Guitar Building Blocks Second Edition 1996 by Patrick Stefurak All rights reserved. This book is published directly by the author. All music engraving, graphics and layout are by the author. No funds go to a corporation. If you have downloaded this music book from the Internet, or received it by email, please consider supporting your teacher by sending a check for $10 payable to Patrick Stefurak to the address below: Patrick Stefurak 4336 Wilkinson Ave. Studio City, CA 91604 You can send email or paypal to:
[email protected] Private instruction is available through this email contact. One-to-one private instruction is available in Los Angeles. Send an email with your phone number and a time you are usually available to receive my return phone call. One-to-one email instruction is also available through the above email address. This information is current as of the year 2002. If this info no longer correct, please search the Internet for “Guitar Building Blocks”.
I would like to dedicate this book to my earliest teachers from the Hartford, CT area. Those teachers were Jimi Bell, Tony Spata, Patrick Comins, Pat Carrabino and Ed Schraefler. Thanks for taking the time to answer a bazillion questions, and for being great role models.
Forward The most important piece of advice I would give any music student is:
Create a practice schedule and stick to it. Decide the hour of the day that you will practice. At that time, always go to your practice area and begin your first exercises. Do not get in the habit of using your practice time for other tasks. The most common difficulties that I have seen in beginning guitar students are not adhering to a disciplined practice schedule and failure to learn the notes on the neck. These two things can cure most of the physical dexterity hurdles that new students need to overcome. Not doing these two things causes many students to take longer than necessary to move up to an intermediate level of guitar performance. If you learn how to practice, and memorize the notes on the neck, you will have received the most valuable tools offered in this book. I am mentioning these challenges early, so that you will not be surprised or feel bad when you have trouble with them. I believe that anyone can learn to be a good guitarist with enough practice. The six guitar building blocks are notes on the neck, major, minor and dominant chords, the major scale and the pentatonic scale. By mastering these six things alone, it is possible to perform most guitar music. This book will show you how to master these six things all over the guitar neck. Doing so will make playing everything else much easier, and give you a command of the instrument. Learning the Guitar Building Blocks in this book could be this simple: • Learn the location of the notes ABCDEF and G everywhere on the guitar fretboard. • Start on each of these notes and play up this musical alphabet using three notes/string, until you have played eighteen notes. This yields seven scale patterns, including the major scale, minor scale, and all of their modes. • Now, play ACDE and G, two notes/string, starting on each of these notes. This yields the five pentatonic major and minor scale patterns. • Then, play A, C and E, one note/string, in each of the positions of the Pentatonic patterns, and you get five minor chord and arpeggio forms. • Convert these chord forms to major (A, C# and E) and dominant (A, C#, E and G). The rest of this book explains exactly how to do these five things, how to practice them, and how to to apply them to music that you want to play. Each of these subjects are logical extensions of each other. Start with the notes on the neck! When I was a fifteen years old, I had friends that took guitar lessons. When they returned home from a lesson, I would hound them into handing over their lesson notes to me. I loved to look at the notes from their teachers. I learned a lot from my friends, and their notes. I have collected many lesson notes in the last fifteen years of teaching guitar. Now I am handing my notes over to you. I hope you enjoy them. Patrick Stefurak
Week 1 Practice Notes on the neck
Practice The single most effective thing you can do to improve your guitar playing skills is to have a regular practice schedule. Make a plan of exactly what you want to learn on guitar in the next week. Write the plan down, including exactly when you are going to practice. During each practice session, write down what you practiced. Keep track of how fast you played and how well you performed. Write the results from each day on a separate page. These pages are called practice logs. After you document your practice sessions for a week, review the practice logs. Think about what can do in the next week to improve your practice sessions, and write it out on some new practice logs. The things that you should be practicing are guitar techniques which you have difficulty performing. These may be chord switching exercises, or particular musical phrases from one of your guitar heroes. Simply picking up your guitar and playing some riffs or songs that you can already perform is not practicing. Try to avoid this in your schedled practice time. The main thing that you will do for your first week is to get started with your new practice schedule. Actually showing up to practice every day is the hardest exercise that you will ever have on guitar. It is much more difficult than the practicing itself. During this first week, you have four tasks to do as a guitar student. They are: 1. 1. 1. 1.
Commit to a time for practice each day. Show up to practice at that time. Create and maintain a guitar practice area. Learn the notes on the neck of the guitar.
Your first practice logs. On the next pages are your first practice logs. They have exercises for each day of the week. Print out the practice logs, and write down the times when you will be practicing this week. If you do not have a printer, write out the logs by hand on some blank paper. You may want to write your logs down in a notebook to keep them organized. If you have this book on CDROM, there are many practice logs written out for you in a folder of practice logs on the disc. The practice logs are in the “Rich Text Format” for computers. You can open them using Windows notepad, wordpad or Word applications. You can also open them using Apple Simpletext. You can modify them and print them out, if you wish. You can keep a folder of practice logs in your computer, if your computer is in your practice area. Your first week has a set of seven practice logs. Review each practice log, and decide on the date and time when you will start each practice session. Write the times down on each log. Do this right now.
Practice Logs for Week #1 Sunday
Date:
Time:
7AM Session #1
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: A
5 min.
Practice area tools
Acquired
Guitar Tuner Metronome Music stand Pencil and eraser Paper or notebook Timer (runs backwards) Comfortable chair
Monday
Date:
Time:
Session #2
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: B
5 min.
Review list of items needed for practice area.
5 min.
Tuesday
Date:
Time:
Session #3
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: C
5 min.
Review list of items needed for practice area.
5 min.
Wednesday
Date:
Time:
Session #4
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: D
5 min.
Review list of items needed for practice area.
5 min.
Thursday
Date:
Time:
Session #5
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: E
5 min.
Review list of items needed for practice area.
5 min.
Friday
Date:
Time:
Session #6
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: F
5 min.
Review list of items needed for practice area.
5 min.
Saturday
Date:
Time:
Session #7
Exercise
Duration
Organize your practice area.
5 min.
Note on the Neck: G
5 min.
Review list of items needed for practice area.
5 min.
Notice that the Practice log for the first session already has the Date and time filled in. This is just for example. Scratch those out, and fill in your own times. I recommend starting your practice week on Sunday, if possible. This makes organizing the weeks easier. Many of the exercises have seven variations, so doing one a day, starting on Sunday, makes things easier to keep track of. There are not many exercises on these first logs. As you work through this book, You will receive more practice logs, each with more exercises. For now, just getting in the habit of practicing every day, and writing down your progress on a log will be difficult enough. This is the hardest lesson you have to learn, and the one that will have the greatest effect on your future skill as a guitarist. This week the practice schedule will be simple so you can focus on developing a routine. PRACTICE AREA AND TOOLS To learn how to play guitar, you will need some tools to help you practice more efficiently. You will need to acquire these items before you can do the exercises in this book, with the exception of learning the notes on the neck. Here is a list: • • • • • • • •
Guitar Tuner (Chromatic auto tuner) Metronome (Digital display, battery powered and makes a click sound, not a beep) Music stand Comfortable chair Pencil and eraser Paper or notebook Timer (Count-down digital kitchen type) All of these items are necessities. Other things that can increase productivity are:
• • • • • • •
Computer Grip Master Dyna-Bee Drum machine Small practice amp (electric guitar only). Boom-box tape recorder (Unit with a built-in speaker and microphone) Multi-track recorder (Tape or computer)
When you are practicing, use a guitar that is easy to play. You will have enough trouble mastering this material without having to overcome a bad guitar. Be aware that electric guitars are usually easier to fret than acoustic guitars. If you already have a steel string acoustic guitar that is difficult to play, try putting on a set of “9” electric guitar strings (.009” high E string diameter).
Tuning a guitar lower than normal can make it easier to play. You can try tuning the open strings down to the notes DGCFAD, from the fattest to the thinnest. This will make it easier to fret chords, but it will make it harder to play along with recordings. If you are having difficulty with barre chords, try tuning down to practice the exercises in this book, then tune back to standard tuning when learning songs. In addition to having a guitar, you will need a tuner. You can purchase a tuner for less than the cost of a lesson to teach you how to tune. Eventually, you will need to learn how to tune your guitar by ear, but for now, just get the tuner. You will need it to perform with other musicians, even if you can tune by ear. I have seen many live performances where the guitarist is out of tune with the rest of the band. He doesn’t notice this because he can’t hear the other musicians very well from his position on the stage. This usually sounds horrible, and can go on for a long time. Using a tuner pedal that mutes your guitar signal when you step on it can solve this problem. This will allow you to tune silently and quickly between songs. You will need a metronome to develop your timing accuracy. You also need it to track your progress as you play the exercises in this book. You will be unable to complete the practice logs in the following chapters without a metronome. I have found that one of the biggest difference between great musicians and good musicians is timing. This is a skill that you will be improving for many years. You are going to need a music stand on which to place this book, your practice logs, and any sheet music that you want to learn. You will need to look at the music while both hands are on your guitar. You will be spending many hours sitting, holding your guitar, and looking at sheet music. Many musicians develop health problems from bad posture while practicing. Getting a good chair and a music stand can help you to avoid these troubles. I use a padded folding chair that cost about $25 because it is low to the ground and has no arms. Sitting in a low chair positions my knee slightly higher than my hip. This allows the guitar to balance easily on my leg. Don’t get a chair that is too high above the floor. To avoid discomfort during long practice sessions, you might consider using a classical guitar footstool or wearing your guitar on a strap while seated. Sitting with the guitar on a strap allows you to lean back in your chair, rather than hunching over the instrument. The countdown kitchen timer is used for keeping track of how long you will practice each exercise. Without it, you will have the tendency to practice each exercise for too long. This item is usually available in grocery stores. The exact application of this device is explained in the next chapter. As of the summer of 2002, I would recommend the Korg MA20 Digital Metronome ($30), Petersen Folding Music Stand In Case ($30) and the Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner ($90). This stompbox tuner allows you to mute your guitar signal when the tuner is turned on. This way you can tune silently and quickly between songs at a live show. This stompbox tuner has no built-in microphone, so for acoustic guitar, I recommend the Boss TU-12H tuner ($80). If both of these tuners are out of your budget, the Fender LX-12 ($18) will probably work for you, until you start playing live performances. All are available from Musicians Friend mail order by calling 1-800-776-5173. I have no endorsement with any of the above companies. I only mention these details, because you should acquire these items by next week. There is a reference guide at the end of this book with the phone numbers of many mail order music retailers.
You may be able to find these tools for a lower price than I have listed, but don’t waste two weeks trying to save $20. You should not buy the cheapest metronome or tuner you can find. You will be using these items everyday for a few years. Get some good tools. It will make your progress faster and more enjoyable Grip-Master and Dyna-Bee are hand strength development tools. The Grip-Master is device that you squeeze to develop finger strength. It comes in different strength ratings. You will want the version that is the easiest to squeeze, the yellow one. A Dyna-Bee is plastic ball with a gyro inside of it. You rotate it with your wrist, and it is great for developing hand and forearm strength. If using either of these two tools causes you pain while you are using them, discontinue their use immediately. If you have a boom-box tape recorder with built in microphone and speakers, you can record yourself playing. When you listen to the playback, it can be very helpful in deciding what elements of your playing need the most improvement. This will usually dictate what new exercises you add to your practice logs. This type of recorder is also very useful for documenting song-writing sessions. With a multi-track recorder, you can record yourself playing some rhythm guitar chord progressions. Then you can record yourself playing guitar melodies or solos on top of them. With a drum machine, you can make your own instrumental guitar recordings. If you have a computer, I recommend downloading Pro Tools free from digidesign.com. This is a great multi-track recording program that runs on MAC or windows. You can use it to record yourself, play along with, or slow down recordings that you want to learn. You can increase the benefits of your practice time by maintaining a good practice area. This area should contain your practice tools in a location that is easy to get at. It should be well lit and quiet. You should be able to concentrate for your entire practice period. Avoiding interruptions is essential. It would also be useful to have a corkboard or a wall that you can pin literature to. You can hang up fret-board diagrams and music that you work on every day. A few pictures on the wall of your favorite musicians can help make the area more inspirational. All right, review the list of items that you need for your practice area. Put all the items that you already have into your practice area. Make a list of the items that you plan to acquire this week. On the first practice log, there is a list of items you will need. Check off each one as you put it in your practice area. On your log, write down the time that you spent organizing your practice area. That may seem like a silly thing to do, but forming these good practice habits is very important.
Notes on the neck Let’s look at all of the notes on the neck. The diagram below shows all of the notes on the guitar neck from the open strings to the twelfth fret.
An accidental is a sharp or a flat. A sharp is one fret higher than the natural note and a flat is one fret lower than the natural note. • • •
D# (D sharp) is one fret higher than D. Db (D flat) is one fret lower than D. Lower means to move your finger forward the guitar tuners. Higher means to move your finger toward the guitar th bridge. D is on the 10 fret, D# is on th th the 11 fret and Db is on the 9 fret.
You don’t need to memorize the accidentals. By learning all of the natural note locations, you will be able to find any sharp note by raising a note you already know by one fret. You will also be able to find any flat note by lowering a note you already know by one fret.
On the next page is the “Natural Notes On The Neck Diagram”. All of the accidentals have been removed. If a printer is available, I suggest that you print this page. Refer to it often as you memorize the notes on the neck of your guitar.
Natural notes on the neck Open E
A
D
G
F
G
B
E
C
F
B
E
C
F
D
G
E
A
Eat A Darn Good Breakfast Every day.
A
B
5
A
D
G
C
F
7
B
E
C
F
A
D
B
E
B G
C
BEAD
10
D
G
C
F
A
D
Dainty Girls Can’t Fart At Dinner.
12
E
A
D
G
B
E
Eat A Darn Good Breakfast Every day.
BCEF notes grouped on the neck
B
E
C
F
B
E
C
F
Notice that B and C have no accidentals between them. The same is true of E and F. Notice also that B & C are located adjacent to E & F on neighboring strings. th
The most important set of BCEF is at the 9 fret on the middle strings. These notes are th like the bulls-eye of a target that spans the 7 th fret to the 12 fret. This target area is the place on the fret-board that students have the most trouble with note name memorization. Visualizing this bull’s-eye will help you to recall the notes in this area.
B
•
5
C
Stare at the BCEF diagram and notice the pattern of the BCEF groups. Now close your eyes and try to visualize them. Go ahead, close ‘em! You should be able to visualize the BCEF dots in your mind. Visualize the “dart-board”, with the outer th th edge BCEF groups at the 7 and 12 frets. th See the “Bulls-eye” at the 9 fret. • Now stare at your guitar fret-board. Visualize the BCEF dots on the guitar frets, as you imagined them when your eyes where closed. • Being able to visualize patterns is an essential skill of learning to play any musical instrument. Start developing this skill right away.
E F
7
B
E
C
F B
10
12
C
E F
B
E
C
F
Note: The BCEF group on the B & G strings have a “one fret offset”. This is because the B & G strings are tuned a third apart. All of the other strings are tuned a fourth apart. This tuning may make memorizing these notes a little more difficult, but this tuning makes it easy to switch between major and minor chords.
Octave notes grouped in triangles
•
D
5
10
12
• •
Try playing the note D everywhere on your guitar, using the triangle patterns to play 2 different positions. Now try some other notes, such as E and F. Look at the first “Notes On The Neck” diagram in this book (The one with the accidentals). Notice this triangular note pattern for different notes.
•
Recognizing these octave triangles will make it easier to memorize the notes on the neck.
D
7
D
D
D
D
Notice that similar notes are grouped by threes into triangular patterns. This is true for all note names. Don’t let the nut or the twelfth fret fool you into thinking that the triangular patterns are not there. Look at the 24 fret on the next page to see the triangle th spanning across the 12 fret.
Check out the 24 fret diagram to the left. Notice that th the notes are in the same locations above the 12 fret as they are above the nut. Most guitars have less than 24 frets. Don’t worry about any of the notes in this diagram that are not on your guitar.
Memorization devices E
A
D
G
B
E
A
D
G
C
E
A
•
The open strings, low to high, are EADGBE. The sentence “Eat A Darn Good Breakfast Every Day” will help you to memorize them. This is a mnemonic device you can use to memorize notes th across the fretboard. The notes at the 12 fret are th also EADGBE. In fact, from the 12 fret to the rd 23 , the guitar neck has the same notes in the th same position as from the open nut to the 11 fret. Because of that, you really only have to memorize the notes on the lower half of the neck. The upper half is exactly the same! Notice that both E strings always share identical notes when on the same fret. This also means that you will use words that begin with the same letter to start and end your mnemonic sentences.
•
B
E
A
D
F#
B •
D
G
C
F
th
At the 5 fret, the notes form low to high are ADGCEA. “A Dentist Gives Cleanings Every Afternoon”.
th
The notes on the 7 fret are BEADF#B, low to high. We will use the word “BEAD” to memorize them. We know that both E strings must have the same note on them, so if one E string is the note th B, the other E string is also B (at the 7 fret). Don’t worry about the B string note (F#) for now. You will learn that later.
A D th
• On the 10 fret, we have DGCFAD, low to high. “Dainty Girls Can’t Fart At Dinner” should be easy to remember.
E
A
D
G
B
E
Memorizing the fret numbers that go with these sentences is essential. Visualize 5 dentists, 7 beads, and 10 girls farting (not a pretty sight). Imagine that you th can see beads lined across the 7 fret of your guitar.
The first guitar exercise on your first practice log is the “Note on the neck: A” exercise. Here is how you practice it:
Notes on the neck exercise A
Get your guitar and play the note A on each string. Start on the thickest string. Play one note on each string, ascending until you have reached the thinnest string. Then play the same notes backwards, descending from the thinnest to the thickest strings. Play this “Notes on the Neck: A” exercise several times. As you play, say the numbers of the frets out loud, as you put your fingers on them. Say “5 0 7 2 10 5, 5 10 2 7 0 5”. Repeat this several times. Now close your eyes and imagine your fingers on the fretboard. Recall the location of the frets and say the numbers forwards and backwards. Open your eyes and look at the guitar. Double check that you did it correctly. Repeat this several times. For any “Note On The Neck” exercise, all of the notes will be located between the open nut th th and the 11 fret. Don’t play any notes on the 12 fret or higher. The whole process should take about five minutes. When you do the exercise with your eyes closed, you must visualize your hand playing the notes on the fretboard for this to be effective. You are not just trying to memorize a series of numbers. You don’t have to close your eyes each time you repeat this exercise, but you do have to visualize every time. Using this method, you will be practicing in your mind. Most of the difficulties of playing an instrument are in your mind, not in your hands. This exercise will help you get better at visualizing, and teach you the notes on the neck. When you are done practicing the note A, write down the number of minutes that you practiced. Put this in the Duration box on your practice log.
You need to do the “Notes On Neck” exercise 4 times a day. First thing in the morning, do the exercise for about 5 minutes with your guitar. You should do it right before you took a shower. Then you can recall the notes while you are in the shower. It only takes 5 minutes to do it. Even if you have to set your alarm clock 5 minutes earlier, the rewards will be worth the effort. Decide when you are going to do it right now! You won’t need your guitar to do this exercise during the day. All you need is your imagination. Any time you are waiting for something and feeling impatient, let that serve as a reminder to you to visualize the notes on the neck. If you are waiting in line at the grocery store, recall the note positions. Waiting for TV commercials to end and in the bathroom are good places to do this. Cut out the 12 fret diagram and put it in your pocket to remind you to visualize the notes on the neck during the day. Refer to the small “Notes On Neck” diagram if you are unsure of the note locations. You do have the time to do this. Make it a priority.
You should be using this page with your practice log for week #1, session 2. Here is the notes on the neck exercise for B for your second day of practicing. NOTES ON THE NECK B
• • •
Play the note B across the fretboard and back, starting from low to high. Say the fret numbers out loud as you play them. Close your eyes and visualize your hand playing each note.
The fret numbers are “7 2 9 4 0 7, 7 0 4 9 2 7”. Play this on your guitar several times. Say the numbers out loud. Now close your eyes and imagine your fingers on the fretboard. Recall the location of the frets and say the fret numbers forwards and backwards. Open your eyes and look at the guitar. Double check that you did it correctly. Repeat this several times. This is the process that you will use every morning. Learn a new note, practice it several times and visualize it. Then you need to visualize the note locations several more times during the day. Notice that all the B notes are 2 frets higher than the A notes you learned yesterday. Having mastered the note A makes learning B a lot easier. Remember that we are only th going to use the fretboard from the open nut to the 11 fret. The note B on the B string th is located at 0 (open string) in this exercise, not at the 12 fret. Write down on your practice log how long you spent working on this. Review your list of items that are needed for your practice area. See you tomorrow for the note C.
You should be using this page with your practice log for week #1, session 3. Here’s the Notes on the Neck exercises for C. Learn it just like yesterday’s B, but with each note one fret higher. NOTES ON THE NECK C
• • •
Play the note C across the fretboard and back, starting from low to high. Say the fret numbers out loud as you play them. Close your eyes and visualize your hand playing each note.
When you are done with this exercise, put the small fretboard diagram from earlier in this chapter in your pocket to remind to visualize this exercise during the day. For each day of the week, memorize a different note. A for Sunday, B for Monday, C for Tuesday, etc. Do not stay on the note A. Go on to the next note, every day. Don’t worry about yesterday’s note. You will come back to it in the next week. After doing this exercise for 4 weeks, all of the notes will be easy to recall. Here is a list of the fret numbers for each note: A: B: C: D: E: F: G:
5 7 8 10 0 1 3
0 2 3 5 7 8 10
7 9 10 0 2 3 5
2 4 5 7 9 10 0
10 0 1 3 5 6 8
5 7 8 10 0 1 3
Write down on your practice log how long you spent practicing the note C. Review your practice are equipment list. Did you purchase a music stand yet? The next page has the Note on Neck exercises for each note. Tomorrow, you should be able to figure out Notes on the Neck D for yourself. Continue with this same routine each day until next week, when you return to the note A. You will have more exercises next week, but for now, just starting a practice schedule is a big step.
Why you should learn the notes on the neck. You should be able to learn the notes on the neck in about one month. Your goal in learning the notes on the neck is to be able to play a chord anywhere on the fretboard and be able to quickly name each note in the chord. You should not have to figure out any of the chord notes by counting up or down the frets from another note. You should recognize each note name on sight, as though the names of each note were printed on the fretboard. If you are playing a chord that you know is D major, you should know which notes in the chord are named D. While you are playing guitar, you will have to play many chords such as C# minor and B7. In order to do that, you will need to locate C# or B very quickly. You will need to do it so fast that you are not looking for the notes. You will need to locate them instantly, without having to concentrate on it. In fact, while playing guitar, you will always be playing notes. If you don’t know what notes you are playing, you don’t know what you are playing. I know many guitarists that perform live, yet they still don’t know the names of the notes they are playing. They are doing well, but they are making things much harder for themselves than they need to be. A common problem these guitarists have is that they don’t notice that musical phrases they play over one chord can be played over other chords. They are playing from finger patterns they have memorized. If a particular phrase for a minor chord uses one fingering pattern, and the next minor chord uses a different fingering pattern, they are unable to execute the same ideas over both chords. In fact, they are often unaware that both chords are the same type. This ability to recognize similar patterns in music is an essential skill for becoming an advanced guitarist. I have had many students who refuse to learn the notes on the neck. These students always have slower progress than the students that know all of the notes. The silly thing about that is that it only takes five minutes a day to learn the notes on the neck. It is one of the few guitar exercises that can be done without the instrument. Commit to learning the notes on the neck. Visualize a note a day, every day, starting today.
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Week 2 Dexterity Exercises CAGED Major Chords
Here we are at the second week of your new guitar practice schedule. You have been practicing the notes on the neck. You have your guitar, metronome, tuner, music stand and other tools ready to go. Below are your practice logs for this upcoming week. Decide when you are going to practice for each day this week. At the top of each practice log, write the date and time for this week’s practice sessions. Remeber that there is a folder full of practice logs on the CD-Rom that came with this book. You can fill out those practice logs and keep them on your computer, if your computer is in your practice area. You can also print those logs, or print this book. If you don’t have a printer, you can write the exercises
Practice Logs for Week #2 Day:
Date:
Time:
Session 1
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: A
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Day:
Date:
Time: Exercise
Session 2 BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: B
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Day:
Date:
Time:
Session 3
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: C
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Day:
Date:
Time:
Session 4
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: D
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Day:
Date:
Time: Exercise
Session 5 BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: E
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Day:
Date:
Time:
Session 6
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: F
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Day:
Date:
Time: Exercise
Session 7 BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: G
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
Filling out Practice logs You will create practice logs at the beginning of each week. Make one for each day that you will practice. Plan the time to practice into your schedule. This is one of the most important steps in practicing, planning to do it! On your practice log, the exercise column will usually have an exercise abbreviation in it. You will practice some of the same exercises each day of the week. Using abbreviations will shorten the time you spend filling out your logs at the beginning of the week, if you are writting your logs in a notebook. The Goal column shows the speed marking that you should be trying to achieve. It will be a fraction, such as 80/4. The first number (80) indicates the tempo. It is the BPM (Beats Per Minute) number that you set your metronome to. The second number (4) represents divisions of a measure; 4 is for ¼ notes. When you are practicing an exercise in quarter notes, you play one note for every click of the metronome. If the Goal is 120/3, you are aiming for triplets at 120 BPM. When you practice triplets, you play 3 notes for each click of the metronome. 8 is for 1/8 notes (two notes per metronome click) and 16 is for 1/16 notes (4 notes per metronome click). These goals are not the fastest speeds that are possible to play these exercises, but a reasonable level of ability. You can try to play faster than the goal speed if you like. If you can’t perform at the goal level, however, you will find yourself unable to play many common musical phrases on the instrument. I find that many students have no trouble reaching these goals if they actually practice the exercises every day. The BPM column is where you write down the speed that you finished the exercise for that day. You will be filling in this column as you progress through your practice session. Writing down the BPM at the end of the exercise is like checking the exercise off the list. The Duration column shows how many minutes to spend practicing one exercise. It is important to use a timer so that you remember to go on to the next exercise. Get a backward counting, digital kitchen timer. The kind you set for two minutes, and then the timer counts backward from two minutes to zero. When the timer reaches zero, it makes a noise to alert you that time is up. This way you don’t have to look at the clock while practicing. Don’t get caught in the trap of concentrating so much on one item that you spend too much of your practice time on that exercise. If you find it impossible to make progress on one exercise in the allotted time, move on and make a note on your log about it. Allow more time in your next practice session. If you don’t have the extra time available, take the time from a less important exercise. Keep in mind that it is generally better to practice ten exercises for five minutes each, than to practice only two exercises in an hour. In the Quality column, you rate your performance on a scale of 1-10 for each exercise. The 1-10 rating system is defined on the next page.
Practice Quality Rating System 10: Performed perfectly. Started at your last B.P.M. speed, played perfectly, increased speed and continued to play flawlessly. 9: Made a few mistakes at your last B.P.M. speed, then performed perfectly. Increased speed at the end of your allotted time. 8: Made a few mistakes at your last marked B.P.M. speed, then performed perfectly, through to the end of your allotted time. Did not increase speed. 7: Made mistakes, then slowed down the metronome. Practiced perfectly at a slower speed. Returned to B.P.M. speed and performed flawlessly. 6: Made mistakes at B.P.M. speed. Slowed down the metronome and practiced flawlessly at a slower speed. Returned to B.P.M. speed but made one or two mistakes before the timer ran out. 5: Made mistakes at B.P.M. speed. Slowed down the metronome and practiced at a slower speed. Performed perfectly at the slower speed until time ran out. Did not return to B.P.M. speed. 4: Made mistakes at B.P.M. speed. Slowed down the metronome and practiced at a slower speed. Made more mistakes and slowed down the metronome again. Performed flawlessly at this new, slower speed. 3: Made mistakes at B.P.M. speed. Slowed down the metronome and practiced at a slower speed. Made more mistakes and slowed down the metronome again. Time ran out before being able to perform perfectly. 2: Made mistakes. Continued to make mistakes. Did not slow down the metronome. Spent the entire allotted time practicing making mistakes. 1: Didn’t practice today at all. If you score a 5 or lower, you should go on to the next days log and make a note to reduce the starting BPM. Try to make as few mistakes as possible. Practicing slower but with greater precision is preferable to being sloppy at a higher speed. Each time you practice an exercise, you should look at the tempo and the quality from the previous practice log. Start each exercise at the last tempo that you achieved. If the quality rating was low, start the exercise slower than the last tempo you achieved.
On the practice log for week #2, the first exercise is Notes on the Neck: A. You practice this exercise for 2 minutes. Set your timer for 2 minutes. Set your metronome to a slow speed such as 40BPM. Play a note with each click of the metronome. When you have played it several times, visualize your hand playing the notes while your eyes are closed. When the timer beeps, stop practicing this exercise. Write down the final speed that you achieved. Write down the quality of your playing. If you could not play a note for each click with the metronome set to 40 BPM, try playing a note for every two clicks. If this is impossible, you will need to turn the metronome off and figure out where the notes are. Regardless of what your tempo was, write it down on your practice log. The next exercise is Semi-Chromatic (four notes per string). This is your first dexterity exercise. Set your timer for five minutes, then set your metronome for 50 BPM. Try to play this exercise perfectly. Strive for precision over speed in your performance. Do not play these exercises so fast that you make mistakes.
Semi-chromatic exercise (four notes per string)
The semi-chromatic exercise (four notes per string) is for developing left and right hand synchronization. Try to get your left-hand finger to come down on a fret at exactly the same time that your pick strikes the string. You just use one finger/fret. • Use your left-hand first finger for notes on the fifth fret. • Use your second finger for notes on the sixth fret. • Use your third finger for notes on the seventh fret. Use your fourth finger for notes on the eighth fret.
• • • • • • •
To start this exercise, set your metronome to 50 BPM. Play one note with each click. When playing the exercise ascending, keep each finger down as you add another finger. When you use your pinkie, all four fingers should be down. Play this exercise legato. Legato means “long”. Each note should ring out for as long as possible. Try to have no space between notes. The result should have a “singing” quality, rather than a percussive sound. Use alternate picking. Each downstroke will be followed by an upstroke and vice versa. Since there are an even number of notes per string, you will play a downstroke for the first note on each string. Gradually increase the metronome speed as you practice this exercise. Do not make any mistakes. If you do make mistakes, slow the metronome down. If you are having trouble playing this exercise, try repeating only the four notes on the thinnest string. If you are still having trouble with that, try moving all four notes up five frets. That will start the exercise on the tenth fret. When you have gotten this exercise together, try playing it backwards, with the notes descending. When descending, put all four fingers down on one string at the same time, then lift off one finger at a time.
One of the benefits of this exercise is developing synchronization between your picking hand and fretting hand. As you speed this up, sloppiness begins at the point where the pick doesn’t come down the same time as the fretting finger. Pay special attention to this. Make the accent on the downbeat. If the accent is wandering, that is another sign of lost synchronization. After you have mastered this exercise, try using an upstroke as the first note. This will change the picking direction on all of the strings. The goal of 120/16 is pretty fast. When you start this exercise, you should be playing quarter notes, one note per metronome click. Soon you will be able to play this exercise at the maximum setting for your metronome. When you reach the top speed of your metronome, divide the BPM in half, and begin practicing eighth notes. Playing two notes per click at 100 BPM is the same tempo as one note per click at 200BPM, but it will seem to be harder to do. When you max the metronome at eighth notes, cut th the BPM in half again, and begin practicing 16 notes. When you are playing four notes per click, accent the note that is on the click by playing it a little harder than the other notes. When the five minute timer goes off, stop practicing this exercise. Write down your quality rating and final metronome speed on your practice log. This is the tempo that you will begin practicing at tomorrow. Continue this procedure for each exercise on your practice log. Set the timer, then set your metronome. Gradually increase the metronome speed as you practice the exercise. If you make mistakes, slow down the metronome. After practicing the exercise, write the final tempo down on the log.
The Semi-chromatic exercise (three notes per string) is similar to the four note version. The main difference is that you must change picking direction on each string. Continue to use alternate picking. Since there are an odd number of notes per string (three), you will pick “down, up, down”. Then pick “up, down, up”. This continues to reverse the starting pick direction for each string. Always alternate the picking direction. This may seem very difficult at first. After you master this, you will be able to pick faster than if each string started with a down-stroke. Your picking will get in rhythm with the metronome and you will simply skip from string to string. Don’t give up!
Semi-chromatic exercise (three notes per string)
Practice this and all exercises with the metronome. Set your timer for five minutes before you start. Try setting the metronome at 50 BPM and increase the speed from there. Try to make the attack of each note at exactly the same time as each metronome click. It should sound like the metronome and your guitar are making one sound. After the timer goes off, write down the your quality rating and final metronome speed on your practice log. This should be faster than the speed that you started with.
Hammer-on/Pull-off Exercise The Hammer-on/pull-off exercise is for developing left-hand finger strength and endurance. Start and end each string with your pinkie. Hammer on and pull off each note twice. Make each note equal in volume. You can try making all the hammer-ons louder. Then try making all the pull-offs louder. This will help to gain control of each note’s volume. Normally you will practice this exercise with all notes at the same volume. Go all the way across the fretboard and back. Your hand will get tired as you do this. That’s good. That is how you build up strength. For a guitar player, it’s not how hard you can hammer down one note, it’s how long you can hammer repeatedly. To play live concerts, you will need a lot of finger stamina. Practice this with your metronome. 60 BPM is probably a good starting speed. Do not make mistakes as you practice. If you do make mistakes, slow down. If your current tempo is comfortable, speed up. This one exercise does not have a duration. Try to make it across the strings and back, twice. When you do, write down your quality rating and tempo on today’s practice log. When you practice long, difficult exercises on guitar, you may feel the sensation of lactic acid burn in your hand or forearm. You know that feeling when you ride a bicycle up a long steep hill? The feeling like your legs are on fire? That is lactic acid burn. This sensation is OK. If you feel a sharp pain like being stabbed with a pin while practicing, you should stop. Be careful not to injure yourself by practicing too hard or for too long. The exercises in this book are scheduled over a period of time, and the difficulty is gradually increased. If you go from not practicing at all, to trying to perform the first three weeks of exercises at once, you may cause trouble for yourself. Pay attention to any pain that you feel while practicing. Stop if it hurts. See a doctor if you continue to have pain while practicing.
Hammer-on Pull-off Exercise
Crab Exercise
Position four Position three Position two Position one The crab exercise is to develop finger independence. In all of the crab exercises, you th th will use one finger per fret. Any note on the 8 fret will be played with your pinky. 7 fret th th notes get played by your ring finger, 6 fret notes by your middle finger and 5 fret notes by your index finger. Do not move your hand up and down the fretboard as you perform this exercise. The crab exercise should be played legato. There should be no silence between notes. Play the first two notes (position one) with your pinky and middle fingers. Prepare the next two fingers by moving them onto the frets you are about to play. Keep holding down the fingers for position one. When your fingers are on the frets for the next two notes that you are about to play, pick up your pinky and middle fingers. Leave the other two fingers down. At the moment that you pick up your pinky and middle fingers, pluck the E and G strings with your right hand fingers. Now you will have to switch the strings that your pinky and middle fingers are over. As you hold down your index and ring fingers, place your pinky over the G string and your middle finger over the E string. Your pinky and middle fingers will be switching from position one to position three. Now, all at the same time, put your pinky and middle fingers down, lift your index and ring fingers, and pluck the strings. Continue to practice this exercise by preparing the fingers you are about to use by holding them over the appropriate strings just before you put them down. Do not play two notes, then pick up all of your fingers before playing the next two notes. You will not get a legato sound. You will defeat the purpose of this exercise, which is finger independence. You must hold down two fingers while you switch the other two fingers. Practicing the crab exercise will make it easier when you have to change between difficult chords in a song. If you can perform this exercise flawlessly, you’ll find almost all chord changes to be easy by comparison.
Another way to practice this exercise is to hold down your ring and pinky fingers in position one. While holding down these two notes, alternate your other fingers back and forth between position two and position four. Move both of these fingers simultaneously. Keep your ring and pinky fingers down. Now try doing this while holding down other finger combinations. There are four possibilities. The Crab exercise #2 moves the third string to the fourth string. Having to reach further will develop greater independence. Crab exercises #3 and #4 also make you reach further. By the time you master these, you will be a chord-grabbing monster! After practicing the Crab exercise for about five minutes, write your exercise down on your practice log.
Major Chords 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 2
3
4
2
3
3
4
1
2
4
1
1
1
1
4 3
1
1
1
1
1
2 2
3
4
4
C form
1
4
2 3
1
2
3
1
1
2 3
A form
3
4
2 3
4
G form
4
E form
D form
Learn to play these chords that use open strings. The dots above the diagrams represent strings that are played, but not fretted. Strings with no markings on them are not played. The numbers inside of the dots are the left-hand fingers that you use to fret those notes. The large dots are the roots of the chords. Don’t let the bottom of your fretting fingers touch the strings next to them. Pick each string one at a time, while holding the chord. Let all of the notes ring out. Try to get a nice clear sound form each note of the chord. The chords in the top row are C, A, G, E, D and C major. These are all “open” chords because they use open strings. Practice switching from one chord to the next. Try to play 25 chords in a row. Start your metronome at 40 BPM and play a chord for each click. The second row shows “Barre” chords. You use your first finger to barre across all of the strings at once, replacing the nut and open strings. This allows these chords to be moved up and down the fretboard. Trying playing these chords at the third, fifth and tenth frets. There will be a lot more information on using these chords as barre forms later in the book. The intense chord exercises start in week #5. If you are new to barre chords, don’t get frustrated by how hard it is to get a clear sound from every note. Everyone has difficulty with barre chords when they first attempt them. Don’t give up. Keep practicing switching these chords every day for the rest of the week. Write down your tempos and quality ratings on your practice logs. By now, you should know what to do to practice the notes on the neck and employ an organized practice regimen for one hour every day. This alone should ensure your rapid improvement on the guitar. Concentrate most of your guitar study energy this week on developing good practice habits and learning the notes on the neck. It will take each student a different amount of time to reach the goal speeds on the practice logs. Don’t get discouraged if your friends go faster than you do. If you have more time available this week to practice, try adding your own exercises to your practice log, and apply the metronome/timer practice techniques to them.
Week 3 Major Scales CAGED Minor Chords
It’s Week three for learning how to practice guitar. Time for some new exercises and new practice logs. You’ve been practicing your dexterity exercises and major chords. You have been learning the notes on the neck for two weeks. That should be getting a little easier by now. Here are your week #3 practice logs. Decide your practice time for each day, and write it on your practice logs.
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 1 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: A
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 2 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: B
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 3 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: C
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 4 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: D
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 5 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: E
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 6 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: F
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #3 Session 7 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: G
2 min.
80/4
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Semi-chromatic 3 notes/string
5 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
5 min.
140/4
C major scale, pattern #1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #6 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pattern #7 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
Major Scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Major Scales Since you know some major chords, it is time to learn some major scale patterns to go with them. Let’s learn the C major scale first. It has no sharps or flats. You already learned the C major scale when you memorized the notes on the neck. We are going to divide this scale up into patterns that are easy to play and improvise with. All of the major scale patterns will have three notes per string. The C major scale pattern #1 exercises is on the next page. Most of the exercises in this book are laid out on individual pages so that you can print them out. You can put these printouts on your music stand or pin them to the wall while you are learning them. The first pattern starts on the fist note of the scale, C. Put your finger on the note C of the low E string. It’s at the eighth fret. Of course, from learning the notes on the neck, you already knew that. Now, play: CDE FGA BCD EFG ABC DEF After every three notes, move to the next string. You will have to move your hand up one fret when you switch from the G string to the B string. You should be practicing this with your metronome. You may want to start at the slow speed of 60/4. (60 beats per minute/quarter notes). Adjust the metronome to the fastest speed that you can play at comfortably, without making any mistakes. Write your tempo on your practice log.
C Major Scale Pattern # 1
8th fret
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
4
4
4
4
3
3
4
4
Use Alternate Picking ! c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Notice the pattern diagram below the music notation. The large dots represent the root of the scale C. The numbers show which finger of the left hand to play the notes with. You just played the C major scale, pattern #1, ascending. Now play the scale descending. Play three notes per string: FED CBA GFE DCB AGF EDC Use alternate picking, just like in the Semi-chromatic three notes per string exercise. Pick down, up, down. On the next string pick up, down, up. Alternate the direction that you pick each note. You’ll have to move your hand down one fret when switching between the G and B string. This will always happen in each of the seven major scale patterns. Play this exercise several times, ascending and descending. Normally, you would set your timer for two minutes before you started practicing each scale pattern. When the timer ran out and the buzzer went off, you would stop practicing that scale pattern and write your final metronome speed on your practice log. Don’t worry about that for the first day or two. Just try to play the scales without making mistakes. Once you get these patterns under your fingers, use the timer and metronome to work your way through the practice logs. As you learn these exercises, try to visualize the pattern shapes in your mind. Try to get the patterns in your head, so that you don’t have to look at the paper to recall them. Try to visualize these patterns during the day, when you are away from the guitar. The sooner that you can stop using the fingerboard diagrams, the better. Now move up to the next note in the scale (D at the tenth fret), and play the C major scale, pattern #2, ascending. Play three notes per string, like this: DEF GAB CDE FGA BCD EFG
C Major Scale Pattern # 2
10th fret
1
1
1
1
3
2
2
2
4
4
4
1
1
2
2
4
4
4
Use Alternate Picking ! c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Notice that you are just counting up the scale with three notes per string. Now play C major scale pattern #2 again, this time descending. Play: GFE DCB AGF EDC BAG FED Repeat this exercise several times. This pattern has 18 notes in it, as do all the major scale patterns. As you play this pattern, notice the location of the notes on the neck. Notice that the roots are on the fourth and second strings. Double check your fingering. Notice the polka-dot pattern of the notes. Compare this to the notes in pattern #1. See that the dots at the twelfth fret of pattern #1 are the same design as the dots at the twelfth fret of pattern #2. They are in fact the same notes. The same goes for the tenth fret. In changing to the new pattern, we left off the lowest note on each string and added a higher note to each string. Each pattern has three “lines” of notes in it, the lowest, middle and highest notes on each string. As we progress through the patterns, we just drop one “line” and add another. Notice these lines as you play through the patterns. As you progress, use this checklist to learn all the details of each new pattern. • • • • • • •
Double-check your left-hand fingering. Use alternate picking. Memorize the root locations. Notice the notes on the neck. Notice the “lines” in the pattern. Compare the “lines” to the previous pattern. Notice where the pattern moves up one fret between the G and B strings.
Go on to the next page and play the C major scale, pattern #3 ascending, starting with the note E at the twelfth fret.
C Major Scale Pattern # 3
12th fret
1
1
1
1
2
4
3
3
4
4
1
1
2
2
4
4
2
4
Use Alternate Picking ! c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
The roots for pattern #3 are on the fifth and second strings. Play this pattern ascending and descending.
Try to get a nice, clear sound from each note in the scale. Play this several times and go over the checklist: • • • • • • •
Double-check your left-hand fingering. Use alternate picking. Memorize the root locations. Notice the notes on the neck. Notice the “lines” in the pattern. Compare the “lines” to the previous pattern. Notice where the pattern moves up one fret between the G and B strings.
Notice that you have been starting on a new note of the C major scale for each new pattern. All that you are doing is playing a pattern off of each note of the scale. Pattern #2 starts on the second note of the scale (D), pattern #3 on the third note of the scale (E), etc. Each pattern has three notes per string. Since pattern #3 is at the th 12 fret, you could also it in the open position. All the notes at the twelfth fret could be played as open strings. This would be the lowest pattern on the guitar neck for the C major scale. Try playing this pattern a few times in the open position.
Now go on to the next page and play pattern #4 of the C major scale. Start on the note F, at the first fret.
C Major Scale Pattern # 4
1st fret
1
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
3
2
2 4
4
4
4
4
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
For the C major scale, pattern #4, the roots are on the fifth and third strings. As play the pattern up and down the strings, go over the scale practice checklist: • • • • • • • • •
Set your timer for the duration of the exercise. Set your metronome to tempo. Double-check your left-hand fingering. Use alternate picking. Memorize the root locations. Notice the notes on the neck. Notice the “lines” in the pattern. Compare the “lines” to the previous pattern. Notice where the pattern moves up one fret between the G and B strings.
Repeat this procedure for patterns five, six and seven. You should be getting the hang of this by now, so I will just give you all of these patterns, one after the other. Practice each one, and write your tempos down on your practice log. If this is going easily, you can start using your timer to practice each pattern for two minutes.
C Major Scale Pattern # 5
3rd fret
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
2 4
4
4
4
3
4
Use Alternate Picking ! c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
C Major Scale Pattern # 6
5th fret
1
1
1
1 1
3
3
4
4
2
4
2
1
2
2
4
4
4
Use Alternate Picking ! c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
C Major Scale Pattern # 7
7th fret
1
1
2
2
4
4
1
1
3
3
4
4
1
1
2
2
4
4
Use Alternate Picking ! c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Congratulations! You have just played all the patterns of the C major scale; one starting on each note of the scale. You have also played all of the modes without even knowing it (or maybe you did notice that). Check out the chapter “Applying the Building Blocks” at the end of this book if you want to know more about modes. Once you learn these scale patterns, you should be writing down your tempos for each major scale pattern on your practice log. Each exercise is for 2 minutes duration. That adds 14 minutes to each practice session. This gives you a total of 30 minutes a day At the end of the week, you should review your practice logs. See where you have been having trouble, and allocate some extra time to those exercises.
Minor Chords 1
1
1 2
3
2
1
3
1
4
3
1
3
1
3
2 3
1
1
1
4
3 4
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
4
3 3
A form
1
4
1
4
C form
1
2
4
2
1
2
4
1
1
G form
4
3
4
4
E form
D form
Remember those CAGED chords from last week? You can convert them into minor chords. To convert a major chord into a minor chord, you simply lower the thirds by one fret. The C major chord has the notes C, E and G. C is the root, E is the third and G is the fifth. To convert C major to C minor, lower the E note to E flat. Just as with last weeks major chords, there is a row of open chords and a row of barre chords. Play the barre chords at the third, fifth and tent frets. Compare all of these chords to the major chords you learned last week. Fill out your practice log for the major and minor chord exercise sets as you go along. Here is a chord learning checklist: • • •
Try to get a clear sound from each note in the chord. Practice switching between each chord. Make sure that fretting fingers are not muting the strings next to them.
Have fun using your new practice schedule for this week. Next week you will get some new exercises for the pentatonic scale, and learn some dominant chords.
Week 4 Pentatonic Scale CAGED Dominant Chords
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 1 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: A
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 2 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: B
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 3 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: C
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 4 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: D
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 5 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: E
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 6 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: F
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #4 Session 7 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: G
2 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #6 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #6 ⇑ & pat #7 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #7 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#1 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#2 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#3 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#4 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat.#5 ⇑ & ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED minor chords
5 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Last week you practiced the notes on the neck, dexterity exercises, major chords and the major scale. More importantly, you have been filling out practice logs and getting organized. You have been practicing with a metronome and a timer. This is the method that you will be using to learn the rest of the material in this book. You should be able to apply this practice method to just about any new guitar techniques that you want to learn. To start this week’s practice, fill out your practice logs schedule for each day of the week. The dexterity exercises for this week have all been reduced to two minutes duration. The Semi-chromatic three notes/string exercises has been eliminated. Your major scale exercises use three notes /string, so you are still getting your picking practice in. If you have reached the goal speed for a dexterity exercise, you can cross it off your practice log. Once again, the major scale exercises have changed this week. You will now be combining the scale patterns together. You will practice two patterns in each major scale exercise. • For the first major scale exercise, play C major scale pattern #1 ascending. • When you get to the third note on the high E string, slide your pinky up one fret and play the C major scale pattern #2 descending. • When you get to the third note on the low E string, slide your index finger down two frets and play the C major scale pattern #1 ascending. • Continue this cycle for two minutes. Follow this same procedure for each of the major scale exercises on your practice log. Work your way up the fretboard, through all of the major scale patterns. If you master that, you can try playing the exercises starting with the descending patterns followed by the ascending patterns. As you combine the scale patterns, your practice time will decrease. There will be less to practice. Right now, your exercises are increasing. Woe is you. Soon, however, you will be the master of your instrument! You will learn the pentatonic scale this week. This is the most commonly used scale in rock and blues style guitar playing. You will play one pattern starting on each note of the scale, just as with the major scale. All of these pentatonic patterns will have two notes per string. You don’t have to move your hand up between the G and B string, like you did with the major scale. Start learning the pentatonic scale in the key of A minor. A minor is the relative minor key of C major. Relative major and minor keys have the same notes. The C major and A minor scales both share the notes ABCDEFG. The Pentatonic version of the A minor scale does not use the notes B and F. The spelling of the A Pentatonic minor scale is ACDEG. Use your timer and metronome as you play pattern #1 of the ascending A Pentatonic minor scale. Start on the note A at the fifth fret, and play AC DE GA DC EG AC as you work across the strings.
A Minor Pentatonic Pattern # 1
5th fret
1
4
1
1
1
3
3
3
1
1
4
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Now try A minor pentatonic pattern #1 descending. Play CA GE DC AG ED CA As you work your way back across the strings. You are just playing all of the natural notes, but leaving out B and F. Notice that there are only two notes per string. The roots for pattern #1 are on the sixth, fourth and first strings. That worked out pretty well, huh? Now you know why this scale is so popular. It’s easy! Remember to use your checklist when learning new scale patterns. Here it is again: • • • • • • • •
Set your timer for the duration of the exercise. Set your metronome to tempo. Double-check your left-hand fingering. Use alternate picking. Memorize the root locations. Notice the notes on the neck. Notice the “lines” in the pattern. Compare the “lines” to the previous pattern.
These Pentatonic patterns have the same kind of “lines” in them that the major scale had. You will be adding one higher line, and removing the lowest line, as you work your way through these patterns. As you learn these scale patterns, write your progress down on your practice log. Keep track of your tempos and rate the quality of your performance. Write this down for your last exercise, and go on to play A Pentatonic minor scale pattern #2. Start on the note C at the eighth fret. When ascending, play CD EG AC DE GA CD across the strings.
A Minor Pentatonic Pattern # 2
7th fret
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
3
3 4
4
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Now play the A pentatonic minor pattern#2 descending. The notes will be DC AG ED CA GE DC. The roots are at the fourth and second strings. Use the checklist: • • • • • • • •
Set your timer for the duration of the exercise. Set your metronome to tempo. Double-check your left-hand fingering. Use alternate picking. Memorize the root locations. Notice the notes on the neck. Notice the “lines” in the pattern. Compare the “lines” to the previous pattern.
This pattern has twelve notes in it, as do all the pentatonic patterns. You should be starting to see the logic of how all these scale patterns are laid out. You could do this with any scale! Now play through A pentatonic minor scale patterns 3, 4 and 5. By this time, I don’t think that there is any need to explain each of the pentatonic patterns individually, so here they are on the next pages. Use the same procedure that you used for the last two scale patterns. Go over the checklist for each pattern, paying special attention to the location of the root notes. Be sure to keep track of your progress on your practice log.
A Minor Pentatonic Pattern # 3
9th fret
1 1
1
1
3
3
3
1
4
1
3
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
A Minor Pentatonic Pattern # 4
12th fret
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
4
4
3 4
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
A Minor Pentatonic Pattern # 5
2nd fret
1
2
2
4
4
4
1
4
2
2
4
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Congratulations! You have just played all of the A minor pentatonic scale patterns. You can now play the A minor pentatonic scale everywhere on the fretboard. Five Pentatonic scale exercises have been added to your practice schedule. Each of them is two minutes long, adding ten more minutes a day of practicing. Including the dominant chord exercises you will learn on the next page, this puts your practice schedule at about 45 minutes. This is where you will really start to see the benefits of practicing with a count down timer. Without the timer, you probably wouldn’t be able to fit all of the exercises into a one-hour session.
Dominant Chords 1
1
1
1
1
1
1 3
1
1 2 3
3
4
4
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
1
2
3
4
1
1
2
2 3
1
2 4
3
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
2 3
4
4
C form
A form
G form
E form
D form
You can convert each major chord into a dominant chord. You do that by adding a flatted seventh to each chord. That interval is two frets lower than the root. The intervals of a dominant chord are 1, 3, 5 and b7. Notice how each of these chords are different from the major chord forms that they are derived from. Compare these chords to the major chord page from week #1. Use your chord learning checklist from the previous week to practice these chords. Convert these forms into “barre” chords, like you did with the minor chords. Don’t let your fingers “scrunch” together as you slide the chords up and down the fretboard. If you are having trouble holding down your first finger, try using a finger exerciser. The Grip Master (yellow version), available at music stores, is a good tool. A squeeze ball could be used if you can’t find the Grip Master. You can add a “bonus” note to the E form chord. Try playing the note D on the B string in the open E chord. Use your pinkie for this note. This note is another flatted seventh. It gives the chord a “more dominant” sound. You can still add this note if you are sliding barre chords up and down.
Week 5 Major Chords
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 1 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: A
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 2 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: B
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 3 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: C
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 4 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: D
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 5 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: E
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 6 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: F
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Practice Log for Week #5 Session 7 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Notes on the Neck: G
1 min.
80/4
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
2 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
2 min.
140/4
C major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
C major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
5 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #1 ⇑ & pat #2 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #2 ⇑ & pat #3 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #3 ⇑ & pat #4 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #4 ⇑ & pat #5 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pent. minor scale, pat. #5 ⇑ & pat #1 ⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED minor chords
2 min.
120/4
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
CCCCC
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD
2 min.
80/4
CAGED third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set
⇑=ascending
⇓=descending
Here we are at another new week for practicing! This week, you will be learning new chord exercises that will connect the entire fretboard together. All of the scale exercises for this book are under your fingers. By now you should know what to do. Get your practice logs ready for this week. Review last week’s quality ratings. Prepare your timer and metronome. The dexterity exercises remain the same as always. When you reach the goal speeds, cross these exercises off of your practice log. You should be seeing the tempos increase on your practice logs. Your quality ratings should be 9 or 10 most of the time. This week, the major scale exercises have been reduced from five to two. This week you will practice the entire fretboard at once! For the first major scale exercise: • Start with the note F at the first fret of the fattest string and ascend pattern #4. • After the note A on the thinnest string, slide up to C and descend pattern #5. • After the third note on the thickest string, slide up to A and ascend pattern #6. • After the note D on the thinnest string, slide up to E and descend pattern #7. • After the third note on the thickest string, slide up to C and ascend pattern #1. • After the note F on the thinnest string, slide up to G and descend pattern #2. • After the third note on the thickest string, slide up to E and ascend pattern #3. • After the note A on the thinnest string, slide up to B and descend pattern #4. You will have played every major scale pattern as you complete this process. You will have connected the entire fretboard together. After mastering this exercise, you will be able to improvise in the key of C major anywhere on the fretboard! This week, each pentatonic scale exercise will use two patterns. You are going to connect to pentatonic scale patterns together for each exercise. This sequence of patterns is similar to the major scale exercises that you used in week four. • • • • •
From the note A on the fattest string, ascend the A pentatonic minor pattern #1. After the note C on the thinnest string, slide up to D with your pinkie finger and Descend pattern #2. After the last note, slide down to pattern #1 with your first finger on the fifth fret. Continue cycling through patterns 1 and 2 for two minutes. Continue this process for each of the next four scale patterns.
Practice the minor and dominant chords just like last week. The CAGED exercises and the positional major chord exercises replace the major chord exercise. There is a reason you learned them in the CAGED order. This is the order that a chord develops as it ascends the fretboard. The first chords are in the open position. The definition of position is “the fret that your left hand, first finger is on”. Here the open nut of the guitar is playing some notes for you. Thus, the nut is playing notes that you would normally have to use your first finger to play. This is the open position.
CAGED Major Chords CAGED Major chords, open position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1 2
2 2
3
4
3
2 3
4
2
4
3
4
3
3
4
4
All chords in open position C Major chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
1
1
1
2 2
3
4
4
Open
1
2 3
3rd fret
5th fret
3
4
2 2
4 3
4
8th fret
3 4
10th fret 12th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Notice the chord forms in the C major chords exercise. • All of the chords are C major. • The root note of each chord is C. • You start with the C form. It is the open C chord. • The next chord is the A form. Notice that the C form chord and the A form chord share the same root note, C. at the third fret. • Now look at the G form chord. Note that the root on the G string is shared with the A form chord. • Look at the E form chord. The root on the E string is shared with the G form chord. • The D form chord shares its root with the E form chord (on the D string). • Notice the last C form chord. Its B string root is shared with the D form chord. Also notice that the C form comes after the D form. The CAGED chord form series is a closed loop, just like the musical alphabet. In the musical alphabet (ABCEDFGABC, etc.), G is followed by A. In the chord series form (CAGEDCAG, etc.), D is followed by C. This phenomenon of closed loops is very common in music. Any repeating chord progression forms a closed loop. Once again, the large dots in the fingering diagrams represent the root of the chord. The numbers in the dots represent the left-hand finger that you use to fret the notes. Notice that all but the C chord forms have their root on the same string as the form name. The C form has a root on the B string and the A string. If you encounter a new chord with its root on the A string, there is a good chance that it comes from the A form. Check out this list of root/string relationships for the chord forms: • • • • • •
A form chord has A string root. G form chord has G string root. E form chord has E string root. D form chord has D string root. The C is the only unusual root. C form chord has B string root.
Play the chord exercises on the next page for the A major and G major chords.
A & G Major Chords A Major chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 2
4
3
2 3
2
4
4 3
2nd fret 5th fret
Open
1
2
4
3
1
1
7th fret
2
3
3
4
4
9th fret
12th fret
G Major chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
4
Open
2
4 3
4
3rd fret
1
1
1
1
2
2 2
1
5th fret
3 4
7th fret
2
3
4
2 3
4
10th fret 12th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
In the A major chord exercise, all of the chords are A major. The forms are AGEDCA. In the G major chord exercise, all of the chords are G major. The forms are GEDCAG. Each chord shares a root with the next chord up the fretboard. Every fret is covered in this series of chord forms. All of these major chord exercises contain the same chord forms, only moved around to different frets. As you play these exercises, memorize the location of the roots within the chord forms. Look at the second chord in the G major chord exercise. It is the E form of G major. Its root is on the E string. There is a large dot there in the fingering diagram. If you move every note in the chord up one fret, you will be playing a G# chord. Your hand will have moved up from the third fret to the fourth fret. The root will have moved up from the third fret to the fourth fret. The note on the fourth fret is G#. That makes it a G# major chord. All of these chords are major. Major is the quality of the chord. Moving the chord up one fret doesn’t change the quality, just its root. There are twelve different notes on the E string. You can slide this chord up so that its root is on each of these notes. This will yield a major chord for each note. This works for all chords!
Now play the E major and D major chord exercises on the next page. Notice that the roots for each ascending chord form are linked together.
E & D Major Chords E Major chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2 3
1
2
4
2
4
3
2
4
3
Open
2
3
4
1
3 4
3
2nd fret 4th fret
7th fret
4
9th fret
12th fret
D Major chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 2
4 3
Open
3
1
1
2 2
3
4
2 3
4
2nd fret
1
5th fret
3
4
2
4
7th fret
4 3
10th fret 12th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
In the D major chord exercise, all of the chords are D major. The forms are DCAGED. By now you should see that these are all the same exercise, only starting on a different chord. It is possible to play this chord form series for any major chord. Try A#, G# or C# major chord form series. As you play these exercises. try to pick up all your fingers at once and put them down on the new notes simultaneously. Don’t put down one finger at a time. There is a four step process you may want to try when you learn a new chord sequence: 1. 1. 1. 1.
Pick up fingers over current chord. Reshape fingers in the new chord form. Slide hand up to new chord fret. Put down all fingers on the new chord.
This process will help you break the bad habit of putting one finger down at a time on a new chord. You won’t be able to do this process with a metronome. By the time you get it up to metronome speed, you will be combining the second and third steps together. Your fingers will have to reform as you slide to the new fret. The benefit of the Crab exercise should be kicking in here, making it easier for you to switch chords.
By now, you may be wondering why there is no F or B form. There really aren’t any “open” B or F chords. The typical “open” F chord is really just the E form up one fret. The “open” B chord is really just the A form up two frets. When you see F or B chords in other books, they are usually one of the CAGED forms with a note or two left out.
Play the CAGED exercise on the next page. It is in the third position. The chords are CAGED. The forms are AGEDCA.
Major Chords 3rd & 5th Position CAGED Major chords, 3rd position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 2
4
3
2 3
3rd fret
2
4
3
1
2
4
4 3
2nd fret 2nd fret
3rd fret
2
3
4
3
4
3rd fret
3rd fret
CAGED Major chords, 5th position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 2 3
3
4
4
5th fret
1
1
1
1
2 2
4 3
5th fret
1
5th fret
3
2
3
4 3
4
4th fret
2
5th fret
4
5th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
For the CAGED exercise in fifth position, the chords were CAGEDC and the forms are GEDCAG. Continue to pay attention to the roots as you play this exercise. This exercise shows how to play a chord progression in one position. This is one of the advantages of mastering the CAGED chords. It is possible to play any chord progression in one position, and not just these standard chord forms. When doing these positional chord exercises, you may have to move up or down one fret. That is O.K. You shouldn’t ever have to move more than one fret. As you play these positional exercises, pay close attention to the roots of the chords. That is the key to understanding these chords.
Notice the roots of the chords as you play the CAGED exercises on the next page for the seventh and ninth positions. You will be able to play all of these chords within one fret of the starting position.
Major Chords 7th & 10th Position CAGED Major chords, 7th position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
4
3
1
2
4 3
8th fret
2 2
3
4
3
2
7th fret
7th fret
4
3
3
4
7th fret
1
4
7th fret
8th fret
CAGED Major chords, 10th position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 2
4 3
3
1
1
2 2
3
4
2 3
4
10th fret 9th fret
1
10th fret
3
4
2 3
4
9th fret
4
10th fret 10th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Use the same practice method for all of the major chord exercises. Use the chord learning checklist: • • • • • • •
Set the timer for two minutes. Set the metronome (start at a slow speed like 40). Switch chords on each beat. Make sure that fretting fingers are not muting adjacent strings. Try to get a clear sound from each note in the chord. Put down all fingers simultaneously. When the timer beeps, write your final tempo and quality rating on your practice log.
Next week you will learn minor chords all over the fretboard. Until then, have fun with the new exercises.
Week 6 Minor Chords
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 1 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
C Major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
C Major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 2 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
F Major scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑6⇓7⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
F Major scale, pat. #1⇑7⇓6⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 3 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
D Major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
D Major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 4 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
G Major scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑6⇓7⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
G Major scale, pat. #1⇑7⇓6⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 5 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
C# Major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
C# Major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 6 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
F# Major scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑6⇓7⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
F# Major scale, pat. #1⇑7⇓6⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #6 Session 7 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Quasi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab exercise
1 min.
140/4
D# Major scale, pat. #4⇑5⇓6⇑7⇓1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
D# Major scale, pat. #4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓7⇑6⇓5⇑4⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑2⇓3⇑4⇓5⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
A Pentatonic minor scale, pat. #1⇑5⇓4⇑3⇓2⇑1⇓
2 min.
120/16
CAGED dominant chords
5 min.
120/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC minor
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA minor
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG minor
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE minor
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD minor
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale exercise set.
Pentatonic minor scale exercise set
CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3 position, name each note. CAGED major 5 position, name each note. CAGED major 7 position, name each note. CAGED major 9 position, name each note. CAGED minor chords exercise set
This week, you will be learning new minor chord exercises. By now you should know how to get your practice logs ready for this week. Review last week’s quality ratings. The notes on the neck exercise has been replaced by a note naming exercise in your chord practice sets. The dexterity exercises remain but the duration has been reduced. These exercises are functioning as warm up exercises now. Cross them off the practice log if you have reached the goal tempos while performing flawlessly. • • • • •
The exercises for the major scale are the same as last week, except that now you only practice each for two minutes, For this week, there is a different major scale key on each log. st For the key of C, start at F on the 1 fret of the fattest string and ascend pattern # 4. rd For the key of D, start at G on the 3 fret of the fattest string and ascend pattern # 4. st For the key of F, start at F on the 1 fret of the fattest string and ascend pattern # 1. rd For the key of G, start at G on the 3 fret of the fattest string and ascend pattern #1.
After these, try some other keys. Try sharp keys and flat keys. You should play through every key in your next 12 practice sessions. You will connect the entire fretboard together. After mastering this exercise, you will be able to improvise in any key, anywhere on the fretboard! This week, the pentatonic scale exercises have been reduced from five to two. You will practice the entire fretboard at once. For the first pentatonic scale exercise: • Start with the note G at the third fret of the fattest string and ascend pattern #5. • After the note A on the thinnest string, move up to C and descend pattern #1. • After the last note on the thickest string, move up to C and ascend pattern #2. • After the note D on the thinnest string, move up to E and descend pattern #3. • After the last note on the thickest string, move up to E and ascend pattern #4. • After the note G on the thinnest string, move up to A and descend pattern #5. • After the last note on the thickest string, move up to A and ascend pattern #1. • Descend back down the fretboard, using the same patterns in reverse order. Upon completion, you will have connected the entire fretboard together, and played every pentatonic scale pattern. After mastering this exercise, you will be able to improvise in the tonality of A pentatonic minor anywhere on the fretboard! • • •
Practice the dominant chords just like last week. The CAGED major chord exercises have been reduced to positional exercises only. As you play the major chord exercises, name each note in all five chords before you start practicing with the metronome.
CAGED minor chords CAGED minor chords, open position exercise
1
1
1
3
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
4
3
1
1
1
4
4
3
4
3
4
4
3
3
2
4
All chords in open position C minor chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1 2
1
3
2 3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
3 4
3rd fret
1
2
4
4
Open
1
3
5th fret
4
4
3
3 4
8th fret
2
4
10th fret 12th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
The first minor chord exercises for this week are in the open position. Work off of this chord checklist: • • • • • • •
Set the timer for two minutes. Set the metronome (start at a slow speed like 40). Switch chords on each beat. Make sure that fretting fingers are not muting adjacent strings. Try to get a clear sound from each note in the chord. Put down all fingers simultaneously. When time is up, write your final tempo and quality rating down on your practice log.
Last week you worked on the CAGED major chord forms. This week will be the same forms converted to minor. Notice the similarities and differences between these minor chords and the major chords. Locate the lowered third in each of these chords. Compare them to the major chords from last week. These chords are going to be a little harder to play than the major chords. Just take your time and your fingers will adjust to the extra stretch. Since you have been doing the crab exercise, this should be within your ability. Pay attention to the roots of these chords. The C form chord is difficult to play. It is very difficult to play all of the strings in the g minor chord form. To play the G form chord in other than the open position, you should leave out one of the E strings. If you leave out the high E string, you might also want to leave out the B string. You don’t have to play every note in these chords for them to retain their quality. Try playing finger-style and leaving out any two notes of each chord. Notice that in the G form chord, the note on the B string did not move down (to Bb) to form a minor chord. It is not possible to lower the note because it was already an open string. As an alternative, the third (B) got replaced by the fifth (D). This moved the note up to the third fret. This is O.K. because another third is in the chord (on the A string) and it did get lowered. Notice the chord forms in the C minor chords exercise. • All of the chords are C minor. • The root note of each chord is C. • You start with the C minor chord. • All of the chords share roots with their neighbor chord forms. Now play A, G, E and D minor chord exercises on the next pages. Pay attention to the shared roots of these chords.
A & G minor chords A minor chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
4
3 4
Open
3
4
1
3
2
2
3
4
2nd fret
1
1
2
2 3
1
4
5th fret
4
3
7th fret
4
9th fret
12th fret
G minor chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2 3
4
3
Open
4
4
2
1
3
3
5th fret
1
2
4
4
7th fret
1
2 3
4
3rd fret
1
1
4
10th fret
3
4
12th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
E & D minor chords E minor chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 4
3
1
1
1
3
2
2
3
Open
2nd fret
3
4
4
4th fret
1
1
1
2
4
3 4
1
1
1
7th fret
3
4
4
9th fret
12th fret
D minor chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1 2
2
1
3
3
2 3
4
Open
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
3 4
5th fret
1
2
4
4
2nd fret
1
3
7th fret
4
3
4
4
10th fret 12th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
You just saw exercises for G, E and D minor chords spanning the entire fretboard, similar to when you learned the major chords last week. Compare these new minor chords to the major chords from last week, and make note of how the flat thirds change the fingerings. Next are the CAGED minor positional exercises. You do have to move down a fret for some of the chords. As you play these positional exercises, pay close attention to the roots of the chords.
Minor Chords 3rd & 5th Position CAGED minor chords, 3rd position exercise
1
1
1 2
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
3 4
3rd fret
3
4
1
3
2
2
3
4
2nd fret
1
1
2
4
3
1
4
3rd fret
4
3
2nd fret
4
2nd fret
3rd fret
CAGED minor chords, 5th position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2 3
4
3
5th fret
4
4
2
1
3
3
5th fret
1
2
4
4
4th fret
1
2 3
4
5th fret
1
1
4
5th fret
3
4
5th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Minor Chords 7th & 10th Position CAGED minor chords, 7th position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
1
1
4
3
2
2
3
8th fret
7th fret
1
3
4
4
7th fret
1
1
1
2
4
3 4
1
1
1
7th fret
4
4
3
7th fret
8th fret
CAGED minor chords, 10th position exercise
1
1
1 2
2
1
1
3
3
2 3
4
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
3 4
10th fret
1
2
4
4
10th fret 9th fret
1
3
9th fret
4
3
4
4
10th fret
10th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
That is all of the minor chord exercises for this week. Be sure to compare each page of exercises for these minor chords to the corresponding page in the major chord chapter. In the next week, you will go through the same process with dominant chords. Knowing how to convert each of these chord forms from major to minor to dominant will give you a solid foundation in music fundamentals as applied to guitar. This will be very useful in the future if you are studying music theory or composition for you instrument. When you are practicing the positional chords this week, You should be naming each note of every chord before you practice the exercises with a metronome. Play the first chord in the position. Name each note of the chord. Start with the lowest note, and proceed through each string to the highest note. Do this with each of the five chords in the position. Then start the exercise with the metronome. It should take you less than one minute to name all of the notes from all five chords. This only leaves one minute for practicing the chords themselves. If you can’t name the notes and practice the chords, allow more time on the next days practice log. If there is not enough time in your schedule, practice only one position a day. Practice rd th the 3 position on the first day, the 5th position on the next day, the 7 position on the next day, etc. Don’t worry about losing the major chord switching practice. There will be a different practice schedule next week that includes the positional major chord exercises, without having to name any notes. You will be doing plenty of chord switching while practicing the minor chords this week. By now you are noticing that each of the guitar building blocks is linked across the entire fretboard. Mastering all of the patterns that span the fretboard gives you the freedom to smoothly transition from one pattern to another. You can ascend the fretboard by changing from one pattern to the next, or you can jump suddenly from a low position to a high position by targeting the roots of the patterns. Being able to conceptualize the entire fretboard allows you the freedom to go anywhere you want on the guitar.
Week 7 Dominant Chords
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 1 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF Bb Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF F CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3
RD
position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major 7
TH
position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 5 position, name each note CAGED minor 9 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 2 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF Eb Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF C CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 5 position CAGED major 9 position CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 3 position, name each note CAGED minor 7 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 3 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF Ab Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF G CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3
RD
position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major 7
TH
position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 5 position, name each note CAGED minor 9 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 4 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF Db Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF D CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 5 position CAGED major 9 position CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 3 position, name each note CAGED minor 7 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 5 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF Gb Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF A CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3
RD
position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major 7
TH
position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 5 position, name each note CAGED minor 9 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 6 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF Cb Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF E CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 5 position CAGED major 9 position CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 3 position, name each note CAGED minor 7 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
Practice Log for Week #7 Session 7 Day:
Date: Exercise
Time: BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
4 min.
120/16
4 min.
120/16
Major scale entire fretboard KEY OF F Pentatonic scale entire fretboard KEY OF B CAGED major chords exercise set CAGED major 3
RD
position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major 7
TH
position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CCCCC dominant
2 min.
80/4
AAAAA dominant
2 min.
80/4
GGGGG dominant
2 min.
80/4
EEEEE dominant
2 min.
80/4
DDDDD dominant
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set CAGED minor 5 position, name each note CAGED minor 9 position, name each note CAGED dominant chords exercise set
This week, you will be learning dominant chord exercises. Prepare this weeks practice logs. Review last week’s quality ratings. Cross off the dexterity exercises that you can play at the goal speed. For this week, you have a practice log for the even days and a different log for the odd days. Print out as many of each that you need. The even days are for dates such as th nd the 20 , 22 of June, etc. On the even days, practice the major chords in two positions. On the odd days, you practice the major chords in two different positions. The same goes for minor chords. This is useful technique for practicing anything that has many variations of a similar theme. The major and pentatonic scales have been reduced to one exercise each. At the beginning of the week, decide which key you will practice on each day. Circle that key on your log. Choose a different note for each day. When you start each key, figure out what the lowest pattern is that fits on your fretboard. Ascend the fretboard, through each pattern, as high as your instrument will allow. Then descend backwards through the same patterns. As you work on all of these exercises, be sure to use your timer and metronome. Track your progress on your practice logs. Try to get a clear tone for each note. Choose precision over speed in your performance. For this new week, you are going to learn dominant chords all over the fretboard. Major chords are converted into dominant chords by adding a flattened seventh to the major forms. As you work your way through these exercises, notice the similarities and differences between these dominant chords and the major chords that you already know. Locate the flatted seventh and the root in each dominant chord as you play them. These chords are going to be a little easier to play than the minor chords. You don’t have to play every note in these chords for them to retain their quality. Try playing finger-style and leaving out any two notes of each chord. You may want to leave out the two highest or the two lowest notes of the G form when performing these exercises. As you play the C, A, G, E and D dominant chord exercises on the next pages, Pay attention to the shared roots of these forms as they ascend the fretboard. Notice the flattened seventh notes that have been added to them. Play these exercises up and down the fretboard just like you did for the major and minor chords. These are the same chord forms in the same positions, only converted to dominant voicings. These exercises are followed by the positional CAGED dominant chord exercises. Play these just like you did in the past couple of weeks. I think that by now you’re starting to understand the principles involved here, so instead of boring you with a separate explanation for each page of exercises, I’ll just throw them all at you at once. Good luck!
CAGED Dominant Chords CAGED Dominant chords, open position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
2 3
1
1
1 1
2
2
3
4
1
1
3
3
4
2
4
4
3
All chords in
4
open position
C Dominant chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
3
3
4
1
1
2
2 3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
2 3
2 4
3
4
4
1st fret
3rd fret 5th fret
8th fret
10th fret 13th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
A & G Dominant Chords A Dominant chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
1
1
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
1
2 3
4
3
1
3
4
4
4
Open
2nd
5th fret
7th fret
10th fret 12th fret
G Dominant chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1 2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
2 3
4
1
1
1
1
1
2
2 4
3
1
4
3
3
4 4
Open
3rd fret
5th fret
8th fret 10th fret 12th fret c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
E & D Dominant Chords E Dominant chords, entire fretboard exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
2
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
2
3
3
1
1
1
2
3
3
4
3
4
1
2 3
4
Open
2nd fret 5th fret
7th fret
9th fret
12th fret
D Dominant chords, entire fretboard exercise
1 1
3
1
1
1
1
4
3
3
4
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
2 3
3
4
4
4
Open
1
1
2 3
2
1
3rd fret
5th fret
7th fret
10th fret
12th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Dominant Chords 3rd & 5th Position CAGED Dominant chords, 3rd position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
3
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2 3
3
1
1
1
2 4
3
3
4
4
4
3rd fret 2nd fret
3rd fret
2nd fret
3rd fret
3rd fret
CAGED Dominant chords, 5th position exercise
1
1
1
1 2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 3
2 3
1
1
1
1
1
1 2
2 4
3
4
3
3
4
4
4
5th fret
5th fret
5th fret
5th fret
5th fret
5th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Dominant Chords 7th & 10th Position CAGED Dominant chords, 7th position exercise
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
1
1
1
1
1
4
3
1
1
2
2
3
1
1
3
4
3
4
1
2 3
4
8th fret
7th fret
8th fret
7th fret
7th fret
8th fret
CAGED Dominant chords, 10th position exercise
1
1
1 2 3
1
1
1
1
1
2 4
3
1
1 2
4
3
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
2
2 3
3
4
4
10th fret 10th fret 10th fret
9th fret
10th fret
10th fret
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Whew! That was a lot of dominant chords. Congratulations! You have now played through all of the chord forms in this book! You can now play major, minor and dominant chords anywhere on the guitar fretboard. You can also play major and minor scale, plus pentatonic scales everywhere on the guitar. That is a pretty impressive skill. You have mastered 7 major scale patterns and 5 pentatonic patterns. You also have 5 major, 5 minor and 5 dominant chord forms. By using your knowledge of the notes on the neck, you can transpose any of these forms into any key, anywhere on the guitar. As you learn songs in the future, you will be noticing that almost all of the musical phrases in them come from one of these 27 forms. As you practice performing these songs, you will be armed with the skill of having already played just about every element of the song! There are more weeks of lessons in this book, but you be learning to apply the things that you have been practicing. All of the material from here out will be familiar to you. Enjoy your practice schedule for this week, and congratulations again on completing all of that hard work and mastering all of those guitar skills.
Week 8 Arpeggios
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 1 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of F
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of Bb
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 3 position, name each note CAGED dominant 7 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 2 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of C
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of Bb
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 5 position, name each note CAGED dominant 9 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 3 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of G
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of Ab
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 3 position, name each note CAGED dominant 7 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 4 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of D
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of Db
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 10th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 10th position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 5 position, name each note CAGED dominant 9 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 5 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of A
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of Gb
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 3 position, name each note CAGED dominant 7 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 6 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of E
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of Cb
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 5 position, name each note CAGED dominant 9 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Practice Log for Week #8 Session 7 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Semi-chromatic 4 notes/string
1 min.
120/16
Hammer-on Pull-off
2 reps.
120/16
Crab
1 min.
140/4
Major scale entire fretboard Key of B
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of F
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
rd
2 min.
80/4
th
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED major arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios third position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios fifth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios seventh position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant arpeggios ninth position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set CAGED dominant 3 position, name each note CAGED dominant 7 position, name each note CAGED major arpeggios exercise set
CAGED minor arpeggios exercise set
CAGED dominant arpeggios exercise set
Here we are at week #8. It’s time to Prepare this weeks practice logs for the even and odd days. Review last week’s quality ratings. Cross off the dexterity exercises that you can play at the goal speed. Circle the keys that you will be practicing the major and pentatonic scales for each day. You have been practicing these major and pentatonic patterns for several weeks now. Here are some ideas you can use to add variety to your scale studies. As you work your way up and down the fretboard through the patterns try this: • • • • •
Start each pattern on the thinnest string Play each pattern on the top two (thinnest) strings only Play each pattern on the two middle strings only Play the highest note of a pattern between every other note of the pattern (pedal tone). Play the lowest note of a pattern between every other note of the pattern.
Play two positions each day for the major and minor chords. Name all of the notes in each minor chord before you play through the minor exercises. As you work on all of these exercises, be sure to use your timer and metronome. Track your progress on your practice logs. Try to get a clear tone for each note. Choose precision over speed in your performance. This week you will be learning some arpeggio studies. An arpeggio is the notes of a chord played individually. You already know these from the chord forms that you have learned. The only difference between these arpeggios and the chords is that some of them have an extra note added. All of these arpeggios have one note on every string. The dark dots in the chord diagrams are the notes that have been added to the CAGED chord forms that you learned in the previous chapters. Play through the major arpeggio exercises on the next two pages. Pay special attention to the fingerings. Don’t play these arpeggios like a chord. With your left hand, only play one note at a time. Don’t let one note ring into the next. Try to achieve as much separation between the notes as you can. You may find the arpeggio exercises easier than the chord exercises because you don’t have to put down all of your fingers at once.
C Major Arppegios C Maj. arp (a form)
C Maj. arp (c form)
0
Open
1
1
1
1
3rd fret
2 3
4
4
Dark dots are added chord tones
4
C Maj. arp (g form)
1
1
5th fret
1
3
2
C Maj. arp (e form)
1
1
1
8th fret
2 3
3
4
4
4
C Maj. arp (d form)
1
C Maj. arp (c form)
10th fret
1
12th fret
1 2
2
2
3 4
2
Dot numbers show left hand
4
3
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
CAGED Major Arppegios
1
1
1
8th fret
7th fret
1
1
2 3
4
3
2
3 4
G Maj. arp (c form)
7th fret
1
E Maj. arp (a form)
1
1
1
7th fret
2 2
2
4
3
D Maj. arp (g form)
1
4
Dark dots are added chord tones
4
1
3
7th fret
1
C Maj. arp (e form)
1
1
1
8th fret
2 2 3
Dot numbers show left hand 3
3
3
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
As you played the major arpeggio exercises, you should have noticed that the C, A and D forms all have a note added on the low E string. These arpeggio forms use the same chord forms that you learned in the first major chord exercises from week five. All you really need here is one example of the arpeggios ascending the fretboard, and one example of the arpeggios staying in position. When comparing the arpeggio fingering to the chord form fingering, you will see that the arpeggios generally avoid the use of barres. The arpeggios use a different finger for each string, whenever possible. This makes it much easier to avoid the notes ringing together when switching strings. If you have to use the same finger for adjacent strings on the same fret, use a rolling finger motion as you switch strings. The string you are rolling off of should become muted as you play the next string. Go back to week five and play through all of the chord exercises. Convert each chord into an arpeggio. When you are done, return to this page and continue on to the minor arpeggios.
Now go on to the next two pages and work through the minor arpeggios. You have one example of ascending the fretboard and one of staying in position. As you play this exercise, watch the left hand finger numbers and go for note separation. Notice any extra notes that have been added to the chord forms that you already know. If an extra note is added to the E string, it will be the same for both E strings.
C Minor Arppegios C min. arp (c form)
C min. arp (a form)
0
Open
1
1
1
1
1
3rd fret
2 3
4
4
Dark dots are added chord tones
3
C min. arp (g form)
1
5th fret
1
4
C min. arp (e form)
1
1
1
1
8th fret
2 3 4
3
4
C min. arp (d form)
1
4
C min. arp (c form)
10th fret
1
2
12th fret
1 2
2
2
3 4
Dot numbers show left hand
3
4
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
CAGED Minor Arppegios C min. arp (e form)
1
1
1
A min. arp (d form)
8th fret
1
7th fret
1
1
2
2 4
3
3 4
G min. arp (c form)
7th fret
1
E min. arp (a form)
1
1
1
2
2
2 3
4
3
4
Dark dots are added chord tones
4
D min arp (g form)
1
7th fret
7th fret
1
C min. arp (e form)
1
1
1
1
8th fret
2
Dot numbers show left hand 4
3
4
3
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
Now you have one minor arpeggio exercise that ascends the fretboard, and one that stays in a position. From these two arpeggio exercises, you can see how to convert each minor chord form into an arpeggio form. These arpeggios use the same chord forms that you learned in week six. Go back to week six and play through all of the chord exercises. Convert each chord into an arpeggio. When you are done, return to this page and continue on to the dominant arpeggio exercises.
Now go on to the next two pages and work through the dominant arpeggios. You have examples of ascending the fretboard staying in position. As you play these exercises, notice any extra notes that have been added to the chord forms that you already know. Watch the left hand finger numbers and go for note separation.
C Dominant Arppegios C Dom.7 arp (c form)
1st fret
1
C Dom.7 arp (a form)
1
1
1
1
3rd fret
2 3
4
4
4
Dark dots are added chord tones
3
C Dom.7 arp (g form)
1
1
5th fret
1
C Dom.7 arp (e form)
1
1
1
1
8th fret
2
2 3
3
Dot numbers show left hand fingers
4
C Dom.7 arp (d form)
1
C Dom.7 arp (c form)
10th fret
1
3
13th fret
1 2
2 2
4
4
3
4
3
4
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
CAGED Dominant Arppegios C Dom.7 arp (e form)
1
1
1
1
A Dom.7 arp (d form)
8th fret
7th fret
1
1
2
2 3
3
G Dom.7 arp (c form)
8th fret
1
3
4
E Dom.7 arp (a form)
1
1
1
1
7th fret
2 3
4
3
4
4
3
Dark dots are added chord tones
D Dom.7 arp (g form)
1
1
7th fret
1
C Dom.7 arp (e form)
1
4
1
8th fret
2
2 3
1
1
Dot numbers show left hand fingers
3
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
The dominant arpeggios that you just learned used the chord forms from week seven. Just as you did with the major and minor chords, go back and review the dominant chord exercises from week seven. Convert the chord exercises into arpeggio exercises. Pay extra attention to the positional exercises. During this weeks practice sessions, Play the positional chord exercises from the previous weeks as arpeggio exercises. There will be four positions for major, minor and dominant. Have fun with this, and I’ll see you next week.
Week 9 Target Tone Scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 1 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of Bb
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of F
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 2 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of Eb
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of C
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 3 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of Ab
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of G
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 10th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 10th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set 10th position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 3rd position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 3rd position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 3rd position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 4 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of Db
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of D
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set 7th position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 5th position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 5th position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 5th position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 5 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of Gb
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of A
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise 3rd position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 12th position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 12th position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 12th position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 6 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of Cb
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of E
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set 5th position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 8th position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
Practice Log for Week #9 Session 7 Day:
Date:
Time:
Exercise
BPM Quality Duration
Goal
Major scale entire fretboard Key of F
4 min.
120/16
Pentatonic scale entire fretboard Key of B
4 min.
120/16
CAGED major chords exercise set 12th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED minor chords exercise set 12th position
2 min.
80/4
CAGED dominant chords exercise set 12th position
2 min.
80/4
Major chord scales, 12th position
5 min.
80/4
minor chord scales, 12th position
5 min.
80/4
Dominant chord scales, 12th position
5 min.
80/4
Chord scales
It’s time to Prepare this weeks practice logs. You can use this checklist for any practice schedules that you will make for your self in the future. Try it now: • • • • • •
Print a page for each day that you will practice. Review last week’s quality ratings. Circle the keys and positions in which will be practicing your exercises for each day. Set your timer and metronome before each exercise. Track your progress on your practice log at the completion of each exercise. Try to get a clear tone for each note. Choose precision over speed in your performance.
This week there are no dexterity exercises. You should be able to get enough finger conditioning from the exercises that remain. Play the scale exercises just as you did last week. The chord and arpeggio exercises have been combined this week. As you work through each position, play all of the chords in the position. Then play all of the chords in that same position as arpeggios. This should go by pretty quickly and easily. You should be able to play through the chords and arpeggios two times each within the allotted two minutes for each position. This week, you get to tie the chords, scales and arpeggios together. Practicing target tone scales is a great exercise to help you to learn the sound of the scales and chords you are practicing. A target tone scale starts by playing a chord. Then play a descending scales that is appropriate for that chord. Start on the highest note of the chord, and descend to the lowest note of the chord. As you descend the scale, you will play a group of notes on each string. Non-chord tones get played a short eighth notes in this exercise. Chord tones get played as longer quarter notes. This will outline an arpeggio. The target tone scales for this week are all from the Major scale pattern #1. Notice that the pattern can sound major, minor or dominant, depending on the chord tones that you target as you play the scale pattern. The chord tones that a musical phrase resolves to in a guitar solo work the same way. You can apply the concept of these exercises to any phrases in a guitar solo to give it the sound of the chords that you are soloing over.
Target Tone Scales C Major target tone scale (8th position) 8
1
2 2
1
2
3
3
2
1
2
3
1
1
3
2
3
3
1
♦ ♦ ♦
Dot numbers show the order that notes should be played. Dark dots show chord tones. Large dots show chord roots.
A minor target tone scale (8th position) 8
1
1 2
3
2
2
3
2
3
2
3
3
1
1
2
3
1
1
G Dominant 7 target tone scale (8th position) 8
2
2 2
1
3
3
1
3
2
3
2
1
3
2
3
2
2
1
c 1996 Patrick Stefurak
You should be able to go through all of your seven C major scale patterns and find the chords that fit within that pattern. Look for a C major, A minor and G dominant arpeggio that only use the notes within that pattern. Use those arpeggios and chords to create three target tone scales for each of the seven major scale patterns. When you start making your own practice logs next week, you may want to add one position a day for practicing these target tone scales. You can apply the concept of the target tones scales to the pentatonic patterns. Notice that pentatonic pattern number five is contained in the major scale target tone patterns you just learned. Look at the major scale fingerboard diagrams on the previous page and visualize pentatonic pattern five in the dots. If you play the two notes per string of the pentatonic patterns, and you accent the C major chord tones, you create the sound of the C major pentatonic scale. If you accent the A minor chord tones, you create the sound of the A minor pentatonic scale. C major is the relative of A minor pentatonic. They share the same notes. This is the last week of new exercises and practice logs for you. In the next chapters, there are some more musical examples. You can convert them into practice exercises if you like. I hope you have learned how to organize your practice time. Continue to use these principles in the rest of your study of the guitar.
Week 10 Applying the Building Blocks
Applying the building blocks. Many students want to know how to play the good notes and avoid the bad notes. It’s really easy. Accent the notes of the chords. Those are the good notes. Everything else is a passing tone. When you improvise a guitar melody, you briefly play passing tones while you are travelling from one good note to another good note. That’s really all there is too it. Most students can’t believe it is that simple. I’ll give you some good musical examples to try on your own, and you can see how this works for yourself. You already learned all of the tools you need to do these things when you mastered the guitar building blocks. Have your friend play a rhythm on guitar using only a C major chord. You could also record yourself playing, and play the recording back while you play melodies over the rhythm. While you listen to the C major rhythm, play a C major scale on your own guitar. Try making up little melodies on your own using only the notes of the C major scale. Whenever you end a little melody or scale run, end on the note C, E or G only. This will sound pretty good. Now end all of your melodies on the notes B or F. That will sound pretty bad. Why? All of these notes are in the C major scale, so they should work over a C major chord, right? Wrong! The notes that good are only the notes in the chord that you are improvising over. Now have your friend play a guitar rhythm using a C major chord for 8 beats, and a G major chord for 8 beats. Have them repeat this over and over. As you listen to that, improvise some guitar melodies using the C major scale. When your friend is playing the C major chord, Accent the note C, E and G in your melodies. When they play G major, accent the notes G, B and D in your melodies. By Accent, I mean resolve your lines to those notes. You should usually do this on strong rhythmic downbeats, such as the first beat in each measure. Accenting can also mean playing those notes louder or longer than the other notes. Try Accenting the note C while your friend plays the C major chord. Right when they change to the G major chord, move the C note down to the note B. Keep accenting the B note in your improvisation until the change to the C major chord, then switch back to accenting the C note. This should sound pretty good. This is the basic concept of playing over chord changes.
Converted Scale Patterns Here are all of the Major scale patterns converted to stay in chordal positions. These patterns do not move up when crossing from the G string to the B string. The patterns on the top row are “chordal” patterns, usually used when adding notes to chords that you are holding down. The second row is”improvising” patterns, usually used when improvising melodies or playing solos. To convert improvising patterns to chordal patterns, simply play the same notes on the high E string as on the low E string, and delete the highest note on the B string.
X
Having learned the scales, chords and arpeggios in this book, you should begin to notice them in all of the music that you play. You should be able to put any musical phrase into one of four categories: major, minor or dominant. When you learn a new song, you should associate the chords and scales in that song to the CAGED forms and scale patterns that you have learned here. The following chapter includes analysis of some popular songs so that you begin to see how to do this. After you have made the association, you should move those examples up and down the guitar neck and into different keys. In this way, you will begin to build up your own personal catalog of “licks” that you can use to improvise or write your own songs. You will quickly begin to see the similarity between licks that belong to the same categories. As you do, you can combine them and alter them so that they become your own, rather than something that you “stole”. There are very few truly original musical ideas, and even those can be related to some music heritage. All of the great guitarists throughout history have learned form their own musical heroes. They did not stop at simply imitating them. They learned to put their own stamp on those musical ideas and to combine the ideas of more than one of their predecessors. If you learn the music from a transcription, it usually will indicate the name of the chords above the notation. If the chord is minor, figure out which minor CAGED chord it is most similar to it. If the chord is named A minor nine, figure out which note is the “nine”. If you can’t find it, save that as a question for your music teacher. Add these new chord types to your chord vocabulary. Try to insert licks or chords into the song you are learning. Insert chords or licks that have the same quality as the chord that is being replaced. Put a different minor chord idea in place of the usual minor idea. You will usually have to alter the rhythm to make this work. That is part of the creativity of inventing your own style.
Here are some examples of very famous guitar songs for you apply the guitar Building blocks to. You should be able to figure them out for yourself quickly when you know the notes and chords to each song.
Back In Black AC/DC
: E : D A : E Pent min. lick E : D A : Low B riff : • • • •
In this song, Angus Young plays CAGED “power” chords using the low strings only. After the first three chords, he uses a descending lick from the E minor Pentatonic scale, pattern #1, in open position. The notes are GEDBABAG, starting from the G rd note at the 3 fret of the high E string. Angus plays the E, D & A chords again. Angus plays a riff using the low notes B G# B A B A# B B.
The chorus uses the chords A E B G & D. Playing the chorus of this song is a good exercise of switching the major CAGED chords quickly. The solo starts in the A minor pentatonic minor scale, pattern #1, at the fifth fret. It then moves up to pattern #2 at the eighth fret, then pattern #4 at the twelfth. Every note in the solo is from this scale. Try to learn some licks from this solo and add them to your minor vocabulary. Note: the notes ABA in opening E pentatonic lick are played by bending the note A up to B and back to A again.
Landslide Fleetwood Mac
: C G Amin G :
All of the chords in this song are CAGED open forms. None of these chords uses either E string. The highest note of the G chord is D on the third fret. All of the extra notes in these chords are C major scale tones added from pattern #3. Both of these songs can be heard by renting live DVDs of these bands in concerts. I hope the analysis of these songs helps you see how you can learn from your favorite artists. After you learn a song, analyze the chords and scales yourself. Add licks you like to your lick vocabulary. Try substituting other chords you know and improvising variations on the existing riffs. If you would like to see many more songs analyzed in relationship to the guitar building blocks, look for my book “Acousticussion”. This book has many more detailed examples, including transcriptions with tablature and a play-along CD.
Practice Motivation I have found that the most difficult part of practicing is getting started. I often find the thought of practicing to be unpleasant. I think “ I don’t really feel like practicing now. I would rather watch a video”. I find that if I start practicing anyway, I get caught up in the exercises, and within five minutes, my state of mind changes to finding the idea of stopping practice to be unpleasant. I am most often stopped by some interruption (like the telephone) and I usually find the interruption to be annoying. I have found that once I start practicing, I really enjoy it. The easy way to avoid this situation is to practice first thing in the morning. I usually set my alarm clock for an hour earlier than I need to awake. I get up, use the bathroom, and get something to drink. I bring the drink to my practice area, and begin my first exercises. I practice before I take a shower or check my mail/messages. By doing this, I do not have the thought of not wanting to practice. Before I was practicing, I was asleep. I have awoken specifically to practice. I have found that there are fewer interruptions in the early morning than at any other time of the day. I am fresh from having a good nights sleep, and I have excellent concentration. I find that practicing in the morning will give the student the fastest results in their efforts to master the guitar. I have found the worst time to practice the guitar is right when I come home from work. This is when there are the most distractions and interruptions. I am usually tired from the day’s efforts, and have poor concentration. I am easily persuaded at this time to use my practice hour for something else, such as going out to eat with a friend. The difficulty in practicing in the morning is that I have to get up early. I would always rather sleep late. The best thing I can do to make getting up early easier, is to go to sleep early. This means scheduling the time I will go to bed. It is easier for me to find the discipline to go to bed at 9pm than to start practicing at 9pm. I think you will find that once you get in the habit of going to bed at a certain time, It becomes much easier. It is just a matter of getting into the routine. If you are unable to practice for at least one hour on three different days of the week, you are going to find learning the guitar to be frustrating. The thing that makes practicing unpleasant is a lack of progress. If you only practice on Saturday for two hours, you will find that you keep going over the same exercises without improving. Make your practice time more enjoyable by practicing often enough to guarantee that you improve each week.
Modes The modes are scales that are derived from the major scale. There are seven notes in the major scale. If you start playing the scale form each different note and consider that starting note the root, you will get seven different scales. Each one is called a mode of the major scale. Here is a list of the modes: Major (Ionian) Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aolean (Natural minor) Locrian
Pattern #1 Pattern #2 Pattern #3 Pattern #4 Pattern #5 Pattern #6 Pattern #7
Each of the seven finger patterns for the major scale could be considered a mode. In pattern #3, the lowest note of the pattern is the third of the C major scale. That note is E. If you consider E to be the root of a mode, it would be a Phrygian scale. Here is a list of the intervals of all the modes: Major (Ionian) Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aolean Locrian
1 1 1 1 1
2 1 b2 1 2 2 b2
3 2 b3 2 3 b3 b3
4 b3 4 3 4 4 4
5 4 5 #4 5 5 b5
6 5 b6 5 6 b6 b6
7 6 b7 6 b7 b7 b7
b7 7
Try comparing the fingering patterns to pattern #1 and see if you can find these intervals. For these scales to sound like modes, you need to emphasize the chord tones of the diatonic chords that they are associated with. Here is a list: Major (Ionian) Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aolean Locrian
Major minor minor Major Dominant Major minor 7, b5
Try superimposing these chords over scales. You should hear the individual sound of the modes for each one.
Target Tone Modes 8
1
8
8
8
2 2
1
2
3
3
2
1
2
3
1
1
3
2
3
3
1
1
1
1
2
3
2
2
3
3
3
2
3
3
1
2
2
1
1
1
D Dorian
2 3
3
2
3
2
2
2
2
3
1
1
1
3
3
1
1
3
C Ionian (major)
E Phrygian
1 2
2
2
2
3
3
3
1
1
3
1
1
2
2
1
3
F Lydian
Target Tone Modes
8
2
3
2
3
1
2
2
3
2
3
G Mixolydian 1
8
8
1
1
3
1
3
2
1
1
1 2
3
2
2
3
2
3
2
3
3
1
1
2
3
1
1
2
3
2
3
A Aolean (minor)
3
2
3
2
2
3
B Locrian 1
1
1
1
3
2
1
1
Resources
This chapter is full of miscellaneous information useful to students. I have come to find that some of it is so obvious that most people overlook it without noticing how useful these resources could be. In your pursuit to be a serious music student, you should take the time to investigate each subject. Not all of these things are for everyone, but everyone could have these resources available. You must find out about them before you need to use them, if they are really going to save you time and money. Libraries Check out your local library. You can have just about any book sent to your library branch from any other branch in the U.S. All you do is fill out a special postcard and the librarian will send you notification in the mail when the book arrives. Be sure to ask the librarian for some help. He/she will be of great assistance in helping you get whatever information you want. If you do not know the title (or the author, publisher or ISBN#) of the book you want, there are some references called “books in print”. You can look up information by subject, title or author. Check out the subject MUSIC. You should be able to find something interesting under that heading. Many libraries offer more than just books. Many have a large selection of magazine back issues. There is a reference book for these as well as for books. Many libraries will send photocopies of a piece of sheet music. CDs, LPs and cassettes are also available. Ask you librarian what is available. Tell him/her what you would like to find (even if you are not sure that it exists). The library could be one of your best sources of information. I have used the library to help me learn to play jazz. I wanted to be able to play “standards” with some authenticity and authority. To do this, I needed to acquire several recordings of the same song. I borrowed a few LPs from the library, containing variations of the song “Autumn Leaves”. I also found the sheet music for this song in the library. By reading the sheet music and listening to the cassette, I learned to play this one song. I then repeated this process for each new tune I wished to learn. Soon I could play over 30 songs. If I bought each LP I had used one song from, and the sheet music to those songs, it would have cost me a small fortune. By using the library, it cost me very little. Anyone can use this method to learn any style of music, not just jazz. Go to you library and see what is waiting there for you! The Los Angeles Public Library is very large. Different departments are in different buildings in different cities. The Brand Library in Glendale is the art and music branch of the L.A.P.L. It contains only library materials about art and music. No history, auto repair or science fiction books. They have thousands of LPs, CDs, audio and video cassettes and music books. It is quite an impressive collection. If you have the opportunity, I would urge you to check out (no pun intended) this particular library.
Musicians Union The musicians union usually offers many services to all members. These services vary from local to Local. The Los Angeles local #47 (on Vine St., south of Santa Monica Blvd., in Hollywood) offers these, among others: 24 track digital recording studio, including engineer for $20/hour Rehearsal rooms, including P.A., drum kit and piano for $5/3 hour block Musicians referral service Negotiation of contracts Group health insurance plans Musicians credit union Instrument insurance Your union should have a representative who can arrange tours of their facilities. He/she would be happy to talk to you about the services offered by your specific union. One of the best things about the union is that it is a great way to meet other musicians, music teachers or people who want to hire musicians. Check it out! The musicians union offers a referral service for gigs. People who want to hire musicians will call and request what they need. The administrator there refers the gigs to union musicians. There is also a gig book on his desk. It is filled with work that needs to be done. You can just look through the book and write down the names and phone numbers of clients. The phone number of the L.A. musicians union local #47 is ***-*******. Ask for Joe Armillas. He will set up an appointment for you to tour the facilities and explain the benefits there. He’s there to help, so give him a call! If you don’t live in L.A., I’m sure he can direct you to the local union nearest you.
PLAY ALONG CDs and CASSETTES Many companies sell play-along cassettes and CDs. These recordings usually come with an instructional book that tells how to play along with them. One of the best ways to improve as a musician is to play with a band. These accompaniment discs allow you to rehearse the material repeatedly. Many of them contain a complete rhythm section without the melody instruments or vocals in the mix. You can sometimes pan left or right to eliminate one of more of the instruments on the tape. For instance, the guitar might be on the right channel only, with the bass on the left. If you pan all the way right, the bass would drop out of the recording. This would allow you to practice the bass parts without hearing them. Here is the contact information for some companies that publish play-along materials: Jamey Aebersold P.O. Box 1244 New Albany, IN 47151-1244 Jam Trax Music Sales Corp. 225 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003 Alfred Master Tracks Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. P.O. Box 10003 16830 Roscoe Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91419-0003 Model Jams and Theory Hal Leonard Publishing Corp. 7777 W. Bluemound Rd. P.O. Box 13619 Milwaukee, WI 53213
Jamey Aebersold has over 50 tapes available to learn how to play jazz plus actual jazz “standards”. All his tapes come with the sheet music to all the tunes in three different clefs, plus a discography and instruction on what scales to play over each chord. Many of his tapes (like “Major and Minor”, “All Blues”, and “II,V,I”) are great for all styles. Even if you are not into jazz, you should still check this out. Earlier in this chapter I mentioned how I learned jazz songs by checking LPs out of the library. I got the lists of what albums all those songs were on from the discography in Jamey Aebersold’s books. I was able to practice every tune with a band before ever auditioning for anyone. This is great material! Jam Trax offers cassettes in Blues, Rock, Heavy Metal and Jazz. The books they come with are not as thorough as Jamey Aebersold’s, but they do have chord charts for every tune. There is also a brief explanation of what scale to play over each song, along with guitar fingerboard diagrams. If you are into rock, heavy metal or blues, this is for you. Alfred Master Tracks sells three different CD packages: Jazz, Fusion and Latin. These are the best sounding of all these products. The recordings are of the highest quality and the musicians are laying down some tight rhythms. Model Jams and Theory is a hard rock tape with chord progressions based on each mode of the major scale. Also, there are examples of the author soloing before each play-along track. Randy Rhodes fans should take special interest in this one! Finally, I would like to point out that practicing your music studies is much more fun with these tapes that it is with a metronome. This can be more like jamming with your friends than it is practicing. If you are having difficulty finding the motivation to practice, give this a try. It is difficult to develop a good sense of phrasing and tasteful soloing by yourself. With a band on tape, it becomes much easier. It is also easier to work on vibrato and bending this way. Pick up one of these tapes and start blazing away!
Stretching Exercises for musicians. This is not the kind of subject that can be taught effectively in a book. I only wish to point out that a gymnast does not start his routine without first warming up and stretching his muscles. If he did, injury would be very likely. Playing guitar or almost any instrument is like gymnastics for your hands. Stretching before a strenuous practice session is a good idea. Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis may be avoided, for the most part, by doing stretching exercises prior to practice. If you feel any pain in your hands, wrists or forearms when practicing, you should stop immediately and rest. If the pain continues, it might be time for some medical attention. Playing with pain is how you develop tendinitis and get a mandatory two month vacation form playing anything at all. The progress you lose in those months will be far greater than what you gained by trying to force your practice. I have a video available which explains stretching exercises as well as general exercises for musicians. Is your bac sore from hunching over your guitar for hours? Do you start to lose circulation in your hand from resting your forearm on the body of the guitar? There are solutions to these problems. If you do not get them from me, at least ask your doctor about it. I wish you the best of health! Musicians contact services. Many different contact services are available. The musicians union, music schools and private businesses offer them. The services they provide vary from finding work to introducing musicians who want to form bands. Musicians Contact Service in Hollywood is a famous one. They have found replacements for gigs in world famous bands. They also offer an automated gig hot-line. You just call up on the phone, punch in your ID code, and get listings of available gigs or band openings. Their phone number is ***-***-****. Contact them for details. The services available through the musicians union were gone over in that section, but note that they provide this service. At Musicians Institute, they have a student referral service. They keep files on hand of student’s promo packs. They refer students to bands needing players. They also refer clients to students. If you went to a music school, check out their services. If you didn’t, see what is available through your local community college. You might find out, while you’re there, that they offer some interesting courses in music.
Mail Order Catalogs There are several companies or music stores that offer mail order catalogs. These usually have toll-free numbers to call. You can order them for free. Just call and request a catalog. These catalogs are useful for finding out what products are available for musicians. I’ve never seen a music store that carries every brand of instrument. Usually, if they carry one brand, they don’t carry the competition. It is rumored that Peavey won’t sell products to a store that carries Crate, for example. By ordering several catalogs from different dealers, you can find out the specifications and prices of all products. Here is a list of mail order catalogs and the ordering information. Musicians Friend (800) 776-5173
Capital Supply (800) 335-1515
American Music Supply (800) 458-4076
Guitar Dispatch (800) 637-2852
Manny’s Music (800) 448-8478
Music Books Plus (800) 265-8481
Sam Ash Music (800) 472-6274 Thoroughbred Music (800) 800-4654 Music Emporium (800) 648-8460 Carvin (800) 854-2235 Interstate Music Supply (800) 462-2263
Mix Bookshelf (800) 233-5412 Guitar Solo (800) 386-7660 Stewart Macdonald (luthier supplies) (800) 848-2273 Music Stand (music gifts) (800) 717-7010 Crutchfield (car audio) (800) 955-9009
Once you receive the catalogs, you will notice that they have two prices for each product listed. The manufacturers suggested retail price (list price), and their discount price. Different dealers give different discounts for each product. By having several catalogs, you can find the best price. Once you know this price, you can go to your local music store with the catalog. The store will usually beat any advertised price. They usually best it by 1-2%. If you don’t know how much a product is worth, the music store might charge you list price. The difference could be 50% or more! Even if you don’t have a catalog, you can assume that the music store paid approximately 50% of list price for the product. They need to make at least a 10% profit just to stay in business. If they charge you 20% above their cost, that is usually a good deal. For example, if you want to buy an amplifier that has the list price of $1000, you can figure the music store paid about $500 for it. Twenty percent of that is $100. A price of $600 is probably right for that amp. It is not always the case that the music stores pay 50% of list price. That figure is for mass produced items (like Marshall amps) that are found in most music stores. Hand-made or limited production items (like custom guitars or hand-wired amps) might be purchased by the music store for as much as 80% of list price. You won’t be able to get much of a discount in this case. On the other hand, some big chains like Guitar Center can purchase some items for less than 50% of list price. They have so many stores that they can buy 500 of one type of guitar in one order. They then distribute the purchase to each store in their chain. That is how they can sell products for less than small music stores. As you can see, the rate of discount can vary between stores and products. By ordering catalogs and noticing the discounts on the products you are interested in, you should be able to figure the correct discount.
Practice away from the instrument Another way to make time to practice is to practice away from the instrument. While you are waiting for things to happen, you can be improving as a musician. The main ways to do this are: Visualization: Recall the notes on the neck, or the names of all the chords in a song. Ear training: You can learn ear training by listening to CDs. You can do this while driving. Jamie Aebersold (on the previous page) has one such CD available. Sight reading: You can carry some sheet music around, and name all of the notes and chords in the music. This can be very beneficial, and does not require an instrument.
RECOMMENDED READING LIST Blues Solos for Acoustic Guitar Johnny Norris/Wise Publications Lots of good dominant ideas here. The Essential Studio Guitarist Chris Stranding/Hal Leonard Insights by a lot of professionals. Great arpeggio ideas. Chord Chemistry Ted Greene/Dale Zdenek Productions The guitar chord bible. Got it? Get it! Good! Also: Modern Chord progressions. Secrets of Singing Jeffrey Allen/CPP Belwin Comes with CD for male of female. The best singing exercise book yet. The Guitar Handbook Ralph Denyer/Alfred A. Knopf Publisher The best all in one book yet.
Other books by the author: Acousticussion This book and CD applies the principles of Guitar Building Blocks to classic rock instruments songs. Each song has a classic rock guitar solo played over it. Each solo is analyzed so that the student can apply the same technique to their own music. Each song is recorded with two acoustic guitars and two hand percussionists. Each guitar part can be panned out so that the student can play along with the recording. Here is the song and solo list: Song: Solo: Walk, Don’t Run Black Magic Woman Tequila Stairway To Heaven Miserlou Flight Of The Bumblebee Always With You, Always With Me Guitar Solos This book and CD set is designed to teach the student how to improve their guitar solo phrasing. Techniques such as bending, sliding and timing in a solo are taught by learning the solos of some of the great masters of phrasing. Each song is written in notation and tablature. Each song and solo is analyzed so that the student can apply the song's components to their own music. The CD includes the original tracks and backing tracks with no guitar. The songs are: Shine On You Crazy Diamond Crossroads Europa Guitar Building Blocks II Covers the subjects of altered chords and extended chords. The Melodic minor, Harmonic minor, diminished and whole tone scales are explained. All material is laid out with a practice schedule. Applying this material to your own music is covered. Available soon.
About the author. I grew up in a musical family in Connecticut. My father taught music lessons, and my mother played guitar. I starting piano lessons at the age of eight. I started playing guitar at fifteen, and by eighteen was playing in cover bands. I later moved to Los Angeles to study guitar at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, and graduated in 1988. I continued to study solo classical guitar with David Oakes and chord melody with Ted Greene. As of 2002, I teach and perform in the Los Angeles, California area.
How this book was written I have been teaching guitar lessons for over fifteen years. As a guitar teacher, I primarily advise students on what to practice. When I started teaching, I would write down exercises for students on blank music notation paper. At the end of the lesson, I would also write down a list of things to practice for the rest of the week. Most students took one lesson a week, and each week the practice list would be revised. I never really taught anything to a student. I explained things as best I could. After a lesson, they practiced what I had explained, and they taught themselves. The more they practiced, the more they learned and the better guitarists they became. I noticed that many students had difficulties in the same areas of musical development. I also noticed that I was wasting time in lessons writing out musical examples that I had recently written for another student. I started writing out the most common exercises in my notebook. This formed a collection of handouts that I used in private instruction. The handouts were sheets of paper (photocopies) with exercises for mastering guitar concepts. These handouts were useful, as they saved me from having to rewrite the same material. They were neatly printed and easier to read than what I scribbled out in a lesson. They also saved the lesson time for personal instruction, rather than for writing things down. Each handout became refined as I learned to explain each subject more clearly. Soon the photocopies were distilled down to the simplest method to teach the subjects. As time went by, my collection of handouts started to fill a large file folder. It looked pretty much like a book, except that there was very little text. So I wrote down a brief explanation for each exercise, and called it Guitar Building Blocks. I gave it to my students, and let them advise me on how to better explain the subjects. I re-wrote the book with my students suggestions, added all of the paractice logs, and published it as Guitar Building Blocks, second edition. If you have a copy of the first edition of this book, thank you for helping me to write this book. I hope you have enjoyed it.
