Black Belt Guitarist

Table of Contents
WHITE BELT: LEVEL 1 GUITAR LESSONS 15

Always Begin Here! 15
Effective Practice 15
Guitarist and Guitar Anatomy 101 15
Knowing your Guitar Neck like the Back of your Hand 15
Musical Vitamins for Guitar Players 15
Ongoing Growth: Horizontally and Vertically 16
Open Dominant 7th Chords 16
Open Major Chords 16
Open Minor Chords 16
Perfect Intervals: Pillars of Western Music 16
Rhythm Melody Harmony: The Basis of All Theory 16
Set Management: A Must-Have in Performing 17
The Essence and Importance of Flow 17
Tuning Your Guitar 17
Want to Turbocharge your Guitar Learning Abilities? 17
Your Attention Channels 17
GUITARIST AND GUITAR ANATOMY 101 18
The Ear 18
The Inner Ear 18
The Musical Ear 20
The Fingers 20
Good Posture 21
Good Diet and Exercise 21
The Guitar 22
EFFECTIVE PRACTICE 22
Begin with Written Goals 22
Do the Time 23
Practice Critical Hearing 24
Overcompensate for Weak Areas 24
Practice to Perform 25
Set Management 25
On-Line vs. Off-Line Practice 25
On-Line Practice Structure 26
And Now the Challenge... 26
1
ALWAYS BEGIN HERE! 26
Set Your Goals Before Starting 26
Let's Get Started 27
Jot Down your Inspiration 28
Write down what you want to become. 28
Write down major milestones. 29
Write down the steps to make your milestones it happen. 29
Write down your daily time commitment to make it all happen. 29
Write down all the songs you would like to play. 30
Notes of the Chromatic Scale 30
Notes of the Different Octaves 31

Notes of the 2nd Octave 31
Notes of the 4th Octave 31
Notes of the 5th Octave 32
Exercises 32
MUSICAL VITAMINS FOR GUITAR PLAYERS 34
ONGOING GROWTH: HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY 39
Horizontal Growth 39
Genre Cross-Over 39
Genre Substitution 40
Variations on a Theme 40
Melodic Variations 40
Harmonic Variations 40
Tempo Variations 40
Technical Variations 40
Build a Medley 41
Tonal Variations 41
OPEN DOMINANT 7TH CHORDS 41
Exercises: 42
OPEN MAJOR CHORDS 43
Exercises: 45
2
OPEN MINOR CHORDS 46
Exercises: 47
RHYTHM MELODY HARMONY: THE BASIS OF ALL THEORY 49
Rhythm 49
Melody 50
Harmony 50
Interaction of Rhythm, Melody and Harmony 51
The Guitar Can Do It All 51
Why We Study Music, Not Just Guitar 51
SET MANAGEMENT: A MUST-HAVE IN PERFORMING 52
Set Management 52
1 Minute Set 52
5 Minute Set 53
15 Minute Set 53
30 Minute Set 53
Encore 54
TUNING YOUR GUITAR 54
Tips before you start 54
Five Point Tune Up 55

Point 1: Start with a Tuner 55
Point 2: Tune Perfect Unisons on Adjacent Strings 55
Point 3: Tune Octaves Two Strings Apart 56
Point 4: Tune Octaves Three Strings Apart 56
Point 5: Tune Octaves on Adjacent Strings 56
Other Hints 57
Potentially Necessary Guitar Adjustments 57
YELLOW BELT: LEVEL 2 GUITAR LESSONS 58

3rd and 6th Intervals: The Emotional Intervals 58
Major and Minor Scales: Yin and Yang of Scales 58
Open Major 7th Chords 58
Open Minor 7th Chords 59
3
3RD AND 6TH INTERVALS: THE EMOTIONAL INTERVALS 60
3rd and 6th Interval Spellings 60
Tertian Harmony 61
Major 3rd 61
Minor 3rd 62
Major 6th 62
Minor 6th 63
Exercises: 63
MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES: YIN AND YANG OF SCALES 64

Major Scale 64
Minor Scale 65
OPEN MAJOR 7TH CHORDS 66
Exercises: 67
OPEN MINOR 7TH CHORDS 68
Exercises: 69
THE ESSENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF FLOW 70
How Listening is Different than Playing 70

Listening Flow 70
Playing Flow 71
Boiling It All Down 72
Other Practical Examples 72
How to Develop Flow in Playing 73
ORANGE BELT: LEVEL 3 GUITAR LESSONS 74

2nd and 7th Intervals: The Leading Intervals 74
Extending Bar Chords by Morphing: A Form 74
Extending Bar Chords by Morphing: E Form 74
Inverted Chord Forms 74
Major and Minor Chord Inversions 74
Major Scales and the CAGED + 2 System 75
Moveable A-Form Barre Chords 75
Moveable E-Form Barre Chords 75
Pentatonic Scales: Rocker's Favorites 76
The CAGED System: Seeing the Fretboard 76
Triads: Stacked 3rd Intervals 76
4
2ND AND 7TH INTERVALS: THE LEADING INTERVALS 78
2nd and 7th Interval Spellings 79
Major 2nd 79
Minor 2nd 80
Major 7th 80
Minor 7th 81
Exercises: 81
EXTENDING BAR CHORDS BY MORPHING: A FORM 82

Major Chord Morphing in A Form 82
Minor Chord Morphing in A Form 82
Exercises: 83
EXTENDING BAR CHORDS BY MORPHING: E FORM 83

Major Chord Morphing in E Form 83
Minor Chord Morphing in E Form 84
Exercises: 84
INVERTED CHORD FORMS 84
Major Chord Inversions 85

Major Root Position (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th) 85
Major First Inversion (Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Root) 85
Major Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Major 3rd) 86
Minor Chord Inversions 86

Minor Root Position (Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th) 86
Minor First Inversion (Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 3rd) 87
Minor Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Minor 3rd) 87
MAJOR AND MINOR CHORD INVERSIONS 87
Major Chord Inversions 88

Major Root Position (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th) 88
Major First Inversion (Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Root) 88
Major Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Major 3rd) 88
Minor Chord Inversions 89

Minor Root Position (Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th) 89
Minor First Inversion (Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 3rd) 89
Minor Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Minor 3rd) 90
Exercises: 90
MAJOR SCALES AND THE CAGED + 2 SYSTEM 91
Scale Degrees 91
5
The CAGED System 91
The C Pattern 92
The A Pattern 92
The G Pattern 92
The E Pattern 92
The D Pattern 93
The B Pattern 93
The F Pattern 93
General Fingering Advice 93
Avoiding Boredom 94
MOVEABLE A-FORM BARRE CHORDS 94
Now to Make them Moveable 95
Exercises: 96
Physical Exercises: 96
Musical Exercises: 96
Building on Earlier Lessons: 97
MOVEABLE E-FORM BARRE CHORDS 97
Now to Make them Moveable 98
Exercises: 99
Physical Exercises: 99
Musical Exercises: 99
Building on Earlier Lessons: 100
PENTATONIC SCALES: ROCKER'S FAVORITES 101

Pentatonic Major Scale 101
Pentatonic Minor Scale 101
THE CAGED SYSTEM: SEEING THE FRETBOARD 102
Connecting the Dots 102
Seeing Exercises: 104
TRIADS: STACKED 3RD INTERVALS 104

Major Triad 104
Minor Triad 104
6
Diminished Triad 104
Augmented Triad 105
GREEN BELT: LEVEL 4 GUITAR LESSONS 106

7th Chords: More Stacked 3rds 106
Blues Rhythm Patterns 106
Blues Scales 106
Blues Tunes Need Lyrics 106
Major 8-Bar Blues 106
Major 12-Bar Blues 107
Major Blues Scale 107
Minor Blues 107
Minor Blues Scale 107
Modified Blues Scale 107
Moveable 6th Chords 108
Simple Sample Blues Licks 108
Tritone: The Devil's Interval 109
7TH CHORDS: MORE STACKED 3RDS 110

Major 7th Chord 110
Dominant 7th Chord 111
Minor 7th Chord 111
Half Diminished 7th Chord 112
Diminished 7th Chord 112
BLUES RHYTHM PATTERNS 113
Straight Quarter Beat 113
Straight Half Beat 114
Straight Eighth Beat 114
Upbeat Eighth Beat 114
Eighth Triplets 115
Shuffle 115
Shuffle Variation 116
Exercises: 116
BLUES SCALES 117

7
BLUES TUNES NEED LYRICS 118
The Form Follows the Lyrics 118
Some Lame Lyric Examples: (You can do better!) 119
Exercises: 119
Major Blues Chord Progressions 120
Quick-Change 12-Bar Blues 120
Exercises: 121
MAJOR BLUES SCALE 121

MINOR BLUES SCALE 122
MOVEABLE 6TH CHORDS 123
The Formula 123
How to Use 6th Chords 123
Exercises: 124
SIMPLE SAMPLE BLUES LICKS 124
THE ESSENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF FLOW 126
How Listening is Different than Playing 126

Listening Flow 126
Playing Flow 126
Boiling It All Down 128
Other Practical Examples 128
How to Develop Flow in Playing 128
TRITONE: THE DEVIL'S INTERVAL 129

Tritone Interval Spelling 130
Exercises: 131
WANT TO TURBO-CHARGE YOUR GUITAR LEARNING ABILITIES? 132

Also Included: Exclusive Mental Conditioning Techniques 132
8
External Distractions 133
Internal Distractions 133
BLUE BELT: LEVEL 5 GUITAR LESSONS 135

Basic Theory of Harmonic Scale Progressions 135
Cadences: Musical Punctuation 135
Ear Training: What? How? Why? 135
Harmonic Scale Chords for All Major Keys 135
Harmonic Scale Directional Chord Changes 135
Intervals: The Essential Building Blocks of All Music 136
The Four Corners of the Harmonic Landscape 136
BASIC THEORY OF HARMONIC SCALE PROGRESSIONS 138
Harmonic Scale 138

The Harmonic Scale Using Triads 138
The Harmonic Scale Using 7th Chords 139
The Harmonic Scale Using 2nd Inversion Triads 139
The Harmonic Scale Using 1st Inversion Triads 140
The Harmonic Scale Using Open Chords 140
CADENCES: MUSICAL PUNCTUATION 141
Two Extreme Examples 141

Yoga Music? 141
You Ain't Nuttin But A Hound Dog 141
Types of Cadences 142

Authentic Cadence 142
Perfect Cadence 142
Imperfect Cadence 143
Plagal Cadence 143
Deceptive Cadence 143
Exercises 143
EAR TRAINING: WHAT? HOW? WHY? 144
Why Ear Training? 144
A Practical Definition 144
Structuring Your Own Ear Training Program 144
Essential Elements of Ear Training 144
9
HARMONIC SCALE CHORDS FOR ALL MAJOR KEYS 145
Key of C Major / A Minor 145
Key of Db Major / Bb Minor 146
Key of D Major / B Minor 146
Key of Eb Major / C Minor 147
Key of E Major / C# Minor 147
Key of F Major / D Minor 148
Key of Gb Major / Eb Minor 148
Key of G Major / E Minor 149
Key of Ab Major / F Minor 149
Key of A Major / F# Minor 150
Key of Bb / G Minor 150
Key of B / G# Minor 151
HARMONIC SCALE DIRECTIONAL CHORD CHANGES 151
Descending by 5ths 152
Ascending by 5ths (Descending by 4ths) 153
Ascending or Descending by 2nds 153
Ascending or Descending by 3rds 154
Exercises 154
INTERVALS: THE ESSENTIAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF ALL MUSIC 155
THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE HARMONIC LANDSCAPE 156
The Four Harmonic Quadrants 157
West and East Hemispheres 157
North and South Hemispheres 158
In the north hemisphere are songs which are written in one key only. Chromatic chords or not, the
key is the same throughout. This is appropriate for simple songs with verses and choruses, and
comprises the lion's share of popular music. 158
Some Popular Examples 158
Exercises: 158
RED BELT: LEVEL 6 GUITAR LESSONS 159

Alternate Picking 159
Compound Intervals: Intervals in 2nd Octave 159
Intervals: Musical Atoms 159
Intro to Major Scale Modes 159
Music Reading for Guitar 160
Nashville Numbering System Adapted for Black Belt Guitar 160
10
Reading Music for Guitar: Pegging Notes to Fretboard 160
Red Hot Double Stop Picking 160
Scale Modes as Substitutes for Major and Minor 161
The Never Ending Circle of 5ths 161
ALTERNATE PICKING 162
Exercises 162
Cruise Missle 162
Gentle Flower, Hidden Beast 163
Blackberry Blossom 164
COMPOUND INTERVALS: INTERVALS IN 2ND OCTAVE 165

Minor and Major 9th 165
Minor and Major 10th 166
Perfect 11th 166
Augmented 11th / Diminished 12th 166
Perfect 12th 167
Perfect 15th 167
INTERVALS: MUSICAL ATOMS 168
Interval Summary 169

Intervals in the 1st Octave 169
Interval Spellings 170
Perfect Intervals 170
Consonant Intervals 173
Dissonant Intervals 174
INTRO TO MAJOR SCALE MODES 176

I. Soloing over diatonic major and minor chord progressions 176
Ionian Mode 177
Dorian Mode 177
Phrygian Mode 177
Lydian Mode 178
Mixolydian Mode 178
Aeolian Mode 178
Locrian Mode 178
NASHVILLE NUMBERING SYSTEM ADAPTED FOR BLACK BELT GUITAR

179
How to Draw Your Own 7-Pointed Star 180

Draw the 7 Points and the Yin Yang 180
Number the Points 180
Add Key Names and Base Chord Names 181
Adding Substitute Chords 181
11
Key of C Major / A Minor 182
Exercises: 182
READING MUSIC FOR GUITAR: PEGGING NOTES TO FRETBOARD 182
SCALE MODES AS SUBSTITUTES FOR MAJOR AND MINOR 183

II. Soloing over modal chord progressions 183
III. Scale Modes as substitutes for major and minor scales 184
Ionian Mode 184
Lydian Mode 184
Mixolydian Mode 185
Aeolian Mode 185
Dorian Mode 186
Phrygian Mode 186
Locrian Mode 187
THE NEVER ENDING CIRCLE OF 5THS 188
Key Aspects of Music Theory Explained by the Circle of 5ths 188
Limitations of the Circle of 5ths 191
BROWN BELT: LEVEL 7 GUITAR LESSONS 192

Improve Your Solos with Drones and Pedal Notes 192
Learning to Play Leads Using the Vector Method 192
Overtones and Natural Harmonics 192
IMPROVE YOUR SOLOS WITH DRONES AND PEDAL NOTES 194
How Droning Can Help 194
Pedal Notes 194
How It Works 195
LEARNING TO PLAY LEADS USING THE VECTOR METHOD 195
How to Listen for the Vector Points 195
OVERTONES AND NATURAL HARMONICS 196
Not All Guitars Created Equally 197
12
Problems with Natural Harmonic 197
Who Uses Harmonics? 197
Other Uses for Natural Harmonics 198
Exercises 198
BLACK BELT: LEVEL 8 GUITAR LESSONS 199

Guitar Teaching Basics to Remember 199
Guitar Teaching Do's and Don'ts 199
The Way of the Black Belt is One Eternal Round 200
GUITAR TEACHING BASICS TO REMEMBER 201
You Can Be a Teacher 201

Student Responsibilities: 201
Teacher Responsibilities: 201
You Cannot Teach Everyone 201
Learning Cycle 202
Plan for and Hold Recitals 203
GUITAR TEACHING DO'S AND DON'TS 203
Do's 203
Don'ts 203
THE WAY OF THE BLACK BELT IS ONE ETERNAL ROUND 204
Flash Back to the Beginning of Your Journey 205
Good Teachers Remember Their Beginnings 205
GUITAR, MUSIC AND MARTIAL ARTS GLOSSARY 206
13
14
White Belt: Level 1 Guitar Lessons
Always Begin Here!
What would you do if you knew in advance you could not fail? What is that secret element that separates
good players from bad players, and great ones from good ones? You may be surprised by the answer.
Category: White Belt
Subcategory: Goals Read More ...
Published on: 09 Oct 2003
Effective Practice
This lesson will reveal some of the secrets that separate great players from the rest. The secret is in knowing
how to practice, then doing it... consistently. What to practice varies with each player. We will focus here on
the how to make the most of your practice time.
Subcategory: Read More ...
Guitarist and Guitar Anatomy 101

Parts are parts... or are they? In this short but important lesson, we just want to take a little time to pay
attention to some details too often overlooked in keeping the guitarist and their guitars healthy. We want
both you and your guitars to be around for a very long time.
Knowing your Guitar Neck like the Back of your Hand

Want to learn a valuable skill that your friends probably won't? Commit now to learn something that most
self-taught guitar players never learn. This skill will enable later learning of reading music by sight.
Musical Vitamins for Guitar Players

To always be ready for peak performance, we need to be sharp and at our best physically, mentally and
spiritually. This lesson will give us a complete list of musical Vitamins, that when taken in recommended
doses will help us to enable us to absorb the music we ingest, process it, and derive energy from it. Musical
vitamins also help us grow, stave off disease that can afflict musicians and heal ourselves musically.
Category: General
Subcategory: Peak Performance Read More ...
15
Ongoing Growth: Horizontally and Vertically
A black belt guitar player should be both wide and deep, as explained in the sections below. Also the black
belt guitar player should be continually expanding both horizontally and vertically. This lesson has a few
ideas to keep you growing and make you a wider and deeper player.
Category: General
Open Dominant 7th Chords

In this lesson you will add more open chords to your library. These chords are similar to those you have
already learned, but the addition of the dominant 7th chord will add funk, and flair to your playing. At the
end of this lesson, you'll have 21 of the most popular chords in music at your disposal!
Category: White Belt: Chords
Subcategory: Chord Charts Read More ...
Open Major Chords

These are the first 7 chords that every beginning guitar student should master. Play these chords
comfortably, and you'll be able to play almost any beginning-level song.
Open Minor Chords

In this lesson you will double the number of open chords you have already learned, by adding the natural
complement to the major chord series. When you learn the major and minor chords together, you will be
able to play the accompaniment to most popular songs ever written.
Perfect Intervals: Pillars of Western Music

Of all the intervals in our Western scale, the perfect intervals are the ones that act as the anchors for all the
other intervals to swirl around in music. Learn to recognize them by ear, and you will have a solid foundation
on which to build your later understanding of chords, scales and progressions.
Category: White Belt: Ear Training
Subcategory: Intervals Read More ...
Rhythm Melody Harmony: The Basis of All Theory

At the heart of every lesson and every practice session there should be an awareness of three vital
and essential forces in all music. Learning how to manipulate these forces will give your music and
performances tremendous depth, clarity and power.
Category: White Belt: Theory Read More ...
16
Subcategory: Music Elements
Published on: 21 Apr 2004
Set Management: A Must-Have in Performing

Even when you have learned 1000 songs, and have achieved superstar status... the most you'll ever be able to
play for an audience in one concert is about 20. Most gigs we play while coming up through the ranks are
much shorter, so what you don't play is as important as what you do play. This lesson will help you polish
your performances to knock the socks off your audience.
Category: General
The Essence and Importance of Flow

Listening to music, we hardly notice how music flows from one measure or from one phrase or section to the
next. But playing flowing music requires many months of study and training. Developing timing and flow
cannot be rushed any more in music than in learning a new language. It takes time, effort, practice, trials,
errors and reinforcement and celebration of successes.
Category: General
Subcategory: Wednesday Read More ...
Published on: 26 Jan 2005
Tuning Your Guitar

The purpose of this lesson is to help you keep your guitar in tune so that it sounds optimal for the kind of
playing you do. Unless you know how to tune across all strings, and along the whole neck of the guitar, you
may find that your guitar sounds good when playing an open C chord, but when playing the same C chord as
a bar chord on the 8th fret, it sounds out of tune.
Want to Turbocharge your Guitar Learning Abilities?

Effective Learning habits and methods can teach you how to transform any idle time into quality practice
time whether you have your guitar or not. This reference will teach you how to effectively learn to play your
instrument... even when you don't have your instrument with you. You can potentially be learning to play
guitar 24 hours a week, even if you only have a guitar in hand for 5 or 6 hours a week.
Category: General
Subcategory: Learning Read More ...
Your Attention Channels

This lesson gives some ideas that help to boost concentration. By gaining total control over our ability to
concentrate, we open the physical, mental and physical channels that allow music to flow freely.
Category: General
Subcategory: Concentration Read More ...
Published on: 06 Jul 2004
17
Guitarist and Guitar Anatomy 101
We will focus here on some areas that all guitarists should understand, and know
how to take care of.
The Ear
Never forget that music is an affair with the ear. Whenever you get mired down in
theory, exercises, drills problems with equipment, or even frustrations with fickle
band members or even the nastier aspects of the music business, remember that
music is affair of the ear.
There are three parts to the ear to get to know:
• The outer ear, or the part of the ear we see.

• The inner ear, which are the delicate working parts of the ear, consisting
of the auditory canal, the ear drum, the hammer, anvil and stirrup, the
cochlea, the auditory nerve, etc.
• The musical ear, which is our mental ability to fully understand the music
we hear.
The Inner Ear
The inner ear is built to respond to vibrations in the atmosphere around us.
Vibrations cause the ear drum to vibrate in resonance with the vibrations in the
air. These vibrations are caused by vocal chords, guitar strings or other forces
causing the air to compress and expand outward from the vibrating source. This
pressure disturbance consists of compressions and rarefactions of the molecules
in the air.
18
A healthy ear responds to vibration rates ranging from about 20 per second to
about 20,000 per second, or 20Hz to 20KHz. The rate of vibrations is called
frequencies.
A healthy ear also responds to extremely faint vibrations in the air, the faintest of
which is known as the Threshold of Hearing (TOH). The lowest intensity pressure
wave a healthy ear can detect is one whose compression of atmospheric
particles increases the air pressure by just 0.3 billionths of an atmosphere!
The decibel scale measures how much sound energy is being emitted from a
source. For every 10 decibels that you add to the scale, the amount of energy in
the air is increased 10 times. Have a look at the following table:
Decibel x Greater Than

Source
Level TOH
Threshold of Hearing (TOH) 0 dB 100
Rustling Leaves 10 dB 101
Whisper 20 dB 102
Normal Conversation 60 dB 106
Busy Street Traffic 70 dB 107
Vacuum Cleaner 80 dB 108
Large Orchestra 97 dB 109.7
Max Volume on MP3 Player 100 dB 1010
Angry Mom, yelling to "turn it
105 dB 1010.5
down!"
Front Row Seats at Rock
110 dB 1011
Concert
Pain Threshold 130 dB 1013
Jet Takeoff 140 dB 1014
Eardrum Explodes 160 dB 1016
From all of this, we hope you take away one important item. Take care of your
ears! Very loud sounds above 130 dB can cause permanent diminished hearing,
as can prolonged exposure to sounds above 80 dB. Most often this hearing loss
is not total, but prolonged exposure to loud music does lead to diminished
hearing at the high end of our hearing range first, so music and voices begin to
sound a little muffled at first, then it can render us deaf to subtle overtones in
both music and speech that give music and speech their rich qualities.
Wearing hearing protection in noisy work environments, in airplanes, and

especially at rock concerts makes you makes you a smart person, not a baby. If
you think your friends will laugh at you for wearing foam ear plugs, its because
19
they were too stupid to think of it themselves, so buy enough for everyone, and
you'll all have more fun. Nobody will miss the ringing in the ears for a day or two
after the concert. Foam ear plugs diminish the sound intensity by 20 - 30 dB,
which is just enough in most cases to prevent pain and damage, while still
enjoying the full range of frequencies.
Remember Pete Townsend? Guitarist of the once loudest band ever... The Who?
See that hearing aid in his ear? Wonder how it got there? You get the point.
The Musical Ear
In future lessons, when we refer to "the ear", we will be talking about the musical
ear. The musical ear is defined as our musical understanding of what our
physical ear hears. The musical ear is developed and cultured through small
daily doses of ear training exercises, which consist of interval, chord and scale
recognition and recall, as well chord progression recognition and recall.
Another aspect of ear training is very special skill called perfect pitch, which is
the ability to name any note you hear, as well as recall up the right note from
memory with no other external reference.
The Fingers
The fingers are the part of you that tickle the guitar, and make it sing. Your
fingers take instructions from your mind at first as you are learning to translate
chord and scale charts, or tablature into intelligible music.
But with experience the mental instructions to your fingers give way to the
emotions of the heart. You no longer have to rely on cognitive processing to play
what moves your audience. Instead, of using your hands to push music from the
guitar out to your audience, your hands are used to shape and mold the songs as
they flow out of their own volition. In the case of amplified music, your hands
actually are used to restrain and steer the power of your guitar, the way a jockey
steers a thoroughbred in full stride, or the way an expert swordsman controls the
strokes of his sword to change direction without losing momentum.
Your fingers are all numbered as per the picture below. This is to help you in
some chord charts and tablature to use the fingering that the author wants you to
use. On your fretting hand, the fingers are numbered as 1, 2, 3, 4, beginning with
the fretting index finger, and ending with the fretting pinky finger. The thumb is
sometimes notated as T (Thumb). The picking hand uses letters to indicate the
finger used to pick each note in an arpeggio. This notation is usually found in
sheet music of classical music, where fingers instead of picks are used. The
letters are initial letters of latin words: p (pulgar or thumb), i (indice or index), m
(medular or middle), a (anular or ring finger), d (dimuto or little finger).
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Good Posture
For your fingers to do their best magic, your whole body should be comfortable.
There is a high correlation between slouching guitar players and back and neck
problems. When sitting, choose a chair that allows you to straighten your spine,
allowing your arms to hang comfortably down to their playing position.
Good Diet and Exercise
Hey, wait a minute! This is a guitar lesson, right? This is a Black Belt Guitar
lesson. We care about you, and we are quick to point out that great musicianship
and vices do not necessarily go together. Take a lesson from two of today's
hottest guitar gods: Steve Morse, and Steve Vai. Both are Steves, and both are
vegetarians. They believe (as do we) that good health is key to excellence in any
pursuit, even the music business. They know that diet affects the body, mind and
spirit in ways that either support or hinder the learning, creative and performing
processes. Their intense ability to focus, write, create, jam, tour, demo, endorse,
carry on a family life, etc. etc. is supported by the energy they get from good
food. With a little planning, anyone can make good choices about food.
Don't smoke. Don't take alcohol. Don't do drugs. You don't need these things,
ever. We all love Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain, but we all prefer they were still
with us. Eddie Van Halen would have preferred not to have mouth cancer. You
got the point.
Take good care of yourself. Get your rest. Stretch. Exercise. Breath. Your
playing, and your life demand your best health. Take time out for this, and you
may be playing into your 90's!
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The Guitar
The guitar is not really part of our body, but with the exception of our own voice,
the guitar is the instrument with the truest extension of our body. With enough
experience, it is possible to become one with the guitar.
Here we will take a little time to become acquainted with the major components
of the guitar. You will eventually have to know these parts well enough to keep
your guitar in good repair, whether you do it yourself, or lean on your friendly
luthier to do it for you.
Take a little time to memorize the names of the things on your guitar(s).
Take good care of guitars. You can't help wearing out your frets eventually, but
you should protect your guitar from too much abuse from pets, kids, baggage
handlers, sun, drying out, but most of all protect your guitar from loneliness! If
nothing else, your resale value will be higher if you take care of them. Change
your strings as often as needed to keep your sound good. Keep your acoustic
guitars moisturized by keeping a damp sponge in the case. Find a good luthier if
your guitar gets sick or needs surgery.
Effective Practice
Begin with Written Goals
Set long-range (year), medium range (week to month), and short-range (today)
goals before you start sit down with your guitar. Write those goals down. Most
players fail to do this, and end up at the same place... frustration. Written goals
have real power. Every tangible thing begins with a thought. If that thought is not
expressed in written or spoken words, the thought never becomes more than a
thought. When the thought becomes written word, it drives us on to action, and
those thoughts are transformed into physical reality.
22
Always have pencil and paper with you. This is to catch all the inspiration that
you have, which is usually a fleeting thought or impression. Even if you can't fully
develop it at the time, you should jot it down. Otherwise, it quickly fades away,
and you may never have that impression again, until you hear that someone else
has used it.
Do the Time
How much is enough? We believe that less than 30 minutes daily will produce
anemic results. It usually takes 5 - 10 minutes to warm up the fingers and the ear
before the good practice really begins, and the musical juices begin to flow. On
the other hand, world-class musicians typically practice no more than two-hours
per day to keep their skills honed (this does not include time performing or
recording).
So the sweet spot for most guitarists is somewhere between 30-minutes and 2
hours each day. If you find that you can't find two hours back-to-back, it's OK to
break your practice sessions into a morning session and a separate afternoon or
evening session.
How much is too much? If you are practicing properly, you should not have a
problem with frequent burn-out. Most problems from practice arise not from
practicing too much, but practicing the wrong way, so you get bored, then you
want to throw your guitar through the wall, then you find yourself on TV for all the
wrong reasons!
Having said that, we recommend taking a planned day off or planned day of very
light practice every week. Sunday works well for many students, and is our
choice. This planned day off gives us several advantages, including:
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• Greater intensity and focus during our 6 on-days.
• Greater creativity comes from this planned time off.
• It allows us to remember that we are all human beings with lives beyond
music.
• It allows us to renew our relationships with those we love and with God.
• When we strengthen our relationships with those we love and with God,
we feel their support more in our playing.
We want you to excel at music, but we never want music to become an addiction.
Practice Critical Hearing
The hardest part of any practice routine is hearing how you really sound, so you
can find the problems and fix them. Whenever possible record your practice
sessions, even if you only have a cheap tape recorder. The cheaper the better, at
first. Tape recorders do not lie, and they will tell you how you really sound without
the sugar coating, or overly harsh criticism.
The most important benefit from this exercise is that you will learn to really hear yourself
as you are, then magically, you know what you need to work on.
Overcompensate for Weak Areas
Good right-handed basketball players spend twice as much time dribbling with
their left hand in practice, in order to switch unconsciously between hands in the
game. In practicing guitar, you should spend 80% of your time on the weakest
20% of your playing, until it is no longer a problem. The idea is that you don't
need to practice what is already easy for you.
A good example is with strumming or picking. For most players, the downstroke
is the strongest and most comfortable, and if you practice for 5 minutes using
only upstrokes, you'll see how awkward the upstroke really feels. An average
player would sense this awkwardness and train himself to avoid it. But an
excellent player would see this as an opportunity for improvement, and practice it
twice as much as the downstroke, making both equally strong.
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Practice to Perform
This advice applies to practicing your repertoire (songs), and will increase your
confidence many fold. The idea is that if you practice one way, then perform
something different, both the practice and the performance can be sources of
embarrassment and frustration. Imagine, if you can, an audience while you
practice, and practice playing to them. A friend, band mates, or even playing for
your dog can make the practice more real. If you can't find a live audience,
remember you can always play for your tape recorder.
As much as possible, try to play, breath, sing, etc. with the same intensity,
emotion and projection as when you perform. If you have stage gear, try to mark
your settings so that once you achieve a great sound in the studio, you don't
have to fumble around to find the settings that sounded good the night before
during practice.
Set Management
Akin to practicing like you play is practicing what you will play. Before you go on
stage (or before friends) to play, you should know something about how long you
will be allowed to play, then fill that time with the songs that have the most
impact, or are most entertaining. A 1-song set is planned for and executed
differently than a 3-song set, or a 10-song set, etc.
Manage your set in writing. This is so that you and your band mates will avoid
confusion when playing.
This approach will save hours, days, weeks or years of frustration and anxiety in
your playing.
On-Line vs. Off-Line Practice
Not all aspects of guitar are learned with guitar in hand (on-line). Some of the
theoretical aspects can be effectively learned without your guitar (off-line).
Knowing this will allow you to take advantage of those times when you can't have
your guitar with you (driving, during a break at work, etc.) to keep learning the
theory, and saving the prime time when you can have your guitar with you to
work on your technique, repertoire, speed, etc.
Even some of the creative aspects of music can be organized into on-line vs. off-
line times. For example, while practicing scales (on-line), you accidentally hear
yourself playing a very catchy melody. Stop and jot it down. Or, while you are
driving to work (off-line), you hear something on the radio that you want to add to
your repertoire, but you think you can improve on it. Pull over and jot this down
as well. Or, while waiting to pick your sister up at the airport (off-line), you can
pull out your tabs on that lead you want to master, and work out some of the
25
fingering that seems comfortable to you, while also using your aural recall to hear
the tones of the lead in your head.
On-Line Practice Structure
On-line practice should be structured with your specific goals for the day in mind,
but some examples of effective practice might look like this:
• Warm-Up, Tune-Up (5 Minutes)

• Scale Practice (5 Minutes)
• Chord Changes (5 Minutes)
• Review, Refine, Existing Repertoire (30 - 45 Minutes)
• Learn New Reportoire (30 - 45 Minutes)
And Now the Challenge...
These practice ideas are pretty simple, and you probable already new them, but
if a year from now you find yourself utterly frustrated, visit this lesson again and
evaluate your own practice habits to see if there is something you are
overlooking.
Always Begin Here!

Set Your Goals Before Starting
Without goals, there is no movement. Wherever we are now is both the origin
and destination. Compared to water, lack of goals is like the Dead Sea. Already
at the lowest possible elevation, it can flow nowhere, can exert no kinetic or
potential energy upon other objects nor sustain complex life.
For our goals to be effective, they must be SMART (Specific, Measurable,

Attainable, Action-Oriented, Relevant and Time-Framed), or they will eventually
give way to pressures or frustrations. Let's examine each one at a time:
Specific Goals limit the variables we have to deal with at once, and allow us to
focus on those areas that need work. Areas that do not need work should not be
practiced at the expense of those areas that do. Specific goals should be written
down to keep you on task until mastery is gained, and you check yourself off.
Measurable Goals allow us to quantify or substantiate progress from one day or

one week to the next. How do you really know if your playing of diminished
arpeggios is getting faster and cleaner if not confirmed by a metronome? How do
you really know that you are making fewer mistakes unless you can compare two
recordings of yourself? Always measure, always record, always listen critically.
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Attainable, Action-Oriented Goals ensure that regardless of our current
abilities, the next step is always possible, but requires effort. Trying to tackle
extended chords before you are proficient with triads, for example, can be
frustrating. Channel your energy into mastering your current level and then move
on to the next. Our belt level system is geared to help sequence these musical
concepts into a logical order for you.
Relevant Goals serve the purpose of helping us study the right material in the
right context, and weeding out activities that distract from the specific goals set
earlier. For example, if you are preparing a Bach piece for a classical master
class with David Russell in two weeks, why would you spend your training time
jamming to BB King? Save BB King for later, and work on your posture,
breathing, memorization, articulation and phrasing on your classical guitar. Be
comfortable in the knowledge that you cannot excel at all styles at once.
Time-Framed Goals always have a deadline attached, but just as importantly

there is a beginning time where you block out other activities to focus on the task.
This window must be commensurate with the work to be done during that
timeframe. You might not make every deadline, but unless you put dates on your
goals, they have a way of dragging themselves out much longer than necessary.
This is one habit that will separate you from your friends by a long shot.
Let's Get Started
Before beginning any lessons, take some quality time to dream about what you
want to become, and how guitar will enhance your life and the life of others. The
pursuit of guitar can consume hours each week, and even years of your life, so
take some time to dream and plan for you dream to realize itself. Let the clarity of
your vision and the thrill of creating that future take control for a little while.
What will make you want to keep going when your fingers hurt, when people tell
you that your playing stinks, or have no future in guitar, or most common of all
when the novelty wears off, and things become boring?
Go to a quite place, put away your guitar and pull out a piece of paper and a
pencil. Review the following steps and spend some quality time with your future
self.
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Jot Down your Inspiration
Take some time to list your inspirations. Who are those who move you with their
music? Whose songwriting causes you to marvel? Whose technique causes your
jaw to drop? These players might be famous, but they do not have to be. They
can be your friend, a local band member, a teacher.
As you list the players who inspire you, think about them and let the emotions
flow through you. List the things they do in their playing, songwriting, or in their
personal character that makes you want to be better at this guitar thing. Pay
attention to your motivation meter and note whether they really move you or not.
If you think you are writing down characteristics that inspire someone else, don't
list them.
Write down what you want to become.
Write down what you want to be using specific declarative language as if you
already are what you want to become. Examples would be:
28
• "I am a well-rounded competent player that plays blues and jazz for live
audiences and in the studio", or...
• "I am a teacher who motivates my students through my recorded music
and my interaction with them", or...
• "I am a world-class professional player that inspires other guitar players
around the globe through my performances and recorded music", or...
• "I am a business man who likes to play guitar to relax in the evenings".
Write down major milestones.
Major milestones are important achievements combined with dates. These must
be written to be effective. Without milestones real progress cannot be made or
measured.
Examples of major milestones might be:
• Save enough money to buy a new Martin guitar by my next birthday, or...
• Start teaching students in my basement by next spring, or...
• Start a band by next month, or...
• Get admitted to music school by next semester, or
• Build a studio in my basement by next year, etc.
Write down the steps to make your milestones it happen.
Write down the practical things you can do each day to make your milestones a
reality. Write them down. Examples might be:
• Practice daily
• Read publications
• Look for bands auditioning for players
• Do marketing for new students
• Save 10% from each paycheck for new guitar
Write down your daily time commitment to make it all happen.
How much time can you give each day to make your goal happen? Write down
your ideal daily commitment, and your minimum daily commitment, in case your
ideal commitment can't be reached for some reason.
During this time each day, make sure to remove distractions, such as TV, phone,
kids, visitors, etc. It should be just you, your instrument, and your practice
routine.
29
Write down all the songs you would like to play.
Take some time to write down in one place all the songs you can think of that you
would like to play. At first, don't worry about the order, just list every cool song
that you would like to add to your repertoire either now or down the road a ways.
Return to your list often, to pull songs off of it into your short-term practice
routines.
Knowing your Guitar Neck like the Back of your Hand

Do you know where to find a B on your guitar? How about an F#? It's no fun when playing
with your friends and someone says play an A, and you need to watch their fingers for a clue,
or listen to an A on the piano while you fumble around and play a few notes until you find it.
Not knowing where the notes on your fretboard are has "amateur" written all over it, so in this
lesson, we'll give you some ideas to learn where the notes are on your fretboard until know
you know it like the back of your hand.
Notes of the Chromatic Scale
It required generations of musicians, scientists and inventors to arrive at a 12-note scale we

have today after centuries of the study of music, combined with generous helpings of trial and
error, political and theological strife and compromise. The result was an agreed upon pool of
notes from which all scales, chords are constructed. Most of the details had been worked out
by the time orchestral music was born, otherwise it would have been impossible for different
instruments to play together harmoniously. We call this repeating 12-note scale the chromatic
scale, which denotes color.
In the following busy little picture, each colored dot illustrates the location of a particular note
of the chromatic scale on the guitar fretboard. Anywhere you start, the colors slightly shift
with every half-step (1 fret) up or down the neck, and repeat with each octave (13 half-steps
or frets apart from the starting note).
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Notes of the Different Octaves
The six-string guitar has notes that span about 4 octaves. In classical music, each octave has
a number so that any instrument can find the same pitch, even though they are all tuned
quite differently. In classical music, each octave is renumbered starting with the C note.
Here we have pictures of the notes in each octave from Octave 2 to Octave 4. The notes may
be referred to as G4 (G in the fouth octave) or C3 (C in the third octave), for example.
Notes of the 2nd Octave
Beginning with C2 and ending with B2...
Notes of the 3rd Octave
Notes of the 4th Octave
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Notes of the 5th Octave
Exercises
Don't try to absorb this picture all at once. Break it down into small digestible pieces, such as:
• Pick a string and learn the note names up and down all frets, one string at a time.
• Pick a fret and learn the note names across all strings one fret at a time.
• Pick a note and learn the position of that note everywhere on the fretboard.
The notes on the fretboard are learned by repetition. Here are a few useful ideas:
• When you do have your guitar with you (and nobody is around to make fun of you)
sing the names of the notes as you play them. This makes the learning "sticky", and
you will internalize it much more quickly than by playing alone.
• Look for and visualize patterns, and play those patterns as you discover them. For
example, know where a C is relative to a G, or an F relative to a D.
• Learn the note locations relative to the inlays (dots) of the guitar neck.
• When you can't have your guitar with you, quiz yourself by drawing the fretboard on a
32
piece of paper, or try out some nifty software like CDB Fretboard Trainer on your
Palm Pilot.
• As you learn chords and scales, take a little extra time to sing the notes of those
chords and scales as you are first learning them. This is a two-way reinforcement
activity that helps cement both the notes and the scale and chord construction in your
mind.
• A little bit every day is better than a lot at once. Don't try to cram for your test. Just
make a point of knowing your stuff, and when you realize that you might have some
fuzzy areas that need sharpening, just revisit them and you'll see that a little attention
to these areas will quickly fix them.
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In learning to play guitar, there are musical vitamins that can help supplement
our usual diet of learning to play new songs, and rehearsing the songs we
already know. These musical vitamins are the drills and theory that supplement
your song playing, and help you to remain musically healthy. The benefits are
that you can absorb more music, faster, process the music and understand it,
and detect and fight off bugs in our playing. A healthy balanced practice routine
might look something like this:
Here is a list of musical vitamins with the Black Belt Guitar Recommended Daily
Allowances (BBGA RDA), needed to keep you musically healthy and strong.
Check your practice routine, and see if any of these vitamins could help you out.
Guitarist
Vitamin Description BBGA RDA
Vitamin
Arpeggios: Arpeggios are the bridge between
chords and scales, and they should be part of 5 Minutes
Vitamin A
every practice routine. Playing arpeggios from Daily
bottom to top and from top.
Borrowing: As you listen to music from different
artist, styles, genres or even other instruments,
open your ears for ideas that you want to Daily, as
Vitamin B amalgamate into your own playing. This kind of Exposed to
openness will add depth to your playing, and help Music
you avoid periods of creative drought in your
playing.
Chords: It goes without saying that chords are the
workhorse of guitar music. Learn open chords, bar-
10 Minutes
Vitamin C chords, inverted chords, extended chords,
Daily
sustained chords, augmented chords, diminished
chords. To be like guitar George, who knows all his
34
chords, you need to practice a lot of chords every
day, and stuff a lot of them into your memory
banks.
Darkness: That's right... total darkness. Take the
time to play with all the lights out. This reinforces
the direct link between your hands and your ear.
10 Minutes 3x
Vitamin D Instead of seeing what your hands are doing, learn
Weekly
to feel what they are doing in relation to what you
hear them doing. This is a super-potent exercise
for refining your tactal and aural abilities.
Exercise: Not guitar exercise... Physical exercise.
Get out and get your heart pumping. Stretch and
do some push ups and pullups. Practicing guitar is
30 Minutes 3x
Vitamin E no excuse for letting your body go to the dogs.
Weekly
While you are exercising, use this time to listen to
your favorite guitar influences. An iPod can be one
of your best investments.
Fingerpicking: Put your pick away for a while, and
get in touch with with your guitar. Also try
Mixed with
Vitamin F combination of picking with your flat pick and
Picking
fingers for a little different articulation than with a
pick alone.
Gambling: There is no subsitute for thorough
preparation in playing, but taking an occasional
gamble can sometimes pay off. Try going for broke
on some of your toughest leads in front of some of
the friends you want to impress the most. If you As
Vitamin G win, you win big. If you lose, all you have lost is a Opportunities
moment in time, but you have learned a lot from Arise
the experience. Learn to play the tough hands with
a straight face, cool, calm and relaxed. Don't dwell
on the weak cards in the hand you are playing, just
ante up and play. Enjoy the game.
Harmonics: Learn to play false harmonics on the
12th fret above the fretted notes of your left hand.
15 Minutes
Vitamin H Also, learn all the names of the natural harmonics
Weekly
over the 12th, 5th, 4th and 9th frets. Try
substituting these harmonics over fretted notes.
Interval Training: Notes don't make music,
intervals do. Our mind hangs on to the last note
5 Minutes
Vitamin I played in a melody, and anticipates the next, which
Daily
creates our perception of motion in music. The
distance between notes played melodically or
35
harmonically should be understood by the mind
and the fingers. Know all your intervals up and
down. On the same strings and across strings.
This will help you nail new melodies you hear the
first time, without having to fumble around the
fretboard to find the right notes.
Jamming: Now this is what it is all about. Actively
pursue being able to play with other musicians.
Learn from those better than you, and be patient
with those that are a little behind. They are
Every chance
Vitamin J learning too! Learn to organize your jam sessions
you get
around common knowledge, such as common
tunes, or common chord progressions that you all
know. Careful not to let egos interfere with the
music.
Kinetic Energy Focus: In guitar, we use kinetic
energy of our fingers and picks to make music.
The more efficient our movements, the less wasted
motion, and the more kinetic energy is converted
to speed. Minimize the wasted motion in your right
hand by picking with precision. Minimize the Every Time
Vitamin K
wasted motion in your left hand by using proper You Play
positioning of the fingers just above the frets, the
proper voicings in the chords and scales to
minimize left-hand travel, and using the best
available fingerings to allow playing passing notes
even when the left hand is changing position.
Left-Hand Only: This includes hammer-ons, pull-
offs and bends and slides. Left hand only
3 Minutes
Vitamin L exercises will help improve your leads and licks
Daily.
overall. You can do this at the same time you
practice scales, or other leads.
Muting: Take some time to focus on deadening
the strings that are not being played. If you are not
paying attention to this, chances are you are Every Time
Vitamin M
making unwanted noise on your extra strings. You Play
Consciously determine whether left-hand or right-
hand music works best for what is being played.
Nashville Numbering System: This system is the
best way to get the sound of the harmonic scale
into your ears and hands. Using numbers for 5 Minutes
Vitamin N
chords in the harmonic scale, all musicians in the Daily
band are instantly able to relate the chords to each
other without the need to read music.
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Open Strings: Experiment with the songs you
already know to see if ringing open strings can add
a new dimension to the chords you are already
As Opportunity
Vitamin O playing. Guitar is very well suited to this kind of
Affords
effect, and most bar-chord-locked players don't
ever think to try it. It can set you apart from the
crowd.
Punching Through: This vitamin pertains to
adjusting your tone and choice of melodies and
chord voicings to punch through the bed of sound
created by your other band members, without
having to increase your volume. It means to play As Opportunity
Vitamin P
notes that are not already being played or sung by Affords
someone else in the band. Two-note harmonies
work excellently in this application, and punch
through more effectively than bar chords to be
sure.
Quiet: Guitars in the wrong hands can be an
endless source of noise. Introducing timely pauses
in the middle of a piece can create tension, and
anticipation, and has the effect of winning back a
As Opportunity
Vitamin Q lost audience. Try it in some of your music to see if
Affords
you can add some life to your songs. Also, quite
refers to keeping volume below the pain threshold
when practicing, and saving your ears, your dog's
ears, and your audience's ears.
Reading Music: Small doses of reading music in
both standard notation and tablature everyday is
more effective than avoiding it until you have to,
10 Minutes
Vitamin R then beating your head against the wall when you
Daily
need it. Take some sheet music with you in your
backpack or on a plane, and read a few bars while
waiting for your ride.
Scales: Another staple of any serious practice
routine. Learn scales backwards and forwards,
vertically and horizontally, major, minor,
pentatonic, blues, modes, exotic, etc. Learn to fit 10 Minutes
Vitamin S
scales over chord progressions. Learn to play in Daily
time... quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes. Tuplets
and triplets. Get the scales into your ears and
fingers, and everything else is just gravy.
Timing: Use a drum machine or metronome. Get
During
Vitamin T your tempo going, then try to work those quarter
Practice Drills
notes up to eighth notes, and then graduate to
37
sixteenth notes. Try to increase your sense of
synchopation, going with and against the rhythm in
interesting ways.
Upstroke: When flat-picking, almost everyone has
a stronger downstroke, but the upstroke can be
During
Vitamin U problematic. By practicing your upstroke twice as
Practice Drills
much as your downstroke, you can equalize the
imbalance in strength.
Verbalize: When learning note names, intervals,
scales, chords, chord changes, etc., it really helps
During
Vitamin V your memory if you say or sing what you are
Practice Drills
playing. This will cut down on the time it takes to
master these basic elements.
Writing: Take a music pad with your wherever you
go. This is to jot down ideas that are keepers. If
Every
Vitamin W you don't write it down... too often it's gone forever.
Opportunity
That is until you hear someone else playing it on
the radio. You get the idea.
X-treme playing techniques: Dive Bombing,
Legato Phrasing, Middle-Eastern Effects, String
Skipping, String Scraping, Whammy Melodies, The
Difference Tone, The Gargle, EVH Elephant, Satch As Needed for
Vitamin X
String Pull, are all great techniques to learn, but Boredom
they can't substitute for being solid musically.
Practice these special effects to add spice to your
playing, but don't make them the main course.
You-niqueness: In all the playing you do,
remember, remember that it's more fun and
profitable to play things your own way, than to
learn to mimic other successful players exactly. Let Every
Vitamin Y
other players inspire you and let them teach you Opportunity
things you would not have learned on your own,
but always try to put your own signature on what
you play.
ZZZZZ...: Get plenty of sleep! Recent studies
prove that sleep deprivation significantly increases
health risks, and reduces cognitive functions,
creating symptoms similar to attention deficit
8 Hours
Vitamin Z disorder. In guitar, you simply can't learn as much
Nightly
as fast if your faculties are impaired by lack of
sleep. Trade in those after-gig party hours for
some z's, and you'll be amazed at the difference in
your playing.
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Assuming that you have firmly committed to become a great player (of course
you are), and you are making time to practice and perform (check!)... here are
some more ideas to help you chart your course to being a well-rounded, and
seasoned player, and a player who always keeps things fresh and interesting.
Horizontal Growth
Growing horizontally means adding to the list of songs that you are able to play,
even though you may play all the songs in basically the same way. Think
Broader and Wider. You want to acquire or write more songs all the time, and
learning or writing new songs should be a regular part of every practice session.
Genre Cross-Over
Another way that artists try to expand is to learn songs from different genres.
This makes you an eclectic player, who might be able to mix some blues, with
rock, or jazz with classical, for example. This is also a great excuse for owning
several guitars, each of which might be particularly well suited to one genre or
another.
Vertical Growth
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So let's say you can play a thousand songs, but you play them all the same
way... Here are some ideas to help you keep your repertoire fresh and original
sounding. Think Higher and Deeper.
Vertical growth is the deepening or heightening of old, familiar songs or

techniques. Rough edges are polished off, holes and gaps are filled, voicings and
melodies are altered for effect, and a creative spirit identifies itself.
Genre Substitution
One well-known example of genre substitution is neo-classical. Think of Bach

played through a tall stack of amps with full volume and distortion, and in double-
time. This is a way to make very complex, technical music more accessible and
popular with an untrained audience.
Variations on a Theme
Try playing a well-known standard tune like Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday or the
theme to Gilligan's Island in the style of metal, grunge, country, bluegrass, jazz,
or classical. This way you can have a lot of fun practicing, and fitting an old
familiar tune to any occasion.
Melodic Variations
Try changing major melodies to minor and other scalar modes. Also, experiment
with substituting direct, overt melody with indirect, implied melody played through
licks.
Harmonic Variations
While comping, and trying to find the best sounding voicing, try playing the
melody on top and bottom of harmonic intervals or triads. Play the theme using
open chords, straight bar chords, or substitute Jazz chords.
Tempo Variations
Practice to a drum machine as much as you can when alone, but try switching
between different drum patterns or tempos. It's amazing to hear the difference a
shuffle, a bossanova or reggae rhythm can do to pull you out of a 4/4 rut.
Technical Variations
The same old tired song can be spiced up by decisions on how to execute
particular sections of a song... whether to strum or finger pick, use chords or
arpeggios, employ bends or slides, hammer-on or pick, or mute or let ring, etc.
40
Build a Medley
Are there certain songs that sound great bolted together? Any two songs written
with similar chord progressions and rhythm patterns make great candidates, and
they are typically great crowd-pleasers.
Tonal Variations
Another excuse to spend money on guitar equipment is this one. Try playing your
favorite tunes through different settings on your amp and effects chain. For
example: fuzz vs. clean, acoustic vs. electric, with and without reverb and chorus,
etc. Take a heavy metal song, and go unplugged with it.
Experiment with all your equipment settings, but boil them down so that you
audience hears only what you think will really do the job, then mark the settings
on your equipment. These settings are now yours.
Open Dominant 7th Chords

The Dominant 7th chords takes its name from the minor 7th note in combination
with the major 3rd note. This combination gives the chord a unique characteristic
that tempers the major 3rd, allowing you to to use it interchangebly with major
chords if that is your desire. The minor 7th chord also has a sort of leading
quality that song writers use to lead into a resolving chord.
Take just a minute to memorize this table:
Attributes Values
Chord Formula 1-M3-5-m7
Major or Minor Major
Distinguishing Degree M3, m7
Now take some time to learn each chord shape in this table. White notes are
optional:
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C7 A7 G7 E7 D7
F7 B7
Exercises:
The exercises are basically the same as those you learned before. Remember to
go slowly, deliberately and paying attention to the feel and sound.
• Play each chord until you can do so comfortably without dampening those
strings that should be played, or playing strings that should not be played.
Learn to pay close attention to clean playing from the start, and you'll
sound much better much sooner.
• Learn the fingering that works most comfortably and effectively for you.
Try it different ways, and decide what works best for different situations.
• Learn the correct finger pressure to apply to your strings for the best
sound and most comfort. You should be pressing just hard enough to
eliminate any string buzz, but not so hard that your hand gets fatiqued or
cramped.
• Try strumming the chord with your right hand, and also playing one note at
a time from bottom to top, and top to bottom.
• As you play the notes one at a time, sing the note names aloud, playing
and singing from bottom to top, and top to bottom. This will reinforce your
learning of the note names on the fretboard.
• Try playing all the chords in complete darkness, using only your finger
memory to locate and position your fingers without your eyes to guide
them. As you play the chord, sing the name of the chord, and visualize the
chord shape.
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• Learn to transition smoothly from one chord to another without noise.
Practice changing from every chord in this set to every other chord in this
set and back until you can do so comfortably.
• In each chord, listen for and locate the minor 7th note which gives this
chord it's dominant feeling.
Play the 7th chords alternating with the major chords to get the feel and sound.
• C - C7 - C - C7 - C
• A - A7 - A - A7 - A
• G - G7 - G - G7 - G
• E - E7 - E - E7 - E
• D - D7 - D - D7 - D
• F - F7 - F - F7 - F
• B - B7 - B - B7 - B
In the progressions below, pay attention to the strong leading sound of the
dominant 7th chord before finally resolving on the last chord in the progression.
• Dm - G7 - C - Am - Dm - G7 - C
• G - A7 - D
• Bm - E7 - A
• C - D7 - G
• A - B7 - E
• Gm - C7 - F
In the progressions below, the 7th chord softens each chord, and gives a bluesier
or funkier feel.
• E7 - A7 - E7 - A
• C7 - F7 - C7 - F
• E7 - B7 - E7 - B7 - E
• A7 - D7 - A7 - D7
• G7 - D7 - G7 - D
Now try to put the names of some songs you already know to these
progressions. And as always, come up with a couple of your own!
Open Major Chords

The first chords every guitarist should learn are the open string chords for a
couple of very good reasons:
• Major chords are the most popular and familiar of all chords. Learning
major chords only will enable you to play a handsome collection of popular
music in all genres.
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• Open chord shapes allow you to play the most notes with the fewest
fingers in arguably the most comfortable position. Open chords use at
least one open string, which frees up some of your fingers to either rest, or
articulate some other notes while playing or transitioning between chords.
Many guitar players spend their entire career simply playing in open string
chords, and a great deal of music is written for open chords to make it easier to
play and learn. Open chords are especially versatile when transposing the key of
a song by using a capo.
The open string chords are named after their root note, but by committing the
shape or form of the chord to memory, the player can easily transpose songs up
and down the neck of the guitar. The chord forms are also named after the shape
of each of these chords.
Major chords take their name from the major third (M3) note present in every one
of them. When played together with the root and the 5th, the M3 gives the entire
chord the familiar, bright, happy quality we have all come to know through our
childhood.
Attributes Values
Chord Formula 1-M3-5
Distinguishing Degree M3
optional:
C A G E D
F B
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Exercises:
These exercises go beyond just memorizing the chords, if you do each of these
chords slowly, deliberately and paying attention to the proper physical and aural
sensations, you will internalize and master these chords much faster than by
memorizing alone. Your attention to the details early in your learning will pay big
dividends later, since you will not have to unlearn any bad habits, and you can
focus later on more advanced things.
For example, when playing the A major chord, is it better for you to play all
three notes on the second fret by laying your first finger across all three
strings, or is it better foy you to play with the second, third and fourth
fingers? Try it both ways, and decide what works best for different
situations.
cramped.
chord shape.
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• In each chord, listen for and locate the major 3rd note, which gives the
entire chord it's major feeling.
Now chords by themselves are not really musical, so let's combine two or more
chords together in a a series of major chord progressions that sound good.
• C - F - G - C - F - G (La Bamba)
• C - G - G - C - C - F - G - C (Happy Birthday)
• A - E - E - A - A - D - E - A (Happy Birthday)
• C-F-G-F
• C - D - G - C - D - G (I just called to say I love you, (chorus))
• C-G-C-G
• C-G-F-C
• G - G - C - D - G (Man of Constant Sorrow)
• G-F-G-F
• C - F - C - G - C (On Top of Old Smoky)
• C - F - C - G (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)
• A - D - A - E (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)
• D-G-D-G
• D-G-C-D
• B-A-B-A
• E-F-E-F
• B-C-B-C
progressions. Come up with some of your own!
Open Minor Chords

Minor chords take their name from the minor 3rd (m3) note. The minor 3rd
imparts a more solemn or sad feeling to the chord, and indeed to the entire song,
if the song is written in a minor key.
Attributes Values
Chord Formula 1-m3-5
Major or Minor Minor
Distinguishing Degree m3
optional:
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Cm Am Gm Em Dm
Fm Bm
If you feel that Cm, Gm and Bm open chords are a little tough to finger, you're
right. Most guitar players avoid these fingerings in real life and choose to use
barre chords, a chord type you'll learn in the yellow belt lessons. For now, suffer
through these, because they will give your fingers a little stretch and help your
fingers develop a little independence from the others. (Finger independence is a
very desirable goal).
Exercises:
Remember to take each of these chords slowly, and deliberately. Fingers eyes
and ears should work together to internalize these chords.
Pay close attention to clean playing from the start, and you'll sound much
better much sooner.
Try each chord different ways, and decide which fingering works best for
different situations.
sound and most. comfort. You should be pressing just hard enough to
cramped.
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chord shape.
• In each chord, listen for and locate the minor 3rd note, which gives the
entire chord it's minor feeling.
Play the minor chords alternating with the major chords from the previous lesson
to reinforce the major chord and to get the feel and the sound of the major to
minor and minor to major chord changes into your mind and fingers.
• C - Cm - C - Cm - C
• A - Am - A - Am - A
• G - Gm - G - Gm - G
• E - Em - E - Em - E
• D - Dm - D - Dm - D
• F - Fm - F - Fm - F
• B - Bm - B - Bm - B
In the next set of progressions. notice that playing only minor chord progressions
is kind of limited, and the over all sound is a little dark, compared to our major-
only progressions.
• Em - Am - Em - Am
• Gm - Em - Gm - Em
• Cm - Am - Cm - Am
• Dm - Am - Em - Am
• Am - Dm - Am - Dm
Most music, whether classical, popular, country, rock uses a combination of

major and minor chords to make them powerful, moving, and... well, popular!
Here are some progressions from some widely known tunes to make the point.
• Am - C - Dm - F - Am - Am - E (House of the Rising Sun)

• C - Am - G - F - C (Country Road)
• C - G - Am - F - C - G - F - C (Country Road (Chorus))
• G - C - Am - G (Yellow Submarine)
• Em - F - G - C
• Em - A - Em - A - D - G - D
• Em - C - G - Em - C - D
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• Am - F - E - Am - F - E
• Dm - G - C - Am
• Am - G - Am - Em - Am - G - Am - Em - Dm - C - G - Am (Love and
Miracles out of Nowhere)
• Bm - A - G - A - Bm - A - G - A
Rhythm Melody Harmony: The Basis of All Theory
At the center of all music there are forces at work that we take for granted
as listeners, but are critical to always remember as musicians: rhythm,
melody and harmony. Some musical styles emphasize one or two over the
remaining forces, and there are sections in some piece where one or two of the
elements are intentionally left out, but good music needs all three legs to run on.
As a reminder of the importance of all three forces, Black Belt Guitar Academy,
uses this three-part symbol to remind us of the balance and interplay between
rhythm, melody and harmony.
Black Belt Guitar Academy also stresses that every practice session should
include elements of rhythm, melody and harmony. Let's take a closer look at
each element, and then all of them together:
Rhythm
Rhythm is the first and most basic element of music, and is the greatest force for
propelling music forward. Tempo is the speed at which music moves, and rhythm
is how that tempo is subdivided. Tempo andrhythm also exist in all aspects of
nature and life, which is why we all have a natural understanding of rhythm when
we hear it, and why tempo and rhythm in music can directly affect our moods and
vital signs.
In a band, guitar players are usually not responsible for setting the tempo or the
beat of a song... that is the domain of the drum and base sections. However,
guitar players like vocalists MUST observe andkeep the the time. It's always
more forgivable to skip a note or even a measure or section of a song, than to
play out of time with the rest of the band!
When playing solo, it is the job of the picking or strumming hand to set the tempo
and the rhythm for the fretting hand and the vocals. A separate rhythm section is
not required when playing a tune, because the tempo and rhythm can be implied
in a melody, but however overt or subtle, tempo and rhythm are always there.
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For these reasons, a metronome or drum machine is a crucial tool to develop
and maintain good rhythm when practicing solo. When a ticker is not available,
tapping your foot, counting out loud or bobbing yourhead is the next best thing.
Melody
Melody, or the tune, is the second most basic element in music, most
approximating speech, it tells the story. Melody needs tempo and rhythm to help
the story line move along, but the tempo and rhythm can be implied in the
melody itself. Melody is the single most powerful element in music. Without a
tune, music cannot exist.
Melody is a single line of musical thought comprised of intervals played

sequentially. Notice we say intervals, not notes. Our mind senses the relative
distances between the notes, even if we do not know exactly which notes is
being played. If the notes are like letters of the alphabet, then intervals are like
words, whichform musical sentences called phrases, and larger musical
paragraphs called sections.
Another sensibility we all have is whether the intervals "fit" within some kind of
scale, relative to a tonal center. Our ability to remember prior notes (they ring in
our ear), sense intervals between those notesand sense the scalar fit of notes
around a tonal center gives us all another unique ability to "follow" a tune, and
even anticipate where the tune is headed, based on where it has been.
Because of the importance of melody in music, we spend time in each lesson

and during each practice session focusing on it. We always want to make a
better musical statement, and we do so through melody. We also encourage
musical students to always look for ways to say more with less. We do this
through thoroughly understanding scales. Scales in all positions, keys, types and
modes. Andres Segovia taught his students that study of scales solves more
musical problems more quickly than any other aspect of musical study. Black
Belt Guitar Academy believes in this philosophy wholeheartedly and encourages
scale practice in every practice session.
Harmony
Harmony is the final element in music. When two or more notes are played
simultaneously, we again have an interval or stacked intervals that take on a
character beyond that of the notes alone. This is because the energy from the
individual notes and their overtones either reinforces or interferes with the
overtones of the other notes, givingthe harmony a unique character beyond the
notes themselves. This is a case where 1 + 1 > 2, and 1 + 1 + 1 > 3. We hear
more than just the notes themselves. What we hear is often described as musical
color, and the more notes we play, the more color there is. Too many notes gives
us a "muddy" musical color.
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Here again we learn the basics of harmony: intervals, and stacked intervals or
chords. Understanding how intervals stack up to form chords gives our players a
deep understanding of what is going on harmonically, and gives them a rich
palette of harmonic colors to choose from in their own playing.
Harmony must be moving to be musical. Think of a blaring train or a car horn.

Harmonic, yes. Musical no. For this reason, we emphasize chord changes or
progressions as much single chords. We also study chords in the context of
movement around a tonal center, using color and voicing for variety, but almost
always support of the melody, and almost always in concert with the rhythm.
Interaction of Rhythm, Melody and Harmony
As said earlier, rhythm can be implied in the melody, and harmony. Chord
changes have a sense of direction approximating a tune, and if one note in a
chord seems dominant (usually the top note) while the others seem recessive,
then then a melody can emerge out of harmony as chord progressions are
played.
The interaction of all three elements and the endless possibilities makes music
exciting to listen to, study and play and perform. The same songs can be played
a million different ways by a million different musicians and still be recognizable.
Without understanding all the theory behind the music, we just listen and connect
with the soul of the artists. By just tweaking a tempo, substituting a rhythm,
sharping or flatting a tone, or adding or subtracting a shade of color, the whole
rendition is made one's own, and is a unique event in space and time wheresouls
come together.
The Guitar Can Do It All
Like piano, guitar is one of the few instruments that allows such strong command
of rhythm, melody and harmony at once. Unlike piano, you can carry a guitar with
you wherever you go, and tune it any way that suits your need. Also, a guitar
most closely approximates the vocal qualities of the human voice. Words like
"weeping", "crying","screaming" are often used to characterize the expressive
qualities of the guitar. I've even heard guitars sound like cattle, and elephant
rumbles. You can buy wah-wah pedals, ya-ya pedals, and even talk-boxes for
your guitar. All you knew when you picked up your guitar for the first time is that it
somehow spoke to you, and you listened.
Why We Study Music, Not Just Guitar
The challenge of guitar is to take this wonderfully expressive instrument and use
it to tell our own unique stories. We dothis by manipulating rhythm, melody and
harmony to suit our purposes. A study of music should center around the
practical use of each these three forces separately, and how they work together.
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Theory is learned as much by listening to music the "works", as much as by
hitting the books, but we need both. Armed with this knowledge, we understand
musical messages with more clarity, and learn how to write and perform our own
musical statements with greater impact.
Jazz great Dizzy Gillespie said he spent a lifetime learning what not to play. A
study of music teaches us that when making a musical statement, less can be
more. Too much of a good thing is just noise. Bruce Lee also taught in Jeet Kune
Do, that we strive to continuously remove the non-essential from our movements.
This is a good lesson in life and music as well.
Throughout your studies at Black Belt Guitar Academy, we hope you'll always
take a fresh look at these wonderful musical elements each time you pick up your
guitar, and ask how will I use them today?

Set Management
All good albums and concerts are organized to give the audience the best
experience possible in the time allowed, so that you'll be invited back. This
planning is an important part of performing that we'll call set management.
When given an audience, you are judged by how you play in the time you have.
You are not judged for what you don't play. So you want to leave your mark
during your time. This could be playing for a friend, performing at school,
auditioning for a band. In that time, what will you play to engage your audience
and convey who you are musically.
Given sets of different durations, do spend some quality time refining the sets as
a matter of habit through your entire career. Constantly replace old, stale material
with new fresh material, but stick to the allotted time.
1 Minute Set
Pick the song that you think will make the most impact for the occasion. This
should be your most polished and comfortable song, and one that is a crowd
pleaser.
Don't make the mistake of picking a song you are working on, or one you can't
play completely, or one that you can't remember the words to if you are a singer.
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5 Minute Set
This set should contain your best two or three songs, sequenced to start and end
with a bang. The bigger bang at the end, if possible. Leave them wanting more.
Familiar tunes work good here, so your audience spends more time getting a feel
for your talent, than wondering who wrote this thing.
Keep your selection tight. This means play songs that are related in style, tempo
or theme. This gives your audience a clearer picture of what kind of musician you
are. Save your eclectic tendencies for longer sets.
Don't exceed your set time unless asked. It's better to be invited back, than risk
the losing the interest of your audience.
15 Minute Set
This set should contain your best five or six songs, sequenced to start and end
with a bang. As usual, the bigger bang should be at the end, if possible. Leave
them wanting more.
With a set this length, you can begin to introduce some more variety in terms of
fast/slow, or even mix a little acoustic work with your electric songs.
Don't range too far. Keep about 80% of your songs within the genre or style that
defines you, and use the other 20% of the material as relief.
30 Minute Set
Arrange your songs to give good variety, and undulate your audience through a
wider range of emotions. Alternate fast and slow songs, major and minor keys,
popular and obscure, in order to keep the audience interested. Again, start and
end with a bang, and leave them wanting more.
A good formula might like something like this:
• Song 1: Flagship Song

• Song 2: Fast Familiar Material
• Song 3: Fast New Material
• Song 4: Slow Flagship Song
• Song 5: Fast Familiar Song
• Song 6: Fast New Material
• Song 7: Slow New Material
• Song 8: High Energy Song to Bid for an Encore
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Encore
No matter how long your set lasts, what would you play if asked to play some
more? This is your reward for a set well managed and executed. If you think you
might get to play more than one, give them a slow song to calm them down, so
your final song can send them back over the top.
These are just a few rules to help you with being ready for your performances,
but remember, once you know the rules, you can break them with authority!
Tuning Your Guitar

You are expected to learn tuning early, since you'll use this the rest of your
guitar-playing life.
There are many different possible tunings your instrument, but throughout our
lessons, we will will be using the standard tuning of E-A-D-G-B-E unless
otherwise specified.
For an excellent Windows-based chord and scale generator program at a very

modest price, we highly recommend Virtual Fretboard. Among its many features
is the ability to generate chords and scales in any key, and with any of 13
alternate tunings.
Tips before you start
• Buy a sturdy case for your guitar to protect it from the inevitable bumps,
scrapes and dings that can affect tuning.
• Keep your guitar humidified by keeping a moist sponge in an open plastic
bag within your case. This will save your guitar from humidity changes that
can effect the shape and sound of your instrument.
• Never leave your guitar out of its case for extended lengths of time when
you are not playing. Kids, pets or humidity changes or plain old gravity can
ruin your instrument.
• After you know what strings feel and sound best for you, stick with the
same weight all the time, so your guitar will not have to be readjusted
when new strings are put on.
• Change your strings often if you are serious about sounding good. Old
strings tend to sound dull. Coated strings last longer than non-coated.
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Five Point Tune Up
Our 5-point tune up method will allow you to sound most in tune for the kind of
songs you will be playing. As versatile as our Western 12-note scale is, it is not
exactly precise, which means that there are a few compromises along the way to
make it sound good to us overall. That said, we need to know how to make our
guitars get in tune, stay in tune, and to minimize any perceivable inconsistencies
in the scale that we get with all fretted instruments to some small degree.
Point 1: Start with a Tuner
There are two general categories of tuners: active and passive, and you need to
know how to use both.
Active tuners are those that produce a tone, and you are expected to tune your
guitar to match this tone. This can be a piano, or your guitar teacher's guitar
(especially when your teacher is playing on a DVD), or it can be a tone played
from your computer or anything else. Sometimes you have no choice except to
tune with the other instrument or device simply because they cannot.
Passive tuners are those that hear the tone you are playing and tell you what
note it is. These tuners should be part of every guitar player's toolkit to keep them
(and their band mates) all sounding good.
Now that your open strings are in tune with your tuner and bandmates, here are
some other tuning tricks to make sure your instrument sounds good with itself:
Point 2: Tune Perfect Unisons on Adjacent Strings
Pluck the strings of the corresponding color one at a time, and repeatedly. When
nudge one of the strings if you have to to come into tune with the other. Repeat
this for each pair of strings.
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Point 3: Tune Octaves Two Strings Apart
This technique will make sure that strings two-apart will sound in tune with each
other. This will usually fix problems you hear while playing open E, A, or D
chords. The notes to compare are color coded.
Point 4: Tune Octaves Three Strings Apart
This technique will help you fix problems you hear when playing your open C and
G chords. The notes to compare are color coded.
Point 5: Tune Octaves on Adjacent Strings
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This technique will help you fix problems you hear when transposing chords to
another voicing higher up on the fretboard. The notes to compare are color
coded as usual.
Other Hints
• Generally, tune up, and not down. That is start below your target pitch,
and tighten your string until you arrive at the desired pitch.
• Perfection is not attainable, but you can optimize the tuning for your
circumstances.
• If you have a floating bridge, you may need to repeat the process a few
times.
Potentially Necessary Guitar Adjustments
• Fresh strings of the recommended weight are usually the best adjustment
you can make if you are having trouble tuning across using the 5-point
method.
• The screws (or fine tuners) on your may need to be adjusted to lenghten
or shorten your strings
• Tighten the springs on your floating bridge
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Yellow Belt: Level 2 Guitar Lessons
3rd and 6th Intervals: The Emotional Intervals
Since you have already mastered the perfect intervals, you have a solid foundation for any western chord or
scale. Now you are ready to learn the next set of intervals: those which impart emotion into the chords or
scale.
Category: Yellow Belt: Ear Training
Subcategory: Ear Training Read More ...
Major and Minor Scales: Yin and Yang of Scales

Major and Minor scales are the workhorses of Western music (not western like John Wayne,
Western like descended from European roots. Learn why these scales are so pervasive, how they are
related, and why they are complementary.
Category: Yellow Belt: Scales


Category: General

Category: General
Open Major 7th Chords

More very common open chords to get to know. By now you are probably beginning to take notice that the
chords have a lot in common with the ones you already know, but the sound is quite unique. It's this
difference in the quality of the tiny changes that make them so interesting and useful. Pay particular
attention to these differences. At the end of this lesson, you'll have 28 of the most popular chords in music in
your arsenal!
Category: Yellow Belt: Chords
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Open Minor 7th Chords
Congratulations! At the end of this lesson, you will have 35 of the most popular chords used in pop, country,
rock, bluegrass and jazz. You will be armed with 35 chord forms that can be transposed up and down the
neck to any key by using a capo. This is an amazing accomplishment, and you should be proud. Many
professional artists play all their tunes using only the chords you have learned so far!
Category: Yellow Belt: Chords

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General
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3rd and 6th Intervals: The Emotional Intervals
As a yellow belt, you will now master the major and minor 3rd and 6th intervals.
This is for a few good reasons:
• They form the basis of all major and minor sounding chords
• They are the most common intervals used in two-part harmony
• Next to the Perfect intervals, they are the easiest to recognize by the ear
beginning ear training
• They round out the set of consonant intervals
• You will need to have a firm foundation of major and minor intervals
established in your ear before studying major and minor scales as an
Orange Belt
Here is a friendly reminder not to be too anxious to learn all the other intervals at
once. It is much more preferable to culture your ear through small frequent doses
of a few minutes a day when your concentration is good and your ear is relaxed,
than to try to cram to much in at once.
Name of
Number Consonant Other Inverted
Interval Frequency Interval in
of Half / Names, Interval
Name Ratio Second
Steps Dissonant Symbols Name
Octave
Perfect 0 1 Consonant P1 Perfect Perfect
Unison Unison Octave
Minor 3rd 3 5:6 Consonant m3 Major 6th Minor 10th
Major 3rd 4 4:5 Consonant M3 Minor 6th Major 10th
Minor 6th 8 5:8 Consonant m6 Major 3rd Minor 13th
Major 6th 9 3:5 Consonant M6 Minor 3rd Major 13th
Perfect 12 1:2 Consonant P8 Perfect Perfect 15th
Octave Octave
3rd and 6th Interval Spellings
This chart shows the spelling of all intervals upward and downward from any
starting point. This is important to know when composing music, because if you
know the name of one note, then by hearing the interval, you will know the name
of the next note you hear by ear.
P1 m3 M3 m6 M6 P8
Ab Cb C Fb F Ab
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A C C# F F# A
A# B C## F# F## A#
Bb Db D Gb G Bb
B D D# G G# B
C Eb E Ab A C
C# E E# A A# C#
Db Fb F Bbb Bb Db
D F F# Bb B D
D# F# G B B# D#
Eb Gb G Cb C Eb
E G G# C C# E
F Ab A Db D F
F# A A# D D# F#
Gb A Bb Ebb Eb Gb
G Bb B Eb E G
G# B B# E E# G#
Tertian Harmony
Most popular Western music today is built upon what is known as tertian
harmony. Tertian or tertiary means thirds. In music, we create pretty harmonious
chords by stacking 3rd intervals atop one another as you see here, to build
several of the most common chord forms that you have learned already (major
and minor triads, and 7th chords), and extended chords that you will learn later
(9th, 11th and 13th chords, in order of decreasing popularity).
Here you should focus on the basic sounds and fingerings of the major and minor
3rd intervals as each stands on its own.
Major 3rd
The major 3rd by itself is a very stable, consonant and happy sounding interval.
So much so, that by itself it can ring comfortably in our ear for a long time without
causing any real tension. It's no wonder that doorbell manufacturers chose the
major 3rd as its interval of choice. It is welcoming and inviting, whether played
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from bottom to top, top to bottom, or both at the same time. Regardless of which
notes are played, as long as the notes are 4 semitones apart, our ear says aah!
Pay attention to the slightly different sound of the same notes played on different
strings. This subtle difference will be focused on at a later point when we discuss
voicing.
Minor 3rd
The minor 3rd by itself is also very stable and consonant, but has a distinctly
sadder, darker feeling associated with it, compared to the major 3rd.
Major 6th
The major 6th by itself has a bit of a bright, happy feeling. Of the consonant
intervals, you feel that there is quite a bit of space between the bottom and top
notes.
But there is a flip-side to this happy camper. In some musical contexts, the major
6th can sound minor. If you start with a note, raise it by an octave, then lower it
by a minor 3rd, you have a major 6th. This is because the major 6th and minor
3rd complementary, or inverted intervals. In other words, added together they
make an octave.
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The real point here, however, is to allow your ear to hear this all happening, and
assimilate these aural illusions into your understanding of what is going on in the
music.
Minor 6th
The minor 6th by itself is a little on the darker, sadder side than the major 6th, but
also has its flip-side. The minor 6th's complementary or inverted interval is the
major 3rd, and your ear can play similar tricks on you while trying to discern
between the major and minor 6th, based on mood alone.
Exercises:
When training your ear, remember: You cannot force your ear to learn. It must
happen easily and naturally, and through relaxed repetition over time, rather than
cramming all at once. When we try to force the ear to learn, the ear rebels, and
closes. Here are some tips to encourage your ear to open up.
• Practice the intervals no more than 10 minutes each day.

• Practice intervals at the beginning of your practice session, when your ear
is most open and relaxed.
• Start out by learning the intervals on your instrument, not someone elses.
• Learn the intervals in the order presented in this lesson.
• Play the intervals both on the same string and on different strings. Play
them up and down the fretboard, both in order and randomly.
• Sing the note names of each interval as you play it. Sing and play each
interval both up and down.
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• Play one note in the interval and sing the other. Do this up and down.
• Play and sing each interval both melodically (one note at a time)and
harmonically (two notes at a time).
• If your ear gets tired, move onto other things and come back to it fresh
tomorrow.
Major and Minor Scales: Yin and Yang of Scales

The major and minor scales separated by four frets are relative scales. Related
because they have all the same tones in common: DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA -
TI becomes LA - TI - DO - RE - MI - FA - SO, and vice versa.
Major and minor scales are the backbone for all Western music. They should be
thoroughly mastered before moving on to other scales. This is because with
major and minor scales our ear is our guide. Whenever our fingers get lost, our
ear helps us find the way home. It is a bit of a challenge to master the fingering of
the major and minor scales at first, but working through the troublespots will pay
big dividends, and your ear will tell you when something is out of bounds.
Since these scales are so universally familiar and the effect on our common
emotions is so predictable, mastering these scales will allow the player to quickly
acquire a repertoire that makes the audience feel safe and familiar. Don't be
surprised if your audience joins in and starts singing or playing with you.
One of the three essential components of music is found right here: Melody.
When listening to music, we almost always hear the main melody sung or played
on the major or minor scale, but we rarely hear the melody played as a scale,
that is starting at the root, climbing up the scale to the root and back down again.
So don't get stuck in the rut of ony practicing scales that way! Practice listening
for and playing interesting melodies within the scale at all times.
The examples below are in the parallel keys of C major and A minor, which
means that both scales share the same notes but have different starting and
ending points.
Major Scale
DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI - DO. The Major scale is the most familiar of all

the scales, since we have heard almost daily since birth. It has a happy effect
upon us. (Think of the theme song to the Brady Bunch... don't deny that you
know this tune by heart). It is major by virtue of the major 3rd, and the
distinguishing degree is the major 7th, which has a strong tendency to pull the
ear up a half step to the root or home or key note.
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Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-3-4-5-6-7
Step Construction W-W-H-W-W-W-H
Good over Chords M , M7 , M6
Good with I-IV-V , II-V-I , I-VI-IV-V , I-III-IV-I , I-IV-I ,
Progressions I-V-I
Minor Scale
LA - TI - DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA. The Minor scale is the second most

familiar of all the scales. It is minor by virtue of the minor 3rd, and the
distinguishing degree is the minor 6th, both of which have a darkening effect on
our emotions. (Think of the theme song to Gilligan's Island... yeah, you know this
one too).
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Step Construction W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Good over Chords M , m7 , m6
Good with Progressions Im-bVII-bVI , Im-IVm , Im-Vm , Im-bIII-bVII
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Open Major 7th Chords
Major 7th chords get their name from the combination of the major 7th note in
combination with the major 3rd note. Double majors. You might think that this
would make it sound a little too major, but this is not the case. This chord,
actually sounds a little off major. But it has its place in the harmonic scale and as
a chord to use as a transition between a major chord and a dominant 7th chord.
In later lessons, you will learn that the major 7th chord is a substitute for the
major I and IV chords, in harmonic progressions.
Take another minute to memorize this table:
Attributes Values
Chord Formula 1-M3-5-M7
Distinguishing Degree M3, M7
optional:
CM7 AM7 GM7 EM7 DM7
FM7 BM7
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Exercises:
cramped.
chord shape.
• In each chord, listen for and locate the major 7th note.
Lets review the major chords (those with a major third in them), to compare them
side by side, so you can get the fingering and sounds of the different 7th degrees
down pat. Many popular songs use this transition to walk chromatically up and
down the 7th degree while holding the rest of the notes in the scale constant.
• C - CM7 - C7 - CM7 - C
• A - AM7 - A7 - AM7 - A
• G - GM7 - G7 - GM7 - G
• E - EM7 - E7 - EM7 - E
• D - DM7 - D7 - DM7 - D
• F - FM7 - F7 - FM7 - F
• B - BM7 - B7 - BM7 - B
In the progressions below, pay attention to the lovely soft sound of the major 7th
chord when played with other major 7th chords in the same scale.
• EM7 - AM7 - EM7 - AM7

• AM7 - DM7 - AM7 - DM7
• CM7 - FM7 - CM7 - FM7
• CM7 - AM7 - CM7 - AM7
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Open Minor 7th Chords

Minor 7th chords get their name from the combination of the minor 7th note in
combination with the minor 3rd note. Double minors. But instead of sounding
more minor than a straight minor, it sounds like a minor chord with softer edges.
In later lessons, you will learn that the major 7th chord is a substitute for the
minor II, III and VI chords, in harmonic progressions.
Take the usual minute or two to memorize this table:
Attributes Values
Chord Formula 1-m3-5-m7
Distinguishing Degree m3, m7
Now take some quality time to learn each chord shape in this table. White notes
are optional:
Cm7 Am7 Gm7 Em7 Dm7
Fm7 Bm7
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Exercises:
cramped.
chord shape.
• In each chord, listen for and locate the minor 7th note.
Lets review the minor chords (those with a minor third in them), to compare them
side by side, so you can get the fingering and sounds down solidly.
• Cm - Cm7 - Cm - Cm7 - Cm
• Am - Am7 - Am - Am7 - Am
• Gm - Gm7 - Gm - Gm7 - Gm
• Em - Em7 - Em - Em7 - Em
• Dm - Dm7 - Dm - Dm7 - Dm
• Fm - Fm7 - Fm - Fm7 - Fm
• Bm - Bm7 - Bm - Bm7 - Bm
Now lets compare the dominant 7th and the minor 7th side by side. These have
the root, 5th and minor 7th in common. The difference is the major and minor
3rd, respectively.
• C7 - Cm7 - C7 - Cm7 - C7
• A7 - Am7 - A7 - Am7 - A7
• G7 - Gm7 - G7 - Gm7 - G7
• E7 - Em7 - E7 - Em7 - E7
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• D7 - Dm7 - D7 - Dm7 - D7
• F7 - Fm7 - F7 - Fm7 - F7
• B7 - Bm7 - B7 - Bm7 - B7
Now some more musical examples where the minor 7th chords are used in
conjunction with other chords in the scale for an overall softer minor feel than a
straight minor chord.
• Am7 - B7 - Am7 - B7 - Em
• Dm7 - Am7 - E - Am
• Cm7 - Am - Cm7 - Am
• Dm7 - D7 - G
• C - Am7 - Dm7 - G7
• D - Bm7 - Em7 - A7

How Listening is Different than Playing
A basic understanding of the mental and emotional processes involved in both

listening and playing can help us better understand how they are different, and
how we can take better control over these processes in developing our own skills
of timing and flow.
Whether listening or playing, we will make an important assumption that the

language being played is comprehended by both the listener and the performer.
There is at least substantial commonality in the vocabulary and structure shared
by each.
Listening Flow
When listening to music, the phrases played a few seconds before linger or "ring"
in our short term memory, suspended there until we can complete the phrase, or
thought. At that time a meaning is associated with the completed thought as we
interpreted it and an emotion of some kind is evoked.
So in listening, the basic linear flow is:
1. Understand the context or topic of what is being played

2. Combine notes from the phrase as they happen until a phrase is signaled
to have ended
3. Interpret the phrase to give it meaning within the context
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4. Apply a meaning and emotional response to the interpreted phrase
Familiarity with a topic, song or style, or familiarity with the performer can allow
us to anticipate accurately in many cases what might be played next. However,
when listening to unfamiliar material or to a new performer, this is the basic
process, and there is a small but notable time lag between each of these steps.
Playing Flow
Playing is much more difficult than listening, most obviously because there are
more processes involved, and the process is circular, rather than linear. So, there
is potentially more that can go wrong within the overall process, and more areas
over which to gain control or mastery.
Playing from Memory
Playing a rehearsed song from memory where you've had a chance to work out
the bugs is a matter of hearing the end of the song from the beginning, and within
the song, hearing the next phrase while the current phrase is being expressed
from your instrument. Mental focus should always be on the next measure or
phrase, while the execution of the current measure or phrase is handled at an
autonomous or physical level. Here is the process:
1. In a state of comfort and confidence, having rehearsed thoroughly you can

hear the entire song in your head, and see and feel your hands playing all
the notes even before you begin to play the first note
2. You buffer the first several measures or the first phrase in your mind,
hearing it before you play it
3. While your hands are playing the notes in your mind's ear, your long-term
memory is buffering the next phrase into your mind's ear, continually
staying ahead of what is being played physically
4. Hear yourself playing, not with a mind to change what you play, but how it
is being expressed (tempo, volume, tone, etc.)
5. Evaluate the audience's response, and make expressive adjustments
accordingly
6. Return to the third step
Improvising
Improvising is even more complex, but by controlling some of the macro

variables, like playing within a familiar context will help the performer stay in
control of the other more fluid variables. Here is the basic process:
1. In a state of comfort and confidence, having learned the boundaries of the

context in which you will play, you come prepared with rough ideas of
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what will be spoken within that context, or how far outside of the context
you will stray
2. Begin with an idea or an emotion, within the context or topic
3. Evaluate options for how to express that idea or emotion (prior experience
helps shorten this phase)
4. Choose from among the options (usually leaning towards what has
worked in the past)
5. Execute the chosen option on your instrument, using certain expressive
options or punctuation available to you
6. Hear yourself speaking or playing your instrument
7. Evaluate yourself speaking or playing
8. Evaluate your audience's response
9. Return to the first step
Boiling It All Down
So whenever you play, whether from memory or improvising, you only really
have to be in control of three things:
• The current chord and its scale or mode (handled autonomously)

• The next chord with its scale or mode (handled conciously by the mind's
ear)
• The transition between the current and the next chord with its scale or
mode (handled autonomously)
We can further boil it down to the notion of "hearing ahead". Always keep your
mind's ear primed with what is going to be played next. If while practicing you find
yourself stopped because you don't know what's next, don't blame your hands.
Start by fixing the process of flowing sound into your mind's ear.
If you're learning to read music, then you have to learn read ahead with your
eyes a measure or two before the sound is expressed from your instrument. If
your eyes stall on the current measure, your playing flow will be interrupted.
Other Practical Examples
In all martial arts styles, we study the flow and transfer of energy while both
meditating and while performing forms and while sparring. The mind's eye in
every case is seeing the next move, while contemplating how to transfer energy
from one position to the next. If there is an interruption in the flow or a loss of
balance or power, the striking hands or feet are usually not the root of the
problem, it is an interruption in the flow of energy from the previous position or
stance.
In juggling three balls, one becomes unaware of the individual balls, but gains a
sense of the space occupied by the balls as a set, and the transfer of energy and
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between the balls in the set. For each ball, the throwing hand autonomously
tosses the ball into the air in a trajectory learned through experience to come
down near the other hand. The mental focus is always on the catching hand, and
getting it into a position to catch the falling ball. Meanwhile, there is a rhythmic
droning of 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3... felt throughout the entire body.
Though these examples are not musical, they reinforce the concepts discussed
here, and provide useful contrasts.
How to Develop Flow in Playing
Flow is developed through proper practice of the pieces you want to play. Start
by framing the idea, and then adding detail later. Know the changing chord
centers as they progress the song. Add detail as you go, such as melody and
fingering. Practice sticky spots more than the smooth spots, then play the whole
piece.
In spots where you cannot hear or picture what is coming next, rehearse this in
your mind before your fingers hit the strings. Once you have mental and aural
clarity, then address the strings with your fingers.
For long, difficult passages, start with single measures, then build up to 2, then 4,
then 8, then 16. I would also suggest learning these measures from the back of
the piece to the front, as suggested by David Russell. This way your mind has
exponential exposure to and clarity of later measures in the piece, which breeds
comfort and confidence.
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Orange Belt: Level 3 Guitar Lessons
2nd and 7th Intervals: The Leading Intervals
More intervals to discuss, think about and get into your ear. In Scales, the 2nd and 7th intervals play the role
of leading the melody "home" to the tonic note. In Chords, these intervals play the role of adding color,
direction or suspense.
Category: Orange Belt: Ear Training
Extending Bar Chords by Morphing: A Form

This lesson will show you how to construct 7th, 9th and 13th chords on your knowledge of the A-form bar
chord. Again, you start with what you already know, then add to it one or two notes at a time to give color.
Category: Orange Belt: Chords
Published on: 18 Dec 2003
Extending Bar Chords by Morphing: E Form

No need to be afraid of chords with big numbers. This lesson will show you how to construct 7th, 9th and
13th chords on your knowledge of the E-form bar chord. Extending chords is easier if you start with what you
already know, then add to it one note at a time to give color. This lesson will get you on your way.
Published on: 03 Nov 2003
Inverted Chord Forms

Inverted chords are just chords we already know, except they are upside-down. Chord inversions are
important for intermediate guitar players to learn to add variety, substance, character, flexibility and feeling
to their playing.
Major and Minor Chord Inversions

Now that you have mastered open chord shapes and bar chord shapes, it's time to turn those chords upside
down! This lesson will expose you to major and minor triad (three-note) inversions.
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Major Scales and the CAGED + 2 System
The C major scale is the most universally recognizable scale in all of Western music, owing to all the songs
written in the key of C. However, learning to play the C scale on a guitar is a bit of a challenge for most
beginners, and even intermediate players. It's just one of those scales we have to master, and this lesson
breaks it down into manageable chunks.
Category: Orange Belt: Scales
Subcategory: Scales Read More ...
Published on: 05 Sep 2004
Moveable A-Form Barre Chords

Now we come to the bar chords of the A-form. The A form is the perfect foil for the E-form. Here's why...
Leaving the index finger in the same position and just moving the 2, 3, and 4 fingers onto the next higher
strings, you are already playing a perfect 4th up the scale. Starting on in the A-form and hanging to the E-
form leaving the index finger in the same position, you have gone down a perfect 4th, which is the musical
equivalent of going up a perfect 5th.
Moveable E-Form Barre Chords

Welcome to Bar-Chords. Fasten your seatbelt, because you are about to learn how to give wings to some easy
open-chord shapes that you already know. This will both reinforce what you already know, and open new
doors to comfortably play songs that were just out of reach with open chords alone.

Category: General

Category: General
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Pentatonic Scales: Rocker's Favorites
Pentatonic scales and guitars go together like peas in a pod. They are a favorite of rock, blues and jazz fusion
players, because of their forgiving fingering and exotic sound.
Category: Orange Belt: Scales

Category: General
The CAGED System: Seeing the Fretboard

After mastering open chords and barre chords, this lesson has the natural next step for helping you see the
entire guitar fretboard. It's called the CAGED system, and unlike the name implies, the system is quite
liberating. In 5 minutes of studying this lesson, you'll learn more than at perhaps any other lesson about the
fretboard.
Category: Orange Belt: Theory
Subcategory: CAGED Read More ...

Category: General
Triads: Stacked 3rd Intervals

Most harmony in Western music is based on tertian harmony, or some combination of major and/or minor
3rd intervals stacked atop one another. Learn some useful guitar chord formulas based on stacked 3rds.

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Category: General

Category: General
77
2nd and 7th Intervals: The Leading Intervals
As an orange belt, you will master the major and minor 2nd and 7th intervals.
Here are a few good reasons for really learning them well:
• 7th chords are very common in modern music, and to hear what is going
on, you should be able to recognize and play a major and minor 7th easily.
• In scales and melodies, 2nds and 7ths have a strong pulling force or
leading tendency toward the root or tonal center of the song or section.
2nds pull downward, and 7ths pull upward toward the root.
• 2nd and 7th intervals when added to major and minor chords add color,
otherwise referred to as dissonance or musical energy.
• Since most scales are comprised of whole-steps and half-steps, knowing
the positions and sounds of the major and minor 3rd steps will help you
improvise with speed and accuracy when playing leads which are based
on scalar runs.
• 2nds and 7ths should be learned together, because they are
complementary, meaning that a 2nd and a 7th add up to an octave. This
quality can make them a little confusing to the ear, so it needs to be
learned and sorted out.
Here is another friendly reminder not to be too anxious to learn all the other
intervals at once. It is much more preferable to culture your ear through small
frequent doses of a few minutes a day when your concentration is good and your
ear is relaxed, than to try to cram to much in at once. It typically takes a new
music student several weeks to completely learn the intervals by ear.
Name of
Number Consonant Other Inverted
Interval Frequency Interval in
of Half / Names, Interval
Name Ratio Second
Steps Dissonant Symbols Name
Octave
Perfect 0 1 Consonant P1 Perfect Perfect
Unison Unison Octave
Minor 2nd 1 15:16 Dissonant m2, b2 Major 7th Minor 9th
Major 2nd 2 8:9 Dissonant M2, 2 Minor 7th Major 9th
Minor 7th 10 5:9 Dissonant m7, b7 Major 2nd Minor 14th
Major 7th 11 8:15 Dissonant M7, 7 Minor 2nd Major 14th
Perfect 12 1:2 Consonant P8 Perfect Perfect 15th
Octave Octave
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2nd and 7th Interval Spellings
P1 m2 M2 m7 M7 P8
Ab Bbb Bb Gb G Ab
A Bb B G G# A
A# B B# G# G## A#
Bb Cb C Ab A Bb
B C C# A A# B
C Db D Bb B C
C# D D# B B# C#
Db Ebb Eb Cb C Db
D Eb E C Db D
D# E E# C# D D#
Eb Fb F Db D Eb
E F F# D D# E
F Gb G Eb E F
F# G G# E E# F#
Gb Abb Ab Fb F Gb
G Ab A F Gb G
G# A A# F# G G#
Major 2nd
The dissonant major 2nd is the first interval in the major scale. The dissonance is
heard mostly when the interval is played harmonically, which incidentaly can only
be done on separate strings. The major 2nd is comprised of two semitones or
two half-steps of separation.
Because the major second is two frets apart, it is an especially popular interval
for use in trilling (rapidly hammering on and pulling off with the fretting hand).
This is heard often in rock and blues tunes.
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Minor 2nd
The ultra-dissonant minor 2nd is full of energy, and is used sparingly, because of
it's potency. The dissonance is heard when the interval is played harmonically on
separate strings, which is a stretch for most players. The minor 2nd is comprised
of one semitone of separation.
The minor 2nd is another good interval for trilling (rapidly hammering on and
pulling off with the fretting hand), which you will probably hear most in heavy
metal music.
Major 7th
The major 7th is a highly dissonant interval, played harmonically, because it is

the inversion or complementary interval to the minor 2nd. When played
melodically and the root is on the bottom, the major 7th on the top has the
strongest pull of all intervals upward toward the root one octave above the lower
tone. This is why the major 7th is known as the leading interval, as it leads the
ear to anticipate that the next note it will here is the root.
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Minor 7th
The minor 7th is a dissonant interval played harmonically, although slightly less
dissonant than the major 7th. The minor 7th is a part of both the dominant 7th
chord and the minor 7th chord. Played melodically, the leading pull up to the
octave is less than with th major 7th, but when the minor 7th is played instead of
the major 7th (as in the mixolydian scale mode), it gives a funkier feel.
Exercises:

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tomorrow.
Extending Bar Chords by Morphing: A Form

Here are some more extended chords that are based on the A bar chord form. A
couple are stretches and exotic chords are here, but seeing how to build them up
will give you the mental tools you need if you ever come across them.
On a guitar, extended chords follow the same chord construction formulas as a

piano, but the larger chords cannot be played the same way, as on a piano
because we either don't have enough strings, or enough reach with our fingers.
For this reason on guitar when playing 9th and 13th chords, we typically either
rearrange the order of the notes, or we omit certain notes, and repeat others for
emphasis.
for 9th and 13 chords, we are more limited using the A form than the E form,
because the big E string is not being used.
Major Chord Morphing in A Form
We begin with a familiar minor (M) chord, then morph it into a major 7th (M7th)
chord by dropping the octave a half-step. Next, we add a 13th on top of the M7th
chord, creating a major 9th (M9th) chord, then we drop the 13th and the 9th on
top of the M7th to make a M13th chord. Continue by dropping the M7th another
half-step to create a dominant 7th (7th) chord. Add the 9th, then the 13th on top
of the 7th to create a 9th and 13th chord, respectively.
.M.... .M7th. .M13th .M9th. .7th.. .9th.. .13th.
Minor Chord Morphing in A Form
For the minor series, remember that all the chords must have minor 3rd in them.
Begin with a familiar minor (m) chord, then morph it into a minor major 7th
(mM7th) chord by dropping the octave a half-step. Then add a 9th on top of the
mM7th chord, creating a minor major 9th (mM9th) chord. Next, add a 13th on top
of the mM7th to make a mM13th chord. Continue by dropping the M7th another
half-step to create a minor 7th (m7th) chord. Add the 9th, then the 13th on top of
the 7th to create a m9th and m13th your chords.
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m..... mM7th. mM13th mM9th. m7th.. m9th.. m13th.
Exercises:
• Play all the chords in adjacent pairs. Go back and forth among adjacent
pairs until you are quite familiar and comfortable with the changing note.
• Play the same chord all the way up and down the neck, one, two and
three frets at a time. Get the sound of the chord structure in your ear even
when there is no tonality.
Remember, it's not so hard if you take it slow. The important part of learning
these chords is to learn their sound by ear and their shape by tactile feel. Play
them in different combinations until you can transition successfully by raising or
lowering one note at a time.
Extending Bar Chords by Morphing: E Form

One of the reasons beginning guitar players may go for a long time without ever
learning extended chords, is that they don't see the relationship between chords,
or they are overwhelmed by the formulas.One way to make learning extended
chords less daunting to learn is to start with a familiar chord shape, and change
one note at a time.
Major Chord Morphing in E Form
We begin with a familiar major (M) chord, then morph it into a major 7th (M7th)
chord by dropping the octave a half-step. Next, we add a 9th on top of the M7th
chord, creating a major 9th (M9th) chord, then we add a 13th on top of the M7th
to make a M13th chord. Continue by dropping the M7th another half-step to
create a dominant 7th (7th) chord. Add the 9th, then the 13th on top of the 7th to
create a 9th and 13th chord, respectively.
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M..... M7th.. M9th.. M13th. 7th... 9th... 13th..
Minor Chord Morphing in E Form
For the minor series, remember that all the chords must have minor 3rd in them.
Begin with a familiar minor (m) chord, then morph it into a minor major 7th
(mM7th) chord by dropping the octave a half-step. Then add a 9th on top of the
mM7th chord, creating a minor major 9th (mM9th) chord. Next, add a 13th on top
of the mM7th to make a mM13th chord. Continue by dropping the M7th another
half-step to create a minor 7th (m7th) chord. Add the 9th, then the 13th on top of
the 7th to create a m9th and m13th your chords.
m..... mM7th. mM9th. mM13th m7th.. m9th.. m13th.
Exercises:
• Play all the chords in adjacent pairs. Go back and forth among adjacent
pairs until you are quite familiar and comfortable with the changing note.
• Play the same chord all the way up and down the neck, one, two and
three frets at a time. Get the sound of the chord structure in your ear even
when there is no tonality.
See, it's not so hard if you take it slow. The important part of learning these
chords is to learn their sound by ear and their shape by tactile feel. Play them in
different combinations until you can transition successfully by raising or lowering
one note at a time.
Inverted Chord Forms

A major or minor chord inversion is simply the major or minor chord played with
the with a different sequencing of the root, 3rd and 5th. When the root is on the
bottom, we call the chord "Major or Minor, Root Position".
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Next, if we move the root to the top, leaving the 3rd on the bottom, then we call
the chord "Major, or Minor, 1st Inversion".
Finally, if we raise the root to the middle, and the 3rd to the top, leaving the 5th
on the bottom, we call this chord "Major or Minor, 2nd Inversion".
Knowing how to invert chords will add flexibility to your playing, especially when
playing harmonic melody with chords. Sometimes the melody is best played as
the top note in the chord, sometimes in the middle, and sometimes on the
bottom. Think of a singing trio.
Let's look at the most common positions on the fretboard for playing major and
minor inversions. These inversions should be thoroughly memorized and
rehearsed, so that you can invert any chord in any key at will.
Major Chord Inversions
In these chords, the 3rd degree refers to the major 3rd interval. Play it and listen
for it.
Major Root Position (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th)
The root position gets its name from the root note being on the bottom of the 1-3-
5 sequence. The root note in this position acts as the anchor, and the harmony
rides on top.
654 Strings Shape 543 Strings Shape 432 Strings Shape 321 Strings Shape
Major First Inversion (Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Root)
The first inversion gets its name because the root (or 1st degree) is moved from
the bottom to the top in a 3-5-1 sequence. This voicing is especially useful when
the root note rides on top of the other notes, making it very distinguishable as the
highest voice in the trio.
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Major Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Major 3rd)
The second inversion gets its name because both root and the 5th degree are
moved from the bottom to the top in a 5-1-3 sequence. The root note gets buried
in the middle and becomes more subtle.
Minor Chord Inversions
In these chords, the 3rd degree refers to the minor 3rd interval. Play it and listen
for it.
Minor Root Position (Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th)

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Minor First Inversion (Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 3rd)
Minor Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Minor 3rd)

Major and Minor Chord Inversions

A chord inversion is simply a triad played with the with a different sequencing of
the root, 3rd and 5th. When the root is on the bottom, we say that the chord is
played in "Root Position". If the root is moved to the top, leaving the 3rd on the
bottom, then we call this triad a "1st Inversion". Finally, if we raise the root to the
middle, and the 3rd to the top, leaving the 5th on the bottom, we call this triad a
"2nd Inversion".
Knowing how to invert chords will add flexibility to playing, especially when
playing harmonic melody with chords. Sometimes the melody is best played as
the top note in the chord, sometimes in the middle, and sometimes on the
bottom.
Let's look at the most common positions on the fretboard for playing major and
minor inversions. These inversions should be thoroughly memorized and
rehearsed, so that you can invert any chord in any key at will.
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Major Chord Inversions
In these chords, the 3rd degree refers to the major 3rd interval. Play it and listen
for it.
Major Root Position (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th)
The root position gets its name from the root note being on the bottom of the 1-3-
5 sequence. The root note in this position acts as the anchor, and the harmony
rides on top.
Major First Inversion (Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Root)
The first inversion gets its name because the root, or 1st degree is moved from
the bottom to the top in a 3-5-1 sequence. This voicing is especially useful when
the root note rides on top of the other notes,making it very distinguishable as the
highest voice in the trio.
Major Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Major 3rd)
The second inversion gets its name because both root and the 5th degree are
moved from the bottom to the top in a 5-1-3 sequence. The root note gets buried
in the middle and becomes more subtle.
88
Minor Chord Inversions
In these chords, the 3rd degree refers to the minor 3rd interval. Play it and listen
for it.
Minor Root Position (Root, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th)

Minor First Inversion (Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 3rd)

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Minor Second Inversion (Perfect 5th, Root, Minor 3rd)
Exercises:
These exercises will help you establish the positions, feeling and sound of the
different inversions in your ear. Try playing each inversion harmonically, and
melodically by arpeggiating.
For each of the key notes, Play each inversion back and forth across all strings,
then up and down the neck on the same strings, following the patterns in the first
two examples:
• C Major Inversions
• C Minor Inversions
• Db Major Inversions
• Db Minor Inversions
• D Major Inversions
• D Minor Inversions
• Eb Major Inversions
• Eb Minor Inversions
• E Major Inversions
• E Minor Inversions
• F Major Inversions
• F Minor Inversions
• Gb Major Inversions
• Gb Minor Inversions
• G Major Inversions
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• G Minor Inversions
• Ab Major Inversions
• Ab Minor Inversions
• A Major Inversions
• A Minor Inversions
• Bb Major Inversions
• Bb Minor Inversions
• B Major Inversions
• B Minor Inversions
Major Scales and the CAGED + 2 System

Scale Degrees
For this lesson to make sense, we need to review briefly the concept of scale
degrees:
• I: the First Degree, Root or Tonic (DO)

• II: the Second Degree (RE)
• III: the Third Degree (MI)
• IV: the Fourth Degree (FA)
• V: the Fifth Degree (SO)
• VI: the Sixth Degree (LA)
• VII: the Seventh Degree (TI)
The scale degrees are useful because no matter what key you are playing in, the
scale degrees in relation to the root are always constant. The goal of scale
degrees is for you to know both on the the fretboard and by ear where you are
relative to the root at all times.
The CAGED System
The CAGED system is a way of visualizing the entire fretboard by focusing on 4

or 5 frets at a time. In order to understand the CAGED system, you must first
know by memory the shapes of your open chords, namely C, A, G, E, D, B and F
major. If you don't know these by memory, then go back and review them now.
Within each box, we have grouped together a series of notes containing the C
major scale in one or two octaves. Each box has within it highlighted root or tonic
notes that outline the shape of the open chord from whence the box gets its
name.
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The C Pattern
In this pattern, you can see the shape of an open C chord. This shape is very
comfortable for playing the C scale with only one octave. Since the 1st and 6th
strings within the box do not include the tonic, they are not as heavily used,
except when walking up to the bottom tonic or down to the top tonic.
The A Pattern
In this pattern, you can see the shape of an open A chord. This pattern almost
includes two Octaves, but requires a little stretching to use. The advantage of this
pattern is when playing triplets on each string.
The G Pattern
In this pattern, you can see the outline of an open G chord. This does contain two
octaves, and lends itself very well to sweep picking across two octaves.
The E Pattern
In this pattern, you see the outline of an open E chord. This pattern also contains
two octaves, and is a workhorse for beginners and intermediate players who are
comfortable with E-shaped barre chords.
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The D Pattern
In this pattern, you can see the outline of an open D chord. This pattern contains
almost two octaves, and is useful for voicings where you don't want a boomy 6th
string or thin-sounding 1st string.
The B Pattern
Though not technically a member of the CAGED system, the B shape is a useful
shape in its own right, and follows the A shape, but allows for a fret below the
bottom tonic. This shape looks almost contains two octaves, and requires a
position change (B pattern to G pattern) to hit the second octave, but overall it is
a very finger-friendly shape for playing the scale.
The F Pattern
Also not technically member of the CAGED system, the F shape is the most
finger-friendly shape of all, allowing for two full octaves in four frets. The F shape
and the D shape also work well together, and should be practiced together.
General Fingering Advice
These scale patterns were grouped in order to keep the fingers working in a 4 - 5
fret range, so as a rule, you fingers should not have to move much within a
position. Assign one finger to a fret and don't stray across frets unless a stretch is
required.
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If you have to stretch, it's usually easier to grab a fret lower on a higher string
than a fret higher on a lower string, but some situations require the harder
stretch. Practice both ways.
Avoiding Boredom
Most players stink when playing scales, because they were never challenged to
learn ways of practicing them in an interesting ways, so they got bored and quit.
Here are some ideas:
• Play scales up and down with alternating picking patterns, and sweep
patterns.
• Play scales up and down with hammer-ons and pull-offs only.
• Play scales up and down with picking accents on every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
and 6th notes.
• Play scales arpeggiating up and down in twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes,
sevens and eights.
• Play scales by string skipping.
• Play scales in harmonies using 3rds, 4ths, 5ths and 6ths intervals.
Discovering all these patterns will unlock the secrets of the fretboards in the
major scales, prepare you to learn scale modes, and you'll see for yourself why
Andres Segovia said practicing scales solves more problems more quickly than
any other exercise!
Moveable A-Form Barre Chords

With the combination of open chords and bar-chords, you could learn rhythm
guitar to hundreds, of songs, if you never learned anything else. Further, you will
he able to transpose any of those songs to play within comfortable singing
ranges.Here is how to play the major chord shape of the A chord, and by using
the index finger to form a bar, the chord becomes moveable. Here we show a
couple of ways you may finger the major chord shape:
Bb Major Bar Chord

A Major Open Chord Bb Major Bar Chord
Alternate
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If there is a downside to bar chords, it is that you are over-committing your index
finger, limiting you to playing notes only above the index finger on any string, but
at the yellow belt level that is not a concern. We will learn some more
sophisticated chord forms later to add variety and subtlety to your playing later.
Have a look at the different kinds of chords you can learn all based on the A-
string. Take time to relearn the fingering you learned when the A chord was
played open. Since you must use your 1st finger to play the bar, you must use
your remaining 3 fingers to play the other notes. The thumb is not used in bar
chords.
Someplayers like to play the A major chord by laying their 3 finger across the D,
G and B strings. Other players like to finger these strings with the 2, 3 and 4
fingers, to get better sustain and vibrato. Try it both ways!
M M 7 M7 m7
Now to Make them Moveable
All the A-form barre chords naturally get their name from the root of the chord on
the A string. Here are all the names of the notes on the A string for your
convenience and memorizing pleasure:
95
Exercises:
Physical Exercises:
You may notice that playing bar chords is tiring at first, and they often produce a
buzz in the strings until your hand builds up strength. But with practice bar chords
will become your bread-and-butter chords, used heavily in most of your
accompaniments. Here are a few tips to build up your left hand stamina:
• Keep your wrist relaxed and pointed downward so that your index finger
can fall naturally across all the strings, and your other fingers have a
natural arch in them.
• Keep you thumb behind the neck of the guitar opposite your fingers to
allow you to apply the most pressure with the least effort.
• If bar chords cause you fatigue or discomfort, rest for a few seconds, or
switch to an open chord until your hand regains its strength.
• Know that the fatigue is only a temporary problem, and that in a few days
you will find your hand getting stronger.
Musical Exercises:
Notice that we are asking you to play the same progressions as before, except,
that now you have some real wings, enabling you to fly up and down the
fretboard using either the E-form or A-form. Play the following chord progressions
as bar chords and sing the base note as you do the exercises:
• A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G# - A
• A - Ab - G - Gb - F - E - Eb - D - Db - C - B - Bb - A
• E - EM7 - E7 - EM7 - E
• F - FM7 - F7 - FM7 - F
• F# - F#M7 - F#7 - F#M7 - F#
• G - GM7 - G7 - GM7 - G
• G# - G#M7 - G#7 - G#M7 - G#
• A - AM7 - A7 - AM7 - A
• A# - A#M7 - A#7 - A#M7 - A#
• B - BM7 - B7 - BM7 - B
• C - CM7 - C7 - CM7 - C
• C# - C#M7 - C#7 - C#M7 - C#
• D - DM7 - D7 - DM7 - D
• D# - D#M7 - D#7 - D#M7 - D#
• Em - Em7 - Em - Em7
• Ebm - Ebm7 - Ebm - Ebm7
• Dm - Dm7 - Dm - Dm7
• Dbm - Dbm7 - Dbm - Dbm7
• Cm - Cm7 - Cm - Cm7
• Bm - Bm7 - Bm - Bm7
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• Bbm - Bbm7 - Bbm - Bbm7
• Am - Am7 - Am - Am7
• Abm - Abm7 - Abm - Abm7
• Gm - Gm7 - Gm - Gm7
• Gbm - Gbm7 - Gbm - Gbm7
• Fm - Fm7 - Fm - Fm7
• EM7 - F#m7 - G#m7 - AM7 - B7
• C7 - BbM7 - Am7 - Gm7 - FM7
• A - F#m - C#m - A
Building on Earlier Lessons:
Do each progression until you can do so cleanly and comfortably for a few
repetitions. It's better to spend more time working on precision than trying to rush
through all the exercises. These exercises will build dexterity into your fingers.
Concentrate on smooth, noiseless transitions. Don't allow any slop in your
playing. Also as you play, let your ear discern the subtle differences in the
voicings of each chord. Play the (Bar) voicings alternating between the E-form
and the A-form.
• C(Open) - C(Bar) - C(Open) - C(Bar)

• D(Open) - D(Bar) - D(Open)- D(Bar)
• A(Open) - A(Bar) - A(Open) - A(Bar)
• B(Open) - B(Bar) - B(Open) - B(Bar)
• G(Open) - G(Bar) - G(Open) - G(Bar)
• C7(Open) - C7(Bar) - C7(Open) - C7(Bar)
• D7(Open) - D7(Bar) - D7(Open) - D7(Bar)
• A7(Open) - A7(Bar) - A7(Open) - A7(Bar)
• B7(Open) - B7(Bar) - B7(Open) - B7(Bar)
• G7(Open) - G7(Bar) - Gm(Open) - Gm(Bar)
• Cm(Open) - Cm(Bar) - Cm(Open) - Cm(Bar)
• Dm(Open) - Dm(Bar) - Dm(Open) - Dm(Bar)
• Am(Open) - Am(Bar) - Am(Open) - Am(Bar)
• Bm(Open) - Bm(Bar) - Bm(Open) - Bm(Bar)
• Gm(Open) - Gm(Bar) - Gm(Open) - Gm(Bar)
Moveable E-Form Barre Chords

E-Form bar chords allow you to take the shape of the E chord, and move that
shape up the neck of the guitar to any fret, and voila, you have a new chord! Do
this all the way up and down the neck, and you can suddenly play the chord in
any key! Have a look at how by moving the E chord up a fret and barring the F all
the way across the 1st fret, you then have an F chord:
97
E Major Open Chord F Major Bar Chord
Have a look at the different kinds of chords you can learn all based on the E-
string. Take time to relearn the fingering you learned when the E chord was
played open. Since you must use your 1st finger to play the bar, you must use
your remaining 3 fingers to play the other notes. The thumb is not used in bar
chords.
M M 7 M7 m7
Now to Make them Moveable
All the E-form barre chords naturally get their name from the root of the chord on
the E string. Here are all the names of the notes on the E string for your
convenience and memorizing pleasure:
98
Exercises:
Physical Exercises:
You may notice that playing bar chords is tiring at first, and they often produce a
buzz in the strings until your hand builds up strength. But with practice bar chords
will become your bread-and-butter chords, used heavily in most of your
accompaniments. Here are a few tips to build up your left hand stamina:
• Keep your wrist relaxed and pointed downward so that your index finger
can fall naturally across all the strings, and your other fingers have a
natural arch in them.
• Keep you thumb behind the neck of the guitar opposite your fingers to
allow you to apply the most pressure with the least effort.
• If bar chords cause you fatigue or discomfort, rest for a few seconds, or
switch to an open chord until your hand regains its strength.
• Know that the fatigue is only a temporary problem, and that in a few days
you will find your hand getting stronger.
Musical Exercises:
Play the following chord progressions as bar chords and sing the base note as
you do the exercises:
• E - F - F# - G - G# - A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E
• E - Eb - D - Db - C - B - Bb - A - Ab - G - Gb - F - E
• E - EM7 - E7 - EM7 - E
• F - FM7 - F7 - FM7 - F
• F# - F#M7 - F#7 - F#M7 - F#
• G - GM7 - G7 - GM7 - G
• G# - G#M7 - G#7 - G#M7 - G#
• A - AM7 - A7 - AM7 - A
• A# - A#M7 - A#7 - A#M7 - A#
• B - BM7 - B7 - BM7 - B
• C - CM7 - C7 - CM7 - C
• C# - C#M7 - C#7 - C#M7 - C#
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• D - DM7 - D7 - DM7 - D
• D# - D#M7 - D#7 - D#M7 - D#
• Em - Em7 - Em - Em7
• Ebm - Ebm7 - Ebm - Ebm7
• Dm - Dm7 - Dm - Dm7
• Dbm - Dbm7 - Dbm - Dbm7
• Cm - Cm7 - Cm - Cm7
• Bm - Bm7 - Bm - Bm7
• Bbm - Bbm7 - Bbm - Bbm7
• Am - Am7 - Am - Am7
• Abm - Abm7 - Abm - Abm7
• Gm - Gm7 - Gm - Gm7
• Gbm - Gbm7 - Gbm - Gbm7
• Fm - Fm7 - Fm - Fm7
• EM7 - F#m7 - G#m7 - AM7 - B7
• C7 - BbM7 - Am7 - Gm7 - FM7
• A - F#m - C#m - A
Building on Earlier Lessons:
Do each progression until you can do so cleanly and comfortably for a few
repetitions. It's better to spend more time working on precision than trying to rush
through all the exercises. These exercises will build dexterity into your fingers.
Concentrate on smooth, noiseless transitions. Don't allow any slop in your
playing.
Also as you play, let your ear discern the subtle differences in the voicings of
each chord. Play the (Bar) voicings using only the E-form.
• C(Open) - C(Bar) - C(Open) - C(Bar)

• D(Open) - D(Bar) - D(Open)- D(Bar)
• A(Open) - A(Bar) - A(Open) - A(Bar)
• B(Open) - B(Bar) - B(Open) - B(Bar)
• G(Open) - G(Bar) - G(Open) - G(Bar)
• C7(Open) - C7(Bar) - C7(Open) - C7(Bar)
• D7(Open) - D7(Bar) - D7(Open) - D7(Bar)
• A7(Open) - A7(Bar) - A7(Open) - A7(Bar)
• B7(Open) - B7(Bar) - B7(Open) - B7(Bar)
• G7(Open) - G7(Bar) - Gm(Open) - Gm(Bar)
• Cm(Open) - Cm(Bar) - Cm(Open) - Cm(Bar)
• Dm(Open) - Dm(Bar) - Dm(Open) - Dm(Bar)
• Am(Open) - Am(Bar) - Am(Open) - Am(Bar)
• Bm(Open) - Bm(Bar) - Bm(Open) - Bm(Bar)
• Gm(Open) - Gm(Bar) - Gm(Open) - Gm(Bar)
100
Pentatonic Scales: Rocker's Favorites
Welcome to pentatonic scales. Without a doubt, these are the most popular
scales in rock and blues guitar because they are by far the easiest to play. They
are forgiving scales because the fingering is straight forward and lends itself to
hammering on and pulling off, as well as slides, bends and all the other tricks of
the trade.
Pentatonic scales are based on major and minor scales, except two notes of the
scale are dropped, changing them from diatonic (seven-note) to pentatonic (five-
note) scales, and at the same time making them more "guitar-friendly".
Pentatonic scales are the boon of rocksters and are relied on heavily for
traversing up and down the neck of the guitar.
Eric Johnson is one of the premier pentatonic scale masters ever to pick up a
guitar. As you listen to his music, pay particular attention to his alternating use of
pentatonic scales, blues, modes and major and minor scales. His straight-
forward rocking leads are mostly driven pentatonic notes, however.
The examples below are in the relative keys of C major and A minor, which
means that both scales share the same notes on the fretboard, but have different
starting and ending points (shown in white).
Pentatonic Major Scale

Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-3-5-6
Good with
I-IV-V , II-V-I , I-VI-IV-V , I-III-IV-I , I-IV-I , I-V-I
Progressions
Pentatonic Minor Scale
Notice in the pentatonic minor scale the minor 3rd, 4 frets above the root (in dark
blue). This is often used as a pivot note when switching between the C major
key, and the relative A minor key. To hear it and get the feel for the pivot note,
play a few bars in C major, then a few bars in A minor. Many many songs are
written on top of these two progressions.
101
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-b3-4-5-b7
Good over Chords m , m7 , m6
Good with
Im-bVII-bVI , Im-IVm , Im-Vm , Im-bIII-bVII
Progressions
The CAGED System: Seeing the Fretboard

There comes a time in the life of every guitarist when the fretboard suddenly
"pops out", and becomes an entire playing field. Until this unexpected event
happens, a beginning guitar player is confined to simply playing open chords and
barre chords to get the job done. Up until this time, there are areas on the
fretboard that you were not quite sure how to use.
So to liberate you from the confines of open and barre chords only, let us
introduce you to the CAGED system. You have already seen CAGED in earlier
lessons, because it's how we taught you the shape of chords in the open
positions. Now, what if you could use those same shapes to play the same chord
up and down the entire neck? In this context, CAGED does not refer to the name
of the chord, but the shape, and it is a way of "seeing" the neck of your guitar as
never before.
Connecting the Dots
These two diagrams illustrate the how it all connects together. On the left, we
have the C Major chord in seven positions. On the right, we have the C Minor
chord in the same seven positions. Starting from the bottom to the top, the
shapes are listed, C - A - G - E - D. These chord shapes connect perfectly as you
move your hand up the neck. There is no overlap in these positions, though they
share common boundaries.
The red dots are of course the C note, or root in this case. The black dots are the
3rd and 5th degree.
102
Major Chord Forms Minor Chord Forms
B and F chord shapes also exist, but they actually overlap their adjacent chords,
so they are a little less distinct sounding. Additionally, B usually requires skipping
strings to work, so it doesn't work well when strumming.
103
Seeing Exercises:
Study these pictures and try to see them on your own guitar. Learn in the key of
C first, then transpose to other keys, and practice changing between these chord
positions until it becomes second nature.
Triads: Stacked 3rd Intervals

Remember that music is not in the notes, it's in the space between notes. Any
combination of two major or minor 3rds stacked atop one another makes what
we hear as a triad. The simplest kind of chord in music.
Major Triad
The formula for a major triad is 1 - M3 - 5, which is really a major 3rd interval with
a minor 3rd interval on top. It's the gaps or intervals between the notes that give
the major triad its stable, happy feeling.
Minor Triad
The formula for a minor triad is 1 - m3 - 5, which consists of a minor 3rd on the
bottom, and major 3rd on top. The intervals stacked this way give the chord or
arpeggio a sadder, more emotional feeling.
Diminished Triad
The formula for a diminished triad is 1 - m3 - d5, or in intervalic terms, two

stacked minor intervals. This chord is not usually dwelt on very long in music, but
you can use it as a VII chord in a diatonic progression (more on this in another
lesson), or when you need to impart an eccentric accent to your playing. The
104
sound of a diminished chord played independently is that of a "shrunken" minor
chord, due to the two minor intervals.
Augmented Triad
The formula for an augmented triad is 1 - M3 - A5. This is two stacked major
intervals. This chord usually functions as a passing chord between major and
minor chords. The sound of an augmented triad played alone is that of a
"stretched" major chord, again owing to the two major intervals on top of each
other.
105
Green Belt: Level 4 Guitar Lessons
7th Chords: More Stacked 3rds
These chords are very common in jazz and pop music, and the only way to really learn them is to memorize
the construction, and learn to finger them on the fretboard. No shortcuts, just take the time to memorize the
sound and the fingering. You will be armed for bear.
Category: Green Belt: Chords
Blues Rhythm Patterns

In this lesson you will focus on the most common and distinctive rhythm patterns in blues music form,
straight 8ths, straight 16ths, swing and shuffle.
Category: Green Belt
Subcategory: Rhythm Read More ...
Blues Scales
Blues scales are perhaps the third most common and popular scale in music today. It abounds of course in
blues, but also spills over comfortably in rock country and jazz.
Category: Green Belt: Scales
Blues Tunes Need Lyrics

Let's face it, dear guitar players... the blues aren't the blues unless you sing 'em. As a green belt, you should
master singing while playing. The blues format offers a safe, familiar platform for singing from your heart.
Subcategory: Lyrics Read More ...
Major 8-Bar Blues

The hugely common 8-bar blues form follows the blues I - IV - V form, although not the same blues feel as
the 12-bar blues. Still, after 8 measures, there is a strong sense of verse completion. This lesson will help you
learn the structure and how to use it in your own playing.

Subcategory: Music Form
106
Major 12-Bar Blues
The study of the blues is the core focus of the green belt. You are preparing for your blue belt, which means
that you understand and have good mastery of all the musical concepts embodied by the blues. This first
lesson deals with the framework that the blues are built upon, otherwise known as the 12-bar blues.
Subcategory: Chord Progressions Read More ...
Published on: 30 Mar 2004
Major Blues Scale

The major blues scale is very similar to the major pentatonic scale that you already know by now, but has an
additional passing tone that makes it undeniably bluesy. Learn the most common box patterns for playing
the major blues scale here.
Minor Blues
Blues played in a minor key has a very solemn, dark, heavy feel and the progressions that every green belt
should have in their repertoire, just for those occasions when no other form of music can adequately tell the
story. Minor blues can be played in the 12 or 8-bar forms.

Subcategory: Chord Progressions
Minor Blues Scale

The minor blues scale is akin to the minor pentatonic scale, which you should also already know by now.
Additional passing tones create a more colorful palette of sound. Learn the most common box patterns for
playing the minor blues scale here.
Modified Blues Scale

This modified blues scale has two passing tones that make it doubly blues sounding and give additional
variety and color to the usual blues scale. This is a favorite of Steve Morse, and many of the better Nashville
players.

Subcategory: Scales
107
Moveable 6th Chords
6th chords are a vital part of the competent and confident jazz and blues players' library. Learn these
moveable chord shapes, and you'll be playing several voicings of this pleasing chord in any key. These chords
are a cool departure from the bland and boring triads and power chords.
Category: Green Belt: Chords
Subcategory: Chords Read More ...
Published on: 23 Mar 2004

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General
Simple Sample Blues Licks

This lesson will present some common and useful blues licks for those just starting out. Take these for a test
drive and see if they can get you off to a good start.
Category: Green Belt: Licks
Subcategory: Licks Read More ...

108
Category: General
Tritone: The Devil's Interval

What? The devil's interval? Don't look at us. We didn't invent the name, We're just letting you in on a little
known secret among self-taught guitarists. Learn this interval, and why it can wreak so much mayhem in
music.
Category: Green Belt: Ear Training

Category: General

Category: General
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7th Chords: More Stacked 3rds
Again, remember that music is not in the notes, it's in the space between notes.
Any combination of three major or minor 3rds stacked atop one another makes
what we hear as some kind of 7th chord.
In all the sections below, there are two sets of chords, the first shows the notes in
sequential order from the root or 1st degree to the 7th degree, which constitutes
quite a stretch on the guitar, but it is important to help develop the qualities of the
chords in the ear. The second set of chords in each section are a little tighter on
the guitar neck, because we rearrange the order of the degrees, but the chord
quality is the same overall, even though the voicing is different. Memorize both
by sound and by position!
Major 7th Chord
The formula for a major 7th chord is 1 - M3 - 5 - M7, which is really a major 3rd
interval with a minor 3rd then another major 3rd stacked on top. The function of
the major 7th chord in the harmonic scale is a I or IV chord.
1357xx x1357x xx1357
Here are guitar-friendly versions of the same chords.
157351 x15735 xx1573
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Dominant 7th Chord
The formula for a dominant 7th chord is 1 - M3 - 5 - m7, which is really a major
3rd interval with two minor 3rds stacked on top. The function of the dominant 7th
chord in the harmonic scale is a V chord.
1357xx x1357x xx1357
157351 x15735 xx1573
Minor 7th Chord
The formula for a minor 7th chord is 1 - m3 - 5 - m7, which is really a minor 3rd
interval with a major 3rd followed by another minor 3rd stacked on top. The
function of the minor 7th chord in the harmonic scale is a II, III or VI chord.
1357xx x1357x xx1357
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157351 x15735 xx1573
Half Diminished 7th Chord
The formula for a half-diminished 7th chord is 1 - m3 - b5 - m7, which is really a

minor 3rd interval with a major 3rd followed by minor 3rd stacked on top. The
function of the half-diminished 7th chord in the harmonic scale is a VII chord.
1357xx x1357x xx1357
157351 x15735 xx1573
Diminished 7th Chord
The formula for a minor 7th chord is 1 - m3 - b5 - bb7, which is really 3 minor
3rds intervals stacked atop one another. The diminished 7th chord is not part of
the harmonic scale, but it is an interesting chord because of its symmetry. This
means that no matter how you stack it, the quality of the sound is the same. Try
playing the chord up and down the neck 3 frets apart, and you'll probably
recognize it from some classical pieces.
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1357xx x1357x xx1357
1573xx x1573x xx1573
Blues Rhythm Patterns

This lesson deals with rhythm patterns common to playing in the blues form.
Notice that we say bluesform, not blues style. This is because a green belt
should study and understand the blues form, and develop their own styles on top
of this form.
Straight Quarter Beat
This beat is extremely common for drum and base lines, but when the guitar also
plods along at 4/4 on top of the drums and base, it can get a little uninteresting.
For this reason, try to use 4/4 for the guitar part only when intentionally trying to
create a feeling of a march, or something like it. Another way to keep the overall
song sounding interesting is to play 4/4 for part of the song, and switch to
another beat during other parts of the song for contrast.
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Straight Half Beat
This beat is a little more unusual than the 4/4 beat, and feels more like a funeral
march than a regular march. Try this beat on top of some of your blues
progressions, and find opportunities to use it. Sometimes it works with minor
blues progresions.
Straight Eighth Beat
Straight eighths is common in rock styles, and propels the music forward a little
more strongly than quarter beats. Many of the ZZ Top's rock-style repertoire is in
straight eighth notes.
Upbeat Eighth Beat
Ah, now we start departing from the feeling that we are piggybacking entirely on
the down beat of the drums and bass. Not only does playing the upbeat provide a
nice fill to counterbalance the drums and bass lines, using an upstroke with your
pick on the upbeat gives a different overall sound to the chord than a downstroke
would. Upbeat eighth-note rhythm maintains a strict swing feel.
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Eighth Triplets
Eighth triplets really means playing three notes in the time it takes to play two
eighth notes. That's 12 notes per bar. Most often this rhythm is played with
alternating down and upstrokes. This rhythm has a very compelling forward
motion to it, and is the basis for the shuffle, which we'll present next.
Shuffle
The shuffle is based on a triplet feel. It is done by omitting the middle stroke of
each triplet. The result is a distinctive "loping" feel with a strong forward motion.
The hand motion is almost always down on the first beat, and up on the next.
The feeling is a kind of circular motion, like the piston on a steam locomotive.
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Shuffle Variation
This is another way to notate a shuffle, but the sound is also subtly different, as
the downstroke is allowed to ring slightly longer (technically an eighth and a half),
and the upstroke is very short (technically a sixteenth note). The "loping" feel is
enhanced.
Exercises:
We highly recommend that you master all of these rhythm patterns, learning their
feel and when and how to use them. Remember that in order to be a great blues
lead player, you must first master a strong sense of rhythm.
Play your entire blues repertoire in each of these rhythm patterns, and note how
it changes the overall feel. As you play your blues repertoire in all of the above
rhythm patterns, mentally note the effect of each, and how you would use each in
your own playing.
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Blues Scales
Blues scales are based on pentatonic major and minor scales, except that there
is a chromatic note added, changing them from pentatonic (five-note) six-note
blues scales, named for their invention by and heavy use in Blues music. These
scales retain the "guitar-friendly fingering patterns of pentatonic scales, and are
used interchangeably with pentatonic scales in rock music, or other applications,
where a lick is to take on a bluesy feel.
The examples below are in the parallel keys of C major and A minor, which
means that both scales share the same notes but have different starting and
ending points. As usual, the white dots are the root note in each scale, and the
maroon notes are those that are the distinguishing note. The blue notes are
those that connect the minor scale to the parallel root in the major scale.
Major Blues Scale
The major blues scale is used in most applications where the major pentatonic
would fit, but has the added element of both the major and minor 3rd in the scale.
The minor 3rd can be used either in chromatic runs between the major 2nd and
major 3rd, or as a way of shifting the lick between a major and minor feel. This
shifting can can have a dramatic swinging effect between a happy and sad mood
in the same piece.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-b3-3-5-6
Distinguishing
b3
Degree
Good with
Progressions
117
Minor Blues Scale
The minor blues scale is the surest choice when singing the blues because of the
role of the minor 3rd in setting the sad tone for the overall melody. The flatted
most commonly serves as a passing note in chromatic runs between the perfect
4th and perfect 5th, adding a little color and tension and release.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-b3-4-b5-5-b7
Distinguishing
b5
Degree
Good with
Progressions
Blues Tunes Need Lyrics

Blues tunes without lyrics are not really blues tunes. Think of B.B. King, Eric
Clapton, Johnny Winter, Robert Cray, Robert Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray
Vaughan. They are all singer players. The best thing about the predictability of
the 12-bar blues structure, is that it is a comfortable framework for both the
performer and the listener to tell or listen to a story. Everyone has the blues from
time to time, so why not play and sing about how you felt when your old dog died,
or your car wouldn't start when you needed it most, or your no good, lyin',
cheatin', two-timin' flame decided to burn elsewhere.
Lest we become guitar players who never venture to utter a syllable of song, the
green belt study and practice gets us out of this rut, develops our abilities to
multi-task, and play with emotion. The best part is you don't have to have a great
voice to sing the blues (although it helps).
The Form Follows the Lyrics
Lyrics are so important to the blues, that they often are written first, then the form
is fitted to the lyrics, whether 12-bar or 8-bar. Also, the subject being sung about
often determines the chord selection.
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Some Lame Lyric Examples: (You can do better!)
Here's a common source of the blues for too many of us:
I went downtown to look for a job

Yeah, I went downtown lookin' for a job
Well, I looked and hunted the whole day long
And now I sit on this corner and sob...
Ain't no work in this little town

No, there ain't no work in this little town
Well, from dawn till dusk I look
And you ask why I frown...
Another example of a love gone wrong: (Remember that singing your feelings is
more therapeutic than landing in jail!)
I called her up, but she won't answer the phone

I called her up, but she won't answer the phone
I walked by and saw the light on
But she won't answer the phone...
How about something a little more upbeat: (The blues form doesn't always need
to be about bad things, you know)
I got my paycheck today, and there was a little extra

I'm goin' out tonight, and it's you I'm sitting next ta
I'll pick you up at eight, don't be late,
Come on, come on baby, baby don't make me wait,
Come on little darlin', help me spend that little extra.
Exercises:
Sing and play the blues. We repeat, sing and play the blues. Develop your sense
of timing, point and counterpoint harmonic fills, and learn to judge whether 7th
chords, 9th chords or straight triads give the best overall color to the lyrics.
Take the lame lyrics above, and add the music. Through trial and error, pick the
form, rhythm patterns and the chord progressions that work best to your ear.
Write some lyrics of your own. Tell your own story and embellish it to make it as
sad, ironic, funny, or outrageous as you possibly can.
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Major 12-Bar Blues
12-bar blues refers to the 12-measure structure that defines a verse in a blues
tune. The chord progressions played over the top are very familiar and
predictable, which even an alien could identify with in a few minutes. What's so
great about this predictability, is that it allows the player and the listener to
breathe variety into the tune through licks, chord coloring and voicing, rhythmic
variations and other musical dynamics, such as volume and tone. Think of the
structure of the blues as the circular Yin, and all the angular patterns played atop
the circular chord progressions as Yang.
The other really great thing about the blues is that it's all about playing with
feeling. Once you learn the basic framework, you can play for days on end, and
you never have to read music!.
Major Blues Chord Progressions
The Roman numerals at the top of the chapter will be explained in more depth at
the blue belt level, but you should know that these represent chords in the
harmonic scale. This is what the 12-bar blues chord progressions looks like in the
most common major keys for blues:
FeelDegree I I I I IV IV I I V IV I V*
Rock/Pop A A A A D D A A E D A E7
Bluesy A7 A7 A7 A7 D7 D7 A7 A7 E7 D7 A7 E7
Jazzy A6 A6 A6 A6 D9 D9 A6 A6 E9 D9 A6 E9
Smooth
AM7 AM7 AM7 AM7 DM7 DM7 AM7 AM7 E7 DM7 AM7 E7
Jazz
Funkee E7#9 E7#9 E7#9 E7#9 A7 A7 E7#9 E7#9 B7#9 A7 E7#9 B7#9
* The last measure uses a V chord, which is also referred to as the "turnaround"
chord, which points the audience in a circle back to the I chord, or the beginning
of the progression. This repeats for every verse in the song, and when the song
is over, the final chord is a I chord, or back to the tonic.
Quick-Change 12-Bar Blues
"Quick-change" is a variation to the 12-bar blues that has the same basic
structure as 12-bar blues, except in the second measure the IV chord is
substituted for the I chord.
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FeelDegree I IV I I IV IV I I V IV I V*
Rock/Pop A D A A D D A A E D A E7
Exercises:
Play the chord progressions listed in the tables above from left to right. Play them
using various rhythm patterns. Play them in open and moveable chord positions
you learned in the earlier belt level lessons.
Make sure you always practice the blues with feeling. Focus on the rhythm, and
clean chord changes. If you are playing the blues correctly, there should always
be a little sweat on your palms and on your forehead.
Major Blues Scale

The major blues scale is based on the major pentatonic scale, except that there
is a chromatic minor 3rd note added between the major 2nd and major 3rd,
changing it from pentatonic (five-note) to a six-note blues scale. The major blues
scale retains the "guitar-friendly fingering patterns of major pentatonic scale, and
is used interchangeably with its pentatonic counterpart in rock music, country and
bluegrass, where a lick is to take on a bluesy feel.
The example below are in the parallel keys of C major. The white dots are the
root note in each scale, and the maroon notes are those that are the
distinguishing note. The blue notes are those that connect the minor scale to the
parallel root in the major scale.
Major Blues Scale
The major blues scale is used in most applications where the major pentatonic
would fit, but has the added element of both the major and minor 3rd in the scale.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-b3-3-5-6
Distinguishing
b3
Degree
Good with
Progressions
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Minor Blues Scale
The minor blues scale is based on the minor pentatonic scale, except that there
is a chromatic augmented 4th/flatted 5th note added, changing it from pentatonic
(five-note) to a six-note blues scales. This scales retains the "guitar-friendly
fingering patterns of pentatonic scales, and is used interchangeably with
pentatonic scales in rock music, or other applications, where a lick is to take on a
bluesy feel.
The example below is in the keys of A minor, the most common key in blues,
owing to the easy chords and easy playability in the 5th position. As usual, the
white dots are the root note in each scale, and the maroon notes are those that
are the distinguishing note. The blue notes are those that connect the minor
scale to the parallel root in the major scale.
Minor Blues Scale
The minor blues scale is the surest choice when singing the blues because of the
role of the minor 3rd in setting the sad tone for the overall melody. The flatted 5th
most commonly serves as a passing note in chromatic runs between the perfect
4th and perfect 5th, adding a little color and tension and release.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-b3-4-b5-5-b7
Distinguishing Degree b5
Good with
Progressions
122
Moveable 6th Chords
This lesson discusses the 6th chord, and shows some of the most common
forms, all of them with the root on the bottom.
The Formula
The 6th chord is technically a four-tone chord, a major triad with a major 6th
added a top. The formula is root - major 3rd - perfect 5th - major 6th. Because of
the major 3rd, the chord has an overall major flavor, and because of the major
6th, there is a moderate tension that wants to be resolved to the perfect 5th.
How to Use 6th Chords
6th chords are a good choice in blues, jazz and popular progressions, where a I
or IV chord might be used. 6th chords also sound delightful in progressions with
7th chords and 9th chords. A 6th chord is also a very popular ending chord, when
you want the 6th note to ring in the mind of the listener long after the song is
over.
The chord shapes below are moveable, which means that you can play them all
over the fretboard. Learn them all by memory and by ear. The different voicings
are quite pleasing in their own right. This is because some of the voicings are
inverted, or might even omit the 3rd or the 5th.
In all the chords, the root is the lowest note, so you can know the name of the
chord by knowing the lowest note.
Root on 6th String Root on 5th String Root on 4th String
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Exercises:
For a mental exercise, pick the chords apart so that you can identify the 3rd, the
5th and the 6th degrees relative to the root. This will make it easier to remember
the chords, and also hear the subtle differences in the voicings. Note that the
chords that are constructed in the order of root - 3rd - 5th - 6th are the hardest to
finger. This is typical of chords with more tones than 3. Rearranging the order of
the tones for easier fingering becomes the rule, rather than the exception.
Learn the shapes and play them in combinations with each other, concentrate on
changing to and from these chords comfortable and noiselessly.
• A6 - Ab6 - G6 - Ab6 - A6
• G6 - C6 - G6 - Am7 - G6
• C6 - Am - C6 - Am
• A6 - EM7 - G6 - DM7
• A - AM7 - A7 - A6 - D - DM7 - D7 - D6
Try to play the same 6th chords in all possible voicings.
Try some progressions of your own!
Simple Sample Blues Licks

Remember our guitar-friendly blues scale in the guitar-friendly key of A? Here it
is again for your review.
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Here are a collection of short blues licks in Am. The licks are played as short
clips on an acoustic guitar at about 3/4 speed so you can hear really well what's
going on. Try each lick on your own guitar, and pay attention to the bends, slides,
hammer-ons, pull-offs, double-stops, chops and rolls that are very common in
blues.
Most of the licks are played in the 5th position (1st finger on the 5th fret) but
some of the licks slide up to the 7th position on the upper notes, and down to the
3rd position or even the open position on the lower licks. These positions are
very comfortable.
Blues Licks in A minor
Lick 1 Lick 2 Lick 3
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Remember that in blues, it's all about the groove and the feeling. Practice each of
these licks until you can do it smoothly and with soul. Mix and match them, then
make up some of your own.

How Listening is Different than Playing
A basic understanding of the mental and emotional processes involved in both

listening and playing can help us better understand how they are different, and
how we can take better control over these processes in developing our own skills
of timing and flow.
Whether listening or playing, we will make an important assumption that the

language being played is comprehended by both the listener and the performer.
There is at least substantial commonality in the vocabulary and structure shared
by each.
Listening Flow
When listening to music, the phrases played a few seconds before linger or "ring"
in our short term memory, suspended there until we can complete the phrase, or
thought. At that time a meaning is associated with the completed thought as we
interpreted it and an emotion of some kind is evoked.
So in listening, the basic linear flow is:
1. Understand the context or topic of what is being played

2. Combine notes from the phrase as they happen until a phrase is signaled
to have ended
3. Interpret the phrase to give it meaning within the context
4. Apply a meaning and emotional response to the interpreted phrase
Familiarity with a topic, song or style, or familiarity with the performer can allow
us to anticipate accurately in many cases what might be played next. However,
when listening to unfamiliar material or to a new performer, this is the basic
process, and there is a small but notable time lag between each of these steps.
Playing Flow
Playing is much more difficult than listening, most obviously because there are
more processes involved, and the process is circular, rather than linear. So, there
is potentially more that can go wrong within the overall process, and more areas
over which to gain control or mastery.
126
Playing from Memory
Playing a rehearsed song from memory where you've had a chance to work out
the bugs is a matter of hearing the end of the song from the beginning, and within
the song, hearing the next phrase while the current phrase is being expressed
from your instrument. Mental focus should always be on the next measure or
phrase, while the execution of the current measure or phrase is handled at an
autonomous or physical level. Here is the process:
1. In a state of comfort and confidence, having rehearsed thoroughly you can

hear the entire song in your head, and see and feel your hands playing all
the notes even before you begin to play the first note
2. You buffer the first several measures or the first phrase in your mind,
hearing it before you play it
3. While your hands are playing the notes in your mind's ear, your long-term
memory is buffering the next phrase into your mind's ear, continually
staying ahead of what is being played physically
4. Hear yourself playing, not with a mind to change what you play, but how it
is being expressed (tempo, volume, tone, etc.)
5. Evaluate the audience's response, and make expressive adjustments
accordingly
6. Return to the third step
Improvising
Improvising is even more complex, but by controlling some of the macro

variables, like playing within a familiar context will help the performer stay in
control of the other more fluid variables. Here is the basic process:
1. In a state of comfort and confidence, having learned the boundaries of the

context in which you will play, you come prepared with rough ideas of
what will be spoken within that context, or how far outside of the context
you will stray
2. Begin with an idea or an emotion, within the context or topic
3. Evaluate options for how to express that idea or emotion (prior experience
helps shorten this phase)
4. Choose from among the options (usually leaning towards what has
worked in the past)
5. Execute the chosen option on your instrument, using certain expressive
options or punctuation available to you
6. Hear yourself speaking or playing your instrument
7. Evaluate yourself speaking or playing
8. Evaluate your audience's response
9. Return to the first step
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Boiling It All Down
So whenever you play, whether from memory or improvising, you only really
have to be in control of three things:
• The current chord and its scale or mode (handled autonomously)

• The next chord with its scale or mode (handled conciously by the mind's
ear)
• The transition between the current and the next chord with its scale or
mode (handled autonomously)
We can further boil it down to the notion of "hearing ahead". Always keep your
mind's ear primed with what is going to be played next. If while practicing you find
yourself stopped because you don't know what's next, don't blame your hands.
Start by fixing the process of flowing sound into your mind's ear.
If you're learning to read music, then you have to learn read ahead with your
eyes a measure or two before the sound is expressed from your instrument. If
your eyes stall on the current measure, your playing flow will be interrupted.
Other Practical Examples
In all martial arts styles, we study the flow and transfer of energy while both
meditating and while performing forms and while sparring. The mind's eye in
every case is seeing the next move, while contemplating how to transfer energy
from one position to the next. If there is an interruption in the flow or a loss of
balance or power, the striking hands or feet are usually not the root of the
problem, it is an interruption in the flow of energy from the previous position or
stance.
In juggling three balls, one becomes unaware of the individual balls, but gains a
sense of the space occupied by the balls as a set, and the transfer of energy and
between the balls in the set. For each ball, the throwing hand autonomously
tosses the ball into the air in a trajectory learned through experience to come
down near the other hand. The mental focus is always on the catching hand, and
getting it into a position to catch the falling ball. Meanwhile, there is a rhythmic
droning of 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 3... felt throughout the entire body.
Though these examples are not musical, they reinforce the concepts discussed
here, and provide useful contrasts.
How to Develop Flow in Playing
Flow is developed through proper practice of the pieces you want to play. Start
by framing the idea, and then adding detail later. Know the changing chord
centers as they progress the song. Add detail as you go, such as melody and
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fingering. Practice sticky spots more than the smooth spots, then play the whole
piece.
In spots where you cannot hear or picture what is coming next, rehearse this in
your mind before your fingers hit the strings. Once you have mental and aural
clarity, then address the strings with your fingers.
For long, difficult passages, start with single measures, then build up to 2, then 4,
then 8, then 16. I would also suggest learning these measures from the back of
the piece to the front, as suggested by David Russell. This way your mind has
exponential exposure to and clarity of later measures in the piece, which breeds
comfort and confidence.
Tritone: The Devil's Interval

There is a particularly troublesome interval in the chromatic scale to become
acquainted with. Here are a few factoids.
• The Tritone interval is so called, because it is exactly half the number of

frets between the bottom and top notes of an octave. The three tones
played together are form the tritone sound. Because the overtones in a
tritone do not reinforce the overtones in the fundamental tone, the ear has
a difficult time discerning whether to move up or down to find the home
base. The devil's tone can cause aural vertigo, if overused.
• The devil's tone was not permitted in any medieval church music, being
viewed as the antithesis to the so-called perfect intervals.
• Being a dissonant interval, the tritone is seldom dwelt on for long in music,
but is often used in modern music as a passing interval in two-part
harmonies.
Here again is a friendly reminder not to be too anxious to learn all the other
intervals at once. Think of intervals as "vitamin I", which you need to take every
day in small doses, but which you should take every day.
129
Number Other Name of Interval
Frequency Consonant / Inverted Interval
Interval Name of Half Names, in Second
Ratio Dissonant Name
Steps Symbols Octave
Perfect Unison 0 1 Consonant P1 Perfect Unison Perfect Octave
Augmented 4th 6 32:45 Dissonant d5, b5, A4, Diminished 5th Augmented
/ #4, Tritone / 11th /
Diminished 5th Augmented 4th Diminished
12th
Perfect Octave 12 1:2 Consonant P8 Perfect Octave Perfect 15th
Tritone Interval Spelling
P1 A4/D5 P8
Ab D/Ebb Ab
A D#/Eb A
A# D##/E A#
Bb E/Fb Bb
B E#/F B
C F#/Gb C
C# F##/G C#
Db G/Abb Db
D G#/Ab D
D# G##/A D#
Eb A/Bbb Eb
E A#/Bb E
F B/Cb F
F# B#/C F#
Gb C/Dbb Gb
G C#/Db G
G# D##/D G#
Notice that some of the tritone spellings have double sharps (##) or double flats
(bb) in them. This is because in standard music notation, note names must fit
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within key signatures, to keep the repeating of written sharps and flats to a
minimum. Names of notes are given by counting the natural or fundamental
notes, up or down, then adding the accidentals (# or b) on top at the end. In the
case of Ab, counting up three naturals gives us B > C > D, which happens to be
an augmented 4th, so we stop there. For a diminished 5th, in the case of Ab
counting up 4 naturals gives us B > C > D > E, but the pitch is too high, so when
we drop two frets lower, it is really a D pitch, but we call it an Ebb to respect the
spelling of the 5th.
The Devil's Tone: Augmented 4ths/Diminished 5ths
The Augmented 4th or Diminished 5th interval sounds so strange to our ears,
that even though it exists, it is only used sparingly. When it is summoned forth, it
can have a surprising or stunning effect on the listener, causing the audience to
lose their musical bearing, if only for a moment. It does this because the mind
cannot easily perceive which direction they are going relative to home. If dwelt on
too long, can erase the notion of home base from the listener's mind. The effect
is musical vertigo.
Exercises:

131
tomorrow.
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• DHE™ Control panels • 'Photoreading' music and guitar
• Time Distortion tablature
• A modified 'Fast Phobia • Accessing cues
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Cure' • Awareness shifts.
• Imagestreaming • Propulsion systems
• Belief swish • Deep Trance Identification
Your Attention Channels: Playing an instrument is hard. Playing an instrument

well is very hard, and requires a great investment. Why not invest some time in
learning how to really concentrate, and open up the creative channels between
your ear, your fingers and your heart? Otherwise, without the ability to
concentrate and focus we are doomed to mediocrity at best, and constant
disappointment at worst.
Rather than trying harder to concentrate, why not identify and remove
distractions? Let's group these distractions into two broad categories: external
and internal distractions.
External Distractions
External distractions are those distractions outside of us. The TV is an absolute

killer of concentration... turn it off. You can't play while working your day job,
changing a diaper or driving, so you have to make time in between these other
necessary activities to play guitar with full attention. Make quality time early
morning or at night when winding down to play.
Internal Distractions
Now that you have made quality time to practice and eliminated unnecessary
external distractions, we turn our attention to eliminating internal distractions, or
are those that go on in our minds and and steal creative energy away from your
purest musical intent.
Before you can eliminate the excess noise in your head, you first have to identify
and isolate each signal and assign each signal to its own channel, just like the
channels on a multi-track mixer. In no particular order, here are 16 of some of the
common signals I hear on my neural channels, which must be controlled:
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• Track 1: What I was doing before I sat down to play
• Track 2: What I need to do after I'm done playing
• Track 3: What my left hand is doing right now
• Track 4: What my left hand is going to do next
• Track 5: What song to play next
• Track 6: How well my right hand is keeping time
• Track 7: That tone I'm trying to get
• Track 8: Audience's interested in my playing
• Track 9: What I want to say musically
• Track 10: Attacking that troublesome stretchy chord without losing the
beat
• Track 11: My options for muting the strings and rebounding from mistakes
• Track 12: What the rest of the band is doing in the moment
• Track 13: The self applause for that really cool voicing I just love to play
• Track 14: That fly in the room
• Track 15: The self loathing for the mistake I just made
• Track 16: I wish I could afford that new Taylor guitar
Now that I've identified each source of noise, I have full control over each
channel discretely and separately. Those channels that are positive and
reinforcing my musical intentions I can amplify separately and discretely, while
those channels that are negative and distracting, I can switch off entirely.
If you think this visualization is a bit hokey, then at least give it a try before you
dismiss it. You'll be amazed at what is really going on in your head when you
truly listen to yourself think. By strongly visualizing your control over both
distracting channels positive channels in this way, you gain remarkable control
over your thoughts in any situation, you spend more time "in the zone" and years
of mediocrity and frustration melt off your total experience.
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Blue Belt: Level 5 Guitar Lessons
Basic Theory of Harmonic Scale Progressions
Somehow you have noodled your way through the internet to arrive at the heart and soul of how all music
flows... from chord center to chord center... within an established key. Your ear senses this flow when
listening to any kind of music, but you probably have not learned how chords connect together to make
music, and more importantly, how to make your music interesting, which is a fine balance between boredom
and ear-sickness. This is where you will begin to learn how to connect chords together so that they sound
great!
Category: Blue Belt: Theory
Cadences: Musical Punctuation

Understanding cadences allows you to understand and enjoy the music you listen to a little more, but the
real benefit of understanding cadences is how to use them to make clear statements in the music you write.
Ear Training: What? How? Why?

It's not "ear straining", or "fear training", it's ear training. This lesson will give you a very practical approach
to the subject that will help you do it right and won't burn you out.
Category: Blue Belt: Ear Training
Subcategory: Ear Training Read More ...
Harmonic Scale Chords for All Major Keys

This lesson has all the base chords and a few of the most popular substitute chords you can use in the major
harmonic scale. Please use this to check your answers to the previous lesson's exercise, and commit now to
learn this stuff well.
Category: Blue Belt: Chords
Harmonic Scale Directional Chord Changes

This lesson will show that within a harmonic scale, there are all kinds of possible chord change
combinations, but from the perspective of forward motion when pairing chords together, there are really
only 4 potential kinds of choices to understand and master.
Category: Blue Belt: Chords
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Intervals: The Essential Building Blocks of All Music
Notes do not make music. It's the intervals between notes that give a melody its direction... either toward or
away from the tonic, or home base. Studying this intervalic tension and release will help you understand why
some melodies are compelling and others are not. Songwriters, you should know this well.
Category: Blue Belt: Ear Training

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General
The Four Corners of the Harmonic Landscape

There are thousands of possible chords in the Western scale, and millions of possible chord progressions, but
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armed with knowledge of the harmonic scale, you are ready to learn about four broad categories that songs
fall into harmonically. Understanding these categories can help you make sense the endless possibilities of
and chord progressions, and improve your songwriting.

Category: General

Category: General
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Basic Theory of Harmonic Scale Progressions
In prior chord lessons, you have learned chords by their name, shape, position.
You need to know this before you progress any further, because you'll need to
know chords by name, and make your own choices whether to play the chords
with a capo, use bar chords or inversions, or a combination of all three. In the
next few lessons, you'll learn how to connect chords together the way the pros
do.
If you don't feel you are solid on the chords learned in earlier lessons, stop now
and go back until you are comfortable recognizing and playing all your open
chords, bar chords, and inverted chords. Herewe will introduce the diminished
chord, as it is important in rounding out the harmonic scale. Only the diminished
chord should be new to you at this point.
Harmonic Scale
The harmonic scale is a series of seven chords, all of which have notes in the
major scale of some key. Because all of the notes belong to the same scale, they
naturally sound related, but because each of the chords use different notes in the
scale, each has its on characteristics which relate to its position in the scale.
While the harmonic scale played up or down just sounds like a scale with
harmony, it is barely musical musical, because it lacks form, and other musical
elements that make it interesting. But when you start to take the chords that
make up the harmonic scale and rearrange them over time and add melody, an
amazing variety of music begins to unfold. Virtually ALL Western music is rooted
in this scale, or somevariation of it, so now is the time to pay attention. This is
where the the hands, the mind and the ear begin to function as an integrated
unit.
The Harmonic Scale Using Triads
A Triad is just three notes stacked on top of each other separated by an interval
of major or minor 3rds. When you play the major scale in the key of C using
triads instead of individual notes, you get the most basic harmonic scale. It looks
and sounds like this:
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The Harmonic Scale Using 7th Chords
A 7th chord just stacks an additional 3rd on top of the existing triad. The
harmonic scale with 7th chords looks and sounds like this:
Most of the chords in the above charts are not very guitar-friendly, but they are
given to illustrate the principle of stacked thirds. Try playing them as in the charts
as an exercise, but in practice, there are more guitar-friendly fingerings, as you
have already learned.
The Harmonic Scale Using 2nd Inversion Triads
Played in 2nd Inversion, the harmonic scale looks like this:
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The Harmonic Scale Using 1st Inversion Triads
Played in 1st Inversion, the harmonic scale looks like this:
The Harmonic Scale Using Open Chords
The above examples had you playing all the chords in the scale by moving your
hand up and down the neck. But there are many occasions where playing all
open chords is more appropriate. Played in Open Chord positions, you can use a
capo to raise or lower the key being played in. Using open chords, the harmonic
scale looks like this:
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Cadences: Musical Punctuation
Have you ever talked to someone who has difficulty making their point?
Someone who starts another thought without finishing their first thought?
Someone who talks in circles, jumps all over the place, wanders, waffles or
otherwise leaves you wondering where it is all going? There are such problems
in music too, if you don't understand cadences.
This is a person who does not understand the purpose of phrasing, or

punctuation in their speech or writing. In speech and writing, we use phrases,
sentences and paragraphs to organize our linear thoughts into a coherent
thought train that our audiences can understand. Paragraphs are comprised with
at least one sentence, and sentences are comprised of at least one phrase.
Phrases, and sentences always end with some kind of punctuation, to let you
know that the thought being expressed is either fully complete, or to be
continued.
The musical equivalent of punctuation is known as cadence. Cadence is vital in

musical thought to indicate to the audience that the phrase is either a complete
statement, or to be continued through further listening. Keep in mind that we
listeners require most music to go somewhere, and make some kind of point or
statement with a definite conclusion.
Two Extreme Examples
To hear illustrate what cadences can do, let's compare two extreme examples:
Yoga Music?
On one end of the spectrum, think of the music you hear when you walk into a
meditative establishment, like a trendy Yoga and Health Food Bookstore. You
smell the incense. You notice that the music creates a spacious light feeling that
lacks borders, boundaries, tension or release, or strong direction. If there is any
kind of movement at all, you might describe it as undulating, but certainly not
forward moving. The composer creates this kind of ambience by subduing both
rhythm and melody, changing chords very slowly by fading them in and out, and
most especially by avoiding chord changes that drive to conclusion. In this kind of
music, cadences are intentionally avoided, because the composer intends the
sense of direction to be lost.
You Ain't Nuttin But A Hound Dog
On the other end of the spectrum, think of Elvis rocking the house with You Ain't
Nuttin' But A Hound-dog.
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I
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
I
Cryin' all the time
IV
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
I
Cryin' all the time
V7
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
I
And you ain't no friend of mine
The gritty lyrics coupled with the I - I - IV - I - V - I progression give the tune
strong, predictable harmonic flow towards a definite conclusion in a tight amount
of time. The I - I in the first two lines is not a progression, but establish strong
tonality. The IV - I in the middle reinforce the first thought with more direction, but
ending the tune here would leave us hanging. The V - I progression is the
strongest chord change available to put a stamp of finality on the thought. All of
these chord progressions were chosen specifically for their powerful effect.
These progressions work so well, that thousands of other songs use them.
Types of Cadences
Below are the kinds of common cadences you will need to know. This will help
you not only understand and enjoy the music you listen to better, but you will see
how you can use these in your own song writing. In all of the examples below,
the first two chords set up the tonality, then the last two chords form the cadence.
Authentic Cadence
The cadence is authentic if the tonic chord is preceded by the dominant: V-I.
Perfect Cadence
The perfect cadence contains all tonal means:I-IV (II)-V-I.
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Imperfect Cadence
An imperfect cadence ends elsewhere than on the tonic chord: I-V.
Plagal Cadence
The cadence is plagal it the tonic chord is preceded by the subdominant: IV-I.
Deceptive Cadence
A deceptive cadence is on in which the dominant chord is followed by a chord

other than the tonic: V-VI.
Exercises
Learn these cadences in all keys, and in several voices. Learn to strum and
arpeggiate all these cadences, and use them to connect together or complete
musical phrases of your own making.
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Ear Training: What? How? Why?
Why Ear Training?
Listening and composing are Siamese twins of a sort. Every time you listen, you
form an impression about things going in the music that you personally like and
want to make it your own, and you find it coming out in your playing. The more
you understand what you are hearing, the more readily you recognize it when
you hear it, then you can categorize it in your own mind, then retrieve it later
when needed.
A Practical Definition
A practical definition of ear training is: training your mind to understand what your
ear hears. Given this definition, is not so daunting or tedious to learn to listen for
what is going on in the music you love.
Structuring Your Own Ear Training Program
Not all ear training programs are created equal. You only need to learn what is
useful and practical for the kind of music you want to listen to and play, so let that
music be your guide. Now, as you listen to the music you love, try to describe
musically what is going on in terms that you or another musician can understand.
If some area confounds you, or you can't quite sort out what is happening, then
you know you need ear training work in that area.
Essential Elements of Ear Training
Here are some essential elements to learn to recognize by ear:
• Perfect Pitch Tone Identification (name that note)

• Perfect Pitch Aural Recall (sing a note without a queue)
• Interval Recognition (name that interval up AND down, melodically. Also
harmonically)
• Chord Decomposing (hearing the individual tones in a chord)
• Chord Type Recognition (name that chord by its sound color alone)
• Melodic Scale Degree Recognition (1, b3, 4, 5)
• Harmonic Scale Degree Recognition (I, II, IV, III)
• Cadence Recognition (where in the song are we?)
• Speed Recognition (all of the above)
• Tempo or Meter Recognition (how fast is that?)
• Rhythm or Beat Recognition (salsa, reggae, 4/4, shuffle)
If any of these areas is particularly hard for you to discern or describe, then you
may need to sharpen your ear or your theory or both. There are good software
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and audio products available to drill you initially, but don't become dependent on
them. After you understand the terms and concepts that should be trained into
your ear, the best ear training is done on your own instrument, and by listening to
music and drilling yourself.
Remember that the most important goal of ear training is to learn of these
elements by recognition or intuition alone, without too much mental processing.
Like learning a new language, this is a long process, and is best learned by small
doses every day over time, rather than cramming for some test.
Harmonic Scale Chords for All Major Keys

This page has all the base chords and a few of the most popular substitute
chords you can use in the harmonic scale. Please use this to check your answers
to the previous lesson's exercise, and commit now to learn this stuff well.
You know you have learned it well when:
• You can play all the base chords in the harmonic scale, up and down
• You can play any chord by knowing only the key signature and the
number of the chord
• Once you establish the tonality of a song you hear, you instantly know the
chord number you are hearing
• When playing a song, you know what subsitute chords you can choose
from to add flavor, without sacrificing musicality
• When listening to music and you hear a substitute chord, you still
recognize the chord number.
Key of C Major / A Minor

I ii iii IV V vi viio
C Dm Em F G Am Bo7
CM7 Dm7 Em7 FM7 G7 Am7 Bo7
C6 E7 F6 Bm/5+
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Key of Db Major / Bb Minor
Db Ebm Fm Gb Ab Bbm Co
DbM7 Ebm7 Fm7 GbM7 Ab7 Bbm7 Co7
Db6 F7 Gb6 Cm/5+
Key of D Major / B Minor

D Em F#m G A Bm C#o
DM7 Em7 F#m7 GM7 A7 Bm7 C#o7
D6 F#7 G6 C#m/5+
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Key of Eb Major / C Minor
Eb Fm Gm Ab Bb Cm Do
EbM7 Fm7 Gm7 AbM7 Bb7 Cm7 Do7
Eb6 G7 Ab6 Dm/5+
Key of E Major / C# Minor

E F#m G#m A B C#m D#o
EM7 F#m7 G#m7 AM7 B7 C#m7 D#o7
E6 G#7 A6 D#m/5+
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Key of F Major / D Minor
F Gm Am Bb C Dm Eo
FM7 Gm7 Am7 BbM7 C7 Dm7 E#o7
F6 A7 Bb6 E#m/5+
Key of Gb Major / Eb Minor

Gb Abm Bbm Cb Db Ebm Fo
GbM7 Abm7 Bbm7 CbM7 Db7 Ebm7 Fo7
Gb6 Bb7 Cb6 Fm/5+
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Key of G Major / E Minor
G Am Bm C D Em F#o
o
GM7 Am7 Bm7 CM7 7 Em7 F#o7
G6 B7 C6 F#m/5+
Key of Ab Major / F Minor

Ab Bbm Cm Db Eb Fm Go
AbM7 Bbm7 Cm7 DbM7 Eb7 Fm7 Go7
Ab6 C7 Db6 Gm/5+
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Key of A Major / F# Minor
A Bm C#m D E F#m G#o
AM7 Bm7 C#m7 DM7 E7 F#m7 G#o7
A6 C#7 D6 G#m/5+
Key of Bb / G Minor
Bb Cm Dm Eb F Gm Ao
BbM7 Cm7 Dm7 EbM7 F7 Gm7 Ao7
o
Bb6 7 Eb6 Am/5+
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Key of B / G# Minor
B C#m D#m E F# G#m A#o
BM7 C#m7 D#m7 EM7 F#7 G#m7 A#o7
B6 D#7 E6 A#m/5+
We will take this opportunity to mention briefly that the Nashville Numbering System will
help you recognize and play chords in the diatonic scale, but what if you hear a chord
that does not fit in the harmonic scale, or what if the key changes in the middle of
the song? We will address this more in depth in future lessons, but the short answer is
this: When a musician borrows a chord from outside the scale, (and if they know what they
are doing, by not totally losing the rest of us), then we call that a chromatic chord.
Chromatic chords are used to add color. If this is the case, we note the chromatic chord,
and move on with the rest of the music that remains withing the safe harbor of the harmonic
scale. If the key changes entirely, we can simply take the two stars from above belonging to
each key, and chain them together.
Harmonic Scale Directional Chord Changes

Remember that all music progresses from chord center to chord center. Chord
changes usually happen on the strong beats of a measure, but sometimes more
frequently. Understanding how chord changes create a sense of movement is critical
to underdstanding how music works, and how good songwriting is achieved.
Let's briefly touch on the safest formula for good song writing: first, establish
tonality (can be done with a measure or two of introduction), second, take the listener
on an interesting journey using melody and supporting chord changes to provide
forward motion (while respecting that tonality), third, resolve the section or song back
to the tonic (end on the tonic with both the melody and harmony). Having said this,
you are always free to break these rules, but you should understand them first.
This lesson will show that within a harmonic scale, there are all kinds of possible
chord change combinations, but from the perspective of forward motion, there are
really only 4 kinds of movements within a harmonic scale you can change to from your
present chord:
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• You may descend by a 5th
• You may ascend by a 5th (descend by a 4th)
• You may ascend or Descend by a 2nd
• You may ascend or descend by a 3rd
These choices are so grouped to illustrate that not all your choices carry the tune
forward as obviously or as strongly as others.
Let's use the Nashville Numbering System to illustrate. The thickness of the
arrows around our 7-pointed star gives a sense of the relative strength of the forward
motion we perceive by each chord change. We'll take one group at a time.
Descending by 5ths
The first of the harmonic chord changes is the descending 5th. Using our 7-
pointed star, a descending 5th chord changes move clockwise, one point at a time.
The strongest directional pull is the V - I in the major, and iii - vi in the minor.
The strength of the motion is really governed by the individual intervals within the
changing chords. Reviewing what we learned from our lessons on intervals, note that
the strongest motion is when a 7th degree resolves to the root, and when a 4th degree
resolves to a major 3rd. In a V - I progression, we have both of these going on at the
same time.
In the key of C, the notes of the V7 chord are G - B - D - F. The notes of the I
chord are C - E - G. F resolves to E, which is a 4th to major 3rd degree movement. B
resolves to C, which is a 7th to 1st degree movement. G to G is a constant. So strong
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is this forward motion back to the tonic that it has its own name - "Complete Cadence".
(More on cadences later).
Ascending by 5ths (Descending by 4ths)
Going counterclockwise around the 7-pointed star gives us ascending 5ths,

which are the same harmonically as descending 4ths. The IV - I and ii - vi
progressions are slightly stronger than the rest of the chord changes, but note as a
general rule concerning 5ths within the harmonic scale, counterclockwise around the
star has weaker motion than clockwise.
Do note, however, that the IV - I progression is also a cadence with its own name
- the Plagal Cadence, used commonly as the gentle "amen" at the end of many gospel
tunes.
Ascending or Descending by 2nds
Next to the descending 5ths, the kind of harmonic progression with the strongest
movement is ascending or descending by a harmonic second. These kind of
progressions are simply understood by our musical ear as walking up or down the
harmonic scale. Direction is certain, but they do not create the strong sense of
anticipation and finality as the descending 5th progressions.
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Ascending or Descending by 3rds
The final kind of chord progression in the harmonic scale is the ascending and
descending 3rds. Their role is to alternate between the major and minor sides of the
same harmonic scale. These are the Yin and Yang of chord progressions. While
certainly beautiful, there directional movement is weak, and typically are not used as
an ending of a phrase. These progressions may carry the tune for a while, but when
the ear is ready to go home, a safe route will be clockwise around the horn back to the
tonic.
Exercises
Using the Nashville Numbering diagrams of the different keys, try these
exercises. Play them all until you really know them by ear. Start in the key of C, then
repeat all exercises in all keys.
• Play all the chord pairs of the descending 5th group.

• Play all the chord pairs of the ascending 5th (descending 4th) group.
• Play all the chord pairs of the ascending and descending 2nd group.
• Play all the chord pairs of the ascending and descending 3rd group.
Repeat all these exercises again, this time play them in different chord voicings,
including triads, 7th chords substitution chords. Do this in as many chord positions up
and down the neck as you can.
Now repeat the exercises again. If you have been strumming, try arpeggiating
the chords to get the sound of the chord center in your ear, even when the chord is
implied by outlining it with the arppegio, rather than explicitly played as a strummed
chord.
Don't rush through the exercises. Rushing will not help you. Take your time, and
let your ear and fingers grow comfortable with all the movements. Take special note
that the voicing you use does not change the directional movement of the
progressions. Also, take special notes of the pairs that stand out to your ear as either
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familiar, useful, eccentric, or otherwise noteworthy. If later what you learned starts to
fade, come back and go through these exercises again.
Intervals: The Essential Building Blocks of All Music

In this lesson lies the secret to emotionally compelling music: Music is not in the notes
being played, it is in the relationship between notes being played. Before we can
understand what makes melody and harmony work in music, we need to understand
the some emotional properties of intervals.
Let's have a look at how different intervals operate on our emotions.
In the Western scale, the I degree is the tonic, root or home base. Once the tonic or
root note is established in our minds, our brain automatically compares all other tones
of the scale to the tonic, and tells us that we are either moving away from or towards
home. Moving away from home produces a sense of interest, excitement, or tension.
Returning home after going away produces a sense of rest, resolution, or release.
Music holds our our interest as long as there is a sense of motion away from home,
with the the promise that we will eventually arrive back home again.
The arrows in this diagram illustrate how intervals in the major scale behave like
rubber bands pulling on our emotions. The thicker arrows pull harder toward the
arrowhead than the thinner lines in the following manner:
• The I degree has no pull whatsoever. It is home base, which feels good when
you come back to it, but after feeling safe for too long we soon feel bored, and long to
venture out again.
• The II degree has a strong pull toward the I degree, so much so that it gives a
suspended sensation.
• The III degree also has a pull toward the I degree, but slightly less than the II.
• The IV degree has a hard pull toward the III degree, and is also gives a
suspended feeling until we arrive again at the III degree.
• The V degree is not exactly half way between the lower and upper I degree, but it
sounds like it is. There is a weak pull up or down to the I degree on either end of the
scale.
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• The VI degree has a moderate pull up to the I degree, or down to the V degree.
• The VII degree has a sharp pull towards the upper I degree in a scale. This gives
the VII a strong leading characteristic.
•
Here is another way to look at the gravitational nature of the tonic I degree on the
other degrees in the scale.
Learning how intervals effect us emotionally helps your ability to write emotionally
compelling melodies, and harmonies, or to alter an existing tune for an emotional
wallop.
Intervals can't be mastered overnight. In learning intervals thoroughly, the ear and
fingers require many repetitions and exposure to intervals in many musical
circumstances to really become cultured. It's best to take intervals in small daily
doses, at times when your ear is relaxed. Five minutes a day in the morning before
diving into other practice routines is probably sufficient.
The Four Corners of the Harmonic Landscape

Remember that (except for "My One Chord Song" by Keith Urban) all music moves
from chord center to chord center, and most often those chords are most often part of
the harmonic scale, but not always. Sometimes as we listen to music using our
knowledge of the harmonic scale, the composer throws us a curve ball, and suddenly
we hear a chord that does not fit neatly within the harmonic scale. Or the whole
landscape of the song changes as the composer moves between keys.
Before going too much further, let's make sure we understand a couple of musical
terms:
• Chromatic Chords: Chords borrowed from outside the harmonic scale of a

given key to add color, movement, tension or contrast to the progression. (Chroma
means color, or from the chromatic scale, rather than the diatonic scale).
• Modulation: Complete change from one key to another during a piece, often
using pivot chords to transition between keys.
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Using the harmonic scale as the common denominator, all Western music can be
placed neatly into four broad categories:
• Songs with chords only from the harmonic scale in a single key
• Songs with chords from the harmonic scale in a single key, and borrowed chords
outside the harmonic scale
• Songs that change keys, but use only chords within the harmonic scales of those
keys
• Songs that change keys, and borrow chords outside the harmonic scales of
those keys
The Four Harmonic Quadrants
Lets explore each of the four categories as four quadrants on a compass.
West and East Hemispheres

In the west hemisphere are songs with chords that are strictly within the
harmonic scale. These chords may be triads, 7ths, 6ths, or 9ths, diminished or
half diminished, or even sustained, but their tonal center fits neatly within the
harmonic scale.
In the east hemisphere are songs which borrow chromatic chords, or passing
chords between chords of the harmonic scale. Diminished chords and slash
chords work extremely well as chromatic passing chords, as well as harmonic
chords from other keys.
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North and South Hemispheres
In the north hemisphere are songs which are written in one key only. Chromatic
chords or not, the key is the same throughout. This is appropriate for simple songs
with verses and choruses, and comprises the lion's share of popular music.
In the south hemisphere are songs which have sections, choruses or verses where
the key shifts entirely from one to another. This is appropriate for more progressive
music, or when the arranger wants to make an ordinary song sound more progressive,
or when the composer wants to step the energy of the song up or down by stepping
the key up or down.
Some Popular Examples

Single Key, Harmonic Single Key, Chromatic
Jingle Bells It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Silent Night Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Jolly Old Saint Nicholas I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Modulation, Harmonic Modulation, Chromatic

Mean Mister Mustard (Beatles)
El Paso (Marty Robbins)
Oh Darlin' (Beatles)
Rocky Top (Tennessee State Song) Michelle, My Belle (Beatles)
Exercises:
In all the listening you do to songs for the next month, try to listen for the chord
progressions, and identify which quadrant that song belongs to. You'll be amazed at
your quickened understanding of harmonic progressions. Don't worry if you get
confused at first. After a little repetition it will begin to sink in.
Take some of the existing songs you know and add your own chromatic chords by trial
and error to find out what works. We will offer some suggestions in other lessons.
Take some more songs you know and step the verse or chorus up or down from
where you started. We will offer some suggestions here in later lessons as well.
including pivot chords that work well to set up the key change.
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Red Belt: Level 6 Guitar Lessons
Alternate Picking
This lesson deals with an often overlooked and almost always underdeveloped technique in most guitar
players: alternate picking. Learn tricks and tips from the best in the world, and blow your friends away.
Category: Red Belt: Techniques
Subcategory: Picking Read More ...
Compound Intervals: Intervals in 2nd Octave

Compound Intervals are intervals that span more that an octave, but less than two. These intervals are
important to learn in jazz guitar because jazz uses so many extended chords, 9ths, 11th, and 13ths, all of
which are extend beyond the perfect octave.
Category: Red Belt: Ear Training
Intervals: Musical Atoms

An interval is the distance between two notes and is measured in whole or half steps. An understanding of
intervals is required in order to understand any discussion of melody or harmony. Intervals played
sequentially create melody, intervals played simultaneously create harmony. Intervals are classified as either
perfect, major or minor.
Category: Red Belt: Ear Training
Intro to Major Scale Modes

Scale modes are essential to all aspiring lead guitarists. Few self-taught players know what modes are, and
even fewer know how to use them effectively. This lesson explains how to get started with modes as scales
that fit over the chords in the harmonic scale.
Category: Red Belt: Scales

Category: General
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Music Reading for Guitar
Been playing for 10 years and still can't read standard notation? It's not because you haven't tried... it's
because it can only be taught by one who really knows how. By the end of this course, you will be hearing
music in your head anytime you see written music.
Category: Red Belt: Theory
Subcategory: Reading Music Read More ...
Nashville Numbering System Adapted for Black Belt Guitar

To help you learn how to use the Harmonic scale the way the pros do, we have adapted a system developed
by old-timer Neal Matthews, of Nashville fame. Neal's numbering system evolved in Nashville as a way of
quickly communicating diatonic progressions that could be used by musicians in the studio who did not all
read music, but they sure could play! Learning this system will be a serious time-saver for all guitar players
who want to play solid music by ear without having to read music.
Category: Red Belt: Chords

Category: General
Reading Music for Guitar: Pegging Notes to Fretboard

In this lesson, we present you with a free and useful tool that will help you tie the notes you read on paper to
the positions on the fretboard. You can download the graphic, and make it your desktop wallpaper to help
you learn it while you are waiting for your hourglass to go away.
Subcategory: Reading Music Read More ...
Red Hot Double Stop Picking

High-octane double-stops fuel hot country and rockabilly solos. This lessons introduces double-stop picking,
and gives you the are some ideas for supercharging your leads.
Category: Red Belt: Techniques

Subcategory: Lead
Published on: 17 May 2004
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Scale Modes as Substitutes for Major and Minor
Scale modes as colorful scales are essential to all aspiring lead guitarists. This lesson explains how to think of
scale modes as substitutes for major and minor scales, and how to use them.
Category: Red Belt: Scales

Category: General

Category: General
The Never Ending Circle of 5ths

This lesson explains the Circle of 5ths, where it came from, what it is used for, and what its limitations are.
All guitar players who want to really know how music works, should know this cold.
Subcategory: Music Theory Read More ...

Category: General

161
Alternate Picking
Alternate picking is a right-hand picking technique that is especially useful in
bluegrass music, where 16th notes (or 8th notes in double 4 time) are the
common currency among flat pickers. Picking up and down alternately keeps
time, while the left hand works to fret in time with the right.
Tips to help with alternate picking:
• Hold your pick firmly. Two fingers and a thumb are often favored by the
world-class pickers.
• Start Slowly, focusing on accuracy first, and speed later.
• Practice your up-stroke twice as much as the down stroke, since the up
pick is generally weaker for most players.
• When you can play accurately at a slower speed, turn up the metronome a
notch and practice at the new higher speed.
• Think of your picking hand as the piston in an engine, and your fretting
hand is connected by a timing chain to your picking hand. Work at this
mental image until you feel your two hands working together at any speed.
Exercises
These riffs are inspired by the great alternate picker in rock 'n roll... Steve Morse.
The way to learn alternate picking fast, is to hold your pick firmly, then start slow,
forgetting about speed in the beginning. Instead, think precision. When you can
do these licks flawlessly at a certain speed, then turn up the speed on your
metronome and work up gradually until you are picking along at the speed of
Steve. Remember, that sloppy speed doesn't count!
The "^" character in the tabs is a downstroke, because it opens downward.

Conversely the character opening upward represents the upstroke.
Cruise Missle
This first lick is from Cruise Missile, and is a great right-hand workout, since the
left hand should be comfortable doing almost nothing but chromatic quadruplets.
Notice at the end of the even measures there is a quarter note. Your right hand
gets a rest for a two counts.
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Click on the tab to hear the midi file play. (Windows Media Player works best).
Gentle Flower, Hidden Beast
This second lick is from Gentle Flower, Hidden Beast (this is the beast part of the song).
Again, the left hand fingering is straight forward using the 1st and 3rd fingers alternately
for most of the lick. Notice the (ghost note) in the 1st and 3rd measures. Even though the
left hand swallows the note, the right hand still picks it. In the 4th measure, notice that the
right hand misses a couple of up strokes, but still moves up in preparation for the next
down strokes.
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Click on the tab to hear the midi file play. (Windows Media Player works best).
Blackberry Blossom
This third lick is from Blackberry Blossom a classic Bluegrass standard. Even if you
don't like country, you really ought to try this one. See if you can keep up with Dan Crary
or Mark O'Connor.
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Compound Intervals: Intervals in 2nd Octave
Intervals in the second octave are useful in guitar, because some intervals within
the first octave cannot be played with other adjacent intervals in the same
octave, because they must be played on the same string. For example, a second
and third cannot be played in a chord in the same chord, so one solution is to use
open strings, OR to move the second up an octave so that it becomes a ninth.
Number Other
Consonant / Name of Interval in
Interval Name of Half Names,
Dissonant Second Octave
Steps Symbols
Minor 9th 13 Consonant P8 + Minor 2nd M9
Major 9th 14 Dissonant P8 + Major 2nd M9
Minor 10th 15 Dissonant P8 + Minor 3rd m10
Major 10th 16 Consonant P8 + Major 3rd M10
Perfect 11th 17 Consonant P8 + Perfect 4th P11
Diminished
P8 + Diminished 5th
12th / d12, b12,
18 Consonant /
Augmented A11, #11
P8 + Augmented 4th
11th
Perfect 12th 19 Dissonant P8 + Perfect 5th P12
Minor 13th 20 Consonant P8 + Minor 6th m13
Major 13th 21 Consonant P8 + Major 6th M13
Minor 14th 22 Consonant P8 + Minor 7th M14
Major 14th 23 Dissonant P8 + Major 7th M14
Perfect 15th 24 Dissonant P8 + Perfect Octave P15
Minor and Major 9th
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Minor and Major 10th
Perfect 11th
Augmented 11th / Diminished 12th
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Perfect 12th
Perfect 15th
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Intervals: Musical Atoms
When we hear two tones of different pitches, our mind perceives that one tone is
higher or lower than the other. This difference in pitch is perceived as distance
between the tones. The greater the perceived distance, the larger the interval.
We give these intervals names to describe them, and help us understand what is
going on musically.
This diagram will show graphically why there is a natural relationship between
some tones, and why some tones seem more related to us than others.
How about a little experiment? Pluck the open A string on your guitar. Now
imagine that the vibrations that your string produces through your soundboard,
then later in your eardrum could be caught and colored blue. You would have
something like the first wave line in the diagram. Any other instrument playing a
tone with the same frequency (440 vibrations per second in the case of an A)
would be playing in perfect unison with your instrument.
While the open A string is vibrating, pluck an A on the 7th fret of the D string and
color it purple. If your guitar is in tune, the upper A will vibrate exactly twice as
fast as the lower A. This is like the second set of waves on the diagram. For
every peak in the lower frequency, there are precisely two peaks in the upper
frequency. You hear an octave, which your mind tells you is the same note... only
higher. This is because your brain interprets this simplest of ratios 1:2 as a
perfect octave.
Next, pluck the open A string and the D string on the 2nd fret. We already
established that the A is blue, so we need the E to be a different color... green.
For every 2 peaks in the vibration of the lower tone, there are precisely 3 peaks
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in the vibration of the upper tone. This ratio of 2:3 is perceived as a perfect 5th
interval.
Next, pluck the open A string again, and the open D string. Color the D red, and
notice that for every 3 peaks in the vibration of the lower tone there are exactly 4
peaks in the vibration of the upper tone. This 3:4 ratio is perceived as a perfect
4th interval.
Your awesome brain is wired to organize tones at lightning speed, and perceives
some tones played together or in series to be related, and while others sound
chaotic. Those tones that sound related to each other do so because of simple
frequency ratios, as explained above.
Interval Summary
Intervals in the 1st Octave
Number Other Name of Interval
Frequency Consonant / Inverted Interval
Interval Name of Half Names, in Second
Ratio Dissonant Name
Steps Symbols Octave
Perfect Unison 0 1 Consonant P1 Perfect Unison Perfect Octave
Minor 2nd 1 15:16 Dissonant m2, b2 Major 7th Minor 9th
Major 2nd 2 8:9 Dissonant M2, 2 Minor 7th Major 9th
Minor 3rd 3 5:6 Consonant m3, b3 Major 6th Minor 10th
Major 3rd 4 4:5 Consonant M3, 3 Minor 6th Major 10th
Perfect 4th 5 3:4 Consonant P4 Perfect 5th Perfect 11th
Augmented
Augmented 4th Diminished 5th
d5, b5, A4, 11th /
/ 6 32:45 Dissonant /
#4, Tritone Diminished
Diminished 5th Augmented 4th
12th
Perfect 5th 7 2:3 Consonant P5 Perfect 4th Perfect 12th
Minor 6th 8 5:8 Consonant m6, b6 Major 3rd Minor 13th
Major 6th 9 3:5 Consonant M6, 6 Minor 3rd Major 13th
Minor 7th 10 5:9 Dissonant m7, b7 Major 2nd Minor 14th
Major 7th 11 8:15 Dissonant M7, 7 Minor 2nd Major 14th
Perfect Octave 12 1:2 Consonant P8 Perfect Octave Perfect 15th
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Interval Spellings
P1 m2 M2 m3 M3 P4 Au/Dm P5 m6 M6 m7 M7 P8
Ab Bbb Bb Cb C Db D/Ebb Eb Fb F Gb G Ab
A Bb B C C# D D#/Eb E F F# G G# A
A# B B# C# C## D# D##/E E# F# F## G# G## A#
Bb Cb C Db D Eb E/Fb F Gb G Ab A Bb
B C C# D D# E E#/F F# G G# A A# B
C Db D Eb E F F#/Gb G Ab A Bb B C
C# D D# E E# F# F##/G G# A A# B B# C#
Db Ebb Eb Fb F Gb G/Abb Ab Bbb Bb Cb C Db
D Eb E F F# G G#/Ab A Bb B C Db D
D# E E# F# G G# G##/A A# B B# C# D D#
Eb Fb F Gb G Ab A/Bbb Bb Cb C Db D Eb
E F F# G G# A A#/Bb B C C# D D# E
F Gb G Ab A Bb B/Cb C Db D Eb E F
F# G G# A A# B B#/C C# D D# E E# F#
Gb Abb Ab A Bb Cb C/Dbb Db Ebb Eb Fb F Gb
G Ab A Bb B C C#/Db D Eb E F Gb G
G# A A# B B# C# D##/D D# E E# F# G G#
Perfect Intervals
Perfect intervals are the first intervals to master because they are the most
familiar to most unseasoned ears. Most people instantly recognize an octave
when they hear it.
Perfect Unison
The first interval we commit to ear and finger memory is the perfect unison. A
perfect unison is the same note played twice. On a guitar, a perfect unison can
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be played melodically (one note at a time) on the same string or harmonically
(two notes at the same time) on different strings.
Perfect Octave
The next interval we will commit to ear, mind and finger memory is the perfect
octave. The perfect octave is 12 half steps apart on the chromatic scale and 8
notes apart on the major scale. The top note on a perfect octave vibrates exactly
twice as fast as the bottom note.
A perfect octave is two notes twelve half-steps apart that have the same name.
Every time you go up an octave, the strings vibrate twice as fast.
Perfect 5ths
The next interval we commit to ear and to finger memory is the Perfect 5th. This
interval is present in almost every kind of scale. It is neither major nor minor. It
adds stability and power to the chord. When playing two root notes and two fifth
notes in two octaves, this chord is called stacked 5ths, and is one of the most
powerful chords in rock music.
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The ear when it hears a perfect fifth naturally gravitates to the root note, and the
fifth adds strength, stability and power to that root.
Church songs sung by medieval monks used perfect 5ths as harmony, because
being "perfect" was what godly music was all about. Other kinds of harmony
were forbidden in medieval church music because they were seen as pagan at
the time.
Perfect 4ths
The next interval we commit to ear and finger memory is the Perfect 4th. This
interval is the inversion of a perfect 5th, and like the perfect 5th can add power
and stability to chords.
It is easy to confuse a perfect 4th with a perfect 5th, because when the ear hears
a perfect 4th, it tends to want to hear the top note as the root, then gravitate
down a perfect 5th.
Guitar strings are tuned in perfect 4ths from each other. E - A is a perfect 4th, A -
D is a perfect 4th, D - G is a perfect 4th, G - B is a major 3rd. It is this tuning that
we owe our ability to play so many chords within a 4 or 5-fret span. The EADGBE
tuning places the majority of the good-sounding notes in close proximity to each
other on different strings so that we can easily reach them with our fingers.
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Consonant Intervals
Most two-part vocal harmonies in Western music are performed in major and
minor thirds. Because they sound familiar to us is why we will commit them next
to ear and finger memory.
The tricky part of learning major and minor 3rds is when used together in
harmony, sometimes the ear confuses them, and we don't know which is major
and minor. We should be able to quickly distinguish between the major and minor
3rd intervals before moving on to other intervals.
Major and minor 3rds
A major 3rd is what makes a major chord sound major, and a minor 3rd is what a
minor chord owes its minor sound to.
Major and Minor 6ths
The Major 6th has a close relationship with the minor 3rd, because in fact it is the
inverse of the minor 3rd. In other words, a major 6th down from a tonic note is an
octave below the minor 3rd above the same tonic note. For this reason, the ear is
sometimes confused as to whether the 6th is minor or major.
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In orchestral music, the French Horns often are those playing harmony in major
and minor 6ths down from the melody.
Dissonant Intervals
These intervals are closest to the tonic note and have greatest propensity to
make the ear want to resolve to the tonic note. Dissonant in musical terms
means full of energy or tension.
Major and Minor 2nds
These intervals almost always have a strong emotional pull downward to the
tonic note. In guitar they are so close to the tonic note on the same string that
they lend themselves to trilling (rapid hammering on and pulling off with the left
hand) to add heat and energy to the root note.
Major and Minor 7ths
These intervals have a strong pull upward to the tonic note, and this is their
primary function in music... to lead the listener home. In fact, the 7th interval is
what gives the V chord (from the harmonic scale) its dominant characteristic,
which tells the listener that the next chord is a I chord (also from the harmonic
scale).
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The Devil's Tone: Augmented 4ths/Diminished 5ths
The Augmented 4th or Diminished 5th interval sounds so strange to our ears,
that even though it exists, it is only used sparingly. When it is summoned forth, it
can have a surprising or stunning effect on the listener, causing the audience to
lose their musical bearing, if only for a moment. It does this because the mind
cannot easily perceive which direction they are going relative to home. If dwelt on
too long, can erase the notion of home base from the listener's mind. The effect
is musical vertigo.
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Intro to Major Scale Modes
Major scale modes are simply scales within the major scale. Scale modes
created by playing the notes within the parent scale but starting and ending on
different notes of the parent scale.
For example: DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI - DO represents the major scale

which is the parent scale for all the modes.
By shifting the tonality up each of the steps in this scale we get the following:
1. DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI - DO : Ionian
2. RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI - DO - RE : Dorian
3. MI - FA - SO - LA - TI - DO - RE - MI : Phrygian
4. FA - SO - LA - TI - DO - RE - MI - FA : Lydian
5. SO - LA - TI - DO - RE - MI - FA - SO : Mixolydian
6. LA - TI - DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA : Aeolian
7. TI - DO - RE - MI - FA - SO - LA - TI : Locrian
Even though each mode uses the exact same notes as all the other modes, we
perceive a great difference between them because the intervals are assembled
in a different order.
How are Modes Used? Modes are usually used in one of 3 ways:
• When soloing over diatonic major and minor chord progressions

• When soloing over modal progressions
• As substitutes for major and minor scales
This lesson discusses the first bullet:
I. Soloing over diatonic major and minor chord progressions
Each mode in the major scale corresponds to a chord in the major harmonic
scale.
Chord
Chord Corresponding
Examples in
Number Scale Mode
Key of C
CM , CM7 ,
I Chord C Ionian
CM6
Dm , Dm7 ,
II Chord D Dorian
Dm6
III Chord Em , Em7 E Phrygian
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IV Chord FM , FM7 , FM6 F Lydian
V Chord GM , G7 G Mixolydian
VI Chord Am , Am7 , Am6 A Aeolian
VII Chord Bo , Bm7b5 B Locrian
Diatonic chord progressions are built upon harmonic scale for the key in which
the song is written. All the notes in all of the chords are common to the major
scale in that key, and so the scale selection with the least amount of risk is the
scale that fits perfectly over the chord being played.
Let's have a look at each of the modes corresponding to the relative chord in the
harmonic scale in the key of C. In the charts below, the white dots are the
starting and ending points of each scale. The bright blue dots are the anchor
notes, or the root of the C, in this case.
Ionian Mode
The Ionian mode fits exactly over the I chord in the harmonic scale.
Dorian Mode
The Dorian mode fits exactly over the ii chord in the harmonic scale.
Phrygian Mode
The Phrygian mode fits exactly over the iii chord in the harmonic scale.
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Lydian Mode
The Lydian mode fits exactly over the IV chord in the harmonic scale.
Mixolydian Mode
The Mixolydian mode fits exactly over the V chord in the harmonic scale.
Aeolian Mode
The Aeolian mode fits exactly over the vi chord in the harmonic scale.
Locrian Mode
The Locrian mode fits exactly over the vii chord in the harmonic scale.
Tom Kolb has been an instructor at Musician's Institute after graduating with
honors and receiving Student of the Year in 1989. Tom has played over 4,000
gigs in the US and Europe, and has done copious studio work with major artists,
as well as playing in his own band.
The trouble with learning scale modes is that teachers either don't know modes
well themselves, or maybe they do, but don't know how to teach them. Tom has
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taught modes to hundreds of students, and now has a book with a CD that helps
you get scale modes into your playing as soon as possible.
Nashville Numbering System Adapted for

Black Belt Guitar
The lion's share of hit music coming out of Nashville (Austin, L.A., New York,
Melbourne, Seattle, Liverpoole or anywhere on earth with a radio is diatonic, or
based on the major scale. The same is true of most pop, rock, folk, country,
bluegrass and classical music.
We should point out a few differences in the notation we use vs. the Nashville
Numbering system, but other than the way we write it, the sound and the theory
are the same. The Nashville system uses Arabic numbers:(i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4) to
number their chords. We use Roman numerals (i.e. I, ii, iii, IV) to number ours.
The Nashville system assumes all chord numbers to be major, unless otherwise
noted (i.e. min, dim, etc.). We use upper and lower case to indicate the chord
type. If the chord type is extended, Nashville writes is as 5(7), and we write it as
V7.
Remember that the only difference is the way the chords are written, otherwise,
we speak exactly the same language here as in Nashville.
The 7-pointed star is our visual method to help you organize the harmonic scale
in each key in a practical and useful way. On the star, you see how each of the
points of the star is separated by some kind of 5th. You also see easily the
clumping of major and minor chords in blue and red, respectively, and you will
later see how to navigate around the points in the star to take your listeners
where you want them to go musically.
What you learn right here will be the basis for describing almost all
progressions in all your in future lessons pertaining to chord changes. For
examble, when we talk about a ii - V - I progression in the key of Am, you'll know
exactly what we are talking about, and be able to hear the sound of a ii - V - I in
your head, at the same time your fingers know what chords to play. Since you'll
also know the viable substitute chords for each position, you'll also have the
ability to flavor your renditions in any way you like, without sacrificing musicality.
Later on, the goal is to get the sounds and relative positions of each of these
chords in your head, so there is no to need for these pictures as a crutch.
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How to Draw Your Own 7-Pointed Star
The best way to internalize this stuff is to draw it for your self. This makes what
you learn "sticky", or harder to forget. You will do this 12 times, or once for each
key. By then you should have it down pretty well.
Draw the 7 Points and the Yin Yang
Start by drawing a 7-pointed star like so:
Number the Points
Add the Roman numerals I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - viio onto each point, starting with
the second point on the right, and going counter-clockwise skipping every other
point, like so:
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This arranges each chord in the scale so that going clockwise, the adjacent
points are a 5th apart. In most cases the chords are a perfect 5th apart, but the
IV to the viio chords are a diminished 5th apart.
Add Key Names and Base Chord Names
Now that we have a generic pointed star, we need to make it key-specific. In the
Yang (blue) space, label the name of the major key, and in the yin (red) space,
label the name of the parallel minor key. Then, list the names of the base chords
of the harmonic scale, corresponding to the key signature in the yin/yang.
Adding Substitute Chords
In the chart below, we list each of those degrees with a Roman numeral (I - ii - iii
- IV - V - vi - viio), which is a very practical short hand for the chord that should
be memorized. Here we will add colors to help in the memorization. Blue is
major (1 - 3 - 5), Red is minor (1 - m3 - 5), and Violet is Half-Diminished (1 - m3 -
d5).
The table to the right of each star is a list of the common chord name and
popular substitutes for each chord. These substitute chords will allow you to
inject more color and variety into their playing, while still remaining mostly
diatonic. The first row is the name of the triads in the harmonic scale, the second
row is the name of the 7th chords, and the third row is some more chords that
can be used interchangeably in the I, iii, IV and viio spots for additional color,
without losing the function of the chord.
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Key of C Major / A Minor
C Dm Em F G Am Bo7
CM7 Dm7 Em7 FM7 G7 Am7 Bo7
C6 E7 F6 Bm/5+
Exercises:
Your homework is to construct a table like the one above for each of the 12 keys.
Namely, C/Am, Db/Bbm, D/Bm, Eb/Cm, E/C#m, F/Dm, Gb/Ebm, G/Em, Ab/Fm,
A/F#m, Bb/Gm, B/G#m. The answers to your homework assignment are on the
next page, but we encourage you not to print that page, since it will rob you of
the opportunity of constructing it for yourself, which will lengthen the time it takes
to learn it and eventually throw it away. A Better way to check your work is to
play the chords on your guitar, and if it sounds right... chances are it is right.
There are 3 enharmonic keys (same notes as other keys but use different
names), which you can do as extra credit if you would like. These are C#/A#m
(same notes as Db/Bbm), F#/D#m (same notes as Gb/Ebm), and Cb/Abm (same
notes as B/G#m).
Reading Music for Guitar: Pegging Notes to

Fretboard
This graphic will help you visually tie the notes on paper to the notes on your
fretboard. The dots on the fretboard are the different notes, and the size of the
dot corresponds to the octave in which the note resides.
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Scale Modes as Substitutes for Major and Minor
How are Modes Used? Modes are usually used in one of 3 ways:
• When soloing over diatonic major and minor chord progressions

• When soloing over modal progressions
• As substitutes for major and minor scales
This lesson discusses the second and third bullets in the list.
II. Soloing over modal chord progressions
Soloing over modal progressions is a little more fluid sounding than soloing over
major or minor progressions, but that is only because with major or minor, we
can usually find our way home when we get lost because those progressions are
so much more familiar to us.
Modal progressions are the same as harmonic major and minor progressions,
except that the starting and ending notes are different. Modal progressions are
written in the same key as their parent scale, so the chord names are the same
as the major scale, and have the same number of sharps or flats as the parent
scale.
With modal progressions, we have to pay a little more attention to the chords in
the progression itself, but the basic rules are the same: play the mode that fits
the chord in the progression.
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III. Scale Modes as substitutes for major and minor scales
The major scale modes fall into one of two categories: Major or Minor. This is
dictated by the major or minor 3rd in the scale, which casts a spell over the rest
of the notes in the scale, making the whole scale sound major or minor.
Major Scale Minor Scale

Modes Modes
Ionian Aeolian
Lydian Dorian
Mixolydian Phrygian
Locrian
Scale modes within the major or minor categories can be called upon to make
the piece of music more interesting, or to color the scale for a particular effect.
Ionian Mode
The Ionian scale is the most familiar of all the scales, since we have heard
almost daily since birth. It has a happy effect upon us. It is major by virtue of the
major 3rd, and the distinguishing degree is the major 7th, which has a strong
tendency to pull the ear up a half step to the root or home or key note.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-3-4-5-6-7
Step Construction W-W-W-H-W-W-W
Good with Progressions I-IV-V , II-V-I , I-VI-IV-V , I-III-IV-I , I-IV-I , I-V-I
Lydian Mode
The lydian mode is an airy, floating kind of major scale. The augmented 4th
degree makes the listener a little unsure whether the direction of the phrase is
towards or away from the tonic.
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Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-3-#4-5-6-7
Step Construction W-W-W-H-W-W-H
Distinguishing Degree #4
Good with Progressions I-II , I-II-VII , I-VII , I-III-VII
Mixolydian Mode
The mixolydian mode is a major mode with a slightly funky sound, owing to the
dominant or minor 7th degree. Funk and blues players should be very familiar
with this scale.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-3-4-5-6-b7
Step Construction W-W-H-W-W-H-W
Good over Chords M,7
Good with Progressions I-VII , I-VII-IV , I-Vm , I-IV , I-VI-VIIm
Aeolian Mode
The aeolian mode is a staight-forward minor scale. It is the backbone for all
minor playing, and the other minor modes are a slight departure from this scale.
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Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Step Construction W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Good with Progressions Im-bVII-bVI , Im-IVm , Im-Vm , Im-bIII-bVII
Dorian Mode
The Dorian mode is a minor scale whose overall feel and flavor is minor, but it is
softened slightly by the use of the major 6th, instead of the minor 6th. It is a
favorite scale in the music of Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix Stevie Ray Vaughan,
to name a few.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7
Step Construction W-H-W-W-W-H-W
Good with Progressions Im-IV , Im-IIm , Im-bIII-IV , Im-Vm-VI-Im , Im-IIm-bIII-Im
Phrygian Mode
The phrygian mode is a very exotic-sounding minor scale owing to the minor 2nd.
You hear this scale often in flamenco music and metal shred music.
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Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Step Construction H-W-W-W-H-W-W
Good over Chords m , m7
Good with Progressions Im-bII , Im-bIII-bII , Im-bVIIm , Im-bII-bVIIm
Locrian Mode
The locrian mode is a minor mode with a very eccentric feel. It has both a minor
2nd and a diminished 5th. This is a "surprise" scale that you can use in some
phasing to add variety to blues or pentatonic playing.
Attributes Values
Scale Formula 1-b2-b3-4-b5-b6-b7
Step Construction H-W-W-H-W-W-W
Distinguishing Degree m2,d5
Good over Chords o , dim , m7b5
Good with Progressions Io-bII , Im7b5-IVm7 , Im7b5-bVIIm7
Tom Kolb has been an instructor at Musician's Institute after graduating with
honors and receiving Student of the Year in 1989. Tom has played over 4,000
gigs in the US and Europe, and has done copious studio work with major artists,
as well as playing in his own band.
The trouble with learning scale modes is that teachers either don't know modes
well themselves, or maybe they do, but don't know how to teach them. Tom has
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taught modes to hundreds of students, and now has a book with a CD that helps
you get scale modes into your playing as soon as possible.
The Never Ending Circle of 5ths

Early in the 18th Century (1728 to be exact), German composer Johann David
Heinichen came up with a 12-pointed circle known around the world today as the
Circle of 5ths. This very useful tool is at the core of much music theory, because
it explains so much with so little space.
Key Aspects of Music Theory Explained by the Circle of 5ths
• Every major key in the circle has a corresponding minor key in the inner
circle, known as the relative minor key. The relative major and minor keys
are related to each other, because they share the same key signature, as
well as the same notes in their scales. The only difference being the
emphasis on the notes played make the scales sound either major or
minor when played. C/Am are one example.
• Every major key is strongly related to the adjacent major keys in the outer
circle by a perfect 5th interval. A perfect 5th up, going clockwise, and a
perfect 5th down, going counterclockwise.
• A perfect 5th up from the key note (one click clockwise) is known as the
dominant key.
• A perfect 5th down from the key note (one click counterclockwise) is
known as the subdominant key.
• Going clockwise, you either lose a flat, or gain a sharp with each point in
the circle from where you started.
• Going counterclockwise, you either lose a sharp or gain a flat with each
point in the circle from where you started.
• The gain or loss of a single sharp or flat accounts for the adjacent keys in
the circle sounding more related than the keys located on points further
away from the origin. This is important knowledge to have when
composing songs that modulate between keys. (More on modulation in a
separate lesson).
• The three sets of keys on the bottom of the circle share the same tones
but different key signatures. These are known as enharmonic keys, which
literally means that they share the same sound, inspite of their different
key signatures. An example of an enharmonic key would be F# and Gb.
• all of the above points are true both in the major keys (outer circle) and the
minor keys (inner circle).
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In the table below, spend some time memorizing the key signature on the left,
and then on your guitar, play and sing the major and minor scale notes, visually
pegging the notes to the staff on the left.
Key
Key Signature Major Scale Notes Minor Scale Notes
Name
C Major
C-D-E-F-G-A-B A-B-C-D-E-F-G
A Minor
G Major
G - A - B - C - D - E - F# E - F# - G - A - B - C - D
E Minor
D Major
D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# B - C# - D - E - F# - G - A
B Minor
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A Major A - B - C# - D - E - F# - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D -
F# Minor G# E
E Major E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A
C# Minor D# -B
B Major B - C# - D# - E - F# - G# G# - A# - B - C# - D# - E
G# Minor - A# - F#
Cb Major Cb - Db - Eb - Fb - Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb - Db - Eb -
Ab Minor Ab - Bb Fb - Gb
F# Major F# - G# - A# - B - C# - D# - E# - F# - G# - A# - B
D# Minor D# - E# - C#
Gb Major Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb - Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb
Eb Minor Eb - F - Db
C# Major C# - D# - E# - F# - G# - A# - B# - C# - D# - E# -
A# Minor A# - B# F# - G#
Db Major Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - Gb
Bb Minor - C - Ab
Ab Major Ab - Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - F - G - Ab - Bb - C - Db -
F Minor G Eb
Eb Major Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C - C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab -
C Minor D Bb
Bb Major
Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A G - A - Bb - C - D - Eb - F
G Minor
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F Major
F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E D - E - F - G - A - Bb - C
D Minor
Limitations of the Circle of 5ths
For all the utility of the Circle of 5ths, there are some very important things that it
is not designed to do:
• Once a key is established, the Circle of 5ths does not explain or help
analyze chord progressions within a key. (In other words, what chords in
the Key of C sound good together).
• When modulating between keys, the Circle of 5ths does not help you find
a graceful pivot chord to bridge the jump between keys.
For chord work within a key, or between keys, the Nashville Numbering System
works much better (more on this in a separate lesson).
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Brown Belt: Level 7 Guitar Lessons
Improve Your Solos with Drones and Pedal Notes
No matter how fast you can play, no matter how technically brilliant your fretwork, unless you build good
melody into your lead playing, you will quickly lose your audience. This lesson will show you how you can
use droning and pedal notes for solo practice to help your sharpen your melodic sensibilities and make your
solo and lead playing more interesting and emotionally compelling.
Category: Brown Belt: Licks
Subcategory: Lead Read More ...
Learning to Play Leads Using the Vector Method

Having trouble hearing all those fast notes from your favorite players? Try the techniques in this lesson to
help you dissect and interpret the most elaborate and lively leads. Learn to make the leads uniquely your
own, while preserving the essence of the original artist.
Category: Brown Belt: Licks
Subcategory: Lead Read More ...

Category: General

Category: General
Overtones and Natural Harmonics

This lesson will show where natural guitar harmonics are found on your guitar, and how to avoid unwanted
harmonic feedback. You'll learn enough practical theory and observations to understand harmonics.
Category: Brown Belt: Theory
Subcategory: Harmonics Read More ...
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Category: General

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General
Subcategory: Concentration Read More ..
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Improve Your Solos with Drones and Pedal Notes
What if you were asked to were asked to play a guitar solo act where you had to
play for 10 solid minuteswhile your band goes below for some R & R. Would you
be able to keep your audience's interest that long? Would you be able to lead
your audience through an experience that they will remember positively? Would
your band rejoin you just when the audience is roaring their approval? Or would
you flame out and self-destruct becauseyour solos really go nowhere interesting,
and you are staring into a sea of yawns?
The difference is in the melody, your understanding of good melody, and how it
influences your audience. Good melody is a sense you should over-develop. This
will set your original playing apart from thecrowd of lead players, even if your
speed and flashy playing only comes in bursts.
How Droning Can Help
Droning is a single note or chord sustained for a very long time. Think of the
sound of your car engine droning through the desert highways of Arizona. The
next time you are in your car driving down the freeway, try humming in unison
with your car engine and wheels. Once you find you are in perfect unison, try
humming an original melody that works over the sound of your car. Through trial
and error, you will eventually learn what works and what doesn't. You might find
that you are more melodic singing than playing guitar. This is because you can
focus on the melody without letting technical aspects of an instrument get in the
way.
Establishing a drone and playing melody on top is an excellent exercise for guitar
as well. I you have an A/B switch with delay effect, play a single note or chord on
infinite delay through your A channel, then switch to your B channel to start
plucking out melodies, licks, lines and voicings top of the drone you have
created.
If you don't have all this equipment, just play with in the key of E or A, using the
open string as a drone. Using the remaining strings, work out melodies, licks,
lines and voicings that are powerful and compelling.Only re-attack the open
string as required to help sustain the droning note so you can play melody over
the top.
Pedal Notes
Pedal notes play a role similar to drones, except that the notes are attacked at a
constant repeating rate. Pedal notes can be played alternately with notes in the
melody, as in Flamenco classics Malaguena and Leyenda de Asturias.
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How It Works
You've seen this picture before, but practicing over droning can help you
internalize the theory here and make it work from a gut level. The drone note is
the tonic, or I note in the scale that you happen to be playing in. By playing notes
relative to the tonic, you begin to recognize how notes other than the tonic create
a sense of tension or resolve to the tonic or a neighboring note. Don't memorize
this picture. Instead, learn to feel the tension and resolve of the notes, and
evaluate that pull and direction from an emotionallevel:
Droning and pedal note techniques are not only fun to play, they forces your to
play a melody that works with or against the tonic. These exercises will
accentuate what works and what doesn't. See, when itsounds good, it sounds
really good, and when its bad, it sounds really bad. These exercises will
accelerate the rate at which your ear improves.
Some of the best guitar solo acts use a simple but powerful tool to create their
own accompaniment while they solo away. Steve Morse, Eric Johnson and Jeff
Beck use droning on a loop to accompany their solos very effectively in live
shows.
Learning to Play Leads Using the Vector Method

The in mathematics, the definition of "Vector" is "representation of a quantity
having both magnitude and direction". In lead playing, a certain quantity and
variety of notes are selected and intersect with rhythmic patterns to create the
illusion of both magnitude and direction.
How to Listen for the Vector Points
As you study your favorite lead guitarists, learn to listen critically to the passage
in the following manner:
• Listen to the first and last notes of the lead first. These are the starting and
ending points where you will need to also be.
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• Next, listen for the vector, or pivot notes that indicate accents or changes
in direction at various times between the starting and ending points on the
lead (vector notes very often occur on the strong beat of each measure).
Play only the vector notes several times through as you listen to the
original artist. This will get you playing the important notes with the
important accents in time with the original artist, in much less time than if
you just start at the beginning of the lead and plow through to the end.
• Finally, listen for all the connecting notes between the pivot notes, and
play along from pivot to pivot note repeatedly until you are quite
comfortable before moving on. If you miss one or two of the in-between
notes, it still sounds good as long as you keep the time and play cleanly.
We call this approach the "Vector Technique", because it keeps you focused on
the important notes and pivotal notes at the end of musical phrases. Kinda like
the Karate Kin on Plum Poles, you see here to remind that it's more important to
hit the right notes in time to get back home, than to hit every note.
Overtones and Natural Harmonics

This lesson has presents a very cool and unique quality of the guitar as an
instrument, namely its your ability to play harmonics on the guitar. Harmonics are
produced any time you strike the string of a guitar, but you don't always hear
them, because they are naturally occuring overtones, or tones on top of the loud
fundamental tone you hear.
To briefly review what you learned in your lessons on major scales and intervals,
the fundamental tone is the tone the string produces when the entire length of the
open or fretted string vibrates. If you touch the vibrating string lightly at certain
points, you dampen the fundamental tone, allowing a softer overtone to be heard.
There are an infinite number of points along the string, each producing an
overtone, but the loudest and most recognizable overtones correspond to points
which divide the vibrating string into equal lengths. The smaller the equal length,
the softer the overtone.
As you study this picture, here are some observations that will help you
rembember where the loudest natural harmonic points are along any given string:
• Half of the string length is an octave above the fundamental.

• One-quarter string length is two octaves above the fundamental.
• One-eighth string length is three octaves above the fundamental... and so
on, ad infinitum.
• One-third string length is a perfect 5th above the first octave.
• One-fifth string length is a major 3rd above the second octave.
• One-sixth string length is a perfect 5th above the second octave.
• One-seventh string length is a minor 7th above the second octave.
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Also, in the picture, take note of the similar colors, corresponding to notes in the
chromatic scale, as well as the size of the dots, corresponding to the relative
strength of the harmonic tone.
The diagram does not show harmonics above the 12th fret, but they do exist
there, in reverse order. Learn the ratios, and play them above the 12th fret as
well.
Not All Guitars Created Equally
Some guitars project harmonic overtones more ably than others. If you are using
an acoustic top guitar, a thin solid-top model will project louder than a thicker
plywood top. If you are using an electric guitar, a hot bridge pickup will detect and
amplify harmonics more than a warm jazz neck pickup. Some pickup models are
especially built to maximize the effect of harmonics, riding the airwaves on high
distortion and volume.
Problems with Natural Harmonic
Natural harmonics are can be very cool, but also problematic if not tamed.
Because harmonics arise from touching the string at certain points when
vibrating, they can happen accidentally when your left or right hand changes
position and touches adjacent strings in those ticklish places. Harmonics can
also occur in the form of feedback, when playing loudly, your strings can naturally
resonate with its own frequency coming through the amplifier or from other
instruments. For this reason, muting with the left and right hand is the antidote to
feedback and unwanted harmonic noise. Learn the harmonic points on the guitar
also to know what not to play, accidentally.
Who Uses Harmonics?
This list of players is by no means exhaustive, but you might have heard of them:
Eddie Van Halen, Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Liona
Boyd, Andy Summers, Adrian Legg, John Williams, Andres Segovia, Fernando
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Sor, Joe Satriani, David Gilmour to name a few. You can add your name to this
list of creative virtuosos.
Other Uses for Natural Harmonics
Natural harmonics are a good way to tune a guitar with itself. Playing the same
harmonic tone or octave on two vibrating strings at once will allow to you fine
tune your guitar. If you cannot get open string tuning and harmonic tuning to
sound reasonably in tune on your axe, you might need to take it in to your local
luthier for adjustment.
Exercises
Don't try to absorb this picture all at once. Break it down into small digestible
pieces, such as:
• Pick a string and learn the harmonics names up and down the string, one
string at a time.
• Pick a fret and learn the harmonic names across all strings one fret at a
time.
• Pick a note and learn the position of that note everywhere on the
fretboard.
The harmonics on the fretboard are learned by repetition. Here are a few
useful ideas:
• When you do have your guitar with you (and nobody is around to make
fun of you) sing the names of the harmonics as you play them. This
makes the learning "sticky", and you will internalize it much more quickly
than by playing alone.
• Look for and visualize patterns, and play those patterns as you discover
them.
• Learn the note locations relative to the inlays (dots) and frets of the guitar
neck.
• When you can't have your guitar with you, quiz yourself by drawing the
fretboard on a piece of paper.
• A little bit every day is better than a lot at once. Don't try to cram for your
test. Just make a point of knowing your stuff, and when you realize that
you might have some fuzzy areas that need sharpening, just revisit them
and you'll see that a little attention will quickly fix them.
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Black Belt: Level 8 Guitar Lessons
Guitar Teaching Basics to Remember
Anyone can call themselves a guitar teacher, and even charge money for it, but most students are smart
enough to figure out after a while whether they are learning anything from you. So this lesson will give
teachers some basics to remember.
Category: Guitar Teaching
Guitar Teaching Do's and Don'ts

Here is a brief list of do's and dont's that can help make or break a guitar teacher in the minds of their
students.
Category: Guitar Teaching

Category: General

Category: General

Category: General
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Category: General
The Way of the Black Belt is One Eternal Round

At the end of our journey, we find ourselves again at the beginning. This lesson will give you a tangible
experience of the distance you have traveled to this point, and also a humbling way to keep you connected
with those you teach.
Category: Black Belt
Subcategory: Martial Arts Read More ...

Category: General

Category: General
Subcategory: Concentration Read More
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Guitar Teaching Basics to Remember
You Can Be a Teacher
If you are not a teacher, don't be afraid to contemplate it. If you know that you like
teaching, and want to be a teacher, all that is required to be an effective teacher
is that you are effective at helping your students learn what they want to learn.
You are not required to know everything. Even if you could know everything, your
students could not absorb it as fast as you could spew it out.
This gives rise to a division of responsibilities between the teacher and the
Student:
Student Responsibilities:
• The student must know what he or she wants to learn

• The student must find and qualify a teacher that will teach what he or she
wants to learn
• The student must show up prepared for lessons
• The student must commit to practice
• The student must make the teacher aware of problems, difficulties,
changes in goals, or other information that can help the teacher do his or
her job
Teacher Responsibilities:
• The teacher must help the student articulate what he or she wants to learn
• The teacher must evaluate his or her own skills to decide if he or she can
teach what the student wants to learn
• The teacher must outline the lessons in advance, and ask the student to
agree to the outline
• The teacher must show up prepared for lessons, according to the agreed
upon outline
• The teacher must commit to practice
• The teacher must employ good problem solving to determine why
students may not be learning, and prescribe the correct remedy
You Cannot Teach Everyone
Realize that you cannot teach everyone. Not everyone is interested in knowing
what you know. This is perfectly OK, and shouldn't bother you. It is your
challenge to match what you know to students that want to know what you
know... or... to quickly teach your self what your students want to learn.
Successful teachers actually do a little of both to find and keep their students.
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Learning Cycle
Assuming that you and your students have connected, and you are clear about
what they want to learn, now it is critical that you understand the learning process
that all students use. Here is an important image to burn into the back of your
mind:
Hearing: is the first and foremost important step in learning guitar. After all, music
is a listening skill. All students of guitar should spend copious amounts of time
during the week listening to the good music they want to learn. The axiom is "if
you can't hear it... you can't play it". When teaching a new drill in a lesson, the
teacher should play it through a time or two or three to allow the student to just
listen and hear what is going on. During these brief moments, encourage your
student to put their guitars down and focus on the hearing process.
Seeing: is the next step. The student wants to see how you play what they have
heard. Arrange your chairs so that you can easily see each other's hands. Long-
term memory retention goes from about 25% to 40% when we hear and see.
Doing: is the next important step with two phases: playing it together, then asking
the student to play it solo. This should be repeated until the student can solo
three times perfectly. Long-term memory retention shoots up from 40% to 60%
when we hear, see and do.
Teaching: is the final important step that ensures that a new skill is transferred
securely from short-term to long-term memory. Long-term memory retention
rockets from 60% to 90% when we have to teach someone else something we
have learned. Allow the student to become the teacher at the end of each cycle,
and repeat back to you what they have learned. As your student is teaching you,
make sure your student is writing in their own words the things they are teaching.
This is more effective than handing them your own notes, which are in your own
words.
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This entire cycle should take no more than 5 - 10 minutes, which will allow for 3 -
5 cycles in a 30 minute lesson. Understanding this cycle will help you and the
student keep the lesson moving forward in a productive way.
Plan for and Hold Recitals
As a teacher, one of your most important duties is to help your students plan for
recitals, which you help to prepare and execute. Without this opportunity, many
more drop out of your tutelage or out of guitar altogether, because all the practice
seems to lead nowhere, ultimately.
Remember that music is there to be shared, and help your student to do this, and
even when they become better players than you are, they will thank you for this
head start.
Guitar Teaching Do's and Don'ts

You can play guitar really well, but teaching has a few do's and don'ts that go
beyond playing your instrument. Here are a few.
Do's
• Interview your students to find out what they already know.

• Interview your students to find out what they want to learn, and how fast.
• Jointly agree on a structured lesson plan to help the students achieve their
goals.
• Stick to the lessons plan. If the lesson plan needs adjusting, then adjust it
together.
• Mix theory in with lessons in small, digestible doses.
• Demand that your students set goals.
• Demand that your students put in the time to practice.
• Practice what you preach. Have goals and milestones for yourself.
• Plan for performance opportunities. Hold recitals, concerts, blues nights or
other formats that your students can prepare for with enthusiasm.
Don'ts
• Never come late or unprepared for a lesson.

• Never spend lesson time showing off what you know or flaunting what
you've got. Save your stuff for the closing act in your recitals.
• Never spend valuable lesson time learning a song that your student wants
to learn.
• Never stray from the agreed upon outline without agreeing in advance to
do so.
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• Never stop insisting on practice (but insist kindly, of course). It is far better
that a student quit because he or she was pushed too hard, than because
they were not learning enough.
• Never miss a day of practice yourself.
The Way of the Black Belt is One Eternal

Round
The black dragon is symbolic of how far we have progressed in our journey to
acquire knowledge, wisdom, skills and experience. The image of the dragon
swallowing its tail is a reminder that we are ever learning and improving, refining,
creating, and re-recreating ourselves musically.
As proof of how far you've come, take your guitar in your hands and note how
comfortable it feels. Feel the potential of the music you can make with it. Feel the
connection between your flesh, and the wood and steel. Feel the flowing inner
connection between your mind, ear, spirit, and body. Allow all the memories of
the struggles with your journey to flash before your eyes in a moment.
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Play your signature song in your signature style. Crank the tempo up a notch or
two, and let your spirit soar, and bask a little in your accomplishment.
Flash Back to the Beginning of Your Journey
Now, turn it all around... I mean literally turn your guitar around so that your neck
is pointing opposite the usual direction. In this position, try to pluck out the
simplest of tunes or finger some of the first chords you learned... It's tough, ain't
it! It's the same instrument, but you can't play it worth a darn.
This rather strange and awkward exercise is designed to bring you back to the
painful beginnings you went through to get here, and highlight the distance
traveled, but there is a more important and honorable reason for doing this
exercise:
Good Teachers Remember Their Beginnings
The other important benefit of this exercise is to make you a better teacher,
because this is exactly how your beginning students feel every day!
With your guitar reversed, use your great knowledge of the guitar to teach
yourself a few lessons. Don't be surprised if you come off sounding a little
ridiculous as your own teacher. It will become crystal clear to you how effective
your teaching is because you'll have to break the guitar down into very simple
and digestable chunks, and learn patience with yourself at the same time.
Of course, we are not recommending you master switch-hitting this way, but it is
useful to remind ourselves occasionally of our beginnings.
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Guitar, Music and Martial Arts Glossary
[all]
Term Definition
Accelerando Musical notation for gradually increasing the tempo.
Accent Emphasis placed on a note.
Action The height of the strings above the fretboard. The strings can be
raised or lowered by adjusting the bridge up or down to make the
strings comfortably close to the frets without producing
undesirable "buzz".
Adagio 54-56 beats per minute. Leisurely.
Aeolian The 6th mode of the major scale, corresponding to the VI chord,
and synonymous with the minor scale.
Allegretto 96-108 beats per minute. Less quickly than Allegro.
Allegro 112-116 beats per minute. Quick, lively.
Amplitude The relative distance between the peak and trough of an energy
wave, in the case of music a sound wave. The greater the
amplitude, the greater the energy or volume of the sound.
Andante 58-63 beats per minute. Leisurely.
Andantino 64-72 beats per minute. Slightly faster than Andante.
Arpeggio A chord played one note at a time.
Atonal Musical sections or songs lacking a tonal center, or a home base.
Unless skillfully and sparingly used, atonal music is confusing and
hard to distinguish from music played by experimental animals.
Attack 1) The strength of the strike of the pick against the string. May be
sharp or soft for effect. 2) An agressive approach for playing a rift
or song with a focus on execution.
Bar A sub division of time in music, identified in tablature and standard
notation by different kinds of vertical lines.
Baroque A type of music born in Europe between 1600 and 1750. Baroque
is known for its emphasis on shifting harmony, interweaving
melody and overall balance and beauty. Steve Morse is a modern
connoisseur of Baroque music arranged for guitar.
Bluegrass A form of country music that combines the gospel-influenced
songs of the Blue Ridge Mountain region with folk melodies.
Bluegrass instruments generally include guitars, fiddles, banjos
and mandolins.
Blues Music evolved from southern black music and usually
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characterized by slow tempo and flatted thirds and sevenths.
Blues influenced the development of rock, rhythm and blues and
country music.
Bridge 1) The connective part of a musical composition, or the "B"
section of AABA song form. 2) The part of the guitar that raises
the base of the strings from the guitar body.
Cadence The resolution at the end of a phrase in music. A cadence can be
melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic in nature. A cadence in music is
analogous to punctuation in language.
Call and Response Musical question and answer pattern where the lead calls out on
their instrument and the other group members respond.
Capo A special clamp that fits across the strings of a guitar on the neck
to move the key up or down while the player plays mostly open
chords.
Chops To have "teeth" or great technique or style with your instrument.
Chord Three or more notes played harmonically together.
Church Cadence A IV - I Progression at the end of a musical phrase. Also known
as a Plagal cadence.
Church Modes Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian diatonic-order scales,
dominated by the Ionian mode (major scale) and the Aeolean
mode (natural minor scale).
Coda A concluding section of a musical composition.
Complementary Intervals Two intervals that add up to an octave (twelve semitones).
Concert A The internationally agreed upon frequency of 440Hz for the A note
above the middle C.
Consonance Absence of tension or discord in music. Think of a lullaby or
nursery tune.
Counterpoint Combining melodic lines to create a polyphonic texture. One of
Steve Morse's favorite studies.
Crescendo Gradually get louder.
Deceptive Cadence A V - VI progression at the end of a phrase. Deceptive in nature
because our musical brain anticipates a V - I cadence, but the VI
comes as a last-second surprise.
Decrescendo Gradually getting softer.
Diatonic Tones based on a 7-note scale, predominantly the major or minor
scale. Diatonic songs use chords and scales that very strictly
adhere to the notes in the major or minor scales with very little
deviation.
Diatonic The tones of the major or minor scale.
Do The first tone in the major scale.
Dorian The 2nd mode of the major scale, corresponding to the II chord,
and classified as a minor mode.
Double Bar Two vertical lines which show the end of a section or piece of
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music.
Down Stroke Right hand movement from top to bottom.
Drone A long sustained note played throughout a section or piece of
music. The most obvious example is a bagpipe.
Eighth Beat A beat half as long in time as a quarter beat. In 4/4 time, there are
eight eighth beats to a measure.
Ensemble 1) A group of musicians performing together. 2) The quality of
togetherness in any of the performing arts.
Fake Book A fake book contains songs written in a concise format that
includes only the melody and chords, letting you interpret the
song's performance as you feel is appropriate. This is great for
quickly learning songs by yourself or with an ensemble.
Fat The sound produced by a humbucker pickup as compared with a
single coil pickup.
Fingerstyle Right hand technique using some or all your right hand fingers,
instead of a pick.
Flat The accidental (b) that lowers a pitch by one semitone.
Folk Simple music that speaks of everyday things, an early form of
popular music.
Form Musical structure, incorporating elements of repetition and
contrast, unity, and variety.
Forte Musical symbol for loud (f).
Fortissimo Musical symbol for very loud (ff).
Fugue A polyphonic composition consisting of a series of successive
melody imitations. Typically composed for organ music.
Full Cadence A V - I Progression at the end of a musical phrase.
Gibson Guitar manufacturer famous for the Les Paul, Flying V, SG and
ES series electric guitars.
Grave 40-44 beats per minute. Very slow and solemn.
Grunge A sub-genre of rock relying on distorted guitars, and whining
vocals. Born in Seattle, grunge was pioneered by Nirvana and
Alice in Chains.
Hap An element of Yin or Um: Hap is the combining or gathering. In
order to create something, one must know all of its fundamental
parts. Then, one can vary the combinations in order to create
functionally different objects. In the combinations of things, one
must maintain the concepts of efficiency, maximizing energy with
minimal force.
Harmony Two or more notes played simultaneously.
Headstock The top of the guitar neck which houses the machine heads.
Heavy Metal A sub-genre of rock known for fast grating guitar, phrygian scales,
and dark lyrics about human angst. Black Sabbath from the old
school and Metallica is the current torch-bearer.
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Humbucker Electric guitar pickups having two magnetic coils wound in
opposite directions in order to cancel the 60Mhz "hum" generated
by many single-coil pickups. Humbuckers typically produce a
thicker, warmer sound than single coil pickups.
Interval An interval is the distance between two notes and is measured in
whole or half steps. An understanding of intervals is required in
order to understand any discussion of melody or harmony.
Intervals played sequentially create melody, intervals played
simultaneously create harmony. Intervals are classified as either
perfect, major or minor.
Ionian The 1st mode of the major scale, corresponding to the I chord,
and synonymous with the major scale.
Jazz Music born in the early 20th century from African rhythms and
slave chants. From its African-American roots has spread around
the globe. Jazz evolved from early ensemble improvisation to big
band swing to the soloing brilliance of be-bop to brittle atonality
and back to its current expression of melody and harmony.
Kak An element of Yang: Kak is the concept of angles. All things
possess specific shape and pattern to create specific results.
Knowing angles enhances the understanding of form, movement
and positioning to maximize balance and power. This also refers
to angles of attack and body positioning in relation to the
opponent and the environment, developing better orientation and
directions of attack and defense. This is particularly important in
executing effective joint manipulation techniques. With the
slightest change of angles, any person's joint can be dislocated
with minimal force.
Kan An element of Yang: Kan is the concept of distancing. One must
understanding the proper range of the opponent's and the
individual's arms, legs and/or weapon in order to effectively create
a defensive perimeter as well as executing proper attacks, striking
the target. Proper footwork and body positioning must be
practiced in order to maximize mobility for attack and escape.
Kang An element of Yang: Kang is the concept of hardness, like rock or
steel. Without a strong foundation, there is no stability, form or
longevity. It also has to do with determination of will, never giving
in nor yielding, but always staying focused at the task as hand.
Kata Practicing karate techniques on your own. The blocks and strikes
involved in the sequences tie in with the techniques being
practiced at your own level of expertise. Kata requires a certain
'mental' input to be performed well, and moves on from being
merely sequences of movements to an art form, and a form of
moving meditation.
Key Signature Designation of sharps and flats at the beginning of a section or
piece of music to indicate its tonal center.
Kihon Typical martial/military training methods for a large group of
students to practice their skills. Traditionally Kihon are performed
in lines with all students performing the same techniques, similar
to soldiers marching on a parade ground. The instructor stands at
the front and issues commands to the rank and file, who then
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perform the appropriate techniques. In the ranks, the higher belt
colors are at the front and the white belts at the back with the
highest grade at the front right hand side and the lowest grade at
the back left hand side.
Kime Focusing one's energy at the end point of a technique such as a
punch, block, or kick. In music, it is cutting through the rest of the
band. Usually the role of the vocalist or the lead guitarist.
Kumite Kumite is the general term for fighting in karate. Forms of fighting
are Ippon Kumite: One-Step Fighting, Jiyu Ippon Kumite: Free
One-Step Fighting, Jiyu Kumite: Free Fighting. All of these forms
have similar aspects to performing in music as well.
Larghetto 50-52 beats per minute. Slightly faster than Largo.
Largo 46-48 per minute. Very broad and stately.
Locrian The 7th mode of the major scale, corresponding to the VII chord,
Lydian The 4th mode of the major scale, corresponding to the IV chord,
and classified as a major mode.
Machine Heads The hardware used for tuning each string and housed on the
headstock. Also referred to as tuning heads or tuning keys.
Melody Notes played sequentially one after another form a melody.
Mixolydian The 5th mode of the major scale, corresponding to the V chord,
and classified as a major mode.
Modality Modality is the choice of tones which surround the tonic note. In
addition to major, minor, and chromatic scales, a large number of
modes can be constructed in any given tonality.
Moderato 74-92 beats per minute. Moderate pace.
Motif Repeating melodic ideas, or groupings of melodic notes. Motif's
within a song or score are similar enough to one another to sound
related, but slightly unique.
New Age Modern music known for its quiet improvisation on the piano,
guitar and synthesizer and a space-filled, relaxing sound.
Nut The part of the guitar neck dividing the fretboard from the
headstock. The strings ride through the nut.
Open 1) A string played with no left hand fingers fretting any note. 2) A
chord voicing with large intervals between the notes.
Overtones Harmonic frequencies that are emitted by a string when struck in
addition to the fundamental frequency. These overtones give each
instrument and each string on the instrument its own
characteristic sound.
Parallel Key Major and minor keys sharing the same starting note. C major and
C minor are parallel keys, and have a different key signature.
Pentatonic Five-tone scale. Can be major or minor. Major formula is
R,M2,M3,5,M6. Minor formula is R,m3,4,5,m7.
Phrygian The 3rd mode of the major scale, corresponding to the III chord,
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Pickups An electromagnet located underneath the strings on an electric
guitar which produces the signal to be amplified by an amplifier.
Pitch Axis The note around which a given melody revolves. Often the tonic
or root, but can be other notes in the scale such as the 5th.
Prestissimo 176-208 beats per minute. As fast as possible.
Presto 138-168 beats per minute. Fast.
Quarter Beat A sub division of time in music twice as long as an eighth beat. In
4/4 time, there are four quarter beats to a measure.
Raga A kind of Hindu music, consisting of religious feeling. It presents a
tonal system on which variations are played within a framework of
progressions, melodic formulas and Indian rhythmic patterns.
Reggae Jamaican Calypso, soul and rock music known by its strongly
accentuated offbeat.
Relative Key Major and minor keys sharing the same key signature. C major
and A minor are relative keys, having no sharps or flats.
Repeat Sign Two dots placed before a double bar indicating the repeat of a
section of music.
Rest A time in music when nothing is played by a particular instrument
A rest is notated in standard notation and tablature by its duration,
which instructs the player for how long to refrain from playing.
Rhythm The pattern of beats over time. On guitar it is the patter of strokes
played with the right handto give a piece of music a distinct beat.
Rock Judging by record sales alone, rock is the most popular form of
music of the 20th century. There are several sub-genres and
influences, including jazz-rock fusion, folk rock, country-rock,
blues-rock, etc. Rock emerged from blues in the 50's and rode
primarily on the back of the electric guitar.
Salsa Popular Latin-American dance music, characterized by Caribbean
rhythms, Cuban big-band dance melodies and elements of jazz
and rock. Think Gloria Estefan.
Sharp The accidental (#) that raises a pitch by one semitone.
Shobu Sparring competition in Karate. On the verge of becoming an
olympic sport.
Shuffle A bluesy rhythm of which each main beat is divided into three
smaller beats.
Sound Hole The hole in the front of an acoustic guitar body from which the
sound is projected.
Stem The vertical line in standard music or rhythm notation which
appears above or below a note or rhythm marker.
Strumming A right hand technique used to play chords across multiple strings
with down or up strokes.
Swing A rhythm in music whose down beat is slightly longer than the up
beat. Also commonly referred to as a shuffle. Popular in jazz and
country music.
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Syncopation Rhythmic accents that go against a steady beat.
Tablature Musical notation especially for fretted instruments. Tablature
consists of horizontal lines corresponding to each string of the
instrument, vertical lines corresponding to time measures, and
numbers that instruct the player which fret to press at the right
time in each measure.
Tempo The speed of a piece of music, usually indicated at the beginning
of the piece.
Tertian Harmony Harmony based upon the interval of the third. Tertian harmony
dominates Western music from the Baroque era through the 19th
century.
Three/Four Time A time signature indicating three quarter beats in one bar of
music.
Tie A curved line in standard notation and tablature which shows two
identical notes joined and played as one with the time value of
both.
Time Signature The fraction at the beginning of a piece of music which shows
how many beats in each measure (top number) and how long
each beat lasts (bottom number).
Tonality Tonality is the organized relationship of tones in music. This
relationship implies a central or key tone toward or away from
which all other tones move.
Tremolo Electric guitar effect which causes volume to fluctuate at a set
frequency and depth.
Tritone An interval of 3 whole tones, or 6 semitones. Also known as
augmented or sharped 4th, diminished or flatted 5th, and the
devil's tone.
Truss Rod A curved metal bar inside the neck of a guitar used to adjust the
arch in the neck. Used to counteract humidity changes cause the
neck to arch up or down, creating too much or too little distance
between the strings and the fretboard.
Up Stroke Right hand movement from bottom to top.
Vibrato Wavering or pulsating of a tone in singing or playing.
Vibrato A slight modulation of a tone in singing or playing an instrument.
In guitar, vibrato is produced by stretching and relaxing the strings
repeatedly.
Virtuoso A performer of extraordinary technical and performing skill and
ability.
Vivo 120-132 beats per minute. Briskly.
Voicing The selection of a position or fingering of a chord to achieve a
particular sound or voice.
Western Music Music descended from European roots, and based on the
Western 12-note scale.
Western Scale A 12-note scale which was tempered in order to produce
harmonious music in any of 15 keys. The Western scale is slightly
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out of tune, in order to allow a barely perceptible, yet balanced
"out-of-tuneness" across all keys.
Whole Beat A single beat which lasts for a whole bar 4/4 time.
Won An element of Yin or Um: Won is the concept of circular patterns.
It shows that all things in life follow a cyclical pattern, starting from
one point and finishing at the same point, which it started. Force
can be curved or redirected by minimal opposing force,
conserving energy to maximize impact. It also relates to
centrifugal force, the power generated by a spinning motion. Even
a fishing line can cut through flesh and bone, if spun with enough
speed.
Yang From Yin and Yang, Yang represents all that is dominant, hard,
strong, sharp, light, full or masculine. In music, these dynamic
qualities intertwine with the Yin qualities to create direction and
emotion.
Yin From Yin and Yang, Yin represents all that is submissive, soft,
gentle, dark, void, or feminine. In music, these dynamic qualities
intertwine with the Yang qualities to create rest and calm emotion.
Yu An element of Yin or Um: Yu is the concept of soft, unrelenting
motion, like flowing water. Water is soft yet it can erode the
strongest of metals. Water moves in perpetual motion, unrelenting
and constantly seeking a path. It rounds angular edges and
conserves energy by conserving momentum, maximizing on its
kinetic energy.
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Table of Contents

WHITE BELT: LEVEL 1 GUITAR LESSONS 15

GUITARIST AND GUITAR ANATOMY 101 18

Begin with Written Goals 22

Practice Critical Hearing 24

Overcompensate for Weak Areas 24

On-Line vs. Off-Line Practice 25

On-Line Practice Structure 26

And Now the Challenge... 26

Set Your Goals Before Starting 26

Let's Get Started 27

Jot Down your Inspiration 28

Write down what you want to become. 28

Write down major milestones. 29

Write down the steps to make your milestones it happen. 29

Write down your daily time commitment to make it all happen. 29

Write down all the songs you would like to play. 30

Notes of the Chromatic Scale 30

Notes of the Different Octaves 31

MUSICAL VITAMINS FOR GUITAR PLAYERS 34

ONGOING GROWTH: HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY 39

OPEN DOMINANT 7TH CHORDS 41

OPEN MAJOR CHORDS 43

RHYTHM MELODY HARMONY: THE BASIS OF ALL THEORY 49

Interaction of Rhythm, Melody and Harmony 51

The Guitar Can Do It All 51

Why We Study Music, Not Just Guitar 51

SET MANAGEMENT: A MUST-HAVE IN PERFORMING 52

TUNING YOUR GUITAR 54

Tips before you start 54

Five Point Tune Up 55

YELLOW BELT: LEVEL 2 GUITAR LESSONS 58

MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES: YIN AND YANG OF SCALES 64

OPEN MAJOR 7TH CHORDS 66

OPEN MINOR 7TH CHORDS 68

THE ESSENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF FLOW 70

How Listening is Different than Playing 70

Other Practical Examples 72

How to Develop Flow in Playing 73

ORANGE BELT: LEVEL 3 GUITAR LESSONS 74

EXTENDING BAR CHORDS BY MORPHING: A FORM 82

EXTENDING BAR CHORDS BY MORPHING: E FORM 83

INVERTED CHORD FORMS 84

Major Chord Inversions 85

Minor Chord Inversions 86

MAJOR AND MINOR CHORD INVERSIONS 87

Major Chord Inversions 88

Minor Chord Inversions 89

MAJOR SCALES AND THE CAGED + 2 SYSTEM 91

General Fingering Advice 93

MOVEABLE A-FORM BARRE CHORDS 94

Now to Make them Moveable 95

MOVEABLE E-FORM BARRE CHORDS 97

Now to Make them Moveable 98

PENTATONIC SCALES: ROCKER'S FAVORITES 101

THE CAGED SYSTEM: SEEING THE FRETBOARD 102

Connecting the Dots 102

Seeing Exercises: 104

TRIADS: STACKED 3RD INTERVALS 104

GREEN BELT: LEVEL 4 GUITAR LESSONS 106

7TH CHORDS: MORE STACKED 3RDS 110

BLUES RHYTHM PATTERNS 113

Straight Quarter Beat 113

Straight Half Beat 114