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Learning the Minor Pentatonic Scale for Guitar – Lesson 2

November 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Minor Pentatonic Scale for Guitar (Click to watch on YouTube if Video Doesn’t Load)

In learning the minor pentatonic scale for guitar, it is important to remember a few things.  The minor pentatonic scale only has five notes, versus the 7 notes of the diatonic scales (Maj, min and all Modes derived from the Major Scale).  The other important thing to note is that the minor pentatonic scale is used to substitute for either the relative minor scale of your key and can also be used in conjunction with the major scale of your key (won’t sound good over all chords).

An example of this would be if I am playing in C Major, then the A minor pentatonic scale would be a perfect fit for your guitar solo over the chord progression of this key, since the A minor pentatonic scale is derived from the relative min scale (A min) of C Major.  The other place that the minor pentatonic works quite well is in the Key of A Major and more specifically when we play the Blues in A.  To refresh for you, the Blues uses the 1-4-5 chord progression and alters those chords to all be dominant 7 chords, meaning we build the triad with the 1st, 3rd, 5th and b7th scale degrees of each chord’s parent scale.

So the A Major Triad (A, C#, E) becomes the A Dominant 7 chord, or A7 (A, C#, E, G), the D Major Triad (D, F#, A) becomes the D Dominant 7 chord, or D7 (D, F#, A, C), and lastly the E Major Triad (E, G#, B) becomes the E Dominant 7 chord, or E7 (E, G#, B, D).  An interesting thing to look at here is how our new D7 chord has ‘C’ in it, which is the flattened third of our A Major chord and hence the min 3rd.  This is one reason that an A min scale works so well here.  The last two reasons being that we are also playing a lead guitar scale that is flattening the 6th and 7th scales degrees of A Major, which creates A min (the min scale is created by flattening the 3, 6 and 7 of its parent major scale).  So if A Major is A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#, then A min is A-B-C-D-E-F-G, which as you can see, all we’ve done is take the 3, 6 and 7 and move them down in pitch one half step or semi-tone each.

Hopefully that theory makes sense and isn’t overwhelming to you.  If you enjoy the lesson, then be sure to join our guitar community if you haven’t already.  Just use the form to the right of this page to begin and get started with our FREE guitar lessons.

Filed Under: Guitar Lessons, How to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Lead Guitar, Music Theory Tagged With: , , ,

Learning To Play Guitar by Knowing the Basics

April 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
  • Learning Guitar

In learning to play guitar, there are a few things needed and a few basic understandings that will go a long way in helping you as you progress in your guitar playing.  First of course is to have a guitar.  Guitars range in price from insanely expensive to dirt cheap; neither extreme is advised for beginners.  All you need is a well crafted guitar that doesn’t have warped wood or is made cutting corners.

Basically you will be spending somewhere in the $200-$500 range and I wouldn’t advise anything much less.  Washburn makes very good inexpensive guitars.  Often times you’ll find discounts as new models are being brought in.  Here’s a Washburn D100DL Acoustic Guitar that is at the $150 mark.

  • Learning Guitar Tuning

Aside from having your guitar, the next most important part is to understand tuning; that being how the strings on your guitar relate to one another and what pitches they need to be at.  While an entire book could be devoted to just the category of tuning, for our purposes, all we need to understand now is Standard Tuning.  What that means is that our guitar’s 5th string (2nd from the top) is tuned to A with a frequency of 440 Hz (known as concert pitch).  To interpret this frequency it’s important to have a guitar tuner.  What a guitar tuner does is to receive the pitch of a note you pluck and tell you what note you’re at.  This makes things easy so as not to have to remember exactly what frequency every note is.  This Boss TU-80C Chromatic Tuner & Metronome is a great one and has a handy metronome (time keeper) built in.

The guitar has 6 strings and in standard tuning, we tune each string to be a perfect fourth pitch interval apart as we descend strings (save for one pair).  Since the 5th string has already been tuned to A, all we need to do is tune the remaining 5 strings around that.  The top string (6th) will be tuned to E, 5th string to A, 4th string to D, 3rd string to G, 2nd string to B and lastly the 1st string will be E.

From E to A is a perfect fourth, A to D a perfect fourth, D to G a perfect fourth and now comes the exception.  We tune the 2nd string to be a major third apart from the 3rd string.  This gives us B, since G to B is a major third.  Lastly, B to E is a perfect fourth.

Now your guitar is in standard tuning and you’re ready to play some guitar chords.  All that remains is to learn just how to play guitar so that you make noises that sound pleasing as opposed to the kind that make people run away :-) .  We have a host of resources and lessons for free here at Learn to Play Guitar TV and should you want more you can become a member.

Filed Under: How to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Guitar Tagged With: , , ,

Learn to Play the Guitar with the 1-4-5 Chord Progression

April 13, 2010 By 3 Comments

Whether it was Elvis or The Beatles, the 1-4-5 chord progression has been a staple of Rock n’ Roll since the beginning.  In this guitar lesson we look at the progression and delve into some music theory to better help you understand what’s happening.

Learning to play the guitar doesn’t have to be difficult.  If you understand the framework behind it all then it really becomes just a matter of learning the steps and implementing them.  Often times people let the sound or idea of music theory scare them.  I can totally relate to that, but have learned just how easy and fun theory can be and it has helped me beyond measure.

I suspect that I’m a lot like you.  I felt like I had music inside of me and wanted to get it out.  I wanted to be able to emulate my musical heroes and play the songs I love.  I wanted to understand this music thing and do some rockin’ and rollin’.

My journey to learn to play guitar started at a very late age.  I was 26 the first time I lay hands on a guitar.  Talk about being behind everyone else!  I wondered if I was too old or if it was too late for me to learn this instrument and questioned if I could ever master it.  I’m sure you can relate to those feelings.

The thing that really kept me moving was that pure desire and passion to play and to keep learning.  I had some key friends that would show me some chords, answer my questions and point me to resources I could use to keep learning.  I got involved in online communities of songwriters and I just kept playing and studying and writing.

This is why I know you can learn guitar, master it and have a ton of fun and fulfillment in the process!  If you’ve ever wanted to learn to play the guitar then now is the time.  You’re never too old, too untalented or even too busy.  You just need to begin and have a support system in place to help you and teach you.

That is exactly why I started LearnToPlayGuitarTV.com.  I wanted to take my knowledge and pass it along to you…to be a support to you in your desire to learn guitar.  If I could do it at 26 with absolutely no musical training whatsoever, then you can do it too!  As I write this I’ve just turned 30, so that means it’s been just 4 years since I started and I’ve written and recorded over 300 songs, played live shows from AZ to NY and all this has been possible because of the tools that I am going to share with you.

So if that sounds good then come be a part of the community here.  You can sign up to the right over here and begin your journey today.  I can’t wait to start helping you.

To You Success,

Andrew Hand

 

Filed Under: Guitar Lessons, How to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Rhythm Guitar, Music Theory Tagged With: ,

Learning the 1-6-4-5 Chord Progression for Guitar

April 12, 2010 By 4 Comments

In this video we take a look at the 1-6-4-5 chord progression made famous by bands like The Beatles.  It’s a great chord progression and one to add to your guitar learning resources.

Enjoy

The thing I love about this chord progression is that it is just a slight deviation from the 1-4-5 chord progression that is such a staple of rock n’ roll music, popular music and of course a foundation of the blues.  By just throwing in the sixth scale degree of your chosen key, it adds so much flavor.

When I was first learning to play guitar, I didn’t really know too much about chord progressions and would play mostly a lot of power chords and just do what I thought sounded good.  Although, I do believe this is a valuable thing to do in guitar playing, (you’ve got to find your own voice and use your ears) I also really believe that if you start out understanding how to make music move, and how it has been done successfully by other artists, then you are prepared to be at the top of your creative game as a musician, artist and creator.

Chord progressions are a great way to begin stepping into music theory and understanding how notes work together in harmony to create the sounds our ears love to hear.  Often times, I think music theory scares people…I know it did me!  I just didn’t want to go down that path because it seemed like so much to learn.  If you are like me and feeling that way, then I encourage you to jump in and I’m here to help.  Believe me, it really isn’t that hard at all to go from a beginner guitar player all the way up to an intermediate to advanced player.  I think it can be done easily in six months to a year, and when you think about it that isn’t that much time to have a firm grasp on lead guitar, rhythm guitar, songwriting, composition and technique.

We’ve got a lot of free guitar learning lessons here on the site and as always, if you want to become a member for free and be updated as to all future lessons and products we create to help you learn, then just throw your email in the sign up form over here and you’ll be on the way!

Wishing you great success in your guitar learning,

Andrew Hand

Filed Under: Guitar Chords, Guitar Lessons, How to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Guitar, Music Theory Tagged With: , ,

Learn How to Play Guitar

March 30, 2010 By 2 Comments

From: Andrew Hand

Hi there,

So you’re ready to learn how to play guitar right?!  I’d like to offer you a free video lesson to help you out on your journey.  I’ve made a bunch of FREE lessons that I think can also be of use to you.  As you learn how to play guitar it’s often good to look at hit songs and see what makes them tick.  I’ve got a real classic that I think you’ll like and it will amaze you at just how simple it is. But that’s often the case…The composer of this song didn’t even know how to play guitar or piano when he wrote it!  If you’d like to get started, then just fill in your email over here to the right or below and you’ll be sent a video showing you how to play the guitar version of “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers. I really love this song and think you will too. I’ve even sung the chorus parts and bridge so you can get an idea for the melody and chords working together. I hope that this song will be as much fun for you to play as it was for me to make for you and I look forward to sharing more methods, tips and tricks with you as you continue your playing.

I don’t know when you first picked up a guitar, but for me it started at age 26…talk about a late start!  I began teaching myself right away and was writing songs from the first chord I ever learned (my cousin showed me a few easy guitar chords on Christmas day).  With the help of a few key friends I started learning more tips and techniques to improve my playing.  If you’ve ever been wanting to play guitar, but just not known where to start, or felt you didn’t have any support to help you learn, then I can really relate.  I’d love to share more videos with you and help you fulfill your desires.

If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, then don’t hesitate to drop me a line. If you’re ready to get started now, then just pop your email in below and we’ll be on our way :-) .

To Your Success,

Andrew

 

Filed Under: Guitar Chords, Guitar Lessons, How to Play Guitar, Learn to Play Guitar Tagged With: , , , , ,