The first straightforward approach one can take is using the related modes to solo over their respective chords.  So in a ii-V-I progression in the key of C Major.  (Dm7 – G7 – CMaj7) one could use the D Dorian, G Mixolydian, and C Ionian (or C major scale).  You can place each in its diatonic setting — Dorian over the ii chord, Mixolydian over the V chord, and Ionian over the I chord.  This can also be applied be used in a minor setting.  So for the progressions  Dm7(flat 5) – G7 – Cm7, you could use the following scales respectively -  D Locrian, G Phrygian dominant, and C Aeolian.

In addition many players also use arpeggios as well as scales to solo over these changes and can help highlight the tones of the chords.  Here is an example of how one might use this technique:  Use the Dm7 arpeggio on the ii chord (Dm7) use a G9 arpeggio on the V chord, and resolve to the E note (3rd) of the C Major chord.  Don’t be afraid to use passing tones in between the arpeggios to spice things up.

Once you get good at playing the standard arpeggios and scales over there respective chords don’t be afraid to start spicing things up with altered scales and notes.  Here is an example of what that might look like in C minor.

Dm7b5 – D Locrian #2 | G7alt – G Altered Scale | Cm7 – C Aeolian

More Jazz Lessons & Videos

Enjoy

Learning and playing guitar can be a very rewarding experience.  You get to play the music you love, jam with friends, apply your mind, and most importantly have fun.  While playing guitar can be a great experience the road to success is not so easy, it takes serious work and if you don’t have the motivation it might be better to find a new hobby.  That being said there are plenty of free resources out there like, Blues Scale, this website and you can teach yourself guitar, although that can be a difficult road especially if you don’t have any musical background.  When I first started learning to play guitar I was self taught for a couple month and it was hard work after a few more months I decided to get guitar lessons at the local music shop.  Once I started getting guidance and instructions from an experienced professional I started to see much quicker forward progression.  Not because he made me work harder but because he knew what a student should learn first and how to build upon that. After you decide if guitar lessons are right for you there are two routes you can go.

Online guitar lessons or In Person Guitar Lessons.

Each has their advantages and disadvantages.  Online guitar lessons offer several advantages as well as a few disadvantages.  I’ll start with the advantages.  Online guitar lessons are very flexible and much better for those going to college or working a full time job.  They also offer several different approaches and styles and offer a huge amount of resources, whereas at the local music store you might not have much of choice between teachers.  So it might be hard to find somebody specializing in a certain type of music, if you’re from a big city though you could probably find a guitarist specializing in the type of guitar you want to learn.  The disadvantages of online guitar lessons are obviously they are nowhere near as personal as in person guitar lessons.  When you have your own personal guitar teacher they are able to custom build a program that fits your personality, the amount of time you have, and several other factors.  I would highly recommend in person guitar lessons to young children and high school students.  In person guitar lessons are great for young children as their brains aren’t fully developed and would not be able to understand the information on online guitar lessons sites.  I recommend in person lessons for high school students because, if they are anything like me in high school, they may need the extra motivation a guitar instructor gives.  I also recommend in person guitar lessons for those who want to learn to read music or plan on studying guitar in college.

Now that I have gave you some information to think about to help you decide if you want to take online guitar lessons or in person lesson.  If you plan on taking online guitar lessons, there are some free websites out there but none of those compare to the instruction you get at paid sites like Jam Play.  Jam Play offers everything you could possible want with online guitar lessons, instead of laying it all out here I recommend clicking here and checking out there website.

As I am signed up to a lot of newsletters from various vendors of music gear, guitar gear, and what not I figured I’d start this coupon category and share my deals with my readers.

Guitar Center Coupons

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Enjoy the coupon and promo codes, more to come whenever I recieve some more.

Learning to play guitar by ear is an essential part of becoming a great guitar player.  It will increase your overall musicianship and make you better at soloing and understanding music theory.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t come very easy to many musicians.  Sure we are not all tone deaf, but being able to hear something then picking up your instrument and playing the same  sound is another story.   Thankfully there are some cool tricks to help you develop your ear.

The first step to training your ear is quite simple and most of you are probably already doing it.  “It” being playing your instrument, playing with other musicians, and playing along with a cd or the radio.  This will automatically train your ear to connect what your playing with the tones you are hearing.

The second and probably the most helpful thing you can do to train your ear is to sing.  Sing along with the radio while your driving in your car, sing along with your scales while your practicing them, pretty much sing whenever you have a chance, you don’t have to sound good, just as long as you are on pitch.  This helps out far more than just playing your instrument because you have to actually make the tone through your voice which helps make your brain make the connections between notes far more than just listening to your favorite music.

The last trick I have will help you immensely with identifying particular intervals.  It is quite simple but this is how every music teacher I’ve ever had says they learned how to identify music intervals…I guess a few of my music teachers had perfect ears naturally and didn’t have to train there ear.  But the trick is to associate certain intervals with well known phrases of songs, it makes it far easier to figure them out while listening to music.  A minor second (m2) would be associated with the theme from the movie Jaws.  Play an e to f on your guitar or instrument in the same rhythm as Jaws and you should be able to recognize that theme.  Or a Perfect 4th could be associated with the “Here Comes” from “Here Comes the Bride” so if you play say  A to D you should be able to put the lyrics

“Here Comes the bride”
A             D        D        D
P4
Here is a list of pieces of songs I associate with intervals, feel free to come up with your own.

m2 – Theme from Jaws
M2 – Happy Birthday
m3 – Georgia on my Mind
M3 – Oh When the Saints
P4 – Here Comes the Bride
Augmented 4th/ Diminished 5th – The Simpsons
P5 – Twinkle, Twinkle
m6 – The Entertainer
M6 – NBC
m7 – Old Star Trek Theme
M7 – Theme from Fantasy Island, Cast Your Fate to the Wind

For some more tips and tricks for guitar check out This Site

Guitarists need to know as many scales as possible in order to have endless possibilities while soloing. Knowing just the major, natural minor, pentatonic, and blues scale can get you a long way, but in the long run, you will need to know many many more scales, arpeggios, and chords to truly set yourself apart from other guitarists.

Here, I will take a look at the harmonic minor scale, many guitarists, especially blues guitarists solo extensively in minor scale, which is why it is important to learn as many different minor scales as possible. First, you should learn the natural minor scale, the minor pentatonic scale, and the blues scale. After that,  you can start learning the other minor modes and the harmonicminor scale. The harmonic minor scale will definitely add a unique sound to your solos, so you won’t sound quite like all the other guys.

The theory of the harmonic minor scale is quite simple. It is a natural minor scale with a raised 7th degree. Although you may not think that is a huge deal,  it results in quite a different sound, a much more exotic feeling. Once you have altered you minor scales to have a raised 7th degree, I recommend substituting the harmonic minor scale in place of the Aeolian or Dorian modes when you are soloing. Just mess around with it and see what sounds right to you. A good theoretically “right” way to play this scale is to use it in minor scale progressions that substitute V or V7 chords in place of v or v7 chords. Finally try using the Phyrgian Dominant mode of the harmonic minor scale(5th degree to 12th degree)* over major and dominant chords.

*The Phrygian dominant mode of A harmonic minor would be
A harmonic Minor = A – B – C – D – E – F – G#
E Phrygian Dominant= E – F – G# – A – B – C – D

More Online Guitar Lessons

I thought I should at least write about this, although I personally don’t like to use power chords, probably because they don’t have my favorite note(the third), but  they are used A LOT in guitar so they do deserve to be acknowledged.

A power chord is a chord that doesn’t have the third, it only has the root and the 5th.  They are probably the easiest chords for beginners to learn and are used heavily in popular music.  Power chords were not around forever; however, they came about in the early stages of rock.  This was because many guitarists were starting to experiment with distortion and fuzz boxes.  When you play chords with heavy distortion, fuzz, or other effects, often the notes will not blend and your left with a less then pleasant sound, because of this many guitarist started to strip the chords and the first note to go was the 3rd.  Because they only have the root and the 5th they are labeled with a 5.

An E5 is an E Power chord shown below:

I———I
I———I
I———I
I———I
I–5——I
I–0——I

This can be played in several different positions, here’s
another.

I———I
I———I
I—9—–I
I—9—–I
I—7—–I
I———I

You would use the index finger for the 7 on the A string and the ring and pinky finger for the 9′s on the D and G string.  Once you have that structure down, you can move that box around anywhere on the guitar and play a power chord.  Whichever note
the index finger rests on is the root of that power chord.

So here is an D5

I———I
I———I
I—7—–I
I—7—–I
I—5—–I
I———I

Another D5
I———I
I———I
I—2—–I
I—2—–I
I—0—–I
I———I

A5
I———I
I———I
I———I
I—7—–I
I—7—–I
I—5—–I

B5
I———I
I———I
I———I
I—9—–I
I—9—–I
I—7—–I

Hope you get the idea, and that this information is useful for you.

I thought in this blog post I would cover some popular chord
progressions for song writing.  All it takes is a few different
chords to create endless possibilities of song writing.  Just for
those of you who don’t know a chord progression a sequence of
chords.

Many times musicians will use numbers to refer to as chord
progressions.  You may have heard musicians say lets to a I – IV
- V in the key of C.  That is code for the 1st chord, 4th chord,
and 5th chord, which in the key of C correspond to C – F – G.
Also you may have noticed that when you write the numbers of a
chord progression always use roman numerals.  Below is what
number relate to which type of chords such as major, minor,
diminished.

I – Major Chord
ii- Minor chord
iii-Minor Chord
IV -Major Chord
V  -Major Chord
Vi -Minor Chord
Vii-Diminished Chord

So when you here a ii – V – I in the key of A, that means a b
minor chord to a E Major chord to an A Major chord.  Below are
some common chord progressions along with the corresponding
chords for the key, so you can get the idea.


IV – V – I in key of A
=
D Major to E Major to A Major

ii – V – I in key of G
=
Am – DMaj – GMaj

Vi – V – IV in key of C
=
Am – G – F

I – Vi – V – IV in key of D
=
D – Bm – AMaj – GMaj

For those of you less experienced I would recommend just playing
around with those