Confession #49 - Goodbye!

A year ago I started this blog with a few goals in mind.  I wanted to share my experiences and the breakthroughs that helped me progress as a musician with others, in the hope that it would help them with their development.  I hoped to connect with an audience and to develop a following and a community for beginner to intermediate players to share experiences and discuss the weekly confessions.  Lastly, I hoped to generate some revenue through advertising (i.e. clickable ads) and affiliate programs (e.g. American Musical Supply, etc.).

A year later I find that these goals have not been realized.  I didn't expect to realize them overnight, but after 1 year of weekly posts, the message is clear.  I have failed to connect with an audience.  Unless I continuously promote the blog through various channels the daily pageviews are very low, which tells me that I'm not getting very many returning visitors.  Only 2 people have posted comments in the comments sections, and there are only 5 people following my blog (and one of those is a relative).  My blog has not generated any affiliate program sales, and the advertising revenue has yet to exceed the minimum payment threshold.

I've invested a lot of time in this blog, and that has taken away from other things in my life, not the least of which is my own playing. Since I have not realized any of my goals for this blog, I can no longer justify the time I spend on it and have decided to shut it down.  Frankly, it will be a relief to no longer have the pressure of generating useful original content every week.

I want to thank those who have provided their feedback to me, both through the comments section and by e-mailing me directly.  I wish everyone the best of luck in their development as a guitar player and a musician.

Guitartipz

Confession #48 - Know Your CBA's !

If somebody asked you to recite the notes in the C major scale, without hesitation you'd be able reply:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

However, if they asked you do do it backwards, odds are you'd be stumped!


KNOW YOUR CBA's

Your probably wondering why you should be able to recite the alphabet backwards.  Learning the fretboard is one reason.

As a beginner you learned the names of the open strings and probably learned the names of the notes on the first 3 frets.  However, as you move beyond the 3rd fret, your note naming ability might be a bit shaky.  And the closer you get to the 12th fret, the more lost you feel.

But wait!  You already know the names of the notes at the 12th fret.  Remember those notes are the octave of the open strings.  If you can name the open strings, you can name the notes at the 12th fret.

If you can name the notes at the 12th fret and you know your CBA's, then you can easily name the notes before the 12th fret.  For example, the 12th fret of your sixth string is an E.  "Counting" backwards from E you get to D, which is a whole step before E (if you don't know why D is a whole step before E, see Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale!), so moving a whole step (i.e. two frets) back from the 12th fret to the 10th fret you find a D.

How do you learn your CBA's?  Practice!

Use the major scale pattern in Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale! and play up and down the scale, naming the notes as you play them (or better yet, sing them! See Confession #23 - Sing What You Play!).  Moving up the scale will be easy.  Moving down the scale will be hard at first but will quickly become easy.

Next Week's Confession - ???

Confession #47 - Christmas Special!

Change of plans!  With Christmas only a week and a half away, I decided to share with you this fully tabbed fingerpicking arrangement of Away in a Manger so you can wow your family and friends with it on Christmas Day.

Enjoy!

Away in a Manger
(Click to Enlarge)

Next Week's Confession - Know Your CBA's!

Confession #46 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 5)

In Confession #45 - Pentatonic Scales! (Part 4) we looked at Pentatonic Pattern #4.  In this week's confession, we'll look at Pentatonic Pattern #5.

This is the final pentatonic pattern, and it brings us back around to pattern #1.


Major Pentatonic Pattern #5

Here is major pentatonic pattern #5 in the key of C.  I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference.  I've also shown pattern #4 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.  The dashed notes on the left belong only to pattern #4.  The notes in the middle are common to both patterns. The notes on the right belong only to pattern #5.

As mentioned above, this is the final pattern and it brings us back around to pattern #1.  See the column of notes at the 17th fret?  Does it look a bit familiar?  That's because they are all part of pattern #1, like this:

Minor Pentatonic Pattern #5

Here is minor pentatonic pattern #5 in the key of A minor.  Again, I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference and I've also shown pattern #4 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.

Again, notice how the notes at the 17th fret are all part of pattern #1, like this:

Now that you have leaned all 5 pentatonic patterns, the challenge is to learn to move between them when playing.  Confession #43 - Pentatonic Scales! (Part 2) demonstrated just one the many ways there are to do this.  Experiment and see what works for you!

Next Week's Confession - Know Your CBA's!

Confession #45 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 4)

In Confession #43 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 2) we looked at Pentatonic Pattern #3.  In this week's confession, we'll look at Pentatonic Pattern #4.

We'll also explore how you can link up Pattern #1 and Pattern #4 when playing a I-IV-V chord progression.  There's a video demo and a TAB for this below.

See Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play! and Confession #15 - Find the I, IV, V in any Key!  if you're not sure what a I-IV-V chord progression is or what the roman numerals mean.


Major Pentatonic Pattern #4

Here is major pentatonic pattern #4 in the key of C.  I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference.  I've also shown pattern #3 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.  The dashed notes on the left belong only to pattern #3.  The notes in the middle are common to both patterns. The notes on the right belong only to pattern #4.

Minor Pentatonic Pattern #4

Here is minor pentatonic pattern #4 in the key of A minor.  Again, I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference and I've also shown pattern #3 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.

Linking Pattern #1 and Pattern #4

Let's start this segment with the video demo and the TAB.  Below that we'll discuss where the notes are coming from and how the two patterns are connected in this demo.

Linking Pattern #1 and Pattern #4
(Click to Enlarge)

I started noodling around one day with the Am pentatonic scale.  All the while I was thinking that I would be playing whatever I came up with over an A major chord.

Why did I want to play the Am pentatonic scale over an A major chord?  Theoretically it shouldn't work.  An A major chord has a C# in it.  The A minor scale has a C in it.  The two should clash.  And they do, but in a way that sounds good.  Playing a minor pentatonic scale over a major chord is the sound of the blues and of rock and roll.

I was further thinking that this might be played over a 12 bar blues which, as we learned in Confession #41 - 12 Bar Blues!, uses the I, IV and V chords.  In the key of A, the chords would be A, D and E.

So, the lick starts with the Am pentatonic pattern #1 extended box for the first two measures, and would be played over an A major chord.

Then I was thinking what if the chord changed to D major?  I wanted to replicate the lick in the first measure, but play it in the key of D.  i.e. the lick would follow the chord (see Confession #41 - 12 Bar Blues! for another example of this) as it does in the third measure of the tab..

One way of doing this would be to simply play the lick 5 frets higher. That would transpose it to the key of D.

However, I wondered if I could find the lick closer by if I switched to a D minor pentatonic pattern.  That's when I had an epiphany:

• The only difference between A minor pentatonic and D minor pentatonic is that A minor has an E note, and D minor has an F note.
• Dm pentatonic pattern #4 is right under Am pentatonic pattern #1

This is illustrated in the chart below.

The chart also shows the location of the "blue note" or the "flat five" when using Am pentatonic pattern #1.  Here, the blue note is Eb,  and is used in the 2nd, 6th and 7th measures in the TAB above.

The other thing to note is that if you play pattern 4 at the 7th fret, then it would be Em pentatonic.  Thus, if you were playing over a 12 bar blues and wanted to follow the chords, you could:

• play pattern #1 at the 5th fret for the I chord (A major),
• play pattern #4 at the 5th fret for the IV chord (D major), and
• play pattern #4 at the 7th fret for the V chord (E major).

To be clear, you could just play Am pentatonic over all three chords.  But knowing that you can follow the chord by switching to Dm pentatonic and Em pentatonic gives you another option for coming up with some great licks!

West Music - All Week Black Friday Sale Plus Free Shipping Use BLACKFRIDAY at Checkout.

Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales (Part 5)

Confession #44 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 3)

In Confession #43 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 2) we looked at Pentatonic Pattern #2.  In this week's confession, we'll look at Pentatonic Pattern #3.

There's no TAB or video for this week, but next week, when we explore Pattern #4, we'll see how you can link up Pattern #1 and Pattern #4 in a cool way.


Major Pentatonic Pattern #3

Here is major pentatonic pattern #3 in the key of C.  I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference.  I've also shown pattern #2 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.  The dashed notes on the left belong only to pattern #2.  The notes in the middle are common to both patterns. The notes on the right belong only to pattern #3.

You could play this in 9th position by using fingers 2 and 4 on the sixth, fifth and fourth strings, and then fingers 1 and 4 on the third string.  Once you get to the second string you'd switch to 10th position by using fingers 1 and 4, and then fingers 1 and 3 on the first string.

However some players like to use just fingers 1 and 3 for Pattern #3.  Experiment and see what works best for you.


Minor Pentatonic Pattern #3

Here is minor pentatonic pattern #3 in the key of A minor.  Again, I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference and I've also shown pattern #2 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.

Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales (Part 4)

Confession #43 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 2)

In Confession #40 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1) we looked at Pentatonic Pattern #1.  In this week's confession, we'll look at Pentatonic Pattern #2.


Major Pentatonic Pattern #2

Here is major pentatonic pattern #2 in the key of C.  I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference.  I've also shown pattern #1 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.  The dashed notes on the left belong only to pattern #1.  The notes in the middle are common to both patterns. The notes on the right belong only to pattern #2.

Minor Pentatonic Pattern #2

Here is minor pentatonic pattern #2 in the key of A minor.  Again, I've coloured the root notes red for easy reference and I've also shown pattern #1 in the diagram so you can see how the two patterns are connected.

In Confession #35 - Repeat & Vary! (Improvisation 1) and Confession #40 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1)  I talked about the pentatonic extended box.  Now you can see how those notes come from minor pentatonic pattern #2.  They are often used in conjunction with minor pentatonic pattern #1 as demonstrated in the TAB and video below.

I've also coloured two notes in blue.  I find that these two notes from the extended box are very powerful when played together.  You'll see/hear this in the TAB/video below.

I was trying to figure out why they are so powerful and here's what I came up with.  The E is the 5th in the key of A or Am.  We already know how powerful the 5th is from playing root-5 power chords.

The G is the flat 7th in the key of A or Am.  As discussed in last week's confession, the G is what turns an Am chord into an Am7 chord. It's also what turns a an A chord into an A7 chord.

Combined, the 5th and the flat 7th imply a minor 7th chord or a dominant 7th chord.  I suspect that is why they sound so good together.

See Confession #42 - 7th Chords Cheat Sheet! for more information on 7th chords.


VIDEO AND TAB

Here is a little riff that moves between the extended box from pattern #2 and pattern #1.  In the last measure, execute a grace note slide into the E at the 9th fret of the third string and hold it while you play the G at the 8th fret of the second string.

Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales (Part 3)

Confession #42 - 7th Chords Cheat Sheet!

At some point in the future, I'll do a lesson on harmonizing the major scale in 7ths (see Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play! for a lesson on harmonizing the major scale), but for now I'll provide a cheat sheet that will get you started quickly on 7th chords.

There are three 7th chords that you will commonly encounter.  The three chords are:

• the major 7th chord,
• the dominant 7th chord, and
• the minor 7th chord

Let's jump right in and demonstrate the first two chords as G chords and the last chord as an Am chord.  Then we'll see how 7th chords fit into a harmonized major scale.


G MAJOR to G MAJOR 7

I have shown the fifth string muted for the G chord to keep things simple.  Just let your 2nd finger gently touch the fifth string to mute it.

Notice how when switching from the G major chord to the G major 7th chord, we lower the G on the first string 1 fret.  So the cheat sheet lesson here is take an octave of the root note of the chord and lower it a half step to make a major 7th chord.


G MAJOR to G DOMINANT 7

TIP - A dominant 7th chord is usually written like this: G7.  No need to put the word dominant in there.

Notice how when switching from the G major chord to the G dominant 7th chord, we lower the G on the first string 2 frets. So the cheat sheet lesson here is take an octave of the root note of the chord and lower it a whole step to make a dominant 7th chord.

A MINOR to A MINOR 7

Notice how when switching from the A minor chord to the A minor 7th chord, we lower the A on the third string 2 frets. So the cheat sheet lesson here is take an octave of the root note of the chord and lower it a whole step to make a minor 7th chord.


HARMONIZING IN 7ths

Back in Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play! we learned how to harmonize the major scale and how the formula:

    I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - viio

tells us which chords work in a particular key.

I'm going to ignore the viio chord in the 7th chord cheat sheet because, it would hurt my brain to figure out, its got a really weird name, and its used very infrequently.

So summarizing the formula above:

• the I, IV and V chords are major chords, and
• the ii, iii and vi chords are minor chords

When you harmonize in 7ths, the summary changes only slightly:

• the I and IV chords are major 7th chords, 
• the V chord is a dominant 7th chord, and
• the ii, iii and vi chords are minor 7th chords

So the way I remember this is:

• the I and IV chords are still major, but they are major 7th.  (just add the note that is one fret below the octave)
• the ii, iii and vi chords are still minor, but they are minor 7th.  (just add the note that is two frets below the octave)

So all you need to remember is that the V is chord is a dominant 7th chord. And really, this is just the V chord with one added note (the note that is two frets below the octave).

West Music - Free Shipping on All Orders Over $49

Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales! (Part 2)

Confession #41 - 12 Bar Blues!

Last week we learned pentatonic pattern #1 (see Confession #40 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1)).  This week we'll put that pattern to use over a 12 bar blues chord progression.


12 BAR BLUES

The 12 bar blues is a standard chord progression used frequently in, yes you guessed it, blues music.  It is also frequently used in rock and roll.  As you may have already guessed, the progression is 12 bars long.  At the end of the 12 bars, the progression is repeated again and again throughout the song.

Basic 12 Bar Blues

At its most basic, the progression consists of the I, IV and V chords of whatever key you happen to be playing in, organized like this:

|  I   |  I   |  I   |  I   |
|  IV  |  IV  |  I   |  I   |
|  V   |  IV  |  I   |  V   |

See Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play!  if you aren't sure what the roman numerals mean.


In the key of A, the I, IV and V chords are A, D and E, so the progression would be:

|  A   |  A   |  A   |  A   |
|  D   |  D   |  A   |  A   |
|  E   |  D   |  A   |  E   |

Dominant Sevenths

It is also very common for the 12 bar blues to be played using all dominant 7th chords like this:

|  I7  |  I7  |  I7  |  I7  |
|  IV7 |  IV7 |  I7  |  I7  |
|  V7  |  IV7 |  I7  |  V7  |


See Confession #13 - Learn More Barre Chords! for examples of some dominant 7th chord fingerings.

As we'll learn in a future confession about harmonizing the major scale in sevenths, technically you change key every time you change chords when you play a 12 bar blues this way.

Quick Change

Another common variation is to play the IV chord or the IV7 chord in the second measure, like this:

|  I7  |  IV7 |  I7  |  I7  |
|  IV7 |  IV7 |  I7  |  I7  |
|  V7  |  IV7 |  I7  |  V7  |

This is referred to as the "quick change".  You'll hear the quick change in the Blue Brothers version of Sweet Home Chicago.


MOVEABLE RIFF

The first two measures of the TAB below introduce a riff that is played in 5th position and is based (mostly) on the A minor pentatonic scale.

The riff also includes the "flat-five" or the "blue note" (6th fret of your fifth string) which is not technically part of the scale, but is often used with it.  I'll talk more about the blue note in a future confession.

When the chord changes to a D in the 5th measure, the riff follows the chord.  The riff is identical except that it now it starts on a D instead of an A.

This could be done by staying on the fourth and fifth strings and moving up to 10th position, but its easier to shift to the third and fourth strings.  When a riff follows the chords like this, it is called a moveable riff.


VIDEO AND TAB

Here's a video demonstration of a 12 bar blues in the key of A using the moveable riff in the TAB below:

Here's the TAB for the song.  In the third and fourth measures I have shown the suggested fingerings for playing the riff.  I have also shown suggested fingering in the twelfth measure.  This is what works for me.  If it doesn't work for you then try a different fingering.

12 Bar Blues in the Key of A
(Click to Enlarge)

Have fun playing this one!

Next Week's Confession - 7th Chord Cheat Sheet!

Confession #40 - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1)

Pentatonic scales are very commonly used in rock and roll, so you'll want to have a good understanding of them. Fortunately, they are not that difficult to understand or to play.  That's one of the reason for their popularity.

THE MAJOR PENTATONIC SCALE

Penta comes from the Greek language, and means 5, so penta-tonic means 5 tones  Thus a pentatonic sale has, yes you guessed it, 5 tones.

Which 5 tones you ask?  Well, take the C major scale (see Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale!) and leave out the F and the B and you get the C major pentatonic scale:

[The numbers below the note names are the scale formula (see Confession #27 - Learn the Minor Scale!)]


C Major Scale

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8
  W   W   H   W   W   W   H

The numbers below the note names are the scale formula (see Confession #27 - Learn the Minor Scale!)


C Major Pentatonic Scale

C - D - E - - - G - A - - - C
1   2   3       5   6       8
  W   W    H+W    W    W+H

Major Pentatonic Pattern #1

You may have already learned this pattern.  If not, take the time to learn it as Pattern #1 is very commonly used.

Major Pentatonic Pattern #1
(Click to Enlarge)

Observe that the root note C is at the 7th fret of your sixth string.  The A at the 5th fret of the sixth string is part of the scale, but I've shown it in dashed lines as it is below the root note.


THE MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE

Let's do the same thing again, but this time start with the A minor scale (see Confession #39 - Back to the Minor Scale!), which is the relative minor scale to the C major scale.

A Minor Scale

A - B - C  - D - E - F  - G  - A
1   2   3b   4   5   6b   7b   8
  W   H    W   W   H    W    W


A Minor Pentatonic Scale

A - - - C  - D - E - -  - G  - A
1       3b   4   5        7b   8
   W+H     W   W    H+W     W


Minor Pentatonic Pattern #1

Again, this pattern will probably look familiar.

Minor Pentatonic Pattern #1
(Click to Enlarge)

Observe that the root note A is at the 5th fret of your sixth string.

I've also shown the Am pentatonic extended box.  We'll discuss where these notes come from in a future confession.  For now, ignore the notes in the dashed lines.

You're probably thinking to yourself, "It's the same pattern as the major pentatonic scale!"  And you would be correct.  The A minor pentatonic scale is the relative minor scale to the C major pentatonic scale, so they do use the same notes.  The difference is which note you treat as the root note of the scale.
So how do you know which scale is which?  If you want to play the minor pentatonic scale, then the root note is under your index finger. If you want to play the major pentatonic scale, then the root note is under your fourth finger.  Note that minor and index both have the letter i in them.  This is the trick to remembering which scale is which.


OBSERVATIONS

Observe that there are only two notes per string, which makes these pentatonic scale patterns easy to play.  This is part of the reason they are so popular!

Observe that by eliminating the notes F and B, we eliminated the half steps from the standard major and minor scale.  If you can remember this fact, then you can easily build a pentatonic scale in any key,  Write out the major or minor scale for that key, and then eliminate the half steps. Boom! There's the pentatonic scale. That's easier then remembering the scale formula.

Next Week's Confession - 12 Bar Blues! 

Confession #39 - Back to the Minor Scale! (It's all Relative!)

Previously, we discussed the C major scale (Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale!) and the C minor scale (Confession #27 - Learn the Minor Scale!).

You've probably heard that the A minor scale is the relative minor scale to the C major scale.  In this week's confession, we'll explore just what the heck that means.

THE RELATIVE MINOR SCALE

Most lessons I've seen on the minor scale start with a discussion on the A minor scale.  They probably do this because the A minor scale doesn't contain any sharps or flats and thus is a little easier to understand.

I purposely avoided this in Confession #27 - Learn the Minor Scale! and stuck to the key of C because I believe the difference between the major scale and the minor scale are better illustrated when both are presented starting on the same root note, like this:

C - D - E  - F - G - A  - B  - C
C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C

That said, it is important to take a look at the A minor scale because it is the relative minor scale to the C major scale.

To understand what that means, lets' take a look at the A minor scale.  The notes are:

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A


The first thing that you probably noticed is that there are no sharps or flats and that the notes are all the same notes as the C major scale.  So how is the A minor scale different from the C major scale?  Well, the notes are all the same, but the difference is which note you start the scale on.

This difference is best illustrated by seeing how the pattern of whole steps and half steps changes when we start playing on A instead of C.


Here are two octaves of the C major scale:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

  W   W   H   W   W   W   H   W   W   H   W   W   W   H

When we play from C to C, the pattern of whole steps and half steps is: W-W-H-W-W-W-H


Here is the A minor scale that is hidden in the two octaves of the C major scale:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

  W   W   H   W   W   W   H   W   W   H   W   W   W   H

When we play from A to A, the pattern of whole steps and half steps is: W-H-W-W-H-WW


Again, observe that there are no sharps or flats in the A minor scale because it consists of all the same notes as the C major scale.  Also note that it is the same pattern of whole steps and half steps, we just start in a different place in that pattern.  For the technically curious readers out there, the minor scale is known as the aeolian mode.

You may be wondering, can our ears really hear a difference based on which note we start on?  The answer is yes, they can!

Go back to Confession #16 - Finger 3-4 Independence! (Exercise #1)  and listen to the video.  The notes played are all natural notes (i.e. there are no sharps or flats), so they are all the same notes as you'll find in the C major scale.  But the lick doesn't have that happy major scale feel to it.  This is because the lick starts on an open E and repeats that note frequently during the lick.  This causes us to hear this lick as being in E phrygian.  Don't worry about what that means for now.  The point is that we can use the notes of the C major scale to play something that doesn't sound like C major.

Listen to 5 Days in May by Blue Rodeo.  The chords for the intro verse are Em, D, Am, C  and then G, F, C and D.  At first it looks like the song is in the key of G major because the principal chords in G major are:

G - Am - Bm - C - D - Em - F#o

But the song doesn't have a happy major chord feel to it.  That's because it's in the key of E minor, which is the relative minor scale to G major.  The song starts on the Em chord and that affects they way our ears hear everything else that follows it.


It is  because the A minor scale uses all the same notes as the C major scale that is called the relative minor scale.


FINDING THE RELATIVE MINOR SCALE

If you want to know what the relative minor scale is for any particular major scale, there's a simple trick for figuring that out.  The root note of the relative minor is 3 frets lower than the root note for the major scale.

For example, the 8th fret of your sixth string is a C.  Move down 3 frets to the 5th fret and you'll find an A.  A is the relative minor to C major.

Next Week's Confession - Pentatonic Scales (Part 1) 

Confession #38 - Look Where You Want to Go!

If you've done any driver training, then you've probably heard the expression "Look where you want to go!"  If you keep staring at the tree that you are trying to avoid, odds are you'll drive straight into it, whereas if you look around the tree to where you want to go, odds are you'll miss it.  In sports, the expression is "Keep your eye on the ball!"  This principle applies equally to guitar playing.

POSITION SHIFTS

Take a look at this melody:

Melody in the Key of D Major
(Click to Enlarge)

We start out in 7th position (i.e. finger 1 is fretting notes at the 7th fret).  On beat 3 we slide finger 2 up from the 8th fret to the 10th fret. After some practice, you'll do this slide by feel.  But when you're first learning it, your eyes should be looking at the 10th fret because this is where you want finger 2 to go.

In the second measure, we work our way back down to 7th position in time for the D on beat 4 of that measure.  But in the first beat of the third measure, we're suddenly up in 10th position (finger 3 will play the E at the 12th fret of your first string, and finger 1 will play the D at the 10th fret).  To make the shift from measure 2 to measure 3 smoothly, your eyes should be looking at the E at the 12th fret of the first string because this is where you want your hand to go.

To make position shifts accurately, look where you want to go!

D MAJOR SCALE

The melody above is based on the D major scale.  Recall the major scale pattern we learned in Confession #8 - Learn the Major Scale!?  This melody uses that same pattern, however instead of playing strictly "inside the box", some notes are played in a higher position  (but they all belong the the D major scale).  This allows us to make the slide in the first measure.  And of course, slides are a phrasing technique that can be used to make your melodies sound more interesting (see Confession #36 - Pull, Hammer and Slide! (Phrasing 1)).

(Click to Enlarge)

The B and the C# on the first string aren't used in this melody.  The notes that are played "outside the box" are shown with a dashed border.

VIDEO

Next Week's Confession - Back to the Minor Scale!

Confession #37 - Play Something, Play Anything!

When I was a teenager, I had, as many teenagers do, a rather myopic view of music, .  I loved new wave, and everything else sucked! 

Fortunately, I outgrew that phase quickly and discovered and enjoyed blues, jazz, rock, reggae, punk, industrial, etc.  And as my 20's turned into my 30's, I came to appreciate the likes of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson (an amazing but overlooked guitar player, in my view), Dwight Yoakam, and Patsy Cline, to name a few.

Maybe you got into the guitar because you loved Jimi Hendrix and wanted to learn to play the Purple Haze, but that doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to just playing Hendrix tunes or rock and roll tunes.

I think there is plenty to be gained from learning to play songs from a variety of musical genres.  My guitar teacher suggested that I learn to play Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.  Learning to play a song in 5/4 time was a big challenge, but in the process of learning Take Five I was forming connections in my brain that made it easier to to deal with other songs in unusual time signatures.  Learning to play some blues tunes will develop plenty of skills that you can transfer to rock and roll playing.

Hal Leonard has a book of arrangements of children's songs.  The arrangements take the melodies (many of which you'll know well from your own childhood) and then throw in some harmony notes here and there.  These are great finger development exercises for your left hand, and if you take some time to study how and where the harmony notes have been added, you'll learn how to do add harmony notes to your own melodies.

Ultimately, learning to play songs from different genres will make you a better guitar player, so don't be afraid to try!


Guitar books from Sheet Music Plus

100 Songs for Kids "(Easy Guitar with Notes & Tab). By Various. For Guitar. Hal Leonard Easy Guitar. Children's. Difficulty: easy-medium. Guitar tablature single. Easy guitar notation, guitar tablature, chord names, lyrics and guitar chord diagrams. 128 pages. Published by Hal Leonard"

Hal Leonard Guitar Method - Blues Guitar "For Guitar. Hal Leonard Guitar Method. Blues and Play Along. Difficulty: medium. Instructional book (includes guitar tablature) and accompaniment CD. Introductory text, instructional text, standard guitar notation, guitar tablature and guitar chord diagrams. 47 pages. Published by Hal Leonard"

Hal Leonard Country Guitar Method "For Guitar. Hal Leonard Guitar Method. Learn to play Rhythm and Lead Country Guitar with Step-by-Step Lessons and 23 Great Country Songs. Method and Country. Instructional book and accompaniment CD. Guitar tablature, standard notation and guitar chord diagrams. 48 pages. Published by Hal Leonard"

Hal Leonard Rockabilly Guitar Method For Guitar. Guitar Method. Softcover with CD. Guitar tablature. 64 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

Next Week's Confession - Look Where You Want to Go! 

Confession #36 - Pull, Hammer and Slide! (Phrasing 1)

One of the things that distinguishes the guitar from most other instruments is that some notes can be found in more than one place on the fretboard.   For example, the A note at the 5th fret of your sixth string is the same note as the A when your fifth string is played open.  They both have the same pitch or frequency, but they have slightly different timbres due to the physical differences between the fifth string and the sixth string.

The other thing that distinguishes the guitar from most other instruments is all the different ways that a particular note can be played or delivered.


PHRASING

Phrasing is the term that is used to describe the way a particular note has been played or delivered.  There are numerous ways to deliver a particular note.  Options include:

• fretting the note and just playing it
• sliding into the note from above or below
• hammering-on or pulling off to the note
• bending into the note

Let's look at some of these options, and then apply them to Am Pentatonic Lick #1 from Confession #35 - Repeat & Vary! (Improvisation 1).


HAMMER-ON, PULL-OFF,  & SLIDES

Here's  a TAB that shows three of the techniques mentioned above:

Hammer-on, Pull-off, and Slides
(Click to Enlarge)

Hammer-On

The first half of the first measure shows a hammer-on.

Fret the first note (G) with finger 1 and pick the string.  Do not pick the second note (A).  Instead, bring your 3rd finger down forcefully onto the 10th fret and hold it there (i.e. "hammer" your 3rd finger onto the 10th fret).

Done with sufficient speed and force, the string will continue to vibrate and the A note will sound.

Pull-Off

The second half of the first measure shows a pull-off.

Fret the first note (A) with finger 3, and the second note (G) with finger 1 (i.e. both fingers are on the fretboard at the same time). Now pick the string to sound the A note.  Do not pick the second note (G).  Instead, tug down slightly with finger 3 as you remove it from the 10th fret.

Done properly, finger 3 will pluck the string and the G note will sound.

Slides

The second measure shows two slides, the first from the G note to the A note, and the second from the A note back to the G note.

Fret the first note with any finger you like.  Pick the string to sound the first note.  Do not pick the second note.  Instead, slide your finger up/down the fretboard to fret the second note.

Done properly, the the string will continue to vibrate from the picked first note and the second note will sound.

If you have a death-grip on the fretboard (see Confession #30 - Lose the Death Grip! ), you're going to find slides difficult.  Use a lighter touch and slides will be easier.


ADDING PHRASING to Am PENTATONIC LICK #1

Last week we looked at this lick:

Am Pentatonic Lick #1 - No Phrasing
(Click to Enlarge)

It's promising, but I find it sounds a little stiff.

Let's add a little phrasing to this lick, as follows:

Am Pentatonic Lick #1 - With Phrasing
(Click to Enlarge)

Instead of starting the lick on the A at the 10th fret of the second string, we're going to play what is called a grace note slide.  We start on the G at the 8th fret, but slide up the the A on the 10th fret as soon as the string is picked.  Its called a grace note because is duration is so short.

The second half of the lick goes from the D at the 10th fret of the first string  to the C at the 8th fret.  Instead of picking both notes, let's pull off from the D to the C.

Having added only a grace note slide and a pull-off, the lick sounds more loose and more interesting.

Take a look at some of the licks you've created and see if you can apply some phrasing to them to make them sound more interesting!

Video

Next Week's Confession - Play Something, Play Anything!