When it comes to learning guitar, every beginner and intermediate guitar student (even advanced) always enjoys playing something 'easy' once in a while. This lesson addresses the easy process of moving a simple 2-note chord shape along the neck laterally with surrounding open-strings to quickly invent cool sounding guitar riffs...
The reason that guitar players enjoy sliding simple chord patterns along the neck is fairly obvious; those easy to play ideas are ones that we can learn fast, (and for beginners easy practice ideas get ya feelin’ like you’re making some quick progress so you don’t feel like you suck at Guitar). But, the best part of it all is that once we understand an easy idea, we can quickly get those ideas up to an effective level of skill and start playing them for others. The whole process can happen quite rapidly, and that’s probably why we like learning these “easy to play” techniques on guitar. In this lesson, I wanted to introduce an easy technique called linear chord-pattern movement. It’s one of those ideas on guitar that can be learned very quickly. It has a lot of melodic possibility and it’s also a lot of fun to practice. And, if you practice this – even if you still think that you suck at guitar, maybe when you do this - you won’t actually FEEL like you suck at guitar. WATCH THE VIDEO:
HOW THIS WORKS: The study of linear chord-pattern movement simply involves taking a simple two-note fretted chord shape on the neck and moving it over to a few strategic positions. these positions are ones which allow for the effects of the intervals of the chord to end up sounding really nice against open guitar strings. All in all, this probably one of the most simplistic ideas for learning to play riffs and song ideas on the instrument. With very little effort these small chord fingerings can move anywhere your ear thinks that they sound nice.
EXERCISE ONE: Our first exercise will involve taking a simple chord (out of the open position) called the open position, “A suspended 2nd.” "A" Suspended 2nd: Commonly written as "A(sus2)."
This chord is closely related to an “A Minor,” chord in open position. But, it has an open 2nd-string. That open 2nd string produces a wider interval effect.
While this chord may sound sophisticated, it has an easy fingering pattern that feels good to the hand, and the best part is that the shape can be easily moved absolutely anywhere along the guitar neck. PRACTICE TIP: The 5th and the 7th fingerboard positions can provide a fast way to perform nice sounding chord riffs using this shape. I’ve created an example riff to get you used to performing this pattern along the guitar fingerboard.
Example Riff (1). Performing the "A(sus2)" pattern linear along the neck
EXERCISE TWO: As you can tell from the example riff one, this approach is easy to understand, it is easy to play, easy to use, and the best part is that it’s easy to make a few cool sounding riffs with. Next, I wanted to show you one more idea that you can try before we wrap things up. This one functions exactly the same as our first idea. However, this time, we’re going to move up a couple of strings, and we’re going to raise our upper tone of the shape that we had from our, “A suspended 2nd” (it will move up one fret). The "D Suspended 2nd" Chord: If we place this new shape in the open position we get a chord called, “D suspended 2nd.” It looks and sounds like this. "D" Suspended 2nd: Commonly written as "D(sus2)."
To help get you started with using this new chord shape, I’ve got a riff for you to try out. Learn the "D(sus2)" riff shown below. Example Riff (2). Performing the "D(sus2)" pattern linear along the neck
CONCLUSION: As you can tell this system I’ve gone over here is a really easy one that even beginners can use to take small chord shapes (that incorporate some open strings), and get them moving around the neck. It can produce some great sounding riffs. You can even try inventing some shapes of your own and then use those shapes to make up original ideas jamming out on riffs - just like we did here... There’s a ton of possibilities when it comes to applying this approach. And, if you want to take things even further, then try doing this with your guitar set-up into some alternate tunings. I’ll bet if you try that as well, you’ll come up with some really cool sounds by testing out other open guitar tunings!
For examples of this idea, have a listen to guitar players like; Adrian Legg / Don Ross / Andy McKee / William Ackerman
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: I also want to let you know about the guitar courses I have over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com. On the site, I’ve got step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses that work alongside of in-depth elective programs to form the best guitar courses available. My courses work fantastic to help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to that next level of guitar playing, in a very organized step-by-step way, that totally makes sense. I look forward to helping you further at my website; CreativeGuitarStudio.com As always, thanks for joining me, if you liked this lesson, please give
it a thumbs up and subscribe for more on my YouTube channel, (and remember to hit that bell
when you subscribe so that you’ll never miss any of my lesson uploads to
YouTube)… Until next time, take care and we'll catch up again on the
next lesson. Bye for now!
NEW This unique Creative Guitar Studio course explores exercises for increasing dexterity and coordination between the hands. The goal of the course is to increase awareness, mobility and control.
Lesson 016 of Guitar Technique covers several beginner level fingerpicking concepts that will help guitarists, (who are new to fingerstyle), learn the basics of this technique.
The basic fingerpicking studies found in this lesson will offer players a chance to start controlling the use of their plucking-hand fingers for single note lines and chordal playing.
Fingerpicking exercises provided throughout this lesson will help with critical skills such as; finger location to string and finger to note tracking. Melody practice and arpeggiated wide interval drills will help take the technique up to higher skill levels.
Part one and two of the lesson will demonstrate exercises for controlling finger location and note tracking. Part three and four of the lesson will introduce fingerpicking performance options for more melodic control along with how to use wider intervals.
Paying members of the Creative Guitar website can watch both video lessons and download the PDF handout...
Join the member's area to download the PDF handout and start study of these exercises. Study all of the examples with full access to both video lessons...
PART ONE: (Free on YouTube) Exercise one uses different picked and plucked ideas to help gain better awareness for the control of finger to string location.
PART TWO:Exercise two focuses on tracking notes across string groups. Examples of this concept are shown as both "in position" and performed as linear.
PART THREE:
Exercise three involves the study of fingerpicked phrases that move across chordal ideas using short melodic passages.
PART FOUR:Exercise four involves the application of larger intervals used in fingerpicking chord patterns (by way of open string melodic drills).
Do you need to spice up your riffs, licks and lines? Are you bored with your chord progressions because they sound so drab, plain and dull? Well, you're in luck... look no further, this lesson will help you spice things up with as little as only one note! Yes, that's right, take your playing from boring to amazing with as little as just one note...
Phrasing is a big part of using chords and scales musically. One of the most important areas of phrasing is the creation of well-structured musical ideas. Every player likes to have good control over the different phrases they create. A guitarist needs to know what the effects will be when they either start or end a melody line or a chord progression. Deciding how we want our musical ideas to occur will involve learning about adding more impact to musical parts. To learn this, we have to spend time studying ways to improve how changes like this can happen in our music. In this lesson, we’re going to explore ways that are simple and at the same time will work nicely to boost melodies and chords. In the end, you'll learn about simple techniques that can allow our phrases to have more impact and more intensity. WATCH THE VIDEO:
DIATONIC CHORDS AND MELODY Most chord progressions and melodies in music are what’s referred to as “Diatonic.” In other words, they only use notes of the prescribed key center that the underlying song is based within. However, a lot of our diatonic ideas can generally sound quite weak when it comes to the overall impact of a phrase. Let's begin by exploring a basic Major Key example of working within a key. My first example will use a group of diatonic chords from the key of “E Major.” Example 1). Diatonic chord progression
Now, let’s hear a melody line that relates to those diatonic chord changes… Example 2). Diatonic melody line
Diatonic phrases may come across as fairly basic /dull sounding, however there are methods in music that allow us to change certain tones within a key and generate more impact and more intensity so that our phrases can get a boost when they’re performed.
NON-DIATONIC TECHNIQUES: Next, let’s make some changes to the progression we just performed. We’ll enhance the triads with a few select 7th quality chords. And, we’ll add in a non-diatonic sound by way of an altered Dominant chord, the B7(b9)…
Here’s what our progression sounds like w/these change. Example 3). Non-Diatonic chord progression
The non-diatonic tone in this harmony occurs in that "B7(b9) chord, it is a note of “C” Natural. This obviously adds more intensity to the resolution of our progression, creating a boost to the sound of the harmony line. We can also have that same intensity with respect to our melody line by adding in that “C” tone from the altered chord. It can be added directly into our melody. Here’s what that would sound like on our melody line… Example 4). Non-Diatonic melody line
There are a lot of different ways of doing this in music. Adding altered chords to a diatonic chord progression and then matching that unique non-diatonic tone within a melody is only one of the ways.
MINOR KEY OPTIONS: Another interesting effect can come from the different forms of minor scales, and the most common of those comes from Harmonic minor. We can get this effect from replacing the diatonic “V-chord” in a Minor key with either a major or a dominant 7th chord… This is a fantastic effect that sounds really cool in both chord progressions and melodies. Here’s an example of that type of sound occurring in a key of “D Minor” chord progression. Example 5). Minor Progression (Harmonic Minor)
Next, here is a melody line using the “D” Harmonic Minor scale over top of that “A dom.7” chord... Example 6). Minor Melody (Harmonic Minor)
PRACTICE TIP: Study each chord example, then record the chord changes, (use a drum machine or a metronome to keep proper time). Afterwards, practice and perform the melodic studies that relate to each chord progression.
CONCLUSION: Now, that I’ve demonstrated a few of these different phrasing effects for you, I think that you can tell from the sounds of these “phrasing solutions,” the intensity of adding in notes that technically don’t belong within a scale, or a chord harmony can work out to be pretty cool sounding. The chord movements, and the melody phrases that end up being the end result (of boosting the phrasing of any sort of musical passage), will help you line up new sounds that you otherwise quite likely would never have stumbled across if you were to only staying within the key. So, carry on by continuing to experiment with adding in notes that don’t belong. Even if you aren’t fully aware of the music theory, try it anyway… You might discover a sound along the way that you otherwise would have never thought of before.
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: ...Well, as always, thanks for joining me, if you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more, (and remember to hit that bell when you subscribe so that you’ll never miss any of my uploads to YouTube). I also want to let you know about the guitar courses over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com I’ve got step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses that work alongside of in-depth elective programs to form the best guitar course available. The courses work to help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to that next level of guitar playing, in a very organized step-by-step way, that makes sense. So, I look forward to helping you further at CreativeGuitarStudio.com Until next time, take care and we'll catch up again on the next video. Bye for now!
This post is all about neck layout. And, for pretty much every guitarist, learning the necks layout and the neck patterns are a big project. It’s a long process that’s going to take months to start to organize and years to eventually master...
There's all the chords, the arpeggios, the scale shapes, plus the technique involved to be able to play them, and the rules and skills for eventually learning to apply them in music... So, let's get started...
LEARNING THE GUITAR NECK: If you’re still in the early stages of learning your neck this will be an excellent practice drill that you can use for many weeks ahead to develop the neck in all of its locations. This process we are about to study separates the neck into three neck MOVES (Low, Mid and Upper), and at the same time it also helps you develop an association to the ways that scales can relate to arpeggios as well as, to all types of chord patterns. These 3 "Neck Regions" and their associated five scale, arpeggio and chord outlines make up the primary playing tools of guitar players and must become well developed. Once you understand how these three neck moves /regions operate (in all of the different neck areas), you'll have much greater control over the neck. Let’s get started with learning this guitar neck practice system right now...
START FROM A SINGLE NOTE: A lot of guitar neck study methods will begin by showing the location of a single note. In the example I have below, we are looking at all of the locations of the “E” notes along and across the guitars fingerboard.
IMPORTANT: If you’ve never taken a piece of fret-board diagram paper and drawn this out (with every single note from every scale), then I’d highly suggest doing that as soon as possible.
THE LEARNING STRATEGY: The next important study concept with this system is learning to play a; scale, a related arpeggio, and a related chord in each of the three neck regions. If you’re not already aware of it, the guitar neck is made up of three primary fretting regions which consist of 5 frets per region. This 5 fret concept is one of the best ways that you can use to study (and eventually memorize) the entire fretboard layout. In this lesson, we’ll be learning how to perform a Minor scale, a Minor 7th Arpeggio, and the related "Minor Triad" chord in all three of these fretting regions. The process that we will study here will use tones from the key of “E Minor.” THE EXERCISE: First, we’re going to start from the lowest fretted position from within the key of “E Minor.” We will be based upon the 4th guitar string in the second position. Here’s how this would would sit on the neck when its performed… LOW REGION: Scale, Arpeggio and Chord
MID REGION: Scale, Arpeggio and Chord 7th position off of the 5th string…
UPPER REGION: Scale, Arpeggio and Chord 12th position off of the 6th string…
FILLING IN THE GAPS: Next, we’re going to double back and fill in the spaces between those three scale layouts. We’ll start from the 5th string in the 4th position… LOW REGION - Gap Fill: Scale, Arpeggio and Chord 5th string in the 4th position…
Finally, we’re going to finish off the neck with a pattern based off of the 6th string in the 9th position... UPPER REGION - Gap Fill: Scale, Arpeggio and Chord 6th string in the 9th position...
Now you’ve seen how this method works the next part of the practice routine would involve continuing this work with the; arpeggios, and also with the chords that are related to the other keys.
CONCLUSION: As you can tell this system is an excellent way to study all of the scales, the arpeggios and the chords in all of the different fingerboard locations. This regional method covers all of the sections of the neck, and over time, you can work on including all of the different keys and the different locations of how the notes and intervals could be laid out. Plus, you can expand these ideas to work on fingerboard range when soloing and other ways for how the scales and arpeggios can connect all over the guitar using this method. The bottom line is that this is a really helpful way to study the scales, the arpeggios and a wide array of chords on the neck.
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: I'd like to let you know about the guitar courses I have over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com I’ve written step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses that work alongside of in-depth elective programs to form the best guitar courses available. My courses work fantastic to help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to that next level of guitar playing, in a very organized step-by-step way, that totally makes sense. I look forward to helping you further at my website; CreativeGuitarStudio.com As always, thanks for joining me, if you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more on YouTube, (and remember to hit that bell when you subscribe so that you’ll never miss any of my lesson uploads to YouTube)…
Until next time, take care and we'll catch up again on the next lesson. Bye for now!
If you'd like to get your melodic ideas to sound a lot bigger (so they really ring out strong, bold and loud), then this guitar lesson will have some excellent techniques that you can start using right away! ...Techniques to help get your melody lines, riffs, (and especially your guitar solos) to really stand out a whole lot more...
In this lesson, we'll study a couple of methods that can work very effectively for helping make any single-note melodic idea sound like its exploding out of your music with twice the musical impact. WATCH THE VIDEO:
Our first melody enhancing idea is the easiest one to bring into your songwriting and performance. This technique involves taking a melody line and doubling it either on another instrument or by switching to another tone setting on your guitar. This method is incredibly easy to do, and it can be done using the same guitar, or by switching guitars. For instance, you play the melody line on an electric then the line could be also doubled on acoustic. Let’s begin by experimenting with this technique using a pre-established melodic idea. We'll start by playing the melody at first only using one guitar. Here’s what the primary example melody, (that I’ve come up with for the lesson here), sounds like on its own played using just one guitar.
PRIMARY MELODY:
You can tell that this melody line is pretty thin sounding when played by itself. So, next, let’s play this line with a backing track chord progression performed in behind it covering the underlying chord harmony. The key center of this line is in the key of “E Minor,” and so our chord changes will be pulling chords from out of the key center. Here are those chord changes... BACKING PROGRESSION:
Now that we’ve established a primary melody and we have a good backing track, we can begin some work on enhancing the melody line so that it can begin getting a stronger foot-print in our music. This is really important because in the end, these performance enhancements that we make will help our melody part stand out a lot better when we’re playing it live, or when we get to start recording our melodies in the studio. To help you understand these layered two-part guitar effects, we'll begin by hearing what our part would sound like if it were doubled by playing all of the same tones in unison and in a different area of the neck along with changing the guitar’s pick-up selector switch over to another pick-up setting. Then, I’ll play the unison part again but, I’ll switch guitars and play the part on my acoustic.
As you can tell the part takes on a new life and has a lot more impact when the melody line gets doubled. And, this can work very nicely whether you’re working out the part on an electric guitar or on an acoustic guitar. Next we’re really going to take all of this up to a whole other level, by adding a secondary melodic harmony to the original part. If you’re unsure of what a secondary harmonized melody line is, just think of this as playing a series of diatonic notes from the same key but played on notes that are out by way of a chord tone interval. The most popular interval is taking a melody and doubling it using diatonic thirds. That means, we’ll use another guitar to play additional scale tones alongside our original ones. But, the added tones will be performed by way of a third interval in the key... HARMONIZED MELODY: If our original melody line went “E, G, A, B,”
Our doubled harmonized part (played simultaneously on the second guitar) would go, “G, B, C, D.”
When both renditions of a two-part melody line get performed at the same time, the result sounds absolutely excellent in a song. If you're in any way unclear as to how this sounds, then you have got to hear this. I’m going to play it right now for you so you can check it out for yourself.
Learn about these techniques and get to know and understand the different ways for how to go about performing melody lines. The end result is well worth it, because you gain a bigger more boosted (higher quality of sound), from your melody parts.
GUITAR HARMONY: (3rd's)
CONCLUSION: The techniques I've covered here will provide your live shows and your studio recordings with a lot more expansive dynamic range. In the end, the result will be an overall more impactful quality of sound from your melodies. In this lesson, I’ve shown you a couple of techniques that you can use to achieve this effect. If you start testing these techniques in your music and you begin building upon them in the songs you’re performing, I think you’ll really enjoy the results that you end up with in your music.
VISIT THE WEB-SITE: As always, thanks for joining me, I'd also like to let you know about the guitar courses over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com. I’ve got step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses
that work alongside of in-depth elective programs to form the best
guitar course available. The courses work to help you
learn to identify what's required to get you up to that next level of
guitar playing, in a very organized step-by-step way, that makes sense. So, I look forward to helping you further at CreativeGuitarStudio.com
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more on YouTube, (and remember to hit that bell when you subscribe so that you’ll never miss any of my uploads to YouTube)… Until next time, take care and we'll catch up again on the next video. Bye for now!
