THE WHOLE BRAIN SHORTCUT TO

GUITAR MASTERY

A step-by-step guide

By Michael J. Lavery

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Text copyright© 2010 Michael J. Lavery

Michael‘s photographs copyright© 2010 Michael J. Lavery

All rights reserved. ISBN 978-0-557-74506-7

Whole Brain Power is the basis for books, classes, seminars, workshops, home study programs, CDs, DVDs, and videos presented by Michael J. Lavery.

Whole Brain Power book series, First Edition, First Printing, December 2010

Printed and bound in the United States

Note to the reader: The information in this book is written for educational purposes only. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher in writing, except in the case of brief quotations.

To contact the author of this book, please email: info@thehammerman.net

The Whole Brain Shortcut to Guitar Mastery is based upon concepts that strengthen the brain and the hands to work in concert with each other. Your coordination will elevate significantly, and your comprehension of music knowledge will grow and expand your playing potential.

The program will make your hands, wrists, and fingers much stronger, and as a result, you will make cleaner sounding chords and riffs. Since the brain becomes faster at sending signals within the Central Nervous System, the fingers will increase manual ambidexterity and speed potential, and the results will astonish you and your friends!

Michael J. Lavery

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I appreciate the support of my mom, Beatrice, and my father, Robert, who passed away in 1988. Without the love and support from them I would not have been able to fulfill my quest. My sincere thanks are extended to my brothers, Peter, Patrick, and James, and to my sister Mary, for being there through every step of the journey. I respect the wonderful mother that Diana has been to my four sons, Shawn, Christopher, James, and Steven.

I want to thank Maria for her support in helping with this book. I extend my gratitude to all of my patrons throughout the years that have allowed me to pursue my creative endeavors and others who have helped financially to launch Whole Brain Planet. Along the way, I have met some wonderful folks such as Claude Amesse, Jason Johnson, Bill Mueller, Bob and Susan Ralston, and Rolly White. My gratitude is extended to Greg Walsh for his efforts in helping to launch the first two books in the Whole Brain Power series.

Thank you, the reader. You are your own experiment. When you feel the changes in your improved guitar playing skills, it is comforting to know that it is the result of the brain actually changing itself and growing anatomical features to aid in your musicianship.

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FOREWORD

Last March, 2010, I had lunch with an old friend at a Mexican restaurant, called Las Brisas in Laguna Beach, California. Steve was one of my best friends in high school, and we hadn‘t seen each other in many years.

Little did I know that this stroll down memory lane would lead to a mind-boggling look into the future.

After a leisurely two-hour lunch in which my friend and I caught up on each other‘s lives, we walked outside to take in the sweeping coastline view from the boardwalk. It was one of those glittering, postcard-perfect beach days in which any worries or personal to-do lists melted in the sun, to disappear in salt air.

Standing near us was an artist working on a beautiful oil painting that showed the crescent-shaped beach and the ocean beyond.

Now, artists and street performers are not an uncommon sight in Southern California, but something about this particular man caught my attention. I noticed that in addition to the usual tools of the trade—easel, brushes, paints—he also had a bag with an assortment of hammers sticking out of it. A three-ring binder stuffed with laminated papers sat on a nearby table. A closed guitar case on the ground beckoned like Pandora‘s Box.

I couldn‘t help myself and struck up a conversation. What followed next was something akin to performance art and, as I would tell many people in the following weeks, ―the most fascinating hour I spent this year.‖

The man‘s name was Michael J. Lavery. And, here are some of the things he would demonstrate to my friend and me that afternoon:

He took a 24 oz. ball-peen hammer and bounced a golf ball for dozens of hits in a row—off the rounded end, and this demonstration was performed with each hand. (Try this yourself, and you‘ll be lucky to get three in a row, and that‘s with your good hand.)

He took a 12-lb. sledgehammer and held it straight out with his single arm—from the far end of the handle. (Unless you try this for yourself, it‘s hard to convey how truly strong you‘d have to be to do this.)

I assumed that his physique and obvious strength that he manifested was the result of countless hours in the weight room, but he claimed that he was getting his muscle mass and density from brain-training exercises that revolved around three basis principals. To break it down, he claimed to me that penmanship with either hand and in mirror writing was the top secret. Secondly, he stated that the amazing hand-eye coordination that he developed with the hammers and golf ball drills changed his brain and body chemistry. Thirdly, the memorization exercises that increased his Random Access Memory also attributed to his unusual strength. His forearms seemed

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abnormally large, and when I shook his hand, I sensed a grip strength that was highly unusual. Then, he beckoned me to check out the density of his forearm flexor muscles. When I did, I was totally amazed.

He recited pi to hundreds of digits from memory. (Skeptical that he was simply reciting a ―number salad‖ of random digits, I made him start over and verified the correct answer by looking at the pi sheet in his binder. After a couple of minutes of flawlessly recounted numbers, I told him he could stop.)

He grabbed a sand wedge out of the trunk of his car and bounced a golf ball on its blade for hundreds of times, just like Tiger Woods in the famous TV commercial. Except that, as Michael did it—going behind his back and between his legs, occasionally stopping the ball to spin on the blade—he even trotted around in circles, weaving in and out of parked cars, as if to say, ―Tiger‘s got nothing on me.‖

He took a pen and a blank piece of paper and wrote in stunningly elegant penmanship with each hand . . . and backwards, something known as mirror writing (which turns out to be one of the secrets of Leonardo da Vinci‘s genius).

Finally, my curiosity got the best of me, and I asked him to play some guitar. He played one of his originals, called ―The Renaissance Man,‖ and Steve and I were thoroughly entertained. When I asked him about his ability to play cover songs, he said that he knew over 200 classics. ―Are you kidding me?‖ I exclaimed. He played bits and pieces from some of these all-time favorites, and then I said, ―You know, I believe you. But, how on earth are you able to do this?‖ Then, he took out a copy of his published book, called Whole Brain Power, and he said, ―The whole story is right here.‖

He showed us these things while tourists and locals walked by. Most of the people barely noticed us. Just another day in the ―land of fruits and nuts,‖ right? Hardly. As I would soon discover, these weren‘t cool parlor tricks from a street performer trying to show off. They were tangible proof that previously unimaginable feats of skill could be accomplished by harnessing the power of the human brain.

But could these feats be duplicated by anyone, or was this ambidextrous freak simply blessed with savant-like abilities and amazing hand-eye coordination? The answer, it turns out, is good news for all of us.

As you‘ll discover in the following pages, your brain is not a hard-wired, fixed machine. It‘s a pliable, moldable, plastic instrument more powerful than any computer ever built, capable of incredible physical and mental feats you probably thought were possible only for circus performers and geniuses.

The notion that our brains are changeable for the better is fairly recent in scientific literature. But it‘s been demonstrated undeniably and remains today one of the most exciting fields of medical research.

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What does this mean for you, the guitar player? Well, banish the terms ―natural,‖ ―gifted,‖ ―talented,‖ and ―prodigy‖ from your notion of guitar playing forever. Instead, realize that you can grow your brain with a few simple drills, just like anyone can grow muscles by weight lifting.

Great guitarists are not born, they are made. Will you become one of them? The

choice is yours because you now have the tools.

Bill Mueller, San Diego, California

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DISCLAIMER

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. The book does not set out to reinvent the wheel, but simply to point to the wheel that has existed since the dawn of humankind and provide some ideas on how best to use the wheel, as it was intended.

It is sold with the understanding that the author and contributors are not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any kind of professional services in the book. The reader should consult his or her medical, health, or other competent professional for adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

Everyone who practices the training methodologies described herein will have results unique to their efforts and application of the specific training regiments described. It is strongly advised that anyone desiring to follow these training guidelines (e.g., for penmanship, memorization, hammer drills) or nutritional guidelines, consult his or her healthcare professional before doing so. Even under the guidance of a medical professional, one should always use moderation in learning new skills, especially when attempting to improve one‘s brain and body.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim for any liability, loss, risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents in this book.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ 3

FOREWORD ................................................................................................................ 4

DISCLAIMER .............................................................................................................. 7

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................. 8

PREFACE .................................................................................................................... 14

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 17

THE WBP PROGRAM .................................................................................................................. 17

NEW SKILLS THAT YOU WILL LEARN ............................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED ....................................................................... 20

EVERYONE HAS THE CAPACITY TO BE A VERY GOOD GUITAR PLAYER ..... 20

GET RID OF GUITAR BLOCKS ............................................................................................... 21

WILL THE WHOLE BRAIN INTO ACTION AND KICK IT INTO GEAR ................. 22

HANDS UP! ...................................................................................................................................... 23

THE MENTOR AND THE PROTÉGÉ ANALOGY ............................................................ 24

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME WITH YOUR GUITAR PLAYING ............................... 24

CHAPTER 2: FORMULAS AND TOOLS FOR BETTER GUITAR PLAYING ... 26

A GENIUS FOR A DAY................................................................................................................ 26

SEVEN WAYS TO ACTIVATE GENIUS POTENTIAL ..................................................... 27

AMBIDEXTERITY AND RAPID GUITAR IMPROVEMENT ......................................... 28

IMAGINATION AND VISUALIZATION GROW THE BRAIN ..................................... 29

MEMORY IS THE KEY TO ENHANCED GUITAR PLAYING ..................................... 30

CHAPTER 3: THE SCIENCE AND MUSIC CONNECTION............................... 31

THE MOTOR HOMUNCULUS THEORY ............................................................................. 32

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STEROIDOGENESIS FOR IMPROVED BRAIN FUNCTION ....................................... 32

THE BRAIN GYM .......................................................................................................................... 33

BRAIN FACTS FOR GUITAR ENTHUSIASTS ..................................................................... 33

CHAPTER 4: MEMORY METHODS FOR GUITAR NOTES .............................. 34

THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO LEARN HOW TO TEACH ..................................... 38

CHAPTER 5: TALENT IS OVERRATED ............................................................... 41

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BRAIN IS A GREAT START ............................................. 41

DRAWING WITH TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME ................................................... 48

THE TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME DRAWING EXERCISE PAGE ........... 50

MIRROR WRITING IN THE MEHOD OF LEONARDO DA VINCI ............................ 52

LEFT HANDED MIRROR IMAGE WRITING ................................................................. 52

CHAPTER 6: GETTING BACK TO YOUR MUSICAL ROOTS ............................ 54

GUITAR RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................ 55

LEARN TO STRING YOUR GUITAR PROPERLY ............................................................. 56

TIMING IS EVERYTHING......................................................................................................... 57

LEARNING ALL OF THE NOTES ON THE GUITAR NECK ........................................ 58

METHODS OF ORIGINAL AWARENESS TO MEMORIZE THE ENTIRE GUITAR

NECK ................................................................................................................................................. 58

ORIGINAL AWARENESS RELATING TO THE GUITAR NECK ................................ 59

FRETBOARD EXERCISE FOR C MAJOR SCALE ......................................................... 61

FRETBOARD EXERCISE EXAMPLE ................................................................................ 64

LEARN TO WORK THE GUITAR CHARTS WHEN THEY ARE ON THEIR SIDES AS WELL. THIS IS

HOW YOU SEE YOUR GUITAR WHEN YOU ARE PLAYING. .......................................................... 65

AN ORIGINAL AWARENESS STORY FOR REMEMBERING NOTES ...................... 65

FINDING THE TRIAD OF F MAJOR .................................................................................. 67

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LEARN TO WORK THE FRETBOARD WHEN IT IS VERTICAL AS WELL AS HORIZONTAL ............................................................................................................................ 68

THE ENTIRE FRETBOARD CHARTED OUT FOR ALL 138 NOTES .................... 68

GUITAR CHORDS ALL GUITARISTS SHOULD MASTER ........................................ 69

THE BASIC SHAPE OF BAR CHORDS .............................................................................. 70

E MINOR BAR CHORD ............................................................................................................ 71

POWERFUL HANDS AND FINGERS HELP CREATE AWESOME SOUNDING BAR CHORDS .............................................................................................................................. 72

D MAJOR OPEN CHORD ........................................................................................................ 73

OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT ............................ 75

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD ............................................................... 76

WORKING ON OUR SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE........................................................... 77

CHAPTER7: THE WHOLE BRAIN POWER APPROACH TO RAPID IMPROVEMENT ON GUITAR ............................................................................... 78

LEARN BEYOND THE BASICS ............................................................................................... 79

MUSIC THEORY IN A NUTSHELL ......................................................................................... 79

MAJOR MINOR DIMINISHED AND AUGMENTED ....................................................... 80

USING GUITAR FRETBOARD CHARTS TO IMPROVE OUR MEMORY OF NOTES .............................................................................................................................................................. 82

ALL GUITAR PLAYERS PLEASE HEAR THIS .................................................................... 88

LEARNING GUITAR THEORY WITH BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE PIANO .... 89

THE DEGREES OF THE SCALE.............................................................................................. 91

FIRE UP THE PEN ........................................................................................................................ 92

CHAPTER 8: LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THE RELATIVES OF THE CHORD FAMILY ...................................................................................................... 93

NOTES OF THE SCALE OF ―A‖ MINOR .............................................................................. 93

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MAJOR, MINOR, AUGMENTED AND DIMINISHED ..................................................... 96

THE SOUND OF CHORDS ........................................................................................................ 96

INVERSIONS AND FIVE VOICINGS OF THE CHORDS ............................................... 97

CHAPTER 9: LEARNING ABOUT TRIADS AND CHORD CONSTRUCTION AND SCALES ............................................................................................................. 98

MAJOR, MINOR, DIMINISHED OR AUGMENTED ........................................................ 99

THE FAMILY OF SEVEN CHORDS OF C MAJOR ..................................................... 100

REVIEWING MAKES THIS GUITAR THEORY STICK IN THE BRAIN ................. 100

CHORD POSITION THAT SHOWS OPEN C MAJOR ................................................... 103

THE BASIC OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS ................................................................ 105

THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN CONSTRUCTING MINOR CHORDS ................ 106

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS .................................................................................................................... 108

CHAPTER 10: MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC SCALES.......................... 110

LEARNING TABLATURE ................................................................................................... 111

THE PEN WORKS THE BRAIN IN THESE EXERCISES .............................................. 116

THE FIVE MAJOR SHAPES OF THE MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC SCALES ....................................................................................................................................... 122

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO CONSTRUCT THE 5 SHAPES OF A MINOR

PENTATONIC .............................................................................................................................. 123

FRETBOARD CHARTS TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE PENTATONIC SHAPES 124

FRETBOARD EXERCISES WILL ELEVATE YOUR PLAYING ............................ 125

A MAJOR PENTATONIC SHAPE USING THE A MINOR SHAPE ....................... 125

THE INTERCHANGEABLE PENTATONIC SCALES .............................................. 126

E MINOR PENTATONIC ...................................................................................................... 126

THE SUMMARY OF PENTATONIC SCALES EXERCISE ....................................... 127

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PENTATONIC SCALES SHAPES IN FIVE POSITION .............................................. 128

CHAPTER 11: THE MODES OF THE DIATONIC SCALE ................................ 129

THE DORIAN MODE ................................................................................................................ 132

D DORIAN SCALE FRETBOARD EXERCISE .............................................................. 133

THE DORIAN FRETBOARD CHART EXERCISES .................................................... 136

MIXOLYDIAN MODE ............................................................................................................... 137

ARPEGGIOS FOR THE BLUES .............................................................................................. 141

MIXOLYDIAN SCALE EXERCISES WILL HELP YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY THE BLUES .......................................................................................................................................... 146

THE AEOLIAN MODE.............................................................................................................. 148

FRETBOARD EXERCISES FOR AEOLIAN SCALES ................................................ 149

THE PHRYGIAN MODE .......................................................................................................... 150

THE LYDIAN MODE ................................................................................................................. 152

LOCRIAN MODE ........................................................................................................................ 153

CHAPTER 12: THE CAGED SYSTEM ................................................................... 154

THE FIVE MAJOR CHORD SHAPES .................................................................................... 155

CAGED SYSTEM ILLUSTRATION ................................................................................... 157

THE BEST FRETBOARD EXERCISES POSSIBLE ........................................................... 159

CHAPTER 13: THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS ............................................................. 165

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS ...................................................................................................... 166

PRACTICAL WAYS TO PRACTICE USING THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS ..................... 166

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL (NO. 1) ................................................................ 174

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER .............................................................................................. 176

CHORD FORMULA FOR MINOR CHORDS: ..................................................................... 177

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CHORDS OF A SONG AND THEIR PREDICTABLE PROGRESSION .................... 179

CHAPTER 14: THE 12 BAR BLUES....................................................................... 181

CHANGING KEYS IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO LEARN ................................... 184

THE REVIEW CONTINUES ON THE NATURE OF CHORDS AND THE WAY TO

FIND CHORDS IN A SCALE ................................................................................................... 189

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL .......................................................................... 193

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXAMINATION ................................................................... 193

CHAPTER 15: CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 194

LET US REVIEW WHAT WE HAVE COVERED .............................................................. 196

ABOUT THE AUTHOR .......................................................................................... 197

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PREFACE

This guide is broken down in a very concise manner, and the training methods are very straight forward. This system is based upon improvement of memory in terms of short-term information assimilation and direct application to improved guitar playing. This happens in the program because the practitioner achieves a superior use of the hands and hemispheres of the brain through ambidexterity training. With enhanced brain power, the guitar neck is learned for a better understanding of the notes, chords and scales, thus leading to greater confidence.

This guide inspires the practitioner to learn guitar theory using peg systems (memory systems) that open advanced playing potential. As a result of practicing the tenets of the Whole Brain Power (―WBP‖) program, the practitioner will experience improved hand and finger strength, as well as great potential to fire neurological signals, increasing playing speed. All this occurs over a very short period of time by following the program.

Instead of working with the former model—that there is a dominant hemisphere, we are going to relate the brain to a V8 engine. This engine has 8 cylinders, and they all should fire with equal efficiency. The brain could be compared metaphorically to an organic V8 engine. It is symmetrical in shape, and each side has 4 lobes. If you were to investigate how to rewire the brain in order to fire as a whole-brain powered organ, you would utilize more of its potential for almost any application of learning and manifestation of talents.

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The idea that, ―the right hemisphere is only creative and intuitive,‖ and ―the left brain is only logical and deductive in its processing capabilities,‖ will be put to rest in your mind when you proceed with this course. Your brain has a cable that connects the two hemispheres, and it is a super information highway system comprised of 250,000,000 wires. This is referred to as the Corpus Collosum. It is constantly sending signals back and forth to each side. This highway system actually grows, and it has been documented by many clinical studies that trained musicians have up to a 10% thicker Corpus Collosum than non-musicians.

All clinical studies of trained musicians prove that they have enlarged anatomical features in their brains.

All clinical studies of trained musicians prove that they have enlarged anatomical features in their brains.

Studies have proven that naturally ambidextrous and left-hand dominant people have up to a 10% thicker Corpus Collosum as well. The WBP program makes this cable activated as never before in your life. We will explain the reasons to as why shortly. In the meanwhile, let‘s paint a picture for you.

Just imagine that you have electrical current running from a power source at your home or a business office, and the electrical wire systems that that you operate your residence or facility with cannot handle the job of running your equipment, consequently causing power failures. Of course, that is why they install circuit breakers in homes and in industrial buildings. After countless times of hitting the breaker and experiencing work stoppages, most probably, you would call the electrician, and he would fix your problem.

The electrician would suggest that your facility switch over to 220 electrical current. Usually, commercial buildings have this system, whereas residential homes run with 110 current. Changing the wires and going to ones that can carry more current efficiently would be part of the job that the electrician would do. Sometimes, the electrician will even tell you that you were fortunate that a fire did not happen because the wires you had were worn and dangerous.

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This analogy is very applicable to the human brain. You have coatings around most of the wires (or Axon Sheaths) in the brain and also on the wiring that is part of the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) (the nerves that extend down from the brain to the limbs). As you constantly fire up the brain to send signals to the hands and back to the Central Nervous System (CNS), you are sending electrically charged Ion Particles up and down the insulated wires. The more that this occurs; the greater the demand for the brain to take action and grow the Myelin Sheaths around the neural circuits (Axon Sheaths) that are being activated. .

Just as with lifting weights (which is considered ―active stress‖), the muscles grow. When you do the WBP drills, it is considered active stress for the brain, and as a consequence, the brain grows too. When you can move your fingers faster, play chords or riffs, and you can strum and pick the strings with greater skill, it is because you have initiated greater impulse control potential. This is why the WBP ―outside of the box‖ training exercises are very beneficial for you in preparing your brain for the demands that excellent guitar playing requires.

When you read the Whole Brain Power book, practice the tenets of the Whole Brain Power Workbook, and put serious commitment to this guitar training guide, you will change the way your brain works, as well as your hands. The program that is promoted in this guide is based how the training of the hands grows the brain, which in turn leads to better guitar playing.

WHOLE BRAIN POWER

The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body

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INTRODUCTION

Looking for a proven course in improving at guitar playing? Are you interested in singing well along with your guitar? A Whole Brain Power Guitar Enhancement program has been designed to elevate these skills. It involves simple, yet very effective, exercises that change the brain and the body to be able to move to the next level of your musicianship.

One of my first suggestions is for you to learn about how the brain can be trained and how to have more manual dexterity with each hand. This is all provided to you in my book, Whole Brain Power, The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body.

THE WBP PROGRAM

This WBP program for music enhancement has been designed to allow the practitioner‘s brain to physically change itself so that this most powerful organ/computer can deliver the signals and messages to itself, the hands, and vocal chords—all in a very smooth and seamless manner.

The brain cannot only grow and strengthen its anatomical features, but it also changes its chemistry. The brain is considered to be a pharmaceutical factory, and it is important to keep it producing the necessary neurotransmitters and proteins to aid in memory enhancement.

Without the ability to expand the Random Access Memory (RAM), we would not be able to continue to learn and improve our cognitive, as well as motor skills. This statement could not be any truer, as it is applied to the art of playing the guitar.

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This WBP program stimulates the practitioner to achieve savant-type skills, which in turn manifest into a significantly improved memory system for procedures (enhanced skill with the hands, body, and vocals), as well as intuitive thinking, enhanced imagination, and creative flow. This occurs because the whole brain is being trained. All along, the capacity has been there for you, but now you will discover that you have been given the code to enter the genius zone. It is not ―left brain‖ verses ―right brain‖ thinking and action, but rather activation of the ―whole brain‖ processing formula.

The WBP program works better than any program out there, and I will stake my reputation on it. It is simply an irrefutable fact that we are not remotely coming close to using our full brain potential. One of the main reasons is because we have very little understanding of the functions of this computer like organ.

If you have not read my Whole Brain Power book and versed yourself on some of the technical terms of the brain, you would most likely be lost if I started to discuss the function of the Perkinji fibers in the cerebellum. What if I told you that your glial cell population in your brain was becoming more activated? Your eyes would glaze over, and you might say, ―Who the heck cares?‖

I will inspire you to care when I enlighten you with basic understandings of the mechanics on how your brain can become super activated. You will be happy that you studied the theories in my book.

Science has proven by extensive scanning and peering into the mechanics of the working brain that the right hemisphere gets way less mileage out of it than the left hemisphere. When you see the maps of the brain and the neural circuits involved, it becomes pretty clear that we are very much like a lopsided ape. We can rectify the problem with the proper education about brain science and methodologies to enhance the Whole Brain Power activation.

In this WBP program, you will learn not only to think about how you will move your hands and fingers on the fretboard, but also to have a greater understanding of the notes, scales and chords all over the entire neck.

NEW SKILLS THAT YOU WILL LEARN

By practicing the WBP program for guitar enhancement, you will learn these new skills:

• Develop awesome flowing penmanship

• Write with both hands at the same time and in opposite directions

• Write with cursive penmanship and speak about another topic simultaneously

• Bounce a golf ball repeatedly off a rubber mallet as you recite lyrics to songs (multi-tasking drill)

• Verbal recall of lyrics for improved singing performance

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• Instantly say what any note on the guitar is even without the guitar in hand

• Predict the chord progressions of most popular songs by knowing the first two chords

• Know the proper leads or licks for a song based upon the Key signature

• Know how to construct a chord anywhere on the neck of the guitar

• Play faster and more effectively because of enhanced neurological processing

• Have much stronger fingers to enhance your guitar voicings (bending, hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato, etc.

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CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

EVERYONE HAS THE CAPACITY TO BE A VERY GOOD GUITAR PLAYER

ow that you have this yearning desire to become a good guitar player, let‘s figure out how to expedite the process. Some of you even have aspirations of really shredding on the guitar and playing in a band, or doing solo performances. It may seem like a foolish dream, but it‘s not.

When the opportunity presents itself, you may get out the guitar for a half hour to practice. Often times, you put it down in frustration, and your self-doubt creeps into your mind. You‘re probably aware of what I am saying. In this world of YouTube videos, you are getting blown away by how many great guitar players there are out there. To play even remotely close to any of your heroes would be an insurmountable mountain to scale.

If you are right-handed, you look at your LEFT HAND, and you ask yourself, ―Why is this appendage so spastic?‖ You can‘t even imagine moving your LEFT HAND fingers with the coordination you witness others exhibiting. You watch somebody‘s ability to do lightening fast picking or strum with such fluidity, and you shake your head in despair. You say, ―That will never be me.‖

N

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GET RID OF GUITAR BLOCKS

I will give you hope with this program. However, first we must address the reason for any guitar blocks. At the present, you sense the reason why you are experiencing difficulties. That voice that plays in your head whispers, ―You just were not born to be a guitar player.‖ Maybe your excuse is, ―I just started way too late in the game.‖ From my perspective and research, this is the far from the truth.

It is possible to get very good at it, no matter how late in life you start. It brings me great satisfaction to inspire an adult to get a guitar, even though he or she is a Baby Boomer and has never played before. It may be one of the greatest challenges that he or she has ever undertaken.

From a purely deductive position, the asymmetrical development of most people‘s brains demonstrates that the neural fields in the right hemisphere of the brain are not even remotely wired up to their true potential.

One of the reasons is that the modern world influences a more left brain think tank. This is not conducive to great guitar playing. Maybe it works for a more robotic methodology of guitar playing, but true intuitive creative playing is only accessible from a whole-brain powered way. Some people have easy access to excellent guitar playing, while others don‘t and are looking for the promised land of great guitar playing. I will show you the way to change this paradigm in one quick inspirational pep talk. We are going to become very AMBIDEXTROUS with our hands and our brain hemispheres. For starters, make your left hand do lots of chores during the day to strengthen the fingers so that you can push the strings around with consummate ease.

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WILL THE WHOLE BRAIN INTO ACTION AND KICK IT INTO GEAR

Here is one of my short analogies. Suppose one day you looked at your feet, and they started to talk to you. Imagine your feet appeared to you as though they had lips that were moving, and they said, ―We are not working for you today.‖

You would look at them as if you were hallucinating. Then they said, ―We are on strike, and we don‘t want to walk or run, and that‘s final.‖ Then you replied, ―Well, I don‘t care what you guys want. We need to get to work, so you will follow my commands and do as I say. That‘s final. There will be no more of this type of mutiny.‖

The proceeding was a strange story, but follow along with me now. Take a look at your brain and apply the same story line. The brain is where the buck stops. It is the king of the show, and it does what it wants to do. You have to accept its nature. That‘s what you have been conditioned to believe. We are creatures of habit and once we get into a grove it is difficult to develop new ones. That is true to a certain degree until we trump that way of thinking. This is where your willpower comes into the equation.

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HANDS UP!

My picture for you is to take your two hands and make a fist with each one, and hold them side by side in front of you. Now, look down on your metaphorical brain hemispheres and tell these guys, ―I am in charge, and things are now going to change around here.‖ Your brain is only 3 pounds of you, and it does not run the show. Your mind is more than the sum of the parts of your brain hemispheres, so you can override the natural predisposition for one-sidedness.

You run the organic computer program, and you alone make the decisions. The brain hemispheres have no say in the matter. Now that we‘ve got that straight, look at those metaphorical brain hemispheres and say, ―I am going to work you boys out more than you ever thought possible, and I do not care what you think about it.‖ They, of course, will fight back and prod along in the training that you initiate for them. But, as time proceeds, they will certainly come around and will actually enjoy the ride.

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THE MENTOR AND THE PROTÉGÉ ANALOGY

By doing the WBP program, you will begin a journey that allows you to become a mentor and a protégé at the same time. This then initiates a process by which the brain shares information from one hemisphere to the other and modulates the flow of thoughts and skills. It is as if each side of the brain becomes a hybrid of its former self.

When you work on the WBP program, your left brain will develop more right brain power, and your right brain will have more left brain capacities. Whole Brain Power gets to be a bit revolutionary when you get down to the nuts and bolts of the mechanics of how it works.

Imagine if two super computer giants (Microsoft and Apple) decided to share their technology and allow each operating system to work seamlessly with each other. What a wonderful thing for the consumer. In the real world, that is not going to happen anytime soon. However, in your universe, you possess the keys to open up the RIGHT BRAIN and the LEFT BRAIN compatibility way of being and thinking.

First and foremost, you must be convinced it works, and then you will most probably be willing to put in the effort. The program has proven results, and upon commencement, you will automatically experience less one sidedness in your daily activities.

The tenets of the penmanship drills, as well as the hammer coordination exercises, will help to balance your motor strips in your frontal lobes of your brain. Please refer to the Whole Brain Power book, Chapter 2, ―The Blue Print of Your Brain,‖ and look at the illustrations of the brain.

If you play sports or any musical instruments, or study for and take tests, have you ever had significant improvements in a short amount of time? If so, chances are that you activated the whole brain and the circuitry that operates it.

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME WITH YOUR GUITAR PLAYING

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During the formative years of our lives, where the greatest amount of learning occurs, we are often just being kids, playing around and not truly focusing on becoming proficient at certain skills and talents. However, here in America, we certainly are encouraged by our parents and peers to become sports stars. That is because our society places tremendous importance on competitive sports. Many of us were involved with organized sports to some degree, and lots of energy and time were focused in that direction. Possibly, musical training was not the most important extracurricular activity that you pursued. Seriously, If you could do it over again, would you have started playing guitar by age 7 or 8? Of course you would have, because you are aware that this is when we learn the fastest. When we are young are brains are like sponges.

In the period of our youth, our brains were constantly expanding their neural fields and wiring themselves up for the demands that we placed upon them. As a kid, you probably did not think about becoming ambidextrous. Very few of us had the ambidexterity formula introduced to us as children, or initiated with piano playing in our most formative years. It is considered that of all of the musical instruments, piano is the most balanced and at the hierarchy of ambidextrous skill learning.

As we retrieve our episodic memories, most of us were busy learning the things that school required of us. Then, of course, there were the other distractions such as lots of television, movies, playing video games, and just hanging out with our friends. Little did we know that playing the guitar would improve our popularity in high school!

In this modern era, most schools do not promote music and the arts as they should or did in the past. The technological love affair with computers and digital devices that our current society is obsessed with has us neglecting important aspects of a balanced educational lifestyle. This also has a lot to do with how our brains are wired.

Where is the right brain thinking these days? It‘s all monotone and logical ways of brain processing. We have taken out the flow and replaced it with so much structure and predictability. In the past, there was so much more fluidity and creativity, and now it‘s all block lettering. That is why penmanship and the ―old school‖ way of memorization have gone the way of the slide rule. Does this situation that I am describing hit home with you?

Now when the demands stemming from the difficulty of playing guitar are presented, they may stump you. Your brain is being called upon, and it is fighting back and creating a sense of frustration for you, and you do not have the solution.

One of the reasons is because your brain is becoming hard wired, and you have no program to follow that is helping with the flexibility factor. As time proceeds, and we become settled in on our daily activities, the brain organizes itself and sets in motion an almost automated way of doing things. Thus, the term ―hard wired‖ comes into play. The skills that we already know become subconscious and easily accessible. Other skills seem difficult to learn, and thus we shy away from attempting to perfect them. Thus, the potential to learn and harness short and long term NEW procedures diminishes, and these parts of the brain never develop. As a consequence, the brain prunes away these undeveloped neural fields.

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CHAPTER 2: FORMULAS AND TOOLS FOR BETTER GUITAR PLAYING

hey say that in every generation that there are certain people that are born into genius potential. The rest of us must be content with what nature has given us. Do you feel that this is true as it is applied to you? Personally, I really do not buy into this type of thinking, and in fact, I have done extensive research into methods of

stimulating creativity. There are countless inspirational stories in history where greatness was achieved because of hardship or a physical or mental affliction.

When Dr. Allen Snyder from a think tank in Australia (www.centreforthemind.com) performed experiments on university level students, he used a technology called ―Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation‖ (TMS). This TMS machine essentially is a system in which electrodes are hooked up to the participants left hemisphere‘s scalp which directly affects the performance of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The magnetic/electrical impulses virtually shut down the neural fields in the left hemisphere of the brain for a short duration. Since these parts of the left hemisphere are connected to logical and structured reasoning and they are silenced temporarily, the right hemisphere is left to its own devices. Thus, the right hemisphere is freed up in its neurological processing and creativity, intuition, and imagination are unleashed as never before.

A GENIUS FOR A DAY

In the study by Dr Snyder, people that believed and demonstrated prior to the experiment that they have no artistic ability, instantly draw well. Those that have the treatment significantly outperform against others that do not have the TMS treatment when it comes to proof reading. The results are fascinating and discussed in my Whole Brain Power book. In a nut shell, these people who partook in these experiments became more spatially aware and focused. When the effects of the TMS wore off, these artistic skills also seemed to diminish. The ability to proof read effectively also fell off significantly as well. Technology is now proving that there really is a genius in us all. However, this revolutionary technology has not been proven to be without side effects, and it is expensive and not necessary for us to unleash our latent creativity.

I truly am convinced that the stimulating of the right hemisphere with natural methodologies is the real secret to letting the genius personality surface in our lives. When we do the tenets of WBP on a regular basis, we are activating normally dormant areas of the right hemisphere‘s frontal and temporal lobes. We are activating the whole brain, and the right hemisphere gets lots of attention to allow its personality to manifest itself. There are a number of books on the market that discuss the thinking that the ―Right Brainers‖ will do well in the future because they will have more brain power to draw from in navigating this human journey and very competitive world.

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SEVEN WAYS TO ACTIVATE GENIUS POTENTIAL

1. Ambidexterity: (The use of the whole brain for motor skills, as well as cognitive processing.) This includes writing with both hands, in mirror image format, and mastering the hammer drills with either hand.

2. Scientific discovery: This process begins by researching the proof that brain science is real and that the neural plasticity and expansion can be activated. This, in turn, grows memory potential in terms of learning many new anatomical brain terms, as well as the chemistry that enhances brain growth.

3. Curiosity: Includes having the childlike personality to explore the unknown, and this case discovering ways to learn music theory, and exploring the possibilities of improved playing skills over the entirety of the guitar neck.

4. Intuition: (Developing ways to tap into the parts of the right frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.) This helps the practitioner to connect to creative discovery and unpredictable thought patterns for originality in writing songs. This improves one‘s ability at playing chords, licks, and solos.

5. Artistic Expression: This is accomplished by becoming more spatially aware of a writing (or drawing) instrument in your hand in relationship to a piece of paper. The ability to control fine tactile movements with both hands is something we want from all practitioners. There is ample opportunity in this guitar enhancement guide to hone your skills.

6. The Density Factor. I encourage all practitioners to improve at neural plasticity (the flexibility of the way your brain processes information) and to increase their Random Access Memory (RAM) potential. At the same time, I want to see all students improve at their innate functional strength (natural strength) and as a result improve their hand and finger strength, especially on the fretting hand. On the flip side, the tactile motor control drills will allow for a greater ability to strum and pick notes.

7. Imagination: The thought of playing the guitar and moving the hands and fingers is a powerful method at improving at your guitar playing. Thinking about where the notes, chords, and scales runs are located on the guitar neck has proven benefits for growing the neural circuits on the motor strips.

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AMBIDEXTERITY AND RAPID GUITAR IMPROVEMENT

If you objectively look at the asymmetrical nature of how our brains and body operate, playing a musical instrument efficiently is no easy task. The WBP guitar training program helps make the journey easier and much more fun at the same time. When one develops certain levels of dual handedness, as well as Whole Brain Power skills, the guitar becomes much easier to play.

The old way of practicing guitar takes way too much time. The Whole Brain Power way to guitar playing enhances the journey significantly. The outside-the-box approach is done by learning basic tenets that do not even involve playing guitar. You will train your brain and body to become a better guitar player. This will begin to happen as you start working on ambidexterity, developing your hands, as well as your brain. You will also become more motivated and thereby spend more time practicing.

We must give you a disclaimer now: The Whole Brain Power way to becoming a better guitar player may be addictive. It will become a very good habit, but there are other things in your life that might be sacrificed. For instance, you will probably spend less time watching television and movies, and more time on the drills recommended in this guide. When you start to see the improvements, you will want to play more, and the cycle will continue.

You will learn by being constantly aware of the need to use both sides of the brain all day long. This way of thinking becomes very automatic. Your brain will become more powerful, as well as more integrated. You will learn to practice by using the ―analyzer‖ (left brain), and when you perform, then you will access the ―integrator‖ (right brain). When you

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develop certain levels of dual-handedness, as well as Whole Brain Power skills, the guitar becomes much easier to play. Your guitar playing will become more fluid, and you will have much more fun at the same time!

IMAGINATION AND VISUALIZATION GROW THE BRAIN

In the movie, ―The Secret‖ (theory on quantum physics and how thoughts manifest in the real world), neurologists proved that when people were hooked up to EEG equipment or other types of brain scanning devices, the subjects‘ motor strip neural fields were activated as though they were actually performing a 100-meter sprint. Neuroplasticity has been proven to work through imagination and visualization techniques and in many different fields.

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In 1995, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, a neuroscientist at Harvard, instructed subjects to play a five-finger piano exercise two hours every day for five days. At the end of each practice session, he measured the motor cortex of the brain that controls precise finger movement. Within five days, the amount of motor cortex devoted to the finger movements had spread, taking over surrounding areas of the brain. At the same time, the researcher had another group simply think about practicing the five-finger piano exercise. They played the simple piece over and over in their minds, keeping their fingers still and simply imagining how their fingers would move if actually playing the piano. The results were astonishing. The area of motor cortex had expanded in the imaginary players in the same way it had in subjects who had actually played the piano.

As the Harvard researcher proved in his study, if it takes less than one week of mentally practicing a five-finger piano exercise for the motor cortex (frontal lobes) to expand in support of the new skill, what will happen to your guitar playing in three months? This imagination/visualization methodology also applies to thinking about moving your fingers to play riffs and difficult chord positions with your guitar. What an incredible piece of inspiring information to have in your arsenal, paving the way for you to get better at playing the guitar, without playing the instrument all of the time. The mind can change the brain, and the mind can change the body.

MEMORY IS THE KEY TO ENHANCED GUITAR PLAYING

Let us begin by starting you on a path to creating methods of original awareness and linking systems. Following is the saga that I will teach you to help you tap into creative storytelling and at the same time learn the backwards (descending) sequence of the Major Scale. Singing the notes of the scale is called ―Solfege‖ (a French term).

The doe ate the tea, and the la-so (lasso)

was far from me when the ray of sun hit the doe.

Therefore, it becomes, ―do ti la so fa me ra do.‖ Simple systems help one understand complex issues, and that is why I promote original awareness for understanding guitar theory. The right brain is very capable of producing pictures or visuals that enhance memory. This is one of the reasons that I teach the Peg and Linking systems. Instead of learning just by rote methods, we instead create Peg Systems that create shortcuts for memory retrieval. Then we activate original awareness to help us creatively navigate through lots of memory storage for improvement in guitar playing techniques and intuitive recall of solo patterns, chords, and lyrics. This method can be used in so many areas of study of guitar theory as well.

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CHAPTER 3: THE SCIENCE AND MUSIC CONNECTION

ust when science thinks that they have the brain figured out, they have to go back to square one and start again. Now, a new wave of information about how the human brain works is flooding the market. The best news of all is that the whole time that they theorized about the brain, they were wrong. The old pillars of brain science are being torn

down, and the new model is being constructed.

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Not only is the old model being put out to pasture, but anecdotal as well as clinical evidence is proving that the brain is very much compared to a wet three-pound mound of clay, and we as the sculptor are able to mold it to the desired shape that best enhances the functions of cognition and motor skill potential.

THE MOTOR HOMUNCULUS THEORY

The Motor Homunculus Theory states that the human hands take a disproportionate amount of space on the cerebral cortex. This is a huge nugget that I am giving you at this point in the guitar enhancement training. Consequently, the stimulus that the hands do to the brain actually grows the surface of the motor cortex.

Objectively, would you not admit that you are very prejudiced about the way that you use the hands throughout the day? Make a mental note of all the important things the dominant hand does all day long. Later on, you will write down all the fine and gross motor controls that are dominated by your RIGHT HAND. If your dominant hand is your LEFT HAND, the same question applies.

STEROIDOGENESIS FOR IMPROVED BRAIN FUNCTION

Steroidogenesis is the natural production of steroids or hormones. Refer to the Whole Brain Power book to understand the theory of how the body elevates natural hormone production through the methods of Whole Brain Power. The brain that is actually growing its anatomical features is also changing its chemistry and its ability to produce the necessary neurotransmitters for better cognitive function. This is connected to the production of the Master Steroid called Pregnenolone. Pregnenolone is also called the motivating chemical. When it is lifted throughout the brain and body, we have a greater overall sense of well-being and a sense of getting things accomplished.

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THE BRAIN GYM

Here is a very important thought to consider. If you went to the gym to work out on weights, and you did it on a regular basis, you would see results in terms of the muscles getting bigger and more delineated and your strength improving. Would you agree? When you practice Whole Brain Power, you must trust that your brain is also getting more powerful and growing as well. The only problem for you as a practitioner is that you must have faith that it works. You cannot just go up to the mirror and lift up the top of your skull and peer inside the brain to see enlarged anatomical features.

You could go down to your nearest neurological think tank and make an appointment to have elaborate brain scans with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to see the changes that are occurring in your cranium. You could have a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan to determine if you are effectively up-taking glucose properly in the brain, especially the parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes. There is ample technology that allows for the viewing of your brain‘s grey matter and white matter. They do have this equipment and the latest technology called Voxel Based Morphometry, and it can certainly determine that your brain surface actually grows. Rest assured that indeed the scientific evidence is overwhelming—the human brain changes when ambidexterity exercises are undertaken and a regular practice of the disciplines is followed. All of this information has been covered extensively in the Whole Brain Power book.

BRAIN FACTS FOR GUITAR ENTHUSIASTS

• The brain can make new neurons at any age (neurogenesis).

• The brain can grow the memory regions called the hippocampi.

• The brain can be trained to focus for longer periods of time because the dopamine centers become more active. This is part of the basil ganglia and the Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta (where dopamine is made).

• The brain can thicken the myelin sheaths which lead to greater cognitive as well as motor skill functions. This also is connected to singing better too.

• The cable that connects the two hemispheres of the brain (Corpus Collosum) grows well into adulthood and beyond. This suggests that the modulation from one side of the brain to the other is much more efficient.

• The cerebellum which controls lots of fine tactile motor skills, as well as balance, grows in relation to musical training. 50% of the neurons are located in this part of the brain. For more information, please refer to the Whole Brain Power book, Chapter 2.

―The hands speak to the brain as the brain speaks to the hands.‖

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CHAPTER 4: MEMORY METHODS FOR GUITAR NOTES

s we begin the memory training, please refer back to the Whole Brain Power book. Start out by learning the alphabet backwards. I suggest that you break it down into short segments, such as the four groups below:

ZYXWVUT

SRQPONM

LKJIHGF

EDCBA

I suggest making up a story to help you memorize the alphabet backwards. Work with your story so that it is easy to tell, and then break the story down into segments. Here‘s one of my stories:

―ZYX‖ is so easy, and I Won (―W‖) ―VUT‖?

As a Senior (―SR‖), I was Cued (―Q‖) to go

to the Post Office (―PO‖) to deliver a letter

to New Mexico (―NM‖). Like (―LK‖) Jesus (―J‖),

―I‖ promise to use my Human Growth Factor (―HGF‖)

so that I can run the Education Department (―ED‖)

of my Central Brain Association (―CBA‖).

A

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Have fun making up your own stories, and then go ahead and practice reciting the alphabet

backwards: Try adding pitch or melody to the backwards alphabet, as you do with the

forward alphabet. You are now on your way to remembering the alphabet backwards in its

entirety.

Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A

Let’s apply these principles to the following musical scale:

Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do

In the movie classic, ―The Sound of Music,‖ Maria teaches this musical scale to the children by singing the following song called ―Do Re Me,‖ written by Linda Arnold:

Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do

Doe, a deer, a female deer,

Ray, a drop of golden sun,

Me, a name I call myself,

Far, a long, long way to run,

Sew, a needle pulling thread,

La, a note to follow so,

Tea, a drink with jam and bread,

That will bring us back to

Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Me, Re Do.

When you know the notes to sing,

You can sing most anything.

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In the following exercise, practice assigning the musical notes to each of the words from the song, ―Do Re Me.‖ I have assigned the first four lines for you as follows:

Doe, a deer, a female deer, C-D-E-C-E-C-E

Ray, a drop of golden sun,

D-E-F-F-E-D-F

Me, a name I call myself, E-F-G-E-G-E-G

Far, a long, long way to run,

F-G-A-A-G-F-A

Please fill in the musical notes below to the remaining lines of the song. Get the guitar out to help you with this exercise.

Sew, a needle pulling thread,

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

La, a note to follow so, __-__-__-__-__-__-__

Tea, a drink with jam and bread,

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

That will bring us back to __-__-__-__-__-__

Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Me, Re Do.

__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__

When you know the notes to sing, __-__-__-__-__-__-__

You can sing most anything.

__-__-__-__-__-__-__

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Go back and forth from the song to the names of the notes. It takes a little practice, but soon you will know all of the notes of major C and be able to do it blindfolded as you play the guitar. By singing along as you play, you are developing your voice and sense of pitch at the same time.

Practice this daily and the other drills that are recommended in the Whole Brain Power book and workbook. The memory of the alphabet and the ability to assign a number to each letter is helping grow the short-term memory processing centers in your brain. Do you remember the name of this part of the brain? It is called the HIPPOCAMPUS. Just remember a big ―hippo‖ going to the ―campus.‖

Let‘s test your memory. Can you recite the notes of C Major backwards or in the descending scale starting with G? By now, I hope you can say, ―G F E D C B A.‖ Here is a simple story, (G FED CBA). Think about a man named G who fed his Central Brain Administrator.

This represents a peg/linking system. If you think about all of the acronyms we use daily, such as CBS, ABC, NFL, MLB, NBA, etc., you can see how you can create any acronym you desire to aid in your music training. Can you instantly recall the names of the Great Lakes? Lots of people draw a blank here. It‘s easy to retrieve this information if you remember the word HOMES. This stands for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.

This guide will inspire you to begin to create your own peg systems so that you can understand guitar theory a bit better than conventional methods allow. The Original Awareness/Linking System works better than you ever imagined. When we get to the Circle of Fifths in our basic music theory section, you will be well prepared.

Again, I can make you rest assured that the alphabet backwards is not difficult, it just needs practice. Write it out a few times by referring to your story. My training tips help you grow your memory regions called the hippocampus. There is one located on each side of the brain in the Medial Temporal Lobes. Their way of processing memory is unique to each side of the brain. Consequently, when you strengthen each hemisphere of the brain for information assimilation and retrieval, these two units will start to work in tandem with each other. They are referred to as hippocampi (plural).

The science that is available to us is now proving that this area of the brain can physically grow. Refer back to my Whole Brain Power book and re-read the Chapter 4, on memory. The London cabby drivers all have enlarged hippocampi. They memorize tremendous amounts of data, maps, street names, alternate routes, etc. It takes on average of four years to pass the test. Many drop out because they do not have the discipline to stay the course. They are required to know 25,000 street names and be able to take alternate routes from any point to a desired location. They are not allowed to carry maps. I wonder if they use Peg Systems. They surely do, and it is the only way that they are able to pass the test to get licensed to drive the elite cabs that are very much the Rolls Royce of cabby cars. The Black Cabbies, as they are referred to, pull in at least $200-400 a day when business is good. That is pretty good incentive to get their badge of honor.

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THE BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO LEARN HOW TO TEACH

It is all relative according to Albert Einstein. That is why he is the father of the theory of ―Relativity.‖ If you compare it to a tennis player who is an A level player (5.0), he certainly should be able to teach a C level player (3.5). The C level player is excited about learning from someone so much better than himself. This is the basis of WBP as well. We are teaching each hand to do beautiful writing and the hammer and golf ball training as well, and this is making each hand and brain hemisphere a mentor and a protégé at the same time. The inspiration that we are directing to you is that by doing certain drills, you will prepare the brain to be able to handle information that most have problems assimilating. As we are well aware, the older that we get, the more difficult it is to learn a foreign language or other complicated things dealing with abstract thought. Music theory has many abstractions that confuse the individual. Through the study of this material, one will begin to ―get it‖ and then to be able to apply it as well.

There are easy aspects to guitar playing, such as the basic open chords, and then there are more difficult areas that frustrate the average person. The reason that this is the case is that we are fighting against ―the system‖ and the way that it has trained us how to learn. The programs that we go through do not inspire any serious emphasis on ambidexterity or brain science. It is pretty obvious that most educational systems have not taught us how to have a great memory. The system teaches us to cram for tests and then we forget the information. This is not conducive to great guitar playing.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO TYPES OF MEMORY:

TRAINED VS UNTRAINED.

WHICH SIDE OF THE FENCE ARE YOU ON?s

WBP changes this paradigm in regards to this problem, especially as it relates to playing guitar and singing and remembering the chords and the lyrics to songs. In this guide book, which I suggest you print out and have in a 3 ring binder, there are certain areas reserved where you will write out in the best possible cursive penmanship that you can muster. What are these things you will be asked to write about? They will be your understandings of the basic of music theory, notes that accompany your exercises with the fretboard charts, lyrics to songs and chord progressions, and all other aspects of your development as a guitarist.

There is an old saying and it goes like this:

If you want to remember something, then you write it down.

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At the time that this handwriting/memory phrase was coined, it meant that in order to remember something important, it was recommended to write the information out in beautiful cursive handwriting. That was the old school way of doing it. Back then, penmanship was a discipline that many people were taught to develop. With WBP, we resurrect this thinking, and we present sound scientific evidence to why this brain training method has direct application to improve musical aptitude.

The reason that this act of handwriting stimulates memory retrieval has to do with the subtle mechanics that operate in the frontal lobes of the brain, as well as the areas of the brain that are involved with focus. The brain is very much considered to be a pharmaceutical factory. The production of Dopamine, Glutamate, Acetylcholine, and a host of other neurotransmitters is stimulated with WBP methodologies.

The aspects of an improved Endocrine system is also allowing the brain and body to have greater amounts of Pregnenolone at its disposal. And you will discover through the WBP book that Pregnenolone is the master steroid that makes all other steroids including Testosterone. As you get educated about Testosterone‘s role in memory formation you will have to give the tenets that I prescribe a solid effort. It is a proven scientific fact that necessary for protein synthesis at the memory formation sites for new learning to occur.

There is no substitute for the firing of the different brain regions when it is associated with the act of penmanship. To be able to write smoothly with either hand and in either direction takes one‘s brain power off the charts. Think about it logistically. You are your own experiment, and you have direct evidence of what your non-dominant handwriting looks like on Day One. For most people, it is going to be extremely sloppy and illegible. You know from the experience how tasking it is for the brain to be doing something so foreign, especially when it relates to this fine motor control. The mechanics of what is happening in your motor strip of your non-dominant brain hemisphere is nothing short of revolutionary. By committing to a disciplined practice on a daily basis, for five minutes a day, with your non-dominant hand, to write in either mirror image style or normal cursive writing, you will be blown away with your progress in less than thirty days.

This is part of our impulse control development. What this term means is that we are capable of sending electrical impulses for improved speed of thought, as well as motor control skills. This program helps improve the function of the brain‘s motor strip, as well as the development of subconscious motor neurons located in the deep strata of the cerebral cortex of the brain.

When UCLA‘s neurological department did PET scans on people writing in penmanship, more of their whole brain (both hemispheres) were activated as opposed to what the scans displayed on those people that were reading, typing, talking aloud or listening to incoming information. This is powerful and thought-provoking news for people who are serious about sharpening their brain‘s ability to improve its performance. You just might reconsider your thinking about penmanship and applying yourself to the skill, as the rest of the modern world deems it to be a worthless practice

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. When you read Chapter 3 in the Whole Brain Power book, ―Sharpen the Pen, Sharpen the Mind,‖ you will understand that the focus necessary to direct the writing instrument (pen or pencil) with consistent precision is building the brain‘s connections and strengthening neural fields and improving how they operate and communicate with each other. This is referred to as Long-Term Potentiation (LTP). When you see and feel the results, then you will know the truth about the value of fantastic handwriting.

To break it down simplistically, what the penmanship training does for your brain is it creates a tremendous balance between the delicate acceleration and breaking systems of one‘s fine motor controls. The pen‘s movement is a subtle up and down stroke production and trains the brain for tremendous touch. Here is the connection for you; the upstroke down-stroke movements will help in your ability to pick and strum the strings and have an unconscious access to these fine motor controls. Of course, when you are developing the skills to do penmanship with your non-dominant hand, your overall coordination at paying guitar will go through the roof.

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CHAPTER 5: TALENT IS OVERRATED

ooks such as The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle, and The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge, are showing us that the concept of being born with talent is a bit overrated. Sure, there are people that are very gifted and born to become geniuses, but all of us have the genius potential. It is now a matter of being aware of it and

tapping into our potential. That is where the Whole Brain Power methods to playing guitar and singing come into the equation.

When you read about Daniel Coyle‘s findings in his book and the common thread that he weaves through his manuscript, it totally makes sense that without passion for learning, there really is no major advancement at whatever one pursues. Here are some of the basics that he writes about in his studies of ―talent pockets‖ around the world.

Ignition of passion for learning and keeping the flame burning.

Proper coaching influence.

Deep practice, including very direct and often super slow movements.

Talent manifestation is nurtured and not necessarily a birthright.

It comes down to the building of the myelin sheaths all throughout the brain or Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BRAIN IS A GREAT START

First, it is recommended that you educate yourself about this fabulous brain that you have been endowed with, and then investigate how to expedite the learning process to elevate this computer-like organ‘s performance. Secondly, take the WPB enhancement formula and apply it to guitar playing and singing along with the instrument.

In the Whole Brain Power book, you will read about the ways that practitioners improved at their short-term memories, their procedural motor skills with penmanship (each hand), and the hammer drill training.

The cornerstone of WBP is working towards becoming ambidextrous with the hands and the brain (cognitive thinking). This concept is a very relative one, to say the least. The ambidexterity that we are talking about is based more upon fine or tactile motor skills with either hand. It is also about how we are able to process information and form the visual imagery in the right hemisphere and pass it over to the deductive logical left hemisphere.

The proper playing of the guitar certainly is elevated when a person becomes more ambidextrous at all motor controls that usually are delegated to one hand. It is equally enhanced when the memory systems allow for instant access to chord progressions, lead patterns, and lyric retrieval.

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The WBP program inspires the practitioner to practice on a daily basis simple acts such as writing, shaving, stirring the coffee, using the mouse on the computer, etc., all with the non-dominant hand. The brain does not make this shift overnight, but the tenets of WBP hasten the metamorphosis faster than any program on the market.

Once you begin the WBP program, you will be amazed just how quickly the brain and the body adapt to this way of thinking and being. At this point, stop right now, and ask yourself a very fundamental question, ―If you could become highly ambidextrous, would you want this to become part of your nature?‖

Look at your hands and the serious difference in coordination that they manifest. Throughout the day, there certainly is a propensity to favor the dominant hand over the non-dominant hand. Just imagine that you had the ability of doing skillful tasks with consummate ease with either hand. This would certainly make the guitar playing much better. The multi-tasking skills required to play well would be at your disposal, and the subconscious zone would be achieved for a greater liberation of your creative energies.

As you go down this path, and you develop skills in your non-dominant hand, you will experience an immediate improvement of the motor controls of the dominant hand. That‘s

why the 90-day Whole Brain Power Workbook is a must to follow.

ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY

When you go through this guitar enhancement guide, you will see unfamiliar material, and your first hesitation is going to be to skip over it, and get straight to the ―secrets‖ in this book. Instead, you are going to see areas that require you to work on assimilating new material. At that same time, you will be asked to write out what you are

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learning. You will be asked to fill in some charts of chords and explain the theory behind

chord compositions. However, by tackling these problems, you will grow your understanding

of how to play guitar with more knowledge of the instrument, and you will also become more

coordinated in a dual-handed manner. This all is intended to make your overall lifelong

journey in the guitar world much more enjoyable.

There are a number of ways that you will get better at playing your guitar throughout the day without even playing it. This will happen from just thinking and visualizing about playing it, and at the same time working on the coordination improvement exercises. Also, your short and long term memory processing in your Medial Temporal lobes (hippocampus) is going to get so much better that you will have no doubt as to what notes or scales that you are playing at any given moment.

Studies done at the University of Regensburg and The University College of London on Voxel-Based Morphometry support our theory through clinical research that found ―environmental demands may be associated with changes in gray and white matter (myelin). For instance, it has been reported that the structure of the brain alters (the cerebral cortex grew on average 4% in the 90-day juggling trial) when human beings learn to navigate, read music, play a musical instrument, speak a second language, and even perform a complex motor task such as juggling.‖

I have created a complete and balanced regimen that includes not only widely recognized whole brain development activities such as playing a musical instrument, artistic endeavors, new language learning and juggling, but taps into much more powerful and efficient brain development through ambidextrous skill development. These include dual handed penmanship training and the hand to eye coordination with the bouncing golf balls on hammers of all weights and sizes.

―

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One way or another, I am developing the hemispheres of my brain to do some amazing motor skills controls. Do you think that this correlates with better guitar playing? YES!

It is recommended that if you have opportunities to play games such as ping pong, darts, or other sports such as basketball, throwing a football or hitting a tennis ball, you should work the non-dominant arm and hand as much as possible. The learned skill of hitting with a paddle or racquet or throwing up free throws with the opposite hand really challenges the brain, and it responds quickly to the tasks presented.

There is nothing in the WBP training that expedites the ambidexterity journey as much as the hand writing drills. This is because of what it is doing to the brain and the powerful neural fields in the deep strata of the cerebral cortex. These are the Super Pyramidal cells. These unique neurons have up to 20,000 receptor sites on them. Just imagine that the pen awakens them faster than anything else that you could do.

The below passage comes from my Whole Brain Power book, and it is located on page 148. It should be highlighted, for it really concerns some chemistry changes that occur when you do the WBP program properly. First, consider the concept of taking supplements to increase brain performance, and you will realize that the market is flooded with such products, and the jury is still out as to whether they work or not. This is the American way of doing things.

Well, for all the hype that is purported, memory problems seem to be getting worse for much of the population. Does this hit home with you? There is some pretty strong evidence coming from WBP practitioners that the tenets that they undertake lead to the natural way to lift the chemistry that improves the brain‘s super grow formula. Refer back to the WBP book and read the Case Studies Chapter. By following the three major tenets of WBP and regularly practicing the hammers drills and combining it with mental gymnastics at the same time, you will grow the brain in subtle ways.

According to an article in the New York Times, a landmark study published by Columbia University and the Salk Institute shows that subjects had grown new brain cells after a three-month program of aerobic exercise. Until this study, science did not know of a correlation between exercise and brain development. The study showed that every time a muscle contracts, it sends out the IGF-1 protein (insulin-like growth factor) that travels through the bloodstream, across the blood-brain barrier, and into the brain itself. In turn, IGF-1 issues an order to increase production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which fuels almost all the activities that lead to higher thought and improved memory functioning. With regular exercise, the body builds up levels of BDNF, and the brain’s nerve

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cells start to branch out, join together, and communicate with each other in new ways. This is the process that underlies learning.

Additionally, research with done by the University of Regensburg and The University College of London proved juggling grew the participants’ cerebral cortex by an average of four percent in 90 days. I theorize that the hammer drills done with both the right and left hands, and simultaneously in dual hammer drills from right to left hand, have the same impact on brain growth as juggling. It is possible that the heavier hammer drills (4 pound sledgehammers) have an even more potent impact on brain development because of the possibility that more IGF-1 is pumped into the bloodstream and makes its way through the brain-blood barrier. Since my Whole Brain Power™ theory is tied into the premise that the hands grow the brain, my hammer drills, which put so much active stress on the hands and forearms, should be one of the most effective means by which you can provide muscle contraction that releases IGF-1 into the bloodstream. Again, hammer drills are not intended to replace your normal aerobic routine such as walking, swimming, treadmill, bicycling, etc., which targets the heart and lungs as well as the brain. However, hammer drills should provide a more effective method for specifically targeting the brain.

Let‘s get to the training for our fine motor control enhancement. In the example below, I have demonstrated my penmanship skills as well as the simple shape of the cursive letter ―e.‖ Look at his shape as an old fashioned telephone cord. Practice this shape with each hand, and do it in each direction. This is a fun little exercise and helps kick start the ambidexterity training with the pen.

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On the lines provided below, practice doing three line s of the cursive ―e‖ from right to left with your right hand. Then switch the pen to the left hand, and do three rows of the telephone cord shape in the mirror image manner.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Now test your SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE and see how level you can maintain your

telephone cord shape without the lines as your guide. Space is provided on the following

page. This is a difficult task. Get out a ruler after you have done the telephone cord shape,

and see how much slant there is to your imaginary lines. On this part of the blank paper,

write out the names of ten songs that you want to master.

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List your top ten favorite songs and artists that composed them.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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Next, I will show you an example of drawing with two hands at the same time. Refer to the

video where I demonstrate the ease of this skill. You will be surprised at how fast the brain

figures out this multi-tasking ability.

DRAWING WITH TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME

This skill is easy to learn and you will surprise yourself at how well you can draw using this methodology. Refer to the video that comes with this program to watch how easy it is to do.

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Now try your hands at the drawing exercises.

Take two different colored pens and see if you can draw with both hands simultaneously. The easiest objects are those that are symmetrical in shape. You will be surprises at how easy your brain can figure out this skill. Try your hands at this fun exercise. Do it with different colored pens so that you can discern what each hand drew.

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THE TWO HANDS AT THE SAME TIME DRAWING EXERCISE PAGE

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Go to town on this blank page and see what your creativity can manifest.

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MIRROR WRITING IN THE MEHOD OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

LEFT HANDED MIRROR IMAGE WRITING

Playing leads or riffs on an acoustic guitar really strengthens the fingers to play on the electric guitar. It also is very beneficial to learn about the piano key board. It really helps when studying the circle of fifths.

The training of the hands with penmanship training always keeps the brain stay very alert when it comes to focusing on the playing of the guitar and remembering the chord progressions and lyrics to the song. Below you will see a sample of my mirror image writing. This exercise is a fantastic one for the brain.

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Please refer to the Whole Brain Power Workbook and Progress Journal.

Let‘s try mirror image writing. To begin, write your signature with your RIGHT HAND in cursive on the line provided for you. If you‘re left-handed, then write your signature with your LEFT HAND as you would normally.

____________________________________________________ (Your signature)

Then hold a mirror next to your signature, and look at how it appears when it is in the mirror image format.

Now attempt to write your signature backwards with the pen in your LEFT HAND. In essence, create the image you see in the mirror when looking at your signature written above. If you are left-handed, then reverse these instructions, and do it with the RIGHT HAND instead.

_____________________________________________________ Your signature written with your LEFT HAND (or non-dominant hand) in mirror-image, backwards.

Does your non-dominant mirror image handwriting flow smoothly or does it feel awkward? After a few weeks of practice, my students tell me, ―My dominant hand is working, I am writing better than ever, and my mirror image writing is slowly beginning to look exactly like my dominant hand writing.‖ I tell them that part of the reason this is happening is that they are practicing more, but also because of the cross-training that they are doing with their opposite hand. To handle this new demand on the brain, I theorize that neurogenesis is occurring as the brain adapts to the difficult skill of mirror image writing, as well as perfecting the skill of penmanship with the dominant hand.

Practice your mirror writing on the lines provided for you.

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______________________________________________________________________

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__________________________________________________________________

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CHAPTER 6: GETTING BACK TO YOUR MUSICAL ROOTS

f you are a beginning guitar player, this forthcoming list is important for you. Here are my suggestions, so please consider the following recommendations. Becoming a good guitarist, whether you‘re learning how to play electric guitar or acoustic guitar, Blues or Rock, Classical or heavy metal, requires that you have a solid notion about chord

progressions and what modes are ideal for the song being played. The freedom to step up and play along other musicians can be obtainable the more that you understand the theory behind the guitar

As a guitarist, you might have a few fancy licks that you have copied, but to obtain the freedom of movement of more experienced guitarists, it is important to build a strong foundation for your skills to develop. That‘s why I want to inspire you to put time into your WBP workbook and write your thoughts about your understanding of guitar theory. The more that you improve at tactile motor skills and build strength in the fretting hand, the better your playing will become. No matter how basic your knowledge is of the fret board, scales, chords, and how chords are related to one another, it is recommended that you keep a journal. When you are that guy who has the ability to move in and out of modes, up and down the neck with your eyes closed, you will be happy about the dedication that you put into your WBP training.

I

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The major suggestion that may help you to get there is to write the scales and modes on fretboard charts of the guitar neck. We will cover the positions of the Major Scales, the 7 modes of the Diatonic Scale, as well as the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales. There are ample spaces provided for you to practice making your scales and chords on the neck. Pick a scale and write every note of that scale on every string all the way up the neck without even playing it. This very act of using the pen to enhance memory of the fret board is one of the secrets of WBP for guitar enhancement. You will get better at guitar without even playing it. In fact, the more that you take notes by the use of the pen and paper, the greater your understanding of guitar theory will become.

GUITAR RECOMMENDATIONS

• Learn the One String at a Time Method to Playing Lead Guitar.

• Practice the chord changes and scales only as fast as you can play a piece perfectly.

• Speed picking is first accomplished by gaining momentum on one note at a time.

• Learn to alternate picking up/down/up/down and become lightening fast and start slowly and then build up speed.

• Stay on one string and play major scales and the 7 modes for increasing sense of spatial relationships. This helps tune the ears for the ―right sound.‖

• Sing the notes out loud as often as you can.

• Learn to bar chords by strengthening the fretting hand‘s index finger. The hammer drill training comes into play here.

• Be aware of the proper shape of the two major bar chord positions, and make these positions even without a guitar in hand.

• Learn the 5 different voicing on the guitar: bending, hammer-ons, pull-offs, sliding and vibrato.

• Understand that Power Chords sound so good because they are made from the Root and the Dominant Fifth.

• Know the type of scale that you are going to use to solo over chord progressions.

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LEARN TO STRING YOUR GUITAR PROPERLY

I see so many guitar players who do not string their guitars properly. If this is the case, and your guitar goes out of tune easily, it is because the strings are slipping. If you are strumming aggressively, or you are bending and do hammer-ons and pull offs, it is easy to put the guitar out of tune. If you do not know how to wrap the strings in the correct manner, go to a professional at a guitar store, and he or she will show you the technique.

Look at the manner that I am bending the B string. If the strings on the guitar are not strung properly, they will slip, and the guitar will easily go out of tune.

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TIMING IS EVERYTHING

My suggestion to you is to make a purchase of a metronome similar to the one pictured above. There are, of course, digital metronomes. However, being able to see the movement of the metal bar helps with one‘s timing. As you are getting accustomed to playing perfect time with your metronome, you will develop the confidence and the ability to play with a drummer and other musicians. One of the greatest problems that beginning and intermediate guitar players experience is lack of a sense of meter and time. Therefore, there is discord when playing with others. The metronome is your friend and practice partner.

Make it a habit to find the beats per measure for the song that you are practicing at the present, and master the ability to stay with the timing all the way through the song. Take your metronome, and see if you can set it to the beat of a song that you wish to master. Sometimes, you will notice that the timing either speeds up, or slows down, throughout the song. It is not necessarily true that all songs maintain a certain beats per minute from start to finish.

The suggestion is to think about the normal speed for songs that would be considered a 12-bar blues, and do some experimentation with songs that would be in that style of music. You will find that there is a consistency of beats per minute in most of these songs. From there, establish your beats per minute on the metronome, and practice the songs that you want to play.

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LEARNING ALL OF THE NOTES ON THE GUITAR NECK

Eventually, the goal is to learn all of the notes on the guitar; the paragraph below discusses them. However, for now, our emphasis will be on the Root Notes. These notes are also referred to as the Tonic Notes. They are all of the notes around the fretboard that are natural notes, and they comprise A B C D E F G. These notes also have sharp (#) or flat (b) designations, and we will discuss that soon. In order to learn the root notes, we first learn the names of the open strings. The strings from the thinnest to the thickest are as follows:

E B G D A E

Below is an original awareness story that I made up to remember them.

EXCELLENT BRIGHT GUITARIST DUDES ALTER EVERYTHING

E B G D A E

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

Or, if the guitar is being tuned, and you are going from thickest to thinnest strings, then the notes are:

E A D G B E

And, the story assigned to these notes is:

EXCELLENT

ADAMANT

DETERMINED

GUITARISTS

BRIGHTEN

EVERYTHING

E A D G B E

6TH 5TH 4TH 3RD 2ND 1ST

METHODS OF ORIGINAL AWARENESS TO MEMORIZE THE ENTIRE GUITAR NECK

Most guitar players have never challenged themselves to memorize the entire guitar neck. Most likely, you have never done this type of training before. Perhaps for you, it will probably be your first time. This approach will build a lifetime relationship with the guitar. When you know where the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of a scale are located anywhere on the guitar neck, you are in great shape to play lots of different styles of music.

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Remember, the chromatic scale repeats after every 12 notes. There are usually only 22 frets on the normal electric guitar, so to put to memory 22 X 6 strings is doable. That comes to 132 notes, plus the 6 open strings. We have a total of 138 notes altogether to learn over time. You probably already know at least 1/3 of them now, and you do not even realize it.

ORIGINAL AWARENESS RELATING TO THE GUITAR NECK

The only way for you to do this program properly is to print out this PDF file and have it as a working journal. The fascinating thing about writing out these notes by hand and putting pen to paper is that you begin to discover patterns. For instance, at fret No. 5 when you look across the fretboard (vertical axis), the notes are all natural ones.

They are A D G C E A. Then at fret No. 10, the same situation occurs where the notes are D G C F A D. It does that pattern again of no #‘s or no bs. It happens again at fret No.12 with the notes E A D G B E. Then, at fret No. 17, it occurs again with the notes A D G C E A. Finally, at fret No. 22, it repeats again with the notes D G C F A D. It is fascinating that at fret No. 15, all but one note is a natural note, and it (A#) is on the 3rd string (G).

I will demonstrate how I use the diagrams of the fretboard, find root notes, and then make notes for myself as I learn the fretboard, like the back of my hand. This is what I encourage you to do as well. In this guitar enhancement guide, you will work the guitar fret board charts vertically as well as horizontally.

Not only are we going to learn ALL of the notes on the fretboard, we are going to master the ability to locate the TRIADS (1-3-5 notes of the scale). These triads, of course, are the chords that we play all over the neck. We will also want to know the 7th degree, as well, so that we can play the dominant 7th chords such as A7, G7, and D7 etc. In advanced music theory, we could continue to learn the construction of 9th, 11th and 13th chords as well.

In music, the pattern of seven intervals separating the eight notes of an octave can be represented in two ways, which are equivalent to each other. For instance, for a Major Scale, these scale steps are:

• T-T-S-T-T-T-S: where S means semitone; T means tone

• Whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half: where half means semitone (half a tone); whole means tone.

The major scale starts on the first note (Root or Tonic) and proceeds by steps to the first octave. In Solfège, the syllables for each scale degree are ―Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–Do.‖ Including the example of C-major (piano white notes), this can be viewed as:

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C major C D E F G A B C

Solfège Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

Interval T T S T T T S

E A D G B E

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FRETBOARD EXERCISE FOR C MAJOR SCALE

TAKE NOTES AND WORK ON YOUR FINE MOTOR CONTROL WITH THE PEN. THIS HELPS WIRE THE DEEP STRATA OF YOUR CEREBRAL CORTEX.

This method works so well for anyone that truly wants to master the knowledge of the notes on the guitar neck. On this fretboard chart, identify the C Major Scale in as many positions as you can.

When you are using your ―Musical Alphabet,‖ there are only 12 notes that you are required to know. (Technically, there are 15 names to the Major Keys because three keys that are considered sharps (# = sharp) or flats (b = flat) share the same space on the Circle of Fifths. These are called Enharmonic Keys. Enharmonic also refers to notes as well.

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Let us proceed with our musical alphabet and learn the names of the notes on the Chromatic

Scale (12 notes in succession). They are:

A-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#

The scale repeats itself again and at one octave higher. There are 12 tones in western music and in succession is considered the Chromatic Scale. NOTE: there is no B# or E#, and this is IMPORTANT to remember, for B goes right to C, and E goes right to F. They are only 1/2 step (semi-tone) apart, which on the guitar is the next fret over. Note that when doing the Chromatic Scale; it also could be played as A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab.

On the fretboards on the upcoming pages, I have demonstrated how the fretboard should be used for your training. For example, on one of the fretboard below, I have filled in the notes on the first two strings (6th and 5th) in this diagram. Eventually, you will be able to take the entire neck and fill it in and do it relatively quickly. This ―out of the box‖ training is certainly going to make you a much better guitar player.

Are you able to fill in this fretboard chart?. I hope that you will take the challenge throughout this guitar enhancement guide.

Give it a shot, and see how long it takes you to fill in the 39 missing notes. Remember, this chart only goes up to the 12th fret. Make sure that you do not forget the open strings.

You could start at the 1st string and cheat by looking at the 6th string. The notes are the same except they are two octaves higher than the 6th string.

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With each successive diagram, we will chip away at more and more of the fretboard. The next fretboard will be yours to work on and identify the notes on the 6th and 5th strings, all the way up to the 22nd fret. There are all kinds of ways that you can work your magic with the pen and grow your myelin sheaths in your brain at the same time.

Consequently, as you identify the notes on the frets, circle the ones that are the Root notes or the 3rd or the 5th of a certain scale. If you do not know about the concept of the 3rd and the 5th of the scale, you soon will. Then you will learn about why it is very important to have these notes easily accessible. You will be learning about Triads and arpeggios and how to identify whether a scale is a major or a minor one because of your understanding of these notes and how they are grouped together. By doing this, you are getting it put to permanent memory. More importantly, you are going to understand how chords and ―licks‖ work so well together. In this guide, take all kinds of notes that help you master the location of the notes over the entire neck.

There will be ample blank guitar charts for you to do your magic. It will surprise you as to how much more you will know about the guitar when you can isolate with consummate ease any scale you want to play. This is why you will get better at the guitar, even while you are away from the instrument.

WRITE OUT SOME OF YOUR SHORT- TERM GOALS RELATED TO YOUR GUITAR PLAYING IN LEFT HANDED MIRROR WRITING.

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FRETBOARD EXERCISE EXAMPLE

E A D G B E

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Learn to work the guitar charts when they are on their sides as well. This is how you see your guitar when you are playing.

Here is a suggestion: Practice filling in the fretboards with the notes to licks that you already know. If you know the A Major Pentatonic, see if you can fill it in on the fifth fret position. If you cannot do it now, you will when you finish this guitar enhancement guide.

Suggestion for beginner guitarists: Play your guitar and practice staying on one string only, and go up and down (horizontally) the chromatic scale. Sing the notes out loud as you play. Let‘s start on the 6th string and start to familiarize you with the notes from the open E to the 13th fret. As you do so, sing the notes E-F-F#-G. etc.

Now let‘s begin a Peg system for each note that is connected to the markers on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th fret.

AN ORIGINAL AWARENESS STORY FOR REMEMBERING NOTES

Here‘s my story.

The Open 6th String is E for Excellent!!! And at first grade (F is 1st fret) I got an F, and in 2nd grade (2nd fret,) my F was sharpened (F#).

NOTE: the rest of this peg will skip frets in certain places to speed up the process.

By 3rd grade I said, “G rhymes with 3” (3rd fret,) and by grade 5, I got my first A (5th fret). Then at 7th grade, I got my first B (7th fret), and by 8th grade, I got a C (8th fret), and I realized that by 10th grade I would get a D (10th fret). As I was going uphill (the fretboard) on the education (scale,) my grades were going downhill, and at the 12th grade (12th fret,) I got an E (so I said excellent!!!). Then at the 13th grade (college,) I got an F because I was playing too much guitar, but I did not know the guitar theory. So after 15 years of playing (15th fret), I said “Gee” I might as well learn the notes. So, after 17 years (17th fret) of playing, I will know that the 17th fret on the E string is an A Note.

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This is such a ridiculous story, but it works because it is so ―off the wall,‖ and that‘s why it can be remembered. This visual imagery is a right hemisphere processing power. It is as though you have a Windows Movie Maker, and it is playing the graphics in your head. It doesn‘t need sound, for the pictures are good enough to stimulate the memory. This memory technique jogs the memory banks in the same manner that the alphabet peg system does.

These little stories are so stupid that you will remember them. These are the beginning of other pegs systems that can be used for the memory enhancement of the notes on the fretboard. Right now, can you tell me what note is on the 14th fret of the 4th string? Does it take you awhile or can you instantly, say E? After practicing with the fretboard charts in this Guitar enhancement guide, you will have lightening quick access to all of the notes around the guitar, and this will help you solo playing because you are going to know where your root notes are located.

Soon, you will know where root of the scale (tonic), the 3rd of the scale, and the 5th of the scale are located, and then you will know the chord and how to plays tasty licks over them. This is very exciting to know!

Get your stories wired into your memory about the notes on the fretboard. As you train your memory between this guitar enhancement guide and the WBP workbook, you will be growing your brain to be able to handle the assimilation of challenging information.

In the WBP book, you were encouraged to remember all 50 states in The United States by creating your written story about how or why you were in each state. This same approach can be directed to knowing the fretboard. Remember, the right hemisphere is great at creating visual imagery, and this helps with memory processing. So, it‘s perfectly fine to create your own unique original awareness stories to identify any note or chord on the neck.

The suggestion in the memorization of the notes of the fretboard is to work on the first 4 strings (the thickest ones first). The thinnest is easy to remember because it is the 2nd octave of the 6th string, so it has all of the same notes.

As you get more comfortable using the pegs, the easier will it be for you to train your memory for more complicated guitar theory. You can practice the one string at a time technique on the 5th string (A). For all intents and purposes, we will refer to the appropriate notes as sharps instead of flats. Starting on the open 5th string the note is an A, and then the following chromatic scale goes-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#E-F-F#-G-G#-A (12th fret.

When you are learning the system of the musical alphabet, realize that it repeats itself only an octave higher. Please note that there is no E# or B#. E goes straight to F (one semitone), and B goes straight to C (one semitone). They are only a ½ step apart. This is also called a semitone or seen as 1 fret length. Note; a tone is the distance of 2 frets or a Whole Step. You will see notation in the future of this tutorial where the symbols WS-WS-HS-WS represent Whole Step-Whole Step-Half Step-Whole Step.

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Illustration by Michael J. Lavery ©

Let‘s start to work on the Major Scales, doing this same one string at a time approach. Soon, we will be going vertically across the fretboard. Here are a few diagrams of the way that you should be working the fretboard charts.

FINDING THE TRIAD OF F MAJOR

On this fretboard chart, identify all of the notes of F A C over the entire fretboard. Use a filled-in circle to represent F (root), and then a circle with the letter of A or C in it. This is the triad of F Major. This drill will come in handy when you learn how to find the 5 positions of F Major A. The reason that we are doing this training is so that we can integrate it into the CAGED System that you will soon learn. Refer to the fretboard chart on the next

One of the secrets to mastering the guitar fretboard is to practice with fretboard charts. It is as though you have a map, and you are tracing out your route to travel.

So often guitarists are so attached to playing the instrument that they never step away from it and work on an outside the box approach to learning the instrument. In this exercise, I worked on identifying the notes on the 6th string. I also identified the octaves that are located on the 4th string. Slowly but surely, we will work our way all the way across the fretboard. The way that we learn the guitar neck is both from a horizontal, as well as vertical axis.

Become inspired to really work the pen and do the assignments with the fretboard charts. It will pay dividends for you.

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page if you are having a hard time identifying the notes of F A C (the triad of the scale of F Major).

LEARN TO WORK THE FRETBOARD WHEN IT IS VERTICAL AS WELL AS HORIZONTAL

THE ENTIRE FRETBOARD CHARTED OUT FOR ALL 138 NOTES

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery ©

I can assure you that when you spend the time to work on the entire neck for the identifying of all of the notes; it starts to pay huge dividends for your playing.

Take small chunks of the guitar neck at a time. Soon you will have most of the notes accessible to you for the identifying of the Root, 3rd and 5th of the scale of chord.

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GUITAR CHORDS ALL GUITARISTS SHOULD MASTER

These are the basis for countless songs in all genres:

The Basic Guitar Chord Chart shows a good variety of some easy-to-play open chords. The chords are represented in the form of a guitar chord diagram that is much easier to read than standard musical notation. The basic guitar chords you'll learn on this page form the foundation of everyone‘s initial introduction into playing guitar. These chords are also used by advanced players and in all styles of music. Beginners should practice these chords until they have memorized them and are able to switch between them fluidly.

It is important that you know the names of the notes that you are playing for these open chords. You must realize that the triads make up these chords and that the open strings that have an X are meant to not be played. Those open strings with a 0 means that they are to be played.

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For example, the triad of a G chord is G B and D and the Open G chord is:

The G note on the 3rd fret of the 6th string.

The B note on the 2nd fret of the 5th string.

The open D note on the 4th string.

The open G note on the 3rd string.

The open B note on the 2nd string.

The G note on the 3rd fret of the 1st string.

In the open chord, there are three octaves of G being played, and there are two octaves of B played. There is one D note played. As you learn the guitar neck, you will see the way chords in a different light.

THE BASIC SHAPE OF BAR CHORDS

These are the simple bar chord shapes that all guitarists learn. There are many more chords that can be made out of these barred positions. They are also transposable up and down the fret board. In the following photograph, I transposed the D Minor Bar chord to the 7th fret, and now the chord is E Minor.

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E MINOR BAR CHORD

Here is a photograph of the E Minor bar chord being played. When you perform with another guitar player, and he is playing an open chord E Minor, it is suggested that you might want to play at another position on the neck. From this position, it would be very easy to slip into a nice riff of an E Minor Pentatonic Scale.

In order for the bar chord to be played properly, the index finger needs good strength. It really needs to create almost a capo like effect across the 6 strings. One of the secrets is to roll the index finger slightly in a counterclockwise direction. Notice the thumb position as well for it helps with the pressure necessary to create a very clear quality in the ring of the strings when they are strummed.

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POWERFUL HANDS AND FINGERS HELP CREATE AWESOME SOUNDING BAR CHORDS

In the photograph above, I am playing a form of a bar chord. However, the index finger is lifted up, allowing for the 1st and 2nd open strings to ring out. Try this type of chord out, and you will like the sound.

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D MAJOR OPEN CHORD

This D Major Chord is made up of a triad. That would be the Root, the 3rd and the 5th of the scale of D Major. Those notes are D-F#-A. In this open chord, one would play the 5th (A) the 4th (D) the 3rd (A) the 2nd (D) and the 1st (F#). It helps to know the Circle of Fifths because we know that in the chord of D Major, the F has a sharp.

Now on this fretboard chart, see if you can locate other root notes of D Major and where one could also find the 3rd and the 5th degrees in order to form another D Major chord. The hint is to create a D Major Bar Chord. When we learn to form arpeggios, it will make this task much easier. Start at the 5th fret on the 5th string, and find the root note, and then find the other notes of the triad that form the D Bar chord.

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A MINOR OPEN CHORD

The A Minor Chord is comprised of the notes of A C E. The way that you can construct this chord is to know the Root, 3rd and 5th of the A Minor scale.

Here is a fretboard chart to help you understand other positions of A Minor. You probably know how to play the A Minor Bar chord, but the fretboard charts will solidify the understanding of its construction.

On this fretboard chart, identify the triad of A Minor in the open chord position, as well as the form of the A Minor Bar chord at the fifth fret. See if you can find the A Minor shape at the 12th fret.

These exercises help you find the different positions of the same chord on the fretboard to allow for different chord voicings. Also, by knowing these positions of A Minor chords it is easy to play a Pentatonic at the same position.

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OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

Fill in these guitar chords on the charts and make sure that you use an X where the open string is not played. Use an O where the open string is played. You can refer back to the charts that I filled in earlier in this chapter. If you get stuck, reverse engineer the construction by remembering that the triad forms the chord. In the case of a 7th chord, the 7th degree is also used in the construction. Take notes in this area if necessary.

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THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

Write out your guitar playing aspirations in your finest penmanship. Watch them come to fruition by staying disciplined with your WBP training. Your rewards will be great when you practice the out-of-the-box methodologies. Each time that you pick up the guitar after doing the WBP exercises, the instrument will seem easier to play.

These are my goals: (Write with your right hand in the normal manner, and then use your left handed cursive in a mirror image format.)

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WORKING ON OUR SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

Now on this page write out your thoughts on the space provided. However there are no guide lines to maintain the levelness of your handwriting. It is fine to skip over this exercise for now. You can always revisit this experiment.

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CHAPTER7: THE WHOLE BRAIN POWER APPROACH TO RAPID IMPROVEMENT ON GUITAR

remember way back when I started trying to learn songs off records, and used to try to figure out the chords one at a time. I was unaware that chords belong to a family of 7 and that this holds true for all of the 12 Major keys. My old way of doing it was much more labor intensive. If I had it all over again, I would have gone straight for Guitar

Theory.

It‘s common knowledge that lots of the heroes of rock and roll started their training in classical music and often worked as session musicians. They knew their guitar theory, and it was necessary for them to be able to read chord charts and to know exactly what scales would work best for any given song. By the time they made the jump to the big stage, they were equipped with an incredible foundation for building their songs into the all-time classics.

Upon scrutiny, the classic songs throughout the diversity of modern music are a testament to solid construction techniques. When you dissect the popular songs, the structure of the chord progressions for the verses, choruses, bridges and solos all work harmoniously together. These songs did not come about by accident but by serious construction methodologies which relied heavily upon guitar theory. When you learn about why chords fit so nicely for songs, you will see why after studying the Circle of Fifths. This will be covered in Chapter 12.

In my own guitar endeavors, I put in the effort but had mixed results for years. However, because of my WBP discoveries and unusual approach to things, I decided to grab the bull by the horns and study the guitar a more proper way late in the game. I am very happy that I have done so and continue to stay motivated to proceed down this path.

First of all, without having an enhanced short-term and long-term memory system fully operational, it is difficult to navigate the training necessary for very good guitar playing. Thus, when you continue with this guitar enhancement guide, I encourage you to chart out the guitar neck and be able to put to permanent memory the notes on the guitar neck.

It will happen for you only if you practice the Major Scales and all 12 of them. There is no real other way to accelerate this process. When you know where the scale notes, especially the tonic, third and perfect fifth are located on the neck, it is so much easier to construct chords as well as lead patterns. You will be able to utilize all of the shapes of the Major Scales and their modes as well as the different Pentatonic Scales.

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LEARN BEYOND THE BASICS

Key Signatures

Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales

Be able to play scales and chords in all five positions

Modes of the Diatonic Scale

Know how chords are constructed and played over the entire neck

The CAGED System

Playing arpeggios

Relationship between Relative Major and Relative Minor Chords

Basic understanding of the Circle of Fifths

Nature and prediction of chord progressions

Introduction into the 12 Bar Blues

Knowing how to commence and resolve your licks

Learning to play scales and riffs in a super slow-motion way for perfect normal execution.

MUSIC THEORY IN A NUTSHELL

Let‘s go over the elements of what we are going to learn to advance our guitar theory knowledge. It is necessary to understand about the nature of Key Signatures. This allows us to know what notes to play with the chords in question and what chords belong in the family with the Key Signature. For example, if we are in the Key of C Major, we should know what notes can be played harmoniously with C Major and what chords can be used in a progression.

It helps us to know what section of the neck that we are playing on for a song as well. We should know that the neck can be broken down into sections too. The Open strings to the 5th fret is section one. The 5th fret to the 10th fret is section two. The 10th fret to the 15th fret is section 3 and the 15th fret to the 22nd fret is section 4.

Next, it‘s important to comprehend the nature of Intervals. This term is the distance between notes in a scale. Thus, when you hear the term tone or semi tone, we know that one tone is a whole step, and the semi tone is a half step. Intervals help us to understand triads of which there are four kinds;

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MAJOR MINOR DIMINISHED AND AUGMENTED

Triads lead us to four note chords, such as 7th quality chords. These would be the chords of A7, B7, C7, D7, E7, F7, and G7. From there, we can build upon our knowledge and construct 9th chords as well.

Soon, we will be ready to understand the nature of the Seven Chord Family. So when someone asks us, ―What the heck is a I-IV-V chord progression?‖ You will know what to say. Have you or anyone you know ever asked that question and you‘ve been stumped to explain the theory? Now you will be able to reply to them with confidence. This will be how you will sound in just a little while. ―These chords are all in the same key. Take this song we are playing, and it is a 12 bar blues. It is in the Key of C Major, so when we jam on the chords, we are paying a 1-IV-V progression, and the IV chord is F and the V chord is G.‖ Your friends will be impressed by your guitar knowledge. Please follow along and apply yourself with a determined effort in assimilating this material.

As you learn from this guitar enhancement guide and dedicate yourself to the exercises, you will have the confidence to be able to teach basic music theory to others. Your guitar playing will be the proof of your understanding and solidified by your elevated playing skills.

When you are learning about guitar theory, the Major and Minor Scales, chord construction, chord progressions, the CAGED System, triads, arpeggios, the Circle of Fifths, the five positions of Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales, passing blues notes, and the seven modes derived of the Diatonic Scale, etc., it requires lots of brain power. The WBP way of training your brain for memory improvement, as well as fine motor control elevation, will actually grow your brain in the process too. This will make other areas of your life more enjoyable as well.

The WBP guitar enhancement guide helps practitioners improve the performance of their brains and the specific areas of the hippocampus, the cerebellum, and the cerebral cortex (thinking part of the brain) to assimilate difficult and complex information and then to apply it immediately to improvement at guitar playing skills.

That is why I encourage you to do all three aspects of the tenets of the WBP training. It is all designed to help you advance quickly, up the learning curve, for your guitar playing and singing. Test yourself the first day of your training and record the hammer drill and golf ball successes. I guarantee you that by staying with the drills each day that you will feel lots stronger in the forearms, wrists and hands. Your alertness will be elevated. You will also develop fantastic touch because of the penmanship training, and as a consequence, you will be able to have greater control of your strumming and picking hand. Remember, the goal in the program is to activate penmanship with each hand. You will discover that as the non-dominant hand gains skill and speed, the dominant hand automatically improves its dexterity.

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Hopefully, you can sense the amount of active stress this penmanship training is doing for you and that the WBP training for guitar is going to work for you!

Let‘s get back to the manner of training for improved understanding of the notes and scales on the entire fretboard. Knowing where your roots are all over the guitar neck helps all areas of guitar playing. That‘s why the fretboard charts are here for you to learn from and to experiment with.

Each root is considered a home base where everything resolves to and around for great sounding music. Without this understanding many guitar players are ―dazed and confused.‖ The meat and potatoes of this chapter are to drive home the need to know the root, the 3rd and the 5th degree notes all around the neck of the guitar.

After you master the understanding of the roots and their location, then you will learn to know where the 3rd and the 5th of any scale are located. Get your head around the concept that an arpeggio is a group of notes (the root, 3rd and fifth of a chord) which are played one after the other, either going up or going down the scale. Executing an arpeggio requires the player to play the sounds of a chord individually to differentiate the notes. The notes all belong to one chord. Soon, you will grab your guitar and tackle this little exercise. There are so many very good teachers on the (YOUTUBE) that show you how they are playing arpeggios and mixing them up with other tasty licks and riffs.

Here is your homework fret board. Please fill in the notes of C Major Scale. You most likely have played it before. Let‘s see if you can jog your memory and fill in the fretboard. It is different without a guitar in your hand. If you cannot do this assignment, go back and review the diagram that I did for you.

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USING GUITAR FRETBOARD CHARTS TO IMPROVE OUR MEMORY OF NOTES

Locate C Major Scale (3rd fret) staying on the 5th string, and go up the neck horizontally. It is helpful if you have your guitar handy:

C Major Scale moving up the neck horizontally

In this fretboard chart above fill in other areas of the C Major Scale. This is your map for your improved guitar playing in the very near future.

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On this chart identify the Root Notes, the 3rd and the 5th of Major C around this fretboard chart.

C Major Scale Exercise

In this fretboard chart, fill in the placement of where D Major Scale can be played. There are a few different places that one can play the same sounding notes. In this case, start on the 5th string and use the 4th and 3rd strings as well. Go up to the 10th fret on the 6th string, and see if you can create another pattern where D major Scale can be played.

D Major Scale

On this fretboard chart locate the C Major scale which is the octave of the one that begins at the 8th fret 6th string. Your starting place would be the 4th string, 10th fret.

C Major Scale starting from the 10th fret

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Knowing the notes of each major scale is part of any musician‘s journey to truly knowing the guitar. That is why we learn the notes of all of the major scales and how they work with the Circle of Fifths. We are also going to learn to see the scale as two groupings of 4 notes. They are the lower half and upper half of the scale. The fifth note of scale is called dominant and this group of notes is called the dominant tetra chord.

Now use your best penmanship and write out the above paragraph on the lines provided.

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The beginning of the C scale is on the tonic (root) so this group of notes is called the tonic tetra chord. Saying the notes out loud can really help very much. This drill will certainly help your ability to know the whole guitar neck. The tonic and the dominant of the scales will be so embedded into your memory and playing scales will be that much easier for you. When playing the Diatonic Scales make sure that one of each of the seven letters in the Major Scale should be used. Sometimes we have a situation where we will have sharps in the scale and then we will also have a flat note in the scale. These notes that can be either a sharp or a flat because they share the same fret position are called enharmonic notes.

Now let‘s write out this paragraph and drive this information home. If this exercise is exhausting that means that you need to practice more at your penmanship in order to build up stamina.

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Notice that the path of the arpeggio for C Major in this diagram is not the same as A Major. Instead of going over to the 2nd string (B) I stayed on the 3rd string (G). You still play the 1-3-5 notes and through two to three octaves.

Arpeggios usually can rise or fall for more than one octave. It really is important for one to know the notes on the fretboard so that arpeggios can be played through two and three octaves. Once you begin to practice playing arpeggios, then you will realize that they can be added to the other types of scales (pentatonic) or modes of the Diatonic Scales. The more that you have in your arsenal, the greater variety there will be to your guitar playing.

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Write out the bold faced words of this paragraph above in your finest penmanship. If you write with your opposite hand, the better training for your brain.

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The concept of playing arpeggios is an easy one to grasp because we are only using the triad of the chord and playing each note individually. Remember the 7th of the chord can also be played. They would be considered a C7 arpeggio. This four note chord would be C-E-G-B or the root, 3rd, 5th and 7th.

Practice identifying arpeggios all over the neck, and work them through two and three octaves. You will be surprised at the sound you will get when you add arpeggios to your licks.

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This fretboard exercise is for an arpeggio in C Major. Start at the 5th string 3rd fret and make a run through three octaves.

Arpeggio in C Major

In this fretboard exercise find the A Minor Arpeggios starting at the 5th fret. Notice the patterns are different than the Major Arpeggios. Remember the same rule applies for the minor arpeggio scale. The root note A is at 6th string 5th fret and then you move to the flatted 3rd which is the note of C. The 5th degree is still the note E.

Arpeggio in A Minor

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Learning arpeggios certainly helps one to navigate the fretboard diagonally across and horizontally at the same time. Once you have done enough of these fretboard exercises you will have such freedom to move around the guitar neck as never before in your playing. This is all happening with this pen in hand and ―out of the box‖ training.

ALL GUITAR PLAYERS PLEASE HEAR THIS

Get the names of the notes of the two thickest strings on the guitar wired into your hard drive in your brain because soon you will learn the CAGED System (Chapter 11) and your playing will go through the roof. But for now we are laying down the foundation. I want to encourage you to really challenge yourself to memorizing the 6th and 5th strings first. Remember the 1st string is the same notes as the 6th string. Also I will give you a SECRET to remember the Notes on the 4th string. But for now let me tell you why it is of the upmost importance that you get the 6th and 5th strings wired into your RAM (random access memory).

As you are going up the first two strings get originally aware and give nicknames to the open strings and to each of the frets with their markers. Those are usually at the 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12th fret etc. Also, make an exception and put to hard memory the 8th fret on the 6th string because this is our BABY (C note-$100 bill). To me the number 8 looks like an infinity sign put on its side. So maybe it‘s Baby, I’m in heaven = fret 8. I know this system seems weird, but trust me it works wonders for the imagination. In turn, this lends to more creativity in playing and singing along with the guitar. For example, to remember the note for the A string (5th string) to be fret 8 = (F). I picture a cursive letter f which looks like the no. 8. Then I have other notes put to memory in the same fashion and little by little I am establishing my permanent memory of the root notes around the entire guitar neck.

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When the CAGED System for guitar playing is introduced and explained you will be flying

along with this course.

You can practice the one string at a time technique on the 5th string (A). For all intents and purposes we will refer to the appropriate notes as sharps instead of flats. Starting on the open 5th string the note is an A, and then the following chromatic scale goes-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#E-F-F#-G-G#-A (12th fret). As you are learning the system of the musical alphabet it repeats itself only an octave higher. Please note that there is no E# or B#. E goes straight to F (one semitone) and B goes straight to C (one semitone). They are only a ½ step apart. This is also called a semitone or seen as 1 fret length. Note; a tone is the distance of 2 frets or a Whole Step. You will see notation in the future of this tutorial where the symbols WS-WS-HS-WS represents Whole Step-Whole Step-Half Step-Whole Step.

LEARNING GUITAR THEORY WITH BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE PIANO

Every guitarist should spend some time in front of the keyboard and analyze the way that the white and black keys are arranged. The modern musical keyboard with its black keys grouped in twos and threes, is essentially diatonic; this arrangement not only helps musicians to find their bearings on the keyboard, but simplifies the system of key signatures.

Can you find middle C on the piano? It is located on the white key to the left of the

two black keys. On the piano Major C is played as seven consecutive white keys in a row.

This is one of the reasons that we learn Music Theory based upon our understanding of the C

Major Scale. When we begin to earn the Circle of Fifths we will be putting C at the 12

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o‘clock position on the Circle. Since it has no sharps or flats we then can create the clockwise

direction of the wheel and locate the other Major Keys and how many sharps are in the scale.

The modern keyboard is based on the intervallic patterns of the Diatonic Scale. The guitar also is based upon these interval patterns. However, it is played on two different planes or axes. There are the horizontal axis and the vertical axis. The same frequency can also be achieved at a number of different positions on the fret board as opposed to the keyboard which has a frequency for each key. Also, the voicing of the guitar allows for bending of strings which can raise the pitch of a note without changing fret positions. This is a marvelous feature about the guitar.

When you look at the piano keys and you play the Key of D Major can you tell me how many blacks keys will be played and which ones that they are? After this guide is studied it will be a breeze for you to explain. That is because you will get a course on the Circle of Fifths.

The answer is that there are two black keys that are played and they are F# and C#. Thus the scale of D Major is

D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#

Let‘s find the scale of D Major on this guitar chart. Start the exercise at the 5th string and the 5th fret. Fill in where the notes are played and name them as well. Have the guitar ready to help you with this exercise.

The Scale of D Major

Find the scale of D Major at the 5th fret, 5th string and then at the 10th fret and fill in the path that it can be played.

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D Major Scale

Now do the same for E Major. Start the scale on the 5th string, 7th fret and then also find the scale at the 12 fret, 6th string.

E Major Scale

Now do the same for A Major. Start this scale at the 6th string, 5th fret. Then find the pattern at the 12th fret and the 5th string.

The Scale of A Major

THE DEGREES OF THE SCALE

The degrees of the scale are also known by traditional names. These names, starting from the bottom of the scale, are the tonic, the supertonic, the mediant, the subdominant, the dominant, the submediant, and the leading tone. These terms also are used to describe the name of the chords that are used in a seven chord family that is associated to a Major

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Key. When you learn these names of the degrees of the scales we get into chord progressions then all of this information will all start to gel for you.

FIRE UP THE PEN

Please write out the above paragraph in your finest penmanship. Try writing some of it with your left hand and then some of it with your right hand. ______________________________________________________________________

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On the rest of this page see how level you can write. You should practice daily on your skill of writing on blank paper and developing levelness to your penmanship.

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CHAPTER 8: LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THE RELATIVES OF THE CHORD FAMILY

he family of SEVEN chords that belong to any Major Chord can be found by using a formula based upon the Key Signature and the number of sharps or minors that there are in the scale. For example, the natural minor scale can be thought of as the relative minor of the major scale, beginning on the sixth degree of the scale and

proceeding step by step through the same tetra chords to the first octave of the sixth degree. When you want to find the relative minor for C Major, you go to the 6th degree of the scale and it is the A Minor. The formula for knowing the Tonic (1 chord), Super Tonic (2 chord), the Mediant (3 chord), the Subdominant (4 chord), the Dominant (5 chord), the Submediant (6 chord) and the Leading Tone (7 chord) is as follows:

I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii dim.

C Dm Em F G Am Bdim

This music theory formula says that the vi chord of the Scale of C Major is an A Minor. Therefore A minor (Am) is the Relative Minor or C Major. This will be explained in greater detail as you read on in this tutorial.

A tetra chord is considered to be the scale for the first four degrees of a Diatonic Scale. Theoretically, one can break the Solfège into two distinct scales; the do re me fa separated by a Tone and then the so la ti do. These two scales within the Major Scale are called the tetra tonic and the tetra dominant. The fifth degree of the scale is the perfect fifth or the dominant fifth and it is the first note of the tetra dominant. Once you understand this breaking up of the major scale you will get the idea of when to use the different modes of the Diatonic Scale for playing solos, licks and riffs. This is very important to grasp when one is learning to do solos over chord progressions.

NOTES OF THE SCALE OF ―A‖ MINOR

A B C D E F G A

The Intervals are as follows: T S T T S T T

T

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The degrees of the natural minor scale have the same names, except rather than having a leading tone, the seventh degree is instead known as the subtonic.

In solfège, (a French term) a technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable, this is regarded in two different ways: either as "La–Ti–Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La" (A Minor scale) or (again) as "Do–Re–Mi–Fa–Sol–La–Ti–Do."

Technically speaking, Diatonic Scales are obtained from a chain of six successive fifths centered at D, in traditional tuning systems such as Pythagorean tuning. The Greek were great mathematicians and they were able to figure out ratios of string length to determine pitch of notes and thus tuning. It is very complicated to understand so let‘s just accept the fact that they knew what they were doing.

A Diatonic Scale can be also described as two tetra chords separated by a whole tone. For example under this view the two tetra chord structures of C major would be:

[C-D-E-F] - [G-A-B-C]

And of the natural minor of A would be:

[A-B-C-D] - [E-F-G-A].

The set of intervals within each tetra chord comprises two tones and a semitone. A-B is one tone, B-C is the semi tone and C-D is the 2nd tone. This represents the tonic tetra chord of A Minor. The Dominant tetra chord has the E-F as the semi tone and the F-G as the 1st tone and the G-A as 2nd tone.

Soon you will understand why we are breaking the scale into two sections. You will have a better grasp of the diatonic scale and the 7 modes or moods of the scale. These scales are derived from the ancient Greeks. The modern equivalent scales are called Ionian, Dorian Phrygian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. In a little bit they will be explained to you. At his time let‘s learn the C Major scale (Ionian) and how it relates to the 7 modes mentioned in this paragraph.

C Major Scale is our starting point; C Major is also an Ionian Scale.

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The easiest of all major scales to learn is the C Major scale simply because it has no sharps or flats in it. Starting with the root note (or "tonic") C, you will find and play the following scale using the method described above.

C-D-E-F-G-A-B That‘s the C Major scale (notice there are no sharps or flats). Sing the scale before you actually play the notes on the guitar.

do re me fa so la ti do

Grab the guitar and review an earlier exercise. Again, we start by using the note on the 5th string, 3rd fret (that's your first C note). Now play up a whole step on the A String and play (D). We are going to stay on the 5th string and go up the guitar neck (horizontally). Sound out the C Major Scale and by singing (do re me fa so la ti do). Just by trial and error you will find the sounds of the notes and placement on the fretboard and you will remember them as well. This is the most simplistic way of playing C Major. We have already learned many different roads to the same 7 note scale (actually 8, because of the C octave). The notes should be played on the 5th string are at frets, 3-5-7-8-10-12-14-15, with the notes being playing on one string horizontally.

C D E F G A B C.

WS -WS-HS-WS-WS-WS-HS

By learning Major and Minor Scales you will have a much better grasp of chords and as to what you are playing and why what you are playing sounds good to the ear. As your guitar knowledge base grows you will have a feel for what chords go together well.

Then you will make a huge leap in your guitar theory understanding because you will comprehend the nature of what solo or riff patterns go on said chord progressions.

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By the time you get done reading about these exercises you'll have a basic understanding of all the four groups of chords;

MAJOR, MINOR, AUGMENTED AND DIMINISHED

Then you will learn how they are constructed and how they work together. With a little practice and patience, you'll soon be playing great music on the guitar. You might have already figured out a lot of things on the guitar and have the dexterity to play bar chords and awesome leads but the inspiration to learn about guitar theory will take you to the Promised Land.

In this music theory tutorial you'll learn the construction behind guitar chords and how they work in harmony with each other. Spending a little time on guitar music theory and harmony will save you a lot of time learning how to play guitar chords from charts and will deepen your understanding of the guitar. Music theory provides you the means to communicate better with your fellow musicians. You'll learn songs faster because you actually know what you are playing and why it works from a fundamental standpoint.

THE SOUND OF CHORDS

Here is a very good exercise for you to practice. Let‘s play the chords of C Major, D minor, G7 and C major7. Strum these chords very smoothly and let the sound ring out for a long time. Listen to the nature of each chord. It is very important to train your ear (auditory cortex) to hear the mood of each chord and the quality of the sound.

Play the C Major open chord and realize that it is a strong sounding chord but it has a neutral feeling to it.

Now compare it to Dm and hear the somber, rather sad mysterious tone. Lots of songs about heartbreak and love lost are using this chord as well as Am etc.

Play a G7 and it is strong yet it has a moderate dissonance. That‘s why they call it a blues chord. This type of chord creates tension in a song.

Compare it to a 7th chord such as C major 7. This chord has a very nostalgic, lush quality. You will find this chord in popular songs in ballads describing an emotion of love found or anticipation of the finding of something wonderful happening.

These chords are just a few of the many that you already know and will learn. But more importantly you will realize when and how to use them in your creation of your own originals as well as easily learning popular songs.

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INVERSIONS AND FIVE VOICINGS OF THE CHORDS

An inversion is simply a different position of the same chord as played on the guitar. It actually is very common for inversions to be used. When you learn the CAGED System shortly you will be playing inversions just as well as you play open chords. That is because you will be learning the Major Keys in five positions and those position are inversions of the chords that you already play. In simple terms we are rearranging the chord and in the process we are producing a different ―voice‖ for the chord. It is still a C Major chord but the Tonic is no longer where it normally is for the Inversion.

To make a chord into one type of Inversion take the bottom note (TONIC) of the triad and place it on top of the chord. Try selecting the three chords of C F G, or the I-IV-V chords and let‘s build inversions of each chord. They are easy to construct and play and you already can play them without even knowing it. For example when you are playing an open chord of C Major and you use the 6th string on the 3rd fret and you play the additional note of G you have created an Inversion of G. The G is now the bottom tone ahead of the normally lowest note of C. This is the most simplistic explanation of an Inversion. When you see a chord chart and it has the notation of F# over D, (F#/D) this is another example of an Inversion of the D Major. The F# is played on the 2nd fret and it totally changes the sound of the F# is played on the 2nd fret

You will often times use these types of chords in country music in a ―walk down.‖ Try using these types of chords in your playing and watch the sound of your guitar music take on a new quality. It is boring always playing the standard types of chords. So experiment and have the curiosity to explore the potential for the different voicings that the instrument has to offer.

When you get into understanding the CAGED system you will open up an awareness of what the guitar can actually produce in terms of beautiful sound. The reason being is that the 5 shapes of the chords that you will learn to move up the neck are forms of Inversions. There are two types of Inversions. They are the 1st Inversion and the 2nd Inversion. All that is necessary to understand is the way that the notes are stacked on the triad.

I want you to finish strong in this tutorial and embrace the challenge to learning more about the guitar neck and how to navigate it with increased confidence. This takes discipline and memory enhancement and that is why I encourage you to do all of the drills with the charts and areas of penmanship where you are recording your understanding of the different aspects of Guitar Theory and how the Circle of Fifths opens up your musical universe.

You will soon learn how to expand upon the different scales that you can comfortably play over chord progressions. Consequently, the scales of Dorian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian will compliment the Major scale (Ionian) and Major and Minor Pentatonic scales that you already play. We will also study the Phrygian, Lydian and Locrian Modes but for this tutorial we address in detail the first three modes seen in bold face.

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CHAPTER 9: LEARNING ABOUT TRIADS AND CHORD CONSTRUCTION AND SCALES

n this chapter the emphasis is on how to construct chords from Major and Minor scales. The chords that we will learn to build are the Major and Minor Triads, Augmented and Diminished as well as Inverted and Suspended Chords. In music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that is built from the scale of any Key signature. It is built from the

first, third and fifth degree of any diatonic scale. It can be stacked in thirds and its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:

• The Root

• The Third (whose interval is a major third or minor third above the root)

• The Fifth (whose interval is a major or minor third above the third, and a

diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth above the root)

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The topics covered here will be as follows.

• The difference between major, minor, dominant, diminished, or augmented chords

• How to name chords

• How to find the notes of a chord

• How to construct guitar chords

The triad is considered to be the basic building block of functional harmony in music. The root note or tonic (tone) of a triad, together with the degree of the scale to which it corresponds, primarily determines a given triad's function. Secondarily, a triad's function is determined by its quality:

MAJOR, MINOR, DIMINISHED OR AUGMENTED

Let‘s go over these four types of chords. First let‘s start with a Major Triad and it will be explained with the key of C Major. The 1, 3 and 5 notes of the chord are:

C E G

And these three notes form the C Major chord. That was easy.

Now the C Minor Triad is simply made by lowering the E one fret and making a flatted 3rd. This is pretty simple material when you take it step by step.

Next the Diminished Triad is constructed by taking the Minor C Chord and lowering the G a fret to make a flatted fifth.

The Augmented Chord is created by taking the Major Triad and sharpening the G note and raising it a fret. This triad now becomes two major thirds stacked on each other.

In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions. A perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones. For example, the interval from C to G is a perfect fifth, as the note G lies seven semitones above C, and there are five staff positions from C to G. Diminished and augmented fifths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (six and eight).

All of this information will sink into your hippocampus very soon. Then it will all click for you. This is great training for your instrument called your brain!

Now let‘s take a look at what these Major, Minor and Diminished Triads look like in standard musical notation. Observe the G clef and look at the ―stacked thirds.‖ That is exactly what they are. It is good for you to get an initiation into this Music Theory and see what the C Major chord looks like when it is represented as a musician is trained to see it. As

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you study the chords of the family of C Major you are learning about what chords go well together in certain songs. That is why I am prodding you along to embrace this information. As you then learn to play your favorite songs and you analyze the construction of the chord progressions you will understand why what you are playing sounds so good.

THE FAMILY OF SEVEN CHORDS OF C MAJOR

C Dm Em F G Am B dim

The perfect fifth is more consonant, or stable, than any other interval except the unison and the octave. It occurs on the root of all major and minor chords (triads) and their extensions. It is necessary to understand what the perfect 5th means. The inversion of a perfect fifth is a perfect fourth and this is unique to the scale for no other inversion of any scale degree has this property. The perfect 5th is a pleasing or consonant sound. So a perfect fifth has consonance and in simplistic terms, it means that it goes with major or minor chords.

When a teacher or fellow musician refers to root (1), major 3rd, or perfect 5th we now know what they are taking about during a lesson or session. These three notes are considered the triad of a chord. These three notes are also considered to be an arpeggio. As we wrote out earlier in this guitar enhancement guide, the arpeggios are usually played through a number of octaves.

REVIEWING MAKES THIS GUITAR THEORY STICK IN THE BRAIN

Triads are built by stacking every other note of a Diatonic scale (e.g. standard major or minor scale). For example, C-E-G spells a triad by skipping over D and F. While the interval from each note to the one above it is a third, the quality of those thirds varies depending on the quality of the triad:

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WRITE OUT THIS SHORT PARAGRAPH WITH YOUR FINEST PENMANSHIP:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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• Major triads contain a major third and perfect fifth interval. This can be symbolized:

R 3 5 (or 0-4-7 as semitones).

Four semi tones equal a Major third and 3 semi tones make a Minor Third.

• Minor triads contain a minor third, and perfect fifth, symbolized:

R b3 5 (or 0-3-7)

• Diminished triads contain a minor third, and diminished fifth, symbolized:

R b3 b5 (or 0-3-6)

• Augmented triads contain a major third, and augmented fifth, symbolized:

R 3 ♯5

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The definition spells out the interval of each note above the root. Since triads are constructed of stacked thirds, another way to define each triad is as follows:

Major triads contain a major third with a minor third stacked above it. Take for example the C Major, which is a Major Triad consisting of;

C-E-G

The interval C-E is a Major Third and E-G is a Minor Third. This is why when reading sheet music you see three notes stacked upon one another on the G clef.

The family of the 7th chords

Minor triads contain a minor third with a major third stacked above it. For example in the major triad A-C-E (A minor), A-C is a minor third and C-E is a major third.

• Diminished triads contain two minor thirds stacked. For example; B-D-F (B dim)

• Augmented triads contain two major thirds stacked, e.g. D-F#-A# (D aug).

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Now to review; we know that a triad is a three-note chord in which there is a Root, a Third and a Fifth. There are four different kinds of triads: They are:

In the process of learning guitar theory it is important for you to have a clear understanding of how triads are built. Inversions and Suspended Chords are easy to understand and to play and to construct anywhere on the guitar neck. But first we need to have a strong foundation of the concepts of the TRIAD and from there all other types of chords can be built purely upon understanding guitar theory. It will also be a guide to understanding how to create leads or riffs over the chords that you use within a chord progression.

Guitar chords are one of the most important aspects of guitar playing. It doesn't matter if you play acoustic guitar or electric guitar, rock, folk, jazz or classical; you need to have a thorough understanding about chords. Since we know that most chords are built around a triad of notes which consists of the first degree, third degree and the fifth degree of a scale, we can build them anywhere around the neck provided that we know where the root note of the chord starts. For example, since we know the notes of the C Major triad are; C E G, we can build this chord all over the neck.

Now get out the guitar and go over the C Major scale and identify the root, 3rd and 5th notes and make the C Major chord. You should do this with all of the chords and especially the Open Chords. Please review the Open Chord Chart provided for you in this guitar enhancement guide.

CHORD POSITION THAT SHOWS OPEN C MAJOR

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When forming a chord be sure that your finger tips are behind the wire frets so

that the ringing quality of the strum or pick of the strings is crystal clear.

The three notes per string method is a great way to practice so that you develop the ability to stretch the hand and play more difficult chords and lead patterns.

Learn to play the C scale with 3 notes per string as demonstrated here.

In this photograph, I am demonstrating how the scale of C Major can be played where there are three notes played on one string (5th). This is a great habit to get into to improve your ability to play lead guitar.

Bar chords playing the blues also require a pretty good stretch.

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THE BASIC OPEN GUITAR CHORD CHARTS

Below are blank chord charts. See if you can successfully fill them in.

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THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN CONSTRUCTING MINOR CHORDS

To make a chord into a minor triad or a Minor Chord the 3rd degree of the Major scale is flattened and the fifth degree stays the same. One of the best ways to learn the triads is to write out the notes of all seven of the major scales.

Here we will give you the Seven Scales and all of the notes within each one. You can memorize this list or you can learn how to predict which note comes next based upon your understanding of the Circle of Fifths. Write out the information on the lines provided.

C Major Notes are C, D, E, F, G, A, B……no #‘s and no b‘s

______________________________________________________________________

D Major Notes are D, E, F#, G, A, B C# ……… 2 sharps

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E Major Notes are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#...........4 sharps

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F Major Notes are F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E …… 1 flat

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G Major Notes are G, A, B, C, D, E, F# …….1 sharps

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A Major Notes are A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#........3 sharps

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B Major Notes are B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#.......5 sharps

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When you learn about the Circle of Fifths and see how the wheel is laid out similar to a clock you will have another tool to enhance your guitar playing. The Circle is able to tell us how many sharps or flats are in a given scale. And from here we are able to determine what family of chords also goes with the Key Signature Chord. This will soon be demonstrated for you.

There are guitar players who play great music and they never learned any serious guitar theory and they have great feel so what is up with this phenomenon? Many of them think learning this ―guitar theory‖ stuff is a waste of time. My hat is off to these cats that can play almost anything by ear but then there are the rest of us. We can either be like them and struggle to understand what chord is being played in a progression or have no idea how to construct an original song.

You might run into resistance when you tell other guitar players tell you are learning guitar theory. However, I can assure you that a bit of guitar music theory does wonders to your guitar playing. Instead of memorizing a lot of guitar chord diagrams, theory gives you a shortcut. You'll know how chords are built, what makes a chord major or minor and how you can construct your own guitar chords. Learn a little bit of theory and save a lot of time and needless effort.

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CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

When you hear the term, ―each one of the major scales is progressing up a fifth,‖ we are talking about the Circle of Fifths. This is why we learn the term tetra chord. Because when we learn the Circle of Fifths and we start on C Major and go up the scale. We play the scale and then notice that after we have finished the tonic tetra or the first four notes of C D E F we then come to the note of G. It is the dominant note of C Major and this now becomes the first note of the dominant tetra chord or the fifth from which we determine the second Key Signature on the wheel (Circle of Fifths). This is the pattern all the way around the wheel.

This image of the Circle of Fifths should be imprinted into your brain.

Look at the Circle as a clock. It revolves around C Major and it helps us

understand the nature of scales and chord progressions. Soon in this guitar guide, you will know why to learn this part about music theory.

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This is the Key Signature for F and we know from the Circle of Fifths that there is one flat and that is Bb.

Remember this brief explanation of the Circle of Fifths because we will be coming back to it shortly. In the meanwhile let‘s cover some material that I am sure that you are familiar with, and that is the Pentatonic Scales.

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CHAPTER 10: MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC SCALES

he Pentatonic Scales are most widely used scales in modern music. They are probably in your repertoire to some degree at the present. When you are finished with this chapter you will have a much better grasp of the 5 basic shapes and the nature and use of these scales. I will do my best to explain them in a very concise manner.

―Penta‖ comes from the Greek word FIVE and ―Tonic‖ comes from the word tonal. The Pentatonic Scales that we learn and play have only 5 notes as opposed to the Diatonic Scale made up of 7 notes. Knowing our major scales helps us to understand how to construct the Pentatonic Scale positions all over the guitar neck. Also, these Major and Minor Pentatonic scales are very unique in that when their positions shift or are transposed they are interchangeable from a Major scale to a Minor scale or vice versa.

The Major Pentatonic is a scale with only 5 notes in which the 4th and the 7th degrees are removed from the Major Diatonic Scale. It is that simple.

The Minor Pentatonic is a scale in which the 2nd and the 6th degrees are removed from the Major Diatonic Scale. However, the mino sound of the scale requires that the 3rd degree is flatted along with the 7th degree being flatted.

The Major Pentatonic Scale is built on intervals

R-2-3-5-6

The Minor Pentatonic Scale is built on intervals

R-b3-4-5-b7

T

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It would be great for you to practice your Pentatonic Scale exercises by working on

the fretboard chart identifying the Root, flatted 3rd, 4th, 5th and flatted 7th

You can memorize these scales or you can learn how to construct them all over the neck. The choice is up to you. I will show you the five positions of the A Major and the A Minor Pentatonic in the fretboard charts. Then you can figure out how to make these shapes work for you and for all of the other Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales in the different Keys.

Guitar legends have been made from these scales. Some of the greatest solos ever heard come almost exclusively from either the Major or the Minor Pentatonic. It is my suggestion that if you really want to get the hang of the Pentatonic Scales usage it would be great for you to learn the way that Chuck Berry pioneered them in his classic song, Johnny B. Goode.

The Blues Scale can really be seen as a Pentatonic with the ―passing‖ blues notes.

LEARNING TABLATURE

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Tablature is a great way for guitarist to learn to play solos. When one is dependent upon this method of learning guitar riffs and licks, it sometimes can hinder a person from really learning the guitar neck. Combining Tabs with Music Theory would be the way to go. Then the full nature of the scales can be utilized. However, Tablature is a wonderful tool to allow people to learn to play the lead patterns of great music.

The good news about the Pentatonic is that it's one of the easiest scales to remember and it fits in just about everyone's style in some way or another. It's commonly used in rock, blues, country, jazz, folk, heavy metal, punk etc. When you get a better understanding of them and then you analyze what type of scale a guitarist is using you will see that often times it is the Pentatonic. One of the all time favorite lead solos in rock history is the one on ―Stairway to Heaven‖ by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page used an A minor pentatonic almost exclusively for the lead.

When it comes to learning to solo these are most probably the scales that you learned first. They are a box type in their shapes so they appeal to the logical deductive side of our brains. The patterns are also easy to recall and can be played as 2 notes per string as well. There are ample fretboard charts in this chapter so that you can work on the construction techniques as well as the memory exercises of their positions on the neck.

These scales are also easier to remember because there are less notes than the major and minor scales. Once again, the Major Pentatonic eliminates the 4th and the 7th of the major scale. Also, by eliminating the 7th it opens up options for you when soloing. The 7th note of the Diatonic Scale sets the flavor of the chord and in its absence the Major Pentatonic Scale can fit over more chord progressions.

Every single Major Pentatonic scale for every single Key Signature follows the same pattern:

Whole step - Whole step - Whole step and a half - Whole step - Whole step and a half

W ... W ... W + H ... W ...W + H

An awesome task for you would be to become familiar with the notes that are in each of the Major Pentatonic Scales. It would be great for you to memorize or learn the Major Pentatonic scale for each of the keys A through G. Provided for you is a chart that shows every key's major pentatonic scale.

Let‘s start with the A Major Scale and look at the notes that comprise it.

A B C# D# E F# G

To make an A Major Pentatonic we eliminate the 4th degree which is D# and the 7th degree which is G# thus leaving us with a scale of

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A B C# E F#

Let‘s take a look at the notes that are played in the Major Keys of

A B C D E F G

Root 2nd 3rd 5th 6th

A B C# E F#

B C# D# F# G#

C D E G A

D E F# A B

E F# G# B C#

F G A C D

G A B D E

It is interesting observe that the Pentatonic Scales of C, F, and G have no sharps.

This awareness is made possible by using this type of guitar enhancement guide. These

Pentatonic Scales can be played over the Major chords of C, F, G. These are also the I-IV-V

chords in the Key of C Major. Try playing these three chords in a progression and see if the

C Major Pentatonic Scales can be played over all three chords. It should, because these

chords all have the natural notes of C Major.

Here are the notes for these Minor Pentatonic Scales

Root b 3rd 4th 5th b7th

A C D E G

B D E F# A

C Eb F G Bb

D F G A C

E G A B D

F Ab Bb C Eb

G Bb C D F

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One of your goals should be to learn the Major and Minor Pentatonic in every key over the entire fretboard. Also, as you play them, pay particular attention to the difference in sound between the two scales. The Major Pentatonic has a sweet, almost country flavor to it. The Minor Pentatonic has a darker, more blues sound to it. Knowing this difference in sound will help you to match your playing to the flavor of the chord progressions that you enjoy.

The great thing about learning the pattern of the Minor Pentatonic shape (5th fret) of Am is that this can be used over an A Major Chord. For instance, since the relative Minor of C Major is Am, then a solo over the Am pentatonic can be used over a song that is in the Key of C Major. The reason being is that C Major and A Minor share the same notes and they are in the SEVEN chord family.

The two scales of the Major Pentatonic and Minor Pentatonic are related. That is because each Major Pentatonic shares the same notes with its relative Pentatonic Minor Scale. It has to do with the understanding of Relative Major and Minor scales and chords. Since these scales share the same notes the same is true about the Pentatonic Scales.

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This Major Pentatonic and Relative Minor Pentatonic Scale chart is a must to memorize.

The study of the Circle of Fifths helps to identify the Relative Major to the Relative Minor thus helping to understand this chart and then being able to apply the knowledge directly to enhanced guitar playing skills.

Major Pentatonic Scale Relative Minor Pentatonic Scale

A F#m

B G#m

C Am

D Bm

E C#m

F Dm

G Em

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A Minor Pentatonic slides down three frets to the Relative Major Pentatonic of F#m

Here is your Pentatonic Scale Exercise: Work the Major Pentatonic of E at the 12th fret and then transpose it to its Relative Major Pentatonic. Do you know which one that is? It is on the chart on the previous page. It is C#m. The secret is to slide the whole E Major Pentatonic shape down three frets to the 9th fret (C#m) and here you have the relative Minor Pentatonic which is C#m.

THE PEN WORKS THE BRAIN IN THESE EXERCISES

E Minor Pentatonic Scale at the 7th fret and the 12th fret

This A Minor Pentatonic Scale at Position 2 is also a C Major Pentatonic Scale

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The scale of the A Minor Pentatonic is able to be played over a C Major chord. Can you figure out why this is so? Look at the notes in this scale. The 6th string, 8th fret is C. The rest of the notes in this scale are all natural ones and they are able to harmonize with the chord of C Major nicely. Can you see what happens if you move this shape down three steps or frets? What type of Pentatonic does it become? The answer is A Major Pentatonic. These fretboard charts work!

A Major Pentatonic At The 5th Fret And The 9th Fret Positions

Can you find other positions to play A Major Pentatonic on this fretboard chart? The more that you practice these exercises the better you will access these pentatonic scales when you play your guitar.

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This way of determining the transposing of the A Major Pentatonic works as well. If

you do not know music theory you can still logically deduct where the next shape should be

just based upon knowing where octaves and roots are located and how to transpose the notes

down five steps on four of the strings and four frets on one of the strings.

Transposing down five frets from the A string to the E string or from the D string to the A string is indicated by the connecting lines on the previous fretboard demonstration. The G string transposes down 5 frets to the D string too. The B string notes transpose down 4 frets to find the ―unison.‖ Remember that this term unison means that the notes have the same tone or frequency.

Now that you are seeing the fretboard on its side, see if you can identify the places to play A Major Pentatonic on this fretboard chart.

On the fretboard below let‘s see you figure out the D Minor Pentatonic scale staring at the 5th string, 5th fret. You have not seen this shape in this guitar enhancement guide, however you should be able to figure it out by using your knowledge of how to construct Minor Scales and the rules that are used to construct a Minor Pentatonic. It does not matter where you are on the fretboard. Pentatonic Scales can be constructed anywhere. Refer to the charts already provided if you need help. It also helps if you have your guitar handy to work your way through this exercise.

D Minor Pentatonic

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Bb Minor Pentatonic at the 6th fret

On this fretboard exercises think about the pentatonic scale that you can use on the solo of Johnny B. Goode. It is considered a ―blues scale.‖ It really is a combination of a Bb Minor Pentatonic and a B Mixolydian mix. As you experiment with playing over 7th chords you will find a great sound by combining these two scales.

Work the fretboard charts on a regular basis and with the improved knowledge of the fretboard you will be flying all over the neck.

Memorize the fretboard in chunks at a time so that you know where your root notes are located. From there you can slip right into a pentatonic scale and play with confidence. Circle the notes that make up the E Minor Pentatonic starting at the 12th fret. Look for the pattern of natural notes and you will discover that there are no #‘s in this scale.

What scales can Em pentatonic be played over? The answer is G Major. This way of discovering the guitar neck will outdo spending countless hours fooling around on the guitar without a clue about what you are really learning.

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At this point let‘s address the concept of the Blues Scales. They are really scales with a

chromatic blues notes inserted. On this diagram create an A Minor blues scale by inserting

an extra note on the 5th string, 6th fret. This note is D#. The other blues note in this A

Minor blues scale is the octave of the D # and that note would be at the 3rd string (G) and

the 8th fret. From these instructions see if you can construct this ―blues scale.‖

A Minor Blues Scale

Deep Practice and Perfect Practice produce great results

Remember when you are playing the Pentatonic Scales do not cheat and let the pinky finger get left behind. There are lots of people who play lead guitar with only three fingers. Even though they might develop a nice sound and have great feel and tone they are hindering their overall development.

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The theory behind enhancing talent manifestation at your guitar and musical

instruments in general is that super slow movements that are perfect in their execution get

hard wired into the deep strata of the motor cortex. When you get down into the 4th, 5th and

6th layers of the cerebral cortex (Chapter 2 of WBP) you are really getting into the

subconscious layers of the thinking brain. The movements become so automatic when you

begin to speed up the performance into real time you can sound like a virtuoso. So do it the

proper way even if it takes you longer to learn. Your friends will be blown away by how good

you get at guitar.

On the other hand, one of the secrets to developing speed at moving horizontally up and down the fret board is to relax the pressure of the thumb against the back of the neck. This ―touch‖ is something that you will develop over time. Perfect practice makes for great guitarists. Get in the habit of alternating your picking techniques by making sure that you are going from down stroke to up stroke. The exception is when you are changing from one string to another and you want economy of movement and time.

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THE FIVE MAJOR SHAPES OF THE MAJOR AND MINOR PENTATONIC SCALES

A Minor Pentatonic Scale at fret 5

A Minor position at the 8th fret

This is A Minor at the 10th fret

A Major Pentatonic at 9th fret

Position 1 of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale is played at the 5th fret.. This shape also can become a Major Pentatonic by moving it to another position on the guitar neck. Take this shape and move it 3 steps down where the pinky is playing the A note and we now have A Major Pentatonic.

Position 2 of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale is played at the 8th fret, 6th string. This same shape moved three fret down would be an A Major pentatonic. These 5 shapes are movable up and down the fretboard.

Remember the pattern on the 6th string always matches the pattern on the 1st string. They are the same notes in the scale and two octaves apart from each other. These scales can over lap each other and you can move horizontally through the Pentatonic Scales as well.

If this position Four started at the 9th fret what kind of Pentatonic Scales would it be, Major or Minor? This would be an A Major shape starting at C#. The third degree of the Major Pentatonic is C#. Play this scale over an A Major chord and it fits like a glove. What other minor chord will this scale work with? How about F# Minor?

If this position 5 of the Pentatonic Scale is an A Minor it would be at fret 15. The reason is because the 7th degree of A Minor is G. Thus this scale starts at the note of G on the 15th fret.

If this position 5 of the Pentatonic Scale is an A Minor it would be at fret 15. The reason being is

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UNDERSTANDING HOW TO CONSTRUCT THE 5 SHAPES OF A MINOR PENTATONIC

It is nice to be shown the five positions of the Pentatonic Scales and memorize them. However, it is much better to know the theory behind the construction of these Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales.

To construct an A Minor Pentatonic Scale, start at the root (A) which is on the 5th fret and then use the shape that you have been given. You should be able to figure it out on your own if you use the formula that fits all minor pentatonic shapes. That one is:

Root, throw out the 2nd degree, flat the 3rd, 4th degree, 5th degree, then throw out the 6th and flat the 7th.

Now here is the secret to play all five positions.

Position 1 is at the 5th fret. We should have this one locked into memory.

Here I will demonstrate how to figure the positions of the 2nd Minor Pentatonic position of A Minor. Note: When playing the A Minor pentatonic scales the first note of the scales do not always start on the root of A.

Position 2 of A Minor Pentatonic is at the 8th fret. The note is C, which is the flat 3rd of A. Here are the notes for the scale of A;

A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#

This note is C. Why is this so? If you look at the scale of A Major above it says C#. Remember we are going to flat the 3rd to make it C for this A Minor Pentatonic Scale. This 2nd position pentatonic scale starts from the note C which is the b3rd. Then we play the 4th (D), the 5th (E), the b 7th (G), the root (A octave), the b3rd (C), the 4th (D), the 5th (E), the b 7th (G) the Root (A), the b 3rd (C), and the 4th (D).

Teaching a man to fish

We have made it across 6 strings and each string has two notes played. There are 12 notes played on this position. It is also to remember that the 6th string and the 1st string are containing the same notes and this is true for the entire Major and Minor Pentatonic scales. This is a lot of work for me to demonstrate and for you to assimilate but I believe that you are getting the hang of it now. I will not write out a detailed explanation of each pentatonic position for you but I will leave it up to you to explore the manner in which they can be constructed. It is like the old saying; ―You can give a man a fish or you can teach him to fish.‖ As you tackle the challenge of learning to build pentatonic scales all over the fretboard your freedom to solo will go off the charts.

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POSITION 3 OF THE A MINOR PENTATONIC STARTS AT THE 10TH FRET (D)

The reason is because the 4th degree of A is the note D and this A Minor Pentatonic Scale starts on the 4th degree. The pattern always stays the same. Eventually you will hear the ―pentatonic sound‖ and you will realize whether or not the notes you are playing are the ―RIGHT‖ notes.

FRETBOARD CHARTS TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE PENTATONIC SHAPES

Just for kicks fill in a couple of positions of A Minor Pentatonic Scales

It is interesting that a lot of playing of riffs happens between the positions of the 12th and 15th fret. Do you think that some of the greatest leads and riffs ever recorded in rock n roll music that are played in this position on the guitar neck, have something to do with the notes of the Major and Minor Pentatonic scales being mostly natural notes? Think about it for yourself. In the area between the 12th and the 15th fret there are 24 possible notes to play and of those options, 17 notes are natural and only 7 notes are #‘s. Does this pattern exist at other places on the neck? These questions are the result of curiosity and experimentation.

As you begin to use the paper to pen technique, you will start to discover the guitar like never before in your playing days. The beautiful thing is that you are improving without even touching the guitar at this moment. How could this be possible? It is because you are reading this ―shortcut‖ guide to better fretboard knowledge. This in turn allows you to know the chords and the scales that you are playing with the spatial map of the guitar firmly established in your hippocampi.

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IT’S YOUR TURN TO WORK THE MAGIC WITH THE PEN AND DISCOVER

YOUR PENTATONIC POSITIONS.

Think about a favorite song that you enjoy playing, and then create the perfect pentatonic riff that will work over the chord progression of that song.

FRETBOARD EXERCISES WILL ELEVATE YOUR PLAYING

These exercises help with visualization and formation of permanent memory of the scales that you are interested in mastering. Give it time to work for you and it will be off in a big way.

A MAJOR PENTATONIC SHAPE USING THE A MINOR SHAPE

On this fretboard chart look at the way that the A Minor ―shape‖ can be used for an A Major Pentatonic. The secret is to side the whole pattern down three frets. Now the A Major Pentatonic position can be played where the (A) starts on the 6th string, 5th fret. Remember the pinky finger should be placed at the 5th fret. The other name for this scale would be F# Minor Pentatonic. The root of this scale is F#.

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THE INTERCHANGEABLE PENTATONIC SCALES

This method of working these fretboard charts will help you have a fantastic understanding of the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales. This A Minor Pentatonic shape slides down three frets to take on an A Major Pentatonic shape. It technically is called F# Minor Pentatonic. The relative Minor of A Major is F# minor, so the scales have the same notes. We have learned this from our study of Music Theory.

E MINOR PENTATONIC

On this fretboard chart, find the E Minor Pentatonic at the 7th fret 5th string and at the 12th fret 6th string.

B Minor Pentatonic

On this fretboard chart, find the B Minor Pentatonic at the 7th fret, 6th string. Then chart out the B Minor Pentatonic starting on the 5th string and at the 14th fret.

These are some of the positions that David Gilmore of Pink Floyd uses in his solo on the masterpiece, Comfortably Numb.

To close this chapter, see if you can give a summary of what you have learned about Pentatonic Scales. On the space provided, please write out briefly what you know about constructions of both Major and Minor pentatonic scales.

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THE SUMMARY OF PENTATONIC SCALES EXERCISE

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PENTATONIC SCALES SHAPES IN FIVE POSITION

To close this chapter and see what you have learned, demonstrate your understanding of the five shapes of the Pentatonic Scales. Take notes and act as though you are teaching a beginner the method of constructing the Pentatonic Scales.

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CHAPTER 11: THE MODES OF THE DIATONIC SCALE

t this point it will be a good time to explain the different modes of the Diatonic Scale. My system is called ―I‘D PLay eM AL‖ (PEG SYSTEM). This correlates to the 7 modes of the scale and how it works off the Diatonic Scale. Learning the SEVEN MODES starting from C Major is where we will begin.

These patterns that you will master can be transposed all over the neck. Those modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. My acronym is I'd play em all. The Ionian is the major scale and is sounded out as in do re me fa so la ti do. This sounding out of the Major scale is called Solfège.

The explanation is simple if you understand that the Dorian is the pitch of the second note in the C Major scale and that note is D is now the root note or TONIC or RE. Sing out the scale of DO RE ME FA SO LA TI DO (Ionian). Now sing out the scale of RE ME FA SO LA TI DO RE (Dorian). Please do this exercise with your guitar. You will hear the same notes but each scale has its own mood.

Notice that the pitch is not the same as the Major Scale of C and it has a scale or Mode (Mood) that goes better with a minor chord. The note D is now the tonic of this scale. When a chord is constructed it will be D F A and thus results in a minor triad or minor chord. This chord is Dm. You will find that the D Dorian scale has a minor quality to it and fits nicely over the chord Dm.

Let‘s begin our overview lesson with the 7 modes of the Diatonic Scale. The Greeks developed the system by which our modern music is established. They realize the moods of the Major and minor scales could be broken down into 7 modes. These modes are named

Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian

I ’ D P Lay eM A L.

Or my acronym would be I’d Play Em Al

A

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Please write out the seven names of the seven modes of the diatonic scale and the way that the acronym can be used to remember them in sequence. Notice that the capital letters stand for each for these seven modes. Again write out the sentence and put these modes to memory. Soon we will learn which ones will be called into action.

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At this point I really want you to get inspired to learn this part of music theory because

it will release you from the bondage of playing box pattern scales where you feel constrained

especially when having the opportunity to solo. By learning in order; first the major scale

(Ionian) and being able to play it on any major key you will start the journey into playing nice

solos. As you master the Major Keys it is important that you explore the options of the

Seven Modes of the Diatonic scale. Not only will you have a great understanding of the

Major and Minor Pentatonic scales you will also have an expanded repertoire of scales to

synthesize into your playing.

Next is a sample of my penmanship that is increasing my knowledge of Guitar Theory. This intense brain exercise works for anyone. Try it yourself.

The discipline of writing out by long hand (penmanship) the ―new information‖ regarding music theory is going to increase your brain power and simultaneously improve your dexterity at playing the guitar.

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I encourage you to practice this discipline every day. Note that when we are learning the Major scales we want to be able to play them all and at 5 Positions. We will learn the Major Pentatonic and Minor Pentatonic positions in the same manner. Then when you get the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian modes mastered and then integrate them into the solos that you play, the variety with your playing will astonish you and others.

This is when the WBP guitar training will start to pay off for you. This occurs because your memory is much improved and you are not intimidated by learning guitar theory and the manner in which it can be readily applied to your musical aspirations.

Let‘s really get down to learning the seven modes of the Diatonic scale. We already have our major scales under our belt. Now let‘s realize that for all purposes there are certain scales that we will be learning that will have more importance for you than others. The most commonly used scales for our purposes would be the Ionian, the Dorian, the Mixolydian and the Aeolian.

The modes of Phrygian, Lydian and Locrian are still important scales but for this guitar enhancement guide we will not be spending time with these because of time constraints. However, because of the way that you are training at this program you will have the knowledge to figure out PHRYGIAN, LYDIAN and LOCRIAN Modes on your own.

THE DORIAN MODE

The modern D Dorian mode is a strictly diatonic scale corresponding to the white keys of the piano from "D" to "D". It has the ascending pattern of:

Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step or simply;

w-h-w-w-w-h-w.

It can also be thought of as:

Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semitone – Tone

T-S-T-T-T-S-T.

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Examples of the Dorian mode include

• The D Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the C major scale starting on D.

• The G Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the F major scale starting on G.

• The E Dorian mode contains all notes the same as the D major scale starting on E

See if you can write out the Dorian modes in the Major Keys of A, B, F and G. Space is provided for you.

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Use your powers of observation and realize that the Dorian mode is symmetric, indicating that the pattern of tones and semitones (T-s-T-T-T-s-T) is the same ascending or descending. Soon we will be having you playing this mode in your sleep. For now, approach this guide with a serious attitude and do the drills and write down the things that you are discovering as often as you see fit.

D DORIAN SCALE FRETBOARD EXERCISE

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Work the fretboard charts as often as you can because this ―outside of the box‖ training will allow you to solo wit

h tremendous confidence. As you work the charts and take notes on this information it is going to get downloaded into your brain and it will stay with you as well. Now when you have a chance to solo over a Dm chord you might remember that you can use the D Dorian scale. And because you have knowledge of the D minor pentatonic you might blend the two scales into a rather tasty bluesy lead pattern. This is where the WBP guitar training takes effect.

Work the fretboard charts from the sideways position. This is how you see the neck. Make another Dorian Scale pattern from the 10th fret and try the three notes per string method of moving up the scale.

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We've established earlier that you can play a Dorian mode on a minor chord, to give you a specific sound. Now, since we know that the Dorian mode is simply a major scale starting on the second note, we know that we can use both scale patterns to give us a Dorian sound. For example, let's say we wanted to solo over an A minor chord using an A Dorian mode. We know also know that A Dorian = G major, so we know that we can use the G major scale to solo over that A minor chord. We are also able to use an A Dorian scale to solo over a G Major chord.

The above applies to all major scales - the Dorian mode starts on the second degree of any major scale. The D Dorian mode comes from the C major scale, the G Dorian mode comes from the F major scale, etc. If we were to write out the notes in the above scales, here is what we'd find: the G major scale has seven notes G A B C D E F# (each of which are repeated). The A Dorian Scale has the notes A B C D E F# G. Notice that both scales share exactly the same notes. This means playing a G Major Scale or an A Dorian Scale will result in the same notes being used however the A Dorian has a Minor sound to the scale. Soon I will show you the way that you can identify the minor quality to the mode with a simple formula.

There are fun ways to practice the Dorian Scale. One can jump from the scale of C major to D Dorian and create a beautiful sound. If you are aware of the chord changes in a song and you learn to solo over the chords and move from one mode to the other (Dorian to Ionian). It is fun to practice. Let‘s start with the chord of C Major and play D Dorian with it. We are essentially playing the same notes but we are getting a completely different sound. One can make a run up the scale of D Dorian then come back down the scale in C Major. Thus D Dorian can be played when the song is in the Key of C Major and the C Major can be played over the D Minor chord.

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THE DORIAN FRETBOARD CHART EXERCISES

On this page the drills are to take the fretboard charts and really get the Dorian Scales wired into your memory. Each chart should be filled in with the Dorian Scales.

A DORIAN SCALE

Start at the 6th string and the 5th fret and find A Dorian up through two octaves. Then create another A Dorian from the 5th string 12th fret.

E DORIAN SCALE

Start this scale at the 5th string, 7th fret and move the pattern through two octaves. Find another section of this fretboard to play E Dorian.

DORIAN SCALE

Make a run of G Dorian starting on the 6th string and the 3rd fret. Move up on this run playing three notes per string up through two octaves.

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The drills that you have done on this page will immediately translate into a greater awareness of the potential that the fretboard has to offer. Play these Dorian scales over the minor chords that are the Key Signature of so many songs that you hear. You will be amazed at how good your solos will sound.

Once you've got the Dorian Scale locked solid in your memory, you can start trying to improvise using the Dorian/Major Scale patterns. Soon your fingers will have a mind of their own. Get a backing track off YouTube and practice playing your G major/A Dorian scale positions over your creations. Spend a lot of time with this and be intuitive and creative. Try mixing it up a bit with scales from the A Minor pentatonic, the A blues scale, A Dorian, or A Mixolydian.

MIXOLYDIAN MODE

The determination can be derived from the Circle of 5ths

Where Does the Mixolydian Scale Come from? It comes from the fifth degree of the Major Scale. For instance if we use C Major and we move up 5 degrees, we are at the note G. So the pattern of notes will be the same as the C Major Scale but now the tonic (root) note is G and there is a distinct difference in the sound of this scale.

Once you start to do the fretboard exercise with the Mixolydian Scales you will recognize that the A Mixolydian scale is really just an A7 arpeggio with some passing tones installed between the chord tones. This is an awareness that will happen to you because of the way you will be training your brain. Then to be able to learn Music Theory, a study which most people think is difficult information, will be a rewarding experience for you.

Then once you ―get it‖ you will start to play a blues song and immediately slide into a scale that compliments the sound of the A7 chord. It is this arpeggio sound that is the backbone of the chord and this is the dominant chord and you will dominant with your playing. So when you are jamming to a chord progression of a I-IV-V and you are in the Key of D Major you should be well aware that an A Mixolydian scale is a perfect fit for the song. When the dominant A7 chord rolls around and builds the tension in the song you will be able to go beyond the predictable ―Pentatonic sound. You will have the arpeggio sound that the Mixolydian has. Now let‘s look at the notes in the Mixolydian scale and compare them to D Major:

Notes in D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#

Notes in A Mixolydian: A, B, C#, D, E, F#,

Notice that the notes in each of these groups are the same. The difference is that each group starts and ends on a different note.

The Mixolydian scale is another example of a mode. Notice the word ―mode‖ and realize that it implies "mood.‖ Different modes produce different moods. The Mixolydian mode is a great for the blues. Maybe in the past you have always resorted to using Minor

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Pentatonic licks for your blues playing. Now you will have a whole new flavor with the Mixolydian Scale and you will be able to slide from one scale to the other in an almost seamless fashion.

Let me give you some real fun homework. Take one of the best training songs for your new found skills at combining blends of the old and new and learn the classic riff from the American Classic;

Johnny B. Goode

Chuck Berry is one of the most influential guitarists in the blues genre and he would certainly be proud to hear you do justice to his song. It is highly recommended that you learn the riffs that he uses in the main solo. By doing so, you will discover the integration of the Minor Pentatonic Bb and the use of the Bb Mixolydian. You must be aware that the Bb7 chord that is played is a perfect match with the Mixolydian.

Just get out your guitar and play the Bb7 chord and then look for the G string 7th fret (D) and this is the magic note that is necessary to play the solo. Well this note is not in the Minor Pentatonic and it is not a passing blues note either. Instead, it is the 3rd degree of Bb Mixolydian and that is an arpeggio note of the chord of the Bb7. Now with the blend of these two scales you can really play an awesome lick.

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Scale of G Mixolydian

You don't have to be restricted to using the Mixolydian just for blues playing. You can generally use a Mixolydian scale any place where you can use the dominant 7th chord that's based on the Mixolydian.

Now let‘s use the application of this information and utilize the Mixolydian mode. Let‘s say that we are in the Key of C and we are playing a chord progression of

C-Am-F-G-C or I-vi-IV-V-I

All of these chords are in the family of the key of C major. What dominant 7th chord goes with the key of C major? It would be G7. You can play a G Mixolydian scale on top of this progression and it fits like a glove.

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Notes in G Mixolydian: G, A, B, C, D, E, F,

If you're instead working with the chords A, D and G which are all in the key of D Major, you can use notes from the A7 chord, or A Mixolydian, for playing over the progression. This is because A7 is the dominant chord (V) in D major, and A Mixolydian is the mode or scale that emphasizes the A7 chord tones.

Notes in D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#

Notes in A Mixolydian: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G

Get the pen fired up again and get this information flowing to the paper ..You will be grateful that you did.

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Notice that the notes in each of these groups are the same.

he difference is that each group starts and ends on a different note.

The A Mixolydian Scale is the fifth mode of the D Major scale. This modern scale has the same series of tones and semitones as the major scale, except the seventh degree is a semitone lower. It looks like this;

A B C# D E F# G

T T S T T S

The Mixolydian Scales and the blues go hand and hand. That is because the 7th quality chords such as A7 or G7 are common for blues playing or the ―Blues Scales.‖ Actually, the blues scales are really Pentatonic Scales with passing chromatic blues notes. with the Mixolydian as well.

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ARPEGGIOS FOR THE BLUES

The arpeggios also work well with the blues. However, you don't have to be restricted to using these Mixolydian scales just for blues playing. You can generally use a Mixolydian scale any place where you can use the dominant 7th chord that's based on the Mixolydian.

For example, let's say you're playing this mini-progression: A, G, and D. All of these chords are in the key of D major. What dominant 7th chord goes with the key of D major? The answer is A7. Therefore you can play an A Mixolydian scale on top of this progression. Sometimes the A7 chord is the I chord but that does not matter because the blues has a property about them that allows for a bit more artistic license.

If you're instead working with the chords E, D, and A, which are all in the key of A major, you can use notes from the E7 chord, or E Mixolydian, for playing over the changes. You can do this because E7 is the dominant 7 chord in A major, and E Mixolydian is the mode or scale that emphasizes the E7 chord tone.

FRETBOARD EXERCISES WILL MAKE YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY LEAD GUITAR WAY BETTER THAN THOSE THAT DO NOT HAVE THIS

KNOWLEDGE.

There are always exceptions to the rule.

Here is an awesome thought to digest. Let‘s say that we are playing a song in C Major and you have this G Mixolydian Scale wired into your brain and you can play it ALL over the guitar neck, you will have a blast at playing a 12 bar blues with this knowledge. Remember that the 5th degree of C Major is G and the dominant chord in a blues progression is often G7. This G Mixolydian scale fits perfectly. Look for the Arpeggio of G-G-D on the fretboard. Can you find it?

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Here a fretboard chart that I have demonstrated for you. I identified the arpeggios from the G Mixolydian scale. It is now right here for you to practice on any time you have the urge. Keep on reading through this tutorial and come back to these pages when you are ready to build upon your arsenal of Mixolydian scales that you can access at will.

This G Mixolydian is a perfect fit over a G7 chord. This fretboard shows that you can hit all the arpeggios which essentially are the notes of the 1-3-5-7 of G7.

Mixolydian fretboard Exercises

B Mixolydian Scale

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F Mixolydian Scale

At the same time you are building this scale, identify the arpeggios as well.

Mixolydian Scale

On this page identify the notes of the G major scale. You can see the arpeggios because they will be the darkened circles. Refer to the way that I did this exercise for you. You will discover so much about the fretboard by taking the blank ones throughout this book and working out Major and minor scales all over the neck.

Mixolydian scale of your choice

Work your fretboard exercises for these charts in this guide and choose the Mixolydian Scales that you want to learn. See if you can find scales all over the neck and up through 3 octaves. Go back to some of the previous charts and apply yourself.

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Look for the CAGED system in this exercise as well. Can you see the 5 basic chord shapes of G E D C A? Remember that the order of the system is always the same and these shapes overlap each other as well. Practice the habit of taking a blank fretboard and identifying the notes of the Major Scales to identify the Root, 3rd, 5th and you will totally open up your awareness of the different chord voicings that you can use in your playing.

You will be surprised about how easily it is to utilize an arpeggio as you are playing the different scales you have learned.

Please write out in your finest penmanship the following sentences so that it becomes engrained in your hippocampus structure.

Work your fretboard exercises for these charts in this guide and choose the Mixolydian Scales that you want to learn. See if you can find scales all over the neck and up through 3 octaves. Go back to some of the previous charts and apply yourself.

See if you can identify notes all over the neck very quickly as though it is a subconscious decision.

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A Mixolydian comes from D Major

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B Mixolydian comes from E Major

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C Mixolydian comes from F Major

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D Mixolydian comes from A Major

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E Mixolydian comes from A Major

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F Mixolydian comes from B Major

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G Mixolydian comes from C Major

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MIXOLYDIAN SCALE EXERCISES WILL HELP YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY THE BLUES

Isolate Bb Mixolydian and you will have a great scale position to access when you play a song such as Johnny B. Goode. Work this exercise on the position of where you would play a Bb7 chord. This would most likely be at the barred 6th fret.

On these lines provided page give please give a brief explanation of what you have learned about the Mixolydian Mode and how it can be used in your playing of licks and riffs. Use your finest penmanship and prove to yourself that you understand the theory behind the Mixolydian Mode and its application. Remember that the best way to learn is to teach to others.

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THE AEOLIAN MODE

In modern usage, the Aeolian mode is the sixth mode of the major scale and has the formula 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7. From the point of view of its relative major key, the Aeolian tonic chord is the submediant minor triad (vi). For example, if the Aeolian mode is used in its all-white-note pitch based on A, this would be an A-minor triad, which would be the submediant in the relative major key of C. Aeolian is a wonderful sounding scale and fits beautifully over songs that are played in a Minor Key.

The Scale of A Aeolian

On the next page there are 4 fretboard charts where you can explore the use of Aeolian Scales. These scales have a great minor sounding flavor to them. Be creative and use the knowledge that you have acquired in this chapter to figure out where to play these scales at different positions on the guitar neck. Get backing tracks of any one of the many available on the internet and have fun soloing over these downloaded tracks that have a Minor Key Signature.

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FRETBOARD EXERCISES FOR AEOLIAN SCALES

On this page identify the notes of the Aeolian scales for the Key Signatures of songs that you play and then create Aeolian Scales for them. Try out scales for the chords of Am, Dm, Bm and Gm

A Minor Chord works well A Aeolian

Identify the notes of A Aeolian on this fretboard chart

B Aeolian

D Aeolian

I GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT TO DOING

THESE EXERCISE YOU WILL PLAY LICKS, RIFFS AND SOLOS AS NEVER

BEFORE.

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THE PHRYGIAN MODE

Phrygian Mode is also a Minor Mode and works really well on heavy metal

It is a relatively easy scale to play. This mode also is a minor sounding scale since it comes from the third position of the Diatonic scale. If we are using C Major then the third degree

Work this fretboard chart for B Phrygian

E

Phrygian Mode

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Now we can use the E Phrygian mode when we are playing over an E Minor chord. We also can use E Phrygian when we are soloing over a G Major Chord. Why is true? It is because Em is the relative minor of G Major.

The notes of E Phrygian are E-F-G-A-B-C-D and they also can be played over a C

Major chord. It will have a different sound (minor) than the scale of C Major but since we

know all of the relative chords that go with C Major we are safe to say that the Phrygian scale

Get out the guitar and practice making runs with the Phrygian mode. Watch great guitarists use this mode in speed metal. The mode of this type of music works well with this scale.

Give a brief description about what you know on the subject of the Phrygian mode as if you were teaching someone.

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THE LYDIAN MODE

THE FOURTH DEGREE OF THE DIATONIC SCALE

Lydian Mode is the 4th degree of the Diatonic Scale. It is a major scale with the 4th degree raised a semi-tone. For example, it is a C Major Scale with an F# rather than F natural. It has a Major sound to the mood that it creates. The triads built on the scale degrees of Lydian are major for the Tonic, Dominant and Supertonic. The triads built upon the remaining three scale degrees are minor and the subdominant is diminished.

WRITE OUT THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH AND IT WILL MAKE SENSE SOON

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Now as you build the Lydian Scale think about the information that you just wrote out. As you begin the Lydian on the Tonic F note be aware of the steps and the way that this scale has its own degrees that can be made into triads that will have a major or a minor sound.

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LOCRIAN MODE

The Locrian Mode is the7th degree of the Diatonic Scale. It has a diminished quality to it

and is used over diminished chords. For this tutorial we are going to show you the scale of

Lydian and give you some charts to practice on. See if you can use this scale and its ability to

be played with your music. You might find that there is not much use for this scale with your

style of music at this time in your playing of the guitar. This type of scale is used more in Jazz

with the diminished chords that are often used in a chord progression.

B Locrian

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CHAPTER 12: THE CAGED SYSTEM

he CAGED guitar system can be very useful to help you find your way around the fretboard. The system is based on the relationship between common major chords and major scale shapes. It is also a very useful method for visualizing chord tones across the neck of the guitar. If you can easily find the notes on the fifth and sixth

strings of the guitar then all it takes is a bit of practice with the CAGED system and you will be able to find any major chord tone very easily anywhere on the neck. There are two main things you need to learn. The first is the order of the chords always remains in the same sequence

It does not matter if you are starting from the C or if you were starting at G the order would be G E D C A because after the D chord it starts over again from the C. This will makes more sense when you can see the method that you will be exposed to in this guitar enhancement guide.

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THE FIVE MAJOR CHORD SHAPES

There are five major chord shapes on the guitar that are used in the CAGED System.

These are all the shapes of the Open Chords of C Major, A Major, G Major, E Major and

D Major. Because you already know how to play these open chords we are now going to

expand your guitar vocabulary and ability to harness voicings of the chords that are able to be

utilized with your guitar. Essentially this system brings you into unchartered territory on the

guitar neck. REMEMBER THE NAME:

C A G E D.

These shapes can be moved all over the neck. So essentially when one knows the triad

of all of the chords in all of the Major keys, the CAGED System opens up a whole new

universe for you. For instance, the chord of A Major can be played at the 2nd fret on strings

2, 3, and 4. This same frequency of notes can also be played at the fifth fret with a bar chord.

So you have already been playing the system but you never really knew it. As you get excited

about this ―secret‖ which of course is not so proprietary amongst great guitarists, you will

automatically improve your sound.

The five shapes of the Caged System work for all of the chords of all of the Major

Keys.

The bar chord is one of the positions of the CAGED system.

This is considered the E SHAPE.

In this photograph the bar chord for A Major is played. When you learn the Caged System you will learn to transpose the five basic chord shapes of the Major chords by using the overlapping shapes of

C A G E D

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This is the 5th position of C Major using the D shape.

THE CAGED SYSTEM IS:

PRETTY SIMPLE IF YOU WORK OUT THE FRETBOARD CHARTS AND ONE DOES THE ―PEN AND PAPER‖ WORK OR OTHERWISE IT WILL BE

CONFUSING TO YOU.

I took my WBP theory and practiced what I ―teach.‖ I drew a detailed illustration ―by the good old fashioned way. The very act of taking the time to use pencil, paper ruler and fine writing instruments helped me understand the system. Now I want you to experience the same way of learning through my methods. that you will see on the next page. That is why I am going to explain this chart for you and then you will be able to use the five shapes of the CAGED System. Looking at the graphics provided, you might be a bit disoriented. Relax, I will explain this Chart. We are going to find all five positions of the Key of A.

We start at position 1 which is at the 2nd fret. This is our first chord. That is the A shape. Then we find the second A chord and it is a G shape that you can see at the 4th fret. To make this A chord work, the 2nd fret needs to be made into a bar (you can use a Capo too). I have already shown you a photograph of this position. It is a pretty good stretch. The third A Chord position is a 5th fret bar chord. This is the E shape. The 4th A chord is located at the 9th fret. This is the D shape. The 7th fret needs to be barred. The 5th A chord can be found at the 10th fret. This is the C shape. The 9th fret needs to be barred in order to make this chord work.

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CAGED SYSTEM ILLUSTRATION

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery ©

Study the picture above and note how the five chord patterns overlap with each other. Once you get used to visualizing the CAGED chords across the neck like this you will find chord tones very easy. Don‘t forget the order stays the same; G will always overlap with E etc. The next diagram on the following page shows the same CAGED sequence starting from a different place to give you the idea.

For the CAGED System to work it is important to learn all of the notes on the fret board.

How are you doing in this note memory category? Do you believe that you might want to go back to some of the earlier memory training and get the 138 notes set to memory? You might want to get out your guitar at this time and practice putting your hands in a unusual position.. The five positions of the CAGED System certainly require your brain to adapt to the increased level of finger dexterity required to move into an elevated skill set. It is highly recommended that you use a capo and slowly but surely find these CAGED POSITIONS.

Before we go further do a quick refresher course on this fretboard for the memory to stimulate your hippocampi. Now go after this fretboard chart with greater enthusiasm because you know why the instantaneous access of notes on the guitar enables you to play way differently than the former model of yourself.

Time yourself to see how quickly you can fill in the chart. It is fine to stop at the 15th fret for this test. Are you ready for the challenge?

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Illustration by Michael J. Lavery

THIS EXERCISE IS EASY IF YOU FIRST FIND THE ROOT, 3RD AND 5TH

This exercise that I have done with the blank fretboard chart helps to locate the five positions that you can play F Major on the neck. This is a very important drill in learning the CAGED system. By learning the 5 positions of the F Major chord you will be identifying the basic shapes of the CAGED system

From there the CAGED system is used. In this case I knew that I was starting with the E Shape and that is the F Bar Chord. Then next pattern I look for is the D Shape. Follow the diagram and it will be smooth sailing for you.

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THE BEST FRETBOARD EXERCISES POSSIBLE

E A D G B E

Illustration by Michael J. Lavery

The CAGED System opens up the fretboard and your head for so many options of playing chords and lead patterns, arpeggios etc.

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Remember the sequence always stays the same and it spells CAGED. Just because an exercise starts with the E shape chord it still follows the sequence of letters;

E D C A G

Use the capo as seen in this photo to help really understand the system. The capo will be placed at the 1st fret the 3rd fret the 5th fret the 8th fret and the 10th fret. It is really easy to get once you have done the fret board exercises.

The Capo is very useful in understanding how the CAGED System works.

The capo really helps you to understand the caged system. Do you know what chord this is that I am playing? It is a D shape. What is the triad of this chord? It would be C E G. Therefore it is a C Chord with a D shape. This represents the last of the five positions that C Major is played using the CAGED System.

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Do you know what chord this is that is being played? It is a C Major in the D SHAPE. This is the 5th position of for the chord voicing of C.

The CAGED System also helps us with playing the Major Scales. It is easy to get used to the finding the chord tones anywhere on the neck as long as you can quickly find the root notes on the guitar strings. When you learn the major scale positions for the guitar it is a lot to have to remember. This gets even harder when you have to think about these positions in twelve different keys. By combining the major scales with the CAGED sequence of chords this task becomes much easier. By getting used to the relationship between the chords and the scales you will start to realize that remembering these scale positions and being able to find them in any key becomes a lot easier.

It is highly recommended that you work the fretboard charts and identify the Root, the 3rd and the 5th of each chord of the Major Scale. This then allows you to use the CAGED System to find the five positions that these chords can be played all over the neck. This discipline also helps in understanding where the arpeggios are located for the scales and riffs that one wants to play.

This next photograph shows the G Shape of the chord of A Major. Can you see why this is true? Let‘s look at the notes being played. They are A, C# and F#. These are the triad notes of the scale of A Major. We can use the Circle of Fifths to help us immediately identify the sharps of any scale and then we can construct the chord easily. Otherwise it is necessary to use rote memory to know all of these chords.

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The G SHAPE for the 2nd position of A Major requires a bar position at the second fret.

Study the diagrams below and practice playing with these chord shapes and scales across the fretboard. It might seem a lot of work at first but you will get used to it quite quickly. The CAGED guitar system is a great method to help you find your way around the neck so keep at it and in a few months you should playing the guitar without thinking.

• Start by locating the Root Notes of each of these familiar chords:

• Each set of root notes forms a unique movable Octave Pattern:

• By laying these five patterns out so that they overlap each other in the order that spells the word 'CAGED' we are able to chart every occurrence of any given note on the fretboard:

Once you finished all the basic theory and review of the chords chart lessons you‘ll know all guitar chords you need to know and what's more, you'll actually know what you are playing because you learned the music theory behind chords.

The CAGED System for the chord of A Major using the G SHAPE.

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Summarize in your best cursive writing what the Caged System is:

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LET‘S SEE YOU WRITE WITHOUT LINES. THE GOAL IS TO HAVE VERY LEVEL WRITING.

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CHAPTER 13: THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

he Circle of Fifths is such a wonderful tool to have in one‘s arsenal in the journey to playing great guitar. Why is this so? Because it ties so many abstract concepts together so perfectly. This musical theory system has been used for centuries to enable musicians to compose masterpieces.

Just imagine that you were a chemist and you had no knowledge of the Periodic Tables. It would not be easy for you to be effective at your career. From an outside perspective, it is common sense that a general knowledge of the Elemental Tables would need to be locked into the chemist‘s memory as well as the atomic weight of each element. Most probably a great understanding of the combining of chemicals would be very helpful as well. It certainly would make the chemist do better than not being educated about how chemicals react with each other.

Well, let us take your situation regarding your guitar playing and the desire for self improvement. Do you think that having this ―HUGE‖ piece of the equation is for you? Then if that is your feeling on the matter let us proceed.

This study is guaranteed to give you a better overall understanding of how the guitar works for knowing the proper notes in a scale or chords for any given Key Signature. This is all derived from the knowledge of the Circle of Fifths. In this guitar enhancement guide, I have provided you with illustrations of the Circle of Fifths and the hints to help you know how many sharps or flats are in any given key.

IF YOU CAN TELL TIME YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

As kids we were all taught how to tell time. This Circle of Fifths system that we are learning is very similar. The 12 o‘clock position is reserved for the Key of C Major. This is because ―C‖ has all natural notes. That means that the Key of C Major is NEUTRAL in that it has no sharps or flats. G is the second Key Signature going around the wheel from The Key of C and it has 1 #. Which sharp is it? It is F#. Where is F on the wheel in relation it G? It is at 11 o‘clock on the wheel. It is the first of the 7 Major keys on the wheel going in the clockwise direction. This direction is called the Circle of Fifths because above the ROOT is five degrees or in this analogy FIVE minutes from 12 o‘clock.

This is a pattern that the wheel takes and it is easy to learn when you know how to count and remember where the 5th degree of the scale of any given Key might be. In going the opposite direction on the wheel (counterclockwise) it is considered the Circle of Fourths. For all purposes though we will learn the basics of the Circle of Fifths going in the clockwise direction.

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THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

Rule of thumb for understanding the Circle:

5th below Root = 4th above Root

PRACTICAL WAYS TO PRACTICE USING THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

You also can grab your guitar at this point in the lesson and play C Major starting on the 5th string and play the scale to the 5th degree. This note is G. Now using G as the tonic (root) play the major scale out and name the notes as you play. They are G-A-B-C-D-E-F#. This is a great way to practice the Circle of Fifths. You can do the same with the Key of D. D is at the 2 o‘clock position on the wheel. How do we verify the position? Well is not D the fifth degree of the key of G? Can you tell what the notes of the scale are without looking at your guitar? The notes are:

D E F# G A B C#

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Write them out by hand at the present.

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We will be testing you in the workbook later so put this information to permanent memory.

Let‘s get back to our lesson on the Circle of Fifths. The 3 o‘clock position on the wheel is reserved for A and it has 3#‘s. Can you name them without looking at the wheel? The 3 #‘s are F#, C# and G#. How do you know that these are the ones? All you have to do is study the wheel a little bit and draw it out on your own and start to reconstruct it from scratch. Getting the guitar in your hands and playing the Major scale and singing the notes aloud can help more than you can imagine.

Now which chords will be the sharps ones in the seven chord family that are related to the Key of A? I just gave them to you. How are your hippocampi functioning? I am going to inspire you to stay the course here because there will be moments of enlightenment

when this understanding begins to click for you. The #‘s can be determined by referring to the wheel again and taking the F, C, G keys and making them the #‘s. They now can join the 7 member family of the Key of A.

The chords to determine the 7 chord family of A Major can be found by using the Circle of Fifth‘s Wheel and the formula of I-ii-iii-IV-IV-VI-vii dim and now the drum roll………The chords for A Major are:

A-Bm-C#m-D-E-F#m-G#dim

The Key of E has 4 #‘s and they are….F#, C#, G#, D#.

The formula gets us the 7 chord family of the Key of E Major to be:

E-F#m-G#m-A-B-C#m-Dim

This is when you have your guitar handy so as to play this and the rest of the chord sequences that you are learning from this Circle of Fifth‘s course.

Can you figure out the number of sharps in the Key of A Major and which ones they are? We already went over this key. Let‘s see if you can calculate the family of chords by using the information that you have been learning. Can you see where this type of training

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and. guitar theory might help you figure out songs as well aid you to construct you own songs

and chord progressions? As you continue to learn the ―wheel‖ it will always be there for you

for your entire career. That is why I encourage you to stay after this training and at the same

time do the assignments of filling in your own Circle Diagrams. As you get quicker at

figuring out the number of sharps that are in a Major Chord family you will then move on to

understand which chords go with the Flat Keys.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS PEG SYSTEM

Fat Cats Go Dine At Ernie’s Bistro

F C G D A E B

In the Major Scale Lesson, we learned that "key" refers to the starting note (root) of

the scale. "Key signature" simply refers to the number of sharps or flats that occur in each

key. No two major scales will contain the same number of sharps or flats, so scales can be

easily organized by key signature. G is the 5th note of C Major. It is also referred to as the

5th degree of C Major.

Look at the Circle as a clock with each position representing 5 minutes. So from C to G represents 5 minutes or 5 degrees. So G is at the 1 o‘clock position. D is at the 2 o‘clock position because it is 5 minutes away from G or 5 degrees away from the TONIC. Here is where originality and creativity comes into the equation and from this point it becomes automatic to know scales and chords and what sounds right from the EAR and what sounds right from the theory. When the two worlds synthesize it is beautiful.

These images below shows us the chords that go with the Key of C Major

It really helps to look at the G clef and see how the triads are actually stacked in proper musical notation.

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CIRCLE of FIFTHS

HERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO STUDY KEY SIGNATURES

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Here is the List of the Circle of Fifths or

Key Signatures

Write out in your best penmanship the information provided.

C is the 5th note of F Major. It has no sharps or flats. It is at the 12 o‘clock position

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G is the 5th note of C Major. It has 1# and it is F Sharp. It is at the 1 o‘clock position.

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D is the 5th note of G Major. It has 2 #‘s and they are F# and C#. It is at the 2 o‘clock

position.

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A is the 5th note of D Major. It has 3#‘s and they are F#, C#, G#. It is at the 3 o‘clock position.

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E is the 5th note of A Major. It has 4 #‘s and they are F#, C#, G#, D#. It is at the 4 o‘clock position.

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B is the 5th note of A Major. It has 5#‘s and they are F#, C#, G#, D#, E#. It is at the 5 o‘clock position.

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We are going to stop this drill for now and later we will take up the rest of the wheel as we discuss the movement in the counterclockwise direction. This is considered the Circle of Fourths and these Keys will be the ones with the Flats. It operates very much as the Circle of Fifths, however, the determination of the chords is now by the fourth degree instead of the fifth degree.

In this section we will be going over the diagrams of the Circle of Fifths and the manner by which we can know find the relative minor to any chord. I have taken notes around the Circle of Fifths and I encourage you to also practice this technique.

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On a bank piece of paper draw the circle on a regular basis as though you are teaching it to kids in elementary school. Look for the patterns and work on your dexterity as you split up the Circle of Fifth‘s pie. The goal is to make 12 equal slices so that we can now navigate around the wheel and get a feel for determining the progression of chords and which scales or lead patterns work over the chords that are in the songs you intend to play.

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

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THE WAY TO WORK YOUR BRAIN AND SOLIDIFY YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF KEY SIGNATURES

IS TO DRAW OUT THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS AND TAKE NOTES

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

―FAT CATS GO DOWN AND EAT AT ERNIE’S BISTRO‖

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Do you remember using this mnemonic device earlier in our training? I hope so, because this indicates that hippocampi structures are working to peak efficiency. The energy that goes into this ―outside of the box‖ guitar training is directed to building your guitar playing skills because it is no longer hit or miss when it comes to understanding how to make a song and its chord and scale progressions sound great!

You will begin to realize this when you take an original song that you have been working on and then analyze its chord progressions. Maybe all along you realized that something did not sound ―right‖ and now you know why.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL (NO. 1)

Show yourself that you can go to town on this blank Circle of Fifths and do it justice

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On this page take the two circles and use them to construct what you know about the Circle of Fifths. It helps if you use a ruler. Refer to the way that I took these circles and made my Wheel and the Key signatures as well as the number of sharps and flats as they go around the CLOCK.

Here are a few reminders for you. To find the names of the Keys from 11 o‘clock to 5 o‘clock, use the MNEMONIC DEVICE of Fat Cats Go Dine At Ernie’s Bistro. To move in the Flat direction or the counterclockwise direction remember that the WHEEL is now the Circle of FOURTHS. This means that C is NEUTRAL (NO SHARPS OR FLATS). F is 4 degrees from C and it has one flat. That flat is G b. Bb is at the 10 o‘clock position on the wheel and we know this because Bb is 4 degrees from F

To figure out the relative minor that should be on the inside wheel under the Major Key Signature create the 45 degree angle that we learned about. Remember C is at 12 noon and E is at 3 o‘clock. This is the 45 degree angle that we are looking for to find that A Minor is the relative Minor of C Major.

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL (NO. 2)

On this exercise for the circle of Fifths see if you can make the 12 slices of the pie and

identify the Relative Minors for the 12 Keys that go around the wheel. Remember about the

Enharmonic Keys. They are at the bottom of the Wheel. Refer back to the way that I took

notes around my Circle of Fifths diagram.

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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

To really make learning guitar songs worthwhile, one should be able to recognize common chord progressions. This is done first by knowing a little about recognizing keys.

We have seen that the basic guitar chords in the key of C major are as follows

C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim.

I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii dim.

This chord pattern is the same for every major key: Major-minor-minor-Major-Major-minor-diminished.

So in the key of D, the same sequence would look like:

D-Em-F#m-G-A-Bm-C#dim.

Let’s review the all star lineup of the Chord Family and how to understand Chord progressions.

The Circle of Fifths also tells us the family of chords that there are in each key and how many #‘s or (b)‘s that there are in each 7 chord family. For instance, since the Key of C has no sharps or flats then the family of chords that go in the Key of C would be deducted by using the formula of I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi (dim) and the chords would be C-Bm-Dm-E-F-Gm-Adim. This formula is determined by taking any Key and taking the triads of each scale of the 7 notes that comprise the scale. For example let‘s look at The Key of C Major. The Notes are:

C D E F G A B

So taking the second degree of C it is D. Now the D Scale has a triad that is comprised of the notes D F A which is a Minor third or the chord Dm. This is how we get the understanding of the formula mentioned above. Thus the second chord in the Key of C Major‘s family of 7 chords is a ii chord. Now let‘s look at the 2nd degree (the D note) of the C Major Scale: The triad is comprised of the notes:

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D F A

From D to D# to E to F is a minor third and from F to F# to G to G# to A is a major third thus we get the chord triad: D F A which is written:

1 b3 5

This results in a D Minor triad or Dm. D to F makes a minor third and F to A is a major third: this structure is typical for every minor chord.

REMEMBER the 5th degree is called the perfect 5th. This means that the 5th goes with a Major or a Minor Triad.

CHORD FORMULA FOR MINOR CHORDS:

I b3 5

Now write out this information by your best penmanship so that it sticks in your memory. I know that it might be confusing for you now but when you write it out and you count out the steps or semi tones you start to get the picture. This is making your right brain and specifically the frontal and temporal lobes very aware of the spatial intelligence required to become a good guitar player.

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Now to get this valuable information locked into our memory banks with the Circle of Fifths get out the pen and write out completely in your best penmanship the following paragraph.

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Starting with the Key of C at the 12 o‘clock position the determination of the next Key signature in the Circe of Fifths going in the clockwise direction is determined by taking the fifth note (perfect fifth) of the Key of C (G). This note which is the 5th degree of the Key of C is G and it is placed at the 1 o‘clock position. This Key signature of G has 1 sharp and that is F#. This equation works for the clockwise direction of the Circle of Fifths.

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To determine the Key signature at the 2 o‘clock position take the fifth (perfect 5th) of the Key of G and this note is D. Thus the Key of D is at 2 o‘clock and has two sharps in the 7 chord family. The #‘s for the Key of D are F# and C #.

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Now your homework is to figure out the Keys that fit at the 3, 4 and 5 o‘clock positions. You have the acronym F C G D A E B (Fat Cats Go Dine At Ernie’s Bar). Here is a helpful hint (you can predict that the Key of D has A for its 5th degree and therefore A is put at the 3 o‘clock position on the Clock. That means A has 3#‘s.

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The secret is to figure out where the sharps go within the 7 chord family. Please bear

with me because we are coming down the homestretch here. When we get this knowledge

locked into our brains the guitar is going to be much easier to understand. You will know or

be able to predict the chord progression of songs by understanding the Circle of Fifths. This

will help you figure out how to play other people‘s songs or construct nice chord

progressions for your own song writing aspirations.

CHORDS OF A SONG AND THEIR PREDICTABLE PROGRESSION

Now let‘s cover an interesting thought about the predicting of chord progressions. First we should review the 7 chords that are in the family of the Major Key. For all purposes we will choose the Key of C Major. There are 7 chords in this family and each one has an identity or personality. Chord 1 is the TONIC, the home chord or key to the song. Chord ii is the SUPER TONIC. In a Circle of Fifths chord progression the super tonic naturally leads to the dominant chord. So if we start with the C Chord in a song we are composing and then we choose as our second chord say A Minor (6th degree of the key of C) we then realize that Am should or could lead to V chord (G Major) (DOMINANT) and then most likely the progression will move on to the ii chord (Dm) and then back to the TONIC of C Major. Try it out on your guitar. It sounds pretty good! I bet that if you wanted to play a solo over this I-vi-V-I chord progression that the G Mixolydian would be a perfect fit. Again try it out with a buddy.

THIS IS WHY WE ARE LERARNING THIS GUITAR THEORY.

We will have a great sense of accomplishment when we can apply our solid guitar foundation, enhanced motor skill controls and memory improvement to our guitar playing.

Now we are going to put it all together and finish this project off in proper fashion. We are going to learn to play songs and make them work for a beautiful sounding experience. The knowing of what to do and being able to do it is a great feeling to experience.

Now at this time write out the styles of music you want to play. Make these affirmations. Write out in your best penmanship what you will want to be playing like in 90 days.

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CHAPTER 14: THE 12 BAR BLUES

et‘s learn the basics about the 12 Bar Blues. It is one of the most widely used chord progression in popular music including the blues. In its most simplistic form it is based upon the I, IV, V chords of a Key Signature. In music these are otherwise known as the ―Big Three.‖ The 12 bar blues is a great way for any guitarist to get into

being able to jam with other musicians. One of the easiest 12 bar blues progressions is the I-IV-V in the key of E Major. The chords are E-A-B and they can be played in the open position making it easy for even beginner guitarists. Technically these chords are:

E5 A5 B7

It is also a progression that is easy to identify, making it a good start for you. One should also be made aware that not all blues songs follow a standard 12-bar progression, and that there are many variations within the 12-bar blues framework. However, for this brief introduction we are only going to teach the most basic format.

The standard 12-bar blues consists of three lines, each with four bars, making a total

of 12 bars. It has what is known as an AAB structure. This indicates that the theme from the

first line is repeated with some alterations in the second line, and then a concluding theme is

introduced in the third line. Identifying the structure is a good foundation when you figure

out the chords to be played. Also, when playing the 12 bar blues you will see a heavy use of

7th type chords. These of course are in the family of:

A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7

If you play a 12-bar blues in E, a popular blues-key on guitar, you should learn to play

an E5 to A 5 chord to a B7 chord. This progression is the simplistic blues chord progression

to learn. The blues can be played in any key and as the term suggests it has a 12 bar measure

that works in its most basic form as follows:

Tonic (I) to the Sub-Dominant (IV) to the Tonic (I) to the Dominant (V) back to the Tonic (I)

Take a song in the Key of E Major and make a 12 bar blues progression and it looks like this:

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E5 E5 E5 E5

A5 A5 E5 E5

B7 A5 E5 E5

Another way to look at this chart is to see it as follows:

T T T T

S S T T

D S T T

T=TONIC

S=SUBDOMINANT

D=DOMINANT

To really make this 12 bar blues concept stick here is the last chart.

I I I I

IV IV I I

V IV I I

Now that we `know how to put a string of 12 bars together it is necessary to be able to connect them to another 12 bar measure. This is where the term 12 bar blues turnaround comes into the equation. So in this case the turnaround is a string of notes which usually is called a ―walk up‖ bringing us through the chord of the dominant V. For instance in this case when using the chords of E-A-B7 the V is the chord B7 and this is the one that we use in the turnaround. Think about the turnaround as a link that helps connect the next 12 bars in the song.

My suggestion is that you watch guitar instructors on YouTube explain this method of doing the turnaround. Once you get this new learned guitar procedure under your belt you will have so much more fun playing with other guitarists and musicians. A suggestion to practice is the 12 bar blues walkup turnaround. In simplistic terms it is a chromatic walk up. Play on the string, open A, the 1st fret A# and then the 2nd fret B note as you then strum on the V Chord of B7. From there you are ready for another 12 bar measure.

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Here is a really cool secret to playing the 12 bar blues and get your singing and timing

right at the same time. Be uninhibited and sing out the following. So here we go

You sing it out as in

One and two and three and four

And two and two and three and four

And three and two and three and four

And four and two and three and four.

Now raise the pitch of your voice on the IV chord and sing

And five and two and three and four

And six and two and three and four

Now we go back to 2 bars of the Tonic and sing

And seven and two and three and four

And eight and two and three and four

Now we head to the V chord and sing for 1 bar of

And nine and two and three and four

Head back to down for 1 bar at the IV chord and sing

And ten and two and three and four

Go to the I chord and sing for 1 bar of

And eleven and two and three and four

And we finish on the 12th bar with a turnaround and sing

And twelve and two and three and four

If you practice drills such as the one you just cruised through you will get smoother and more intense about the training because it really does the trick to get you to keep the time and the awareness of the changes throughout the 12 bar measure.

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Make a serious effort to master the ability to do the turnaround because it is

considered a shuffle between the different sets of 12 bars to move from set of 12 bars on to

the next ending passage from 1 set of 12 bars to another set of 12 bars. The ability to make

this transition makes all of the difference in the world. to awesome jam sessions.

There are lots of guitar teachers on YouTube to watch and learn these techniques. I have given you the very basics of the 12 bar blues and from here it is up to you to investigate the chord progressions and the tempo that you want to play this style of music.

What is the attraction to the Blues?

Lots of people love to play the blues because it is real down to earth music. It has humble roots in the hardships of life. It certainly did not originate in the upper class around the world. It appeals to our souls and touches are hearts and that is why we like to play it. This genre of music really allows for you the guitarist to put tremendous energy into it. It is filled with tension and really is about making a statement.

The Blues does not necessarily have a very stable harmonic structure. That is why this music has an edge or an attitude. It has the freedom to change keys. This modulation can be ever so subtle but it certainly makes for the mood of the music. By your understanding of the family of Seven Chords and the nature of the chords within them you will understand when the subtle modulation in a blues song occurs

Thus far we have talked about how chord progressions usually resolve themselves to the home chord...There sometimes can be two homes that you hang out at and in the blues there is often modulation to another key and a 12 bar measure will be played at the vacation home until it is time to get back to the main pad. Check it out for yourself and act as a detective and scrutinize the construction techniques of blues songs and see and hear the subtle modulations and how the influence the mood of the song.

CHANGING KEYS IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO LEARN

When you play a song and you know the chords that belong to a Major Key and you find yourself playing a chord that is not related to the Key of question, then you have modulated. It is that simple. And it is perfectly normal. There are countless numbers of great songs that change keys and this is why they are so appealing.

Here is part of the investigative homework. Be very inquisitive about a song that you have played on a regular basis and reverse engineer it in regards of the Key that it is played in and the chords that are in the composition. Do you see chords that break the rule of the formula for predicting the chords in a scale? Of course you do. What does this mean? The song has changed Major Keys. Which part of the song did it change keys? Most often times it was the bridge?

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―Supertonic‖ also refers to a relationship of musical keys. For example, relative to the key of C major, the key of D Major (or D Minor) is the Supertonic. Modulation (change of key) to the supertonic is relatively common and by far the most common modulation in modern types of songs.

To review at this point, we remember that the tone which the song is based is the I Chord. The V Chord is called the Dominant, The IV is the Subdominant. These are the most prominent chords of a Key family and they happen to be Chords for the I-IV-V progression that is the basis for most modern rock, blues, country and pop music. Follow along and get excited about writing down this information because it is the secret to unleashing your ability at playing the guitar with confidence as well as having the foundation to start writing your own chord progressions for jamming with friends or even creating your own backing tracks etc.

Write out at this time what you know about the I IV V chords and the equation for determining the natural and minor degrees of the family of chords.

Now is the time absolutely put this together and play the best guitar of your life.

This tutorial will show you that, because guitar chords for songs in the key of G include one sharp (G-Am-Bm-C-D-Em-F#dim), you can identify a song in the key of G by the single sharp on the staff:

This sharp note is F, so you will know, as you‘re learning guitar songs, that every single F note in the song will, unless otherwise noted, be F #.

If you were to play a major scale in the key of A, can you figure out how many sharps it would include? The notes of an A major scale are A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#. There are three sharp notes, so the key signature will include three sharps:

Now let‘s take a look at the nature of how to string chords together so that there is a

pleasing progression. Let‘s start this exercise with C Major and the first chord in a

progression is established. What shall my second chord be? It can be any one of the other 6

chords in the family. So let‘s review and work on the ―formula.‖

Write this out and get ready to apply it to a chord progression using C Major as the tonic and create a nice chord progression of your own by reviewing the family that you will be working from. The formula once again is

I-ii-iii-IV-V (dom)-vi-vii (dim)

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This equates to the chords of CMaj-Dm-Em-FMaj-G7-Am-B (dim)

Let’s Review and Finish Strong

The Circle of Fifths is also necessary to be able to

reasonably create the prediction of the chord progressions within a song.

Chord1→ to any chord

Chord 2→ to chord 5 (dominant)

Chord 3→ to chord 6 (minor)

Chord 4→ to chord 1 or Chord 5

Chord 5(Dom) → to Chord I

Chord 6→ to Chord 2

Now try out the formula for yourself and see if you can make it work for you. I will help you out and choose the chord progression by establishing the most important choice other than the tonic chord which again is in C Major. Let‘s try using Em (iii) for the 2nd chord in our progression. The next chord should be Am (vi) and then Dm (ii) and then on to G7 (V-Dominant) and then back home again to C Major.

This is a powerful formula for developing chord progressions and it must be stated that the 2nd chord is the determining factor in regards to how the rest of the chords play out in sequence. Realize that the resolution usually means that the song will get back to the home chord most of the time.

Here is a helpful hint when constructing chords for songs. Have your Circle of Fifths handy and when you choose the tonic (Key Signature) look at this chord as home base. As you construct the progressions realize the closest chords on the wheel to the tonic chord will most likely be used in the song and that the tendency is to leave home and go back home. So if we have the first chord at C and then next chord is G refer to the wheel and it is the neighbor of C. Then we might use the relative minor of C which is Am and that is easy to

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find. Look at the 3 o‘clock position and there it is. Draw out your circle by hand and now start to make all 12 slots on the wheel just as you are making a clock. You should know all the clockwise Keys in the circle of 5ths.

Look for the piece of the pie that creates a 90 degree angle and it is as simple as that. I am teaching you a bit of theory that most guitar players shy away from and now I have you plowing headfirst and at the same time. Hopefully, you are thirsty for more information. Remember when the circle goes in the clockwise direction it is the circle of Fifths. When it goes in the counterclockwise direction it is called the Circle of Fourths.

At the top of the Circle of Fifths diagram, the key of C has no sharps or flats. Starting from there and going clockwise by ascending fifths, the key of G has one sharp; the key of D has 2 sharps, and so on. Going counterclockwise from the top by descending fourths, the key of F has one flat; the key of Bb has 2 flats, key of Eb has 3 flats and the Key of Ab has 4 flats and the key of Bb has 5 flats and then the key of Gb has 6 flats. Notice that Gb and F# assume the same position on the Circle of Fifths. These are called Enharmonic Keys. Study the wheel and get these positions put to memory.

The Circle of Fifths is used in music theory to represent the relationship between Diatonic Scales. The numbers on the Circle of Fifths chart are related to the numbers on a clock. This is how to remember the sharps or flats in a key. If A Major is at the 3 o‘clock position it has 3 #‘s. The key of E is at 4 o‘clock and thus it has 4 #‘s.

Tonal music often modulates by moving between adjacent scales on the Circle of Fifths. This is because Diatonic Scales contain seven pitch classes that are contiguous on the Circle of Fifths. For this reason when one is constructing songs and creating chord progressions it is useful to refer to the Circle of Fifths. Chords on the wheel that are next to each often go well together in a song. It follows that in the Diatonic Scales, a perfect fifth apart, share six of their seven notes. Furthermore, the notes not held in common differ by only a semitone. Thus modulation by a perfect fifth can be accomplished in a very musical fashion.

It is suggested that you often draw the Circle of Fifths to really get the understanding of it wired into your hippocampus. Make a blank circle chart and fill it in and also makes notes for yourself as I am demonstrating for you.

In order to remember which order that the sharps and flats of a key signature are written, there are several mnemonics that can help. The order of the sharps is Fat Cats Go Dining At Ed’s Broiler. From this you can say that if you know the key of E major has four sharps, the mnemonic shows which sharps they are (F, C, G, D). The mnemonic for flats is Big Eddie Ate Duck Goose Cake Fast.

Here is a question for you to see if you are following the training. If the song that I am playing is in the Key of E Major which pentatonic scale would I solo with to achieve the greatest harmony?

The answer is C# minor pentatonic.

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C# minor is the relative minor of E major. The relative minor is always the best place to solo, and it is easy to find.

C# has its root note on the 6th string, 9th fret. I just used my knowledge of Relative Major to Relative Minor and take the 6th degree of the scale of E Major. Because I know the Circle of Fifths the job is made easy for me.

Here‘s a Rule of Thumb to find the relative minor: simply go three frets down from the major root note – in this case, use E at the 12th fret. In this case as we go down the neck horizontally to C# to find the new root note to solo with over E Major. Because we have the theory from the Circle of Fifths we are sure that the relative minor of E Major is C# minor. That is because the Circle tells us that the Key of E Major has 4 #‘s in the chord family and the chords would be:

E-F#minor-G#minor-AMajor-BMajor-C#minor-D#dim

I ii iii IV V vi vii

• Rule of thumb for understanding the Circle:

5th below Root = 4th above Root

The Circle of Fifths Helps to Find Notes and Chords in a Scale.

The notes in a scale correspond to the chord scale in the same key: This is how they line up:

C Major Scale C D E F G A B

Scale Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Major Chord Scale C C Dm Em F G Am Bdim

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THE REVIEW CONTINUES ON THE NATURE OF CHORDS AND THE WAY TO FIND CHORDS IN A SCALE

We will use the ―Neutral‖ key of C is our reference. Because the Circle of Fifths can help us name the notes in any major scale, it can also show us the chords in a major chord scale. Here‘s how:

Scales predict individual notes as well as chords

First, remember that any key has a set of chords which go with it, just as it has a major scale of single notes. The major chord scale is shown above. Just like the notes, the chords are identified as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The 8 chord is always the octave of the 1 chord. In the major chord scale, the 1, 4 and 5 chords are all major chords — named the same chords as the 1, 4 and 5 notes. In the guitar world, these are the ―BIG THREE‖ chords of every chord progression — the 1-4-5 progressions.

In C, you‘ve played it many times: C-F-G. The 2, 3 and 6 chords in the chord scale are supporting chords. They are all minors, and the 7 chord is a diminished or diminished 7th chord. Again, those are all named after the note whose position they represent. The minor chords add color to what we play, but one of them is the primary minor chord — often called the relative minor — based on the 6th note of the scale. In the case of C, it‘s the A minor chord. Remember to use the trick we learned in using the Circle of Fifths to find the relative minor. It is to move 90 degrees right from the root chord. So the relative minor of C is A minor, since A is 90 degrees to the right of C.

Let‘s build the chords from the scale of C Major. Since the 2nd degree of C Major is D we can build a chord from the D Major scale. We do this by taking the root, the 3rd and the 5th. Those notes that make up this triad are: D F A

D Minor Chord and its construction.

D F A

1 b3 5 …………This triad or chord is Root (D) flat 3rd (b3) and perfect Fifth (A)

This results in a D minor triad or Dm. D to F makes a minor third and F to A a major third: this structure is typical for every minor chord.

Chord formula for minor chords: I b3 5 ……………….this means Root, flat third, perfect fifth

Next we will build the 3rd degree of the C Major Scale:

E G B

I b3 5 ……….. This triad or chord is Root (E), flat 3rd (G) and perfect Fifth (B). This makes the chord Em

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It is great practice to do the whole scale of C in this manner. This will help you understand the formula that is used to make the chord families that go with C Major. Remember this formula is applicable to any Key. To review once again it is:

I----ii---iii--IV-V-vi-vii dim

C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim

Let's do one more together, let's built a chord on the 7th note of the scale:

C D E F G A B

B D F

1 b3 b5

This chord results in a B diminished triad (Bdim). B to D makes a minor third and D to F also a minor third: this structure is typical for diminished triads

Here's a list with all triads made on the C major scale:

Notes Formula Name Symbol

1 C E G 1 3 5 C major C

2 D F A 1 b3 5 D minor or Dm

3 E G B 1 b3 5 E minor or Em

4 F A C 1 3 5 F major or F

5 G B D 1 3 5 G major or G

6 A C E 1 b3 5 A minor or Am

7 B D F 1 b3 b5 B diminished or Bdim or B°

So, with a C major scale: C-D-E-F-G-A-B, its relative minor, which is Am, contains the same notes, but they start on A: A-B-C-D-E-F-G.

To determine a key‘s relative minor you must look at the sixth degree of the scale. Therefore, in the key of G major, the sixth degree is E, so the Relative Minor of G is Em. The sixth degree of C Major is Am and thus it works for all Major chords. Now to reverse engineer it to figure out the relative Major of B minor you can go up the scale 3 degrees from the 6th degree and you will have D Major.

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Guitar chords for songs in minor keys are the same as with major key, except, like the minor scale, they simply start in a different place. So chords in the key of Em are Em-F#dim-G-Am-Bm-C-D. This now equates back to the formula where we know that the relative minor starts at the 6th interval and so we begin at 6-7-1-2-3-4-5- or

vi-vii dim-I-ii-iii-IV-V

You can see that Em has the same number of sharp chords as the key of G. Therefore, as you will continue to see while you‘re learning guitar songs, minor keys always use the same key signature as their Relative Major. So, Em has one sharp, F#m has three, Bm has two, and Am has none, just like its Relative Major C

Let‘s look at some chord progressions. Take the 12 bar blues and the blues guitar chords which comprise them, which nearly always include the first, fourth, and fifth chords in a key, that is, the I-IV-V. These three basic guitar chords are in nearly every Rock & Roll, Country & Western, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae, punk, and heavy metal. The formula works song regardless of what key they are written.

You should already know from the explanation in this workbook and the exercises that you have completed that in the key of C, these I, IV, IV chords are C, F, and G. Now when someone says we are playing this song in the key of Am and it is in i-iv-v you should be able to figure out that these chords in the key of Am will be Am, Dm, and Em (or i-iv-v)

You should also be able to figure out the other possible chords that can be included in this family of chords that are part of Am. Would they just happen to be the same chords that are part of the C major family? Well let‘s see here. We can reverse engineer it and realize that if a song is written in the Key of Am than there will be no sharps in the song. There are none in the G clef. That is a hint right there. Here are the chords that would be in the Key of A minor chord family. The formula again is vi-vii dim-I-ii-iii-IV-V so the chords are Am-Bdim-C-Dm-Em-F-G

Now it is time for you to put to use all of this valuable information that you have learned. If you have made a concerted effort to read this material and you have done most of the assignments presented, you should certainly be able to navigate around the guitar with greater ease and confidence. Your ability to play will be much improved. This Whole Brain Shortcut to Guitar Mastery should be something that you revisit often. Add to what I have shown you and continue in your exploration of your musical potential.

Finish off this last page with some positive affirmations about your 90 day goals and what you intend to be doing at your guitar from here on forward. Remember the pen is a mighty instrument and you will be amazed that by putting your visions concerning your guitar playing to paper about how quickly they will become a reality. There is one more exercise to do before the conclusion of this guide and that is the Circle of Fifths. Take notes, identify the whole wheel and find the Relative Minor chords that go with the Major Key Signatures. Show that you understand what the 5th of the chord is and why a scale is able to be predicted from the theory of music. Show to yourself that on one piece of paper you can demonstrate

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your understanding of the guitar and its applications to being able to play the songs that you love.

MY GUITAR PLAYING AFFIRMATIONS

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CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXERCISE DRILL

In this exercise use a ruler and a pencil and pen and create an awesome diagram of the Circle of Fifths. You should be showing the whole wheel or clock. Please show all 12 Major Keys and how many sharps and flats that are in each key. Make 12 equal slices of the ‗PIE‖ and prove to yourself that you have a great understanding of what MUSIC THEORY IS ABOUT on a simple piece of paper.

This tells the story of what you have been doing with your WHOLE BRAIN during the examination of this material as well as how dedicated you were to developing the tenets described in Whole Brain Power.

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS EXAMINATION

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CHAPTER 15: CONCLUSION

t is time for us to wrap up this Whole Brain Shortcut Power to Guitar Mastery. We have covered lots of material, however, we have really only been scratching the surface of what it takes to get good at guitar. You will get to that point by ―IGNITING THE PASSION‖ for learning the instrument. Hopefully, you have been made aware that the

greatest instrument that you can ―fire up‖ is your brain. Actually, I should say it is your brain hemispheres burning brightly together for a powerful flame fueled by activation of the Whole Brain Powered way of thinking and being. This is what will take your guitar playing to unimaginable levels. I can only share with you the ways to perform better, but ultimately, it is your dedication to learning this challenging musical instrument the proper way that will lead you on your guitar playing journey.

The most important elements to the program are that of the awareness of the Whole Brain Power potential that you possess and the manner which you can access it. Hopefully, you have learned much about how to train your brain to become very ambidextrous in its processing skills and at the same time have a unique approach to training at your guitar playing. There is no way that you can just nonchalantly peruse this material and say that I have it. If you are totally serious about assimilating this complex, yet straightforward information, you must go about it objectively.

There are a few fundamental questions that you must ask yourself at the present. ―Do I believe that I have what it takes to play well at guitar and do I have the drive to plow through some of the awkwardness that this initial brain and body transformation requires?‖ What changes have you been asked to undertake? It is very obvious. You have been introduced to a very novel concept about rewiring your brain. Prior to this training you most probably never seriously entertained the thought of becoming very ambidextrous at cognitive as well as motor skill control functions. Then of course it has taken somewhat of a leap of faith to commit to writing ‗backwards‖ or in mirror image penmanship with your left hand and bouncing golf balls off of an array of hammers too. However, if you knew that going out and howling at the full moon would advance your guitar skills significantly you would be out there with a whole bunch of others that found out about the secret too. That is kind of funny when you think about this scenario described. But you know that if it worked you would be the first one out there on the hill.

What should one expect from this WBP program? It is what you put into it. If it is a concerted valid effort on your part then you will have an enhanced organic computer that supersedes the older version that you used to work with and that is a reality. From the activation of the entire brain you will be able to fly high as an eagle. In this tutorial guide there are lots of areas that I did not cover and I realize that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. For those that appreciate my efforts, I hope you come away with a sense of inspiration that you have the necessary tools to advance your guitar skills sets because you have the formula that stimulates savant like thinking and actions. It will take some time to digest the reading of this information and then do the practical applications to the drills required in this document. By doing so you will have undergone some serious disciplines with all of the charts exercises, handwriting and memory drills concerning my

I

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system for learning guitar. Most importantly, you will have a solid foundation for continuing in your understanding of how the guitar experience can be thoroughly enjoyed.

Once you get past the introductions to the concepts of Whole Brain Power and you experience some initial successes, it will start to sink in about how stimulating this new way of doing things becomes. That is when the progress at your guitar will start to accelerate. It is just getting over the initial shock that the ―active stress‖ of what the WBP program demands. Think about the guitar shortcut that you have been given. Prior to the exposure to this ―revolutionary theory of ambidexterity‖ you believed that playing guitar a lot was the only way to really get better. Then after that did not work you then resigned yourself to mediocrity at your guitar playing. My mission is to change your belief system and I guarantee you that by staying on the rails as far as the WBP advice is concerned, you will improve at your musicianship in a major way.

I have lived and breathed this WBP lifestyle for over 25 years and my own transformation in memory enhancement, hand to eye coordination involving guitar, golf and tennis is well documented. I have transcended the point where I am not just a freak of nature but someone who has a bona fide methodology that can be assimilated and is able to be transferable to others and quickly too. It really comes down to the concept that seeing is believing and then when that occurs, the floodgates open up in the minds of people that there are possibilities beyond what we know. Logic dictates that if we had the opportunity to download greater coordination and RAM powers into our brains, then we would. Well, we can and we can have it for a free. All we need is the spark to ignite the passion and have acceptance that we are in charge of the destiny of our brains capacity for learning and talent manifestation. So if getting better at guitar is your priority then activate the engines and strap on your seatbelt.

Personally, I have enjoyed mentoring individuals that have the passion for learning burning inside of them. If that is the case with you, then it is only a matter of time before you break on through to the other side. I have witnessed people take to my teachings and absolutely go off the charts in many areas of learning and skill manifestations that require tremendous brain usage. Playing good guitar happens to be one of these endeavors. To become excellent at the instrument necessitates the activation of the whole potential of your brain. Science proves the neural plasticity theory and technological imaging demonstrates that musicians have enlarged brain features bilaterally because of their dedication to their craft.

So now that you have the irrefutable evidence about the brain and musical training it is only you that can act upon the improvement recipe. You must be aware that if you are able to learn the tenets prescribed in my program that you will initiate a change to both cognitive as well as procedural memory enhancement. What will this do for your guitar playing? It will certainly improve your skills in quantifiable ways.

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LET US REVIEW WHAT WE HAVE COVERED

To close, I trust that we are in agreement that the improvement of the overall function of the brain leads to neural expansion and thus greater cognitive as well as well as motor skill function.

Hopefully, you are going to make a commitment to becoming much more ambidextrous at daily skills that are the tenets of WBP. Besides the hammer drills and the dual handed penmanship training we should practice skills bilaterally that are normally dedicated to our dominant hand. The great news is that these subtle change of habits that you can commit to will not be taking away from your busy schedules. Remember, it is the penmanship training that truly expedites the shift to incredible fluidity with the non dominant hand. And of course the mirror image writing is what launches the brain into the stratosphere as far as motor skills are concerned. This is also what stimulates the ―resident savant‖ in your right hemisphere and a side benefit is improved short term memory processing. I wonder what that will do for your digesting of guitar theory. It will make it an important part of your overall guitar package.

The idea that you can actually get way better at guitar by playing less is true; that is provided that you take the advice that I have given you in my training guide. Are you willing to do the program for 90 days? If you had a crystal ball and you could see how well you were doing at your overall skill levels in three months, then you would put in the effort. Proof is in the pudding. If this was a PX 90 Program (total body transformation) I am sure that the only way that you would see the results is that you would do the recommended physical exercises. The reason that this body enhancement regimen does so well is that you can see the body actually changing. Well, the good news about my program is that you will see and feel the difference about how your brain adapts and improves in many areas of your guitar playing. And trust me good guitar playing requires an incredibly well tuned brain and nimble hands. Strong hands also are a plus. You will certainly experience that by doing all of the tenets that I prescribe in the materials provided.

There are many people who waste lots of time fooling around on the guitar and trying to figure out how to improve with unsound methodologies. One of the first problems is that they do not know the fretboard well in regards to instantly locating notes, scales and chords. You have been inspired to learn the guitar neck from one end to the other. Are you willing to give it a concerted effort to digest this WBP material with an open mind? Are you willing to do the WBP program for 90 days? Because if this if this is the case, then I know you will be a much improved guitar player in three months and beyond. You have a challenge ahead of you and I wish you much success in your mission.

Michael J. Lavery

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael J. Lavery is considered a modern day ―Renaissance Man.‖ He is a musician, painter, sculptor, professional caliber athlete, researcher and pioneer in applied neuroscience, as well as an author and lecturer. It is his multi-faceted lifestyle that makes him unique amongst his contemporaries. He was born in 1959 in Arlington, Massachusetts, to Robert and Beatrice Lavery. He is from a close-knit family of three brothers and a sister. Lavery has four wonderful sons of his own. He has always felt blessed to have been raised by a father who was an athlete and scholar and a mother who was a housewife and a trained artist. He began painting at age six and was a fixture on the sports fields. It was a broken femur injury sustained as a sophomore in a high school football game that forever changed his destiny. He was sidelined for almost two years and underwent three major surgeries. It was at this time that he claims to have tapped into the right hemisphere of his brain. He began intensely painting and playing guitar and training his voice. He expanded his horizons and made it his mission to tap into a much diversified education.

He attended Exeter Academy and matriculated to Amherst College. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and lettered in four varsity sports. It was while at Amherst that he earned the nickname ―The Renaissance Man.‖ Upon graduating from Amherst in 1982, he signed a professional baseball contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. However, after a stint in the minor leagues, he came to a crossroads in his life and decided to pursue his vision of being a professional artist. In 1984, he moved to the art colony of Laguna Beach with a dream of painting seascapes and landscapes for a living. Not content to retire from

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competitive sports, he quickly learned tennis and became a tournament player at the ―Open‖ level. A combination of art, music and sports became his lifestyle. Essentially, it was this creative and athletic balance that led him to the greatest quest of his life. This major undertaking was to become ambidextrous, both mentally and physically. At this point, he began to experiment with dual-handed sports training, fine motor application and memory enhancement. This has led to the publishing of his books, Whole Brain Power™: The Fountain of Youth for the Mind and Body and Whole Brain Power™ Workbook & Progress Journal.

Lavery believes that every human being has potential to harness both hemispheres of the brain and to become a whole brain thinker and doer. Lavery has created much interest in his ideas in light of the fact that he took up the game of golf in his mid-forties and is now a scratch golfer, and an ambidextrous golfer, able to hit 300+ yard drives either left or right-handed. He has been featured on the Letterman Show as well as ESPN. Professional golfers, baseball players and tennis players are tutoring under his Whole Brain Power™ program.

Lavery‘s goal is to show that there are ways to enhance the brain‘s ability to become more flexible and stronger – to actually grow as we age, not atrophy. His students prove that his training methodologies change people‘s brain functioning, physical strength, and motor skills. This transferability is the most important aspect of Lavery‘s inspirational story. Recently, he was featured on the front cover of the Orange County Register (May 12, 2008). The article, by OCR staff writer Tom Berg, was entitled ―Mind and Muscle.‖ Lavery is a highly entertaining speaker and has an array of talents that he shares with his audience. He will have you practicing Whole Brain Power as a regular part of your daily life activities. You may contact Michael J. Lavery at wholebrainmichael@gmail.com.