A couple of days ago we looked at How to Easily Learn Multiple Scale Patterns in parallel using just three different scale patterns/positions. In this lesson, I’d like to revisit those scale patterns and give you an easy way of … Read more
Chords
The Missing Link Between Open Chords and Barre Chords (Part 1)
I see this a lot with beginners and experienced guitarists alike. Most of us start out by learning a selection of open chords, next we move on to barre chords once we have enough hand strength, and then we come … Read more
Chords: How to Learn the Harmonized Major Scale (Part 2)
Chords: How to Learn the Harmonized Major Scale (Part 1)
A great way to learn chords and chord progressions is to learn them in context, whether it be a song or the chord chart for a backing track (yes, don’t just wail over them, learn the chord progression). Chords are
… Read more
Diatonic Harmony: Soloing Over Chord Progressions
Knowing what scales to use over a given chord progression was always shrouded in mystery for me until I understood diatonic harmony and non-diatonic harmony. Don’t worry though, this isn’t a full-on theory lesson because what I want you to … Read more
The 2 Golden Rules for Combining Scales with Chords
We’ve been talking a lot on the blog lately about improvisation methods and systems. The guitar is a double-edged sword in this regard as a solo can be approached in many ways depending on the player and the desired … Read more
How to Solo Over Chord Changes (Part 8)
In Part 8, we look at the last of the upper chord extensions: the 13, and we’ll also be walking you through the process of analyzing a set of changes in order to approach soloing over them using everything we’ve … Read more
How to Solo Over Chord Changes (Part 6)
How to Solo Over Chord Changes (Part 4)
In Part 4 of this series of blog posts, we look at how to decode chords and compare improvising with scales to thinking in intervals. The latter approach allows us to have more control over what we play while understanding … Read more
5 Types of Power Chords to Enhance Your Playing
If you’re a guitarist of the rock, metal, punk or even blues persuasion, one of the first things you learned was probably a power chord or two. Combining these easy-to-finger chords with a hefty dose of distortion and volume not … Read more