Introduction

Available now, the world premier recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major…on the guitar!  I suppose if there’s any big classical piece that I will forever identify with, it’s this one.  The time span for this recording is huge:  oh, about 15 years!  When I first started considering playing classical violin works on the guitar, I started with the Tchaikovsky Concerto.  My college roommate and I even performed sections of it together:  him on synth, me on guitar.

I recorded the first movement on four-track in the late 90′s, then re-recorded it digitally a couple of years later and finally completed the concerto a year or so after that.  I used a synth orchestra as the accompaniment, which I always thought a weakness.  A friend suggested I re-record it, but it’s not a piece that one casually considers recording a second time!  Plus, I preferred to focus on new transcriptions.  Just a few months ago, the same friend suggested that I at least rework the background tracks.  Hey, not a bad idea!  A serendipitous meeting with a Chinese musician made this a reality and after a couple of months of weekend effort, we had a high quality sample of the orchestral track ready to go.

And so now, the recording is ready for you!  Man, what an effort this has been.  I hope you enjoy it; as you listen, please keep in mind the effort it took!  Man, I’m just exhausted thinking about it!  It’s available on a number of sites:

• CD Baby
• Kunaki

If you’re a shredder and are interested in learning some (or all) of the piece, read further below!

Shred this Masterpiece!

If you’re a guitarist, particularly a shredder, would you have any interest in learning some, or all, of this piece?  I admit, committing to learning the whole thing is a monumental goal, however that’s certainly not a requirement.  Just learning a few licks casually in this piece is entertaining and rewarding.  I’ll guarantee that you haven’t played licks like this before.  Some of the wildest, craziest stuff I’ve ever seen has been adapted from masterpieces over a hundred years old.  This is no exception.  Try out a few of these on your friends and they’ll be asking, “Where on earth did you learn that?!?”

Here’s a video sample from the first movement of the piece.  The sample starts off, somewhere between four and five minutes into the piece, during a melodic slow section.  The section leads into some ripping scales which further leads into shredding that just doesn’t ever seem to stop!

This piece is a blast to experiment and dabble with, capable of providing years of learning and entertainment.  Oh yes, not only do I still have the transcription, but I worked really hard to make a professional transcription complete with detailed fingerings and suggestions.  I’d like others to be able to enjoy this music. My goal in creating the site that you are reading this on is to share these great masterpieces with the shredding community.  The Tchaikovsky concerto is a great place to start.

Some History:

Intro:

You are about to learn one of the top-notch licks in the classical repertoire.  That’s a subjective statement, but this is one of my personal favorites because it’s challenging, acrobatic, and sounds great when played up to speed.  You will not find a lick like this anywhere in modern shred guitar.  After all, you are learning to play the works of real masters.

In case you didn’t know, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, which was written in 1878 was initially dismissed as being unplayable.  After trying out this lick, you’ll have a sense why that is.  Don’t worry, it’s not impossible.

While it’s only three measures, this lick has a lot to offer:  a lot of legato, acrobatic fingerwork, and even some tapping.  Yes, that’s two-handed tapping.  Also, the first measure really serves as a lead-up to the two measure run that first cascades downwards in a series of ascending triplets to be followed be a very interesting ascent back to the upper frets.

Learning the Lick:

There are a few things, that need to be called out to make this lick a little easier to understand and play.  The first measure listed here serves to lead into the interesting two licks, but it should not be dismissed lightly; it is quite an awkward lick and takes a while to get used to.  Much of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto features strange patterns like this throughout.  As usual, follow the fingerings and slowly work it up to speed.

Let’s move on to the more interesting licks now.  First of all, notice how the rhythmic pattern of the lick changes.  The high note lands on the downbeat of each triplet section.  The first note is on the E-string’s 18^th fret (a B-flat).  Pick that note, then forget about it.  Train your mind to now count each triplet – with the triplet’s high note landing on the downbeat.

Each triplet pattern on the descent is a little different.  These patterns just require repetition to become dialed into your head.  Strive to use hammer-ons as often as you can.  Obviously, you can’t do this when you are required to switch strings.  The last two triplets of this measure function as one section of six notes that leads the lick back to the upper frets.

Things are about to get interesting again.

For the next measure, the same pattern of counting each triplet with the high note landing on the beat still holds.  But, now notice there are three sets of triplets whose first note repeats.  These two notes must be picked, obviously, but strike to keep the third note of each triplet as a hammer-on to preserve the legato nature of the lick.

Also, notice that there is a section of two-handed tapping.  The “+” graphic above the B-string 18^th fret note indicates this.  This pattern is repeated twice and gives you a split-second of rest just before you need to make a big leap up to the 16^th fret for the last part of the lick.  If you’ve made it this far, then congratulations!  You have survived a very tricky lick.

Download the music

Let’s go back to the very first topic that we discussed:  notation.  I just want to introduce some basic ways to notate chords.  Beelow are two different ways to notate chords.  This is excluding notes in standard notation and number in guitar tablature.  I mean just easy ways to write down the name of a chord. The top image shows 1) standard guitar chord charts and 2) “classic” Roman numerals.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here is another way – just spelling out the name of the chord and adding a suffix to it (like “Dm” for D minor):

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Note:  The audio samples also include a C chord played one octave higher.

The  graphic at the above shows the chords spelled out in the simplest format.  This is what you’ll encounter most frequently in popular music.  The lower case “m” indicates “minor”.  “Major” is implied with all chords without a suffix attached to it.  Major chords can also be notated with a capital “M”.  The one oddball chord is “B dim” or B diminished.  Likewise for the other type of triad or chord, the augmented chord, an “aug” is added to the chord.  This chord, however, is very rare in popular music and does not appear naturally diatonically (diatonically means “within the scale”).  In other words, there will always be some type of accidental – sharp or flat – attached to it).

Let’s remind ourselves of the four types of triads and how their formed:

• major – a major third, a minor third.  As in C to E and E to G.
• minor – a minor third, a major third.  As in C to E flat and E flat to G.
• diminished – a minor third, a minor third.  As in a C to E flat and E flat to G flat.
• augmented – a major third, a major third.  As in a C to E and an E to G sharp.

One more time:

• major – a major third, then a minor third.
• minor – a minor third, then a major third.
• diminished – two minor thirds.
• augmented – two major thirds.

And, in terms of how common they are:

• major and minor triads – super common
• diminished triad – a distant third, but still common (especially in 7th chords – more on this later)
• augmented triad – a super distant third!

OK, back to the differences in the three types of notation systems mentioned above.  Here are the advantages/disadvantages of each type:

1. Guitar chords:
   • Advantages:  You can read the chord symbol, and if you don’t know the chord, you have the fingerings available.
   • Disadvantages:  You’re given the ability to neglect understanding how the chord is formed.  The real “training wheels” version of notation.  Some may see this as an advantage.
2. Classic Roman numerals:
   • Advantages:  Relationships to other chords in the key are explicit, easy way to distinguish major and minor, this is a useful system for harmonic analysis.
   • Disadvantages:  The most difficult of the three, requires solid basic theory to grasp.
3. Popular notation:
   • Advantages:  The most common, easy to distinguish chord types.
   • Disadvantages:  Chord relationships are not available.

It’s important to be familiar with all three, but mostly “Classic” and “Popular”.

More on Intervals:

We’ve done intervals in a separate lesson.  Now lets learn intervals on a single string.  From any open string, be able to find (at the minimum):

• One octave up (don’t forget about harmonics!)
• One fifth up
• Major and Minor 3rds up

Others that should come easy once you can find these without thinking:

• The sevenths (major/minor)
• The seconds (major/minor)

A little trickier but by no means hard (save these for last):

• The fourth
• The sixths (major/minor)