Lead Guitar Tactics

Exploring Scale and Chord Tones

Lead Guitar Tactics — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:02:16 +0000

I recently had a question about the importance of chords behind a solo and the use of chord tones or just playing a scale. Do the chords matter? If so, how do they make a difference? What do you need to focus on in order to make your solos “sound right?”

This is something that requires some serious consideration and study. In this lesson each note of the major scale is systematically explored against a major chord. Pay attention to the chord tones (arpeggio notes) and the non-chord tones. The chord tones are all safe choices because they match the chord being played. The non-chord tones produce varying degrees of tension.

Understanding this tension and how to use it is one thing to take away from this lesson. Also, knowing the location of the chord tones and how to get a good blend between the chord tones and scale tones is explored. It’s this balance that will ultimately make your solos better.

Here is the jam track.

http://www.leadguitartactics.com/Cmaj.mp3

Sorry I do not have the original file for this lesson so you will not be able to download it. Also I do not have the tab for this lesson either. What I am playing is not as important as understanding the concept. If you like something here that you want to play, use your ears and figure it out.

Chuck Berry Style Rhythm

Lead Guitar Tactics — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:47:27 +0000

This video demos some Chuck Berry style rhythm guitar. This rhythm is heard on many Chuck Berry classics including but not limited to Johnny B. Goode. This rhythm is actually found all over the place and is a must have for your guitar playing trick bag.

Click Here To Download This Video

This video comes from my new Rhythm Guitar Course. For details click here. Hurry though, I am only leaving the page up until tomorrow night.

Modes – What Are They?

Lead Guitar Tactics — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:42:16 +0000

Modes probably cause more confusion than anything else when it comes to learning the guitar and music theory. But it does not have to be that way. Modes are simply scales. The two words are interchangeable. Don’t try to make it it any more complicated than that.

Modes (scales) shift the location of the half steps and the chord tones in relation to a major scale. This shift in the half steps changes the way we hear the scale. The locations of the half steps also determine if a scale is major or minor.

By playing a mode we are also highlighting different notes as the chord tones. It then gets down to the amount of tension that the non chord tones create. Again this is determined by the half steps. Notes that are a half step apart create more tension than notes that are a whole step apart.

In this video lesson I do a comparison of the three minor modes (Dorian, Phrygian and Aoelian). Take note of the difference in flavor each mode produces. Decide which flavor you like the best.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

One String One Finger Jam

Lead Guitar Tactics — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:03:12 +0000

This video demonstrates an exercise that requires you to play a solo on only one string using just one finger. Give it a try to see what you can learn from it.

Click Here To Download This Video

And the jam track…slow-blues-in-a

Position Shifting

Lead Guitar Tactics — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:01:34 +0000

Is anything more of a mystery than how to use the entire length of the fretboard? I used to watch other guitarists fly up and down the neck and think…”How do they do that?”

I will say that a big part of playing up and down the neck is how well you know the individual scale fingerings. Then it is just a matter of connecting them.

In this lesson I will address how to connect two fingerings of the pentatonic scale utilizing what I call the “common finger technique.”

Click Here To Download This Video

Here is the PDF for this lesson…Position Shifting.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.

Best Wishes,

Bob

Minor to Major In Solos

Lead Guitar Tactics — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:54:14 +0000

In this lesson the shift from minor to major is explored. Most courses
will tell you to shift from the minor pentatonic scale to the major pentatonic scale.

This lesson shows you how to achieve this by changing only one note.

Click Here To Download This Video

Click Here To Download The Tab.

The backing track can be found in this lesson…

http://leadguitartactics.com/blog/132/c7-voicings-all-over/

Best Wishes,

Bob

C7 Voicings All Over

Lead Guitar Tactics — Tue, 11 May 2010 06:18:49 +0000

This video lesson demonstrates the use of 4 different voicings of a C7 chord along with the five fingerings of the pentatonic scale. This may seem like an impossible task but when you break the fretboard down into small chunks like we did in the last video and learn each one, putting them all together is no big deal.

It’s like the old joke…How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Same thing here.

Click Here To Download This Video

Click Here To Download The Tab

Click Here To Download The Backing Track

In case you missed the first two lessons they can be found here…

http://leadguitartactics.com/blog/119/like-ja/

http://leadguitartactics.com/blog/122/c7-voicing-one/

C7 Voicing One

Lead Guitar Tactics — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:05:33 +0000

This video lesson demonstrates using one of four C7 voicings and one fingering of the pentatonic scale played over a simple bass groove that outlines a C7 chord,

Practicing in one small area like this is one of the keys to making it easier to learn the entire fretboard.

Click Here To Download This Video

Click Here To Download The Tab

Click Here To Download The Backing Track

Please leave your questions or comments below.

Best Wishes,

Bob

Like JA

Lead Guitar Tactics — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:48:39 +0000

Here is a blues based video that I did in response to a couple of
questions and or comments. It is based on a song by Johnny A
and in order to avoid legal issues I did my own thing.

It also addresses the issue of combining lead and rhythm.

Click Here To Download This Video

Click Here To Download The PDF

And here is the jam track…

Click Here To Download The Backing Track

Be sure to leave any questions or comments you might have.

Best Wishes,

Bob

Creativity…

Lead Guitar Tactics — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:02:51 +0000

The problem is, I’m not creative…

Ok, I have heard this a bunch recently. And I have to tell you, it really bothers me. I’m sure that you have been creative in some way, in some part of your life.

Have you ever planned a family vacation? Or how about writing some kind of a report when you were in school? If you have kids I’m sure you have exercised your creativity a bunch of times. The problem is, you just don’t think of yourself as being creative when it comes to playing the guitar or a guitar solo.

I want to take a look at the definition of creativity again. The dictionary defines it as… the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: creativity in the performing arts.

Now what the heck does that mean? Let me see if I can show you by example. Take a look at the opening lick from Freebird again.

Now how are you going to apply some creativity to this? According to the definition you have transcend patterns, create new ideas, interpretations etc. Suppose you were to take this idea and chop it up into smaller segments. maybe something like this.

Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

I randomly decided to split the lick up where I did. It sorta made sense to my brain to do it in these spots because they felt like natural spots to split it up, but you could do it in other places as well. Can you do this? Sure you can.

Now what? If you think of the original lick being played as segments in the order 1, 2 and 3, what would happen if we changed them around. How about 2, 3 and 1? Or 1,3 and 2? Or how about 3, 1 and then 2?
Starting to get the idea?

There really are no rules when it comes to this. You just have to play around and see what you can come up with. Will everything you try sound great? Not at all. I play plenty of things that just aren’t quite right but that doesn’t stop me. It the good ones that you stumble on that make it wirth the time and effort.

And, the more you do this the easier it gets. This is just an example of taking an idea and seeing how much you can get out of it. Try it and see. Use this lick or one that already know and split it up. Twist it around and see what you can come up with.

And son’t forget about changing up the rhythm. I will show you some examples of that in the next lesson. In the meantime, put these ideas to use immediately. You just never know what you might come up with.

Here’s the backing track for this lesson.

Blues In E

Best Wishes,

Bob