VERTICAL TRUTH
Chordal Mechanisms for the Guitar
Units 1 through 10
by Jay EuDaly

www.masterguitar.com

Reviewed by Danny Embrey


I first met Jay EuDaly in the late 1970s. We played together some, I admired his ease on the guitar, and he commented about music with clarity and intelligence.

In 1979, Jay became a student of John Elliott, one of KC's true treasures. Many local musicians have seized the opportunity to spend 30 minutes a week with John to open up our music worlds. I'm grateful to have had three years with him. Jay studied with him for seven. Vertical Truth came about because of Jay's extensive teaching as well as his years with John Elliott.

 

Jay has put together a well-organized and informative harmonic presentation. Vertical Truth is not a self-teaching book. It must be studied with a qualified instructor. Every page must be well understood before moving on. It is a harmonic book for sure. However, from this information you can access melodic lines for improv that might otherwise be unavailable.

The concept of Vertical Truth is about approaching the guitar from a chordal standpoint (a chord being a vertical stack of notes). This not only helps the student master the extensive fingerboard, but it provides a firm foundation of harmony. The book begins with an introduction that lays out the format and "ground rules" for the lessons. Starting with the simple basics for beginners, then to 7th chords, inversions, open and close, extensions, common tone progressions, then the challenging bitonal section.

Vertical Truth is set up in ten chapters (or units, as Jay refers to them). Units 4-10 are directly from the aforementioned John Elliott. My hat is off to Jay for presenting this material just as John did for so many of us.

The book also presents music theory in a "non-threatening" way. Halfway through, the student knows how to build chords, move voices smoothly, and choose harmonic color. I use the term non-threatening because Jay includes theory as the book moves along, exactly as it is needed to clarify a particular subject. This gives the student something to connect the information to, which is hugely important for learning.

The units on bitonals are particularly interesting for advanced players. Bitonality is the use of two or more tonal groups to achieve harmonic or melodic color. I believe this is a pianistic approach to the guitar which opens up enormous possibilities on the fretboard.

This book is a must have for the serious student and teacher. It has obviously taken countless hours of work to put together, and it is very informative and inspiring for the guitarist with higher aspirations.


Guest contributor Danny Embrey is one of Kansas City's most respected jazz guitarists. He has appeared with Sergio Mendes, Clare Fischer and Karrin Allyson and can be heard with numerous area bands including the Sons of Brasil and Angela Hagenbach.



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