Learning the Fretboard – Part Five

It’s been a while since I posted a lesson for this, but I feel this lesson will put Know Your Scales – Revisited in better perspective and pick up where Learning the Fretboard: Part Four left off.

First of all, for my next lesson to make sense, I need to highlight some things I’ve seen from famed instructor Steve Stein and Charlie from Guitar Mastery Method. When practicing your scales, ALWAYS use a metronome. I can’t express that enough. Not only will it help you keep a tempo, but it LITERALLY will help you with your speed. Both Steve and Charlie mention to “play them robotically”. Don’t try to get fancy right away, just GET THEM RIGHT! I was told once “you should only play something as fast as you can play it well.” If you are trying to keep up with Kirk Hammett from Metallica, you’re hindering your learning. Don’t feel bad if you have to set your metronome at 30 bpm. A helpful tip from Anders Mouridsen from Guitar Tricks in his lesson on Easy Open Chord Exercises is to start out slow, bump it up 2 (so if you start at 30 bpm, go up to 32), play, then take it down 1 (down to 31) and keep doing this as you get faster. If you’re patient enough to do this, you WILL see results.

This lesson works with the A minor pentatonic and the C major pentatonic. Both Steve and Charlie have slightly different ways of teaching how to put these two together, but I’ve found a different approach that, in a way, is the best of both of them. What you need to do is, not just learn your pentatonic boxes, but how to be able to put them together. Steve uses a method of practicing called “meandering”, where you take all your boxes and put them together, then, against a metronome, meander around in them without stopping. If you can’t think of where to go next, Steve suggests playing the same note until you think of something. A different way of meandering is taking two boxes at a time and playing both scales up and down while playing against a metronome. This way, you can get to know where each box matches up with the other before TRULY meandering between them.

Below is the A minor/C major pentatonics combined into one scale lesson. Practiced slowly against a metronome, you can start to get the feel of where your fingers should go when playing from one to the next. While this isn’t a set in stone way of how to navigate between boxes, it will help you develop confidence as to where to go next when you do truly meander.

Practice this for about 10 minutes each day using Anders method of increasing speed and you should see dramatic results in a week.

Using Minor Pentatonic Over Non-relative Major Chord Progression

Recently, I was messing around with different riffs while playing against some new backing tracks I found.  I was playing around in the key of A major and the F# minor pentatonic just wasn’t sounding right to me.  It was missing something.  Oddly, at the moment, I had a melody pop in my head that sounded good with the backing track.  As I started hammering it out on the guitar, I realized I was playing the A minor pentatonic over the A major chord progression and it sounded perfect!

As I played on, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  This totally blew all the rules of music theory out the window as I should have been playing F#m over A or Am over C.  I dug into it a little further and found something very interesting.  A major and C major have all the same notes except three in common; F#, C#, and G#.  Because of the rest of the notes being common, my ear couldn’t tell the difference.  The three that were not in common added just enough tension that my ear wanted to hear so it sounded better with that tension than without.

Below is the riff I came up with.  It’s a six bar version of the 12 bar blues progression.  I recorded several different strummings with the same chords and played the riff against them all.  None of them sounded like they didn’t belong together.

Give the riff a try.  If you can, record the chord progression as I have labeled and play the riff against it.  Or, try your own combinations.  See if a C# minor pentatonic scale sounds good over a C# major chord progression.  You may find, as I did, the possibilities are endless and it will give you a new sound.

Test Your Skills – Perfecting Your Technique (Part 2)

While teaching the pentatonic scales, it seems as though it leaves my students wondering “what next?”  Well, here’s a few skill builders to show you why and how the pentatonic boxes connect.  We’ll be in the key of C.  To start, let’s take a look at the pentatonic box 3…or the E Phrygian scale.

Below is a simple skill builder starting at the top of the neck.  Most instructors should tell you not to focus on playing scales from bottom to top in formation.  While this one goes from bottom to top and back down again, it’s the way it comes back down that’s unique.  Notice the pattern is in-line while going up the scale, but it’s altered coming down.  This trains your mind to think…”outside ‘the box'”…excuse the pun.

One of the most difficult concepts to teach, as well as understand, is how the pentatonic boxes fit together.  This next skill builder shows how to use a slide at the end to bring you from the E Phrygian scale to the G Mixolydian scale on the way back down.

Let’s take this a step further.  First, we won’t be going up, we’ll be coming down.  Second, we’ll be using the E Phrygian scale, the G Mixolydian scale, and the A Aeolian scale…or the minor pentatonic scale.

If you look at the fretboard diagram, you can see how we added the bottom part of each pentatonic to the previous one.  This is because the bottom of each pentatonic is the top of the one we’re adding.  In the example above, you can see where we transitioned between the scales by using slides.  While this isn’t the perfect demonstration, it does show how you can merge three pentatonic scales together.  Knowing your scale patterns and how they all fit together will help you play up and down the neck of the guitar with little effort.

Know Your Scales – Revisited

Here it is…the first lesson of the new year!!

Recently, one I was teaching one of my students their scales. This student had taken lessons from a different instructor, but was feeling like something was missing. I was teaching the major scale and how, if you remove the 4th and 7th notes, it becomes the beginning of the major pentatonic scale. He mentioned that it looks different than the major pentatonic that he was taught. That’s because the previous instructor, who had a degree in music and played in three different bands, had taught him the wrong thing.

Below are two versions of the major scale. Notice the numbers for the fingers to use, and that the patters are the same, just on different strings.

These next two images are of the same scale pattern, but, because of the orientation of the B string, you have to shift the fingering just a bit.

My student was amazed that you could use the same position across the neck of the guitar. He was only taught how to start on the E or the A string. If you truly want to learn to play guitar, you have to know where the notes are on the fretboard and you have to know your scales. In the image below, I showed him how removing the 4th and 7th notes produces the beginning of the major pentatonic. Look at this, then scroll up and look at the G scale above. See how it works?

Then, I explained to my student that what he was taught was the minor pentatonic. To start, I first showed him the above examples, then showed him how the minor scales look. Below are the first two minor scales. Again, same pattern, just different strings. Also note that the above patterns started on the 3rd fret, where the ones below start on the 5th. All of the patterns I’m showing you can be played up and down the neck of the guitar, but, for learning purposes, I chose to start them like I did.

As with the major scales, the minor scales also have to be adjusted when playing over the B string.

Here is where I showed him that he was truly learning the minor pentatonic scale. Instead of removing the 4th and 7th notes, we will be removing the 2nd and the 6th notes.

My student was completely surprised, but later told me that it makes perfect sense when you remove the notes to get the pentatonic.

My advice…practice these scales up and down the neck of the guitar. Not only will you be able to play them better when you do, but your soloing will improve as well as you’ll have a much better idea of where each scale can be played.

CAGED Chord System (explained)

You may wonder, sometimes, how some guitar players can come up with a chord out of anywhere on the neck at a moments notice and it always sounds good.  This is because they’ve had years of practice, but it’s also because they have picked up techniques for learning what to play and where and when to play it.  One of these techniques is called “The CAGED Guitar Chord System“.

Not only is this system based on the C major scale, but it’s also based on the most common chord played.  Sure, it leaves out other chords like B, F, and all the sharps and flats, but you’ll see later on how these will all tie in.  The one thing to remember with the CAGED system is what and where your root note is.

In the example above the CAGED system starts with the C chord (the red box), hence the name.  The root note is the C on the third fret of the A string.  Notice the open notes on the G and E string.  In essence, they form the D chord, only two frets up.  If you fumble when changing chords, playing a D to C or C to D transition can be done from here until you learn to transition to the C’s real position.

In the purple block, you can see how starting on the root note of C using the A bar chord will also produce another C chord.  In the green block, the root note is on the 8th fret of the low E. If we place our G chord over that, we get another C chord.  This one would be better suited for a capo.  Do we see a pattern?  We’ve used the C, A, and G chords to locate different places to play a C chord.  In the yellow block, you can see we took the E bar chord and started it on the same C root note on the E as we did the G chord.  Finally, remember that D chord that was part of the original C chord?  If we place that starting on the 12th fret, we get another C chord.

Always remember: the order of the chords never changes even if the starting point does.  For example, if you decided to start on the E, the order would still remain the same, only with a different starting point; EDCAG.  As shown below, they still follow the same pattern, just from a different starting point.  This also changes the root note.

Can anyone another pattern?  Look in the green block…it’s seven of the notes in the C#m pentatonic scale, which is the minor pentatonic of what major?  Come on now…it begins three frets up from it’s major counterpart…it’s even the chord we started out with…you guessed it, the E.  In fact, CAGED is so useful in learning where scales are with in a key, if you know which order of CAGED you are using, you’ll definitely know where to find your corresponding scales are.  You may be thinking why, if the C#m is at the end or the EDCAG, why isn’t the Am at the end of the CAGED?  It’s really not where the chord shapes end up, it’s where the root notes are.  If you look on the EDCAG, the C is on the 8th fret of the E, and what block is it in?  Yep, it’s the green block…and three frets up from C is A, hence the beginning of the Am pentatonic.  Below is an image of the EDCAG with the pentatonic note fills.

Another good feature about the relationship between the CAGED system and the pentatonic scales is where to play during a solo.  This proves to be a good tool for those of you learning to improvise or trying to come up with a catchy solo.  Say you were playing in the key of E and you wanted to come up with a catchy solo.  You could introduce the solo with the pentatonic notes of the open low and high E and the B, as well as the notes on the first and second fret, then zip your way up to the pentatonic starting on the twelfth fret to really dramatize the solo.  Did that guy just go from E to A?  No problem.  If you know where the A formation is, the purple block, you should be able to solo around it like you own it.  It’s not really that you are playing around the A chord, you are playing around the A formation, however, this brings you down to box 4 pentatonic scale which begins on the B note and makes it seem like you are playing right where you need to…which, essentially, you are.

If you use the CAGED system each time you practice, you will definitely learn where your pentatonic scales are all over the neck of the guitar.

Guitar a la Modes

Most music is created off the top of the artist’s head, the rest is a collective brainstorm to produce a song that’s current with the times.  Either way, many musicians don’t sit down and draw a song out like an outline for a business plan or a blueprint for a building, it just comes naturally.  However, there is some planning and musical theory that goes into a song and part of it has to do with modes.

Modes are scales and chord progressions that are produced by moving the starting point of a scale or chord progression without changing its formula.  Take, for instance, the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C).  This orientation of the scale would be considered the Ionian mode, or major mode.  This mode can be used in many forms of music.  The chord progression for this mode would be C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C.

If we move up one position in the scale, we get what’s called the Dorian mode.  This is most commonly heard in jazz and jazz/rock where it’s used in soloing over minor seventh chords and sounds like the natural minor with a raised sixth.  Nate Richards from Richards Guitar Studio has a video that discusses the Dorian mode more in detail and explains how it’s used in modern music.  You can read more about it at Modes for Guitar – Example in Dorian.  Notice nothing changes except the starting position.  The scale is D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D and the chord progression is Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C, Dm.

The third position will give us the Phrygian mode.  You would typically hear this in flamenco music, which sounds like a natural minor with a flatted second.  Again, nothing about the C major scale changed except the starting point, so the scale would be E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E and the chord progression would be Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em.

Building off of this theory, the rest of the modes can be briefly explained.  The fourth position gives us the Lydian mode, which sounds like the major scale with the exception of the sharped fourth.  This mode is used in jazz to solo over major seventh chords.

The fifth position gives us the Mixolydian mode, which also sounds like a major scale except for the flatted seventh.  This is heard in a lot of folk music and modern rock music.

The sixth position is the Aeolian mode.  Note that this is also the relative minor of the scale or chord progression.  In this case, it would be the Am chord for the C progression.

The seventh position is theLocrian mode.  It was avoided for many centuries because of it’s diminished chord preventing melodies to never truly come to rest.  This is mostly heard in jazz soloing over minor seventh flat five chords.

Test these modes out next time you practice.  Try an F Phrygian by starting on the third position of the D flat scale (Fm, Gb, Ab, Bbm, Cdim, Db, Ebm, Fm) or an D Mixolydian by starting on the fifth position of the G major scale (D, Em, F#dim, G, Am, Bm, C, D).  The possibilities are nearly endless.

Know Your Pentatonic Scales

Many people learning guitar seem to give up hope because they want to play great leads, or improvise killer solos, but the scales they learn sound so mechanical and, whether they play them ascending, descending, or start in the middle like every good tutorial tells them to,  they just can’t come up with something creative. The one thing that holds them back is not learning the pentatonic scales.

Below is the C major pentatonic in the box 1 position. As you’ll learn, there are 5 box positions to each major and minor scale.

A pentatonic is just that, 5 of the 7 notes of the scale. I know what you’re thinking…”aren’t there 8 notes?” Well, yes, for the most part, but the 8th note is an octave of the first note, so there are technically 7 notes, and the 4th and 7th notes of each scale are omitted. If you were to play the C major scale twice across the fretboard, leaving out the 4th and 7th notes, or the B and the F, the above image is what you’d end up with. This is also considered the Ionian scale in modal terms. You can learn more about modes in Guitar a la Modes.

Knowing one box position of the pentatonic scale will not make you a professional. You’ll need to learn the other four. Below is box 2 of the C major pentatonic, or the Dorian mode. Notice that it builds off of the bottom of box 1.

Also take note that the bottom of this box is on the 12th fret. This means box 3, or the Phrygian mode, can be played on the 12th fret, or at the top of the fretboard with the open strings. For our purposes so we can connect the pentatonic boxes into one solid coverage of the fretboard, we are going to start at the top, as shown below.

The 4th box, the Mixolydian mode,  starts out on the G note of the low E, which is on the 3rd and 15th frets. Here, we show it on the 3rd fret.

The 5th box is interesting. It’s not only the 5th box of the C major scale, but it’s also the first box of the A minor scale, which is the natural minor of the C major scale; also call the Aeolian mode.

The 5th box brings us back to box 1. This completes the entire pentatonic structure of the C major/A minor scale. As shown below, you can see how they all connect together to form the scale across the entire fretboard. Notice we left out the Lydian mode and the Locrian mode. Because we’re omitting the B and the F from the pentatonic scales, we’re also omitting these two modes as well as the form the B and F scales of the C scale.

A good way to learn these is to find backing tracks to play against. A rule of thumb, typically the first chord or two designates what key the song is in. With that in mind, all you need to do is find that note on the low E, then adjust your box structure to suit the song. For instance, if the song is in the key of A, then you want to start with box 1 on the 5th fret of the low E, or the A note. Or, if your song is in the key of D minor, then you want to use the 1st box of the D minor pentatonic, which would be the 5th box of the F major. Move your hands up and down the fret board using all the box positions. Where there’s one fret between two notes, use that as an opportunity to practice string bending or using hammer-ons and pull-offs. Where two notes on adjacent strings are close together, use that as an opportunity to form chords. Practice sliding up and down the strings, especially when there’s two frets between notes. Don’t forget to throw in some vibrato at the end of phrases to add color to your solos. Before long, your boring, non-motivational scales will become the backbone of your improvisation.

If you find yourself playing each box and not being able to go up and down the neck of the guitar like you see the pros doing, consider “position shifts”. Below is the C major pentatonic scale with position shifts.

Notice how this starts out on the C note on the third fret of the A string; which is part of box 4. It goes from C to D, then slides up to the E on the seventh fret; which is part of box 5. If you follow the entire structure, you can see the path and how you can turn dull, ordinary scales into bits and pieces of solos.

Want a way to learn how to practice all five pentatonic boxes?  Here’s an excellent way.  Keep in mind that this can be transposed into any key, but, for our example, we will be using the G major/E minor pentatonic boxes.  To keep this as a fluid scale, I’ve added some slides at the tops and bottoms of  adjacent boxes.

A good way to extend this practice is to start over on the 12th fret and repeat the pattern as far as you can go.  This will familiarize you with the entire neck of the guitar.

If you’d like to learn more about pentatonic scales, Griff Hamlin of Blues Guitar Unleashed has an excellent 3 minute video on combining boxes while playing called Blues Box 2. In the video, he explains pentatonic scales as well as how to play from one box to the other.