Blog Fullwidth
Bust Out Of Blues Scale ‘Shape 1’
…with this Sliding Blues Scale pattern
Do you feel like trapped within the same notes from the pentatonic scale while playing your solos? Well, in this lesson I’m gonna show you a really awesome little trick to really extend and expand your playing. Improve and expand your solos with this sliding blues scale.
Lots of classic blues and rock licks can be found in this scale shape. Licks used by Slash, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many others.
The blues scale is one of the most important scales to learn on guitar. It is used extensively in blues, rock, metal, country and jazz guitar playing – in fact it’s hard to play almost anything without it.
In this lesson you’ll learn how to extend the basic blues scale shape to the Sliding Blues Scale and cover more of the guitar fingerboard. This will help you to learn to solo using more of the guitar neck. This one simple trick can transform you blues and rock guitar soloing! Why? Because there are so many awesome guitar licks nesting in the top part of this scale. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:35 Why you should know the extended minor pentatonic scale before learning the extended blues scale pattern. Why the blues scale is an essential part of learning how to play guitar solos and licks and how to improvise.
1:04 Recap on how to play the basic blues scale shape. Demonstrated in the key of A. Complete with description and fingering guidelines. I also demo the blues scale with the added extension.
2:22 How to add the extension onto the basic blues scale shape to work your way along the guitar neck. Fingering guidelines and scale description included.
4:30 Lots of classic blues and rock licks can be found in this minor pentatonic extension. Licks used by Slash, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many others. Experimentation is the key to learning to use any scale. Here I suggest some ways you can start to experiment with this blues scale pattern in your playing.
Read More
Solo Over More Of The Guitar Neck
…with this ‘sliding’ minor pentatonic scale pattern
The minor pentatonic scale is one of the most important scales to learn on guitar. It is used extensively in blues, rock, metal, country and jazz guitar playing – in fact it’s hard to play almost anything without it.
In this lesson you’ll learn how to extend the basic minor pentatonic scale shape and cover more of the guitar fingerboard. This will help you to learn to solo using more of the guitar neck. This one simple trick can transform you blues and rock guitar soloing! Why? Because there are so many awesome guitar licks nesting in the top part of this scale. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:30 Why extending the minor pentatonic scale is an essential part t to learning how to play guitar solos and licks and how to improvise.
0:49 Recap on how to play the basic A minor pentatonic scale shape. Complete with description and fingering guidelines.
1:14 How to add the extension onto the basic scale shape to work your way along the guitar neck. Fingering guidelines and scale description included.
2:40 Lots of classic blues and rock licks can be found in this minor pentatonic extension. Licks used by Slash, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many others. Here I demo a few of these licks for you to hear.
3:25 Tips for fingering the sliding minor pentatonic pattern. By using this fingering your fingers will be in a good position to use the scale creatively when you improvise. Otherwise licks and scale runs could be more awkward to play.
4:30 Recap on the scale pattern for the sliding or extended minor pentatonic scale shape.
4:50 Tips about using this scale at the same time as the basic pattern. Because they contain the same notes they can be used at the same time. They are the same thing and are totally interchangeable.
5:50 How to learn to use the scale shape through experimentation and jamming!
Read More
Quickly Learn This ‘Must Know’ Guitar Scale
The main tools you need to play guitar (and any instrument) solos are the scales, and today I’m gonna show you one of the more important scales: The Blues Scale. This scale shape is used extensively in blues, rock, metal, country and jazz guitar playing. I’t very easy and most of rock, blues and metal licks come from it.
Learning this scale shape is a great way for beginners to start learning how to play lead guitar solos. So, today we are going to recap how to play the A minor pentatonic scale, learn the Blues scale shape and why it’s so important.
The blues scale is one of the most important scales to learn on guitar. It is used extensively in blues, rock, metal, country and jazz guitar playing.
Learning the blues scale is a great way for beginners to start learning how to play lead guitar solos. The scale shape is quick and easy to learn especially if you already know the minor pentatonic scale on your guitar. Like the minor pentatonic, the blues scale is a scale you will use all through your career as a guitar player.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:21 Why the blues scale is so important if you want to learn how to play guitar solos, licks and how to improvise.
1:10 Recap on how to play the A minor pentatonic scale shape. Complete with description and fingering guidelines.
1:41 How you can easily turn the minor pentatonic scale into the blues scale simply by adding one more note to it to create a six not scale. Complete with description and fingering guidelines.
3:24 Important tips for fingering the scale when soloing and improvising.
Read More
Learn To Play the Most Important Guitar Scale Ever!
The minor pentatonic scale is one of the most important scales to learn on guitar. It is used extensively in blues, rock, metal, country and jazz guitar playing – in fact it’s hard to play almost anything without it. It’s a great way for beginners to start learning how to play lead guitar solos. The scale shape is quick and easy to learn and it is a scale you will use all through your career as a guitar player. Millions of great guitar licks and solos have been played using this simple 5 note scale we call the minor pentatonic.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:21 Why the minor pentatonic scale is a great place to start when you want to learn how to play guitar solos and licks and how to improvise.
0:42 How to play the A minor pentatonic scale shape. Complete with description and fingering guidelines.
2:12 Check out myother videos to learn how to put the scale into other keys and how to convert it into another essential scale: the blues scale.
Read More
Here’s How Easy It Is
…to move your scales into all keys
How To Change Key of a Scale Shape on Guitar
If you want to improvise or play and make up your own guitar solos or licks then it is crucial that you can move your scale shapes around into different keys. When you can do this your guitar playing will take a massive step forward and you’ll be able to play and express your ideas more fluently than ever before on your guitar.
In all the guitar lessons I’ve done (over 17,000!) I’ve seen this basic skill hold up more players than almost anything else – the lessons I teach you in this video are essential!
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:21 Why you need to be able to move your scales around into other keys to play any music – blues, country, rock, metal – anything!
0:47 Step 1 is to learn some of the notes along the low E string on your guitar. This basic step is super important and not knowing them can have a disasterous effect on your guitar playing and soloing! So here I show you the notes, complete with description and fingering guidelines.
2:20 How to use the root note in the scale pattern to figure out where to play the scale on the neck to be in the right key. Here I demonstrate it with C minor pentatonic and G minor pentatonic. Note that the scale pattern stays exactly the same – we’re just playing it at a different fret.
4:20 How to use the root note to move the A blues scale into the key of D to turn it into D blues scale.. Complete with description and fingering guidelines. This fingering is great for covering more of the guitar neck.
5:00 Watch these videos if you haven’t seen these two guitar scale shapes before.
5:10 Summary of what we’ve learned so far and how it can help your guitar playing.
5:50 How to move the major pentatonic scale around to other keys. Hee the root note is played by the little finger. I demonstrate this here by moving A major pentatonic up to the 12th fret to become E major pentatonic.
7:20 Here I show you how to move your scale shapes up above the 12th fret to get the scale up an octave.
8:05 Summary of what we’ve studied in this video lesson.
Read More
Mixolydian Licks
Start Getting That Tasty Mixolydian Sound In Your Solos
But how can you start it rip out cool, tasty mixolydian ideas in your solos (instead of just playing the scale pattern)?
These licks will help! Discover essential bends and note groupings which will quickly transform your mixolydian soloing and set you on the road to ‘mixolydian soloing mastery’!
The mixolydian scale or mixolydian mode is used extensively in blues, rock, jazz, funk and pop music. Knowing the mixolydian scale pattern is a good start – but you also need to build a vocabulary or library of cool sounding mixolydian licks and ideas to help you learn how to use it in your guitar solos and improvisations.
That’s what this guitar lesson is all about! You’ll learn 3 great mixolydian licks to kick start your mixolydian soloing TODAY!
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:15 Hear me demonstrate guitar soloing using the mixolydian mode. Notice how the mixolydian scale has a bright but bluesy sound. Here I am soloing with E mixolydian over an E7 chord.
0:35 Lots of guitar players get very confused by the word ‘mode’. But simply think of it as another name for a scale. So the mixolydian mode is simply a name for a particular type of scale. Watch my lesson covering the theory behind the scale and when we use it by clicking here: https://youtu.be/RCG5iUMd6VU
1:00 How to play the E mixolydian mode or scale on guitar. Here you’ll learn a mixolydian scale pattern and an E7 arpeggio shape you can use. Fingerings and description included. These are the same patterns I covered in the Mixolydian Mode Lesson but moved to the key of E. If you’re not sure how to change the key of a scale watch here: https://youtu.be/Ft_uuN3n0M0
3:16 Mixolydian Lick 1 – A cool bluesy lick using a few cool bends. Remember to use your picking hand to control the bends by cutting them off before you let them down. Also try to learn which notes in the scale shape are good notes to bend – this will help you learn to effectively use the scale pattern in a musical way.
7:20 Mixolydian Lick 2 – Another cool phrase using a few tasty bending moves. Experiment with these string bending ideas in your own soloing.
11:33 Mixolydian Lick 3 – This lick makes extensive use of the notes from the arpeggio shape. This is the backbone of the scale so pay special attention to these notes in the scale pattern – very important!
14:45 What to do with these licks. Learn the licks, find a cool E7 backing track and practice using them over it. The next step is to take your favourite parts of these licks and use them as a starting point for your own ideas. Experimentation is the key to becoming a great improviser so make sure you do a lot of it!
Read More
Start Using the Mixolydian Mode…
Today!
The mixolydian mode is used extensively in blues, rock, jazz, funk and pop music. But what is it? And what is a mode? This lesson will answer most of your questions about how to play and use the mixolydian mode on guitar in a clear and easy to understand fashion.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:15 Hear me demonstrate guitar soloing using the mixolydian mode. Notice it has a bright but bluesy sound. Here I am soloing with E mixolydian over an E7 chord.We’ll be looking at why this works so well in just a moment.
0:54 Lots of guitar players get very confused by the word ‘mode’. But simply think of it as another name for a scale. So the ‘mixolydian mode’ is simply a name for a particular type of scale which will work in a particular musical situation.
1:08 Here you’ll learn a mixolydian scale pattern you can use. Fingerings and description included. Get this down and you can start experimenting with using it in your playing straight away.
2:18 What do we use the scale for? If we examine the notes in the C mixolydian mode we see it contains the 4 notes which make up a c dominant7 (C7) chord. These notes are the ‘skeleton’ of the mode, giving it it’s basic sound. So it is used for soloing and improvising over dominant 7 chords. C mixolydian will work great over a C7 chord groove because the scale ‘outlines’ the sound of this chord.
3:55 It also works over other more colourful dominant type chords such as 9th, 11th and 13th chords. This is because these are basically just decorated versions of the basic C7 chord anyway. Find or record yourself playing a groove on a C7 or C9 chord and then start experimenting with using the notes in the scale over it.
4:35 It’s a great idea to learn the dominant 7 arpeggio which is hiding inside the scale pattern. This will really help you to make your mixolydian improvising and soloing sound more melodic. Here you’ll learn a fingering for a C7 arpeggio which goes with the C mixolydian scale pattern we just saw.
6:43 The scale and arpeggio shapes are totally moveable and have their root note on the low E string. Use this to move them to other keys.
Read More
Mode Names
(What Do Those Weird Mode Names Even Mean!)
Get Your Free ‘Video Powerpack’
Those Weird Mode Names! One of the things that makes modes so confusing to so many guitar players .
So what are the modes called?
In The Mystery of Modes Part 2 I’ll explain the mode names, how to think of each mode and where each mode comes from.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:32 In the first Mystery of Modes video we answered the question ‘What Is A Mode?’and saw how a mode is like a ‘child’ which comes from a ‘parent scale’. By ‘recycling’ the 7 notes in a major parent scale we can create a ‘family’ of new scales. The members of this family are the ‘modes of the major scale’.
Watch ‘The Mystery of Modes’ Part 10:42 Just like the members of a family, each new scale has a name. Let’s examine each mode and it’s name.
0:50 The Ionian Mode
We’ll use the G major scale for this lesson. It contains the notes G A B C D E F#. It is also known as the Ionian Mode, in this case G Ionain Mode.
1:10 The Dorian Mode
You can use the same group of notes but think of A as the root. Now we have the same notes but we’re thinking of them as some sort of A scale – A B C D E F# G. This ‘A scale’ is a ‘mode’ of the G major scale and is called the Dorian Mode.
1:36 The Phrygian Mode
If we start on the 3rd note, B and recycle the notes we get a B scale – B C D E F# G A. This is the Phrygian Mode, in this case B Phrygian.
2:05 The Lydian Mode
If you recycle the notes starting on the 4th note you get C D E F# G A B. This is the Lydian mode: C Lydian in this case.
2:20 The Mixolydian Mode
If you recycle the notes starting on the 5th note you get D E F# G A B c. This is the Mixoldian mode: D Mixolydian in this case. This is a commonly used mode, often heard in blues basaed music.
2:50 What do these strange mode names mean? Don’t worry about that! They are just a name or label for describing a particular scale and sound.
3:08 The Aeolian Mode
If you recycle the notes starting on the 6th note you get E F# G A B C D. This is the Aeolian mode: E Aeolian in this case. This is also sometimes called the Natural Minor scale and is used a lot in rock and metal music.
3:37 The Locrian Mode
If you recycle the notes starting on the 7th note you get F# G A B C D E. This is the Locrian mode: F# Locrian in this case. You don’t hear this one used much apart from in jazz, fusion and Latin music.
Get Your Free ‘Video Powerpack’
Read More
Finally….
A Way To Think about Modes Which Actually Makes Sense!
That dreaded word that strikes fear into most guitar players!
Modes are probably the most misunderstood, confusing and bady explained
topic that we have to deal with as guitarists.
Like most guitar players I was confused about them for years…until I started to think of them like this…
Get Your Free ‘Video Powerpack’
Modes! What Is a Mode?
Probably the thing that confuses more guitar players than anything else.
So what are the modes? In The Mystery of Modes Part 1 I’ll explain what a mode is, how to think of them and where the modes come from.
Here’s a breakdown of what you learn in this video:
0:40 So what is a mode?
The most basic definition is that ‘mode’ is simply another name for a scale.
To be more exact a mode is a scale which comes from another scale. The scale the mode comes from is called the ‘parent scale’. So you can almost think of a mode as a ‘kid’ or ‘child’ of the parent scale!
1:02 The mode will contain the exact same notes as the parent scale just in a different order. So what’s the difference then? If the notes are the same then aren’t they the exact same thing? Well not exactly – let’s look at that next.
1:18 Using the G major scale as the parent scale we’re going to build some modes. The notes in the G major scale are: G A B C D E F#.
You can use the same group of notes but think of A as the root. Now we have the same notes but we’re thinking of them as some sort of A scale. This ‘A scale’ is a ‘mode’ of the G major scale. We’ve recycled the G scale notes into an A scale.
2:07 If we do this starting on each note of the G major scale then we get 6 new scales. We get a scale starting on A, B ,C,D,E and F#. We’ve created a new scale starting on each note of the original ‘parent’ scale.
2:23 These new scales are the ‘children’ of the parent scale, or the ‘modes of the G major scale’.
2:42 The modes each have their own names such as Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aelian and Locrian…but don’t worry about that yet! This is all in the next video. Later we’ll also look at how to use the modes in your soloing and how to pick which one to play.
Watch Part 2 of ‘The Mystery of Modes’
Get Your Free ‘Video Powerpack’
Read More
Avoid Common String Bending Mistakes Most Guitar Players Make
(And Make Your String Bending Sound Awesome!)
What do all the great electric guitar players have in common?
Answer:
Awesome string bending technique!
It’s a fact: nothing destroys your solos quicker than weak or out of tune bends…so it’s crucial that you get this right.
Dive in to this lesson and learn how to do it the right way and avoid all the common mistakes most guitarists make with their bending (I did it wrong for years)
Then…sit back and hear the transformation that awesome string bending technique can have on your guitar playing!
Nail Other Essential Guitar Techniques with My ‘Chop Building’ Mini Series
Guitar String Bending – How To Bend Strings the Right Way!
String bending is one of the most important guitar techniques that guitarists need to master. In this String Bending Workshop you’ll learn how to do it it the right way. Covers string bending hand position, bending action, bending strings in tune and tips on 3 common types of string bend you’ll see all the time.
String Bending Workshop
0:18 String bending is an essential part of most guitar styles – especially rock, metal, blues and country guitar. Hear a short demo of bending used in a few different style guitar solos here.
1:05 Correct string bending hand position. Thumb position is essential. Keep your thumb over the top of the neck as you bend. This is essential for control and stability in your bending. This will help you get your bends sounding in tune and with a big juicy tone!
2:00 Bending Fingers. Back up your bending finger with any other available fingers. This gives stability and control to your string bends and will help you execute large bends much easier.
3:01 Bending Action. Let’s examine some key points when you bend a string. Keep your thumb down and still, the guitar as still as you can and rotate your hand and wrist upwards to push the string. Try not to just flex and push up with your fingers. Using your wrist and hand will lead to much better string bending in your playing.
5:50 Bending in Tune. Getting your bends in tune is obviously essential! Play the note you are bending up to a few times to ‘plant’ the sound of it in your ear. Then grab the bend and try to hit the note accurately. Bending practice will pay off here! Be patient and monitor your tuning as you play and use bends in your solos.
7:16 String Bending Exercises- 3 Types of Bend. Let’s examine 3 common types of string bend you’ll use in your playing. Nailing these exercises will really help you get your bends sounding great when you use them in licks and solos. Remember to apply all these techniques and guidelines in your favourite licks and solos.
Good luck!
Nail Other Essential Guitar Techniques (like ‘noise free’ bending) with My ‘Chop Building’ Mini Series
Read More
