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DVD 1

The Chromatic Scale, Accidentals and the Fretboard 4

The Minor Pentatonic Scale 7

The Major Pentatonic Scale 15

The Hybrid Scale 16

Using the Blue Note and the Blues Scale 18

DVD 2

The Diatonic/Major Scale and Basic Music Theory 20The Relationship Between Major and Minor Scales 23

DVD 3

Soloing Over Pop Songs 31

Soloing Over Blues Songs 40

DVD 4

Soloing Over Rock & Roll Songs 46

Soloing Over Metal Songs 50

DVD 5

Soloing Over Illogical Songs 55

Minor Pentatonic Shapes/Positions 58

Major Pentatonic Shapes/Positions 60

Hybrid Scale (in A) 62

Blues Scale Positions (in A) 62Major Diatonic Scale Positions (in G - Spread Fingering) 65

Progress Tracker 69

Table Of Contents

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Moderate

= 100.

Ex.1

The Chroma�c Scale, Accidentals, and the Fretboard

Music, as it is commonly known, has a total of 12 notes. These sequence of notes is called the chroma�c scale. We can think

about the chroma�c scale as the dic�onary or alphabet containing all the notes used in music. In order for us to visualize whatthe chroma�c scale is, we can use the piano keyboard as a reference:

If you look into the piano keyboard, it has a bunch of white notes and black notes, going all the way from C un�l the sequence

goes back to C (what we call an octave). First, we want to learn what those white keys are and what are their names. The white

keys represent notes that are named from A to G. Remember that there are no notes named H (unless you're German!), P, L, etc.

in music. As guitar players, we want to learn where those are on the guitar. To be able to iden�fy those notes is to go into the first

step of knowing how to iden�fy all 12 notes of the chroma�c scale on the guitar. We can call A, B, C, D, E, F and G as " naturals"

(because these white key notes are the ones you would naturally find and try to press first on a piano keyboard!)

A, B, C, D, E, F, and G amount to only 7 notes, and thus we lack 5 more notes for a set of 12 in the chroma�c scale. We can find

those 5 notes in the black keys of the piano keyboard. We will call these black key notes "accidentals". For instance, if we find

the note "C" on the piano keyboard, we will also find a black key to its right. We will call this black key C-sharp (C ). In reality,

C and C are really independent notes that just share the concept of "C" but are really not related at all. We can then move to D

and find the black keynext to it as D

.

If every white key or natural has a black key next to it, we'll end up with 14 notes. However, in music we only have 12 notes.

This brings us to the fact that in a couple of spaces on the piano keyboard, there are no black keys in between two white keys.

We need to focus on these. Remember that every note has a sharp except for B and E (BE = no sharp, unless you play something

like a violin or trombone, which is a very different topic from the guitar).

⁄

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œ œ

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3 4 5 62 3 4 5

1 2 3 4

1




4

A standard piano keyboard has 88 keys. However, this doesn't mean that it has 88 dis�nct notes. The 12 notes of the

chroma�c scale just repeat themselves over and over across the piano keyboard or the guitar's fretboard. Once we go

from, say for example, a C to a C at a higher or lower register, this distance is what we call an octave. When we pluck our

open 6th string, for us guitarists it is an E. If we go up 12 frets (the fret with two dots), this is also an E but at a higher

register. This also means that we get the same sequence of notes on the upper half of the fretboard.

It is very important for us to memorize all of those notes on the 6th string. Knowing the fact that our open 6th string is an

E, we can logically deduce with our knowledge of the chroma�c scale that the note at the 1st fret is an F (being that E does

not have a sharp), the note at the 2nd fret is a F

, the one at the 3rd fret is a G, etc.

One of the most common problems encountered during the memoriza�on of the notes of the 6th string and others is that

there is a tendency for a student to count frets to arrive at a desired note. This is an inefficient prac�ce when trying to

memorize notes on the fretboard. The more efficient way of doing is so is through learning first what is the note on the 1st fret

and then learn what are the notes on the dots of the fretboard: By doing so, we can easily find note which note comes next

without a lot of memory work.

STEPS:

1. Learn the notes on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th frets (F, G, A, B, C ). Try quizzing on these notes with a friend e.g. "What

note is on 3?", "1?", etc. Just ask the numbers and gradually speed up.

2. To easily memorize where C and D are on the 6th string, think that those notes surround the dot at the 9th fret.

3. The next E is at the 12th fret (the fret with two dots)

4. Try quizzing on where the note is, e.g. "Where is B?", etc. and answer with a fret number.

5. Once you know what are the notes on the dots, you can deduce (using fretboard/music theory knowledge) what are the

notes on the other frets.

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œ œ

œ

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w

5 4 3 2 15 4 3 2

6 5 4 3

1




Ex.28

Ex.39

In many instances, we guitar players usually refer to accidentals as sharps. But every now and then, we would encounter

other musicians like clarinet and horn players that usually refer to some accidentals as "flats". What's a flat anyway?

For many reasons, we also need to be able to think about accidentals in terms of flats (b). F is at the 2nd fret while Gb

is at the 2nd fret as well. This means that F and Gbare the same note or enharmonic (two names for the same note).

Think of a flat as going down a half-step (flat �re). On a guitar fretboard, a flat is one fret lower. For example,

if G is at the 6th string 3rd fret then G

is at the 2nd fret.

⁄

Generally speaking, each sharp has an enharmonic flat e.g. G = Ab, D = Eb, A = Bb etc.

The general idea behind all of this is for us to get something usable, especially for soloing and improvisa�on, rather than

geng into music theory. While learning music theory is very important, Steve has another course for such a discussion.

We are just taking some music theory knowledge that is immediately usable for geng oriented with the fretboard and

being able to solo or improvise.

Now, we started out memorizing the notes of the 6th string. In a standard tuned guitar, we get a freebie. Since the 1st

string is tuned to the same pitch (albeit two octaves higher) as the 6th string, by memorizing the notes of the 6th string

we can precisely iden�fy the notes of the 1st string.

Let's now move to memorizing the notes on the 5th string. Remember to work on memorizing the notes on the fretboard

one string at a �me. Only try memorizing the notes of the 5th string when you have memorized the notes of the 6th string.

DON'T TRY TO MOVE TOO FAST. Take the �me to absorb and internalize the idea you are trying to learn before moving on

to the next one.

Now, the first thing about the 5th string is that it is tuned to A. To effec�vely memorize the other notes, use the same premise

as in the 6th string: learn the notes rela�ve to frets 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. On the 1st fret, we get an A . Since an accidental kind

of throws a wrench into the system of learning our A to G straight without the accidentals, let's take into account that the

2nd fret note is a B. Following our rule regarding B and E, we find that the 3rd fret note is a C, the 5th fret note is D, and the

7th fret note is E. For F and G, let's just say that they're on each side of the 9th fret:

⁄

˙ ˙

3 2

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œ

œ

œ

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0 2 3 5 7 8 10

3

1




Ex.410

The Minor Pentatonic Scale

In many instances, we guitar players usually refer to accidentals as sharps. But every now and then, we would encounter

other musicians like clarinet and horn players that usually refer to some accidentals as "flats". What's a flat anyway?

For many reasons, we also need to be able to think about accidentals in terms of flats (b). F is at the 2nd fret while Gb

is at the 2nd fret as well. This means that F and Gbare the same note or enharmonic (two names for the same note).

Think of a flat as going down a half-step (flat �re). On a guitar fretboard, a flat is one fret lower. For example,

if G is at the 6th string 3rd fret then G

is at the 2nd fret.

It is great to be able to play the first posi�on of A minor pentatonic, but the tendency is that most people will be limited

to just playing this and nothing more. We don't want to limit ourselves into playing in just one spot. We need to be able to

play all over the fretboard in order to maximize the use of the guitar. In this course, we are going to eliminate this limita�on

by looking into different ways regarding how we play the scale and how we apply it in a more musical sense.

Before we go further, memorize the first posi�on of A minor pentatonic. More than just memorizing it, try to visualize the

scale. Once you are able to visualize it, you can start playing it. You can choose to play the scale using a pure downpicking

technique or alternate picking. In either case, you want to become very comfortable with your flow so that you can learn

how to play it effec�vely. Play the scale over and over. Once you become used to playing it, meander or move around inside

the scale as shown in the next example:

Using the same premise as learning the notes on the 6th and 5th strings, we can learn the notes of the other strings as long as we

know for certain the tuning of the open strings.

Here are more things we can prac�ce to further improve our understanding:

1. Focus first on learning the 6th string. Once accomplished move to the 5th then 4th, etc.

2. Another sugges�on is to use memorize the 6th string then the 5th string and then compare between the 6th and 5th string.

For instance, look for G at the 6th string. It would be at the 3rd fret. Now try to look for G on the 5th string (10th fret). Take note

of their similari�es and differences regarding the pitch or register, sound, etc. Aer working your way through, try workin g on

comparisons between the 5th and 4th strings, 6th and 4th strings, etc. Not only will you be able to memorize the notes, you will

become capable of seeing rela�onships across the fretboard! In a realis�c situa�on, this is more useful for prac�cal applica�ons.

The next thing we need to do is apply the concept of learning the notes on one string to an octave above. For example, we have

learned the notes of the 6th string from 0 through 12. We can therefore realize that those notes are repatedin the octave from

the 12th fret up e.g. notes of the open string and the 12th fret are the same (except an octave higher), 1 and 13, 2 and 14,

3 and 15, 4 and 16, etc.

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5 85 7

5 75 7

5 85 8 8 5

8 57 5

7 57 5

8 5

4

1




Ex.512

Ex.613

E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7 9

There is actually no rhyme or reason to playing the scale in the manner shown in Ex. 5. The point is that you should become

comfortable in being able to flow or move back and forth between notes within the scale. This is because we don't want to

just learn how to play the scale up and down (a method that doesn't have a lot of musical sense, plus it is not very crea�ve).

We want to be able to play side-to-side, move in and out and do all kinds of different things with the scale.

For now, focus on learning how to play the scale up and down. Once this has been achieved, take a second to look at the scale.

A minor pentatonic has A, C, D, E, and G. Obviously, you can find those notes below and above the box where you find the

first posi�on of A minor pentatonic. We want to learn where those notes are, so think about this: We can look at a guitar as a

set of six pianos (one string is one piano in this analogy) lined up together, each having a different star�ng note. These six

pianos (or strings), because of their different tunings, turns out to be that they're off center from each other rather than

straight. What we need to do right now is to learn how to play one of the strings across direc�ons so tha t we can move any

way we want to. To start, take the notes of the A minor pentatonic and place them all on the 6th string like you would in a

piano i.e. play the en�re scale on a single string. Play these notes star�ng on the 5th fret upwards un�l you run out of frets

then learn the notes going downwards to the open E:

⁄

⁄

1st posi�on - A minor pentatonic

œ

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œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

5 75 7 5

7 57

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

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5 8 10 12 15 17 20 17 15 12 10 8 5 3 0

5

1




E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7 9

Ex.715

E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7 9

E

A

D

G

B

E

7 916

On each one of those notes on the 6th string, we can build our way down the pianos or strings, playing the same notes, A, C, D, E

and G over and over. When you're on the first posi�on (6th string, 5th fret), that's really the only �me you can start on the A

un�l you reach the octave. From here, you can move up from the 5th fret to the 8th fret on the 6th string for the second posi�on

of A minor pentatonic. Now, let's start breaking apart our A minor pentatonic (first posi�on) into two halves:

To build our second posi�on, we start that by taking the half of the first posi�on that is on the higher frets (the ones with black

dots on the diagram) and then add in addi�onal notes to come up with a paern as shown in Ex. 7:

Despite star�ng at a different note and u�lizing different frets, you will no�ce that both posi�ons sound similar by virtue of

being the same scale. Compare and contrast both scale diagrams (roots are represented as white circles):

⁄

1st posi�on 2nd posi�on

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œ

œ

œ

œ

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8 107 10

7 107 9

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

8 108 10 8

10 89

6

1




17

Ex.8

18

21

23

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

⁄


1st posi�on2nd posi�on

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1st posi�on

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

Ex. 8 compares and contrasts the first and second posi�ons of the A minor pentatonic scale:

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ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

2nd posi�on 1st posi�on

⁄

2nd posi�on

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710 7

10 710 8

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5 85 7

5

5 8 107 10

5 85 7

5 75

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5 8 107 10

7 10

5 85 7

5 75 7

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5 85 8

5 8 107 10

7 107 9

8 108

7

1




Ex.926

Ex.1028

1st posi�on 2nd posi�on

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ


As you will be able to observe, the A at the 4th string 7th fret serves well as a pivot point for both the first and second

posi�ons. In this way, you can move into the second posi�on with ease and expand your range because you will be ableto reach at least three notes more at the 1st string.

Observe the following lick shown in Ex. 10. This is an example of how you can expand the A minor pentatonic scale:

When trying to learn the first and second posi�ons (or any other posi�ons for that maer) of the A minor pentatonic,

it is very important to be able to see how they are connected together. Seeing these connec�ons enables us to move

from one posi�on to the next in the most comprehensive way possible. Being able to do so expands crea�ve possibili�es.

More oen than not, students oen take on the first posi�on well, start soloing with it, dabble with the second posi�on

and then move back. While you can do great things with it, you would want to be able to dominate the second posi�on(along with others) rather than just dabble with it for a short �me.

To establish connec�ons between the two posi�ons, let's take a look into where the roots are in both posi�ons:

⁄

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ


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5

7

5

7

10

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11 10 8

108 10

1010 8

10

8

1




Ex.1129

30

E

A

D

G

B

E

9 12Ex.1232

Having good knowledge of both first and second posi�ons of the A minor pentatonic will allow you to weave back and forth

posi�ons using techniques like sliding:

⁄

Because of the variety of places where the notes exist using both posi�ons, you will be able to sound differently just

because you have different ways of moving in between notes, something that is a lot limited in exclusively using the first

posi�on.

The third posi�on of A minor pentatonic starts at the 6th string 10th fret (D), and then moves all the way down. Because

of the placement of the roots in this posi�on, it is Steve's favorite posi�on, allowing him to do many things with it:

⁄

3rd posi�on

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8 108

10 8 5 8 5 87 9 7

107

10

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7 57 5 7

5 7 10 710

710 7

10 710

7

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10 1210 12

10 129 12

10 1310 12 12 10

13 1012 9

12 1012 10

12 10

9

1




E

A

D

G

B

E

12

Ex.1335

E

A

D

G

B

E

3 5

Ex.1438

4th posi�on

IMPORTANT TIP: While it is good (from a technical standpoint) that you can play your pentatonic scale paerns up and

down against the beat of the metronome, it is beer if you are capable of playing your scales in a non-linear

fashion. Learn how to move and play around the notes of the scale since this is beer from a crea�ve standpoint. You can

come up with more melodic ideas this way rather than playing all of your scales in a linear, sequen�al fashion.

Ex. 13 shows the A minor pentatonic scale in the fourth posi�on:

⁄

5th posi�on

”

Ex. 14 shows the fih posi�on of A minor pentatonic. While we can start the 5th posi�on at the 6th string 15th fret, we can

also use the same scale shape star�ng at the 6th string, 3rd fret

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12 1512 15

12 1412 14

13 1512 15 15 12

15 1314 12

14 1215 12

15 12

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15 1715 17

14 1714 17

15 1715 17 17 15

17 1517 14

17 1417 15

17 15

1




E

A

D

G

B

E

2 3

1 4

1 4

1 3

2 4

2 4

7 9

Ex.1541

4 1 3

2nd posi�on

1 3 ÍÍ

1 3 1 3 1 3 1

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

FINGERING: One dilemma a guitar player would eventually be faced with is is fingering. What fingers of the freng hand should

be used to play the scale? It is usually a ques�on of what is logical versus what is comfortable.

What we call "logical" fingering involves the use of one unique finger per fret. We can see this as placing all four fingers

on four frets that are beside each other e.g. index finger on 5th fret, middle finger on 6th fret, ring finger on 7th, and

pinkie on 8th. During prac�ce and learning sessions, Steve would typically use logical fingering to reinforce good habits anddevelop technique. Let's take the 2nd posi�on of A minor pentatonic as an example. Logical fingering labels are present on

the diagram below:

Ideally speaking, logical fingering should be used. However, in a jamming or playing situa�on, there are �mes when logical

fingering is just imprac�cal or uncomfortable to u�lize properly. It is where the more comfortable fingering is used. This isbecause when improvising, a player doesn't really know for certain where he/she is coming from and where he/she is headed to.

Ex. 15 demonstrates an example of comfortable fingering rather than logical (fingering is indicated in the numbers above the

notes on the staff:

Observe the slide from fret 7 to 10 on the 4th string where the 3rd finger of the freng hand lands on 10. In the next bar,

Steve has no problems switching between frets 7 and 10, comple�ng the passage with just those two fingers. This does

not follow the four-fingers-over-four-frets logical fingering rule, but it is just as useful under any playing situa�on.

When it comes to fingering, the point is that all of these things will get beer, but it is important to be aware of what you are doing

and why you are doing it. It's not just a maer of using recommended fingerings and that is it. You need to learn how to feel your

way around the fretboard! Learn how to see, go in and out and then back and forth all of these scale posi�ons. Aer learning all

five posi�ons of the minor pentatonic, we can then proceed to look into the major pentatonic scale.

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8 5 7 57 10 7 10 7

107

10 7

1




Ex.1643

E

A

D

G

B

E

3 5

E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7

E

A

D

G

B

E

7 9

E

A

D

G

B

E

9 12

E

A

D

G

B

E

12

Going back to our A minor pentatonic scale, learning all of its five posi�ons enables us to also play the C major pentatonic

scale in all posi�ons because C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic share the same set of notes but have different notes

emphasized as roots. One easy way to remember how to do this is if you assume a minor pentatonic scale in the first posi�on,

if your start the scale at the note stopped by your index finger then it is minor. If you start out with your pinkie, you get the same

scale but major.

What just happened here is that we played the minor pentatonic scale three frets down from A minor pentatonic to come

up with its parallel major scale (A major is parallel major of A minor). Therefore, just shiing our five posi�ons of the minor

pentatonic three frets back will get us our parallel major pentatonic version.

We can also say then that this scale, F minor pentatonic, is the same as A major pentatonic (A major is rela�ve major of

F minor). For many people, such as Steve himself, in terms of the pentatonic scales, it is easier to imagine the minor

pentatonic (given the fact that minor pentatonic is usually taught first). So, it is very much feasible to think of major

pentatonic scales as their rela�ve minors first BUT with emphasis on the root note of the rela�ve major. In this case,

we can think about playing the A major pentatonic by visualizing and playing them F minor pentatonic because they share

the same notes BUT with emphasis on A as the root so that it will sound like a major pentatonic scale rather than minor.

The next step then is to visualize and learn all five posi�ons of the major pentatonic posi�ons. As stated before, these are

exactly the same as the five minor posi�ons but shied down three frets. Root notes are labeled as white circles:

Let's say we're playing in the key of A major rather than minor, we would opt to use the major pentatonic scale. As a point of

reference, we can start learning the major pentatonic scale using the minor version as a point of reference. Assume the first

note of the first posi�on of A minor pentatonic using the pinkie of your freng hand. Now, con�nue playing by playing the

first posi�on minor pentatonic from that reference point to end up playing the major pentatonic scale. A transcrip�on of thisis found in Ex. 16:

The Major Pentatonic Scale

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5 2 4

2 42 4

2 52 5 5 2

5 24 2

4 2

4 2 5

1




46

49

Ex.1752

1st string - minor 1st string - major 2nd string - minor

Steve once had a teacher that taught him how to solo in a 12-bar blues this way: use minor pentatonic over I and V, use major

pentatonic over IV. It seemed very cool and it seemed like it was all there is to playing the blues. However, there actually

is more than that.

Being able to play in a "bluesy" way involves a peculiar combina�on of minor and major pentatonic scales all in one song.This leads us to the concept called a "hybrid scale". Many of the blues greats would combine both pentatonic scales in a

certain way that would immediately lead to people think that that is blues. We would visualize superimposing the first

posi�on of minor pentatonic over the second posi�on of major pentatonic to come up with the hybrid scale. It does not

mean, however, that playing the hybrid scale will automa�cally sound bluesy already. It requires that a guitar player be

crea�ve with the movement of the notes to get the hybrid scale to sound like the blues masters. The goal is to be able

to add everything to gether BUT play the notes selec�vely. To do this we need to understand where the "minor" and

"major" por�ons are per string in the hybrid scale. We will iden�fy these in components in our first three strings.

These are labeled accordingly in the tab below:

The Hybrid Scale

⁄

2nd string - major 3rd string - minor 3rd string - major

⁄

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

While we can actually play the hybrid scale over the first three strings, it sounds beer if we selec�vely play each note

in a way that is nonlinear and more idioma�c of the blues genre as seen in the example below:

⁄


˙

˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

8 5 7 58 5

˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

7 55 7 4 6

œ

œ œ œ œ œ

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5 75 8 5

7 55 6

7

13

1




Ex.1854

Ex.1955

Ex.2057

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

In the hybrid scale, we come across a chroma�c sequence of notes over the third string. Rather than playing the chroma�cs

in a linear fashion, we will avoid doing so to come up with a more bluesy or jazz-blues lick as seen in Ex. 18. Again, the reason

why we play the notes in such a way is to come up with something more musical:

⁄

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

For the 4th, 5th and 6th strings, we can also do the same sort of experimenta�on with they hybrid scale. Here is

another example:

⁄

ÍÍÍÍ

ÍÍÍÍ

Ex. 20 shows how we can cover all six strings with the hybrid scale. Again, the key to using the hybrid scale effec�vely

is to be crea�ve with it by exploring the scale in a nonlinear fashion.

⁄

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7 4 5 65

5

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54 7

5 7 7 57 4

5

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54 7

5 75 6

5 75 8 8 5

7 56 5

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5

14

1




Ex.2160

Ex.2262

64

Blue Note Blue Note

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

Using the Blue Note and the Blues ScaleWhat makes a blues scale sound unique is the use of a "blue" note. The blue note is a flaed 5th added to a minor

pentatonic scale to create the blues scale. Check out Ex. 21 and you will find where the blue note is when we turn

an A minor pentatonic scale into a blues scale:

⁄

Blue Note Blue Note

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

Blue NoteBlue Note

When we play a blue note along with the root, we get an interval called a diminished 5th, probably the most dissonant

sounding interval in music (it was even called the "devil in music" in the past!). To make a blue note sound good in a

musical context, we use it as a passing note. It o�en adds emphasis or "drama" to the note that follows it.

⁄

Blue Note

Blue Note

Blue NoteBlue Note

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

⁄

Blue Note

Blue Note


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5 85 6 7 7 6 5

8 5

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5 75 7 8

5 85 8 8 5

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8 58 7 5

7 57 6 5

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15

1




Ex.2366

68

Ex.24 Ex.2569

Ex. 23 shows an interes�ng lick that u�lizes blue notes well:

⁄

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

Always remember that a blue note is used as a passing note. We do not emphasize the blue note simply because it will

sound nasty as an emphasis note. Rather, we use the blue note in passing to enhance a melody.

⁄


ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

If we were to turn a major pentatonic scale into a blues scale, since we concluded earlier that the minor pentatonic

and its rela�ve major equivalent are the same scale that only differ in what's considered the root note, we will find the

blue note in the exact same spot. It is a minor 3rd from the root note of the major pentatonic scale. In the next few

examples, you will find out that the blue note featured in Ex. 24 (F minor pentatonic) is the same as the blue note in

Ex. 25 (A major pentatonic).

⁄

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7 85 8 5 5

8 7 57

5 7 85 8 5

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2 52 3 4

52 3 4

2 4 24 3 2

5

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1




Ex.2672

C D E F G A B C

Ex.2774


Ex. 26 is an interes�ng lick that sounds almost like a diminished arpeggio with notes added in between. Such a lick can

be useful as a song ending or something that could spice up a solo. It is one of the ways in which we can effec�vely

use blue notes to enhance the musical quality of a melody:

Anything that has a rock & roll/blues influence would come from the idea of a blue note. Music can be logical or illogical.Case in point, pung a minor pentatonic and a major pentatonic and blue notes together seems like a recipe for disaster

because from a music theory perspec�ve they don't make logical sense. Rock & roll is a seemingly illogical thing in

music because of that. However, when all of these seemingly illogical combina�ons are played together correctly,

it sounds great. This is what Steve calls the "theory of rock & roll": playing things that don't make any theore�cal sense

but sound awesome together.

⁄


While the chroma�c scale has 12 notes and the pentatonic scale has 5, the diatonic scale has 7. This is the sort of

scale commonly associated with the syllables do, re, mi, fa, so, la, and �, each of which represents a scale degree

from "do" being the 1st/root/prime to "�" being the 7th. This scale is also what refer to as a major scale. We start

out by looking at the C major scale (all white keys of the piano keyboard, no accidentals):

The Diatonic/Major Scale and Basic Music Theory

⁄

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8 57

8 7 57

5 67

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8 10 128 10 12

9 10

17

2




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8va

75

Ex.2876

77

3

W W H W W W H

The importance of knowing the exact order of intervals between the notes of the scale is that these intervals determine

how the scale will sound like. If you alter the sequence of these intervals and you will come up with a different scale.

While it certainly is not bad to memorize the WWHWWWH sequence to come up with your major scale, the easier way

to memorize this is that half-step intervals are found in between 3 and 4 in between 7 and 8va. Everything else is separated

by whole steps.

To facilitate learning how to play the diatonic scale on the guitar well, we will use a paern called spread fingering. In spread

fingering, we play a diatonic scale using three fingers/notes per string. Spread fingering allows us to easier navigate our way

through the fretboard as compared to the usual "box" paern. This is because spread fingering is symmetrical and simpler to

play. In the previous examples when we were explaining the diatonic scale, the tablature shows the scale in a spread fingering

format. Here is the C major scale from the 6th to the 1st string in spread fingering:

There are certain specifics about the diatonic scale that makes it unique. First of all, it is in the diatonic scale where

we have all the leer names of notes (A to G only). For instance, in the key of C we have the notes C, D, E, F, G, A,

and B before going back to C. These are the seven notes we have selected from the chroma�c scale (which has 12).

The diatonic scale is also the basis for labeling our scale degrees by numbers (1 through 7), which has also become the

basis for the names of intervals between notes.

Now, the ques�on is how were we able to select those notes from the chroma�c scale? This is where we talk about theterm diatonic. The term just means that it is a scale with both whole-step (2-frets) and half-step (1-fret) intervals:

⁄

⁄

⁄

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8 10 12

8 10 129 10

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8 10 128 10 12

9 10 129 10 12

10 12 1310

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12 13 13 12 1013 12 10

12 10 912 10 9

12 10 812 10 8

18

2




E

A

D

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B

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9 12

79

E

A

D

G

B

E

3 5 7Ex.2982

3

Shape A Shape B Shape C

The apparent thing you can observe about spread fingering is symmetry. Because of its inherent symmetry, each of

the seven posi�ons of major scale using spread fingering make use of a combina�on of just these three shapes. This

can make it easy for us to learn all seven posi�ons of the diatonic scale.

Let's say we want to play in the key of G. The same rules would s�ll apply regarding how to form a G major scale. We need

to keep the proper order of intervals (half steps between 3 & 4 and between 7 & 8, whole steps the rest) star�ng at the note

G.

As far as picking is concerned, it is recommeded that the diatonic scale (and any other scale for that maer) be

prac�ced using an alternate picking technique. Alternate picking allows us to play faster and more efficiently.

Just as if we were prac�cing strumming, an alternate picking technique could care less about whether to use

an upstroke or downstroke.

A spread fingering paern typically uses three shapes or paerns as shown in the diagrams below:

⁄

HH

HH

⁄

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œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

8 10 128 10 12

9 10 129 10 12

10 12 1310 12 13

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3 5 73 5 7

4 5 74 5 7

5 7 85

19

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83

E

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G

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7 9

E

A

D

G

B

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12

H HH H

The Rela�onship Between Major and Minor Scales

By being able to iden�fy that common point or note in both scales, you now have a fast way of knowing where the rela�ve major

of a par�cular minor scale would be.

For many guitarists (and other musicians in general), it is oen easier to figure out what key a song is in. The problem is that

some�mes when we can iden�fy that a certain song is in a minor key, say A minor, some of us might only be proficient in the

use of major scales but don't know what minor scales are. The thing is that a minor scale (natural) is nothing more than a

rela�ve major scale started at the (or emphasizing the) 6th of that major scale.

Let's say we were in the key of G major. If we're looking for it's rela�ve minor, it's E minor. Try playing your E minor pentatonic

over your G major song and more or less it will fit as long as you emphasize the note G.

Let's say in another instance that we're playing a song in the key of B minor and we plan on playing B minor pentatonic scale

at the first posi�on. Our first finger therefore goes over the note B (6th string, 7th fret). Following the single-finger-per-fret rule,

if we place the pinkie finger of our freng hand over the 10th fret, we get the note D, the root note for D major. If we play the

minor pentatonic shape star�ng from D, then we are essen�ally playing a D major scale.

If we are to spell out a diatonic scale star�ng at G in leers and without accidentals, we should be able to come up first with

G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G. However, this is incorrect given the fact that from F (7th) to G (8va) is a whole step. We said earlier that in a

major scale we need just a half step from the 7th note of the scale to the octave. For us to hear and write down the G major

scale correctly, we need to spell it out as G-A-B-C-D-E-F -G. The ques�on now is that why do we have F instead of F? F to G

is a half step. Consequently, this also corrects the half-step interval between E and F and becomes a whole step instead.

This is the reason why we have one sharp in the key of G. Another thing is that we are now using accidentals inorder to correctly spell out major scales in keys other than C.

In a later sec�on of this book, there are charts that show the major scale in all 12 keys and in 7 posi�ons for your reference.

⁄

B minor pentatonic

Common Point

D major

˙ ™

7 8 7 58 7 5

7 5 47 5 4

7 5 37 5 3

20

2




Ex.3085

86

Ex.3188

As we have learned from the previous paragraph, minor scales are nothing more than their rela�ve major counterparts.

So, taking our example from the previous paragraph, we could then instead play our D using the first finger, and then

play our major scale in the first posi�on using the spread fingering we had previously discussed about:

⁄

⁄

Let's now say that you're going to play a song in the key of C minor, you could go over the 6th string 8th fret and then play

pentatonic no problem. But the cool part about having that knowledge of the rela�ve major is that you could play the rela�ve

major of C minor bt just placing your pinkie three frets away from C (from 8th to 11th fret) and play the major scale from there.

Ex. 31 demonstrates this plus the fact that you are playing the scale in both minor and major. This is given the fact that C

minor is the same as E major as we have previously learned in the sec�on about pentatonic scales.

⁄

10 12 1410 12 14

11 12 1411 12 14

12 14 1512

˙

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14 15 14 1215 14 12

14 12 1114 12 11

14 12 1014 12 10

™

11 13 1511 13 15

1215 13 11

15 13 11 8

2




Ex.3289

Ex.3391

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

In comparison, the big thing that dis�nguishes diatonic from pentatonic is the fact that diatonic has half steps while

pentatonic does not have any. This fact has big melodic implica�ons. Diatonic scales simply sound more melodic than

pentatonic just because of this fact.

One tendency is to immediately go into minor pentatonic when confronted with a song in a minor key. There are �mes,

however, when we want to go diatonic instead because it just sounds more melodic. How do we go about going away

from that pentatonic tendency and start going for a diatonic scale in a minor key? Let's use an example. Say we want to

play a song that is in G minor. Now, let's establish that we know we have a G minor pentatonic scale star�ng at the

6th string 3rd fret and that we can solo using that. To move from a pentatonic tendency to a diatonic one, we can just

go to the rela�ve major three frets away (B , where we usually place our pinkie when playing the minor pentatonic

equivalent)

⁄

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ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

When confronted with a minor key, we now have two op�ons for soloing: minor pentatonic and minor diatonic. At this

point, the way we find out the minor diatonic is through the following steps:

1. Find the rela�ve major from a minor pentatonic scale.

2. Play or create the major diatonic from that common point.

3. Emphasize the root note of the rela�ve minor key rather than the rela�ve major's root.

Here is one of Steve's exercises that you can try working on to test your understanding of rela�ve major-minor

rela�onships in the context of soloing using the guitar:

1. If we were in the key of A major, there are two scales you can play at this point: A major pentatonic and A major

diatonic. Can you see these scales on your fretboard?

2. Let's say we were in the key of B minor. How do you shi from minor pentatonic to minor diatonic?

While we can use that rela�ve major, the big difference between the rela�ve major and

minor is the root note being emphasized. Since we are trying to play in G minor, we need

to find our Gs within the rela�ve major scale to make it sound minor:

⁄

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7 8

8 107 8 7

10 8 610

8 610 8 6

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6 8 106 8 10

22

2




Ex.3492

G Major Diatonic - 1st Posi�on Paern a.k.a. G Ionian mode

Because the diatonic scale is one of the cornerstones of music theory as we know it today, usage of the diatonic scales

in music is considered to be logical. The "illogical" way to solo or improvixe over a song uses things like blues and hybrid

scales.

It is also important for us to know about the chords that are formed out of the major scale since the diatonic scale has

always been the basis for all the chords we use in music. Since we have seven notes in a major diatonic scale, we also

get seven chords. Always remember that within the major scale, the I, IV and V are always major (hence beingrepresented in uppercase leers), the ii, iii and vi are always minor (lowercase), and the vii is always diminished.

Also take note that in rock and pop, the vii (diminished) is rarely used. In those rare instances that the vii is used, it is

usually used in an "illogical" way (a way that doesn't make sense in common prac�ce music theory). In terms of

major-minor rela�oships, the vi is the rela�ve minor of any major diatonic scale. Whenever we generically talk about

a song being in minor, we talk about the vi chord.

Also remember that even if you shi to other keys, the half steps and whole steps of the major diatonic scale always

remain in the same configura�on or order. In a prac�cal sense, this means that if you shi from one par�cular key to

another, all you have to do is move that en�re paern across the fretboard without changing it.

Generally speaking, playing a major diatonic scale (or playing in a major key) is no different than playing in a minor key.

However, there are two significant differences:

1. When playing in a minor key, you are emphasizing a minor chord versus a major chord.

2. When playing in minor scale over a song in a minor key, you are all the notes of a major key but you are emphasizing the

sixth scale degree instead of the first. For example, whenever you are playing a song in A minor (rela�ve to C major), you are

emphasizing all the A's while you con�nue playing what is essen�ally a C major scale.

What's the impact of these differences in a par�cular song? From a musical perspec�ve, shiing the emphasis from major

to it's rela�ve minor provides a radically different quality to a piece of music. This is because minor keys tend to sound darker,

more serious, sadder, or more melancholic than major keys.

In Ex. 34, we see the G major scale using a spread fingering paern in its first posi�on. The ques�on is are there other

posi�ons of the major diatonic scale? The answer is yes. As a review, let's take a look at the G major scale in the first

posi�on:

⁄

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3 5 73 5 7

4 5 74 5 7

5 7 85 7 8

2




94

Ex.3596

98


⁄


G Major Diatonic - 2nd Posi�on Paern a.k.a. A Dorian mode

The next few examples shows the same G major diatonic scale played in the rest of the different available posi�ons over

the fretboard:

⁄


⁄


˙

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‰

8 7 58 7 5

7 5 47 5 4

7 5 37 5 3

˙

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5 7 85 7 9

5 7 9

5 7 97 8 10

7 8 10

˙

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10 8 710 8 7

9 7 59 7 5

9 7 58 7 5

2




Ex.36

100

102

Ex.37

104

106

G Major Diatonic - 3rd Posi�on Paern a.k.a. B Phrygian mode

⁄

⁄

G Major Diatonic - 4th Posi�on Paern a.k.a. C Lydian mode

⁄

⁄

˙

‰ Œ

7 8 107 9 10

7 9 107 9 11

8 10 128 10 12

˙

‰ Œ

12 10 812 10 8

11 9 710 9 7

10 9 710 8 7

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8 10 129 10 12

9 10 129 11 12

10 12 1310 12 14

˙

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14 12 1013 12 10

12 11 912 10 9

12 10 912 10 8

25

2




Ex.38108

110

Ex.39

112

114

G Major Diatonic - 5th Posi�on Paern a.k.a. G Mixoydian mode

⁄

⁄

G Major Diatonic - 6th Posi�on Paern a.k.a. A Natural Minor/Aeolian Mode

⁄


⁄


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10 12 1410 12 14

10 12 1411 12 14

12 13 1512 14 15

˙

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15 14 1215 13 12

14 12 1114 12 10

14 12 1014 12 10

˙

™

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12 14 1512 14 15

12 14 1612 14 16

13 15 1714 15 17

˙

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17 15 1417 15 13

16 14 1216 14 12

15 14 1215 14 12

26

2




Ex.40

116

118

G Major Diatonic - 7th Posi�on Paern a.k.a. B Locrian mode

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⁄



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14 16 1714 16 17

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17 16 1417 16 14

17 15 1417 15 14

27

2




A‹

Moderately Fast Pop/Rock = 120

Ex.41

120

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

Music theory-wise, pop songs tend to be logical, hence they will sound either really major or really minor in sound.

Pop songs typically use diatonic scales as a melodic founda�on although pentatonic scales would fit in quite nicely

when soloing over them. Here we have our first example of soloing over a pop song.

What is it that goes on exactly in the head of a guitar player who is about to solo over a par�cular chord progression?

Here are some ini�al guidelines:

1. Think of the key signature.

2. Think of the chord progression. Take the I-IV-V and think about how those chords can be rearranged in a I-IV-V fashion.

3. Iden�fy other chords in the song outside of the I-IV-V.

4. Decide on which scale to use over the chord progression.

5. Think about movement (rhythm, melody, paerns, licks, phrases, etc.)

6. Visualize the fretboard and start learning how to meander around the song. Meandering means learning to move

around rhythmically and making up anything without any rhyme or reason to note choices, etc.

7. Get the guitar tone a bit more solo friendly (usually high-gain distor�on, some emphasis on treble frequencies, a lile bit

of reverb and delay.

Soloing Over Pop Songs

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full

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In Ex. 41, no�ce that Steve chose to use a pentatonic scale (A minor or C major). He also used a couple of expressivetechniques such as bending, sliding, and vibrato. There's also a lot of rhythmic playing involved while trying to get around

the fretboard.

⁄

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

The next step into figuring out how to solo is plo�ng points. This means that during the solo, we are going to follow the

root notes of all the chords. Since we have a C-G-Am-F chord progression in this par�cular example, first we are going to

look for all the C's. In the first posi�on of the A minor pentatonic scale, we will find the C's in par�cular loca�ons as ploed

below (white dots):

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E

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5 7 9130

E

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D

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B

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5 7 9

131

As the G in the song comes into play, we need to become aware of where the G's are in the scale in order to place

emphasis on the root note of the chord.

⁄

As we approach Am, it is easy to find where the roots are given that we are already using the A minor pentatonic scale for

this improvisa�on:

⁄

˙

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5

8

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5

7

5

30

3




E

A

D

G

B

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9 12132

A‹

Ex.42133

F137

Going along the chord progression, we encounter F. The thing about the A minor pentatonic is that it doesn't have any

F's in it. The ques�on is where are we going to find an F to use for our solo? It is at this point we now use our C major

diatonic scale.

So far, what we have done to be able to solo is:

1. Establish the key signature.

2. Choosing the appropriate scale to use (visualizing the scale across the fretboard, etc.)

3. Learning to move around the fretboard with the par�cular chosen scale (meandering).

The fourth step is plong points. A basic example of how to plot points is at Ex. 42, following the same chord progression

we have previously encountered. Take note that in the next examples, whenever Steve encounters an F chord, he uses a

diatonic scale over it because these is no F in a C major pentatonic (or A minor pentatonic). Since pop/rock songs usually

follow a logical framework, using pentatonic and diatonic scales on different sec�ons or chords of the song generates

greater melodic interest.

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What we have done so far is:

1. Establish the key signature.


3. Learning to move around the fretboard with the par�cular chosen scale (meandering).

4. Plot points across the fretboard depending on chord progression.

Other than plong points, Steve was trying to play something that would sound fun or interes�ng as he was improvising.

Using the principles of knowing the scale and plong points, you can start moving all over the fretboard.

Since we have been improvising over what could be considered a logical chord progression, we are stuck trying to play

something that sounds melodic. In this case, we could call it being slave to the melody, requiring us to think more,

understand the fretboard more. This results in nice, melodic solos, as opposed to just moving around.

Whenever we try to solo chord progression, it is important that we keep points plped inside our minds and then try and

follow those points to a certain degree.

However, this doesn't always happen. We can go off tangent occasionally. As Steve explains about his process, once he hits

a a really good and likable lick or a repe��ve ide, he can bypass the melody for a while while crea�ng that new idea.

Things such as licks, mo�fs or os�natos occur every now and then, and these can be fun to play around with as well.

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At the end of this example, we have accomplished:

1. Establishing the key signature.


3. Moving around the fretboard with the par�cular chosen scale (meandering).

4. Plot points (root note of chords) across the fretboard depending on chord progression.

5. Use os�natos (repe��ve paerns), licks, riffs and phrases. These os�natos, licks, riffs and phrases provide a beer sense

of melody and familiarity plus they add interest and excitement to the music.

6. Phrasing - Always remember that you want space. Incorporate rests into your solos to get good phrasing.

These six items are the basic things you can do to develop your solos in any song. Try working out other pop/rock songs

using these steps in crea�ng solos.

This approach will work well for pop, rock, folk songs, or any kind of music that follows a logical music theory framework.

Another �p you need to consider is the frequency of chord changes. The faster the chord changes are, the more accurate

you must be in plo�ng out points (roots of every chord). In this regard, when you are playing songs that have fast chord

changes, your note choices and opportuni�es for explora�on/meandering become limited. This is the reason why it is

easier (and most of the �me much more fun) to meander over passages that have slow chord changes rather than ones

that change chords along the progression fast.

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Blues Swing/Shuffle = 120

Ex.44

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Soloing Over Blues Songs

If we consider our pop songs to follow a logical framework, a blues songs do not. Blues is an illogical style of music. Why?

There are two reasons:

1. Even though Blues is based on a I-IV-V major chord progression, we typically solo using minor pentatonic scales over it.

2. The I-IV-V progression in Blues is actually a series of dominant 7th chords, so they are actually I7-IV7-V7. If you think in

terms of the diatonic scale, such a chord progression will not fit and will not make any sense.

These two reasons form the basis for what we can call the theory for blues and rock & roll music. Because of these

peculiari�es, we make use of pentatonic, blues, and hybrid scales to solo over the Blues. Therefore, we are not following

the chords around as much in a melodic sense. While it doesn't say that we don't follow around the roots of the chords,

this "freedom" from tradi�onal music theory allows us to create licks and riffs that are common or idioma�c to Blues and

Rock & Roll, giving it a more aggressive edge so to speak.

To effec�vely solo over the Blues, we need to know a few characteris�cs about the music itself:

1. The typical rhythm in blues is a swing or shuffle feel. In typical swing or shuffle, instead of eighth notes dividing the beatinto equal halves (a.k.a. straight rhythm), the first eighth note is longer and the second eighth note is shorter, giving the

beat that swing feel. If we were to divide the beat into straight triplets, swing would be fing a quarter note and a triplet

eighth note into a single beat. Swing is usually applied for eighth notes but can also be applied for sixteenth notes and

smaller note values.

2. In terms of form, the blues chorus is the basic unit for any tradi�onal blues song. A blues chorus consisits of 12 bars

running a series of I7-IV7-V7 chords. The first four bars typically is I7, the second sec�on has 2 bars of IV7 then 2 bars of I7,

and the last sec�on outlines four bars as V7, IV7, I7, and then V7 before repea�ng itself all over again.

3. The blue note in the blues scale is what makes the Blues unique from a melodic standpoint. While the use of the blue

note (or flat 5th) is limited in tradi�onal music theory (because of its dissonant nature from a harmonic standpoint), it can

be liberally used in the Blues, giving the melody a more vocal quality.

Ex. 44 is a transcrip�on of Steve's solo over a typical blues chord progression:

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In Ex. 44, Steve uses the minor pentatonic with the hybrid scale added in. While using a major pentatonic over the IV

chord would work perfectly (as Steve's story about his prior blues style suggests), it is not a hard and fast rule. In blues,

you can use pentatonic scales (minor and major) along with the hybrid scale just fine as long as long as it is done

"tastefully".

Again, there is no rhyme or reason to the theory of blues but as you con�nue to prac�ce and play along various blues

songs, you will no�ce that some things seem to work beer than others (hence usage of different scales should be in atasteful manner).

The next example shows using major pentatonic over the IV and then going back to minor over the I:

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In the laer bars aer the transcribed example, Steve even goes on to using major pentatonic over the V in order to play

something different. It also happes to sound fine. Not only can you go use major pentatonic over the IV, you can use it on

the V or even the I. Another thing is that you can absolutely isolate minor pentatonic over one sec�on and then major

pentatonic over another without any regard whether it's I, IV or V.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Before you move from minor pentatonic to major (and vice versa), it is best that you establish yourself first on either one

of those scales and develop an idea along the chord progression rather than mix them all up all throughout the blues song.

For example, you can go minor over the first sec�on (I chord), go major over second sec�on (IV, I). and then go minor for

the last sec�on except for the 12th bar where you can switch to a major pentatonic just before going back to minor again.

In this way your solo will sound coherent and will catch the listener's aen�on rather than a jumble of major and minor all

over the place.

2. The diatonic scales will NOT work well over blues songs. It just sounds wrong because the diatonic scale can effec�vely

eliminate characteris�cs (aggression, grit, etc.) that one finds in a blues scale or melody.

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As a review, the tradi�onal blues song has this 12-bar structure as a basic unit:

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Two characteris�cs of tradi�onal Blues:

1. It is generally based on the 12-bar sequence illustrated above. Some rock songs can be blues-based or bluesy in nature

but not 12-bar blues.

2. Swing/shuffle rhythm. An excep�on to this characteris�c is that some blues songs have a straight rhythm but s�ll follow

the tradi�onal 12-bar blues chorus or sequence.

To place some melodic sense into the blues, players can s�ll follow the chords when crea�ng solos, emphasizing the root

note of each chord as seen in this example:

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Ex. 46 is a very good example of how we can follow along the chords within the context of blues. The great part about

playing blues songs is that we don't have to follow chords around as much as in pop songs. There is a lot of room in blues

for any guitar player to go off explore before going back to following chords. Again, following the chords around in blues

creates a sense of melody. But the fact remains that in blues (as well as in some rock& roll songs), we need to place more

importance on the overall feel and then add a melody somewhere. Melody in blues is in a lower hierarchal ranking (if

there's any) when compared to the overall blues feel.

In some examples of blues (e.g Texas blues) where it is quite fast, we tend to play rhythmically over it rather than

melodically speaking. The overall feel s�ll trumps out melody.

In another variant of blues such as funk blues, the minor key feel is evident. Upon first listen, the minor feel is so

compelling that you don't have much of a choice but to s�ck to a minor pentatonic or a blues scale. However, somewhere

in between the lead lines, the possibility of inser�ng some major-sounding notes through the hybrid scale is possible. It's

all a maer of a tasteful selec�on of notes to play.

The botom line with everything you learn how to do on guitar is " salesmanship". This sort of "salesmanship" consists of:

1. Trying to figure out what makes the most sense and then u�lizing it.

2. Trying to figure out what can you sell.

It's all a maer of figuring out what would actually work. While a logical approach would certainly work, it doesn't mean

that "illogical" things wouldn't in the context of music. For example, you might try to "sell" a major pentatonic feel while

your band is playing some funk blues in a minor key. It can work. It just depends on how you "sell" it to the listener. Now,

how do you "sell" it. It relies on using some principles in soloing like phrasing, following chords, playing notes in the scale

via a nonlinear fashion, using the 3rd of the scale as passing notes, etc. In the case of that minor funk blues, Steve feels it is

best to use a minor pentatonic scale over it with some hybrid scale ideas thrown here and there. Use your ears and try to

hear what works and what does not. It is obvious that you will use what works, and it takes prac�ce and aen�ve listening

to figure that out.

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Rock = 120

Ex.47

235

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Soloing Over Rock & Roll Songs

Rock is very much related to the Blues. It uses a lot of blues elements but it deviates from tradi�onal blues by

incorpora�ng other influences such as Pop.

Robert Fripp (of King Crimson fame) once remarked that Rock is the most malleable form of music that exists, echoing

Steve's opinion that Rock can mean a million things to a million people. This is simply because it incorporates a lot of

elements from other musical tradi�ons. For example, when you talk about Rock in the terms of the band Rush, it's very

different than saying Rock in terms of the band AC/DC or Neil Young or Iron Maiden.

In this sec�on, Steve demonstrates playing over a bluesy Rock & Roll song. It requires a lile bit of a different approach

than tradi�onal Blues or Pop. One par�cular technique that Steve uses over this example is chord chasing:

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CHORD CHASING

The chord chasing concept is simply applying a matching scale for the chord at play during a song. In Ex. 47, for every

chord Steve used a matching minor pentatonic scale. As you can see from the tab/nota�on and hear from the video,

matching minor pentatonic scales were used over each chord e.g. A minor pentatonic for A, F minor pentatonic for F, D

minor pentatonic for D, etc. Steve also u�lized the hybrid scale along with blues notes in some places.

Other chord chasing possibili�es for this par�cular song includes applying major pentatonic over some of the chords in thesong. As far as the diatonic scales are concerned for this par�cular song, Steve thinks that the possibility of incorpora�ng it

is not very likely because the song has a strong blues influence (but it shouldn't stop you from experimen�ng with diatonic

scales over this par�cular song).

If we listen to the song, the riff over A is very much blues �nged so a diatonic scale would not work well. When we

approach C, the riff being played doesn't sound very bluesy, and so the possibility to improvise with a major diatonic scale

over it is good.

Other than chord chasing and plong points, one concern when soloing over rock songs is how to move smoothly from

one point to the next. Let's say for example you were soloing over A with A minor pentatonic. The various posi�ons of the

minor pentatonic provide ways to move smoothly from one point to the next. Remember that in between each of the

posi�ons are shared notes or common points. These provide the way to link from one scale/posi�on to the next. Now, let's

say you want to move from the A chord to the C chord. Play your solo in such a way that will allow you to move from 1st

posi�on minor pentatonic to 2nd or 3rd posi�on minor pentatonic. Since the nearest C from first posi�on A minor

pentatonic is the C at the 8th fret 6th string, you can proceed using the second posi�on of A minor pentatonic over C

major, which is also in effect C major pentatonic. From this common point, you can also play C major diatonic or C minor

pentatonic.

⁄

full full

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9

1210 10

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1010 12 12 12 10 10

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46

4




E

A

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B

E

9 12

E

A

D

G

B

E

9 12

263

A minor pentatonic - 3rd posi�on

P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿

C major diatonic - 1st posi�on

P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿

PLOTTING POINTS USING CHORD TONES OTHER THAN THE ROOT

Besides using the root notes of chords as points for plong, we can also target the other chord tones (3rd and 5th) as

well as points.

Take again for instance movement from the A chord to a C chord. We started out soloing with an A minor pentatonic

scale over A at the third posi�on, and then we're planning to move to C and solo over it with a C major diatonic scale.

Soloing Over Metal Songs

The heavy metal song opens up another door with vast possibili�es apart from pop, blues, and rock songs. This is because

many heavy metal songs uses power chords rather than the standard major and minor chords or the dominant 7th chords

we find in blues.

1. Because power chords have a neutral quality (neither major nor minor because they only consist of a root and 5th), we

can assume whatever we want over the top of them.

2. For the most part, heavy metal is illogical as it does not strictly follow tradi�onal music theory in terms of the major

diatonic scale. It uses a lot of chroma�cs and irregular elements.

Many metal songs are in the key of E, so our featured song will be in that key. Reasons for this include:

1. E is the lowest chord on the guitar and therefore the heaviest sounding. Try playing the passage below with high-gain

distor�on:

If you take a look at all the white dots in both diagrams, these are common notes that both the A minor pentatonic in the

3rd posi�on share with the C major diatonic in the first posi�on. These common notes are notes that form C major (C, E,

G) and therefore if you want to move smoothly when soloing from A using a minor pentatonic to C using a major diatonic,this is the way to go.

SOLOING OVER A CHORD PROGRESSION USING A SINGLE SCALE

Another possibility for this song in A is soloing over the en�re thing using just the A minor pentatonic scale. You can come

up with interes�ng things in what seems to be a rather simple exercise. By s�cking to A minor pentatonic, you can make

use of a variety of licks based on the minor pentatonic scale over every chord. This approach can easily sound rock & ro ll!

⁄

P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿

œ

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œ

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œ

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35

0 0 013

0 0 0 35

0 0 013

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47

4




265

268

™

™

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Very Fast Thrash Metal = 180Ex.48270

P.M.

¿

P.M.

¿

P.M.

¿

^

⁄

P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿

P.M. ¿

^

P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿

2. The key of E allows players to take advantage of open strings for palm-mu�ng and for shiing from one chord to

another chord farther up the neck without having to break the rhythmic momentum of the song.

⁄

P.M.

¿

P.M.

¿

P.M.

¿

. .

The immense freedom that open strings and power chords provides for Metal allows players to move away from

concepts like chord chasing in the previous genres/styles to technical aspects such as fast playing, oddi�es, etc. Ex. 48

shows the rhythmic figure that Steve will be soloing over

⁄

. .

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Œ Ó

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0 0 013

0 0 0 13

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0 35

0 24

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4




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©5 5 ©5 5 5

272

E5 ©5 5 ©5 5 5

Ex.49

274

E5 ©5 5 ©5 5 5

278

P.M.

¿

P.M.

¿

P.M.

¿

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¿

⁄

P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿ P.M. ¿

Play Ex. 48 as accompaniment

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ

Ex. 49 is a transcrip�on of Steve's solo over the accompaniment as suggested in Ex. 48. Take note that Steve is going to

use a bluesy approach to his solo here and it would work well. Steve s�cks to a minor pentatonic scale for this example

since part of the inten�on of the music is to sound dark:

⁄

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full

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full full full

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4




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282

5 5 E5

285

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5 5

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15 14 1214

14 12 1214 12

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13 1215 12

50

4




Ex.50291

Ex.51294

295

Ex. 49 demonstrates the kind of freedom you get in heavy metal. The genre facilitates players to have all sorts of

freedom with their solos such as fast runs, oddi�es, wild vibrato, cool licks, etc. In Ex. 49, even when Steve encounters

the riff towards the end, he did not find it necessary to hunt for plong points within the key signature. He just let

himself play as how he would naturally play it.

UNUSUAL SHAPES

In Heavy Metal music, guitar players take advantage of the ability to use unusual shapes within a song. Shapes, in this

regard, are like scales that guitarists can use to play solos in heavy metal songs.

One of these shapes that can be used in this context is a 12-15 box. This shape is going over all strings on just the 12th

and 15th frets. Music theory wise, it makes lile sense. The box only fits in the I chord of the heavy metal song through

the presence of roots and 5ths. While "salesmanship" might always be in play when using unusual, illogical shapes. it can

work well within Metal songs given the degree of freedom it offers. Here's Ex. 50, and it shows what the box is like on

paper.

⁄

⁄

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12 1512 15

12 1512 15 12

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15 12

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11 12 1511 12 15

17 16 1516 15 15

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51

4




Ex.52296

A major diatonic over A chord

ÍÍÍÍÍ

Soloing Over Illogical Songs

The illogical song is that piece of music that (from a music theory perspec�ve) don't make sense. It usually has chords

that don't fit certain key signatures.

To further elaborate, let's say we have a song that has a prey straighorward I-IV-V chord progression of A, D and E.

Soloing over that seems simple enough since it has the impression of the key of A major. So scale choices include A

major pentatonic and/or diatonic. Sounds prey simple to jam over, right?

What if we throw another chord to the mix that doesn't make sense. For example, what if there's a B major aer the A?

B doesn't exist in the key of A. Music theory dictates that it's supposed to be Bm rather than B, but illogical songs do

exist with this sort of condi�on so we have to deal with it.

And so, the song now goes A-B-D-E.

1. The first approach illogical song is using a major or minor pentatonic over the illogical chord:

a. Solo major over A with an A major (pentatonic or diatonic) scale, meandering and genera�ng ideas.

b. Solo minor or major pentatonic over the illogical chord. In this case, it is B so we can use B minor pentatonic or B

major pentatonic. It is the simplest and most instantaneous approach to solving this.

c. Con�nue soloing over the IV and V as you would usually do (based on what you've learned previously).

Through the use of unusual shapes, you can easily cra your own Metal solo with lesser constraints such as those

encounterd in pop, rock and blues. The good thing is that these sort of shapes can facilitate ways to develop your very

own metal licks. Such unusual shapes usually sound cool over a Metal song.

These shapes can be modified to the kind of cool "weirdness" you might want to introduce into a Metal song. For Ex. 50,

you may add 11th fret notes to each string (Ex. 51). Unusual shapes themselves have their sort very own effect that

would immediately give itself away as a Metal solo. Such a bizarre selec�on of notes can be blended with ideas from

pentatonic and diatonic scales and even chroma�cs.

PENTATONIC AND DIATONIC SCALES

In Metal music, pentatonic and diatonic scales are also very useful. However, rather than thinking about the proper

sequence of notes to play for a chord progression, the use of pentatonic and diatonic scales in Metal places emphasis on

the movement of notes rather than how the notes are placed. Oen�mes the use of such scales in Metal is very linear,

and so you can expect to try going through fast scalar runs. Since movement is emphasized, it is advantageous for

guitarists playing Metal to study all posi�ons of scales in order to have more freedom of movement across the fretboard.

Techniques like tapping, legato playing, intervallic movement/string skipping, and sweep-picked arpeggios can easily find

their way into the use of pentatonic and diatonic scales in metal. Combined with an array of interes�ng licks, irregular

and unusual note selec�ons, Metal's use of scales oen becomes very impressive.

⁄

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6 910

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52

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B

298

D300

Ex.53303

B

305

B major pentatonic over B chord

⁄


⁄


.


2. Chord chasing over the illogical chord is the second approach we can use to deal with chords outside of the key.

From the key of A major, we approach the key of B major as we approach the B chord, and then go back to A.

Remember that whenever we chase chords, if the illogical chord is major, use a major scale. If the illogical is minor use a

minor scale.

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53

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D

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Ex.54310

D

313

316

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3. Chord chasing over all chords brings about many melodic possibili�es. This is the sort of approach that you see in a

lot of country music. When we chord chase all chords, we play the equivalent major or minor scale per chord e.g. A

major diatonic over A, B major diatonic over B, etc. As a result of chord chasing over chords, we can come up with

interes�ng moving melodies.

⁄

⁄

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5 7 9

318

1st Posi�on

A Minor

APPENDIX - SCALE SHAPES FOR SOLOING

Presented in this sec�on are all scale paerns used throughout this course as fretboard diagrams. Here are some

guidelines on how to use them:

1. Each of these scale shapes are movable or transposable. The shape/paern of the scale is always the same regardless

of key signature.

2. The root notes of each scale shape are represented as white circles.

3. Learn the notes of the 6th string then the 5th string. Once you know the notes of your 6th and 5th strings, you can use

these as points for root notes of a scale and then play the scale paern from there. For example, if you know that B is at

the 7th fret of the 6th string, play the scale paern of choice from there and you will be able to play the appropriate

scale for the key signature of your choice.

4. Learn how to play the scale paern up and down. Aerwards, try meandering using the paern you've just learned.

5. Once you've learned two or more paerns, try to connect or chain them together in order for you to become well

oriented with the fretboard.

It takes some �me to learn every paern so prac�ce slow to give your brain �me to absorb and learn the movement.

Steve recommends prac�cing the scale to a metronome or a drum track at a very slow tempo first and then gradually

speed up as soon as you get used to playing the scale paern at a given tempo without mistakes. Once you can play a

paern at a par�cular tempo flawlessly, gradually increase the tempo of your metronome or drum track.

Minor Pentatonic Shapes/Posi�ons

⁄

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5 75 7

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55




E

A

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7 9

321

E

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G

B

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9 12

324

E

A

D

G

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12327

2nd Posi�on

⁄

3rd Posi�on

⁄

10 1210 12

10 129 12

10 1310 12 10

13 1012 9

12 1012 10

12 10

4th Posi�on

”

⁄

8 107 10

7 107 9

8 108 10 8

10 89 7

10 710 7

10 8

12 1512 15

12 1412 14

13 1512 15 12

15 1314 12

14 1215 12

15 12

56




E

A

D

G

B

E

3 5

330

E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7

333

E

A

D

G

B

E

7 9

336

5th Posi�on

Major Pentatonic Shapes/Posi�ons

⁄

A Major

1st Posi�on

⁄

2nd Posi�on

⁄

7 97 9

7 96 9

7 107 9 7

10 79 6

9 79 7

9 7

3 53 5

2 52 5

3 53 5 3

5 35 2

5 25 3

5 3

5 74 7

4 74 6

5 75 7 5

7 56 4

7 47 4

7 5

57




E

A

D

G

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9 12339

E

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12342

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B

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3 5345

3rd Posi�on

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⁄

4th Posi�on

⁄

5th Posi�on

⁄

9 129 12

9 119 11

10 129 12 9

12 1011 9

11 912 9

12 9

12 1412 14

11 1411 14

12 14 12 14 12 14 1214 11

14 1114 12

14 12

2 52 4

2 42 4

2 52 5 2

5 24 2

4 24 2

5 2

58




E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7

348

E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7 9

351

353

ÍÍÍÍÍ

Hybrid Scale (in A)

⁄

ÍÍÍÍÍ

1st Posi�on

Blues Scale Posi�ons (in A)

⁄

⁄

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54 7

5 75 6

5 75 8 8 5

7 56 5

7 57 4

5

5 85 6 7

5 75 7 8

5 85 8 5

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58 7 5

7 57 6 5

8 5




E

A

D

G

B

E

7 9355

357

E

A

D

G

B

E

9 12

359

361

2nd Posi�on

⁄

⁄

3rd Posi�on

⁄

⁄

8 106 7 10

7 107 8 9

8 108 10 8

10

˙

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89 8 7

10 710 7 6

10 8

10 11 1210 12

10 12 139 12

10 1310 11 12 11

˙

1013 10

12 913 12 10

12 1012 11 10

60




E

A

D

G

B

E

12363

365

E

A

D

G

B

E

3 5

367

369

4th Posi�on

⁄

⁄

5th Posi�on

⁄

⁄

12 1512 15

12 13 1412 14

13 1511 12 15 12 11

˙

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15 1314 12

14 13 1215 12

15 12

3 53 5 6

2 52 5

3 4 53 5 3

5

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4 35 2

5 26 5 3

5 3

61




E

A

D

G

B

E

3 5 7

371

372

E

A

D

G

B

E

5 7 9

374

1st Posi�on (a.k.a. major scale or G Ionian Mode)

Major Diatonic Scale Posi�ons (in G - Spread

Fingering)

⁄

⁄

2nd Posi�on (a.k.a. A Dorian mode)

⁄

3 5 73 5 7

4 5 74 5 7

5 7 85

™ ˙

7 8 7 58 7 5

7 5 47 5 4

7 5 37 5 3

5 7 85 7 9

5 7 95 7 9

7 8 107

62




375

E

A

D

G

B

E

7 9 12377

378

⁄

3rd Posi�on (a.k.a. B Phrygian mode)

⁄

⁄

™

˙

8 10 8 710 8 7

9 7 59 7 5

9 7 58 7 5

7 8 107 9 10

7 9 107 9 11

8 10 128

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10 12 10 812 10 8

11 9 710 9 7

10 9 710 8 7

63




E

A

D

G

B

E

7 9

380

381

E

A

D

G

B

E

12

383

384

4th Posi�on (a.k.a. C Lydian Mode)

⁄

⁄

5th Posi�on (a.k.a. D Mixolydian Mode)

⁄

⁄

8 10 129 10 12

9 10 129 11 12

10 12 1310

™

˙12 14 12 1013 12 10

12 11 912 10 9

12 10 912 10 8

10 12 1410 12 14

10 12 1411 12 14

12 13 1512

™ ˙

14 15 14 1215 13 12

14 12 1114 12 10

14 12 1014 12 10

64




E

A

D

G

B

E

12

386

387

E

A

D

G

B

E

389

390

6th Posi�on (a.k.a. E Natural Minor or E Aeolian Mode)

”

⁄

“

;

⁄

7th Posi�on (a.k.a. B Locrian Mode)

”

⁄

“;

⁄

12 14 1512 14 15

12 14 1612 14 16

13 15 1714

™

˙

15 17 15 1417 15 13

16 14 1216 14 12

15 14 1215 14 12

14 15 17

14 15 1714 16 17

14 16 1715 17 19

15

™ ˙

17 19 17 1519 17 15

17 16 1417 16 14

17 15 1417 15 14

65




DVD 1

The Chromatic Scale, Accidentals and the Fretboard

The Minor Pentatonic Scale

The Major Pentatonic Scale

The Hybrid Scale

Using the Blue Note and the Blues Scale

DVD 2

The Diatonic/Major Scale and Basic Music Theory

The Relationship Between Major and Minor Scales

DVD 3

Soloing Over Pop Songs

Soloing Over Blues Songs

DVD 4

Soloing Over Rock & Roll Songs

Soloing Over Metal Songs

DVD 5

Soloing Over Illogical Songs

Minor Pentatonic Shapes/Positions

Major Pentatonic Shapes/Positions

Hybrid Scale (in A)

Blues Scale Positions (in A)

Major Diatonic Scale Positions (in G - Spread Fingering)

Progress Tracker

Date

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/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

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