Standard Tuning
Standard tuning is when the guitar is tuned to E, a, d, g, b, e. In the music industry it is the assumed default if… Read More »Standard Tuning
notes
What are arpeggios?
An arpeggio is built from the notes that make up a chord, but are picked as individual notes. They may be used as fill-ins, linking melodies with chords and chord/melody. Arpeggios have their own patterns but not unlike their chord counterparts. There are 5 basic patterns for each type of arpeggio just like there were 5 basic patterns for each type of chord.Read More »What are arpeggios?
Pentatonic Scale
The word pentatonic gets it’s name from the Greek word “penta” which means 5 and tonic which stands for tone. That’s what pentatonic scales are: 5 tone scales.
There are only 5 basic pentatonic patterns. They are the C, A, G, E, and D. They are similar to the 5 basic chord patterns, because they can be closely associated with their chord counterparts. These patterns interlock with each other, meaning each pattern has notes that overlap with patterns adjacent to it.
To play in different key signatures we move the patterns around. The pictures on the left are the shapes with their suggested fingerings. The pictures on the right show how the scale shapes overlap the chord shape.
- These shapes are in their movable form. Learn about moving scale shapes to play in different keys besides C, A, G, E, and D.
- Also, check out the open pentatonic scale shapes, too. They are the same shapes, but we have to make a couple of alterations that you’ll want to be aware of.
- Check out the scale sequence charts: C scale sequence, A scale sequence, G scale sequence, E scale sequence, D scale sequence. Scale sequence charts are a way for us to see how the basic scale patterns are laid out on the fretboard in a particular key.
- There are five minor pentatonic scale shapes as well. They are actually the same shapes, but are associated with different chords in the CAGED sequence.
Open C Major 7th Chord
Where major and minor triads have 3 different notes, 7th chords have 4. The major seventh chord refers to where the “seventh” note is a major seventh above… Read More »Open C Major 7th Chord
Moving Scale Shapes
There is a big difference between a scale pattern and the actual scale. The actual scale is only 5 notes. When we are learning scale patterns we are learning the location of the notes from the scale as they appear on the fretboard. The same 5 notes repeat themselves over and over on the guitar’s fretboard. What we need to be able to do in order to play from the scale is memorize these fretboard patterns.Read More »Moving Scale Shapes
Compressor
So what exactly is a compressor? A compressor is a signal processor that is used to reduce the dynamic range between the softest and loudest parts of the audio signal. Think of the sound of your guitar as a wave. There is a peak where it is at its highest level and a trough where it is at its lowest. In the example below you will see signal wave with two lines running through it. The upper line represents the highest peak you can go to before your signal distorts or clips. This we will call the ceiling. The lower line represents the quieter or lower part of the signal that either is inaudible or gets drowned out by the rest of the band playing. This we will call the floor.Read More »Compressor
What is phrasing?
In music, phrasing is the grouping of the notes of a musical line into distinct phrases. This “Phrasing” video talks about how playing leads and melodies (or phrases) is similar to speech patterns.
The Mel Bay F Chord
Question:
In Mel Bays Chord encyclopedia he shows that instead of 5 major chords their are 6 the sixth one being F. xx3211. am i just not looking right cause mel bay and this site have total differences of opinion.
Also some of his minor chords are different like on the site cm is written x3101x and mel bay has it written xx5543. Gm is written xx5333 in mel bays book
They also have fm as one of the basic minor chords written xx3111 and this site does not list an Fm at all.
What am i missing?Read More »The Mel Bay F Chord
Barre Chords
You cannot play every chord in the guitar’s open position.
What if you wanted to play an F or B chord? How about an F# or Gb chord for that matter? You can’t do it without using a barred chord. There are 12 possible major chords and without barre chords you can only play 5 of them. It’s the same thing with minor chords. A barre chord is where we take a basic chord pattern and “move” it up the neck of the guitar to create different chords.
What is chord phrasing?
Chord phrasing is art of taking a chord progression and turning it into a means of personal expression. Chord phrasing allows you total freedom during the performance of a song to do anything you can imagine with the song’s chord structure. In other words, when playing rhythm guitar you don’t have to just play the chords that go along with the progression. Playing just the chords can, and will get boring rather quickly.Read More »What is chord phrasing?