"Running
Laps Around Your Fretboard"
Jordan
Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.
Welcome
to this edition of our Guitar Tips Newsletter. We have yet another
jam packed article to share with you this week.
In
this edition:
Join
us as we take a look at how you can master your fretboard using
scale patterns.
In
addition to the above, we have a great site review for you to check
out. If you have been looking for video guitar lessons, we have
a site that will fit your needs perfectly. As always, you can also
check out what your fellow subscribers have to say in our Feedback
Booth.
Let's
get started!
Bridging
The Gap.
Get
connected.
Let's
face it, playing a professional, well polished solo is extremely
difficult. More often than not, we find ourselves confined to a
certain area of the fretboard. Perhaps you are playing a solo based
on a certain scale that you like, such as a pentatonic or mixolydian.
Whatever the case, you end up getting the same sounds over and over.
We
have all faced that frustrating situation at one time or another.
There's nothing worse than being stuck with the same tones and not
knowing what to do with the hundreds of options available to you.
The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The
guitar is not designed to be frustrating. In fact, the fretboard
is configured to make your life as easy as possible. How does it
make your life easier? By connecting scale patterns. As you may
remember from previous lessons, each scale has five individual patterns.
These patterns cover the entire neck of the guitar.
What
you may not know is that each of those five patterns overlap each
other at some point on the fretboard. This is the key to stepping
out of that one scale pattern and sprinting across the fretboard.
You can now take advantage of every note within that particular
key.
While
it is impossible for us to cover every scale in detail, as there
are over 80 patterns to remember, we can investigate the most useful.
Pentatonic
scale pattern.
By
now, the majority of you have heard of the pentatonic scale. It
is theoretically one of the easiest scales we have available to
us and is the most practical for soloing. The beauty of this scale
is that you can use it to play any key and still sound great.
The
scale pattern that made the minor pentatonic scale famous is the
following:
...
While that scale pattern may be the most famous, there are four
other extremely useful patterns that you should know. They are as
follows:
#1
#2
#3
or
#4
or
#5
or
...Get
extremely comfortable with all five of the above scales. With practice,
you can easily master them within a short period of time. Take care
not to confuse them and mix them up, because they will be the foundation
that the rest of your solos will be based on.
To
answer the question of how they fit together, we must first look
at what key we are playing in. Once you decide which key you are
playing in. Let's use the key of Am as our first example, which
is the same as C(more on that in a minute). Take your #1 scale pattern,
and place the first note on the 8th fret of your low E string, which
is a C.
Keep
in mind that these scale patterns can also be played in the key
of C. This is due to the 6th note of any scale being the relative
minor. Since we are using the pentatonic minor scale pattern, the
minor key makes more sense. Both have the same key signatures, just
different patterns.
What
you are really doing is using C as the "root" of your
scale. A root is the first note of any scale and often dictates
the key you are playing in. If you don't know your notes, I suggest
learning the low E string as it will save you plenty of time.
After
you have located where your #1 scale pattern is going to be placed,
which is on C in our case, we put the #2 scale pattern on D, which
is two frets up from C.
We
then proceed to put the #3 scale pattern on E (12th fret), which
is another two frets up from D. Our #4 scale pattern is three frets
up on G (15th fret). Finally, our #5 scale pattern is another two
frets up from G, which is the 17th fret.
Any
above pattern with an "or" with an alternate scale just
means that the full scale can be played higher on the fretboard
or lower. In other words, there are two octaves to the scale. Depending
on the key you are playing in, you will alternate between the high
versions and the low versions. For the key of C, you use the higher
versions.
As
you play through the scales in the key of Am (or C), you will find
that they overlap each other and share notes. This will hold true
with every key. Basically, this is what opens up the doors to wicked
solos where you never hit a wrong note. To play in another key,
move your #1 scale to a new root note.
Using
solo techniques to write new material.
Now
that you know how to totally utilize the area on your fretboard,
it's time to put things into action. When creating new riffs and
solos, there are a few things to keep in mind that will spice up
your playing.
- Sliding
between the connecting notes
I
also suggest you try using finger length to your advantage if you
have larger hands. Since you know where you're going and what notes
you should be playing on your fretboard, you can easily do huge
jumps around the fretboard.
The
possibilities are endless when you think of all the things you can
do with five scales and some technique.
Site
Review
Free
Guitar Videos
There's
nothing quite like getting a full video lesson, in addition to the
music, all in one professionally packaged bundle. The problem with
those packages is that we have to pay serious cash to get them.
When I came across freeguitarvideos.com a few years back, my initial
reaction was, "Wow!" Since that time, this site has expanded
to offer more variety and better video streaming.
These
free video lessons are the real deal. They walk you step by step
through some of the most technically challenging material. Regardless
of level, there's something you can get from this site. They have
various authors and published books if you want a hard copy of the
transcriptions.
You
can also buy many other materials to aid you in your quest for knowledge.
Every style of music is covered in depth along with some other extras.
In
addition to all of the above, they offer solid information taught
by professional musicians with real playing experience. Everything
is filmed professionally and really gives you great shots of the
fretboard.
I
strongly recommend this site to anyone who is looking for something
a little different. To check it out for yourself, click
here.
Feedback
Booth
This
has evolved into one of my favorite segments of the newsletter.
Many of you take the time to write in on a weekly basis to update
us on your progress and to ask questions. Here's a sample of what
you came up with this week:
Jose
writes to us with this great question:
"Jordan
I really want to thank you for your help, but I have a little problem
to learn to play guitar. Because of my job, I do not touch my guitar
for a few weeks and I feel I am not learning. My problem is that
I do not know about metre. I know the notes and chords but I don't
know which one comes first or which one goes after. Best regards,
Jose Miranda."
Jose
is not alone. Metre is an aspect of music theory that many have
a hard time grasping. While I cannot cover timing in depth here,
I suggest that you try playing along to your favorite tunes on the
radio. It's the simplest way to develop a knack for chord changes
and how notes go in order.
Pick
your favorite songs, get the tabs, and give it a shot. Tapping your
foot to the beat also helps you keep time. We'll show you everything
you need to know about this area of music theory in June.
Nabin
sends along this question on scales:
"Dear
Jordan, I have been receiving your newsletters and they are really
nice and useful. I have heard that there are many types of scales
such as major scale, minor scales, pentatonic scales etc. What are
the importance of these scales? In which field of music do the scales
help the guitarists? In which website can we learn these scales?
I shall be highly grateful to you if you would kindly answer my
above questions. Thanking you. Yours sincerely, Nabin. "
As
seen in the above lesson, scales are the foundation to music. They
are where our notes and keys come from. Each genre of music has
its own set of scales that work well to produce that sound. You
can also use these scales in many other areas of music. The best
way to discover which scales work best in certain styles is to experiment
and learn as many scales as possible.
I
highly suggest that you check our Guitar Tips method. Our beginner
site shows you all of the essentials with scales and our Guitar
Leads site takes it to a new level. Both offer a wealth of knowledge
that will get you on your feet.
Denver
sends us these words of encouragement regarding our latest free
lessons:
"Hello
everyone, I Did visit your site and it was really interesting. Great
show. Yes I did get the free downloads and find them superb. All
this time I did not have Internet, but now that I am on it I could
make good use of your site. Keep up the good work Chris. Regards
Denver"
Conclusion
That
raps up yet another edition of our Guitar Tips newsletter. We hope
that you enjoyed the information you have seen today and throughout
the last few weeks.
Don't
underestimate your ability to conquer your fretboard in a very short
period of time. It requires time and patience but is completely
feasible. While it may be difficult to memorize so many scale patterns,
I stress the fact that you can do it.
Join
us next time as we take a new look at writing riffs and licks. You
won't want to miss it.
Until
next time, keep on picking!
WRITTEN
BY ELMORE MUSIC
If you've always wanted to learn to play the guitar but
never had the chance, give me 17 minutes a day for 90 days
and I'll show you how to play virtually any song you want!
Visit http://www.guitartips.com.au
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