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

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

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

Understanding Intervals

Hi Barrett

I am working my way through your Chord Tone Soloing book and am so far half way through Part II. It has already improved my understanding for guitar playing a lot. Your books are the best guitar learning material I have ever read - and that's a lot. Thank you!

I'm having a problem with understanding the 6ths intervals on page 34 (track 20). How can it be 6ths if you are in the key of C?
C-E = 3rd interval
It would make sense to me if we were in the key of E: E-C = 6th interval.

I can see the tones are the same, but not how it can be a 6ths interval? Won't E always be the 3rd tone in the key of C?

Could you please explain to me how to understand this? Thank you again
-Martin from Denmark
**************************************************************
Hi Martin,
We use a number like "3rd" to describe two things. This is how there can be confusion.

A "3rd" is a scale degree (which is what you are thinking). As you say E is always the 3rd degree in the key of C major.

A "3rd" is also an interval: the exact distance between any two pitches. Not just from one C to the next higher E. There is more than one C and more than one E. Which C and which E do we mean?

From C up to E is a 3rd:

C D E
1 2 3

And from E down to C is also 3rd.

E D C
3 2 1

but from E up to a higher C is a 6th:

C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
   (1 2 3 4 5 6)

From C to an even higher E is a 10th:

C D E F G A B C D E
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please let me know if this helps you. And thank you very much for getting my book.
Barrett

Tasty Diminished Licks on the Blues

Double-Stop Blues Lick

Short and easy to learn, but cool.

City Solo

This was composed for a client of my friend, producer Billy Burke.