First Post of 2012

This morning I updated my movable rock scale exercise. You can now see the interval number alongside the name of the scale. This will be helpful to anyone who wishes to learn the theory behind the most popular scales in rock music. All interval numbers relate to the diatonic major scale. For example, the b7 in the key of A is the seventh note of the A major scale flattened by one semi-tone (one guitar fret).

Movable Rock Scales – Pentatonic Minor, Blues, Natural Minor

Although the above scale shapes have been presented in the key of A, they can be easily moved (transposed) to change the key of the scale.

Deck The Halls – Have a Great Guitar Christmas Everyone

Today is the last post of term as I shall be going away from my home studio soon and returning on January the 10th. I would like to say happy Christmas to everyone who been following my guitar lessons every weekday for the past three months. In a relatively short space of time, I have managed to complete sixty seven unique guitar lesson with personally designed content. It has been a fun, enjoyable experience and I look forward to continuing my work in 2012.

Have a Great Guitar Christmas Everyone

Deck The Halls (includes lyrics and chords)

A Blues Scale – Five Different Fingerboard Positions

Expanding on from yesterday’s blues guitar lesson, here are five different positions of the A blues scale for you to enjoy. These positions are only the tip of the iceberg so please feel free to create your own variations across the whole of the fretboard. When improvising, remember to make the musical notes flow grammatically like the words of a sentence. Each phrase leading into the next with elegance, style and grace.

A Blue Scale – Five Different Fingerboard Positions

E Blues Scale – Five Different Fingerboard Positions

From a theoretical perspective, the blues is an interesting style of music because it often contains notes which fall outside of diatonic harmony. In particular, the blues scales contains a flattened fifth which occurs one semi-tone (one guitar fret) between the perfect forth and the perfect fifth. The flattened fifth (b5), known as the blue note or ‘worried note’ is often associated with African work songs. The blue note sets it apart from the minor pentatonic which we studied before.

A Natural Minor Scale

1,     2,   b3,   4,          5,   b6,   b7,  8

A,    B,    C,    D,          E,   F,      G,   A

A Pentatonic Minor Scale

1,            b3,   4,          5,              b7,  8

A,            C,     D,          E,              G,    A

A Blues Scale

1,           b3,    4,  b5, 5,               b7,  8

A,            C,     D, Eb, E,                G,    A

E Blues Scale

1,           b3,    4,  b5, 5,               b7,  8

E,            G,     A, Bb, B,                D,    E

When improvising using the blues scale, the b5 is often played as a passing note and not held too long. Electric guitar players use blues scales  to create guitar exciting solos in a number of positions covering the whole fretboard. Below are five different fingerboard positions of the E blues scale for enjoyment and delight. As to what chords to use as a basis for a blues jam, seventh chords played within the 12 bar blues will work just fine.

E Blues Scale – Five Different Fingerboard Positions

I Saw Three Ships – Traditional Christmas Carol

Continuing on from last weeks exploration into Christmas Songs arranged for guitar, here is my arrangement of I Saw Three Ships complete with lyrics. The time signature is six eight so count – 1,2,3 / 2,2,3 – to help convey the triplet feel of the melody. Enjoy this uplifting, lovely Christmas tune and I hope to see you again tomorrow.

I Saw Three Ships

 

Jamtastic – A Minor Pentatonic Jam

For those of you who like to create improvised guitar solos and are looking for a chord chart to help you jam with a friend, here is a chord progression I wrote this morning. To make it nice and easy, I’ve written the chord chart in A minor, which means you can use the A minor pentatonic scale to jam along with the chords. A guitar players favourite, the A minor pentatonic scale is easy to learn, simple to memorise and works over an astonishing amount of different chord charts including the following.

Jamtastic – A Minor Pentatonic Jam

Rhythm Playing – Grade 5 Sixth Chord Progression

In preparation for a guitar lesson with one of my grade five students, I have this morning prepared an enjoyable barre chord workout focussing particular attention on sixth chords. There are two suggested rhythms in the chord chart including one that splits the bars and must played accurately, keeping a steady pulse throughout. If you enjoy playing rhythm guitar and would like to find more chord charts to challenge your mind and you fingers then please do take a look at some of my previous posts tagged under Rhythm Playing. Each post includes an introduction to the chord progression proceeding a link to the chord chart.

Rhythm Playing – Split Bar Sixth Chords

 

Christmas Song – Away In A Manger

On Tuesday we looked at Good King Wenceslas which is a traditional Christmas Carol in the key of F Major. Today we will studying anther traditional melody which uses the note Bb throughout. Away In A Manger is a story about a baby called Jesus who the speaker in the song is expressing great love for. The melody is in triple time so make sure as always to count – 1,2,3 / 1,2,3 – and look out for the slurs which guitar players can use the hammer on technique for.

Away In A Manger

Christmas Songs – Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells is one of the most catchy Christmas Songs and certainly one of the most well recognised. Played in the key of G Major, it is a sleighing song that conjures up images of snowy hilltops and childhood memories. Musically interesting is the E7 chord in bar 12 which includes an accidental G# which (partly because it shortly held) leads nicely to Am in the following bar. If you study the standard notation for the melody you will notice three bars which include dotted note rhythms (bars 19, 21, 27 and 29) where the third dotted note is held for slightly longer creating a ‘long short’ feel on beats 3 and 4.

Dotted Note Rhythms in Bars 19, 21, 27 and 29

1 &, 2 &, 3 &, 4 & (let the third beat last longer – “Oh what fun it”)

Jingle Bells (includes tab and guitar chords)

Christmas Songs – Good King Wenceslas

Since I will be away over December, I thought now would be a good time to start sharing this years Christmas Songs with you. All the songs and carols will be arranged with lyrics, chords and even a guitar tab for playing along with the melody. First up, we have a famous carol called Good King Wenceslas, a story about a king and a page going for a long walk on an icy cold winter night. My arrangement has some quick chord changes so you might want to take your time carefully studying these if you have chosen to play accompaniment as opposed to melody. The melody itself is in the key of F Major; the first key in the cycle of forths containing one Bb. If you celebrate Christmas, start practising your Christmas Songs now and they will be ready to perform on Christmas Day, preferably with enough printed sheet music for all of the family to join in with the singing.

Good King Wenceslas