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Play Like Jimmy Herring

1 CREATE YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENT


Essentially a bare-bones gear guy, Herring has long kept his rig almost stupid-
simple with two exceptions: First, he prefers to split his dry and wet signals
between separate speaker cabs, and second, his ’board features six Ernie Ball
VPJR volume pedals that allow him to tweak the individual levels of all the other
instruments onstage in his monitor. He also controls his own onstage wet-to-dry
ratio, with a T.C. Electronic M-One XL digital processor controlling reverbs and
delays that are sent to a pair of 2x12 Hard Trucker speaker cabinets completely
independent from his dry rig. “This self-mixing monitor system came about when
Jimmy was touring with the Dead, because as the band went up and down in
dynamics through different phases of improvisation, Jimmy found he needed a
monitor mix that constantly changed to react to who was playing what when,”
Herring’s long-time tech Eric Pretto explained to GP in 2008. Herring’s current
main stage ax with Widespread Panic has been a Fender Stratocaster Custom
Shop model built by Gene Baker in 1989, sporting two Seymour Duncan ’59
humbuckers. (Other faves include an American Standard Strat equipped with two
Lollar humbuckers, various PRS models, and a 1970 Gibson SG gifted by Derek
Trucks.) He strings up with D’Addario XLs gauged .010-.046, and uses Dunlop
Tortex .73mm picks. His guitar feeds an Ernie Ball volume pedal and a Hughes &
Kettner Tube Factory overdrive into his fave amps—’64 and ’66 Fender Super
Reverbs in the studio, and Fuchs Overdrive Supreme and Tripledrive Supreme
heads run dry into a single 4x12 Tone Tubby cab for recent live work with Panic.
Enough tech talk—are you ready to have your mind blown? Okay, now you’ve
gotta...
2 RETHINK PENTATONICS
Herring documented many of his pentatonic scale strategies in an excellent series
of GP Jam Guru columns that ran between March 2005 and August 2006. These
are certainly worth tracking down, but for those without access, let’s recap some
of his key concepts. For instance, intervallic sequences of all types often find their
way into Herring’s melodic lines and improvisations. The cool thing about
sequencing a pentatonic scale is how the intervals shift due to its five-note
structure (except when sequencing octaves). Ex. 1a shows how a mix of perfect
fourth and major third intervals emerges when a “two-down-plustwo- up”
sequential scheme is applied to a fifth-position, A pentatonic minor “blues box.”
Cool enough, but here comes the gravy.
You can play this and each following sequence four ways: as written, reversing the
last two sixteenth-notes in each beat, reversing the first two sixteenths in each
beat, and reversing both the first and last sixteenths in each beat. Of course,
these can be mixed and matched at will to produce even more melodic variations.
Practice them in as many keys and positions as possible, and then follow suit with
the mix of pentatonic sixths and fifths, sevenths and sixths, and octaves
demonstrated in Examples 1b-1d.
Need more gravy? Dig this: Each sequence has two basic rhythmic identities-- one
starting on a downbeat as written, and another starting on the previous or following
sixteenth-note upbeat.

Additionally, any sequence can start on any note or beat, and all of these
examples will also work with any triad or seventh chord diatonic to the key of C
major or A minor: C(maj7), Dm(7), Em(7), F(maj7), G(7), Am(7), and Bdim
(Bm7b5), opening up hundreds of melodic and harmonic options. And oh yeah,
they work just as well ascending as they do descending. See you in a month!
3 DECONSTRUCT DIATONIC SCALES

While Herring also applies intervallic sequencing to major and minor scales, he
doesn’t tend to lean heavily on lengthy diatonic sequences. Instead, Herring is
more apt to incorporate fragments of them into his solo improvisations. Unlike
pentatonics, diatonic major- and minor-scale sequences produce the same type of
intervals (both major and minor) throughout.

Ex. 2a sets up the drill with a sequence of diatonic thirds structured the same as
our previous “two-down/ two-up” pentatonic scheme. Again, there are four ways
to play each four-sixteenthnote grouping, and this and the following sequences
may be used with any chord diatonic to C major/A minor. Things get a bit trickier
as the melodic intervals gradually grow wider in Examples 2b through 2f (you
know the drill), but the melodic rewards are well worth the effort. Play ’em up
and down in all keys and positions and discover which ones work best for you.
And sequencing aside, it’s also worthwhile to practice and internalize all the
harmonic intervals (i.e., both notes sounded

simultaneously) inherent to each scale, including pentatonics.

Ex. 2g illustrates a simple rhythmic motif applied to a selection of diatonic thirds,


and then presents diatonic fourths, fifths, sixths, and sevenths ideal for the same
treatment. Apply this concept to melodic lines and who needs a harmonizer?!
4 BEND IT, SHAPE IT, ANY WAY YOU WANT IT
Herring’s gamut of singlenote styles also incorporates a healthy slathering of
finger grease into his sequential moves in the form of slides, slurs, and all kinds of
bends.
Ex. 3a fragments a diatonic sixths sequence embellished with slides, while
Examples 3b and 3c replace the slides with melodic gracenote bends and pre-
bends, respectively.

Be sure to work this technique into other intervallic sequences.


5 PUT IT ALL TO WORK
Of course, as Herring is quick to point out, it’s what you do with this pile of
information that counts, so let’s dig into a few heat-of-battle moves that reveal
how he puts it all together. Shifting to the key of G, Ex. 4a utilizes a combination
of scale-wise, arpeggiated, and intervallic melodic motion to outline a very Lydian-
sounding Gmaj7- Cmaj7 progression, but it also sounds great over Bm7, Em7, or
any other chord diatonic to the key of G.

The Gmaj7 run in Ex. 4b is built from G pentatonic major lines that surround a
partial descending sequence of fourths.
Switching to D minor, Herring gives the blues scale and the Dorian mode a cool
twist in the chromatics-infused run shown in Ex. 4c. The second half of bar 2
features half-step approaches to each Dm chord tone—another Herring
trademark. Since we’re heading for chordsville, this would be a good time to point
out some of Herring’s favorite pentatonic substitution tricks, which include
playing pentatonic minor and major lines, sequences, etc., a fifth, or 7 frets
higher, than the root position (i.e., E pentatonic minor over Am7) for alternative
“inside” sounds, and up a whole step or down a half step for more “outside”
sounds.

6 HAVE A HARMONIC EPIPHANY


Herring’s river of harmonic awareness already runs deep, but that hasn’t stopped
him from dredging even deeper. He enthusiastically described one particular
breakthrough to GP back in 2009: “I’ve been mapping out scales on fretboard
diagrams as a way to discover new chord voicings. You start by choosing a scale,
and then you simply put a dot on the diagram wherever a note from that scale
appears on the fretboard. Then, you choose one scale tone on each string and fret
them together to make an interesting chord voicing.

Once you have your new chord, you can move each note in it up or down one
scale tone on each string to find other voicings.” Keep in mind that this can be
done with any scale, but we’ll begin by mapping out the C major and A minor
scales on a pair of 15-fret fingerboard diagrams in Examples 5a and 5b. The scale
steps in both have been labeled to illustrate how the same notes function
differently in relative major and minor contexts, and to provide a master
reference grid for the chord scales we’re about to construct. As Herring said, the
idea is to pick a group of three or four notes on any strings, and then move each
note up to its next diatonic scale tone to form the next chord, continuing through
the entire scale to produce an entire “chord scale” ideal for modal vamping,
arpeggiations, etc.

Many of you will recognize the simple diatonic triad voicings derived from an
open-position 5-R-3 C chord inversion shown in Ex. 5c. If not, get to know them
because this is just the tip of the iceberg.
7 KEEP SEARCHING
Here’s where the fun really begins. Herring went on to describe how this device
yields “practical voicings all over the neck that you might never have thought of
without the diagram. You can change one note and repeat the process on another
diagram to discover a new group of chords. Three- and four-note voicings are
generally the most useful.” That said, let’s dig in. Once you grok the concept, feel
free to go crazy transferring the slew of voicings and inversions diagrammed
(quite spiffily, I might add) in Ex. 6a.
Pretty self-explanatory, right? Simply refer to Ex. 5a to chart out each three- and
four-note voicing in the open position or elsewhere, and then continue building
your chord scale until you reach an octave above your starting point. The first six
voicings comprise two pairs of inversions of the same chord, so each successive
inversion will be played higher up the fretboard than the last. The rest are all
available in open position.

To get started, Examples 6b and 6c map out 3-note diatonic chord scales based
on open-position 7-R-5 and 3-7-R voicings played on two different string groups.
Again, you can create modal vamps for any mode relative to the key of C, or take
it further and arpeggiate these shapes into single-note lines.
The sky’s the limit in this brand-new view of the fretboard. Ex. 6d combines both
previous sets into a four-note chord scale based on the resultant 3-7-R-5 voicing.

Finally, Ex. 6e applies the chord-scale concept to another fave Herring device:
quartal harmony. “I love sevenths,” says Herring. “I visualize them as interval pairs
within quartal voicings— diatonic chords that are built by stacking fourths instead
of thirds, and are often associated with modal jazz pianists like Bill Evans and
McCoy Tyner.” Just alternate seventh intervals between the first and third strings
with those on the second and fourth strings (or vice versa) and you’ll hear what
he means. Part of the beauty of quartal harmony is that you don’t even have to
know the names of the ambiguous chords it produces, of which there are many.
The first chord alone could function as C6/9, Fmaj13, G6/9, A(m)7sus4(11), or
E(m)7sus4(11), the second as Dm6/9, G13, A(m)9/b13, B(m)11b5, or Fmaj7#11,
and so on. Just memorize their shapes, vamp it up, and you’re good to go!
Herring also revealed that “this system works with any scale. There are some
beautiful chords sitting right within the pentatonic scale.” Sure enough, after
diagramming the relative C pentatonic major and A pentatonic minor scales in
Examples 7a and 7b (note that they’re simply the major scale with the 4 and 7
removed, and the minor scale minus its 2 and 6),
Ex. 7c illustrates Herring’s point with five pentatonic voicings derived from an
openposition, 5-R-3 C triad inversion. Note how this results in one major triad,
one minor triad, and three sus4 quartal voicings. Whip these out during your next
static A minoror C-based jam to inspire new directions.
9 KEEP FINDING
The chart in Ex. 8a offers 25 three-note C major/A minor pentatonic voicings that
originate in open position. Use the diagrammed pentatonic scales in Examples 7a
and 7b to form chord scales based on each one, and then put them to work in
modal vamps or break them up into single- note or harmonized melodic lines.

Ex. 8b follows suit with 16 four-string pentatonic voicings ripe for picking.
The next four grids reveal the versatility of harmonized pentatonics with groovy
chord scales based on four different voicings played on various string groups: 5-2-
3 (Ex. 8c); 2-5-R (Ex. 8d); 2-5-R-3 (Ex. 8e); R-3-6-R (Ex. 8f).
ike Herring said, this works with any scale, so what are you waiting for? Sharpen
your pencils and get to work diagramming the Melodic Minor scale, the Harmonic
Minor scale, the Hungarian Gypsy scale, and what have you.
10 LEAVE NO KEY UNTURNED
While perusing recent live recordings by the Jimmy Herring Band in search of a
centerpiece for this lesson, I was struck by the title “12 Keys,” which appeared
often in his 2010 set lists. Further investigation revealed that the song did indeed
traverse all 12 keys in as many bars—kind of like Herring’s own “Giant Steps”—so
I thought it would make a great example of how Herring navigates chord changes.
When I contacted Herring about confirming the correct chord changes, he
graciously replied, “Honestly, the ‘12 Keys’ thing is just a sketch. I want to make it
a tune, but I haven’t written a head for it yet! The working title does refer to the
chord progression, but ‘12 Keys’ won’t be the name of it when it becomes a tune.
That’s just what we call it for now. I was messing around with the cycle of fourths
and started hearing chords, so I ended up with this progression.” So what we have
here in Ex. 9 is an exclusive! (Perhaps by no mere coincidence, Herring pairs the
changes-heavy “12 Keys” with John Coltrane’s modal jazz standard “Impressions”
during his live set, the former of which seems to borrow its intro rhythm motif
from Pat Martino’s cover of the latter. I’m just sayin’!) Following a two-bar vamp
played four times (Tip: Add roots on sixth and fifth strings), Herring’s progression
outlines all 12 keys, at first using I-VIm and then I-IIIm movements, both
interspersed with a few IVmaj7- Imaj7 moves. Read through it and witness the
cycle of fourths passing by your ears. Herring seems to play a bar ahead of each
key, which imparts a definite Lydian quality to his burning, boppish lines. We’re
out of room for a play-by-play, but suffice to say that a thorough investigation of
this solo, including close scrutiny of note choices, sax-like phrasing, intervallic
sequences, and sense of space will buy you much more than a day pass to Jimmy
Herring’s world. I hope you haven’t found this over-abundance of diagrams and
such too tedious or overwhelming. It’s just that J.H.’s ideas and concepts inspired
me to take the ball and run with it, and I hope this lesson does the same for you.
Thanks, Jimmy— hope you dig it!!

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