The Professional Guitar Masterclass

Up until this point, we have been playing individual notes one at a time. When you play more than one note at a time, this is called a chord. Chords are the building blocks of songs. It is important to introduce you to commonly played chords early in your studies. The sooner you learn basic chords, the sooner you can play the songs you want. This keeps you motivated and interested in the learning process. I am going to show you the most common and most easily played chords in popular music. You will be surprised how many of the songs you love contain these chords.

Chords are portrayed in vertical diagram form (shown below). The chord diagram represents the top part of the guitar neck. The vertical lines are the strings, and the horizontal lines are the frets. The dots show you where your fingers go, and the number in the dot tells you which finger to use there. To review, the pointer finger is 1, middle finger is 2, ring finger is 3, and pinkie is 4. If there is an O above a string, this is an open string, so strum it along with the others. If there is a X above a string, that string is not to be played at all. The red dots are the roots, or the notes that share the name of the chord. For example: In a C chord, the roots (red dots) would be the "C" notes in that chord.

When making these chords, first place your fingers in the correct place and then pick one note at a time to ensure that each note can be heard clearly, then give it one strum across the strings to hear the whole chord. If a note is not coming out clear, it is one of three things:

1. Either you are not pressing down hard enough.

2. You are not pressing your finger down directly behind the fret.

3. The string is hitting another finger which is preventing its vibration.

The proper way to play chords is to arch your fingers "up" and come straight down on the strings. Some chords are harder than others, so don't be discouraged if some seem impossible at first. They will not stay that way.

Also, it is important to note that you shouldn't work on a specific chord for more than a few minutes. Move on to the next one and come back to it tomorrow. Muscle memory is built through repetition. Below are chord diagrams for all the basic major and minor chords on your guitar. Without getting into theory just yet, the best way to look at the difference between major and minor chords is that major chords sound "happy" and minor chords sound "sad." These chords are your bread and butter. All competent guitar players have these memorized and have them available at an instant. This is your goal. Learn them. Love them. Make them a piece of you.

Now that we have a vocabulary of chords at our disposal we need to talk about how to use them. Let's start with a couple of basic strumming patterns to get used to playing rhythm guitar. I want you to try these with all of the chords we have learned so far.

1. Down on the root, down up on the chord. This should sound like a waltz, and be counted one, two, three.

2. Down, down, down up, down up all on the chord. This should be counted one, two, three and four and.

First, practice all downstrokes on the chord, then practice all upstrokes. Now alternate (down, up, down, up). Try to make your strokes even in length and speed. The goal is to try to make the upstrokes and downstrokes sound as similar and as fluid as possible. Remember not to strum the strings that have an X on them in the diagram.

Songs, as you know, are normally made up of more than one chord. There are songs that consist of only one chord, but very few of them are interesting. What I have below are your basic transitions. These are chords that normally go together. They are in the same "family." They make sense in the same context. Practice each of the transitions with each of the strumming patterns you have already learned. The idea is to play the first chord four times and then switch to the second chord for four times and so on and so forth. The trick is to not lose any time in between chords when you switch. So take it slow. Use a metronome if you can. We are going for accuracy, not speed. I can not express the importance of this enough. If you master these transitions you will be ready to play many of your favorite songs!

Transitions

E - Emi

E - A

Emi - Ami

A - Ami

A - D

Ami - Dmi

D - Dmi

D - G

Dmi - Gmi

G - Gmi

G - C

Gmi - Cmi

C - Cmi

C - F

Cmi - Fmi

F - Fmi

Ami - C

Emi - G

Dmi - F

B - E

B - Bmi

Bmi – Emi

Bmi – D

D – Emi

C - Emi

Simply put, an interval is the distance between any two notes. We have 12 notes in western music and the distance between any two of these notes has a specific sound and a corresponding name. The notes are named after the letters in the alphabet A through G. When you reach the 12th note, the next note higher is the first note again.

Now obviously, G is only the seventh note in our alphabet. So what about the other five notes? Well, in between some of the notes are other notes called accidentals. These are known as sharps and flats. Sharps go up in harmonic value while flats go down. For example: The note between A and B is either A Sharp or B flat. Don't worry about why... just understand that they are the same note and that sharps go up and flats go down. Sharps are notated by “#” and flats are notated by “b”. There are only two places in our 12 notes where there are no accidentals and that is between B and C and E and F. Therefore, the 12 notes we have at our disposal are:

A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab

And the intervals are as follows:

Tonic or octave - two of the same notes. ie: C and C - written as 1

Minor second - one fret or note above the tonic. ie: C and C# - written as b2

Major second - two frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and D - written as 2

Minor third - three frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and Eb - written as b3

Major third - four frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and E - written as 3

Perfect fourth - five frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and F - written as 4

Augmented fourth or diminished fifth - six frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and F# / Gb - written as #4 or b5

Perfect fifth - seven frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and G - written as 5

Minor sixth - eight frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and Ab - written as b6

Major sixth - nine frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and A - written as 6

Minor seventh - ten frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and Bb - written as b7

Major seventh - eleven frets or notes above the tonic. ie: C and B - written as 7

You must also realize that you can start on any tonic and make the same intervals. For example: the distance between C and G is a perfect fifth... and so is the distance between A and E... or D and A. Get used to finding each of these intervals on your fretboard and pay attention to the sound of each of them! We will use these intervals to make all of our sounds in the future and we will call them by their specific names. SO MEMORIZE THEM NOW!

So many players make a living with power chords. Genres like metal and punk have made them an integral part of guitar playing over the years. Powerchords are comprised of only two notes: the root and the perfect fifth. They are neither major nor minor. Because of this structure, the sound they produce is simple, clean, and powerful. Hence the name. Throw on some nice distortion and they're just red hot.

Powerchords are best learned as movable shapes. This means that your fingers keep the same shape and move up and down the fretboard to make the different chords. Below I have made diagrams of three basic powerchord shapes with roots on the sixth, fifth, and fourth strings. The root is the name of the chord. For example, if you are playing a G powerchord the root is G.

The next thing we need to do is to map out the roots on the fretboard so you can find powerchords all over the neck. Take note of your fretboard markers (the dots). These are very useful when navigating the fretboard. Memorize their location and corresponding roots on each string. Notice that there is no note between B and C as well as E and F. All of the other blank spaces are called accidentals, or sharps and flats, as we learned before.

If you are trying to sound a B powerchord with the root on the sixth string, for example, you would play B on the seventh fret with the first finger as well as an F# with your third finger on the fifth string on the ninth fret. I want you to be able to find and play all of the chords (A - G#) with roots on the sixth, fifth, and fourth string.

Now let's incorporate these into our playing. Refer back to all of the basic transitions we used in lesson four and play these with powerchords. Obviously, since powerchords are neither major nor minor, disregard all the tonality differences and focus on the root movement. I want you to try each of these transitions in three different spots on the neck. Specifically, I want you to start on a different root each time and find your closest, most economical move.

The great thing about the guitar is that it is not linear like a piano. From the simplest chord to the most complicated scale, everything exists in five shapes. That's it. When you break the neck down into simple shapes it's easy to learn even the most advanced concepts. And what are these shapes made of? Octaves.

As we have already learned, an octave is the same note played in a different harmonic register. For example, a high C and a low C played in unison. The arrangement of the octaves on our guitar neck creates these shapes. This is commonly known as the "CAGED" system, and when it comes to learning your neck, you can't beat it.

The idea behind this system is that there are five octave shapes, and each one relates to a common open chord shape. Below are diagrams of each of the five octave shapes. Each of these shapes are movable. For example, if you are playing two C's in pattern one and you slide that whole shape up two frets, you are now playing two D's in pattern one.

Pattern 1 is based off of the C major chord.

Pattern 2 is based off of the A major chord.

Pattern 3 is based off of the G major chord.

Pattern 4 is based off of the E major chord.

Pattern 5 is based off of the D major chord.

After you get a good feel for these, we need to learn how to connect them. These patterns increase sequentially as we go up the neck. If we start with C pattern 1, we have our first finger on the first fret of the second string and our third finger on the third fret of the fifth string. What we want to do is play every C on the guitar. So, as we go up the neck we switch to the next octave shape. In order to connect to the pattern 2 shape, we put our first finger where our third finger was on the third fret of the fifth string and then reach our next octave with our third finger on the fifth fret on the third string. The stretch to pattern 3 is tricky. Don't worry about playing both the first and sixth strings at the same time. You can bounce back and forth with your fourth finger. Just make sure you know where they are.

When you go to pattern 4, realize that you can play both the first and sixth strings with your first finger if you lay it across all of the strings. This is called barreing. It may be hard at first but this is a necessary skill to master in order to become a good guitar player. After pattern 5 the cycle just starts over at pattern 1 again.

Don't let open strings fool you. Really try to visualize the octave shapes in open form. Choose random keys and try to connect all of your roots up and down the fretboard. Choose keys like F# or Bb to make sure you really understand the concept. You will know you have fully absorbed this concept when you can play any note anywhere on the guitar neck by connecting these patterns. This is the foundation upon which all of our future lessons will be built. Get it down. It is absolutly essential.

I'm sure you have heard people say things like, "that's in the key of C major." The easiest and best way to explain what that means is to think of your key as "home." If you are in the key of C major, then the C major chord is home base. It is the complete resolution of all musical tension. The flavor or feeling of a song is created by the function of its chords, and all of the chords function in relation to "home." Some chords go away from home. Some chords go towards home. Some moves are close and some moves are far. But, they all serve to create or resolve musical tension, which is ultimately resolved by the arrival at our root, or "home." In musical terms, the key (or key center) is called the root or the one (I) chord. Therefore, in the key of C major, the note C is the root and the C major chord is the one (I) chord.

Below, I have listed the two most common keys in popular music. Remember the key center is called the one chord. Therefore, the keys listed below are the keys of C major and G major, respectively. You will notice that there are seven chords in any key, which are notated by roman numerals. You will also notice that, regardless of the key, when the one chord is major so are the four and five chords. The two, three, and six chords are always minor, and the seventh chord is diminished. Don't worry about diminished just yet. We will get there in a bit.

Take a look at the key of C major. If C major is the one chord, then what is the six chord? If you answered A minor you get it. What is the two chord in the key of G major? That's right! A minor.

I major II minor III minor IV major V major VI minor VII dim

C D E F G A B

G A B C D E F#

At the bottom of this lesson you will see a few progressions. A progression tells you what chords are in a song - but not the key. You need to start viewing chords as performing functions relative to the key center, root, or one chord. With this knowledge you understand how any song can be played in any key. Chords exist in a context, not alone. It is the chord function that is important.

I have listed the most common progressions in popular music. You will recognize them. I want you to try them with the different strumming patterns we have already explored, and I want you to try them in both the key of C and G. . For example, play a I IV V in the key of C major. The chords are C major, F major, and G major respectively. The C major chord functions as "home." The F major chord will function as going "away." And the G major chord will function as if it wants to "go towards home." Now try the same I IV V progression in the key of G major. The chords will now be G major, C major, and D major, respectivley. Now the G major chord will function as "home." The C major chord will function as going "away." And the D major chord will function as if it wants to "go towards home." You will find that the functions of the chords are the same for each key, but the overall flavor or feeling is different. The key is different. The progression is the same.

Lastly, I want you to experiment with using different rhythms and progressions you make up yourself. Have fun. See what sounds good and what doesn't. Start developing an "active ear." Think about the function of the chords you are playing. Don't be passive. Are they creating or resolving tension? Are they going towards or away from home? Everything serves a purpose!

Progressions

I IV V

I VImi IImi V

IImi V I

Barre chords are movable chord shapes that utilize a technique where you lay (barre) your fingers across the neck.

Try barring your first finger across all 6 strings at the fifth fret. See if you can hear all of the notes as you play each of the strings. It can be tricky at first. You probably hear the most buzzing around the third string. Over time you will build the strength in your hand to barre with ease. Our first barre chords will be built on pattern 4 and pattern 2 octave shapes. These are the most commonly used. If you remember, pattern 2 is based off of the A shape and pattern 4 is based off of the E shape. The diagrams below show the major and minor versions of each.

Notice that the first set of notes in each of these chords makes a powerchord. To play these movable shapes, you find the desired root on the fretboard and then make the rest of the shape the same as you would with a powerchord. Make sure you play each chord one note at a time and listen for all of the chord tones. With the pattern 2 major chord, you have the option of barring with either the fourth of third finger. Try both and decide which one is better for you. Take your time and work out any kinks. Be patient.

After you have these barre chords under your fingers, try playing the I IV V and I VI II V progressions that we learned earlier using only barre chords.Try using at least two different starting points for each progression. For example, start with a pattern 2 shape for the first run-through of the progression and then start with a pattern 4 shape the next time. Play both progressions in all five keys as well as experiment on your own. Make stuff up. Enjoy all of the sounds you can make.

Your rhythm guitar playing has gaps - gaping holes. These movable shapes will fill them. Currently, the only movable shapes we have are our patterns 2 and 4 barre chords. You need the other three patterns for both major and minor chords to completely know your fretboard. Below, I have provided the diagrams for major and minor chords in all five patterns. Some of these patterns are strange to the fingers, and might not be used very often. Others are very easy and are overused if you ask me. You need to know them all and be able to grab them without hesitation.

There are many different reasons to use specific chord shapes instead of others. Sometimes we want to use a specific chord shape to get a specific sound from our chords. Other times we may want to be economical in our movement around the neck. This is especially true when playing long, live sets. This lesson is designed to get you accustomed to finding your "closest move" or most “economical transition” by utilizing all of the five chord shapes available.

Below I have supplied the table of our five most common keys. Like before, we are going to play our two most common progressions (I IV V & I VI II V) in each of the five keys. This time, however, we will be using our "closest moves." This means we will not be going up or down the neck more than one fret to reach our desired chord.

Let's start in the key of C with the I IV V progression. Choose any strumming pattern you like. In open position, the patterns of choice are C major pattern 1, F major pattern 4, and G major pattern 3. After playing our progression in that area of the neck, we are now going to increase each of the pattern numbers by one and subsequently climb the fretboard. Therefore, C pattern one will become C pattern 2, F pattern 4 will become F pattern 5, and G pattern 3 will become G pattern 4. This will take us to the next position of this progression on the fretboard. After a minute, continue up the neck. C will progress to pattern 3, F to pattern 1, and G to pattern 5. Take this all the way up the neck until you have played the progression in all five possible sections of the fretboard. Try this method in all of the five keys listed and in the I VI II V progression.

There is one more thing we need to introduce: minor progressions. A minor progression is a progression where a minor chord acts as the I chord, or home, just like the minor root does when improvising in the minor pentatonic scale. The most common minor progression is a minor I IV V. The root movements will be the same as a major I IV V, but the chord shapes will be different. I am not going to get into too much theory right now, so just know that minor chords can be key centers as well. I have added a few minor I IV V progressions below.

Really get into this stuff.

So we have 12 notes from which to choose. We already know we can make chords from scales, but what are these scales? Scales are notes arranged in a certain order to make specific sounds. There are many kinds of scales but we will start with the major scale because it is the most common. We create the intervals of a scale by applying a formula of whole steps and half steps from any tonic. Whole steps are two frets and half steps are one fret. The formula for the major scale is:

Whole – Whole – Half – Whole – Whole - Whole - Half

Which creates these intervals:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

So if we apply our major scale formula from the tonic C, our C major scale would be:

C D E F G A B C

But what about accidentals? We already know that some scales have sharps and flats, so where do they come in? To answer this, let's try to make a G major scale.

If we start on G, we see that the distance from G to A is a whole step, from A to B is a whole step, B to C is a half step (because there is no note in-between B and C), C to D is a whole step and D to E is a whole step. So far so good. But look at what happens next. We are on E, and need a whole step, but the distance between E and F is only a half step (because there is no note between E and F). Therefore, we have to change the F to an F# to get the whole step we need in the major scale formula. Lastly, we need a half step to complete the formula and we have that between F# and G (our tonic). Which gives us:

G A B C D E F# G

Apply this formula to any tonic and you will make a major scale. Try this on your fretboard. Start on any fret on any string. Go up the string following the formula and you will make the major scale in the key of your starting note. Below are the rest of the five most common keys I gave you before. Understand how the formula altered the notes to create each scale, and play them up and down each respective string. Notice the pattern and feel of the scale degrees.

D E F# G A B C# D

A B C# D E F# G# A

E F# G# A B C# D# E

The first scales we will be learning to play are five note scales, known as pentatonic scales. The reason we start with five note scales and not the full seven note major scale is because not only are they easier to learn and play, but they are extremely prevalent in popular music. Pentatonic scales can be both major and minor in tonality.

The major pentatonic scale contains the following intervals:

1 2 3 5 6

The minor pentatonic scale contains the following intervals:

1 b3 4 5 b7

Below are the five patterns of the major and minor pentatonic shapes. The major pentatonics are listed first, and the shapes are in order, starting with pattern one.

Begin with the key of C major. The way to practice is to start at the first playable pattern on the neck in that key and work up and down the neck. In the key of C, for example, pattern 1 is the first playable pattern - so look at the diagrams, find pattern 1, and start with the third fret on the fifth string with your third finger. Play across the neck and back and make sure you are alternate picking. Always start and end on the lowest root. After you feel that you have that shape under your fingers, jump up to pattern 2. Connect your roots first, find the appropriate scale shape below, and go through it. Continue this for each of the five patterns in the key of C. Make sure to work your way back down the neck once you have gone all of the way up.

Next, let's take a look at the key of A minor. Find the lowest playable octave shape in A minor, which is pattern 2. When you find pattern 2 in the diagrams below, you will notice that it is the same scale shape we just played (pattern 1 in C major) but with different roots. This is known as relative major and minor. We will talk about this more in the future, but for right now just realize that pentatonic scales are both major and minor in tonality... It just depends what note (root) you start and end on. Play across the neck and back using alternate picking in each of the five patterns the same way you did in the key of C major. Go all of the way up and down the neck.

Now, I am sure some of you are asking what is the difference between C major and A minor if the shapes are the same? To answer this question we have to play these scales in context. Scales only perform a specific function when played over chords. Without the context of chords the roots are not the roots so to speak. The notes have no real function. So below I have recorded some jam tracks in different keys. In these tracks, I am simply playing the designated chord over and over again (called a vamp). Play the C major jam track and start with the pattern 1 C major pentatonic scale. When playing up and down the scale over the track, you will hear how the roots really sound like the roots. They sound like home. Play around in this shape and try to make some cool phrases. Take it slow. Try to think like a voice. Listen to the function of the different notes in this scale. Right away you will get a feel for the shape and how to move around in it.

Now, let's switch gears to A minor. Click the A minor jam track and play pattern 2. The scale is the same as C major pentatonic, but your roots have changed. When playing this scale over the A minor chord you will immediately notice that the sound is distinctively different. Focus on your new roots. They now sound like home - but in a different way. The feel of the shape has changed. As you play around in this shape you will find that the same phrases that you used over a C major chord don't really translate to an A minor context. It is all about context. I want you to try all five patterns in a variety of keys so you are comfortable playing them all over the neck. Also, don't forget to try in different keys!

Jamtracks:

1. C major vamp

2. A minor vamp

3. G major vamp

4. E minor vamp

For most aspiring guitarists, improvising is the largest source of frustration and intimidation. And, if you think about it, this makes sense. Everything else you can copy! So at Guitargate, improvising is our main focus. Improvising, more than anything else, is your true voice.

Many players just run up and down scales and call it improvising. It isn't. It's mindless and uninteresting. The largest problem with learning to improvise is that players don't focus on context. You need to spell out the chord you are playing over. That's why you picked it, right?

The goal of an improviser is to say something; to elicit an emotion; to describe a feeling. You need to create and resolve tension. There must be movement. You must have changing levels of volume and intensity. You must be simple sometimes and complex other times. You must always have room for silence - to let it breathe. And everything must relate to the context - to the chord you are playing over.

Let's start in the key of A minor, pattern 4. Pattern 4 is your bread and butter for minor pentatonic phrasing. It is very intuitive to the fingers. The most important thing to do when improvising is to make sure you play "about" the root. Play "at" the root. Everything you do will be with the root in mind. Every note you play will be performing a function relative to the root. A good way to begin thinking like this is to start and end all of your phrases on a root. Tease around the root and come back to it. Play from a lower root to a higher root. Start on a higher root and work back to a lower root. Don't bend the root. For right now, do not break this rule. Keep the root sacred. It is home base. Don't mess with your harmonic center.

Once you have a good feel for pattern 4 minor, expand this concept to the rest of the five shapes. Each one will have its own special feel and range. Explore one shape at a time and really dig into each one. After you have a good feel for each of the shapes, begin to combine them. Start viewing them as extensions of each other. Begin by combining pattern 4 with pattern 3. Go back and forth between the two. Find the common notes. Continue this process with each of the remaining shapes. Eventually you will see the whole neck as one large shape. Constantly think in terms of the root. Find the same phrases in different shapes. They are everywhere. Don't get caught up in one or two patterns. Don't get caught up in neck position or fingering too much. Focus on the root. Think about the root constantly. Connect patterns in order to access the root in another place. Nothing is arbitrary. I cannot stress this enough.

After exploring A minor, jump into C major. As we know, it is the relative major key and has the same notes and scale shapes but with different roots. Accentuating these new roots is the key to sounding "major." Play the C major jam track and start exploring C major in pattern 3. Really think about your new roots. When you play "about" or "at" your new roots you will find that the same licks and phrases you used in A minor don't really translate. All of the notes are the same, but you have to play differently. You have to play "major." Expand your exploration to the other four shapes of C major pentatonic the same as you did before with A minor pentatonic. Really try to sound out the chord you are playing over. Please make the root your best friend. Love it. Need it. Don't make it jealous.

One thing I also recommend is sequencing. Sequencing entails playing across the scale shape in designated sets of notes. Common sequences are sets of three and sets of four. For example, sequencing in sets of three means you would play the first three notes in the scale, then play the second, third, and fourth notes of the scale, then play the third, fourth and fifth notes and so on (123, 234, 345, 451, 512, 123). Try sequencing all of your patterns in a bunch of different keys. Also try sets of two, six, or whatever. This is a very cool technique which allows you to fill up space in areas where you want more notes without sounding confused and random.

It is also important to note that everything we talk about is applicable in any key, but you will find that some keys utilize open strings in ways which create cool and unique phrasing opportunities.

And lastly, USE YOUR EAR! It won't lie. I want you to take it slow and listen to where you want the notes to go. What do you want them to do? Do you hear them going away from home? Towards home? Higher? Lower? Create general confusion for a while? Listen to your inner ear and try to get it out. Spend time playing over these jam tracks below and start developing your personal style. Speed will come. Be accurate. Be just as mental as physical.

Jam tracks:

1. C major Improv

2. A minor Improv

3. C major to A minor

4. D major to B minor

Arpeggios are chords played one note at at time. Essentially they are the skeleton of your chord, and are very useful in creating melodic lines and providing a clear path over which to improvise. Below I have supplied the five patterns for major and minor arpeggios. Learn these the same as you have your chord shapes and pentatonic scale shapes. Play up and down the neck in both major and minor keys slowly and accurately to memorize the shapes and how they connect.

After you have these under your fingers, let's play through our progressions with arpeggios. We are going to use the concept of "closest moves" the same way we did last lesson with our major and minor chord shapes. Start in the key of C major and let's play a I IV V. Start with pattern 1 C, pattern 4 F, and pattern 3 G. Play a jam track below, and arpeggiate back and forth over each chord change. Work your way up the neck one position at a time the same way we did last lesson in order to cover the entirety of the neck and all our pattern chages. Once you have done this, try it in the other four keys we have been using and also try the other progressions (I VI II V & minor I IV V). Reminder: alternate pick these.

Now, because you will be playing only chord tones, your playing will sound consonant and linear. This is the idea behind arpeggio playing. Nail the chord tones. Spell out your changes exactly. Many players use arpeggios as a kind of road map to navigate the fretboard. Get these down and you will feel comfortable on any part of the neck.

In our first improvising lesson, we discussed soloing over one chord vamps. But very few songs are only one chord. Playing over progressions is a skill you must master to be a good player. Too many players just pick one pentatonic shape for an entire song and plunk around in it without regard to chord changes. Now to be fair, some cool sounds and phrases can be made in this manner, but a real improviser has an arsenal of tools at their disposal. We will not be one trick ponies.

Lets take a I IV V in A minor in fifth position. Our chords will be A minor, D minor, and E minor respectively. Basically, the concept is to switch to the pentatonic scale that corresponds to the chord that is being played. So, over the A minor chord we will be playing A minor pentatonic pattern 4. Remember to play "about" or "at" your roots. When the chord changes to the IV chord (D minor) you need to switch to D minor pentatonic. We can reach a D minor pentatonic shape in this position without moving up or down the neck by utilizing our "closest moves" concept to go to D minor pattern 2. You could jump to any D minor pattern, but for right now focus on being economical. It will help you learn the neck.

When playing over the IV chord realize that YOUR ROOTS HAVE CHANGED. You are in a new pattern. Play accordingly. Play "about" or "at" your new roots (D pattern 2). Do the same thing when you go to the V chord (E minor). Your "closest move" is E minor pattern 1. Really think about your new roots. Accentuate them. Don't be vague when switching chords. Nail your new roots. Really sell the change! This concept is applicable to any progression in any key.

It is also important to note that the difference between each of these scales is only one note. In addition to the roots changing, be sure to accentuate the differences in the scales themselves. For example: when you switch to D minor pentatonic from A minor pentatonic, the note that changes is E (the fifth of A) changes to F (the minor third of D). Because the F is a chord tone of the D minor chord, when you accentuate this note you are spelling out the chord and making the change more obvious than if you didn't.

Now, apply the same techinque to a major I IV V and a I VI II V progression.

Just like all of our other lessons I want you to try this in every position on the neck. Go up and down the entirety of the neck improvising in different patterns nailing the root movements. Play along with each of the jam tracks below. Really try to feel comfortable playing in different keys, over different progressions, and on any part of the neck. Many people call this style of improvising "box" soloing. This is a great way to start seeing how tonality changes as you move around the neck and through different progressions. Love the box. Be the box. But always be thinking of your roots.

Jamtracks:

1. C major I IV V

2. A minor I IV V

3. C major I VI II V

4. G major I VI II V

OK! It's the end of the beginner level. As you have no doubt figured out, this is a very intensive program. It is important that you have absorbed all of the content in this section before you advance. All of the information presented in this section will be assumed as we progress. And it will get nasty. So be confident in the following:

Memorization of all supplied open chords

Able to find and play powerchords with roots on sixth, fifth, and fourth string

FIRM grasp on octave shapes (CAGED system)

Able to identify and play major and minor barre chords

Able to identify and play I IV V and I VI II V progressions with open and barre chords

Able to identify and play major and minor chord shapes in all five patterns in any key

Able to identify and play major and minor pentatonic scales in all five patterns in any key

Able to identify and play major and minor arpeggios in all five patterns in any key

Able to play I IV V, minor I IV V, and I VI II V progressions using "closest moves" technique

Able to improvise over one chord vamps and over progressions using "closest moves" technique

To move on to Level 2, post a video showing me and your peers that you have a firm grasp of all of the above. I want to see you use the whole neck showing a working knowledge of all five chord, arpeggio, and pentatonic shapes. Pick any key you like. Go for it!

I know that this is a lot of information, but keep your head up and try hard. The surest way to improve is to keep the guitar in your hands. Make it a part of you. Leaning an instrument is a discipline. I cannot make it easier for you. Go out there and be somebody!

Jamtracks:

1. C major I IV V

2. E minor I IV V

3. D major I VI II V

By this time, you should be very comfortable with the major pentatonic scale and should view the major scale as an extension of the pentatonic scale. The major scale incorporates the 4th and 7th degrees, which are the half-steps which were removed to get the pentatonic scale. If you remember, the formula for a major scale is:

Whole - Whole - Half - Whole - Whole - Whole - Half

Or these intervals:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Below are the five patterns of the major scale. Memorize them and play them the same way you did the pentatonics. Connect all of them up and down the neck in a variety of different keys.

Start by playing the lowest playable octave shape, then the chord, then the corresponding arpeggio, the pentatonic scale, and then the full major scale.

Finally, practice playing in each pattern over a one chord vamp and try to get the feel of each pattern with the addition of the half steps. Connect the patterns and get comfortable seeing the whole neck as a major scale.

Jamtracks:

1. C major vamp

2. G major vamp

3. D major vamp

Now it is time for the natural minor scale. You are familiar with the minor pentatonic scale, so again, you want to view this scale as an extension of the pentatonic. We are adding the half steps at our 2nd and b6 scale degrees. The minor scale formula is:

Whole - Half - Whole - Whole - Half - Whole - Whole

Or these intervals:

1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

Below are the five patterns of the natural minor scale. Memorize them and play them the same way you did the pentatonics. Connect all five patterns up and down the neck in a variety of different keys. Try to visualize the underlying chords in the patterns. Start by playing the minor chord of each pattern, then the corresponding arpeggio, the pentatonic scale, and then the full minor scale. Good luck!

Jamtracks:

1. A minor vamp

2. D minor vamp

3. E minor vamp

Alright! Now it's time to start improvising with more than just pentatonics!

Let's look at a I IV V in key of A major. Up until this point you have been playing either A major pentatonic over the whole progression, the individual major pentatonic scales over the A, D, and E chords, or hopefully, a combination of both. As you have no doubt figured out, the difference between each of these scale patterns is only one scale degree. All of the other notes are in the tonic key (A major).

What you are actually doing when you switch to different pentatonic scales in a diatonic progression is emphasizing the chord tones of the underlying chord. While not playing the arpeggio of the chord, you are in effect outlining the chord changes with additional notes from the tonic major scale. These are perfectly useful shapes to play, but they are missing something huge... HALF-STEPS!

The main difference between playing pentatonics and full scales is the presence of half steps. Pentatonics are easy to finger and easy on the ear but half steps give your music color and character. They allow you to embellish and ornament. You can't play all meat and potatoes all day. Lot's of people do it, but they shouldn't.

First, I want you to play the full A major scale over the progression. Start with any pattern you like. Just use your ear. Mess around with the half steps. Do this up and down the neck in all 5 patterns. Get used to playing and hearing 7 note scales.

Next, start playing the arpeggio of the underlying chord for a second or so before continuing on to the full A major scale. The jam track below will stay on each chord for a while so you have ample time to spell out your changes.

Literally, go up and down the arpeggio in the pattern you are in, and then play the full scale. Pay attention to which notes in the major scale are chord tones of the underling chord. Pay attention to the half steps around the chord tones and what sounds they make. Get a feel for embellishment.

After that, begin with the arpeggio of the underlying chord and then play the pentatonic scale of the same underlying chord. Find your go-to licks in the patterns and go back and forth between hanging on chord tones and doing runs across the pentatonic scale.

Finally, add in the half steps to make it the full A major scale. Go back and forth between arpeggios, pentatonic licks, and full scale runs. Hang on the half steps around your chord tones. Really listen to what the different scale degrees do to the sound of the chord. Does it add tension? Does it serve to resolve tension? Does it imply a change is coming? Does it blur the music?

It is the answer to these types of questions that will develop your personal style. Get into it. Do this in many, if not all, of the keys and in all five patterns. Play in this fashion up and down just one string even! Break it down and aspire to HEAR the difference between the scale degrees and chord tones.

As you have certainly surmised, the arpeggios, pentatonics, and chord tones of all of our chords exist within the A major scale. You can think and play A major over the whole progression and sound fine, but not as fine as you could sound if you spelled out your changes.

SELL YOUR CHANGES.

I want you to be aware of the sounds you are making. I want you to be aware of the effects of your note choices and of the options you have. Apply the same formula explained above to this (and all) new progressions. How about our faithful I VI II V?

Start with arpeggios.

Add in pentatonics.

Add in the half steps that make it the full tonic scale.

Go back and forth and experiment.

Think - Should I play a pentatonic over the first part and then add a half step when going to the next chord? Should I connect my triads of each chord and work up and down the neck for a minute? Should I make noise for a moment? Be inquisitive. Think with your ear!

Do this in all five patterns and in many different keys. Play over these jam tracks like it's your job!

Jamtracks:

1. A major I IV V

2. C major I IV V

3. G major I VI II V

4. D major I IV II V

Below are the diagrams for Major 7th, Minor 7th, Dominant 7th, and Minor 7(b5) chords in all five patterns.

7th chords are more "jazzy" than regular triads and are used to add color in your arrangements. After you have memorized the five shapes for each of the four chord types, connect them up and down the neck as you have done before. As you go up and down the neck, interchange your 7th chords and regular chord types.

For example: Start with C major and C major 7th. Begin in open position with pattern 1 C major and then play C major 7. Then go up to pattern 2 and play C major and C major 7. Continue up and down the neck in this fashion. Try many different keys and all four chord types. Get used to seeing them as an extension of your regular chords.

Try our I IV V and I VI II V progressions utilizing 7th chords. Obviously you can choose to substitute 7th chords as often or as sparingly as you like based on your taste. Mess around with them. They are a very useful and common chord type. Don't be afraid to be jazzy!

The diminished chord is used much more sparingly than major or minor chords. Take just one listen to this chord and you will understand why. It is complete tension and dissonance.

It is mostly used to imply a dominant chord sound (as we just learned that the dominant 7th chord has a major triad on the bottom and a diminished triad on the top). Just know that this very dissonant sound is used to make the resolution to consonant sounds stronger.

The notes in the diminished chord are:

1 b3 b5

Below are the five patterns of the diminished chord and the diminished arpeggio. Memorize these the same way you did major and minor chord shapes. Start with octave shapes, then the chord, and connect up and down the neck in a variety of keys. Experiment with this sound and try to find a way to incorporate it into your playing. I will go into more detail about uses of the diminished chord in later lessons, but for now, just absorb this very dissonant - but diatonic - sound.

Triads triads triads... Triads truly are the key to unlocking your neck.

Most aspiring guitarists feel like they are playing either rhythm or lead. In other words, playing either chords or scales. Guitarists often feel frustrated that there is no link or bridge between rhythm guitar and lead guitar, as if they are separate entities.

Triads are the bridge.

Great players are always incorporating elements of both rhythm and lead into their playing. Knowing your triads up, down, and across your neck will seriously change the way you approach the guitar. Your understanding of music theory will finally be translatable to the neck.

If you submerge yourself in triads I promise you that it will no longer feel like you are studying rhythm, lead, and theory as separate entities. If absorbed, the understanding of triads is the link between each of those different aspects of playing. I cannot express the importance of this enough!

We know that triads are three note clusters that make our basic chords. To review, they are as follows:

Major - 1 3 5

Minor - 1 b3 5

Diminished - 1 b3 b5

(Yes, there are also augmented triads, but don't worry bout them at this juncture.)

Up until this point, the root has always been the lowest note played in our chords. But that is not always the case. When the root is not the lowest played note in a chord it is known as an inversion. We classify the inversions based on which chord tone is in the bass (the lowest played note). Therefore, a triad can be in either root position, first inversion (third in the bass), or second inversion (fifth in the bass). For seventh chords and chords with extensions we can continue in this fashion (third inversion = 7th in the bass, etc...)

Because triads are made up of three notes, and there can only be one note played on any one string, we group our triad shapes by string sets. For this course, we will focus on adjoining string sets:

321 strings

432 strings

543 strings

654 strings

Each triad has three places on any string set, as the triad is made up of three notes, and we are playing only three strings. Therefore, on each string set you will find a root position, first inversion, and second inversion triad. Each of these triads will be a part of two of the corresponding chord shapes. This is why we call them the glue, or the bridge.

Below I have arranged major, minor, and diminished triad shapes according to string sets and inversions. Learn them like it's the most important thing you could ever learn on the guitar... because they are! It is crucial to visualize these triads as smaller parts of the movable chord shapes and arpeggios you already know.

So far in the course we have been playing scales as single notes. But now that we have discovered triads, we can harmonize these notes by building the corresponding triad from the specific scale degrees. The basic idea is to play a scale in chord form. Let's look at the C major scale. The notes in the C major scale are:

C D E F G A B

The corresponding triads built off of this scale are:

C major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G major, A minor, and B Diminished.

Start on the 123 string set. First, let's start with root position. The root position C major triad on the 123 strings starts on the fifth fret of the third string. Follow your root position triad shapes up the neck.

Example: Move up two frets to D Minor, two more to E minor, one fret to F major, etc... until you reach the C major octave on the 17th fret, and then turn around and go back down the neck.

Once you have completed the harmonized scale in root position, now try it in first inversion (third in the bass). The lowest first inversion C major triad on the 123 string set is with your first finger barred on the eighth fret and your second finger on the ninth fret of the third string on the note E (the third). Continue up and down the fretboard in this fashion the same as you did before. When you have completed this, then try it in second inversion (fifth in the bass). The lowest second inversion C major triad on the 123 string set is in open position with your first finger on the first fret of the second string. The open G string is the lowest note in the chord (the fifth). Again, take this up and down the fretboard as you have before.

Do this same exercise on the 234, 345, and 456 string sets using all three inversions as well as various different keys.

It is important to realize that, when you combine the triads accross all of the string sets, you get full chord shapes and arpeggios. Each triad is just a section of a previously learned chord and arpeggio shape. Breaking down what we already have learned into smaller three note pieces makes it easier to learn the fretboard and utilize all of the neck when playing rhythm and lead. This is why memorizing these triads is so important. I cannot express how much practice should be spent on this lesson. I beg you to acknowledge the power of the triad!

Now that we are familiar with playing the harmonized major scale with triads, we can take it a step further and apply the same concept with 7th chords.

Pick one pattern at a time and work up and down the neck. For example, let's choose the key of F major and pattern 4.

The first chord will obviously be F major 7, and will be played with our first finger on the first fret of the sixth string. Next, we move up to the third fret and make our G minor 7 chord. Continue to A minor 7 on the fifth fret, Bb major 7 on the sixth fret, and so on until you arrive at the octave on the thirteenth fret, where you then head back down in the same fashion.

Repeat this process all of the other four patterns.

Another great way to achieve this sound is to play the top three notes of the seventh chord (the 3rd 5th and 7th) as a triad and have the roots played by someone else or a jam track. Lots of players go back and forth between playing roots and not playing the roots. This is a cool device to make sounds that are a tad cleaner because three notes are less muddled than four.

Just to be clear about how this works, lets examine the key of F major. In F major, the I chord is F major 7, which contains the notes F A C E. If you remember from the theory lesson on 7th chords, we can look at this as either an F major chord with an E on top, or an A minor chord with an F in the bass. We want to focus on the latter. So for our F major 7 chord, we would just play the upper register: the A minor triad. When we move up to the II chord (G Minor 7), we would play a Bb major triad. For the III chord (A minor 7) we would play a C major triad. You get the idea.

Try this as well in many different keys and string sets. Good Luck!

Right now we have triads and seventh chords. But surely we can make chords with more than four notes, right? Of course we can! When additional notes are added onto our basic chord forms, the additional notes are called extensions. Extensions are named after the scale degree which is added.

To review, triads contain the root, 3rd and 5th scale degrees. Seventh chords are the addition of a 7th degree to a triad. That leaves the 2nd, 4th, and 6th degrees as our possible extensions.

The confusing part for most people is why we see chords like C13 or G11 when we only have 7 notes in a scale. Where does 13 or 11 come from? The answer is simple: if there is already a 7th in the chord, the scale numbers continue to increase for continuity. Therefore, the 2nd 4th and 6th become the 9th, 11th, and 13th scale degrees. If there is not a 7th in the chord, however, we simply call the extensions 2nds, 4ths, and 6ths. Basically, if you see a number higher than 7th, the 7th is implied. It is also important to note that if you see a C13, for example, not only is the 7th implied, but also the 9th and the 11th. Unless specifically stated with an "add," all scale degrees below the one given are fair game.

For example: if you want a C7 chord with an A note as well, you would write C7 add 13. In contrast, if you write C13 you in fact are implying a C7 chord with a 9, 11, and 13 in the harmony. Understand that this style of chord playing is heavily geared towards the keyboard. As guitar players, having only six strings, we obviously only have the ability to play 6 notes at a time. It is therefore commonplace for guitar players to play C7 add 13 when they see C13. It is also common to omit the 5th when making complex chords because omitting the 5th has no effect on our chords tonality and it frees up fingers to grab more notes that will impact our chords tonality. As long as you get the root, 3rd, 7th, and the stated extension, you are in business!

Lastly,

If major or minor isn't stated, it is implied that the extension is over a dominant 7th chord.

C13 = C7 + 9 + 11 + 13 (C E G Bb D F A

If you see minor it is implied that the extension is over a minor 7 chord.

C minor 13 = Cmi7 + 9 + 11 + 13 (C Eb G Bb D F A)

If you see major it is implied that the extension is over a major 7 chord.

C major 13 = Cma7 + 9 +11 + 13 (C E G B D F A)

There are many different chords that can be made and it would be futile to explain every possible option, but for now, just be sure you understand the concept of extensions, how to notate them, what to call them, and how to build them on the neck.

Everything is starting to get pretty heavy now. We need to break our scale patterns up into smaller pieces to fully grasp what we have learned. Below are the five patterns we have been using throughout this course showing all of the chord tones in the major and minor scales. It is important that you become increasingly conscious of the scale degrees you are playing, how they sound over the chords you are playing, and the affect they have on the overall tonality of the music.

Get out of the box for a little. Stop and play with each individual scale dregree for a while. What is its function in relation to the chord? Use your head and your ear and slow down for a bit. Try to think and hear your way around the neck.

Refer back to these Jamtracks:

1. A major vamp

2. G major vamp

3. E minor vamp

4. D minor vamp

Let's delve into some more very common chords for guitar players. This lesson is expanding on the previous lesson on chord extensions. These chords are so common that it is important to understand how to make them, to memorize common shapes for them on the neck, and understand the environment in which they normally occur.

First, let's do 6th chords. You can add a 6th degree to any triad, but normally we encounter major 6th or minor 6th chords. Major 6th means a major triad with the addition of a 6th degree. Minor 6th means a minor triad with the addition of a 6th degree. In either case the 5th is optional.

It is important to add that, if you wanted to have a b6 instead of a regular 6, you just need to notate it and play accordingly, ie: Cmi6 or Cmib6. 6th chords are very playful chords. They don't necessarily imply specific tonal movement - the way a dominant chord does - as much as they are used to get a certain sound. Mostly, the 6th degree is very commonly used in creating melodies, so adding a 6th to a chord fattens up the melody structure a bit and forces the improviser to "sound" a certain way. Below are the common shapes for both major and minor 6 chords.

9th chords mean the addition of the 9th degree (2nd degree) above a triad. To notate this, write "add 9" after triad, e.g., Cadd9 or Cmiadd9. The other common option is for 7th chords to have a 9 on top. For example, a dominant 7 plus the 9 we write C9. For a major 7 plus the nine we write CM9. For minor 7 plus a nine we write CMi9. These chords perform the exact same function as the 7th chords they are built on. They just add a level of embellishment. Most common scenario: FUNK. If you love funk, you love the dominant 9 chord. James Brown made a living on this sound. It is the sound of funk. Below are the most common fingering for these chord types in all five patterns.

Sus chords simply mean the 3rd is suspended, or not played. Instead, we play either a 4th or a 2nd. These chords are very floaty and loose, being that they are neither major nor minor. They are extremely common in all kinds of music. Most of the time, they are found squeezed in between there relative major and minor chords and are used as embellishment. Below are common fingerings for sus2 and sus4 chord shapes in all five patterns.

Slash cords are typically written for keyboardists to write complicated chord voicings easily. But, there are some very common slash chord shapes guitar players use, and it is important to have these under your belt.

A slash chord is written as a fraction, with the chord as the numerator and the bass note as the demoninator.

For example: C/G. This means that you are playing a C major chord (C E G) with the note G in the bass.

Obviously, this is an inversion. Inversions are the most common slash chords for guitarists because they contain the exact notes of a triad, but with a note other than the root in the bass, therefore, implying a specific root movement. This root movement, if contributing the the main motif of a tune, makes this style of notation necessary.

The other main function of slash chords is to create additional diatonic tonalities. There are two main examples:

V / I or Five over One. This means that the V chord in a given key is played with the key's tonic in the bass.

For example: in the key of C the V chord is G major and the I chord is C major. Therefore, a V/I in the the key of C is a G major chord with a C in the bass - G/C.

Like we said before, this implies something besides a G major triad because while we have the notes of a G major chord, we have a C in the bass, which makes this a C something sound. The sound is an incomplete Cma9. Since Major 9 chords are major 7th chords with a 9 on top, they function as major 7th chords. Therefore, V / I slash chords are commonly used as I or IV chords in progressions. Below are common shapes for V / I chords.

IV / V or Four over Five. This means that the IV chord is played with the root of the V chord in the bass.

For example: In the key of C the IV chord is F Major and the V chord is G major. Therefore, a IV/V in the key of C major is an F major chord with a G in the bass - F/G.

This chord functions as a dominant V chord due to the fact that the V is in the bass. This sound is actually dominant 11 or Dominant 9 sus. Note: Since this chord type does not contain a third, it can be used as a major or minor chord. The minor sound you hear is minor 9 sus. All you need to know is that the chord is dominant 9 if it resolves to a major triad and it is minor 9 if it resolves to a minor triad. Below are common chord shapes for IV / V chords.

While all of this may seem a tad overwhelming, I assure you that slash chords and inversions make life much easier. For example, here is a very common progression in the key of C where the use of slash chords allowed the bass line movement to be very obvious. I have written the played chord followed by the chords function in parenthesis.

C(I) G/B (V) Ami (Vimi) F (IV) C/E (I) Dmi (II) C(I)

The jam tracks below follow the same chord functions:

1. C major

2. A major

3. Eb major

Be sure to have all of the following down and readily accessible before continuing on to the advanced level:

Able to identify and play diminished chord and arpeggio shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play full major scale shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play full minor scale shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play major 7 chord shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play minor 7 chord shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play dominant 7 chord shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play minor 7 b5 chord shapes in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play major 7 arpeggios in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play minor 7 arpeggios in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play dominant 7 arpeggios in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play minor 7 b5 arpeggios in all five patterns in any key.

Able to identify and play the harmonized major scale on the 321, 432, 543 and 654 string sets in any key.

Have fallen in love with triads.

Able to identify and play common 6th, 9th, and sus chords in any key.

Able to identify and play common V/I and IV/V slash chords in any key.

Able to improvise over all of the neck utilizing chords, scales, arpeggios, and triads in any key, any time, anywhere, WHILE BEING COGNIZANT OF CHORD TONES AND QUALITIES IN THE HARMONY.

Beginning to actively listen your way around the neck and through progressions.

This is a lot of information. You can and will work on this stuff the rest of your life. Take it slow and ABSORB. LISTEN.

I'll see you in the advanced level.

Jamtracks:

1. A Ima7 IVma7 V7

2. Bb Ima7 VImi7 IImi7 V7

3. C slash chords

4. Ab I IV V with extentions

Modes are the last missing piece in our diatonic pie. Modes are a mystery for many players, viewed as obscure jazzy scales that have no practical application in popular music. But this is just not true. Modes are very easy to understand and apply.

Put simply, not only can we build chords off of any note in a scale but we can build new scales as well. For example, the key of C major has no sharps or flats:

C D E F G A B C

What if we used those same notes, but started on the note D?

D E F G A B C D

Or on F?

F G A B C D E F

When we do this, we are playing a mode of the major scale. If a scale starts with a D, then you have a D something scale. If you have a scale that starts with an F, then you have an F something scale. Each mode of the major scale has a specific name, with specifc intervals, and therefore a specific, distinctive sound.

The sound is different because you are starting the scale on different intervals. Some of these sound very consonant, while others sound very dissonant. Some have a major sound while others have a minor sound - just like the chords we build on these same intervals.

The names of the seven modes of the major scale and their intervals are as follows:

I - Ionian (Major scale) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

II - Dorian - 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7

III - Phrygian - 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

IV - Lydian - 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7

V - Mixolydian - 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7

VI - Aeolian (Minor scale) - 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

VII - Locrian - 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7

If you noticed, the natural minor scale is the mode built off the sixth degree of the major scale. While it is easy to always relate modes to the major scale they are derived from, this is a common stumbling block for people trying to take this scale off of the page and make actual music. Because of this, we are going to learn the modes as individual scales and not just how they relate to their ionian derivative. We will go through the individual details and applications of each of these modes in the following lessons. This is important because, if you always relate back to the major scale, then you are always needing an extra step in your thought process, which will only slow you down.

One last but very important thought: The only way to distinguish the difference between different modes in the major scale is within context! If you play a C major chord and play an F lydian scale over top of it, it is still going to sound like C major because you are in a C major context! But, if you play an F lydian scale over an F major chord you will hear the lydian sound. You will be playing in an F context. Even though all the notes are the same, the tonality doesn't change on top unless the context on the bottom changes.

Jamtracks:

1. F major vamp

2. D major vamp

3. A minor vamp

4. E minor vamp

Phrygian is the third mode of the major scale. Because it is built off of a minor chord, it is minor in tonality. The intervals of the phrygian scale are as follows:

1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

What makes phrygian unique is the b2. Otherwise, it is the same as the natural minor scale. The b2 is obviously very dark and scary sounding because of its half-step distance from the tonic. This scale is mainly used in spanish progressions and metal songs where you have half-step chord movement, and where the tempo is high.

When we build 7th chords off of the phrygian scale we are left with the following:

I mi7 bII ma7 bIII7 IV mi7 V mi7(b5) bVI ma7 bVII mi7

While there aren't really many phrygian progressions, these two are the obvious applications:

I mi - bII ma

I ma - bII ma (obviously not diatonic, but worth mentioning because of it's cool, distinctly Spanish / Flamenco sound)

Below are the five patterns of the phrygian scale as well as jam tracks of these progressions and a minor vamp. Again, start with the minor pentatonic, add in the b2 and then the full phrygian scale. Often, this scale is played super fast and dirty. This is a scary one so get real heavy with the distortion and try to sound evil!

Jamtracks:

1. A phrygian - A minor vamp

2. B phrygian - Ima - bIIma

3. E phrygian - Imi - bIIma

The locrian mode is the seventh mode of the major scale. The intervals of the locrian scale are as follows:

1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7

It is a minor scale, but with a b5 and a b2. The scale is built off of the diminished chord and is therefore the most, well, diminished sounding! It is as minor and sad as you get in diatonic music. This scale is extremely rare to hear as a tonic. It really only exists in slayer-esque speed metal scenarios where you aren't hanging on anything long enough to become unstable, which the scale (and the diminished chord itself) naturally happens to be.

Play a diminished chord or a mi7(b5) chord. Can you really make this sound like home? No, you really can't because it sounds unresolved and unstable. The challenge, therefore, is to sell this instability and harness the scariness of it.

When we build 7th chords off of the locrian scale we are left with the following:

I mi7(b5) bIIma7 bIII mi7 IV mi7 bVma7 bVI 7 bVII mi7

Again, there aren't really any common locrian progressions, but anytime you are trying to sell a diminished chord as home, go locrian.

Try these:

I dim - bVI ma

Imi7(b5) - bII ma7

Below are the five patterns of the locrian scale and jam tracks of the above progressions including a mi7b5 vamp. Start with a pentatonic, then add the b5, then the rest of the locrian scale. Really jack up the distortion and let your picking hand fly.

Jamtracks

1. D locrian - Dmi7(b5) vamp

2. C locrian - Idim - bVIma

3. A# locrian - Imi7(b5) - bIIma7

Alright! Just as we have harmonized the major scale in triads and 7th chords, we can also harmonize the modes! This is an important thing to practice because it really requires you to know your fretboard. If you get comfortable in knowing what triads and four note 7th chord shapes are around each other, you can truly master the neck.

Below, for you convienence, I have re-posted the major, minor, and diminished triads again for you as well as the four note seventh chord shapes for major 7, minor 7, dominant 7 and minor 7(b5).

We will be practicing harmonizing modes in three different approaches. There is a lot to cover in this lesson so take it slow and make sure not to skip any parts. Once you have the three different aspects down individually, you can then start to mix and match to get the sounds you desire when utilizing this technique. For all of the examples below we will be referring to the key of C major (Ionian) but please practice the following in a variety of different keys.

First, let's do triads built on the root of the chord.

This, obviously, is what we have already done before in our previous harmonization lesson. This time, play the harmonized scale of each mode up and down the neck instead of just the major (Ionian) mode. For example:

C Major (Ionian) - Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim

D Dorian - Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma

E Phrygian - Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi

F Lydian - Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi

G Mixolydian - Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma

A Minor (Aeolian) - Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma

B Locrian - Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami

Begin by practicing these in three string sets as we did before. Start with the 123 strings, then to the 234 strings, 345 strings, and 456 strings. Make sure to play up and down the neck! Next, play across the neck in position using the closest moves technique. For example:

In C major (Ionian) start in open position and play a c major triad on the 654 strings, then a D minor triad on the 654 strings, then an E minor triad on the 543 strings, then an F major triad on the 543 strings then a G major triad on the 432 strings, then an A minor triad on the 432 strings, then a B diminished triad on the 432 strings and finally back to a C major triad on the 321 strings.

Obviously, there are many different choices one can make in selecting triads when we move horizontally, as they overlap as we go across the neck (arpeggios), so realize that there is a freedom in going horizontal and the choices players make when utilizing this technique are based on the sound they want to make. Just be sure to practice this technique in at least five different sections of the neck to ensure you are not leaving any holes.

Second, let's do four note 7th chords built on the root.

This again, should be pretty obvious. Play these 7th chords one shape at a time up and down the modes. Then, just as above, try playing these harmonized 7th chord scales horizontally across the fretboard using the basic moves technique. Use the 7th chord shapes that you already know in each of the five patterns. Just be sure to stay in one area of the neck and try to find your closest moves. Again, be sure to try these in five different places on the neck to ensure total absorption. The 7th chords for the modes in C Major (Ionian) are as follows:

C Major (Ionian) - Cma7, Dmi7, Emi7, Fma7, G7, Ami7, Bmi7(b5)

D Dorian - Dmi7, Emi7, Fma7, G7, Ami7, Bmi7(b5), C ma7

E Phrygian - Emi7, Fma7, G7, Ami7, Bmi7(b5), C ma7, Dmi7

F Lydian - Fma7, G7, Ami7, Bmi7(b5), C ma7, Dmi7, Emi7

G Mixolydian - G7, Ami7, Bmi7(b5), C ma7, Dmi7, Emi7, Fma7

A Minor (Aeolian) - Ami7, Bmi7(b5), C ma7, Dmi7, Emi7, Fma7, G7

B Locrian - Bmi7(b5), C ma7, Dmi7, Emi7, Fma7, G7, Ami7

And lastly, let's play triads starting on the 3rd of the 7th chord.

What? Yes, that's right. I want you to practice playing the upper register of the seventh chords. Of course, this only works with another instrument playing the bass note (root) of the chord. As we learned before, 7th chords are made up of stacked triads. For example:

The C ma7 chord is a C triad with a B (the 7th note in the C major scale) on top. The four note chord is comprised of C, E, G, and B.

Therefore, this chord can also be viewed as an E minor triad with a C in the bass. So what we are going to do is just play the upper triad of the 7th chord and let another instrument play the bass notes.

Also, for your convenience I have written out the triads for the same modes. Again, be sure to play these as we did above! Do all of your string sets up and down the neck as well as horizontally!

C Major (Ionian) - Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi

D Dorian - Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi

E Phrygian - Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma

F Lydian - Ami, Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma

G Mixolydian - Bdim, Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami

A Minor (Aeolian) - Cma, Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim

B Locrian - Dmi, Emi, Fma, Gma, Ami, Bdim, Cma

I know this is a lot. Seriously: if you can get this lesson down you have basically mastered diatonic harmony. This is for real.

Three note per string scales are a great technique for playing fast legato lines, as well as simply extending our shapes. Legato means that the notes are tied together and have a long duration. Basically, the idea is to have no silence in between the notes. This is the opposite of staccato playing where you play sharp, quick notes with a short duration.

Memorizing these shapes will further increase your fretboard understanding by forcing you to look at a larger portion of the neck as a single entity. Eventually, the goal is to see the whole neck as A minor, or Eb major, or any other key, and not just see five shapes of each entity.

Three note per string scales have seven patterns as opposed to five. This is because we want to play three notes on each string, and go across the neck in an organized way, which means that we must build a pattern based on each note in the scale, as opposed to building patterns based on just the five octave shapes.

This can be a little confusing because obviously these shapes overlap... all of them. But nonetheless, it is important to visualize large clusters on the fretboard instead of small clusters. This technique is standard operating procedure in shred scenarios. You want to go fast and you want to perfectly nail the harmony? Great. Grab some three note per string scales and tear it up and down and across the neck to your hearts content. Of course, you don't have to be into shredding to utilize three note per string scales, it is just very fitting.

Below I have supplied the seven patterns of the major scale (Ionian) and all of its modes. I recommend that you start one of the jam tracks at the bottom of the page and let it run for a long time. First, practice each of the patterns individually to get a feel for it. Be conscious of your roots! Then, try running up and down and across the neck using all of the 3 note per string patterns. Mix and match them. Try to really get a handle on these shapes.

Next, try some modes! Obviously, all of these patterns will be the same just with different roots. Hit a corresponding jam track and go up and down and across as you did before. This is modal shredding, so to speak. We will get into more complex scales and applications in the master section but for now, I want you to really get these under your fingers before you move on. This is the last piece of diatonic information you will learn! It is the final key to unlocking your neck! There is nothing more!

Refer back to these jamtracks:

1. G major vamp

2. A major vamp

3. C major vamp

4. E major I IV V

The blues scale, or minor blues scale, is meant to be played over all three chords in the blues progression. The scale is a minor pentatonic scale with the addition of the b5 scale degree giving us:

1 b3 4 b5 5 b7

While the b5 is not in any the dominant chords, you will immediately hear how its presence combined with the minor 3rd creates the "classic" blues sound. As we have already touched on, the blues is more about sound and phrasing as opposed to perfect scale choice and technique - which is how this scale was derived - not from a theory perspective, but from a sound perspective.

Below are the five patterns of the blues scale and a few jam tracks. Practice these the same way we have learned all of our scales so far. Learn all five patterns, try them in different keys, practice them over the jam tracks, and make sure you can run up and down the entire neck in these shapes before advancing. This shouldn't be too difficult as we are simply adding a note to a scale we already know intimately well.

Pay attention to the sound of the scale and when it's appropriate to play on the b5 and b3. You will find that the b3 is pretty good to hang on most everywhere, while the b5 is best used sparingly - mostly in passing. We will dive into this more in the blues phrasing section.

Jamtracks:

1. Slow Blues in C

2. Slow Blues in A

3. Slow Blues in G

4. Slow Blues in E

Let's expand on the Blues. Over the years of players combining both a key centered approach and a chord scale approach, common structures emerged which we can classify to make your exploration of the blues easier to break down and apply.

We know these simply as variations, or as some people call them, hexatonics. Hexatonic means six note scales, and of course, there are many variations one can make and create names for by altering the 6th, 7th, 4th, etc - but there is one that is extremely prevalent in popular music.

This scale is called the country blues scale. The country blues scale is the relative major to the minor blues scale. This means, that like regular pentatonics, that the scale shapes are the same but the roots are different. For example, F# minor blues is the same as A major (country) blues.

The scale degrees are as follows:

1 2 b3 3 5 6

As you can see, the"blue" note in this scale is the b3. The addition of the b3 in a major scale creates a brighter, more country sounding blues scale, but is still very bluesy.

This scale works fine over a regular blues form, as well as over major triads. It is important to view this scale as the major pentatonic with the addition of the b3. The b3 just gives that bluesy flavor, but the main sound of the scale is still the major pentatonic.

Below are the five patterns of the country blues scale. Learn them as you have each of the other scales and play around with them over the jam tracks. Experiment with moving them around over different major chords. How does it sound over the I? IV? V? V7? Have fun and enjoy this very bright and playful sound.

Jamtracks:

1. A major I IV V

2. A blues

3. E major I IV V

4. E blues

Alright! Blues improvising can be as simple or as complex as you want. There are players that have had enormously successful careers playing only pentatonic scales in one pattern. There are also amazing players that burn up and down the neck playing everything under the sun who are equally successful. The point is that it is all up to you. What does it mean to you? What sounds do you love over the IV chord? What shapes do you like to feel on the fretboard? The development of your personal style is the ultimate goal. Non-diatonic music is an open playing field.

At this point, you should be increasingly conscious of scale degrees in your playing. You obviously are aware of the roots, the 3rds, and the 7ths, as these create our core structure, but what about the 2nds, 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths? The differences in these degrees are what gives us our modes and variations. Now is the time to jump in an wrap your head around all of the choices you have at your fingertips.

Click on the A7 vamp track.

First, let's start with a minor pentatonic scale. This one is easy. The out of place note is the b3, but it works because of the "blues" sound it creates. This is not news to us.

Second, let's add the b5 and we will get the blues scale. The b5 sounds perfect in passing but not when you hang on it. It really adds to that "blues sound."

Next, we will replace the b7 with the 6 to achieve a blues scale variation. This scale adds a more "major" flavor. It is important to realize that while the 6 may sound a bit strange at first, it is very useful in connecting chords. In particular, the 6th degree of the I chord is the major 3rd of the IV chord as well as the major 2nd of the V chord. All of this leads to very clean, crisp, "major" sounds in your soloing.

Now lets bring the major 2nd in the picture. This is another minor pentatonic variation. We can leave in the 6 and the b7 at this point. The major 2nd is a HUGE note. Not only is it a whole step above the root of the I chord, giving it a the ability to be bent to either a minor 3rd or a major 3rd, it is also a wonderful note to hang on and to voice lead with. The major 2nd is the 5th of your V chord as well as 6th of your IV chord. This makes it playable virtually anywhere.

Ok. Let's analyze what we have so far:

The scale degrees we have tried are 1 2 b3 4 b5 5 6 b7. Does this remind you of any scale we already know? DORIAN! Yes, this is a dorian scale with the addition of a b5. Dorian with the b5 is money in the bank. Think of it as dorian, but play the b5 in passing and it will sound perfectly bluesy.

Let's now entertain some major scales:

Major pentatonic - needs no introduction. Perfectly applicable, although with the absence of a 7th it can be a tad too safe / vanilla if played in abundance.

Mixolydian - 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7. This is the parent scale to the dominant 7 chord. We have already gone over this in detail, so this should need no explanation. This is the dominant sound.

Lydian - 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7. Why lydian? Two reasons: The #4 and the 7. The #4 is the same note as a b5, so we are achieving that bluesy passing note in this scale. The 7 is a a crowd killer if used in 1 particular place: Over the V chord. Simply, the major 3rd in the V chord is the major 7 of the I chord. This strong half step resolution up to the tonic really seals the deal. While no dominant chords contain an actual major 7th degree, when used to resolve from a V to a I it is money.

ADDING IT ALL UP - While we can, of course, play whatever we want, we have found that:

All of these notes can work: 1 2 b3 3 4 #4/b5 5 6 b7 7. How you choose to use them is up to your personal taste. But below we have some basic givens:

The 1 is also the 5th of the IV chord as well as the 4th of the V chord.

The 2 is also the 6th of the IV chord as well as the 5th of the V chord.

The b3 is also the b7 of the IV chord as well as the b6 of the V chord (which makes for some dissonance).

The 3 is also the major 7th of the IV chord (which is why b3 is most commonly played over the IV chord) as well as the 6th of the V chord.

The 4 is also the root of the IV chord as well as the b7 of the V chord.

The #4 / b5 is also the b9 of the IV chord as well as the major 7th of the V chord. (major dissonance - use in passing)

The 5 is also the 2nd of the IV chord as well as the root of the V chord.

The 6 is also the 3rd of the IV chord as well as the 2nd for the V chord.

The b7 is also the 4th of the IV chord (causing a suspension along with dissonance depending on the voicing) as well as the b3 of the V chord.

The 7 is also the b5 of the IV chord ( also to be used in passing) as well as the 3rd of the V chord (to be used when resolving V-I).

Practice playing along with the jam tracks below and really work hard to understand and hear the subtle differences each scale degree colors the chords you are playing over. Be dilligent in your efforts to begin to free yourself from patterns and to begin to think in terms of scale degrees.

Jamtracks:

1. A7 vamp

2. Blues in A

3. E7 vamp

4. Blues in E