Music Lesson: Exploring Thirds and Variations

Let's look at this idea. Or that's the basic idea for it. I'll put it into context so you can hear how it sounds.

So, yeah, it's a very simple kind of idea really, just going down in thirds. I'd normally start it from:

• The D and the F, which are the fifth and the seventh of the scale.
• You could also start on the first and the third, maybe, or even on the third and the fifth.

But let's start it from there. You could play it just straight down as a kind of lead into the chord 4. You could add this:

• Play it with the C sharp and the F.
• Or play it with the C to the E.

I would probably naturally do the D flat to the D, and yeah, it just sounds really effective.

Putting It in Context

So, let's put this in context. You could use it to go up to chord four. You could play some repeated notes beforehand, something that Pinetop Perkins and Johnny Johnson do all the time.

So just something like this:
1, 2, 3, 4
Up to the C there with that kind of ninth riff that we looked at in one of the videos.

That was quite a simple lead up to it. We could make that a bit more interesting. We could actually do the rundown in thirds for two bars rather than one bar. So something like this:

1, 2, 3, 4
The C.

We could do it with or without that thing. You could just go... Sorry, you could just go.

It's kind of quite neat because it does end up on that G. You could do it with the C sharp, of course, which I quite like. Something like that.

I kind of like that because it's not a symmetrical thing. One kind of ends on beat four, rather, that C lands on beat four, which is slightly off-kilter, keeping it exciting.

Variations on the Approach

So that's a very simple thing for you. Let's make the approach to it a bit more interesting leading up to it. Instead of just:

• We can do a little add, a little...
• That kind of thing, which you can either go or add that C at the top, the G at the top.

What I would probably naturally do is something like this:
Yeah, that sort of outlining G7 chord there.

So it could either be or not much difference really. But you might want to have a go at both those little ideas, either sliding off the D flat or just playing the D flat itself.

Now getting into something that just sounds...
Yeah, sounds like something you might hear on a Muddy Waters record by Pinetop Perkins or something.

Have a go at that. You know, this is a riff that doesn't work so well in other keys because going down the white notes is a lot easier than going down in thirds, for example, in D flat. So, hey, if you can get it down in all 12 keys, you're a better man than I. And if you can, then great!

Exploring Other Variations

Let's look at other little variations on that idea. Rather than doing it in thirds, you could do it in fourths, which sounds slightly odd in that context. But you know what? When you put it in with the left hand, it can give a bit more weight to it.

Also, consider the repeated notes at D to G, not D to F.
So I kind of dig that sound. Why not do it for two bars? Sounds kind of hip.

You'll notice that at the start, I was doing that kind of roll a bit more regularly. That's... yeah, again, it's kind of what I would do naturally.

Oh, and you'll notice I'm adding an E. Again, it's just something I do naturally there. I didn't go via the... at that point.

So, yeah, you can kind of play that in all sorts of ways.

Bigger Sounds with Sixths

Hey, why not extend that and do it in sixths? Something like this:
3, 4
Kind of a bigger, more open sound.

And there, doing that, which is the same as...
Or it's an inversion of doing it in thirds essentially.

But with the passing chromatic passing note, do something like that. Give it a bit of phrasing. You can look at that little roll that I'm sticking in there to break it up.

That's what I think I'm doing, sliding from the C to the C sharp to the D, then rolling down in one movement to the G. Why not sort of change that around and go between the two?

We're actually going between the three ideas, going from there. And there I came down in the thirds from the... So from the third and the fifth in the G, instead of from the seventh or playing the fourths or the sixth.

I came down from there. Although, you know, if you're thinking about building up the tension, it might have been better to kind of go from the third to the fourth to the sixth.

So there I'm gradually getting higher up the keyboard. And I think that sort of helps, give a bit of drama, a bit of direction to the music.

Different Inversions and Ideas

Why not do that? That's all kind of different inversions. So there are a few ideas for using that riff. There are all kinds of things you could do.

Adding a Chromatic Passing Note

Here's another little idea: How about adding a little chromatic passing note down from the G to the F and the A?

So you could do something like coming down the scale. So something like that.

And obviously, you'll notice at the end there, I stuck in a little... Just as I noticed as I was getting to the end of the run, if I just carried on down, the harmony wouldn't have worked.

Where I was going to end up would have ended up like that on the C. But adding that little passing thing means I ended up nicely on that C harmony.

Conclusion and Live Example

So there you go, some different ways of using that, what started out as that basic rundown in thirds.

Before I finish on this little subject, I'm just going to give you a little example. There's a live Muddy Waters gig. I think it was Pinetop Perkins playing piano, using this idea.

He actually comes down, I think, from there in fourths. And what he did sounded a bit like this. So obviously, a slightly shorter rundown, but just coming down in parallel fourths.

You could have extended that if wanted. He could have gone, but he chose not to on that occasion.

You know, there are all kinds of different things you can do.

So, yeah, we started off just with this idea of parallel movement down in thirds. We looked at some different variations of it, different intervals, sixths, fourths, starting on different notes.

So, you know, there's a bunch of ideas for you to go away with, have a play around, and see how you get on.

Cheers!