One can hide pitch shifts by sharpening an entire chord by some fraction of an edostep. Obviously it won't work if a chord uses open strings. Play a progression with a pitch shift, e.g. Iv - vVI^m - vII^m - Vv7 - Iv. The 3rd chord has vD and the 4th chord has D. Bend the entire 3rd chord up a quarter-fret by ear, so that its vD becomes a half-down D. This creates another pitch shift, because the chord now has a half-down A which differs from the previous chord's vA. However, two small 15¢ shifts are better than one large 30¢ one. Alternatively, bend the 2nd chord up a '''sixth-fret''' and the 3rd chord up a '''third-fret''', to create three pitch shifts of 10¢ each.


To practice such bends, do one of the half-fret bend exercises in two or three stages.
To practice such bends, do one of the half-fret bend exercises in two or three stages.


In 41-edo, 5-over intervals like 5/4 and 5/3 are about 6¢ flat. This issue is even more subtle than the innate-comma pentad, but still noticeable. One can correct this by applying a tenth-fret bend to certain notes of the chord. This sounds hard, but fortunately there are only a few chord shapes to apply this to. One quickly gets in the habit of "leaning on" certain notes in these shapes.  
In 41-edo, 5-over intervals like 5/4 and 5/3 are about 6¢ flat. This issue is even more subtle than the innate-comma pentad, but still noticeable. One can correct this by applying a '''tenth-fret''' bend to certain notes of the chord. This sounds hard, but fortunately there are only a few chord shapes to apply this to. One quickly gets in the habit of "leaning on" certain notes in these shapes.  


For example, in a downmajor chord in R-5-3 voicing, bend the 3rd up slightly with your pinkie. Listen closely for interference beats that slow down as you bend up. It may help to play the actual coinciding harmonics first. If your chord is 4 . 3 . 5, play harmonics at 11 . . . 26 and . . 10 . 17. Except for the last one at fret 17, touch the string just behind the fret. For a 4 . 3 5 5 voicing, to bend the 3rd up, you'll need to pull your pinkie down towards the treble side of the fretboard. For a 1st inversion . 4 3 5 . voicing, push your finger up towards the bass side. It's rather difficult to bend the 3rd in a close 4 4 3 5 voicing.  
For example, in a downmajor chord in R-5-3 voicing, bend the 3rd up slightly with your pinkie. Listen closely for interference beats that slow down as you bend up. It may help to play the actual coinciding harmonics first. If your chord is 4 x 3 x 5, play matching harmonics at 11 x x x 26, and also at  x x 10 x 17. Except for the last one at fret 17, touch the string just behind the fret. IOW fret 11 is really fret 10.5. For a 4 x 3 5 5 voicing, to bend the 3rd up, you'll need to pull your pinkie down towards the treble side of the fretboard. For a 1st inversion x 4 3 5 x voicing, push your finger up towards the bass side. It's rather difficult to bend the 3rd in a close 4 4 3 5 voicing.  


It's also possible to correct the 6¢ sharpness of 5-under intervals by bending a note slightly <u>down</u>. Press the string firmly against the fingerboard and push it towards the bridge. This is harder to do by the nut, because bending down stretches the string behind the fret, and there's very little to stretch there.  
It's also possible to correct the 6¢ sharpness of 5-under intervals by bending a note slightly <u>down</u>. Press the string firmly against the fingerboard and push it towards the bridge. This is harder to do by the nut, because bending down stretches the string behind the fret, and there's very little to stretch there.  


== Interesting Root Movements ==
== Exercises for Composers and Arrangers ==
This is not a playing exercise for your fingers, but a composing exercise for your mind. Given a chord, what chord can you move to that has at least 2 notes in common? Root movement intervals tend to be not plain. Harmonic chords tend to be followed by subharmonic chords and vice versa. The ^9 chord can often have its root omitted, becoming a vdv7 or ^m6 chord. These tables list only some of the possibilities.  
These are not playing exercises for your fingers, but musical exercises for your mind.  
 
=== Interesting Root Movements ===
Given a chord, what chord can you move to that has at least 2 notes in common? Root movement intervals tend to be not plain. Harmonic chords tend to be followed by subharmonic chords and vice versa. The ^9 chord can often have its root omitted, becoming a vdv7 or ^m6 chord. These tables list only some of the possibilities.  
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+from the down7 chord
|+from the down7 chord
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|one of my favorites, even though 3 common tones
|one of my favorites, even though 3 common tones
|}
|}
=== Harmonizing Chromatic Melodies ===
Write a melody with steps of vm2 (one fret), with perhaps an occasional m2 for string-hopping. Write chords under it. See if you can improve on my attempt:
x 2 4 4 3 x -- ^^Ebv
3 x 2 4 4 x -- ^Gv7
x 4 6 6 5 x -- vFv
x 5 4 4 6 x -- ^C^m
x 2 4 4 x 1 -- ^^Ebv7
5 x 4 2 6 x -- ^^Abv7
x 0 2 3 5 x -- ^D^6
3 x 2 4 4 x -- ^Gv
=== Rotations aka Inversions ===
In music theory, the word [[wikipedia:Inversion_(music)|inversion]] has distinct, but related, meanings when applied to intervals, chords, voices (in counterpoint), and melodies. These exercises cover melodic-style inversions, i.e. flipping things upside down. To avoid confusion, we'll call them '''rotations''', for reasons that will become obvious.
==== Motivating Example ====
Take the classic V7 - I chord progression and tune it 7-limit:
x x 4 4 3 1
x x 4 6 6 5
We can derive an entirely different, yet vaguely similar chord progression from this one via rotation:
x x 8 6 5 5
x x 4 3 3 5
I took something nice, but a bit of a cliche, rotated it, and found something else nice, but fresh and new! And I didn't need ''any'' music theory to do that. I found it purely mechanically, without thinking about intervals or chords at all. I just looked at my fingers and did some "spatial math".
If we want, we can apply music theory after the fact. The chords are IV^m6 - I^m, or equivalently ^IIvdv7 - I^m. The original chord progression has a diminished 5th resolving inward to a downmajor 3rd, giving a feeling of tension and resolution. The new one does too. The original chord progression has 3 voices moving by 2nds in parallel motion. The new one does too. In both progressions, one voice stays still, providing oblique motion. Different, yet similar.
==== Rotating an Interval ====
Let's start with an easy exercise. Play any interval smaller than an octave. Now move the lower note up an octave for a new interval, the octave inverse.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!interval
!tab
! rowspan="2" |--->
!tab
!interval
|-
|vM3
|x x 5 5 x x
|x x x 5 x 6
|^m6
|}
Notice how major intervals become minor and vice versa. Augmented becomes diminished and up becomes down. But not everything changes. Perfect stays perfect. 3-limit remains 3-limit, 5-limit remains 5-limit, 7-limit remains 7-limit, and 11-limit remains 11-limit. A highly consonant interval remains at least fairly consonant. A highly dissonant interval won't improve much.
This is not about chord inversions in the sense of putting the 3rd or 5th in the bass. Rather it is about flipping all the notes upside-down.
==== Rotating a Melody ====
Play a short stepwise melody. Next, play it reversing the direction of each step. Ascending becomes descending and vice versa.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!note
!tab
! rowspan="6" |--->
!tab
!note
|-
|A
|x x x 7 x x
|x x x 7 x x
|A
|-
|B
|x x x x 4 x
|x x 10 x x x
|G
|-
|vC#
|x x x x 7 x
|x x 7 x x x
|^F
|-
|B
|x x x x 4 x
|x x 10 x x x
|G
|-
|A
|x x x 7 x x
|x x x 7 x x
|A
|}
Look at the shape the first melody traces out on the fretboard. It's a long skinny triangle. We move along each of the two long sides, then retrace our steps.
Now look at the new melody. The long skinny triangle has been rotated 180 degrees. We take the same path along this new triangle.
Play any scale, going from the tonic up to the octave. Next, start at the <u>fifth</u> of the scale and go downward to the low fifth. The C major scale becomes C minor, C dorian becomes C mixolydian, and C lydian becomes C phrygian. C locrian rotates to itself! Up becomes down: C upminor becomes C downmajor. Again, the prime limit doesn't change.
In general, when rotating, the old tonic becomes the new fifth, and the old fifth becomes the new tonic. This tends to preserve the original key.
Play an actual melody from a song you know. Consider the interval from the tonic up to the starting note. From the fifth, go down by this interval. Wherever you land is the starting note for the rotated melody. For example, Mary Had A Little Lamb goes vM3 M2 P1 M2 vM3 vM3 vM3. The first note is vM3. P5 minus vM3 is ^m3. So start at ^m3 to get ^m3 P4 P5 P4 ^m3 ^m3 ^m3. Note that a pentatonic melody is still pentatonic after rotation.
==== Rotating a Chord ====
Play any chord in root position and close voicing as an ascending arpeggio. Think of this arpeggio as a melody. Starting on the highest note, rotate the melody to get a descending arpeggio. You should end up on the lowest note of the original chord. This new arpeggio is your rotated chord. Example: a v7 chord 4 4 3 1 rotates to 4 2 1 1. Again, look at the fretboard shapes. Everything got rotated 180 degrees.
Try this with other chords. Some chords rotate to themselves!
What about triads?
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!chord
!voicing
!tab
!
!tab
!chord
!voicing
|-
|Dv
|close
|x 8 8 7 x x
| --->
|x 8 7 7 x x
|D^m
|close
|-
|Dv
|add-8
|x 8 8 7 9 x
| --->
|x 8 10 9 9 x
|A^m
|low-5 add-5
|}
It matters whether we include the octave or not. We get the same chord type, upminor, but different roots and different voicings. To keep the same root, follow our rule: the root becomes the 5th and vice versa. x '''8''' 8 '''7''' 9 x becomes 6 '''8''' 7 '''7''' x x, and Dv becomes D^m. The old voicing was close, going up from the root. The new voicing is also close, but now it goes down from the 5th.
What about open voicings?
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!chord
!voicing
!tab
!
!tab
!chord
!voicing
|-
|Dvm
|hi-3 add-8
|x 8 x 7 9 7
| --->
|x 8 6 8 x 7
|vBb^
|low-3,5 add-5
|}
What a mess! An unrelated root, and not a very nice voicing. So for now, don't worry about the new voicing or the new root. Just focus on the new chord type.
* major rotates to minor
* up rotates to down
* harmonic chords rotate to subharmonic chords
* stacked chords rotate to stacked chords
* the prime limit doesn't change
7th chords rotate to 6th chords, but every 6th chord has a 7th chord homonym. So 7th chords can rotate to 7th chords, as in out first example 4 4 3 1 --> 4 2 1 1. You can think of this as Cv7 becomes vEb^m6, or as Cv7 becomes Cvdv7.
==== Rotating a Chord Progression ====
First rotate each individual chord type. Next, play the roots of each chord as a bass line. Voice each root in whatever octave you want. Rotate the bass line like you would rotate any melody. Don't change the starting note, except perhaps by an octave. Finally, play the rotated chords using the rotated bass line.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!chord progression
!bass line of roots
!
!new bass line
!new roots
|-
|Iv - vVI^m - IVv - Vv
|P8 - vM6 - P4 - P5
| --->
|P1 - ^m3 - P5 - P4
|I - ^bIII - V - IV
|}
Since downmajor rotates to upminor and vice versa, we get I^m - ^bIIIv - V^m - IV^m.
==== Rotating an Entire Song ====
(to do)
All these exercise apply to 12-edo, or any tuning system, but unless your guitar is isomorphic, the fretboard shapes won't simply rotate.
[[Category:Kite Guitar]]
[[Category:Kite Guitar]]
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