Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

It seems that, here at Guitar Wisdom, we talk endlessly about the importance of triads as an essential part of your musical foundation. Although we mention the brilliant use of triads in "Hotel California" by the Eagles, we have not given much attention to triads in other popular songs or modern compositions.

So, let's try this: whether or not you are familiar with "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson, please check it out below and post a comment about what you hear. Just be sure to listen beyond the 25-second intro!

Thanks for posting this George. I hear screaming triads with some neighbor notes thrown in to connect them. Upbeat and enjoyable!

Thanks, Ken. There are plenty of triad arpeggios here. EJ's technique is superb, but for me, it is the focus on melody that makes this tune (and, of course, all original music by Tomo) so enjoyable!

Wow! I haven't heard that in a long time. I hear triads now too!
Thanks George Mattingly Esquire! (Any relation to Donnie Baseball?)

Makes me remember when I took Lisa to see Eric J. a few years ago. He only played acoustic and sang his love songs. She liked it better than many of the guitar hero shows I've taken her to. I just let her think he is folky :-)
Kurt

I love his amazing acoustic interpretation of the classic Paul Simon tune "Mrs. Robinson". There are a few triads here:

Thank you, Kurt . . . and although I do not know with certainty, I am very likely related to Don, with a common ancestor four or five generations back.

As for guitar hero shows: Some years ago, Tomo and I saw Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani in a sold-out show at the Berklee Performance Center. Seating capacity: about 1200. Number of women in the audience: maybe 35!

Hi George, thanks for an interesting thread!
I've only just started learning about triads, and to be honest, I don't really understand how triads are used in this song.
But “Don’t worry!”
I am grateful for the opportunity to listen to the song with triad in mind.
I enjoy making progress in my musical understanding. Thank you!

Thank you George to made the inspiring thread , thanks Kurt 's sharing , totally fall in love with these beautiful song !
Triads ! Triads ! Triads !

Thank you Tadashi, Jiayang!

Great song to learn triads!

Tomo

Thank you George! I am an Eric Johnson fan. I have his record, Tones. It’s great too. Cliffs of Dover what a masterpiece

Thanks George. This has been fun so far. I’ve never sat down and looked at this. The triad lessons but also the spread voicing lessons we did awhile ago is helping on this song.

What a jacket.

Thank you, Jeffrey, for your post! "Cliffs of Dover" is a study in creating melodies with triads. For example, the Part B melody, which starts at 2:43 of this video, involves voice-leading with the top notes of triad arpeggios.

Meanwhile, EJ's use of spread-voiced triads creates an ear-training challenge. Reviewing the lessons on spread-voiced triads is a good idea for anyone who would like to transcribe this tune!

It's hard to decide whether the jacket is 1966 or 1776.

Very cool, I remember this blazing guitar from EJ. Very uplifting. I can hear some triads for sure, now that I know more about them(GW) .. . Now just figure it out!! Or at leat one or two measures. My amplifier has an Eric Johnson tone setting, he has a very pronounced sound dancing on that fret board. Good stuff! - johno