Guitar Honor - Advanced

Arts & Crafts

Requirements

1. Have the Guitar honor.

   Answer: You must have previously completed the basic Guitar honor, demonstrating command of posture, tuning, reading chord charts, major and minor chords, simple fingerpicking, basic rhythms, and the performance of at least three complete songs as a prerequisite for this advanced honor. — The advanced honor requires the basic one as a prerequisite because it assumes that techniques such as triads, complex strumming patterns, and reading sheet music only make sense on a solid base of chords and rhythm already acquired.

2. Explain what triads are and how they are formed.

   Answer: Triads are three-note chords formed by stacking two thirds on top of a root note: root, third, and fifth. There are four types: major (major 3rd + minor 3rd), minor (minor 3rd + major 3rd), augmented (major 3rd + major 3rd), and diminished (minor 3rd + minor 3rd). — The C major triad (C-E-G) has the root C, the major third E (4 semitones above), and the perfect fifth G (7 semitones above the root) — this pattern of stacking thirds is the foundation of Western tonal harmony since Bach.

3. Know how to build derived chords from the triads of the major notes.

   Answer: From a major triad (1-3-5) you obtain derived chords: minor (lower the third: 1-♭3-5), dominant seventh (add the minor 7th: 1-3-5-♭7), major seventh (add the major 7th: 1-3-5-7), sus4 (replace the 3rd with the 4th: 1-4-5), and add9 (add the 9th: 1-3-5-9). — In C major (C = C-E-G), the derived chords follow the pattern: Cm = C-E♭-G, C7 = C-E-G-B♭, CM7 = C-E-G-B, Csus4 = C-F-G, and Cadd9 = C-E-G-D — this is the skeleton of modern tonal harmony.

4. Explain how to perform 2 different methods of tuning guitars.

   Answer: Two methods: (1) electronic tuner — sets each open string to the correct note (E2-A2-D3-G3-B3-E4 from low to high), playing one at a time; (2) tuning by comparison — press the 5th fret of each string and match the sound to the next open string, except between G and B where it is the 4th fret. — The exception in the relative tuning between the G and B strings (4th fret instead of 5th) exists because the interval between these two strings is a major third, whereas all the other intervals on the guitar are perfect fourths.

5. What is tablature and how do you read one?

   Answer: Tablature is a graphic representation of the guitar with six horizontal lines (each line = one string, from the highest on top to the lowest on the bottom) and numbers on the lines indicating the fret to be pressed. It is read from left to right; zero means an open string, and numbers stacked vertically are played together. — Tablature is older than modern sheet music — it emerged in the Renaissance (15th-16th century) for the lute and vihuela and was readapted for guitar in the 1970s by music magazines that popularized the simplified notation.

6. Identify the following symbols used in chord charts:
   • 6, 7, etc.
   • 9m, 7m, etc.
   • 5+, 11+, etc.
   • dim (º)

   Answer: 1) 6, 7, etc.: indicate chords with the sixth or seventh note added to the triad (e.g.: C6 = C-E-G-A; C7 = C-E-G-B♭). 2) 9m, 7m, etc.: indicate minor chords with an added ninth or seventh (e.g.: Cm9, Cm7). 3) 5+, 11+, etc.: indicate augmented intervals, such as the augmented fifth and the augmented eleventh (e.g.: C5+, C11+). 4) dim (º): indicates the diminished chord, formed by stacked minor thirds (e.g.: Cº = C-E♭-G♭-A). — The symbol º (degrees) comes from the classical German notation for diminished chords, popularized in the jazz chord charts of the 1940s — to this day it is the standard in professional Brazilian and American chord charts.

7. Choose 5 songs from the hymnal that feature symbols from the previous requirement and play them at a worship service, Club or Unit meeting, small group, or AY (Adventist Youth).

   Answer: Select 5 hymns from the Adventist Hymnal (HASD) that feature chords with 7, 6, m7, or diminished — examples: 'Vencendo Vem Jesus' (with dominant sevenths), 'Castelo Forte' (with diminished), 'Maravilhosa Graça' (with 7), 'Quão Grande és Tu' (m7), and 'Doce Quietude'. Perform them at a worship service, club meeting, or AY. — The Adventist Hymnal published by Casa Publicadora Brasileira has 612 hymns, and most of the guitar arrangements use dominant seventh and diminished chords as the basis of the traditional hymn style.

8. Demonstrate how to raise the key (transpose the tonality) of a song to adapt it to the vocal range of the singer.

   Answer: To raise the key, move all the chords of the song by the same interval. Use the capo as a practical shortcut: each fret raises it by a half step (for example, a capo on the 2nd fret turns C-G-Am-F into D-A-Bm-G). To lower it, do the opposite or switch to a lower tonality. — The capo mechanically shortens the vibrating length of the strings, raising the pitch uniformly across all of them — it has been the standard tool of pop guitarists since the 1960s for quick vocal adaptation without relearning chords.

9. Why are there no E# and B# chord symbols?

   Answer: There are no E# and B# chord symbols because in the natural major scale there is no semitone between E-F or between B-C (the distance is already just one semitone). Thus, E# sounds identical to F and B# sounds identical to C (enharmonic equivalence), and for the sake of simplicity popular chord charts use only F and C in these cases. — In classical theory E# and B# exist in key signatures such as F# major and C# major, but in popular chord charts the simpler enharmonic name is preferred — a principle adopted by the jazz Real Book chord standard since 1975.

10. What are consonant and dissonant chords and what is the difference between them?

    Answer: Consonant chords have stable intervals and sound pleasant to the ear — they use thirds, fifths, sixths, and octaves (major, minor, resolved suspensions). Dissonant chords contain sonic tension — they include seconds, sevenths, ninths, tritones, and augmented/diminished intervals, and generally call for resolution to a consonant chord. — Consonance and dissonance depend on cultural perception and historical context — in jazz and contemporary music many chords considered dissonant (m7, 9, 13) are treated as stable, expanding the tonal vocabulary.

11. Know at least 2 scales for soloing (e.g., pentatonic) and demonstrate them on the guitar.

    Answer: Two common scales for soloing: minor pentatonic — 5 notes (1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7); in A minor: A-C-D-E-G; widely used in rock and blues. Major pentatonic — 5 notes (1, 2, 3, 5, 6); in C major: C-D-E-G-A; common in country and MPB. Demonstrate each one ascending and descending across the guitar strings. — The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues solos worldwide — Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Slash built their classic solos basically on the minor pentatonic with the occasional blue note.

12. Put together a folder with more than 30 Adventist songs with chord charts.

    Answer: Put together a physical or digital folder with 30+ Adventist hymns and songs in chord-chart format (lyrics with chords aligned above). Include hymns from the HASD (Adventist Hymnal) such as 'Vencendo Vem Jesus', as well as songs from the MPC, AY, Small Group, and Sabbath afternoon. Organize them by theme: praise, prayer, teaching, fellowship, mission. — The Adventist Hymnal (HASD) has 612 numbered hymns, and the official site cifrasdesabado.com maintains a free chord database with most of them — a practical reference used by musicians of the Brazilian Adventist churches.