i was just kinof talking about this in another thread about 'catchy tunes'. there are many things in the classical, or 4-part hamorny aspect of music that can lend a helping hand in creating interesting chord tones out of generic chord progressions.

some cool ideas to think about would be pickardy 3rds, which would be taking a major chord and turning it into a minor, or vice versa. very cliche classical sound, and you can hear the 3rd tone moving very distinctively.

Neopolitan 6ths are also used, which in laments terms would just be a major flat II chord. so in C minor, it would be Db major. the '6th' term comes into play because they are usually implimented with the 3rd chord tone in the bass, so your lowest tone would actually be F. however, on guitar it hardly matters. the muddiness of the lower strings makes little distinction between the two; its more of a 4-part voicing thing.

secondary dominants are an awesome way to get new sounds out of old progressions. for instance, try a V7/V, which in C major would be a D7 chord moving to a G chord. there are more interesting ones you can mess with, like a vii/iii, which in C major would be D#b5 moving to E minor.

those are just a few examples, but i would highly suggest looking into some classical-esque theory. few guitarists are exposed to it, and i only was through theory classes. the possibilities for interesting melodies are quite vast, my friend. don't give up hope.


and on the BS boys issue, yea....they're not playing cellos or violas, that's for damn sure.