Key Signatures Archives - Unlock the Guitar

What Really Took My Playing to the Next Level

April 3, 2018October 8, 2018Graham TippettLeave a Comment

You hear this phrase a lot in guitar-related media, learning material and sales-type rhetoric – it’s the idea, or the promise that some kind of insight in the form of a lesson, course, or book will provide you with the … Read more

Chords: How to Learn the Harmonized Major Scale (Part 2)

March 24, 2018October 8, 2018Graham TippettLeave a Comment

In Part 1 we looked at the basic theory behind the harmonized major scale and how to learn four sets of root position chords that will give you over 300 if you include all 12 keys. These chords, and a

Chords: How to Learn the Harmonized Major Scale (Part 1)

March 23, 2018October 8, 2018Graham TippettLeave a Comment

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

Diatonic Harmony: Soloing Over Chord Progressions

March 18, 2018October 8, 2018Graham TippettLeave a Comment

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

February 12, 2018October 16, 2018Graham TippettLeave a Comment

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

5 Steps to Knowing Which Chords Are In Any Key

July 26, 2017January 13, 2019Graham TippettLeave a Comment

When you come to write your own material as a solo artist, band member, composer, or anything else, you’re going to need to know which chords belong in which keys. Even if you plan on ignoring all the rules and … Read more