City Solo

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

Pendulum Picking

Hi Barrett,

I am working through your book Rhythmic Lead Guitar, I really enjoy it. After playing the guitar for 15 years, it's been really helpful to remind myself to play in time.

I am working through the portion on intentionally make the pick miss the string while maintaining constant motion along with the foot. I realized I don't do that at all, especially when I am playing the acoustic guitar when all I'm doing is mainly strumming. I would just like to ask if it make sense for me to correct that, so that I will maintain constant motion. Do you do it yourself as well when playing acoustic?

Thanks for your help!
"John"


Hi John,

Yes, I do it that way too.

One of the main benefits of keeping your hand moving along with the foot, even if it is not really a visible movement, is that you start strumming again on either a down or an upstroke that is aligned with the down or upbeat of the music.

If you are just strumming 8th notes on an acoustic (with pick or fingers) to accompany vocals in a pop or folk tune, then I'd recommend the alternation to keep the time steady. A good example is "Yesterday" by the Beatles. When Paul sings the title word (at about 1:15), the final up strum with "-day" is left to ring for a quarter note duration, and he comes back in with up-down-up strums before the down beat of the bridge section ("Why she had to go").

Strict right-hand alternation even when some notes are not played (some call it "pendulum picking") is useful for making sure you play syncopated single notes and chords without rushing the time. If you try to play single-note funk parts (or mixed single-note lines with chords like the two guitars in Rufus's "You Got the Love") without this steady alternation, it's much harder to stay in the groove.

For strumming chords with no single notes involved, you may alter this approach for tonal purposes. Downstrokes and upstrokes sound a little different from each other. The downstrokes are chunkier and the upstrokes are a little more chime-like due to the order of the strings being hit. Usually the first strings you hit in a strum get hit the hardest and therefore get a volume boost. Punk and metal rhythm parts are often played with downstrokes only and would not have the same impact otherwise. I usually play ska skanks with only upstrokes (they're on upbeats anyway) on the high strings for stinging accents that stay in the rhythmic pocket.

Thanks for your question.
Barrett

Rhythmic Lead Guitar Book/CD interview question

Arpeggiating through a Minor ii-V-i

Hi, I have and love the chord-tone soloing book - so glad I started working through it. I am working on chapter 17, arpeggio connection. However when I try arpeggio connection over a progression, such as Autumn Leaves, with extended chords I run into a little problem over altered arpeggios, such as the B7(b9). I understand the spelling is 1, 3, 5, b7, b9, then into the next octave with 3, 5, b7, b9 but how do I perform the arpeggio connection exercise over this chord? Do I include the root, but only in the beginning in the low register? How do I determine where and which ‘1’ of the arpeggio is the root (to include) when I'm descending? Would I essentially just be arpeggiating a diminished chord (B# diminished) over the dominant seventh flat nine chord? There is probably no straight answer but thanks,

Mike

Hi Mike,

Good question, and you're right that there's no hard and fast answer. I just connected arpeggios over a minor ii-V-i a bunch of times to make sure, and all three of these possible ways sound good to me over the B7b9 in any register: root, b9, or both.

You can expect that you get some freedom on the V7 chord in a minor ii-V-i, and a lot of things will work. Jump over and check out the licks on page 106. They just happen to also be on B7-Em. They all have both B and C as high notes, with the B falling on either a strong or weak beat. On that particular chord situation---V7 resolving to im, almost any chord tone or altered extension sounds cool on the beat: 1-3-b5-#5-b7-b9-#9 (or the perfect 5th if it is present---most accompanists will alter the 5th or leave it out to give you freedom). I just avoid the root of the upcoming chord (E). I want to save that note for the resolution.

(By the way that's one goal of the altered scale. It includes notes on either side of the upcoming root.)

That "anything goes" idea is not true of all chord types, though. For example, I don't always like hitting the root of a major 7 chord right on the downbeat in the upper register when playing a line of eighth notes. I'll go for the 7th or 9th instead.

If I'm going to hit the root there, I try to make it a quarter note or longer so the listener has time to hear it as something out of the ordinary. The line stalls, but you get an interesting "suspended" kind of sound in its place. (Actually it sounds more like an appoggiatura, but don't say that word if you want to keep a job!)

Barrett
For you out there in TV land, the book under discussion can be previewed here:
Chord Tone Soloing

A Golden Rule of Practice

You learn much faster if you alternate between concepts and let them progress in parallel. It’s best to work on one thing at a time, but don’t wait for the one thing you’re working on now to be perfect before you work on something else.

For example, let's say you are a beginner learning a C major scale in open position for the first time.

-----------------
-------------0-1-
---------0-2-----
---0-2-3---------
-3---------------
-----------------

1. First you refresh your memory of the pattern each day without much concern for technique or timing. Just locate the notes.

2. Then spend a few minutes playing without the metronome, focusing on clean playing technique, damping the open strings so that only one note at a time is heard. It's ok if during this, you have to stop to remember where the notes are.

3. Then switch to building rhythmic accuracy and picking technique by playing a little bit faster with the metronome. It’s ok if during this last part, a few open strings ring out now and then.

The idea that one thing does not have to be perfect before you can study anything else applies to everything you can practice.

Another quick example: don't wait until you can play one song perfectly before starting to work on another one. If you did that, then after a year you'd only know one song, and that song would actually not sound as good as if you'd worked on 10 songs in the same time period.

What Will I Get out of the Guitar Fretboard Workbook?

Hey Barrett I am now on chapter 7 of Guitar Fretboard Workbook. I understand the five patterns, and that they are different (but the same order) depending on which note you start with. I know how to find notes on the fretboard, albeit very slowly and laboriously. What should I be expecting to have gotten out of the Fretboard Workbook by this point - just memorization of patterns and how to find notes? Is there a bigger picture to all of this that I am missing, or is it just part of a longer process? When I get to, say, 1/2 of the book complete, to what extent should I be a better guitar player (as opposed to memorizing patterns)? Right now I can play a bunch of chords and mimic a number of songs. What should my goal be upon completion of the book? I'm trying to establish some context and also to make sure I am not missing anything. Thanks again, Bob

Hi Bob,

This book helps you with everything musical that you can do on the guitar. It will be an obvious difference when you apply it for awhile, but I can't say if you'll notice the difference halfway through it. There's not much that it doesn't help, even in the simplest scenario.

Let's say all you ever do is learn songs from magazine tablature. At first that is a process of rote memorization. You read and memorize each finger position one at a time. It's like memorizing song lyrics in a foreign language without knowing what they mean. You can do it, but it's easier to remember and recite convincingly if you actually know what you're saying. But if you know your scales, arpeggios, and chords the way GFW teaches them, then you will identify these things in the music and understand and therefore better remember and execute it.

That's just the beginning. Knowing the fretboard will help you with soloing, composing, transcribing, arranging, reading, etc.

Barrett

Removing Pick-Hand Anchors

This short exercise is designed to train you to pick without anchoring your fingertips on the pickguard, and to encourage forearm rotation when playing single notes. You’ll switch from playing a few notes to strumming a big chord, keeping things loose yet striving for accuracy.

I'd start with the metronome set at about 60 beats per minute.

You can let your fingernails drag across the pickguard as you play the single notes, but don’t anchor your fingertips on it.

To damp unwanted strings while playing singles notes, you can bring the heel of your palm in to touch the strings by the bridge, but try to keep the ball of the thumb off the guitar. Also use the edges of the fret-hand fingers to damp the strings above and below the one you are playing.

Keep it relaxed, and listen close to make sure it's clean and smooth-sounding.

Rhythmic Lead Guitar Book/CD

This was so nice I just wanted to share it.

Barrett,

I had to write you and tell you about my guitar-playing growth since I received your Rhythmic Lead Guitar book (only a week ago!). I am literally twice the lead player I was this time last week, and I was pretty good to start with. I must confess, I am not painstakingly going through the book and doing all of the exercises, but let me briefly tell about the insight this book has given me.

I am a pretty good chord-tone guy and unlike most pretenders, do reasonably well over diatonic progressions, especially major key stuff. My problem was really the opposite of most guys--my theory is rock solid and my fretboard mastery is great--but for some reason unknown to me, I was always a choppy train wreck when it came to everyday minor pentatonic wanking. Well, no more my friend.

Rhythmic Lead Guitar made me really sit down and analyze the different available beat subdivisions, and it also helped me realize the differences between a shuffle (my band plays a lot of three-chord boogies) and a straight feel, and more specifically, between straight and swung 8th notes. I have a Fender G-Dec amp and first practiced all of these subdivisions with a metronome at different tempos and then practiced soloing over a looped shuffle for hours. Like a lightbulb coming on after 15 years of frustration, I literally and figuratively found my groove like a seasoned pro. I think I had been trying to play straight eighth notes over shuffles, and my use of triplets was underutilized.

From there, I moved on to songs with a straight feel, which too have always given me fits. My main problem with these songs is that my 8th-note phrasing sucked (excuse my language) because I tried to use too many notes. Now I focus on just two or three-note chunks, and it sounds great!

Finally, let me tell you another side effect of you making me aware of my beat choices. As I mentioned, I have started using many more triplets (it's cool to use them over a song with a straight feel, too, right?), but at fast tempos, I had to find different patterns that would allow me to use hammer-ons and pull-offs. This forced me to examine all of my pentatonic boxes for different options, and within a day, I was seeing and connecting all of the shapes like never before. Unbelievable!

Sorry this email is so long, but I thought you would appreciate what is some fairly specific feedback on your book. Again, some of it is beyond my scope and my interest, but by just focusing on the beat subdivisions (and hearing examples of them) and by learning the difference between a swung eighth note and a regular one, I have started on the fast track to becoming the lead guitar player I have always wanted to be. Thank you so much. I will try to find the time to get on Amazon and write a kind review.

Travis

Why Learn a Pattern Numbering System? And Which is Best?

Hello Barrett,

I've recently bought Chord Tone Soloing and for the first time in a long time am excited to get stuck in to some proper learning, it's brilliantly written so thank you for that. I have a quick question if that's ok: At the start of section II you set out the octave shapes and the corresponding major scape shapes. Now I've stumbled across CAGED references before but never done anything with it, but what I do notice is that most other places refer to your 'shape 1' as 'shape 3' - obviously it's only a small terminology discrepancy, but I wondered what the thinking behind it was? I'm happy to stick with the nomenclature in your book and make mental note to translate when I read about CAGED shapes elsewhere but just thought I'd ask.

Anyway thanks again for what looks to be a great learning resource,

Tim

Hi Tim,

If you go through the book and identify and mark some of the diagrams with your previous numbering system, soon you'll be familiar with both ways and can decide if you'd like to adopt the new way.

The system you learned before probably started its numbering on the basis of which chord shape is easiest to play or most likely to be used by a beginner. An E-shaped barre chord is used as pattern 1 in those systems. (That makes the D shape into pattern 2, and the C shape into pattern 3, etc.)

The CAGED system and the 5 patterns derived from it that are used in my books and all Musicians Institute programs start with the C shape as pattern 1. The logic here is based on music theory instead of physical reasons. For example, the key of C is the first you should learn to read music in as it has no sharps or flats. You'll also begin with the C major scale to study how chords and intervals are built.

Here is one octave's worth of the pattern 1 major scale tabbed out in open position. Key of C major. (An octave is the eight-note distance up the scale to another note with the same letter name.)

------------------
-------------0-1--
---------0-2------
---0-2-3----------
-3----------------
------------------
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The C major "campfire chord" in open position is then also called pattern 1, and the shapes move up the neck from there. You don't have to finger and play these chords in their entirety. To get the sound of the chord in any position you only need to play the root, 3rd and 5th: one instance each of the C, E, and G notes. Try playing these examples one note at a time instead of trying to finger the entire shape right off. The eventual goal is just to know where the chord factors (Root, 3rd, 5th) are in relation to each other in each shape.

From left to right, we have the fretted string, the note name, and the scale degree, which is also the chord factor.

Pattern 1 (C shape)
0 E 3rd
1 C Root
0 G 5th
2 E 3rd
3 C Root
0 E 3rd

Pattern 2 (A shape)
3 G
5 E
5 C
5 G
3 C
3 G

Pattern 3 (G shape)
8 C
5 E
5 C
5 G
7 E
8 C

Pattern 4 (E shape)
8 C
8 G
9 E
10 C
10 G
8 C

Pattern 5 (D shape)
12 E
13 C
12 G
10 C
10 G
12 E

Thanks for buying and studying the Chord Tone Soloing book/CD pack, and thanks very much for the compliments!

Barrett

Help Me Start Practicing Again!

Hi Barrett,
I need your help!!!
You are a wonderful teacher and surely may help me...Your books are really good...
I recently changed my day job and now I have free time in the morning to practice, but I suddenly stop to practice since that change...can you suggest any strategy to get back to practice like before?
Thanx Marco

Yes! Try this:

Start in the morning by picking up the guitar and playing 2 minutes only, before breakfast, before you do anything. You can do nothing, not even go to the bathroom, until you play 2 minutes. You can do 2 minutes, no problem. Play anything. Then put it down and do anything else. Watch what happens to your brain.

How to solo over progression E-A-F-Em

I'm attempting to learn a bit of theory to help my guitar improvisations, but one thing I am struggling with is what I could play to go well with the chords of rhythm guitar that i'm playing to.

At the moment i'm playing to a track strumming a sequence of E A F Em chords.

Where to from here with the lead?

Dugggy

Knowing what key center(s) the chords create is a good start. It does not always tell you exactly what scales or notes to use because of stylistic variations.

E A F Em

There is no single key that fits all these chords. There are at least two keys.

First let's look at E and A. You can fit both into one key.

E and A can be the "I" and "IV" in the key of E major. E and A can also be the "V" and "I" in the key of A major.

Depending on the style you could start with either the E or A major scale or the E or A major pentatonic scale.

E major: E F# G# A B C# D# E major pentatonic: E F# G# B C#

A major: A B C# D E F# G# A major pentatonic: A B C# E F#

I like the second choice (A major or A major pentatonic) because the upcoming F chord does not fit as easily with an E tonal center, even though that's the first chord. E as the tonal center would require a modal approach in the next two bars, which is not the first thing you want to learn. (It'll be the second thing!)

---

Now to the chords F and Em.

These may be the "vi" and "V" chords in A minor.

So to get a really simple solid approach to playing in a non-jazzy way over the progression, try just playing:

A major or major pentatonic for the first two chords, then A minor or minor pentatonic for the second two chords.

There are many other ways to do it, but this is a good start that lets you concentrate on your phrasing rather than jumping through lots of scales in your head.

---

The source of this thinking is knowing how to find all the chords in a key center. This is done by harmonizing the scale.

You create the chords I-vii by stacking 3rds above each note.

If the scale is A major: A B C# D E F# G#

it produces these chords:

I           A C# E    (A)
ii          B D  F#   (Bm)
iii         C# E G#   (C#m)
IV          D F# A    (D)
V           E G# B    (E)
vi          F# A C#    (F#m)
vii         G# B D    (G#dim)

CAGED system review

Tim writes:

I've recently bought Chord Tone Soloing and for the first time in a long time am excited to get stuck in to some proper learning, it's brilliantly written so thank you for that. I have a quick question if that's ok: At the start of section II you set out the octave shapes and the corresponding major scape shapes. Now I've stumbled across CAGED references before but never done anything with it, but what I do notice is that most other places refer to your 'shape 1' as 'shape 3' - obviously it's only a small terminology discrepancy, but I wondered what the thinking behind it was? I'm happy to stick with the nomenclature in your book and make mental note to translate when I read about CAGED shapes elsewhere but just thought I'd ask.

Anyway thanks again for what looks to be a great learning resource,

Tim

Hi Tim,

If you go through the book and identify and mark some of the diagrams with your previous numbering system, soon you'll be familiar with both ways and can decide if you'd like to adopt the new way.

The system you learned before probably started its numbering on the basis of which chord shape is easiest to play or most likely to be used by a beginner. An E-shaped barre chord is used as pattern 1 in those systems. (That makes the D shape into pattern 2, and the C shape into pattern 3, etc.)

The CAGED system and the 5 patterns derived from it that are used in all Musicians Institute programs (including my books) start with the C shape as pattern 1. The logic here is based on music theory instead of physical reasons. For example, the key of C is the first you should learn to read music in as it has no sharps or flats. You'll also begin with the C major scale to study how chords and intervals are built.

Here is one octave's worth of the pattern 1 major scale tabbed out in open position. Key of C major. (An octave is the eight-note distance up the scale to another note with the same letter name.) In tablature, the top line is the string closest to the floor.

-----------------
------------0-1--
--------0-2------
--0-2-3----------
3----------------
-----------------
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The C major "campfire chord" in open position is then also called pattern 1, and the shapes move up the neck from there. You don't have to finger and play these chords in their entirety. To get the sound of the chord in any position you only need to play the root, 3rd and 5th: one instance each of the C, E, and G notes. Try playing these examples one note at a time instead of trying to finger the entire shape right off. The eventual goal is just to know where the chord factors (Root, 3rd, 5th) are in relation to each other in each shape.

From left to right in each, we have the fretted string (starting with the string closest to the floor), the note name, and the scale degree, which is also the chord factor.

Pattern 1 (C shape)
0 E 3rd
1 C Root
0 G 5th
2 E 3rd
3 C Root
0 E 3rd

Pattern 2 (A shape)
3 G
5 E
5 C
5 G
3 C
3 G

Pattern 3 (G shape)
8 C
5 E
5 C
5 G
7 E
8 C

Pattern 4 (E shape)
8 C
8 G
9 E
10 C
10 G
8 C

Pattern 5 (D shape)
12 E
13 C
12 G
10 C
10 G
12 E

Thanks for getting my book, and thanks very much for the compliments.

For everyone else, the book we are discussing is here:
Chord Tone Soloing.

Thanks again, and I hope you're having fun!
Barrett