In this quarter the goal is to learn 2 positions of the pentatonic

scale. We will also need to increase the practice time from 15

minutes a day to 20-30 minutes a day. I’m keeping the time

flexible because 30 minutes is a big jump from 15! If you have

a busy day and 20 minutes is all you can do, great. I will break

down the time allocations at the end of this post. Even though

there are a total of 5 positions of the pentatonic scale, I’m only

using 2 because you guessed it, they go with the type 1 and

type 2 bar chords you learned in the 1st quarter. You don’t

need to worry much about the missing 3 positions, since you

will be able to cover half the guitar neck in any key, major or

minor with just these 2 positions! And you won’t have to

memorize any new root notes, just the same type 1 and type 2

roots you’ve already been learning (hopefully). A lot of the

following is taken from my book, “Take Control: for guitar”,

available on Amazon.

If you only learn one scale, make it a pentatonic scale. You can

use it for all popular music styles and it’s the foundation for

both major and blues scales. It’s easy to play and hard to screw

up! (Pentatonic means 5 notes, a pentatonic scale contains 5

notes repeated endlessly). The most common position is

called “position 1” and is named from the type 1 root.

PENTATONIC SCALE: POSITION 1

   8th fret, 6th string=major root/C major

 

Everybody knows this position, it’s the easiest to play and

the most used (half of all the guitar solos I’ve ever figured

out have been in this position). Many famous musicians

have built their careers with not much more than this

position. The first step in using this scale is figuring out

what key you want to play in. This is easy since the first

position scale has the same root as a type 1 bar chord, or

2 roots to be precise. Notice that the top note (fret 8) of

position 1 is the major root ( C on the 6th string, 8th fret).

The circled bottom note, which is on the 5th fret is the

minor root (A on the 6th string, 5th fret). As I teach my

students in the mode lesson, major and minor are just

different ways to play the same scale. If you want a minor

scale, play from the minor root (start on the 5th fret in the

diagram, using your 1st finger). If you want a major scale,

play from the major root (start on the 8th fret in the

diagram, using your 4th finger). The same scale is both

A minor (5th fret) and C major (8th fret), this is called

relative major and minor. Just remember that minor is

1st finger and major is 4th finger in this position. You

can play whatever key you want, just locate the type 1

root note (6th string), put down the correct finger and

play! For example:

Bb major? 6th fret, 4th finger

D minor? 10th fret, 1st finger

Once you’re positioned in the key, you can play anywhere

in the scale, you don’t always have to start on the root.

Now that you’ve learned a scale, and can locate it for any

key the challenge is how to use it. I use the metaphor of

learning to read; the scale is like the alphabet, riffs and

scale patterns are like words (your vocabulary), and solos

are like sentences. Teaching this is way beyond what I

can do in a blog post so I will again plug my book, “Take

Control: for guitar”. It’s available on Amazon, and has

an entire chapter of patterns, riffs and a sample solo.

It’s cheaper than 1 lesson with me and smells better!

To review the total time allotment:

5-10 minutes for scale practice

5-10 minutes for technique exercises

5 minutes chord/root review

5-10 minutes jam

The time varies with your schedule, it could be 20

minutes if time is tight or 30 minutes plus if you’re

up to it. In the next post we will learn another scale

position that goes with the type 2 root and see how

to cover half the neck (in any key) with just these 2

positions.

 

 

 

 

 

This post finishes up the 2nd quarter technique exercises. We’re

adding a whopping 5 minutes to our daily routine! (10>15 min.)

Remember in my original intro post, ” Practicing with no time:

part 3″ published 10/15/2019, the point is to build a practice

habit, something you do at the same time every day like brushing

your teeth. One reason I’m keeping the time allotment so small

is you have to be able to do it on the hard days. 15 minutes can

seem like a long time on a busy/crappy day! Moving on…..

Exercise#2 QUAD TECHNIQUE: A lot of people know this one.

It’s good for articulation, alternate picking and ultimately, speed.

(tab follows explanation pick all notes down and up)

-Put your 1st finger on the 6th string 1st fret, your 2nd finger

on the 6th string 2nd fret, your 3rd finger on the 6th string 3rd

fret and your 4th finger on the 6th string 4th fret. Pick all 4

notes in sequence, down up down up. Do the same on the 5th

string, 1 finger per fret/down up down up. Continue this for the

4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings; 1 finger per fret and continuous

down/up picking. When you get to the 1st string 4th fret 4th

finger, slide your 4th finger up 1 fret to the 5th fret and start

back down; 4th finger on the 1st string 5th fret, 3rd finger on

the 1st string 4th fret, 2nd finger on the 1st string 3rd fret and

1st finger on the 1st string 2nd fret. Repeat the process on the

2nd string, 1 finger per fret still picking down and up. Continue

all the way down the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th strings, then move

your finger 1st finger from the 2nd fret to the 3rd fret on the 6th

string and walk back up, etc. Your goal is to keep walking your

way back and forth across the fretboard to at least the 12th fret.

(tab: pick all notes down and up v^)

1—————————————————————1-2-3-4->5-4-3-2–

2—————————————————1-2-3-4————————-5-4-3-

3————————————–1-2-3-4——————————————–etc..

4————————–1-2-3-4——————————————————–

5————-1-2-3-4———————————————————————

6-1-2-3-4———————————————————————————

Don’t be in a rush with this exercise, take your time and pick  each  

each note cleanly, especially your 4th finger notes (nobody likes

to use their pinky!). The 3rd exercise is for cross picking, the

ability to jump your pick from one string to another without looking.

#3 CROSSPICKING: This exercise develops your ability to find the

string you want to pick without having to look for it, to pick

without looking. This is my simplification of a Berklee Book 

exercise. I switched it to a 1st position A minor/C major pentatonic

scale because everybody knows that one. If you don’t you will by

the time you finish reading the tab! Keep your 4th finger pressed

down on the 1st string 8th fret throughout the exercise. Pick 100%

down and up (v^), the pinky note on the 1st string 8th fret will 

always be on the up stroke of the pick. Here is the tab;

 v ^ (down-up)

1—8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8–8-etc…

2-8–5———————————————————————-5–8–

3———7–5——————————————————5–7–

4——————7—5———————————–5–7–

5————————–7–5——————–5–7–

6———————————–8–5—5–8– 

You will probably need to look at your pick at first, but aim to

play without looking as soon as possible, even with a few mistakes.

Learn to pick this exercise by feel! Speed is not the goal here,

developing a sense of where the strings are is the goal.

This wraps up the 3 technique exercises. I still do all 3 as a

warm up 5 days a week. It stretches out my fingers and loosens

me up for the rest of the day and only takes me 5 minutes or so.

Remember 15 minutes total (5 on I/II roots and chords, 5 technique

and 5 jamming) 5 days a week. We’re building a habit! The next

quarter introduces scales.

 

In the second quarter, we increase the practice time to a total of

15 minutes. The extra 5 minutes will allow you to work on your

technique, which is an issue for most of us. Although I am giving

you 3 exercises, feel free to pick whatever 1 or 2 you most need

work on. You only have 5 minutes and you can always come back

later. The remaining 10 minutes of your 15 minute practice

session can be split between bar chord/root review and just

playing. I keep emphasizing knowing the roots because every-

thing else in my system,( which you will learn in the 3rd and 4th

quarters), is located off of these roots. The faster you can locate

these roots, the faster you can locate everything else and when

you’re jamming with other musicians it will not look good if

you have to stop and look at your notes! OK, that ends the

lecture, let’s start with the technique.

TECHNIQUE EXERCISES: There is a ton of material out there

to practice, it would easily be possible to come up with a 1 or 2

hour a day technique program. However with my philosophy

of least time and effort, I only use 3 exercises, because in my

experience most guitar players have 3 main problems:

-they can’t stretch far enough

-they can’t play and pick fast enough

-they keep picking the wrong strings

We’ll start with stretching.

1-STRETCHING: You must have a certain amount of flexibility

and reach in order to play more complex chords, scales and 

riffs. I generally start this exercise on the 9th fret. (my cheesy

home made tab follows this description).

Place the 1st finger on the 1st string, 9th fret. Place the 2nd

finger on the 2nd string, 10th fret. Place the 3rd finger on the

3rd string, 11th fret. Place the 4th finger on the 4th string 12th

fret. Congratulations! You are playing a D major 7 chord.

Pick each note until the entire chord is clear, then; move only

the 1st finger from the 1st string 9th fret to the 8th fret and

keep all the other fingers in place and pick each note, making

sure all 4 notes sound clear. Then move only the 2nd finger 

from the 2nd string 10th fret to the 9th fret, keeping all the

other fingers in place and the notes clean. Next move the 3rd

finger from the 3rd string 11th fret to the 10th fret and pick

all 4 strings and finally move your 4th finger from the 4th

string 12th fret to the 11th fret and pick. If you did this

correctly, moving only 1 finger at a time while keeping the

other 3 in position and picking all 4 notes cleanly, it

probably hurt a little and sounded terrible until you moved

all 4 fingers down. (now you’re playing a Db major 7 chord)

Once you can do this cleanly, moving only 1 finger at a 

time, continue by moving the 1st finger from the 8th fret

1st string to the 7th fret (keeping all the other fingers in 

place). Then move the 2nd finger from the 9th fret 2nd

string to the 8th fret, etc…. The goal is to walk your way

all the way down to the 1st fret, moving 1 finger at a time

and picking all the notes clean. Good luck!

(tab)

1–9—->8——8——-8——-8——->7—–7

2—10—-10—>9——-9——–9——–9—->8

3—-11—–11—–11—>10——10——10—–10….etc.

4——12—–12——12—-12—–>11——-11—–11

That wraps it up for this post. The next post will 

add the other 2 technique exercises and complete the

syllabus for the second quarter. Remember, 5 minutes

learning the stretching exercise and 10 minutes of

chord/root review and jamming. We’re still building

the habit of regular practice.

 

 

In the last post I explained my systems’ concept of locating
all of the basic elements; scales, key components and of
course, the chords themselves off of the type 1(6th string)
and type 2(5th string) roots. The faster you can find these
notes, the faster you can locate all of the information you
need. In this post I will show the type 2 chord forms, both
major and minor and the notes/roots on the first 12 frets.
Note that the type 1 chart in the last post contained all 12
notes/roots in the chromatic scale, so you can already play
one version of every available major and minor chord! The
type 2 form gives a different way and a different fret to play
these chords. So you are not learning all new chords, just
another way to play the 12 major and 12 minor chords you
learned the last time. The reason you need to play the same
chord in 2 different places is to be able to switch chords
fast enough. If you only know type 1 chords and you have to
switch between a G chord and a C chord, you will have to
jump 5 frets, from fret 3 to fret 8 in the type 1 chart. But
if you know both type 1 and type 2, G and C chords are
next to each other on fret 3!, type 1 G and type 2 C both on
3rd fret. By knowing both types of bar chords you will
never have to jump more than 3 frets to get to another
chord. This is crucial when you’re playing a song and only
have a fraction of a second to get to the next chord. Also
notice that after the 6th or 7th frets, type1 and type 2
chords start duplicating on the lower frets, like I said in
the last post. For instance, a type 1 D on the 10th fret
can be played as a type 2 D on the 5th fret. A type 2 G on
the 10th fret can be played as a Type 1 G on the 3rd fret,
etc. With both types of chords you never have to play
any higher than the 7th fret. The higher notes from fret
8 to fret 12 are mainly used to locate scales and key
components. (You still have to get them down!)

Type 2 chord forms (5th string root)

 

  X  1–3–3–3–1   X  1–3–4–2–1     (fingers)

FRETS    NOTE/ROOT NAMES (5th string)

0                   A

1                    A#/Bb

2                   B

3                   C

4                   C#/Db

5                   D

6                   D#/Eb

7                   E

8                   F

9                   F#/Gb

10                 G

11                  G#/Ab

12                  A

TIPS ON MEMORIZING THE FRETBOARD

Learning the type 1 and 2 note names in sequence doesn’t

work that well. Since you know them in sequence it’s

hard to just jump to a fret and know the name, you have to

count out the sequence to get to the fret. Learning to find

a note quickly takes a little more work.

• First, use those fret markers! Those dots on the fret

board are there for a reason. Learn the names of the notes

on the 3rd,5th, and 7th frets (G,A,B for the 6th string and

C,D,E for the 5th string). This will give you a base to build 

on.

-Next, remember your alphabet! The entire musical scale

only consists of the first 7 letters of the alphabet A thru G.

Higher notes on the higher frets, lower notes on the lower

frets. So the next note above B must be a C and the next

note below G must be an F.

-Finally, know your half steps. B&C and E&F are both one

fret apart (half step), everything else is two frets apart

(whole step). Remember this when locating notes.

Along with understanding sharps and flats (explained in

the previous post) you can work out the location of any

note. Practice naming any note (F,D,Bb, etc.) and see if

you can locate it on both strings. It will take a while at

first but if you keep at it you’ll get faster.

This concludes the first quarter lesson plan; 10 minutes

a day, 5 days a week. 5 minutes of bar chord and note/fret

location and 5 minutes of jamming. Remember this 

quarter is about building a practice habit, so go easy!

 

 

 

In this quarter, the goal is to learn the major and minor forms

of both the Type 1 (6th string root),  and Type 2 (5th string

root) chords. The total practice time allotted for this quarter

is 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Remember one of the main

goals is to build in the habit of practicing at the same time daily

we need to make this easy!

Everything I teach is located off of these 2 chord types; scales,

key components as well as chords. The faster you can locate a

chord, the faster you can find a scale or a key. Knowing type 1

and 2 roots is the foundation of my system. Since we have 3

months I’m figuring about 5 minutes of chord review and drill

with the other 5 minutes devoted to just playing; songs, jamming

whatever. You never want to spend 100% of your playing time

working. This is going to take a year, so you need to have a

little fun. This post will show Type 1 chords, major and minor

forms along with a chart of  the note names for the first 12 frets

of the 6th string.

TYPE 1 CHORDS: Are based off the 6th string root. I am only

showing the major and minor forms since about 99% of every-

thing you will play can simplify down to those 2 forms. (the other

1% are diminished and augmented chords) Below the chord

diagrams is a chart of all the note names of the first 12 frets of

the 6th string. This is the entire chromatic scale (everything) &

realistically as much as you can physically play on the 6th string.

You really don’t have to play the chords much beyond the 8th or

9th fret, you can play those chords on lower frets using type 2

chords (next post). The only reason I’m interested in knowing

the notes above the 8th fret is for naming scales and key com-

ponents, which we’ll learn in the 3rd and 4th quarters. If you

need help understanding sharps (#) and flats (b), I will have

a paragraph under the chord and note chart to explain that.

TYPE 1 (6th string root)

1  3  4  2  1–1      1  3  4  1–1–1      fingers

FRET #   NOTE

0                E

1                 F

2                F#/Gb

3                 G

4                G#/Ab

5                 A

6                A#/Bb

7                 B

8                 C

9                 C#/Db

10               D

11                D#/Eb

12               E

SHARPS AND FLATS

Those symbols you see on the chart above are called sharps

and flats. Don’t be afraid, they’re just modifiers.

-sharps (#) tell you to raise the chord 1 fret higher. For

example, 3rd fret G to 4th fret G#.

-flats (b) tell you to lower the chord 1 fret. For example,

5th fret A to 4th fret Ab.

The reason you see 2 names on fret 4 in the chart above is

because it takes its’ name from the notes on either side.

G# and Ab are the same note! You can call this note either

name right now either G# or Ab. Once we learn a little

theory it will make a difference but right now who cares?

Also notice there are no sharp and flat notes between

E and F or B and C notes.

This wraps it up for Type 1 chords and their roots. Although

a lot of players know thes chords, I have found most are weak

identifying notes on the upper frets because they don’t

play chords up there. Remember these notes will identify

scale and key components as well, so you need to get all of

the notes down. The next post will be Type 2 chords/roots.