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When it comes to the soulful, funky guitars of the ’60s and ’70s, it’s almost impossible not to think of Curtis
Mayfield. Sonically and compositionally, Mayfield set the stage for what many of us associate with slick ’70s
funk. However, Mayfield reaches further back than the ’70s and his landmark contributions to the Super Fly
soundtrack.
You can find Mayfield’s influence in the roots of Jimi Hendrix’s playing. Listen to “People Get Ready”
below. Mayfield’s band, the Impressions, had a hit with this civil-rights theme back in 1965.
Now, check out Jimi’s “Castles Made of Sand” and you’ll notice some immediate connections between the
two.
Mayfield had a unique approach to the guitar. He started singing in a gospel choir at age seven and absorbed
the music he grew up with like a sponge. He played piano, which his mother taught him, before the guitar.
Curtis joined the Impressions at age 14 in 1956. He was noted as being one of the first recording artists to
include a strong social consciousness in his music. He was at the forefront of a social movement that would
later include Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Mayfield had a gentle delivery while confronting society with
the truth masked from our eyes.
While I was on tour in the Midwest a month ago, our tour manager Brendan
Chops: Intermediate
McDonough bought to my attention that Mayfield used an odd guitar tuning. I
Theory: Intermediate
had listened to him for years without knowing this.
Lesson Overview:
The tuning was F#–A#–C#–F#–A#–F# (low to high). • Get your hands dirty with
Mayfield’s open-F# tuning.
I bet you didn’t see that coming! It’s quite an odd tuning, but it basically • Learn how to layer funky
translates to an open F# tuning. The tuning was inspired by the black keys on rhythm parts.
the piano. Once you realize that, it doesn’t seem so weird. •Understand how to use
sixths and fourths to create
What’s in a Tuning? slippery, melodic fills.
One thing that comes up a lot when discussing open tunings is the question of
necessity. Many will say that if you’re not using a lot of open-string Click here to download a
combinations, it’s not necessary. I can see this point; however, it doesn’t take printable PDF of this
into account how a tuning can influence your voicing and fills. lesson's notation.
A D major chord is not just a D major chord. Where you place that chord and how you arrange the intervals
changes the sound considerably. It’s for this reason that you can play the given chords for a song, but still
have it sound incorrect because you are using different voicings. A prime example is the music of Bob
Marley. His guitar voicings are so tied to his songs. Sure, you can use cowboy chords and get through the
song, but it won’t sound like Marley.
I believe the F# tuning Mayfield used greatly influenced his playing. When you listen to a song like “People
Get Ready,” the parts flow better with the F# tuning. You can play it in standard, but something just doesn’t
sound completely right. For his style, the fingerings flow a little easier in F#.
Let’s look at a few popular scales and chords in the F# tuning, but don’t worry, we’ll get to copping
Mayfield’s licks in standard tuning later in the lesson.
Ex. 1 shows the full D major chord, while Ex. 2 shows a more stripped-down voicing, closer to what Curtis
would use.
To move from D major to a D minor chord, we lower the 3 (F#) to the b3 (F). Ex. 3 shows a minor triad with
a low note on the 6th string. Ex. 4 refines that voicing a bit.
You can see in Ex. 5 that you don’t have to move around too much to add some major pentatonic colors to
the major triad shape.
Moving sixths around in the F# tuning is pretty easy. You can play them on the top two strings. Ex. 9 outlines
a D major sound from the 3 (F#) of the chord, and Ex. 10 outlines a D minor sound starting from the b3 (F).
Just by looking at these shapes, you can see the convenience of this tuning for coloring chords à la Mayfield.
The tuning can influence the performance. However, it doesn’t mean we can’t play Mayfield-inspired music
in standard tuning.
The Translator
In this lesson, I’m going to translate his F# tuning moves into standard tuning. It’s not always practical to use
open tunings in a live setting. I tend to use them a lot more in the studio rather than live, unless I have a guitar
tech and several guitars on tour. It’s not often I can play a whole set in one open tuning.
Let’s get our decoder rings out. Don’t worry, we won’t be drinking any Ovaltine today. First, listen to
“Movers and Shakers” below before we dissect Mayfield’s moves.
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Digging Deeper: Curtis Mayfield - Movers And Shak… Share
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Stabs
A cool Super Fly-era move would be to play thirds on the 3rd and 2nd strings. I do believe it’s important not
to get too fancy with chord extensions. Mayfield liked using simple triads for this effect.
You can try minor or major thirds, depending on the song you’re playing. Either a root–3 voicing or a 3–5
voicing could work. Also, think staccato. In Ex. 11 I only sustain the interval every two measures, which I’m
sliding into from a half-step below.
Click here for Ex. 11
Minor Vibes
Superimposing sixths on top of a minor pentatonic riff can create some real vibe. We can use the sixths to
imply a minor 6th chord or a minor 7th chord.
One thing to keep in mind is to let these intervals hang for a bit. It’s not about fast movement. In fact, this is
an important point with all of Mayfield’s music. It was way more about mood rather than flashy moves.
In Ex. 12 you can hear me play a sixth (G and E) on beat one. This lasts for two measures and helps imply
the chord is a Gm6. In measure 3, I play a sixth that implies a Gm7 chord.
Notice that there is a fair amount of palm muting in Ex. 13. I’m not completely deadening the string, but I am
reducing the sustain by about half of its natural decay.
Starting at measure one in Ex. 14, I’m putting emphasis on beats 1, 3, and 4 with the wah in toe position
(fully forward). Being that this position on the wah is the brightest, it helps highlight the beat. Take note of
the slow sweep on beat 2 that builds into beat 3.
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In Ex. 16 we’ll slide some fourths from the 2 of the scale up to the 3 of the scale. This works great over major
chords. Makes sense when you think about it. We’re essentially sliding into a chord tone (3) with a
harmonized fourth above it. In Ex. 17, I move the concept down a string set.
It’s going to take some time for these concepts to seep into your playing. Avoid the crash course method. Let
the ideas steep like a nice cup of chamomile tea on a chilly autumn evening. Spending five minutes a day on
each of these concepts will help you develop consistent growth. Within one or two months of somewhat
regular practice, you’ll start to see these flavors emerge naturally in your playing.
Mark Marshall is a NYC-based composer, session and touring guitarist, producer, and author of the book
Practice Makes Progress. Mark has a soft spot for sarcasm and anything with tubes in it. Visit
guitaristmarkmarshall.com for more info.