Tag: scales

E minor pentatonic – Lesson 1

Scales and exercises to help get to grips with the different positions of the E minor pentatonic scale. Practice using a metronome or click to get smooth playing using alternative picking. Try experimenting using a backing track in the key of G/Eminor. You can download the full sheet by right click save on link or […]

D Minor Arpeggio

As I’ve previously stated Arpeggios are excellent exercises for both fingers and mind. When playing them on guitar they break up the tendency to play scalic patterns. Also there are techniques involved that can push your playing further. You can either do alternative picking or sweep picking: V = Down Stroke X = Up Stroke […]

Major Scale Patterns part 2

Following on from my previous article Major Scale Patterns Part 1 I’m going to show you three other Major scale patterns. It is recommended that you read that article first. The first of these patterns is an alternative to the previous articles ‘E’ string based pattern. The suggested fingers for this pattern are: 1st, 2nd […]

Scales: G Major

Scales on Gmajor for guitar and in staff view. Also how to play on keyboard/piano. Staff View: Using Treble cleff G Major Scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G ————————————————————————————————————————————————- Guitar: Click on image to see larger version on scale. Again G Major Scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G Playing […]

Theory: Working with Intervals (part 1)

Hopefully you have a working knowledge of theory, if not I will try and keep this as simple as possible. This article is an expansion of the previous article, The Major Scale and Intervals. I’m going to use Sonars piano roll and staff views, the piano roll will fit the same with Reaper, Cubase and […]

Free Guitar Backing Jam Track – 7thHappiness

Free Backing Track – ‘7thHappiness’ This track is a 60’s style pop song with a descending feel to it. Written for melodic guitar lead rather than endless finger noodling this jam track will make you think harder. Using 7th chords this backing track is nice to play along to with chords as well as lead […]

Key Signatures – How to learn

One way to learn your key signatures is this: Key Signatures with Sharps Take the Cmajor Scale – it has no sharps or flats, C D E F G A B C Count up five degrees of the scale to G Start the scale from G, G A B C D E F G – […]

Basics of chords – Triads, Modes and Spellings

Learning how chords are constructed will lead to a better understanding of how to construct melody and bass lines. This article will explainn what a chord spelling is. What a triad is and how to work chords out. Below is an article covering the major scale and intervals. The Major Scale and Intervals As with […]

Writing A Bass Line – Primer

So you’re here, looking for the answer? Same as it ever was, these are just ideas, musings if you will. All music and writing is subjective – it’s personal and down to individual taste. But as always with practice gettting what you want will get easier with time spent exercising your compositional brain. As with […]