In Part 7 you learnt about the Lydian Pivot Technique, the augmented wide spread arpeggio and you also you learnt another finger gymnastics exercise to add to your warm up arsenal.

For any new readers, this series on advanced guitar lessons is built upon my experience of pushing my own guitar playing to the next level by having guitar lessons with a highly experienced and exceptional guitarist called Scott McGill.

Using Chord Inversions when playing Blues Guitar.

In this lesson I want to introduce the idea of breaking away from our favourite Blues progression chord shapes and instead use chord inversions learnt in Part 3 (G Dom7 chord and its inversions on E string section of lesson) and Part 5 (G Dom7 and its inversions on the A string section of lesson).

We are focusing on the Dom7 inversions because our emphasis is currently on the Blues and the Blues can use the Dom7 chord exclusively. We will use the chords of an A Blues, the chords are as follows.

I = A7

IV= D7

V= E7

Our goal is to be able to play the I- IV- V chord progression in A using the Dom7 inversions, always using the nearest possible inversion. Here is an example of the Blues chords in A using the closest inversions

Blues Inversions Pattern 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blues Inversions Pattern 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blues Inversions Pattern 3

 

 

 

 

 

Blues Inversions Pattern 4

 

 

 

 

 

Voice Leading over the chord changes with Arpeggios

Once we have the inversions under our fingers and we understand how to find the nearest possible inversions when playing the Blues, it is time for us to play a simple Blues with the arpeggios for each inversion. To do this we first need to write out the Dom 7chords we are using and the notes of each Dom7 chord next to the chord name.

A7 A- C sharp- E- G

D7 D- Fsharp- A- C

E7 E- Gsharp- B- D

If we start by working out how to play the notes of each chord to form arpeggios based around the Blues inversion pattern 1 learnt earlier we will have a good framework to work with. Below are arpeggios I have created to use around the pattern 1 shown above. Our idea is to play notes of the particular arpeggio over the corresponding chord. For example use the A7 arpeggio below when the I chord (A7) is being played. Use the D7 arpeggio over the IV chord (D7) and finally the E7 arpeggio over the V chord (E7). Refresh your mind of the 12 bar form if you are not completely comfortable with it and then  start to try out the arpeggios. Scott discussed with me the idea that a great player doesnt need to play over a classic blues rhythm to play the Blues and just his melodies alone should make you hear the Blues progression.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember this doesn’t need to be played at breakneck speed by any means, focus on the rhythm in which you play the notes, the note choice and finding the same notes that appear in 2 of the chords. If you find the common tones for example the A note is present in both A7 and D7, the E note is present in both A7 and E7 and the D note in D7 and E7 you can use these notes over those chords and sounds safe before branching out into a larger pallet of notes.

This process should now be repeated with the 3 remaining inversion patterns (patterns 2, 3 and 4) that we learnt earlier on in this lesson. Read part 9 to find out how to do this.

If you feel you have learnt something from this free lesson and may want to learn guitar with Your Guitar Tutor then please  our eBook where you will learn everything to take an Intermediate player into the advanced stages of playing.

Tom Clark

 

 

 

Hi there, today we are going to be looking at some of the high quality guitar tuition I have been receiving from Scott McGill the exceptional guitarist and tutor. This lesson will include new finger gymnastic exercises to give you finger independence and help you warm up plus the Lydian Pivot exercise. The Lydian Pivot exercise will teach you how to play a Lydian off the same root using a different finger starting point each time. You will also learn how to play the augmented arpeggio spread across octaves. In coming lessons you will find out about using the chord inversions that you have learnt in previous lessons to play a Blues without any restrictions to one area of the neck.

Finger Gymnastics- Combined Triplets

 

Lydian Pivot Technique

Use fingers 1- 2- 4 to play the first 3 notes of the C Lydian pattern, fingers 2- 4- 1 to play the first 3 notes of the second C Lydian mode. Use finger 3- 1- 2- 4 to play the first 4 notes of the third C Lydian mode below and finally use fingers 4- 1- 4- 1 to play the first 4 notes of the fourth C Lydian shown below. (Read more below for more information).

 

When approaching this exercise I want you know the reasons we would learn how to play a C Lydian starting on the same note but with a different finger each time. As you learn about improvisation, if you haven’t started doing so already you will realise how we rely on a trick bag and the smaller the trick bag we have, the more ‘samey’ or restricted we sound. When we go about learning our modes we may learn just one way to play the Lydian and shift it up the low E string depending on which root we wish it to have. This is very limiting and although you may be able to use it when you improvise, you will soon feel the restriction of playing it in one area. The next stage many players go through is to learn how to play a Lydian in 5 positions based around the CAGED shapes we learn in the early days. This is much better and for many players including myself up to now it is the way we approach modes and it works. This exercise is designed to teach you how to pull out the Lydian mode whenever you need it, with any finger so that you don’t have to revert to a shape in that area of the neck that is based around the CAGED system because to find the shape you may loose the flow of improvisation.

 

Lydian Scale Sequences

The idea of the Lydian Scale Sequence portion of the lesson is for you to have a way to practise the scale and develop accuracy and melodic motion that you could apply to improvisations.

 

I want you to continue the sequence using the shapes you learnt when pivoting the lydian earlier so that you are not restricted to one shape of a Lydian sequence.

 

Augmented Widespread Arpeggio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you learnt in previous lessons about the idea of what an arpeggio is I shall just give the example to learn but I would like you notice the pick motion shown in the example as this helps a lot with the fluency of the arpeggio.

Come back for the Part 8 where we will be looking at the use of chord inversions over a Blues in A.

Tom Clark

 

 

Hey there, today we are going to be looking at more of what I as a guitar tutor have been practising to better myself and reach out to the advanced players among you. All of the content from this series was provided through one- to- one tuition from the exceptional guitarist Scott McGill and I am sharing it with you here.

Balanced Practise Sessions

As part of a balanced practise regime we need to practise various areas of guitar playing such as finger dexterity- build strength in our fingers by doing exercises that target finger groupings and patterns that are found in guitar playing. Scales and Modes- understanding how to play a series of notes to accompany chords and listen to the various sounds that can be created with these scales and modes. Sequences- playing patterns of notes from scales to build picking technique and give yourself melodic ideas to use when soloing. Arpeggios- learn how to play notes from within a chord, arranged across octaves so that you can solo with the arpeggios and rely on a specific set of notes that are from the chord you are soloing over. Chord Knowledge- understand chord construction and how to apply the knowledge to be able to use chords in a variety of musical situations. Be able to play a set of chords in the nearest area of the fretboard by understanding the chord inversion concept. Transcription- Listen to a piece of music and be able to work out the guitar part and understand what is happening musically.

Today you are going to learn a Phrygian Scale Sequence so that you have a scale run under your belt for when you wish to improvise using the Phrygian scale. If you understand the construction of the modes from the major scale then you will be able to alter the notes to create a run to fit any mode, for example you could turn this run into a Dorian run, Aeolian run etc. If you want to learn how to do do this then please read Be The Guitarist for a full study of the guitar and an extensive section on the Modes.

 

C Phrygian Scale Sequences 1

 

 

 

 

Notice how this sequence is built by playing up the C Phrygian 5 notes then descending and then starting on the second degree of the mode and playing 5 notes from there and then descending. This pattern repeats as you gradually climb up the neck of the guitar playing across the A and D strings until you play the original pattern up 12 frets.

In terms of technique you should focus on keeping your fretting hand fingers as close to the fretboard as possible without muting notes so that the time is reduced when fretting notes. If you look at any guitar player who plays fast lines you will notice they all do this. Keep a look out for any of your fingers flying up off the fretboard and make sure to keep them close to the strings. Your picking hand should be using strict alternate picking throughout this exercise, this means no hammer ons or pull- offs and each down stroke is followed by an up stroke. Alternate picking is motion of economy in the sense that it takes much longer for a pick to travel down and strike, miss the string on the way back up and then strike the string on the way down. So when alternate picking we strike the string on the way down and then strike the string as we come back up, this technique is worth practising regularly to a metronome, please read more here.

C Phrygian Scale Sequences 2

 

 

The C Phrygian sequence above takes the same concept you learnt in the previous example but now plays the C Phrygian across the D and G strings. Initially someone would call this an F Aeolian sequence but because we are continuing our C Phrygian sequence we are visualising this as a Phrygian line. For more information on the major scale modes please read the eBook as mentioned earlier.

Wide Spread  Arpeggios- Minor

 

 

This wide spread arpeggio shown above is a minor arpeggio, which basically means that it is the notes from within the G minor chord (in this case) spread out across the neck.  It them moves to a C minor arpeggio where the notes are only C, Eb and G spread through the octaves. If you look at the notes contained in these arpeggio you will notice it is only the notes G, Bb and D  and C, Eb and G repeated  through the octaves. This arpeggio is a really useful way to travel from the low part of the neck up to the high end in a smooth motion. The movement from Gm to Cm is a portion of the movement known as the cycle of 4ths and if you want to continue the pattern you would build the next arpeggio from the 1st fret Low E then then 6th fret low E and so on.

Thanks for stopping by and if you want to learn guitar with Your Guitar Tutor then please read our eBooks.

Tom Clark

 

Hello there,

Chord Inversions

So in Part 3 we looked at how to take a chord such as the Gmaj7 and create inversions from it to give our playing a new dimension and a richer sound. As guitar players we often rely on a trick bag that we get used to and so wear it out over time, refreshing and bringing life to your chordal playing will make a huge difference in your sound.

In this lesson we will take the inversions from the G maj7 chord that we studied in Part 3 and now make them have the root on the A string instead of the Low E string. We shall then recreate the other chord types we studied and play them with their lowest note on the A string. This will give you even more options when creating chord progressions and also teach you about chord construction in more detail. Understanding the construction of the chords allows you to use theory if you want to, so you have a choice when creating music.

G maj7 A string Root Inversions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice this common pattern occurring where we do not play notes on the D string.

G Dom7 A String Root Inversions

 

 

 

 

 

 

G Min7 A String Root inversions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gmin7b5 A String Root Inversions

 

 

 

 

 

 

G Dim7 A String Root Inversions

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Bar Blues Progression with Inversions

I would like you to take a I- IV- V standard 12 bar Blues in G major and experiment at first with just creating the G7- C7- D7 progression with inversions around the 3rd fret. This means you can play a standard G7 but inverted C7 and inverted D7. If you are not completely sure how to play a 12 bar Blues then please see our lesson on 12 Bar Blues then tackle this concept. Notice that Max uses Dom9 chords instead of the C7 and D7, do not worry about this as they are simply a replacement for the Dom7 chords you are using and I mainly want you to understand the 12 Bar form from that lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voice Leading with Inversions

Once you are comfortable playing the chord progression with inversions thrown in over the IV and V chord its time to follow the chord progression with a melody. This can be a simple G Blues scale melody played the same over each chord with perhaps the occasional variation or a call and response style phrase. Focus on using just a few notes but make the phrasing sing and manipulate the timing of the phrase. Scott executed this idea impressively in front of me to show how soloing grows from a three or four note phrase to complex arpeggio and scale combination lines. In later lessons you will be learning how take your phrase into the realms of using arpeggios over each chord change but for now I just want you to get the inversions under your fingers with a simple voice leading idea.

The idea is to be able to play around the neck in 4 positions using the inversions you have learnt, however we are not looking to play chords spread out all over the neck but instead to locate a close set of inversions to play the blues. This is sometimes referred to as economy of motion and becomes increasingly important as you progress.

Scott McGill taught this approach to me in an interesting way, describing how you should start out with the a Blues progression from a song you really want to learn. Then take the chord progression from the solo part and get comfortable with the chords being used, then invert the chords as mentioned earlier and then take the triads (3 note building block each of the chords) and outline the chord progression with the triad from each chord. At first this sounded a bit mechanical and emotionless but as I watched Scott play with rhythm and slide from the note below to the triad for each particular chord I could hear it forming.

I have been practising this approach with the chords from the solo to ‘I Dont Need No Doctor’ performed by John Mayer and John Scofield using triads from the E7, G and A chords.

Come back for part 6 of the Advanced Guitar lesson Series where you will learn about the Phrygian Mode and how to create sequences from it plus you will learn how to play a wide spread Minor Arpeggio.

If you have benefited from this free lesson and may be interested in what Your Guitar Tutor has to offer you then you may want to read Be The Guitarist our eBook that takes Beginner to Intermediate guitarists to the next level.

Have fun and practise hard!

Tom Clark

 

Hi Your Guitar Tutor readers, after reading Part 1 and 2 of the Advanced Guitar Lesson series I hope you are getting a feel for the quality and standard of lessons I have been receiving whilst attempting to push my own guitar playing up to the next level.

Scale Pivoting (Dorian Mode on the D string)

Up to now you have learnt how to do the pivot technique with the Dorian mode moving chromatically on the E and A string. Today it’s time to learn the same concept on the D string. If you have not read part 1 and 2 of this series I would recommend doing so as the following information will make more sense to you. As a basic concept though, this approach to practising the Dorian mode allows you to be able to build a Dorian off any note you wish in the closest position possible. Each mode ends on a crotchet so you can hear its Dorian sound before moving to the next Dorian mode a fret below.

 

Chord Inversions (Maj7 chord inversions)

Along with the pivot technique the Chord Inversion portion of the lesson was an eye opener and definitely worth some attention. The idea here is to take a chord such as a Gmaj7 and play it in 4 positions up the neck, each time with a different note from within the chord playing the lowest note on the low E string. If you take the G maj7 and first of all look at which notes it contains and write them down you can work out how to invert this chord. So take the notes and rearrange them so that the B note from the Gmaj7 is now the lowest note (7th fret low E string, second finger), 5th fret D string first finger, third finger 7th fret G string and fourth finger 7th fret B string. You have now created an inversion of the Gmaj7 chord. This same process happens with the D as the lowest note and the F sharp as the lowest note both on the E string.

What I noticed was that by just using these shapes Scott was able to make some really interesting sounds. He asked me to take the inversions and then play a note or two off each inversion before moving to the next inversion, this made it sound really interesting and with some experimentation I found melodies falling under my fingers.

He explained to me that this inversion concept should be repeated with different forms of the G chord, for example a G7 chord, Gm7 chord, Gm7b5 chord and G dim7 chord. By writing which notes get altered compared to the the Gmaj7 chord we could then start to invert the new forms by slightly changing the shape of the Gmaj7 inversions. In coming parts of this series I will give you the TAB for the inversions of chord forms mentioned above.

GMaj7 Chord and its inversions on the E  String

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes of the G Maj7 chord- G (Root)- F sharp (7th)-B (3rd) and D (5th)

 

G Dominant 7 and its Inversions on the E string

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now comparing the G Dom7 shown above to the previous example of the GMaj7 we can change the F sharp note in the chord and each inversion to an F note and this will turn the G maj7 into a G Dom7.

Notes of the G Dom7 chord- G (Root)- F (b7th)-B (3rd) and D (5th)

If you have enjoyed this free guitar lesson then you might be interested in learning guitar with Your Guitar Tutor eBooks or Private Guitar lessons.

 

Tom Clark

 

Hey there, following on from Part 1 of the advanced guitar lesson series I aim to show you another finger gymnastics exercise and to further develop your pivoting scale ability but this time on the A string. I also want to share with you the idea of spreading an arpeggio out along the fretboard so you can get a very wide spread of notes in different octaves. All of this information I am sharing with you was given to me in a one- to- one guitar lessons with the exceptional guitarist and tutor Scott McGill.

Finger Gynmastics 3- Fingers 1, 3 and 4

Ok so last time we looked at this exercise focusing on the finger groupings 1,2 and 3 and groupings 1, 2 and 4. Today we will focus on the 1, 3 and 4 pattern. These different patterns will give you greater command over playing melodies and scale runs and also make playing through your scales easier. The hardest part about accurate picking is the crossing of strings and finger strength between certain groups of fingers, these exercises with help both of these areas.

 

Scale Pivoting (Dorian Mode A string)

In Part 1 I shared with you my experience of learning the pivoting scale technique with Scott McGill and why it is worth learning. We looked at how to build a Dorian mode off each finger moving chromatically from the C note to the A note on the low E string. Today I want to show you how to take the same concept with the Dorian mode but this time starting on the 8th fret A string. This means your fourth finger will play an F Dorian, third finger E Dorian, second finger Eb Dorian and first finger D Dorian. The skill is being able to play the Dorian modes off each root note specified without moving out of position. This will give you command over playing to chord changes and help you break out of the box if shapes have been restricting you.

 

 

Wide Spread Arpeggios (cycle of 4ths)

Arpeggios can be found all over the place in music, some are subtle and others are in your face high speed swept arpeggios and some are in between. Players such as Jason Becker would commonly use arpeggios to suggest a chord progression, moving through the arpeggios at break neck speed. Arpeggios can be used more sparingly if this is not in your intentions and here is an example of an arpeggio spread out through octaves, quite like a piano style approach. Notice the pick movements are not alternate and are not swept with hammers and pulls off, instead we use the sweeping motion and alternate at different points to make the motion fluent and accurate.

 

 

 

Notice the harmonic movement of the exercise is the cycle of 4ths, if you are unsure about the cycle of 4ths then you may wish to read Be The Guitarist (eBook link below).

I hope you have found value in this free guitar lesson and if you wish to learn guitar with Your Guitar Tutor then please see the eBooks.

Tom Clark