Difficulty: Easy
We are going to work on this song a little differently. The other guitars that are played in the song only mimic the actual acoustic guitar, so instead of playing those parts, let’s improvise. Below is the entire acoustic theme, from beginning to end.Read More »“Hate Me” by Blue October
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
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.
The tonic is the first scale degree of a diatonic scale (for example, the major scale, is a diatonic scale). Sometimes it’s called the 1st… Read More »Tonic
I remember when I first started learning the guitar. I had a cheap little blue electric guitar with a matching amp that my parents bought me when I was 12. Every since that day, I’ve been expanding my knowledge of the instrument.
At first, though, it was hard playing that little blue guitar. I couldn’t remember the names of the notes, so I wrote the names on masking tape and tapped it them directly on the fretboard. What a mess it made! Read More »Learning The Guitar
This video will help you to understand what intervals and scales are.
You don’t need to know scales to play lead guitar, or for that matter, any instrument. A lot of the old blues players claim that… Read More »Do I need to know scales in order to solo?
There are 5 basic “shapes” of the pentatonic major scale on the guitar. They are C, A, G, E, and D. The shapes appear in… Read More »Creating Licks With The “C” Scale Pattern
Difficulty: Easy
We are going to work on this song a little differently. The other guitars that are played in the song only mimic the actual acoustic guitar, so instead of playing those parts, let’s improvise. Below is the entire acoustic theme, from beginning to end.Read More »“Hate Me” by Blue October
CAGED gives you a way to think about the fret board that merges scales with chords and arpeggios. Basically there are five stationary position scales… Read More »What Is Caged?