Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Help! I can't reach all the notes in the G shape?


Hey Barrett

I am confused about how to finger the five patterns of major chords in the CAGED system. Especially Pattern 3. It's impossible for my hand to play all these notes cleanly.

David 

Hi David,

(For those reading, here is tablature for Pattern 3: the "G" shape. I am using it to outline a C major chord at the 5th fret.)

-8-
-5-
-5-
-5-
-7-
-8-


Don't worry about playing it all at once using all 6 strings. You will rarely (if ever) need to play the whole shape at once.

Each of the five major chord shapes in the CAGED system is essentially a multiple-use tool that you need to recognize as a single entity.

Think about a more familiar multi-use tool. For example,  a claw hammer is good for driving nails, and it also has a claw for pulling nails. It is good for both the hammer head and the claw to be available on the same handle, but you'd only rarely need to use both sides at once. Of course, you still identify the entire thing as one tool.


The chord shape works the same way. Depending on the song, you might use the bottom two notes only:


----
----
----
----
-7--
-8--

or the top three notes only:

-8--
-5--
-5--
----
----
----

or any other combination; for example, strings 5, 4, and 3:

----
----
-5--
-5--
-7--
----

All of these are identified as part of the overall Pattern 3 shape, which spells C major when played at the fret numbers shown.

For more information and practice, see the Guitar Fretboard Workbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Fretboard-Workbook-Barrett-Tagliarino/dp/0634049011

Thanks!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Numbering Fretboard Patterns


 Hi Brett,

I have been working through your "Guitar Fretboard Workbook" for almost a year now.  I really enjoy your method and have learned so much.  I have seen other books where the authors use 5 patterns or root shapes to map out the fretboard as you do in this book.  For example, "(title)" from (author), has this on page 4 of his book.  However, when I saw this I became confused because his "pattern 3" is your "pattern 1" and his pattern 5 is your pattern 2, etc.  He states that he defines his patterns based on the Key of C (6th string root note of C).  I would be happy to email you a copy of this page if you would like to comment.  I simply want to learn the correct way, if there is only one correct way that is.

Thank you,
Keith


Hi Keith,

Thanks for getting this book and working with it. I'm glad it's helping you.

The numbering system it uses can in some ways be considered arbitrary, as you correctly imply. However the system as it is in GFW is more common and increasing in popularity with most teachers over time.

The numbers correlate to CAGED, the open position chords that each successive shape resembles as you move C roots up the neck starting from open position.

C = 1
A = 2
etc

If you play a pattern 2 C chord (barre chord at the 3rd fret, root on string 5) you will see it corresponds to an open-position A chord.

I'm sure you understand this and just want to make sure that this method of numbering is more useful. In fact either way could conceivably work just as well in the abstract. But if you consider that more guitars players you converse with in the future will use this method than most others, it's the way to go.

Just as if 100,000 years ago we all had started using the word "blue" to refer to what we know now as "red," we'd all be in agreement and the result would be the same: clear thought and communication.

For guitar players, that historical neanderthal moment is now!

Thanks again,
Barrett

Friday, September 13, 2013

Jacob strikes again. re Interval Studies - why?

Hey Barrett,

why from a soloing/lead guitar or chord based perspective would intervals actually be beneficial to someone's playing or their guitar sound? Everyone mentions them and I've looked through the exercises on Fretboard Workbook and Chord Tone Soloing and I'm still confused on how they can help things like expression and sound? Thanks a lot!

 Hi Jacob, 

Often players get stuck in a rut where they only play the next note in a scale. For example, you just played C. If your next note is always B or D then you have a problem that can be fixed by practicing interval studies. Here is my book on the subject. 

http://www.amazon.com/Interval-Studies-Lead-Guitar-Technique/dp/0980235340/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379105980&sr=1-6

Friday, July 12, 2013

step 1 to soloing over chord changes: find root shapes

Jacob writes:

Hi Barrett,

I was running through Fretboard Workbook as a review now that I'm on Chord Tone Soloing and I was wondering, with the 5 root shapes aspect, should I have simply learned the 5 shapes themselves or learned them to the point where I could play them at ears glance. As in, if someone said, play the root shapes in F sharp, I'd be able to play them in it immediately with any of the 5 patterns? Or is that a too advanced requirement for the first book of a series? Thanks again Barrett!

Hi Jacob,
Thanks for getting these books and working with them. Sounds like you are working pretty hard! It'll pay off.

In order to best apply the concepts in Chord Tone Soloing, yes, it is a great idea to know your fretboard patterns as deeply as possible. Finding root shapes for the chords in the closest available position will allow you to solo melodically without jumping up and down the neck, so there's less chance of getting lost.

Say for example you are soloing, with your hand at the 5th fret, over these chords:

|A C#7| F#7 | Bm F#7| Bm |

Nearby shapes are:
A pattern 4

-5-
---
---
-7-
---
-5-

C#7 pattern 2 --- --- -6- -- -4- ---

F#7 pattern 5 -- -7- --- -4 --- --- Bm pattern 3 -7- --- -3- -- --- -7-

That progression is the first four measures of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," by the way. It is a slow 8-bar blues. Here are the remaining four bars.

D D#dim7 |A F#7 |B7 | E7 |

Barrett

Barrett Tagliarino

Barrett Tagliarino